Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
If you’re a John Carpenter fan, you should enjoy the French documentary Big John which is embedded below. It features a lot of Carpenter talking frankly about his career making movies and music, plus interviews with celebs who’ve worked with him and more. If you don’t speak French, you can fast forward through those sections since they don’t have subtitles.
Desperate men do desperate things. What a great tag line!
On June 4th, 2004, a sixty-three-ton bulldozer, fortified with steel and concrete, systematically destroyed numerous businesses and homes in the small mountain town of Granby, Colorado. The rampage lasted over two hours and resulted in more than eight million dollars in damage. State and local police were incapable of even slowing the machine. Though it was armed with three high-powered firearms, no one but the driver was killed. His name was Marvin Heemeyer. TREAD explores the polarizing perspectives on this man, his motives, and what drove him to the breaking point.
I remember the event but didn’t realize that Heemeyer had fortified the bulldozer.
The folks at Film School Rejects decided to Rank The Movies Directed By John Carpenter. This sounded like fun, so I decided to play along. Below are my rankings and thoughts…
The Ward (2010)
Village of the Damned (1995)
Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
Prince of Darkness (1987)
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
The films above I haven’t seen.
15. Dark Star (1974) I don’t know if I have ever seen the whole thing. It just didn’t resonate with me. Most folks really like it.
14. The Fog (1980) I saw this on its theatrical release and it left me flat. Which surprised me because I was expecting a lot.
13. Someone’s Watching Me! (1978) Watched this before I knew who John Carpenter was. It was good.
12. Vampires (1998) I thought James Woods was miscast.
11. Elvis (1979) Who knew Kurt Russell could impersonate Elvis (and later Clint Eastwood)?
10. Christine (1983) Saw this at the theater and thought it was well done.
9. Ghosts of Mars (2001) Sci-fi action directed by Carpenter. What’s not to like?
8. Escape from L.A. (1996) I was so excited about the return of Snake Plissken under the creative team of Carpenter and Russell. Sadly the film played up the camp more than I would have liked.
7. Big Trouble in Little China (1986) My wife and I along with another couple saw BTiLC on its opening weekend. I really liked it. No one else in the group did. Kurt Russell steals the show.
6. They Live (1988) Surprisingly good. Roddy Piper was the perfect lead. I felt the ending was a bit off but not enough to really matter.
5. Starman (1984) Big budget and big stars. Perhaps my wife’s favorite Carpenter flick because it’s a good one.
4. Halloween (1978) Another Carpenter classic. I first saw it in a drive-in and had sound problems through part of the film. The movie still worked. That is a sign of great direction!
3. The Thing (1982) I saw it on it’s initial theatrical release in a nearly empty theater. Reaction from fans and critics wasn’t good. Over the years that has all changed. I thought it was a mistake remaking a classic but Carpenter pulled it off.
2. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) This is the movie that made me a John Carpenter fan. Thank God for VHS. Low budget but man, does Carpenter make it work. Darwin Joston was perfect casting. I always thought we’d see more from him.
1. Escape from New York (1981) I saw EfNY several times on it’s first theatrical release and loved it. I still do.
Maximus Wrecks by Steve Bryant should appeal to a lot of folks who swing by here. Take it away Steve…
I have a confession: I love every aspect of 1980s post-apocalyptic fiction. From movies to comics to music videos, it’s one of my absolute favorite genres. Classics like Escape from New York or Mad Max? Of course I love them. That’s a no-brainer. I also love weird, cheesy epics like Slipstream, Cherry 2000, and Space Hunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone.
For comics, I’m a sucker for Tim Truman’s Scout, and Doug Moench & Paul Gulacy’s Slash Maraud…and probably half a dozen other comics with that same aesthetic that I’m forgetting right now.
I’m delighted by every cornball set piece and costume design from 80s music videos. Tom Petty’s You Got Lucky? You bet. Billy Idol’s Dancing with Myself? Of course. The Police video for Synchronicity? How could I not? But also Rick Springfield’s Bop ‘Til You Drop, The Warrior by Scandal, Duran Duran’s Wild Boys, Screaming in the Night by Krokus, and a whole lot more goofiness.
So all of that is in the DNA of Maximus Wrecks.
I’ve wanted to dive back into webcomics for years, and this has been the project that I want to do it with.
If Maximus Wreck is something you’d like to check out, then click on over!
Stephanie Williams at Syfy.com posted 53 Thoughts We Had While Watching Demolition Man. She’d like to share her thoughts with you. Click over if you’re interested. ; )
Joblo.com brings Rocky and First Blood to their Face/Off feature where they rate each movie in several categories and determine a winner. Do you agree with their outcome?
Sylvester Stallone’s two most popular cinematic characters, Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, debuted in between 1976 (Rocky) and 1982 (First Blood) and went on to generate a number of sequels (and even spinoffs in Rocky’s case with the Creed films) that have lasted for decades. But, one of the most common debates is which was the best of the original iterations of these characters, Rocky or First Blood?
In this series we explore the pros and cons of each, while taking a look at things like box office, awards accolades, most-quotable lines, supporting cast and so much more to determine which film is the winner in the never-ending debate when two movies Face/Off!
Edited by Damion Damaske
If you’re a fan of the original Twilight Zone, then you’re going to get a kick out of 15 Tiny, Fascinating Details You Never Noticed in The Twilight Zone presented by the fine folks at MeTV. I feel pretty knowledgeable about the TZ but there were a few things that were new to me!
IMPAwards is running a survey to determine the best teaser movie poster design from 2019 releases. Click over and you can select your top five choices.
My first choice would be John Wick 3. This is one of those rare times that a contest involving Stallone doesn’t come out the winner in my opinion. I thought the teaser posters for Glass and The Lion King were also so good they should be included. Of course your mileage may vary.
Mister Miracle was a comic series created by Jack Kirby that ran for 18 issues, premiering in April of 1971. You can see the covers and some interior art for every issue in the series thanks to the good folks at PencilInk.
The Making Apes documentary focuses on the folks behind the Academy Award-winning makeup for Planet of the Apes. If you aren’t old enough to remember the buzz when PotA was first released, you can’t imagine the impact that it had. I was nine years old and seeing it on the big screen during it’s initial release blew my mind. I look forward to checking out Making Apes!
Horror veteran Thomas Jane (Deep Blue Sea, The Mist, 1922, Before I Wake, The Predator) will next take on werewolves in Hunter’s Moon, a home invasion film that arrives on DVD, Digital, and On Demand March 24, 2020, from Lionsgate.
In the film, “When their parents leave town, three teenage girls decide to throw a party in their new country home. But when a gang of dangerous local boys with sinister intentions turn up, the women are forced to not only defend themselves from the evil inside of the house, but an unseen bloodthirsty predator that is hunting them one by one outside of the house.”
From an executive producer of Live Free or Die Hard, 16 Blocks, and Hostage, the film also stars Jay Mohr and Sean Patrick Flanery.
Hunter’s Moon – The only thing it needs is to be seen in a drive-in. Since I don’t have one, my tv room will have to do.
The fourth installment of Fargo is set in 1950 Kansas City, where two criminal syndicates fighting for a piece of the American dream have struck an uneasy peace. Chris Rock stars as Loy Cannon, the head of the African American crime family who trades sons with the head of the Italian mafia as part of tenuous truce.
The 4th season of Fargo looks like a lot of fun!
IMPAwards is running a survey to determine the best action movie poster design from 2019 releases. Click over and you can select your top five choices.
My first choice would be Rambo: Last Blood. Of course it’s hardly ever fair when you ask me a favorite if it includes Stallone. So for this contest I thought I’d include my other two top favorites: Hellboy and John Wick 3.
Jordan Peele’s Us displays a master attention to detail at a nearly unparalleled level. Like his previous horror film, Get Out, there is much more to be discovered on repeat viewings, especially in the production design. In this case, his book choices all align with the film’s themes, and are great additions to the movie. For this video essay, I point out some of the hidden books, as well as other clues and details hidden in plain sight you may have missed when you saw the movie. Edited by H. Nelson Tracey http://www.hnelsontracey.com/
Check out Duncan Fegredo’s take on the classic Universal monsters. I love these! Click on the photo to see a monsterous-sized version.
Source: @SteveNiles.
