More “Killer Inside” Controversy

Posted on by

A couple of days ago I posted about the  controversy that director Michael Winterbottom’s adaptation of Jim Thompson’s classic novel The Killer Inside Me received at the Sundance Film Festival. Several people walked out of the screening due to the amount and depiction of violence, especially against women.

The film starring, Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Simon Baker and Bill Pulman is set to be shown at the Berlin Film Festival.  Of course questions about the controversy at Sundance and the level of violence came up.  I like Winterbottom’s response:

“A lot of noir books and films show violence as something which is entertaining… What I liked about Jim Thompson’s books is that… he doesn’t use the violence as entertainment — there is something shocking about the violence… For me that was the point of the violence in the film in a way — it is something very repulsive. In terms of how we depicted it, we were just trying to make it as close to the book as possible. The book is very shocking.”

Although I like Winterbottom’s response, I wonder how I’ll enjoy his movie.  There are ways to depict violence that is shocking without dwelling on it or being overly graphic.   Some times, many times in fact, the more left to the imagination, the more shocking the result.  It’ll be interesting to see the response The Killer Inside Me gets in Berlin.

UFC 110: Predictions

Posted on by

UFC110 is Saturday night, so let’s take a look at the fights and my picks:

Minotauro Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez – My pick: Velesquez by decision.

Michael Bisping vs. Wanderlei Silva – My pick: Silva via TKO

George Sotiropoulos v. Joe Stevenson – My pick: Stevenson by submission

Keith Jardine v. Ryan Bader – My pick: Bader by KO or TKO.

Stephan Bonnar v. Krzysztof Soszynski -My pick: Soszynski by decision.

Brian Foster v. Chris Lytle – My pick: Foster by decision.

Goran Reljic v. C.B. Dolloway -My pick: Reljic by decision.

If you’d like to see Ryan Cody’s picks and rationale, then click here.

The Killer Inside Me

Posted on by

It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly eight years since we posted that Jim Thompson’s classic novel The Killer Inside Me was set to become a major motion picture.  Of course a lot has changed since then.  Dominic “Swordfish” Sena was set to direct and no stars had been named.  The reality is that Michael Winterbottom ended up helming the feature with Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Simon Baker and Bill Pulman co-starring.

A Killer Inside Me is my favorite Thompson book and I hope that everything comes together to make it a good film.  Unfortunately, there’s already been a lot of controversy coming from it’s screening at Sundance.  I guess we’ll know how good it is soon enough… once the distributor decides on a release date.

“The Book of Eli” Review – Some Spoilers

Posted on by

The Pitch: Denzel Washington and the Hughes Brothers team to bring us a post-apocalyptic action/adventure.

The Overview: Denzel Washington plays a lone traveler on a holy mission to take the last remaining bible to a place that he will know once he gets there.  Gary Oldman is the town boss who wants the bible to strengthen his power over those living in his town.

The Good: Denzel is always good and this role is no exception.  The concept works.  Tom Waits as the town barterer.  The old cannibal couple.  The first action sequence set-up.

The Bad: The fight scenes go by too quickly.  Not showing how Denzel got out of a locked room in which he was being held a prisoner.  Later, when Denzel walks away and is being shot at, no one seems overly surprised when he is not hit.  Even later, Denzel shot point blank in the stomach looks to be dying.  In the next scene he slaps some duct tape on the wound and gets up to continue his journey.

The Ugly: Life in Oldman’s town.  What happens if you touch Denzel after being warned not to.

The Summary: I enjoyed the movie, but wish that some of the fight scenes had been longer and clearer.  I get that the intent was to show how quickly Denzel could dispatch a half dozen thugs, but it would have been more enjoyable to see the scenes as more than a blur or in shadow.  I also get that Denzel’s escape from the room was supposed to be a shock to his captors, but it felt like a cheat to just accept that he was out without seeing how he did it.

I guess that’s what is a bit odd… the whole movie is about a man’s faith that God is taking him on a mission.   He doesn’t know where or why, but his faith is enough to protect him and get him through to the end.  Of course, faith is believing in something that you can’t directly see and yet, it was the things that I couldn’t directly see in the movie that I found to be my biggest complaint.

No Escaping The Crazies

Posted on by

The Crazies doesn’t open until February 26th, but between now and then we’re going to be exposed to a lot of media promoting the remake of the George Romero cult classic about a small group of family and friends trying to survive after their little town is exposed to toxic materials that turn folks into crazed killers.  Not only does the group have to worry about the crazies, but also the military that has been sent in to eliminate everyone.

But back to the promotional tie-ins.  There’s this article at USAToday that talks about the comic book tie-ins.  And this digital motion comic trailer.  The Crazies web site is now live and features all of the bells and whistles.

Now all that is left is to hope the movie lives up to the hype.

Escape from New York Again

Posted on by

A couple of days ago we posted about the return of Riddick.  Today we have news of Snake Plissken’s return.  According to the MTV Movie Blog, Escape from New York is being prepped for a reboot.  The good news is that…

Series creator John Carpenter has a deal with New Line which stipulates that the character “must be called ‘Snake'”; “must wear an eye patch”; and “always be a ‘bad-ass.'”

The bad news is…

The Plissken role made famous by [Kurt] Russell will be re-cast with a yet-to-be named actor.

C’mon man!  Kurt Russell is still young enough and in good enough shape to play Plissken again.  In fact, since New Line hopes to turn the reboot into a franchise, why not have Russell return for one last outing and pass the mantle on to a younger actor?  That way they could satisfy both old and new fans.

To read the whole article, simply click here.

Gangsters, Vampires and Aliens

Posted on by

I was already looking forward to Turf, a four issue mini-series by writer, Jonathan Ross and artist, Tommy Lee Edwards, before I read this interview with them over at Newsarama.  As you may recall, Turf is set in New York in 1929 and involves gangsters, vampires and aliens.    Or as Turf is described on the Image site:

A 4-issue hard-boiled noir crime thriller with girls, guns, fangs and aliens.

New York, 1929. The height of prohibition. The cops turn a blind eye while the mobs run the city, dealing in guns, girls and illegal liquor. But the arrival of the mysterious Dragonmir Family from Eastern Europe with more of a taste for blood then booze coincides with a series of brutal attacks on the gangsters themselves. As the gangs fall before the fangs, only a handful of mobsters survive. But an unlikely alliance formed between tough guy Eddie Falco and a character from a long way from New York City – a long way from Earth in fact – offers the humans a glimmer of hope. As the strong willed young reporter Susie Dale from the Gotham Herald tries to survive in the middle of the maelstrom, and an ancient prophecy unfolds, no one can guess who’s going to win the battle for this particular slice of Turf.

I’ve already put in my order for the series.  You may want to as well.

3rd Time a Charm for Riddick?

Posted on by

The MTV Movie Blog is reporting that Vin Diesel and David Twohy will reteam for a third time to bring us a new Riddick movie.  Most ZONErs will remember that Riddick made his first appearance as a character in Pitch Black and then moved to the lead in The Chronicles of Riddick.  Although Chronicles wasn’t as popular as Pitch Black, it has done well enough, and the character of Riddick is popular enough to bring him back for a third outing.

I’m especially happy to read that the new film will be…

closer to “Pitch Black” than “Chronicles,” and that the focus will be on Riddick rather than the larger universe he lives in.

To read the full article, click here.

Interview with Rambo Creator, David Morrell

Posted on by

There’s a nice little interview with Rambo creator, David Morrell over at Jonathan Maberry’s blog. Here are a couple of quotes:

First Blood has been constantly in print for 38 years.

It’s an odd experience to be associated with one of the five most identifiable characters in the world, along with Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, James Bond, and Harry Potter.

It’s pretty cool that Sly is associated with one of the five most identifiable characters in the world.

You can read the entire interview by clicking here.