Peter Jackson’s 1992 zombified gora-a-thon has been called the “goriest fright film of all time.” Look, it says so right there on the poster. But that’s really not much of a stretch. Dead Alive (originally called Braindead) may have been shot in the Land of the Long White Cloud, but…
Dear David Cronenberg, You permanently re-wired me. Not sure if it was the scene when Jeff Goldblum, who becomes a massive, bipedal fly, dissolves a man’s hand with battery-acid vomit, or the scene where the baboon blows up from the inside-out, but I’m permanently fucked. Toodles, Young Nick. David Cronenberg…
It may be a little too clot with blood now to see — given the less than killer fourth sequel this year and the countless copycat films in the years prior — but Scream was pretty groundbreaking for the horror genre upon its release in 1996. Heavily influenced by films…
I credit two people for introducing me to the wonderful world of Dario Argento and to both of them I’ll be eternally grateful. I love a good gorefest, but I especially love an artful one — one that entails vivid colors, ballet (an almost career choice) and the music of…
A procedural on the political manipulation of medium and message, George Clooney’s fourth directorial effort is bookended with scenes of media-op prepping. In the first, Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling), a 30-year-old campaign adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Mike Morris (Clooney), fills in for his boss at the sound check for…
Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is a two-bit trainer traveling the state fair circuit in a not-too-distant future. His line is robot fighting, a sport that has absorbed the audience for boxing, MMA and, apparently, demolition derby. After a tough match leaves Charlie ‘bot-less, he gets news that his ex-girlfriend, with…
There is no body of water immune to the fear from Jaws. Any lake, any pond, any tepid street puddle is a possible place to swim and be eaten by a large, meat-hungry shark. I’d even bet there’s literally no swimming human on Earth that doesn’t, at some point, imagine…
We’re watching Bravo’s Most Eligible Dallas every week so you don’t have to. Scene 1: Courtney’s at home, hangin’ in her boudoir (which apparently hasn’t featured new wall decorations since elementary school), chatting with Matty on the phone about her bad mood at the Granada concert (from Episode 6). He…
Underrated. Underrated. Underrated. In 1981 Student Bodies took the horror movie genre to task for punishing happy, healthy, sex- and fun-having kids. The movie rips off the opening sequences, music and “the call is coming from…” ploys for one of the best and most disgusting horror parodies around. Filmed in…
In Machine Gun Preacher (out in Dallas now), Gerard Butler plays real life ruffian biker turned gun-toating man of faith, Sam Childers. After a life of crime and drug/alcohol addiction, Childers and his wife (played by Michelle Monaghan) take up the cross in place of the bottle, the needle and…
Yesterday, James Wallace kicked off Mixmaster’s horror movie countdown with the stupendous slasher-flick Halloween. James mentioned that Halloween’s impact has made it so he can’t remember the exact first time he’d seen the film, but he can always remember the recent viewng. Everyone remembers Antichrist. Whether it’s the first viewing…
Halloween (1978) Most lists about the best All Hallow’s Eve-themed movies, or just the greatest Horror flicks of all time in general, finish it off with John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece of macabre but we’re starting this killer list out in style and taking a stab at giving you 31 days…
Despite only gracing the screen for eight short years thus far, actress Anna Kendrick has starred alongside some of Hollywood’s leading men and made herself into quite the leading lady, not to mention earning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her role in 2009’s Up in the Air while…
One single scene captures the tricky tonal balance of Jonathan Levine’s cancer comedy 50/50. Adam, the straightedge radio producer played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, has just finished his first round of chemotherapy. It was tough, but the kindly gents IV’d next to him (Philip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer) made it…
At the Fashionistas event the other night at the Trinity River Audubon Center, the buzz wasn’t about the clothes on the runway. It was about the blond in the audience rocking a sparkly tube-dress and motorcycle mukluks. Is this a look now? Sequined mini cocktail frock with ugly strapped footwear?…
We’re watching Bravo’s Most Eligible Dallas every week so you don’t have to. This week, Drew attacks everyone around him. Can’t we all just push a buddon that helps us get along? Scene 1: Tara brings increasingly ubiquitous side character Daylon with her to the vet’s office to pick up…
Jerry Haynes has died at the age of 84. Rest in peace, Mr. Peppermint…
For his latest role in Moneyball — from director Bennett Miller (Capote), written by Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) and Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List), and based on author Michael Lewis’ 2003 non-fiction book by the same name — Jonah Hill is switch hitting the comedy for the drama. Hill first…
By now, a good number of you regular theater goers probably checked out Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, which sped into theaters last weekend. One of the elements of the film that cannot be ignored is Ryan Gosling’s white quilted sateen racing jacket, emblazoned with a giant scorpion patch on the…
At the time of this writing, the Oakland Athletics sit at a distant third in the American League West, 18 games behind the Texas Rangers managed by Ron Washington, once the first-base coach under A’s wonderboy Billy Beane. The A’s have not had a winning season since making the playoffs…
In Brighton Rock, Rowan Joffe’s adaptation of Graham Greene’s 1938 novel, Sam Riley plays Pinkie, a baby-faced junior thug who takes advantage of his mentor’s murder to catapult himself to the top of their two-bit gang. An obstacle to his criminal dominance is Rose (Andrea Riseborough), a teenage waitress who…
Adapted from Muriel Barbery’s international best-seller The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Mona Achache’s first film, The Hedgehog, follows two parallel storylines: one featuring a thoroughly insufferable little girl, the other a pleasingly grumpy middle-aged widow. Scrawny, bespectacled, precocious 11-year-old Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic), disgusted by the futility of her bourgeois…
