Although poster artist John Alvin may not be a household name, his iconic imagery will be instantly recognizable to most anyone who’s seen a movie poster within the last several decades. From Alien and Bladerunner to nearly all of Spielberg’s Amblin films, John Alvin has brought a consistently unique and wonderful vision to the posters he creates. In the newly released coffee-table book, The Art of John Alvin, not only are all his beautiful pieces on display, but we also get to see and learn about the fascinating backstories behind each one.
Fans of classic giallo-style Italian horror are in for a treat with Luciano Onetti’s Sonno Profondo (Deep Sleep), a film that pays loving homage to such horror legends as Mario Bava and Dario Argento. Although the film itself chooses style over substance, I was astounded at the level of detail and care that went into making this look and feel like it came straight out of the ’70s.
It seems that waiting nine years to produce a sequel is simply too long in the case of Robert Rodriguez’s and Frank Miller’s hard-boiled, neo-noir Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. The film certainly contains the bold visuals that made the original film (and the graphic novels) ooze with style, but sadly, vacant is any semblance of a cohesive narrative. What begins as an endearing series of interconnected stories becomes a cumbersome mishmash of uninspired vignettes, never feeling like it has any direction or purpose.
When striving for fortune and fame just how far are you willing to go? How much are you willing to sacrifice? Are you willing to do all you can to get noticed? When opportunity knocks are you ready to answer or would you rather continue on your current path? In Lenny Abrahmason’s film Frank, these are just some of the questions that Jon Burroughs must answer in his quest to become a singer/songwriter.
Jeff Baena’s Life After Beth brings a refreshing, and somewhat new take on the zombie comedy, but it never fully achieves the comedic gold it’s setting out to accomplish. At times it proves to be very funny, but the inconsistent tone and broken moral prevent it from being something truly unique.
The ultimate testosterone-fuelled, ’80s-action throwback series, The Expendables, is back in its third and most boisterous installment to date. Touting more characters and mindless action than ever before, The Expendables 3 brings together a plethora of aging action stars and pits them against wave after wave of generic villains in an attempt to up the ante yet again. But in a post-The-Raid-2 world, is there still a place for this type of action that favors gunplay and explosions over meticulously choreographed martial arts?
Stories about cross-town rivals are nothing new. We’ve all read about them or seen TV shows or movies about them. The same can be said about the profound impact of city financial budget cuts that affect thousands of teachers’ jobs and the education of countless children and teenagers. You only need to look at your nightly local news to see a story about a violent flair up between rivals or how yet another school had its doors closed due to budget cuts. It’s an unfortunate sign of the times that always seems to paint such a negative picture but when it’s turned into an unexpected positive that is something to take notice of. Such is the case of the teachers and students at Martin Luther King High School in Philadelphia, PA and they are the subject of Judd Ehrlich’s documentary We Could Be King.
Septic Man is a shitty movie in every sense of the word. It’s a film heavily centered around shit and, other than the high quality and extremely gross gore effects, it’s not a very well made movie either. The threadbare plot seems to only exist at all in order to transition from one gross-out moment to the next and the characters are underdeveloped and generic. In many ways it feels like a higher quality Troma film, which could be viewed as a compliment, depending on how disgusting you like your horror.
I was already sold on Disneynature's Bears when the trailer featuring Phillip Phillips' song "Home" offered up a heartwarming overlay to the captivating shots of grizzly bears frolicking in the wild.
But from the moment I popped in the Blu-ray and hit 'play,' I was immediately reminded how impressive these studio documentaries truly are. Every scene was so perfectly framed; one could easily do a screen grab at any time, hit print, and produce a beautiful still image suitable for hanging on a wall.
Okay, I admit. I rarely will turn town a "dance movie." Perhaps it's like romantic comedies for the lovelorn, shoot-em-ups for the trigger happy or car movies for the speed freaks; there's just something about seeing the craft up on the silver screen (timed to expertly selected music and sound effects) that can highlight the form in a way really no other medium can.
But I can also admit that, with a few exceptions, dance movies are never really that good. If you know going into the theater that you're only there for the dancing - and the dancing alone - you will probably enjoy these films. In fact, if you're still reading this review, you will probably see Step Up: All In anyway.
Director Nicholas McCarthy exploded onto the scene back in 2012 with his festival hit The Pact, which was a fantastically creepy little horror flick. Now, his next movie, At The Devil's Door, is set come out, but it unfortunately doesn’t achieve the same level of originality or suspense as his previous film. It’s a humdrum supernatural thriller that favors jump scares over any real tension and while it starts off intriguing, it quickly devolves into a mostly boring series of horror clichés.
In 1975 director Sidney Lumet released an unconventional heist film by the name of Dog Day Afternoon, which starred Al Pacino as an unlikely bank robber trying to snag some money to pay for a sex change for his transgendered girlfriend. The story seemed outlandish and far ahead of its time, but as the old saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction.
According to its synopsis, director Ginnetta Correli’s documentary The Beauty Strip is a film about individual erotic perception, however, in execution, it seems that perception is focused on the viewer rather than the subjects of the film itself. This short journey into nude modeling is comprised of experimental vignettes, shot using various filters set to bombastic dubstep and electronic music. While the film looks quite good in certain areas, the overall message of the film becomes blurred behind what can be viewed as just a series of softcore porn clips.
After six years and ten films, Marvel Studios has blown the doors wide open and have expanded the Marvel Cinematic Universe to reach infinity and beyond. With the arrival of James Gunn’s highly entertaining Guardians of the Galaxy, viewers are given a glimpse at just how far and how much this ever expanding universe can include and it will likely give fans something to be excited about for the foreseeable future. Whilst all that is fine and dandy you may ask how this introduction to this new universe is. In a word, funny. Gunn and company have not only put together the funniest entry in the franchise but have also successfully introduced audiences to another world, a new cast of characters and their action-packed adventures.
Holed up in their elaborately fortified residence, Ana (Victoria Almeida), Axel (Lautaro Delgado) and Jonathan (William Prociuk) have everything they need to survive the zombie apocalypse occurring outside their doorstep. The house is equipped with a security system of sorts, a sequence of microphones strung alongside the exterior piping outside audio into the interior through strategically placed megaphones, signaling potential dangers as they arise. They have firearms, ammunition, food, a steady water supply, board games, video games and, even, tattooing equipment; they only thing these three have to deal with essentially is themselves, which proves to be rather difficult.
At first glance, Joseph O'Brien’s feature directorial debut, Devil’s Mile, appears to be a simple throwback, road-trip, exploitation film, but it quickly evolves into something much more interesting. While at its core it does have a ’70s exploitation vibe, it also blends elements of Japanese horror, crime thriller and even some more paradoxical elements I can’t discuss without risking spoilers. It’s a messy film and doesn’t make much sense, but it’s still a fun ride.
8
