Moon: You Saw Me Standing Alone

Duncan Jones nostalgic sci-fi space romp, Moon, is a mostly well known film in certain circles, with those circles mainly consisting of people who are passionate fans of cinema in one form or another. Outside of those too cool for film-school film fans, Moon is not a recognizable name (unless you're talking New Moon, of course), and the general public has little to no clue about the movie. At least that is what I assume but my assumption is more than likely spot on.

That alone somewhat speaks for how the film was completely neglected by the Academy this year - in a ceremony that applauded ten films instead of five - so they could make room for movies more along the lines of the summer blockbuster. Or, to put it in simpler terms, make room for films that the general public know about, thus, drumming up better ratings from the "average person." Basically, popularity over substance becomes even more prevalent.

Most passionate film buffs that have seen Moon have applauded actor Sam Rockwells' performance as Sam Bell, often saying he was criminally snubbed by the Academy. After finally seeing the film for myself - with abnormal expectations mind you - I could not agree any more. Rockwell's performance is a multilayered one, and his range makes him more than capable of pulling off such a complex and well written character. If he couldn't, the film would falter greatly.

Sam Bell is a character that faces tough questions about his actual being and is forced to do so with only himself to try and answer them. He is incredibly sad in many ways, and the bleakness that comes from ones questioning of their own existence when one lacks that existence is more than simple food for thought. However, the average moviegoer would prefer comfort food as opposed to something made with a complex recipe and foreign ingredients. Not that there's anything wrong with a little comfort food, but a good and healthy diet it certainly does not make when that is all that one consumes.

Robbed of an Oscar nod, sure, but Rockwell is not the only crater on Moon's surface that was more than deserving of some golden love, and I'm not talking about the R. Kelley kind. Moon is astonishingly made on every technical level with an eye pleasing 'aged future' set design that harkened back to the Science Fiction cinema of yore – the smooth and engulfing emptiness that is captured by the film's DP, Gary Shaw, is top notch – and the story, originally written by Jones, has the capability to rope in the viewer, giving just enough slack so that the narrative remains captivating until the film's reveal and ultimate conclusion. And all of these things were achieved with a $5 million dollar budget?! Wow, who would have thought that a wonderful film could be made for less than $50 million dollars. But it wasn't about the money (what?!), instead, it was about using the muscle in most everyone's head (neglected or not), the brain, to transcend budgetary restraints.

If you ask me, and you did by reading this, Moon - based off the other films that I have seen that also were awarded the prestige of being recognized by the Academy - was deserving of a Best Cinematography, Art Direction, Director and Picture nomination. Shit, the very subdued but powerful score by Clint Mansell may even be worth at least a thought for Best Score. Getting back to the "big award," though, I just don't understand how with ten spots for Best Picture, there is no room for a film like Moon? I mean, it was smile inducing to see District 9 on there - it was a great movie, and I, as most were, was surprised by the nod it received for best picture. But was it better than Moon? Not at all.

The general audience might not get it and while that can be frustrating since it is they that determine what the Hollywood machine cranks out…they don't know any better. They are mindless cattle that would rather go and see a film to have something to do, like text and giggle at shit on the screen. On the other hand, the Academy of ARTS and SCIENCE, a group that is meant to honor the BEST that cinema has to offer, most certainly should know better. Shame on them for ignoring such a fantastic film, but kudos to Duncan Jones for making one.

The Horror Hangover

Now, THIS is a serious Horror Hangover I have going for you all this Sunday. And boy do you need it, especially after what you were up to last night…singing along to songs from Grease thinking that the girls you were singing along with would ever think about boning you afterwards – taking body shots off of that girl with the bumpy neck – eating bar peanuts…that were on the ground. In the bathroom! So, lucky for you, this hangover is Epic like Faith No More. 

We'll start off with the random stuff to get you rolling nice and smooth. AMC gets us going with Virus at 11:00, a movie that I saw in theaters and hated so much that I never would dare to return. Now, sometimes I wonder if I would possibly find something to enjoy about a film I hated back when I was younger, but I do know I was incredibly disappointed back when it came out. I am curious as to what others think about the film, though.

Next up, the Horror Hangover gets mad funky, with the Martial Arts film, Iron Monkey. At 2:15 on IFC (I didn't want to mess up that flow). I can't recommend Iron Monkey enough, and unless you do not have IFC, you have no reason not to give this high-flying action film a view. For the last random movie of the day, FX does us all right with Doomsday at 4:30. I haven't watched Doomsday since I saw it at the movies, but I did enjoy it and would like to revisit it again at some point, even though that one chick couldn't keep her gonorrhea covered tongue in her mouth for more than ten seconds. Seriously, we get it, you're down with the sickness.

Alrighty, getting into the group rate portion of the hangover, TNT shows its power load with a double dose of revenge action when The Bride tries her damndest to Kill Bill at 2:00, followed by a second attempt at 4:15. I love the Kill Bill films quite a bit and Vol. 1 was on my top 25 of the decade, so no more shall be said.

To finish things off for today, I have a slew of SyFy cinema that is sure to keep you slightly distracted from the stench of your own vodka ridden breath (maybe if you flick your tongue the smell won't be so bad?). Things start off at 10:00 with Boogeyman, followed by Skinwalkers - a film I believe no one has actually seen - at 12:00. Things pick up at 2:00 with The Prestige, only to drop back down at 4:30 with the mediocre and totally disappointing Ultraviolet to finish off the day.

And that does it for this long ass and tiring edition of The Horror Hangover…see you next week ghoulies. 

Faces Of Vengeance

While award memes are going around like warts, there is yet another fun little meme making the rounds, one that involves a little creativity. The point of this little art project is to take any certain theme of your choice and use screen shots from films to project that specific theme. For example, BJ-C from Day of the Women - the woman who kindly tagged me for this, went with images of smiling in horror films. I have decided to focus on film characters that are seeking and/or taking revenge on another character or characters, which I have dubbed, Faces Of Vengeance.

 

Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell

*

 

Ms. 45

*

Carrie

*

Sex &Fury

*

The Professional

*

 

The Last House On the Left

*

Cape Fear '91

*

Inglourious Basterds

*

 

Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance

*

 

I Spit On Your Grave

*

Death Wish

*

So now I am supposed to pass this thing along, and the blogs I picked I did so because I think that if they do decide to participate, they would do something rad. Yeah, I said rad.

 

Behind the Couch

The Death Rattle

From Beyond Depraved

Planet of Terror

The Cheap Bin

iZombie-Lover

Freddy's Friday Night Dance Party!: A Fistful of Glow Sticks Edition!

Taking a vastly different route from the usual dance party antics that can be found here every Friday night, this week I am showing some love for one of cinema's greatest contributors, Ennio Morricone. The man's work is vast and he has done many memorable scores, but I have a personal favorite that I will be focusing on this evening, which comes to us from 1971's Duck, You Sucker aka A Fistful of Dynamite.

What sets this party apart from most is the fact that I will be providing an entire sequence from the film, but it is a sequence that encapsulates why Morricone and Duck's director, Sergio Leone, worked so brilliantly together. It's also my favorite part of the film, so it's a no-brainer. The scene in question is the siege on the Mesa Verde bank, where Juan Miranda (Rod Steiger) believes he is robbing a bank, but instead, he is actually releasing political prisoners of the Mexican revolution, making him a great hero.    

This segment starts with a little sampling of the Duck,You Sucker title theme, Invention for John, and sets up the entire segment in a nice way. After a little chit-chat, thing really gets going at the 3:05 mark when the song March of the Beggars begins to make its presence known and then plays throughout the rest of the sequence. What I love about this section of the film is how it shows what music can add to a film, as the music simply compliments everything that is happening on screen - which is essentially the point of a score - but this is a perfect example of it being done right.

Before I send you off, I should note that the 6 and 7 minute marks are SOOOO GOOD!! Sorry, I could resist.

Alright, this party's about to "blow up," shun (shun-shun-shun)!

Totally Tubular Trailers

I have had all of these trailers just sitting her collecting dust for some time, which is quite shameful, because they certainly need to be shared with you all. Old-ish or not, chances are you might have missed them, so hopefully they are new to you, which is all that matters.

I'll start us out with the trailer for Verbo, a Spanish horror/adventure film directed by Eduardo Chapero-Jackson. Verbo is about a young girl (Alba Garcia) that goes on a quest to find herself and to understand the meaning of the world that surrounds her, even if it means many dangers will be faced. I really dig the vibe of this trailer, and I'm always down for a dark fantasy/adventure film. Garcia appears to have a good look to play a character that is driven by inquisitiveness and innocence and that may be one of the big factors for this film's success. 

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Man, it doesn't get any more exciting than the most recent trailer for Kim Ji-Woon’s I Saw the Devil. The first trailer for this one showed up on a previous 3T (that's hip-hop slang for Totally Tubular Trailers…kind of like KFC) and this one only adds to my anticipation for what promises to be one of the year's best. I Saw the Devil pits a psychopathic serial killer (played by Choi Min-shik) up against as a special agent (Lee Byung-hun) whose fiancée becomes one of the killers unfortunate victims. With the tag team of these two great actors and one of the best directors working, this film is sure to be incredible. If you aren't sure for yourself, check out the trailer.

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Next up is the upcoming documentary titled, The Splat Pack, which should kind of be self explanatory. It focuses on the new wave of directors that made a huge splash on the horror genre in the early 2000's with movies that brought gruesome life back to a mostly stale genre. I love me a film focused documentary and even if it seems a little soon for a retrospective, It is nice to put some perspective on the most recent era of horror cinema (even if it's still somewhat going on). The interview line-up is tight, and I can only guess there will be some very interesting anecdotes to be shared with us horror fans. 

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Coming to us from Germany, our last trailer for the day is for the Post-Apocalyptic Martial Arts film Straight Blast. The movie is a production in the works and - in true grassroots fashion - is being shot as the money comes in to fund this incredibly ambitious project. Written and directed by Ulrik Bruchholz, with collaborator Mike Möller doing the fight choreography, Straight Blast looks straight dope with fight scenes that appear to be quite promising and a quirky style with heavy influence from Apocalyptic cinema of the 80's. I will definitely be keeping my eye on this one and you have got to check out the trailer as it is quite the doozy indeed. You will be impressed by time it's all over.

Baby Babble: Watching Bloody Movies On A New TV

About a week or two ago, I wrote a review for Blood Sucking Freaks for BThroughZ, but being all busy (or lazy) and shit, I was sending it in on the deadline. In what may be the craziest of coincidences, Jamie - the man behind BThroughZ - emailed me right back to inform me that another person had already submitted a review for the same damn film! So going into scramble mode, I watched and whipped up a review for the 80's Slasher film Bloody Movie (aka Terror Night), which can be found over in the July issue of BThroughZ. It turned out to be a good thing in hindsight as Bloody Movie made for a fun review, and now I have the epic Blood Sucking Freaks leftovers that I can post here at some point. So we all win, but make sure to head over and check out my review of Bloody Movie, as well as all the other gory goodies in the latest issue of BThroughZ.

 

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Nearly two months ago, the living room TV shit the bed big time, something that is sort of a nightmare for a cinephile. Luckily, when I picked up the TV I had also bought the extended warranty (which was due to end in two months!), so I went about trying to get it fixed. Dude came to the house - didn't have the part. Got the part - broken part wasn't the only problem and had to take the TV to the shop. Waited for a long ass time. Waited even more. Had an 18' TV sitting on an old end table in the middle of my living room with wires all stretched across the floor. Found out the TV would cost $900 dollars to repair. Waited some more. Got confirmation that we would get a new TV (!). Waited for their offer - got the offer - got the TV. Finally.

So, the TV I owned was five years old…it was a solid TV at the time I had bought it (Samsung 42' DLP things and things), was capable of 1080p (though it never seemed to get past 1080i) and had a nice picture in High Def, but it was five years old. The warranty contract stated that my replacement TV might not be the same brand, but had to be comparable quality wise to my previous brand and have the same specs. In what may be the coolest thing that could happen in this nearly two month long horrific situation, we got a brand new TV, an LG 42' 1080p black flat screen with 120 hz and all that shit. The TV looks AMAZING and so much better than the TV we already had, and to top it off, it was FREE! Well, not free, but when I look at it, I see what is a brand new TV I bought five years ago, so I win so hard. About time.  

90 Days Till Halloween-Halloween-Halloween

It's August 1st, which means that Halloween is slowly but surely creeping up on us. Soon enough, the grocery stores will start carrying black and orange decorated boxes filled with candy – shelves will empty to make room for the familiar seasonal Halloween gear we all have come to know and love -  and I will be salivating during every second of it. For me personally, August is like Halloween's pre-season, with September pretty much being Halloween for me. As the air becomes slightly colder and the sunny days are replaced by an ominous overcast sky, my smile will simply get bigger in anticipation for Halloween.

Getting in the proper spirit, as you may have noticed, I already have the countdown clock added to the blog, and I will be brain storming exactly what I will be doing here at CNAMB for the much anticipated return of CHUCKTOBER!!! More than likely everything will be focused on horror films and nothing else, but I would like to come up with something different outside of movie reviews and horror-centric Dance Parties and Hangovers. Either way, I am pumped for the first signs of Halloween, and I hope you feel the same way. To get you all in the Halloween mood, I have one of my favorite videos that I have ever posted for you all to enjoy.