#Movies
OCTOBERFEAST – Grindhouse
[OCTOBERFEAST is the greatest celebration of the year, a revelry dedicated to pop-culture’s most nutritious Halloween detritus. Plastic screams and artificial sweeteners have never been more bountiful. In the old country, villagers refer to the extended party as Satan’s Snacktime]
As you no doubt know, OCTOBERFEAST is the annual celebration of shock-and-awe entertainment, those dastardly bits and pieces that we can’t help but love with mouths agape and eyes closed. The same way that cavemen would streak past brontosaurus nests for cheap thrills, we need to scare ourselves silly sometimes. And to do this, we watch scene after scene of gruesome murders, horrifying mutations, and savage acts of violence.
Again, the reason we meet year-after-year to celebrate this tenth-month carnal carnival is the fact that there are deep-seated desires in all of us to explore the sweet ugliness. Unfortunately, there are those that think indecency has no place in entertainment. That depictions of decapitation are in poor taste. That zombie movies are not only insidious but also trite. Hell, this moral imposition isn’t a new idea, but the self-righteous are proliferating at unprecedented rates.
Fortunately, there are heroes amongst us.
In 2007, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino teamed up for the exploitation-throwback Grindhouse. This double-feature consists of two original flicks shown back-to-back which are also accompanied by faux-trailers. If nothing else, the experiment was a deal for the fans just in terms of economics: one regularly-priced ticket granted a viewer access to far more material than that which is provided by any standard flick.
With that being said, Grindhouse is also a horrific tour-de-force, a masterpiece for those who love blood and guts and gore and camp.
The first entry in the two-movie feature is Rodriguez’s Planet Terror. This flick is an over-top-zombie flick that sees Rose McGowan stealing the show not only with her scantily clad body, but also her firearm leg prosthesis. There’re gross-out moments with zombies exploding, laughs-a-plenty with some characters being more concerned with BBQ recipes than the end times, and conveniently missing reels. To top it all off, the movie has Bruce Willis.
That’s right – McClane himself.
On the other hand, Tarantino’s Death Proof presents a brand of terror that is more grounded in its intentions. This second flick sees Kurt Russell playing Stuntman Mike, a washed up stunt driver longing for the glory days of Hollywood during which the stunt people reigned supreme. To get his kicks now that he’s been replaced by CGI, Stuntman Mike offers hot babes rides in his car. Of course, there’s a catch: Mike’s stunt car is completely death proof for the driver, but nearly guaranteed to kill a passenger if it crashes.
Which it does. Because that’s what Stuntman Mike wants, and he gets what he wants. That is, of course, until he runs into a pack of bad-ass bitches that don’t take shit from anyone, including maniacs with film-industry experience.
Grindhouse is a rare treat, as it knows exactly what it is and revels in it. Tarantino and Rodriguez manage to simultaneously poke fun at the conventions of classic grindhouse flicks while paying homage and revering them. Additionally, clocking in at just over three hours, this cinematic collection is the perfect accompaniment for a cold, dank OCTOBERFEAST eve.
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OCTOBERFEAST – The Wicked Witch!
[OCTOBERFEAST is the greatest celebration of the year, a revelry dedicated to pop-culture’s most nutritious Halloween detritus. Plastic screams and artificial sweeteners have never been more bountiful. In the old country, villagers refer to the extended party as Satan’s Snacktime]
There exist villains so ingrained in the rotwood known as the collective conscious that they’ll always have an open invitation to the OCTOBERFEAST. The tales of these harbingers of doom and gloom are passed from each generation to the next, racking up decades’ worth of childhood pee-pee stains and midlife heart attacks. These malefactors are the perennial horrors that are relied upon to keep every new human-litter honest-via-horror.
While there’re plenty of vitamin-enriched villains to choose from, there’s no denyin’ the power of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Trailer: ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’. Praise Xenu, ‘Tis Dope.
The latest trailer for Mission: Impossible – Ghostly Priapisms has dropped and its looking excellent. Straight-up Christmas time fun. I’d see the son of a bitch just for the Batman prologue coming out before it, but fuck I’m excited I’m going to enjoy it too.
Hit the jump to check it out.
‘The Hunger Games’ Gets Character Posters. Awesome.
I’m stoked for ‘The Hunger Games’, especially with it starring Jennifer Lawrence. There’s been some character posters dropped, and I’m pickin’ up what they’re putting down.
Steven Spielberg Thinks ‘Indy IV’ Sucked Too. Blames Lucas.
Indy IV was a giant crap-covered piece of cinematic toast, and it seems that Steven Spielberg was well aware of that. Spielberg was shooting the shit with Empire while promoting Tintin when he owned up to the suckitude and did what most of us geeks do these days: blame our sadness and failure on George Lucas.
Kerry Washington Cast as Broomhilda In ‘Django Unchained’.
Kerry Washington has been added to the cast of Django Unchained, filling a crucial role as Django’s wife.
‘The Dark Tower’ Movie and TV Project Back On. HBO Gets The Show.
The Dark Tower wunder-project is back on! It lives again. Courtesy of budget cuts and such. Not only is it back on, but HBO is snagging the television rights.
Pictures From Joss Whedon’s ‘Much Ado’ Adaptation Pictures and Details.
The Joss Whedon Much Ado About Nothing adaptation has gone from fairy, to fact, to the recipient of some details and photos. Hit the jump for both.
OCTOBERFEAST – Donnie Darko
[OCTOBERFEAST is the greatest celebration of the year, a revelry dedicated to pop-culture’s most nutritious Halloween detritus. Plastic screams and artificial sweeteners have never been more bountiful. In the old country, villagers refer to the extended party as Satan’s Snacktime]
At the turn of the century, those of us fortunate enough to have survived the apocalypse found ourselves in the unenviable position of having to reconstruct society. The first post-apocalyptic years were full of tumult, with chaos seeping into every aspect of daily living. With few raw materials at our disposal, we frantically grabbed what we could and began assembling entertainment-jalopies. Sometimes, the pieces came together to create something beautiful.
So far-reaching was this poltergeist of piebald reassembly that not even the oxidized gates and sheep’s blood fountains of the OCTOBERFEAST could effectively ward it off. No, even the hallowed season of candied fright and salubrious Satanism fell victim to this malignant spirit. The surrealism of living after the End of the World, the yearning for yesteryear’s comforts, and the attempt to continue humanity’s narrative traditions writhed about in a baby-oiled orgy lasting throughout the tenth month of the year.
Perhaps the most infamous pregnancy attributable to this orgiastic blending is Donnie Darko. Keep Reading »
Live Action ‘Akira’ To Feature Gary Oldman and Helena Bonham Carter? Super Whitewash Continues!
The live action Akira continues trudging on, after last week’s news that it was indeed alive. And whitewashing more impressively than The Last Airbender. Today some more casting rumors have floated up, and they’re centered around Commissioner Gordon and Marla Singer.
