Myles of Footage I had a dream once where I was being chased by a monster down a long, narrow hallway. It felt like I was stuck in quicksand because I couldn’t quite get my legs moving fast enough to escape the monster’s claws. Right before watching Polanski’s Repulsion I shared that dream with a …
Undertones: Volume 2 In the 1940s the consumption of alcohol was predominantly glamorised on the silver screen. Starlets sipped sensuously on their g & t’s whilst detectives downed shots of whiskey before departing the office on a hot lead. If this was an accurate portrayal of the time, one has to ask how the hell …
24 minutes of James Cameron’s Avatar was screened for the very first time to 1,000 European industry attendees at the Cinema Expo International in Amsterdam. Cameron’s decade long passion project has been touted as the film that will change how we watch movies forever. Now that is one hell of an expectation to live up …
Body Count: Volume 12 Some of my earliest horror movie memories are in the early 80’s. I was a cartoon junkie like most kids my age and you know how it goes on any saturday morning. Or maybe you know how it used to go. Get up wicked early, pour a massive bowl of cereal …
BAMcinemaFEST kicks off its first run this week in Brooklyn, beginning with a screening of a film from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, co-presented by the Sundance Posse. Don’t Let Me Drown is a simple love story from first time director Cruz Angeles. Set over the backdrop of the post 9-11 aftermath in Brooklyn, it …
Body Count: Volume 11 – Because of the nature of my website and the fact that a bulk of the writing is dedicated to the horror genre, it is often assumed that Cinema Suicide is all about horror. And you have no idea how much that bugs me. The original mission was a website in …
Phillip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger, Rabbit-Proof Fence) is set to return to South Africa with a new thriller entitled Mixed Blood. Not a shocking choice for the Australian filmmaker considering his last directorial effort Catch a Fire. Based off the Roger Smith novel of the same name, the film will center on an American …
The remake virus strikes again: Just when you think the whole remake phenomenon cannot get any more ridiculous, the bar gets set even lower. Warner Brothers announced “a remake of the classic Michael J. Fox starrer “Teen Wolf” is in early development.” No offense to fans of the campy film and its sequel, but what …
“Stretching” the Boundaries of Believability: Flexible children’s toy “Stretch Armstrong” is being adapted into a feature film set to be released by Universal Pictures on “…April 15, 2011….” The writer attached to the project is Steve Odekerk, screenwriter of “Bruce Almighty” and sequel “Evan Almighty,” as well as the Robin Williams vehicle “Patch Adams.” This …
Cult Cinema: Volume 12 It’s tough to be straight-edge. By virtue of being drug- and alcohol-free, the whole world thinks you’re some Christian hardcore kid from Boston who only speaks in Minor Threat lyrics. But on the other hand, you do get to picture the whole world as some sort of decadent, liverish imbecile, lounging …
Undertones: Volume 1 Bring up Alfred Hitchock’s Vertigo (1958) in conversation to anyone who has seen it and you are bound to get one of two responses; complete and utter contempt over its baffling complexity or hyperbolic gushing over the film’s genius. Whatever your opinion of Vertigo, the film does have a lot of talking …
Javier Bardem has quite a slate of films ahead of him. He is set to star as the villain in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street 2 (yes, that is actually happening) alongside Shia Labeouf and Michael Douglas. And in a crazy twist, Bardem will be playing the principle villain in the sequel, not Douglas’ Gekko (but …
The saying goes that the hero of your story is only as great as your villain, On podcast #124 I made a bold statement that the key difference between classic Disney movies and Pixar films is their villains. I love Pixar films, but in my mind classic Disney movies like The Jungle Book and The …
Away We Go Directed by Sam Mendes Give Sam Mendes credit – at least he’s finding new ways to make less-than-satisfying films. From the leaden, humorless graphic novel adaptation Road to Perdition, to last year’s hopelessly shrill Revolutionary Road, to this year’s comparatively light road movie Away We Go, Mendes’ troubles at least variate. Away …
The Third Man is a testament to the power of moving images. Often enough in the minds of the public, the writing or the acting of a film are considered the only true artistic aspects, while the cinematography is pushed aside as merely a technical detail, only the paint and brush needed to create the …
Auteur Theory: Volume 4 A true independent filmmaker, Douglas Buck’s short films have made him a recognizable name in the festival circuit. Beginning his filmmaking career in the early 90s, shooting his films on Long Island, Buck pretty quickly managed to build up a following. His films meld gore-based horror with harrowing stories of American …
It is by complete surprise that I ended up with a copy of this movie. There I was, walking the aisles of my virtual movie store, looking for ‘The Empire of the Wolves’ when my clumsy fingers stumbled and clicked on Neil Jordan’s (The Crying Game, In Dreams, Breakfast on Pluto) film instead. The result? …
The Hangover Impresses Audiences: On Opening Day, Todd Phillips very funny “The Hangover” (I saw it yesterday, and I highly recommend it for good slapstick laughs) made 16.5 million dollars in one day alone. “…The production budget was rumored to have hovered around only $30 million…” which makes this a very impressive first day and …
Swingers (1996) Directed by Doug Liman It really isn’t hard to see why this film has acquired a cult following. The atmosphere is laid back, the dialogue is some of the best in any 90’s comedy, the characters are appealing and well-drawn, the casting is perfect, the soundtrack is great, and the situations are honest …
Back in 1995 John Ratzenberger became a part of history as one of the voices in the first animated feature done entirely by computer. That film was Pixar’s Toy Story and ever since, Ratzenberger has made a small cameo in every single one of Pixar’s 13 feature films. Abominable Snowman – Monsters Inc. Toy Story …
Up Directed by Pete Docter Co-directed by Bob Peterson Those waiting for animation powerhouse Pixar to slip up are going to have to wait a little longer, as their third straight unmitigated success comes courtesy of Up, the latest effort to be directed by Pete Docter, who previously helmed Monsters, Inc. Up may not be …
The Cult and Genre movie community is in shock today to learn of the death of movie icon, David Carradine. Carradine, who was 72, was found dead in his hotel suite on Wednesday, in Bangkok, Thailand. According to what Thai police told the BBC, Carradine was found was found by a hotel maid with a …
It’s very hard to categorize a film like Baraka. Because of its particular characteristics – a complete lack of a verbal component, a non-linear ‘plot’ and a broadened coverage of our planet – it doesn’t fit it with any existing genre. With that being said, I wouldn’t want to have to put a label on …