Pacific_Rim_5_Things_4_29_13

5 Things We Learned From The New ‘Pacific Rim’ Trailer!!

Warner Bros. Pictures finally released the Wondercon trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim yesterday and it 100% reinvigorated me. I was starting to worry that this was just going to be another, almost boring, “summer blockbuster” when this new footage came along and convinced me that it would be anything but. I also learned (and re-learned) a few things about the film that effectively killed all the second guessing I’d been doing, so I figured I’d jot them down.

When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes—a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)—who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.

Head inside for 5 Things We Learned From The New Pacific Rim Trailer!! READ MORE

Jaws_4_The_Revenge_1_21_13

[Remember This?] The Multiple Endings Of ‘Jaws 4: The Revenge’!!

I remember when I was a wee tyke, I begged my Dad to take me to the highly age-inappropriate Jaws 4: The Revenge. It took some doing but finally, either out of fondness for the original film or a desire for me to shut up, he relented. I remember seeing Michael Caine’s name on the poster and asking my Dad why it had a rectangle around it when none of the other actors’ names were highlighted. He said something to the effect of, “Oh, he’s a really good actor.” I entered the theater buoyed by that added legitimacy factor – I was taking my Dad to a classy movie.

Because I was young and stupid, I remember walking out thinking I had just seen a masterpiece. Then I made the mistake of making eye contact with my Dad. One glance at my father’s stunned, pained and defeated visage and it was clear – he had just been through hell. I don’t remember much else from that screening, except for the fact that Mario Van Peebles died (and I liked the scene where Lance Guest’s wife flung her underwear at him).

I caught up with the movie on VHS (which going by the release patterns those days might have been almost a year later), and was surprised to find that Mario Van Peebles lived in the home video cut. This was almost as upsetting as having all of the curse words edited out of the 1986 Transformers when it hit Blockbuster. I didn’t remember any huge differences outside of that, but I was obviously pretty dumb because they changed the entire manner in which the shark decided to die after being rammed by captain Lorraine Gary.

Head inside to check out two endings and vote for which awful one you prefer! The shark roars in BOTH of them! READ MORE

Sleep_tight_caption_banner_1_4_12

[BD Caption Contest] ‘Blade Runner’ Winner Announced!! New ‘Sleep Tight’ Contest!

The First Prize winner this week is darkscarecrow (please DM me your US mailing address) you get a Blade Runner: 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Box Set (review)!
DarkScarecrow Caption 1 4 12 [BD Caption Contest] Blade Runner Winner Announced!! New Sleep Tight Contest!
This week (ie for the winners of this new contest) we will be giving away 3 Blu-Ray copies of [REC] director Jaume Balagueró’s Sleep Tight! This means that the winner and two-runner ups will have their memes posted and get prizes. The Blu/DVD hits on Tuesday, January 8th from Dark Sky Media!

Head inside to see the Runner-Up for last week’s contest and to start this week’s contest! READ MORE

deadalivemouthbanner

R.I.P. Academy Award Winning Sound Editor Mike Hopkins Passes Away At 53

Very tragic news as it is being reported that Academy Award winning sound editor Mike Hopkins drowned after being thrown out of a raft while on a river. His wife also fell out of the raft but she survived. Hopkins was 53.

Hopkins won Academy Awards for his sound editing on Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers in 2002 and King Kong in 2005. However, horror fans will remember him for his work on Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive and The Frighteners. He also worked on such amazing films as Blade Runner, Octopussy, Return To Oz, Time Bandits, Heavenly Creatures, and more.

It’s a sad way to end the year to know that such a skilled and talented man has passed away, especially when he had many more years and much more skill to offer. My deepest condolences to his friends and family. I know that I’ll be watching some of his films and thanking him the whole way through. READ MORE

Black_Friday_11_19_12

2012 BLACK FRIDAY CHOPPING LIST: FILMS & TV

Yep! It’s that time of year again. Thanksgiving is on Thursday, which means dutiful consumers are already preparing for the Holiday Shopping Season. If you think you’re exempt from that, think again. Either you know a fellow horror fan (or family member) in need, or you want something for yourself! You can take this as advice for what to buy, or what to ask for.

This second installment (in case you missed MUSIC yesterday) is all about movies and TV. From big box sets to essential individual titles, there’s something for every horror-giver and recipient alike. Some of this stuff is on the expensive side and some of it is dirt cheap, and it’s all just a click away from being at your doorstep (and in someone’s stocking).

Head inside to find that special something for that special someone. READ MORE

Rosemarys_Baby_Blu_Banner_11_05_12-726x248

[Blu-ray Review Round-Up] ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ ‘The Pact,’ ‘They Live,’ ‘Vamps,’ and ‘Blade Runner: 30th Anniversary’

In this week’s round-up, I take a look at Criterion’s Rosemary’s Baby (10/30/12) release, IFC’s The Pact (11/06/12), Scream Factory’s They Live (11/06/12) disc, the forgettable Vamps (11/13/12), and Warner Bros. Blade Runner 30th Anniversary set (10/23/12) – which isn’t horror, but pretty great anyway. There are a few highly anticipated titles in the mix this week, so let’s get to it! READ MORE

universal-monsters-banner

[Horror In Your House] October Special Edition

Trying to figure out what horror to pick up this Halloween season? Check out my recommendations spanning home video horror releases from late last September all the way thru the end of the month.

Leading the way for moi wasHalloween III: Season of the Witchfrom Scream Factory. Speaking of Scream Factory, they’ve been killing it of late with releases of all sorts of horror goodies. Just check out their release schedule over the last couple months. For the old school horror lovers Universal recently released Blu-rays for the classic monsters. And there’s plenty more horror for every type of fan. We’ve really been spoiled as of late, especially on the old/cult horror faves available on Blu-ray front.

Check out the rest below and happy Halloween viewing. READ MORE

Prometheus

[OMFG] What If I Told You That The World Of ‘Prometheus’ And ‘Blade Runner’ Coexist?!

Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, his quasi Alien prequel, will be arriving on both Blu-ray and DVD this coming week on both the UK and in the States. Some of the UK readers will get their hands on a Steelbook Edition that apparently carries an Easter Egg of epic proportion. Reddit user Huxleyism discovered that on the UK edition (it could also be included on the U.S. release) hides text written by character Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce), which seems to indicated that Weyland’s mentor was a certain replicant-creating tycoon whose creations eventually got the best of him, ScreenCrush first reported.

Inside we’ve got an explanation, along with a screengrab of this genre-changing log. READ MORE

Colin Farrell

[BD Review] Watered Down ‘Total Recall’ Is Utterly Weightless

Columbia Pictures’ Len Wiseman (Underworld) directed Total Recall remake is here. And it’s sort of what it looked like all along. It features fine performances by Colin Farrell (In Bruges, Fright Night), Jessica Biel (The Tall Man) and a surprisingly fun turn by Kate Beckinsale (Underworld, Laurel Canyon). It’s not poorly made, but it gets bogged down too often in weightless CGI and loses sight of its story. It’s also severely watered down and features none of the bite of Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 original.

The film is big, expensive and boring. It thinks that its spectacle and budget (not to mention its overabundance of lens flares) will convince the audience that they’re having a good time. ‘Total Recall’ is a total nightmare of a remake – a serviceable film that undercuts and devalues its source material. It’s A CG filled, PG13 watering down of Verhoeven’s 1990 film with little to no understanding of what made the original work.

Click here for the full review. Total Recall is now in theaters. Be sure to write in with your own review here! READ MORE

Album Review: Xander Harris ‘Urban Gothic’

Often times, musicians say that they are inspired by something they see or some event that shapes them. It’s not often, however, that a musician says that their main source of inspiration is a book. Such is the case with Xander Harris’ ‘Urban Gothic’, which is meant to be a companion piece to the Brian Keene book of the same name, played in the background while you read the book. So does it work? Does Xander Harris’ ‘Urban Gothic’ work or does it hinder the reading experience? Check out after the jump.

 Album Review: Xander Harris Urban Gothic

READ MORE