1.31.2015

Bad Movie Nite: Never Too Young To Die


Here's a little something I whipped up for my bi-weekly Bad Movie NiteBad Movie Nite, which I hold at my place.

If you know me, or follow my other site, Robo-Bit, then you know I'm all kinds of crazy in love with this WTF?! mess. Basically, Never Too Young To Die is what you get when you combine Mad Max, James Bond, Mullets, Hermaphrodite villains, Kung Fu, Gymnastics, and set it all in present day 1986. The result is a glorious mess of the best caliber.

1.23.2015

The Guest


2014
Directed by; Adam Wingard
Category: Action/Thriller

I had been hearing rumblings about this film ever since it was about to hit the festivals. Knowing it was from the same duo who brought us the excellent and better than you'd expect You're Next, you can say I was very excited. To top it off, this wasn't going to be another horror film, which is what you'd expect from some talented filmmakers who knocked it out of the park with their last home invasion horror film. Nope. This time around they decided to head on into action/thriller territory and let me say, it's another home run.

The Guest is an excellent piece of Badass Cinema. Everything from it's slick visuals, the incredible synth score, and it's somewhat 80's vibe, The Guest delivers the goods on all fronts, all in no small part to the incredible turn by lead Dan Stevens, who I'd never heard of before until now. Heralding from England, the guy plays one badass mofo, yet so damn charming that you can't help but like him, even though you know something is lying just beneath the surface waiting to explode. You see, right from the beginning, you know not all is what it seems with this guy, and it's his portrayal of a down home country boy looking after the family of a recently deceased fellow combat friend that kind of throws you for a loop. As an actor, he's got the southern thing down pat, and it's pretty remarkable. His ability to charm, shock, and frighten you all in the blink of an eye is what makes this film so impressive.

A soldier shows up at the door of a fallen soldier's family one day. Claiming to be friends with the deceased soldier, he says that he was told to look after the guy's family. Almost immediately upon his arrival, the mysterious and charming soldier seems like a Godsend. He's handy, and a problem solver, helping every member of the family out in one way or another. But there's something mysterious about him, something just beneath the surface. 

The Guest is a solid entry in the action/thriller genre. Director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett take a nostalgic approach to this film, making it look and feel like it came right out of the 80's, and these guys are quickly becoming the duo to keep your eye on. The Guest is an excellent film all around and an awesome piece of Badass Cinema. With the recent box office release of John Wick, it seems that stylish thrillers are coming back to the forefront once again, after laying dormant for what seems like forever now.

1.15.2015

Update on where I've been...

As you may or may not have noticed, I've been pretty absent from this blog for over a few months now. Randomly I'll make an attempt to post something, but more times than not, I don't. The holiday's were pretty crazy for me with family visiting and whatnot, but honestly, the main thing, or hobby rather, that's been keeping me busy morning, noon and night is collecting. I've always been a collector, always. Sometimes it's exclusively VHS, sometimes figures, sometimes Laserdisc. I've always been that way and collecting has and always will be a passion of mine and as you may know, it's not something that you can always do because of your financial situation. This is the reason why I had to take a good long break from pretty much buying anything I loved to collect for a very long time.

Recently, my life in general has become comfortable enough that I can now afford to get back into finding the things that make me happy; mainly toys and games from my childhood, action figures, collectibles, VHS tapes, Laserdiscs, and pretty much anything that makes me who I am. And that would be a big kid at heart.

While I will be posting reviews from time to time on here, it will be random and much less frequent than before. That is unless I build a passion for it again. But at this time, it's in collecting, which brings me to another topic.



I've created a new blog dedicated solely to my stuff. I love the idea of being able to share rare finds, badass buys and just retro stuff in general with other fellow nerds, collectors and enthusiasts like myself. That page is Robo-Bit.blogspot.com. Here I will be posting things I find, recent buys, and everything in between. I guess you can say it's like Tumblr, but this would be my own thing. Essentially it's just all the things I post on my Instagram page, which I've become quite busy on these past few months. Please add my new page to your blog list, favorite my page and please comment. I encourage conversation on all things geeky. I love it! I hope to hear from you all over there and please, let's get some dialogue going.

www.Robo-Bit.blogspot.com

1.07.2015

Razorback

1984
Directed by: Russell Mulcahy
Category: Horror/Thriller

Razorback is a film that I'd been desperately trying to see for some time now. I'd always heard of it, but when it was highlighted in the excellent Ozploitation doc Not Quite Hollywood, I was dead set on finally getting this sucker in my hands. Except, WB Archives DVD was the last US release of the film, and knowing it was going to be a visual stunner, I wanted my first experience watching this to be on blu ray. Unfortunately, there's been no US blu ray release as of yet. However, there is a Region Free blu out there, but when it typically goes for $30 and over plus shipping, I wasn't ready to spend that kind of money on a movie that I wasn't even sure was going to be good. Needless to say, I streamed it.

With it's impressive opening shots, Razorback is undoubtedly one of the most visually impressive films I've ever seen. Knowing this was from Aussie video director Russell Mulcahy, who also directed Highlander, one of my favorite films, I knew I'd be in for a visual treat. Stunning is putting it lightly.  Director Russell Mulcahy seriously outdid himself with this early effort. As much as I love his work on other favorites like Highlander, The Shadow and Ricochet, none of them come remotely close to his brilliant camera work in this. Early in his career, Mulcahy was the quintessential visual director, and it's films like Razorback and Highlander that showcase his impressive visual talents.

When a reporter goes missing on assignment in Australia, her American husband goes in search of her and soon discovers that this may all be the work of a mythical creature, rather than man.

While often referred to as a horror film, I consider it more of a thriller than anything. A very good thriller. Mulcahy does an excellent job driving up the tension to exuberant levels, and his use of visual camera tricks are just brilliant, imploring the sort of gimmicks that can make or break a director if they come across as too schlocky. Thankfully, Mulcahy does it all with class, and it's pretty amazing how he makes the Australian outback look both beautiful and terrifying. There's even a sequence midway through where the film takes a slight hallucinatory detour. While it may seem slightly out of place initially, it's gorgeously shot to such a degree that you honestly just don't care. It's trippy, beautiful, and an excellent example of the power of brilliant visuals.

One of the things I found interesting is that much like in Jaws, you barely, if ever, see the actual creature. I'm not sure if it's just because of  how practical or inpractical the big thing was, but by not actually showing it for most of the film made for some truly tense moments on screen. It's like they say, it's what you don't see that scares you the most.

An excellent example of old school stylish filmmaking at it's finest and a stellar achievement in Mulcahy's career, if you haven't seen Razorback yet, I urge you to get to it!