30 June 2009
29 June 2009
27 June 2009
Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh
Three camp-based films:
Wet Hot American Summer follows a group of counsellors and campers at Camp Firewood on the last day of summer camp (on the first day of the third week in August) in 1981. It's about high times, hard bodies, soft rock... and a talking can of vegetables!
Happy Campers follows seven college freshmen who find themselves in charge (and running amok) at Camp Bleeding Dove when their rule-enforcing camp director Oberon (Peter Stormare) is struck by lightning.
Friday the 13th is about a group of "doomed" counsellors who become the victims of a psychotic killer at Camp Crystal Lake, a campsite which had previously been shut down after a small boy drowned there and two camp counsellors were murdered.
Wet Hot American Summer follows a group of counsellors and campers at Camp Firewood on the last day of summer camp (on the first day of the third week in August) in 1981. It's about high times, hard bodies, soft rock... and a talking can of vegetables!
Happy Campers follows seven college freshmen who find themselves in charge (and running amok) at Camp Bleeding Dove when their rule-enforcing camp director Oberon (Peter Stormare) is struck by lightning.
Friday the 13th is about a group of "doomed" counsellors who become the victims of a psychotic killer at Camp Crystal Lake, a campsite which had previously been shut down after a small boy drowned there and two camp counsellors were murdered.
23 June 2009
Five Hollywood Clichés: Horror Films
1. The killer wears a mask to hide a disfigured face.
2. The would-be victim falls while trying to escape, injuring their leg/foot.
3. The killer fumbles when attempting to kill the main character (despite killing off friends quickly and easily).
4. After being hit/shot/stabbed etc the killer gets up again at least once.
5. If there’s more than one killer, they’re a bunch of inbred hillbillies.
2. The would-be victim falls while trying to escape, injuring their leg/foot.
3. The killer fumbles when attempting to kill the main character (despite killing off friends quickly and easily).
4. After being hit/shot/stabbed etc the killer gets up again at least once.
5. If there’s more than one killer, they’re a bunch of inbred hillbillies.
20 June 2009
Dude Looks Like A Lady
Dragtastic characters from film and TV:
High school student Chris Calder (Corey Haim) disguised himself as a girl in order to avoid being bullied by Kurtis "Kurt" Stark (Cameron Bancroft) and his friends in Just One of the Girls (aka Anything for Love).
Clarence Bell (Gary Anthony Williams) took on the persona of an assertive and confrontational woman named Clarice in an attempt to overcome his shyness in Boston Legal.
Captain Monica Stark (Charles Busch) tried to track down the culprit responsible for a series of mysterious deaths in Psycho Beach Party.
Cross-dressing DEA agent Dennis/Denise Bryson (David Duchovny) helped former colleague Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) investigate drug trafficking in Twin Peaks.
High school student Chris Calder (Corey Haim) disguised himself as a girl in order to avoid being bullied by Kurtis "Kurt" Stark (Cameron Bancroft) and his friends in Just One of the Girls (aka Anything for Love).
Clarence Bell (Gary Anthony Williams) took on the persona of an assertive and confrontational woman named Clarice in an attempt to overcome his shyness in Boston Legal.
Captain Monica Stark (Charles Busch) tried to track down the culprit responsible for a series of mysterious deaths in Psycho Beach Party.
Cross-dressing DEA agent Dennis/Denise Bryson (David Duchovny) helped former colleague Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) investigate drug trafficking in Twin Peaks.
19 June 2009
17 June 2009
16 June 2009
Misleading Film Posters
Even though this poster for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre states "What happened is true. Now the motion picture that's just as real" the events in the film are entirely fictional. Similarly the main inspiration for Hostel came from a presumably fake website that Eli Roth saw, offering individuals the opportunity to shoot someone in the head for $10,000. The film isn’t exactly "Inspired by true events" as the poster claims.
Despite playing the main character Danny Embling in Flirting, Noah Taylor either doesn't appear on posters for the film or he only appears in silhouette. He also isn't featured on the DVD cover whereas Nicole Kidman, who only has a minor role in the film, is prominently.
Due to incorrect proportions, this poster for Attack of the 50 Foot Woman makes it appear as though Nancy Fowler Archer (Allison Hayes) is at least 200 feet tall and the strange proportions on this poster for Changeling make it look as though Angelina Jolie plays a gigantic (possibly child-eating) woman!
Despite playing the main character Danny Embling in Flirting, Noah Taylor either doesn't appear on posters for the film or he only appears in silhouette. He also isn't featured on the DVD cover whereas Nicole Kidman, who only has a minor role in the film, is prominently.
Due to incorrect proportions, this poster for Attack of the 50 Foot Woman makes it appear as though Nancy Fowler Archer (Allison Hayes) is at least 200 feet tall and the strange proportions on this poster for Changeling make it look as though Angelina Jolie plays a gigantic (possibly child-eating) woman!
13 June 2009
Dubious Disguises
Characters who’ve donned questionable disguises:
In order to achieve his dream of attending Harvard Law School, Mark Watson (C. Thomas Howell) overdosed on tanning pills and sported an afro hairdo so he could pose as a young black man and qualify for an African-American only scholarship in 80s teen comedy Soul Man.
In a parody of Mrs. Doubtfire, Tobias Fünke (David Cross) tried to disguise himself as a Mary Poppins-style nanny named Mrs. Featherbottom so he could maintain a relationship with his daughter Maeby Fünke (Alia Shawkat) in Arrested Development. His disguise proved unsuccessful though when everyone recognised him immediately.
Superman and his mild-mannered alter-ego Clark Kent have appeared in various comics, TV shows and films throughout the years (most recently in Superman Returns) but he still hasn't manage to pull off a more convincing disguise than a pair of dark rimmed glasses. How everyone doesn't guess straight away that Clark Kent is actually Superman is a mystery!
In order to achieve his dream of attending Harvard Law School, Mark Watson (C. Thomas Howell) overdosed on tanning pills and sported an afro hairdo so he could pose as a young black man and qualify for an African-American only scholarship in 80s teen comedy Soul Man.
In a parody of Mrs. Doubtfire, Tobias Fünke (David Cross) tried to disguise himself as a Mary Poppins-style nanny named Mrs. Featherbottom so he could maintain a relationship with his daughter Maeby Fünke (Alia Shawkat) in Arrested Development. His disguise proved unsuccessful though when everyone recognised him immediately.
Superman and his mild-mannered alter-ego Clark Kent have appeared in various comics, TV shows and films throughout the years (most recently in Superman Returns) but he still hasn't manage to pull off a more convincing disguise than a pair of dark rimmed glasses. How everyone doesn't guess straight away that Clark Kent is actually Superman is a mystery!
10 June 2009
Five Reasons To Watch Lost And Delirious
1. It's the first English-language film by Quebecois director Léa Pool.
2. The screenplay (by Judith Thompson) was adapted from Susan Swan's novel, The Wives of Bath.
3. It's about "Friends. Roommates. Lovers".
4. The cast are impressive, especially Piper Perabo as Pauline "Paulie" Oster.
5. The soundtrack, featuring "You Had Time" by Ani DiFranco and "River Waltz" by Cowboy Junkies, is great.
2. The screenplay (by Judith Thompson) was adapted from Susan Swan's novel, The Wives of Bath.
3. It's about "Friends. Roommates. Lovers".
4. The cast are impressive, especially Piper Perabo as Pauline "Paulie" Oster.
5. The soundtrack, featuring "You Had Time" by Ani DiFranco and "River Waltz" by Cowboy Junkies, is great.
09 June 2009
True Fiction
Three films about true fictional events:
Contrary to popular belief The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is entirely fictional and not based on real events. False marketing and the film's opening narration suggested the events that occurred in the film really did happen on 18th August 1973, however, filming took place before the date on which the events supposedly happened and although the film was initially inspired by real-life serial killer Ed Gein (who was also the inspiration for Psycho) there never was a massacre in Texas, nor was a chainsaw ever involved. Despite this, Gunnar Hansen (who played Leatherface) has said that people tell him they remember when it happened and prison guards have told him they knew Leatherface when he was a prisoner at the state prison in Huntsville, Texas!
After Fargo was released in 1996 journalists went in search of the real story behind the film, due to the fact that it opened with a title card proclaiming "This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987". However, the film was completely fictional and Joel and Ethan Coen admitted the title card was a hoax, saying that although many of the events that took place in the film were based on true cases, they were put together to create one fictional story. Later, in 2001, a rumour circulated that a 28-year-old Japanese woman died while searching for the buried money seen in the film, believing it to be real. However, her death was subsequently ruled a suicide with no connection to Fargo.
When producers were promoting The Blair Witch Project they claimed the footage in the film was real and the three student filmmakers really had disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, and many people believed them (some still do). Missing posters were used to promote the film at the Cannes Film Festival and the IMDb listed Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams as "missing, presumed dead". A website was also launched featuring police documents and interviews, video footage and photographs, and a journal, all of which added to the mystery as to whether the film was real or fake. It was, of course, fake.
Contrary to popular belief The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is entirely fictional and not based on real events. False marketing and the film's opening narration suggested the events that occurred in the film really did happen on 18th August 1973, however, filming took place before the date on which the events supposedly happened and although the film was initially inspired by real-life serial killer Ed Gein (who was also the inspiration for Psycho) there never was a massacre in Texas, nor was a chainsaw ever involved. Despite this, Gunnar Hansen (who played Leatherface) has said that people tell him they remember when it happened and prison guards have told him they knew Leatherface when he was a prisoner at the state prison in Huntsville, Texas!
After Fargo was released in 1996 journalists went in search of the real story behind the film, due to the fact that it opened with a title card proclaiming "This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987". However, the film was completely fictional and Joel and Ethan Coen admitted the title card was a hoax, saying that although many of the events that took place in the film were based on true cases, they were put together to create one fictional story. Later, in 2001, a rumour circulated that a 28-year-old Japanese woman died while searching for the buried money seen in the film, believing it to be real. However, her death was subsequently ruled a suicide with no connection to Fargo.
When producers were promoting The Blair Witch Project they claimed the footage in the film was real and the three student filmmakers really had disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, and many people believed them (some still do). Missing posters were used to promote the film at the Cannes Film Festival and the IMDb listed Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams as "missing, presumed dead". A website was also launched featuring police documents and interviews, video footage and photographs, and a journal, all of which added to the mystery as to whether the film was real or fake. It was, of course, fake.
05 June 2009
Five Hollywood Clichés: Teen Films
1. The protagonist is in love with the hottest girl/guy in school.
2. Popular students are jocks and cheerleaders.
3. Unpopular students are ridiculed by said jocks and cheerleaders.
4. A much-loved classic car gets trashed.
5. The so-called ugly girl/guy who gets a makeover is already obviously attractive.
2. Popular students are jocks and cheerleaders.
3. Unpopular students are ridiculed by said jocks and cheerleaders.
4. A much-loved classic car gets trashed.
5. The so-called ugly girl/guy who gets a makeover is already obviously attractive.
04 June 2009
02 June 2009
Five Reasons To Watch Drag Me To Hell
1. It's co-written and directed by Sam Raimi, who wrote and directed The Evil Dead series.
2. It's both funny and scary.
3. It's "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes, receiving mostly positive reviews from critics.
4. It's brilliantly over-the-top.
5. There's a talking goat!
2. It's both funny and scary.
3. It's "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes, receiving mostly positive reviews from critics.
4. It's brilliantly over-the-top.
5. There's a talking goat!
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