The nature of evil is difficult to contemplate, and even
harder to visualize. Movie villains often
have clear motivations that are spelled out explicitly. The audience is made to understand how and
why they came to be. The audience is also
made to understand what their goals are, and just how they plan to go about getting
them accomplished. Such rules are
considered mandatory for proper storytelling.
However, backstory and exposition are sometimes unnecessary. An effective villain can simply be a force of
nature, with no rhyme or reason as to his existence or actions. The most horrible acts often occur without
the benefit of logical explanation. The
horror genre, which is a great medium for examining mankind’s collective fears,
has many examples of how such characterizations can be employed to optimum
effect. In
1978, writer/director John Carpenter offered a vision of evil that revealed it
to be a faceless, emotionless void. It was
simply titled Halloween.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Cool Characters: Michael Myers
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Tag ‘Em and Bag ‘Em: ‘Death Certificate’ Turns 20
Ice Cube’s Death
Certificate isn’t just Hip-Hop’s greatest concept album, but an artistic
revelation whose earth shattering impact can only be understood within the
proper historical context. The musical,
social, and political landscape of America was quite different in the early
1990’s. People actually went out to
stores and purchased music on physical media.
CD’s were still a relatively new format.
Street corner drug dealing was still a viable means of clocking tax free
loot.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Punisher Cometh: ‘Circle of Blood’ Turns 25
Vigilantes invaded American cinema in a big way during the
1970’s. The world of superhero comics
responded in kind. Mere months before
Michael Winner crafted arguably the definitive vigilante film of the period
with Death Wish, Marvel comics
offered up a costumed anti-hero who had an eerily similar modus operandi. He was conceived as an antagonist to none
other than Spider-Man. By the mid to
late 80’s, American superhero comics were entering the “Grim and Gritty”
period, which offered up exceedingly dark takes on classic heroes such as
Batman. The tone fit the punisher
perfectly. Seeing as how the character had never been the
subject of his very own series, writer Steven Grant and artist Mike Zeck felt the
time was right to finally unleash the character on an unsuspecting Marvel
Universe. They did so in a mini-series
fittingly titled “Circle of Blood.”
Monday, October 24, 2011
Movie Poster: The Guillotines
The flying guillotine is simultaneously the coolest and most
absurd weapon in movie history. It is
essentially a bladed hat attached to a length of chain. Its wielder throws it at the intended
target. As It then lands on the targets
head, the bottom half telescopes down around the neck. The blades that line the lip of the bottom
half then close around the neck like a bladed iris diaphragm. One yank of the chain by the operator, and
the target is cleanly decapitated. As grisly
as that may sound, the visual is absolutely hilarious when accompanied by unbelievable
FX. Did I mention that when it is flying
through the air, the flying guillotine sounds like a bullet ricocheting of a
rock in an old western? Little touches like that made Jimmy Wang Yu’s
chop-socky gem Master of the Flying
Guillotine a joy to be behold.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Red Band Movie Trailer: Outrage
Characters in movies often exhibit a flare for the
theatrical when committing acts of violence.
Such grandeur is often facilitated by various filmmaking
techniques. One imagines that real life
sociopaths, especially the ones who do violence for a living, often go about
their business with a certain measure of casual detachment. After all, for them it’s just a job. Curiously, the sometimes ultra-violent works
of Japanese actor and filmmaker “Beat” Takeshi Kitano seems to exhibit both
emotional intensity and deadpan indifference all at once. Half of his face was paralyzed in an August
1994 motorcycle accident, diminishing his range of facial expressions
considerably. He sometimes plays
characters that inflict unspeakable physical damage on their enemies, yet betray
nothing in the way of an emotional response to the carnage, be it disgust or gratification. His latest gangster opus, Outrage, seems to continue this curious
tradition.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Batman Lives: 'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns' Turns 25
The superhero was born in the late 1930’s, and had become
somewhat antiquated by the mid 1980’s, Likewise, America’s notions of heroism
had drastically changed. Other mediums,
to varying degrees, reflected the country’s shift in mood and political attitudes. Two comic book writers, Alan Moore and Frank
Miller, thought it was time to bring the superhero out of the dark ages and
into the present, kicking and screaming if need be. Seeing as how they were two of the hottest
writers around, they were more than up to the challenge. They both decided that a deconstructionist
take on the material would be the best way to go. However, their vastly different storytelling
sensibilities took them down wildly divergent paths. Moore was going to question the very notion
of superheroes, while Miller was planning to turn an iconic superhero into a seemingly
fascist enemy of the state.
Labels:
1986,
Batman,
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns,
Bronze Age Comics,
Comics,
Deconstructionist,
editorial,
Frank Miller
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Movie Review: Batman: Year One
Gotham city is drowning in the murky depths of its own
corruption. Organized criminals operate
with impunity. Petty crooks prey on
helpless civilians. The police act more
like hired thugs than civil servants. Into
this cesspool steps Lieutenant James Gordon (Bryan Cranston), an honest cop
with a pregnant wife. Meanwhile,
billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne (Benjamin McKenzie) has just returned from a twelve
year sabbatical abroad. The reasons for
his self-imposed exile are unknown to the general public, but Wayne has
secretly been preparing himself to wage a very large scale yet private war. He has the means, but not the method. He finds a kindred spirit in the likes of Lieutenant
Gordon, whose honesty and steadfastness have made him a pariah in his own
department. As both Gordon and Wayne
embark on their own personal crusade to purge the city of corruption, they
inevitably cross paths and become the unlikeliest of allies.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Short Film Review: Batman: The Last Laugh
In one of Gotham’s dark alleyways, the Jokers thugs assail a
young woman (Christina Falcon). Batman
(Greg Rementer) leaps to her rescue, only to be overwhelmed by her attackers. The Joker (Selman Markovic) then appears and
knocks him unconscious. Batman comes to
in an abandoned warehouse where he’s been strung up like a side of beef. The Joker than vacates the premises with his
female hostage, allowing his minions to administer a severe beating to the Dark
Knight detective. Batman breaks free and fights his way through
a veritable battalion. He then resumes
the chase, tracking the joker down to remote location. As batman closes in on his prey, it becomes
evident that the Joker has one of his nasty little surprises in store.
Labels:
Action Film,
Batman,
Comics,
Short Film Review
Friday, October 14, 2011
Short Film Review: Seeds of Arkham
Batman is perhaps the most durable and endearing of all superheroes. He can sustain any number of interpretations,
no matter how disparate. He can also
weather the fallout when said interpretation becomes passé, leaving his legacy
in tatters. The character is consummately
iconic, so much so that he continues to inspire any number of fan films despite
the massive success of his most recent cinematic incarnation. Interestingly, though Christopher Nolan’s
version of Batman is arguably the most widely accepted to date, fans still look
to Tim Burton’s vision for inspiration when crafting their own batman films. Sometimes, they combine elements from both to
create an amalgamation of the two.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Teaser Trailer: The Avengers
Expansive superhero teams present filmmakers with a unique
challenge. It’s hard enough to tell the
story of a single character. Trying to sufficiently
handle a group of said characters can be a logistical nightmare. How does one divvy up the screen time in a
way that appeases general audiences and remains true to the source
material? How can multiple subplots and
characters arcs be organized into something resembling a coherent and streamlined
story? Logically, the most popular
and/or marketable characters will take center stage while the others are
relegated to the background. Such
problems have plagued both the X-Men
and Fantastic Four film franchises to
varying degrees. In the face of such
odds, Marvel Studios presses on with the grand experiment that is The Avengers, the most ambitious production
of its kind thus far.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Music Video Review: Method Man - World Gone Sour (The Lost Kids)
Right from the beginning, Method Man stood out from his
fellow Clansmen. Though he wasn’t the
most skilled lyricist, he clearly possessed the ever elusive “it” factor that separates
mere celebrities from true superstars.
Strangely, his genius only seemed to manifest itself when contrasted
against another flamboyant personality, be it Redman or Mary J Blige. In keeping with the very low key resurgence
that the clan has been experiencing over the past couple of years, Mr. Meth has
been trying to show fans that he can still conjure up a bit of that old shaolin
magic. As the new spokesman for Sour
Patch Kids candy, he performs an amusing parlor trick that ultimately proves to
be bittersweet.
Labels:
Hip-Hop,
Music Video Review,
Rap,
Wu-Tang Clan
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Promo Video: 009 Re:Cyborg
For all the complaints that detractors may have about Japanese
anime as a storytelling medium, its command of both style and kinetic energy is
undeniable. Such invaluable assets go a
long way in smoothing over the ambiguities and cultural barriers that seem to
be inherent to the form. While style is
never truly an adequate stand in for substance, it’s hard to tell your brain
that when your eyes are taking in a visual feast. During such moments, the viewer is compelled to
rule all out other criteria, as what they behold feels very much like an end
unto itself.
Labels:
Animation,
Anime,
Comics,
Science Fiction
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)