Category: Movies

CINEQUEST Film Festival

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So this is the first blog post in a loooong time that hasn’t been a podcast episode or a reminder about some upcoming appearance. A job in academia tends to preclude a lot of basic writerly pursuits. I’m sitting right now at a Starbuck’s in San Jose, CA, across from the San Jose Repertory Theatre, where I’m awaiting the start of the CINEQUEST Film Festival Writers Celebration.  The screenplay I wrote with Jim Pinto, a horror-western called Death Wind, has made the Top 10 in the screenplay contest. This is not the first Top 10 or finalist status; DW gotContinue readingCINEQUEST Film Festival

Author Interview Series #6 – Melinda Snodgrass

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I must admit that I first became aware of Melinda Snodgrass only recently, when one of my readers suggested her as a candidate for this interview series. When I had the opportunity to see the body of work she has produced and the acclaim she has garnered for her work in television and publishing, I didn’t waste any time approaching her for an interview. She was gracious enough to agree. What interested me most, at least initially, was that she wrote an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that ranks as one of the best in science fiction television.Continue readingAuthor Interview Series #6 – Melinda Snodgrass

Author Interview Series #1 – Joe R. Lansdale

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I am tremendously pleased to post the inaugural installment of my author interview series. Joe R. Lansdale is perhaps best known as the author behind Bubba Hotep. Can I get an Elvis impersonation here? But he’s also written dozens of short stories, books, comics, and screenplays, including some of the best known novels in horror fiction, such as The Nightrunners. All that, and he’s a darn nice fella. So, let’s take o’ bidness.

Flash Gordon Doesn’t Flash, Just Fizzles

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Yes, it’s been a blue moon since my last post, but that‘s actually a good thing for me, because it means I’ve been busy the last couple of months. The thing that‘s been on my mind lately is how horribly the Sci-Fi Channel has not only failed, but soiled, one of the great icons of science fiction. As a kid, I lived for the Flash Gordon animated series on Saturday morning. When the most recent movie came out in 1980, I had that Queen soundtrack and actually wore out the cassette. I spent countless hours drawing Flash Gordon rocket shipsContinue readingFlash Gordon Doesn’t Flash, Just Fizzles

Hell-bent for Leather! Ghost Rider – Movie Review

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Now, for one of the coolest comic book movies ever! I’ve been a fan of Marvel Comics since I was a little kid. Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, I loved them all. And the movies in recent years have overcome some of the appalling crappiness that so plagued super hero movies in the decades preceding CGI (with the exception of the first two Christopher Reeves Superman movies and Tim Burton’s first Batman movie, which were awesome.) The first Spider-Man movie blew everyone away because it really was Spidey. (X-Men was great too, but I have to say that Spidey 1 andContinue readingHell-bent for Leather! Ghost Rider – Movie Review

A Feast of Crows – The Messenger – Movie Review

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It’s always nice to come out of a movie pleasantly surprised at how good it was. The inverse is more often the case, especially with Hollywood horror movies in recent years. More often you go in, expecting it, but hoping against hope that it won’t. The Messenger, recently released Hollywood horror movie, is a horror movie well worth seeing. Its a haunted house story of a family that leaves their city life behind to pull up stakes and move to Middle of Nowhere, North Dakota, to start a sunflower farm. Starring Dylan McDermott as Roy, the father, Penelope Ann MillerContinue readingA Feast of Crows – The Messenger – Movie Review

Children of Men – Bladerunner for the 21st Century? No. More.

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I can count the instances on one hand where I left the movie theater shocked and moved to the core of my being. Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Full Metal Jacket. Some of the most powerful movies ever filmed. Add another to this list. Children of Men takes you by the throat from the opening moments and tightens its grip, slowly, inexorably, holding you enthralled, tense, and utterly in its grip for the next two hours of your life. Emerging from the theater both shocked and feeling as if something had shifted within me, I’ve spent the last several hours digestingContinue readingChildren of Men – Bladerunner for the 21st Century? No. More.

Dragons Live! – Eragon Movie Review

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Since the penultimate fantasy movie, Lord of the Rings, I have avoided watching fantasy movies, probably because I can’t imagine a better fantasy movie. But I was intrigued by Eragon. I knew little about it, avoiding hype and trailers, because I wanted to see it with a clear slate. Is it a better movie than LotR? Not even close. But is it worth watching? Is it any good? Yes. Er, well, maybe. Here’s the story: A mysterious princess is pursued by an evil emperor and his minions. She’s carrying something that’s vital, something that can bring down the evil empire.Continue readingDragons Live! – Eragon Movie Review

Slither – Movie Review – What a sticky situation!

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If you love the kind of horror movies that make you say, “Oh, sick!”  a few seconds before you laugh your ass off, you need to see Slither. Slither is one of the those rare movies that mixes full-contact in-your-face nastiness with some seriously funny stuff. Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Serenity, Saving Private Ryan) plays a small town police chief struggling to stem an impending invasion of parasitic alien slugs. It starts out with a meteor falling in the woods, and a local businessman, played by Michael Rooker (an immediately recognizable character actor from dozens of films and TV shows), discoversContinue readingSlither – Movie Review – What a sticky situation!

Masters of Horror just keep on doing it! Bravo Showtime!

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So I just saw the first episode of the new season of Showtime’s series, Masters of Horror. This episode “The Damned Thing” was based on a short story by Ambrose Bierce and directed by Tobe Hooper (can you say Texas Chainsaw Massacre?). I was so impressed by the entire first season of Masters of Horror. I liked some episodes more than others, but each one of them is a gem, a one-hour mini-movie that is far better than 90% of the ridiculous splatter-shlock I have seen lately (see my Rest Stop and Wicker Man reviews). I credit this series forContinue readingMasters of Horror just keep on doing it! Bravo Showtime!

Rage. Just pure rage. Movie Review – Rest Stop

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This movie committed the cardinal sin. It made me yell at the screen, “Ok, YOU’RE STUPID! YOU DESERVE TO DIE NOW!” That was the point at which the heroine crossed the line at which I ceased to care about her and just wished she’d die and get the movie over with. The movie is called Rest Stop. It’s about a young woman and her boyfriend who run off to LA together, and stop at some nasty rest stop on a California back road. The rest stop is so nasty that it reminded me of “The Filthiest Toilet In Scotland” SceneContinue readingRage. Just pure rage. Movie Review – Rest Stop

Wow! Now that’s a Chiller! Movie Review “An American Haunting”

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Well, it finally happened. Here I am, into middle age, and a movie comes along that gives me the first real live chill up the back of my neck. I’m a pretty jaded horror movie buff. Blood and guts? No problem.  Takes a lot to make me squirm. I’ve seen all the big ones and a lot of the little ones, and I’ve never experienced the actual chill that I’ve heard about for so long. That is until I watched An American Haunting. I feel I have an advantage as a movie viewer because I lived in Japan for 3Continue readingWow! Now that’s a Chiller! Movie Review “An American Haunting”