Elias goes for the good old trick of cinema. When all else fails, throw in a hot chick or two. And man, are there ever good looking women here. Gillian MacGregor is one who will burn herself into your brain in “Witch’s Spring” as a rather sexy witch seducing a man, and then there’s Nicky Ladanowski in “Bug boy” a fleeting and rather horrific little skit involving a man’s rage manifesting itself into a monster. Elias’ talent shows, and when he tackles the horror element, he really pulls through in a gritty disturbing manner. Take for the example the weird “RePenetrator” which is surprisingly funny and inappropriately erotic, in which the Dr. West re-animates a body so hot he has to engage in rough sex with it before it turns on him.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Broken Flowers (2005)
Never underestimate the power of karma. Don Johnston never will. Don has just broken up with his girlfriend, who urges him to get his life together and grow up. One day he receives an anonymous letter revealing to him that his son, who he’s never met, is looking for him. Jim Jarmusch’s tale of a lady killer who gets a jolt of reality facing his own mortality, is a clever and pretty interesting slice of life about a man whose life seems basically comfortable until he gets the announcement.
Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep (2006)
It’s almost like watching teenagers act out “The Deep” on a student theater stage somewhere, because in the end, “Kraken” is basically just that. It’s a very low rent and C grade variation of “The Deep,” minus the compelling story, and wonderful characterization. And oh yes, there’s the small case of the acting and lack thereof. This low rent thief stars two people whom will garner two reactions from you. One will be “Who?” while the other will be “O-h-h-h-h-h… who?” Victoria Pratt, or as I call her “The hot chick from the crappy X-men show,” stars in “Kraken” as a marine biologist looking for an underwater treasure. Stop me, if you’ve heard this one.
Now You See Me, Now You Don't (Most látszom, most nem látszom) (2005)
Filmmaker Szász poses three riddles to the viewer in only thirty minutes including what’s wrong with this scene? And then there are three more posed to us, but three that will basically give away what this has to offer. Almost in the manner of Shyamalan, Szász starts the film on a soft note and then builds for a rather surprising albeit predictable climax that worked in the end, and that’s due to the rather excellent performances throughout the short film. Szász’s film is a solid utterly wrenching supernatural drama that tests not only the audience, but the perceptions of our views into grief, and isolation after grief.
Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face (2006)
Co-director Longstreth once told me that Batman is pretty preposterous because he just doesn’t see how a man in a suit can scare criminals and provide protection. Because while his suit protects him from bullets, if a criminal wanted to shoot him in the face, he’d be down for the count within an instant. Longstreth just isn’t that fond of Batman, and neither am I, and one of his newest films pretty much sums up what he feels about the character. “Batman’s Gonna Get Shot in the Face” is a spoofing of the character Batman, a brutally overrated superhero. Now, Longstreth and Jacob Drake are big fans of the comics as I am, and the character of Batman is thrashed back and forth in one of the funniest online cartoons I’ve ever seen.
Zombie Island (2005)
Director Bill Whirity’s “Zombie Island” is set in a reality, where a local town attracts tourists by inviting young hunting aficionados to a small little island off their coast. This particular tourist attraction happens to be an island filled with zombies. Three young guys looking for a good time beg to go on the island, and do so by a boater who hands them firearms and handheld weapons. At first, the tourist attraction seems more like a tourist trap, but as the zombies start popping up, the game no longer becomes fun.
The Dukes of Hazzard (2005)
What can you do to royally piss me off? Cast three of the stupidest most untalented people in Hollywood in a remake. Yes, that’s right earning of a smack across the face. Take a Jack ass who is a Jack ass, a one-hit wonder, and a singer whose talents are in her sweater, and you have “The Dukes of Hazzard,” a cleaned up, PC spoof of the actual show that preceded it, that can never tell whether its taking itself seriously, or as a general satire of hillbillies.


