There’s never been anything like Jason Lei Howden’s “Deathgasm” before and I doubt there will ever be anything like it ever again. “Deathgasm” is one of the very few death metal horror movies I’ve ever seen and it’s one that will definitely touch on the right spots for horror fanatics, despite the fact that it’s heavily centered on characters that live and breathe death metal music. For them, it’s a way of life and eventually becomes the downfall of humanity. “Deathgasm” is a shockingly excellent horror comedy that focuses more on the coming of age of its main character and how he uses the eventual demon apocalypse to discover something about himself.
Tag Archives: Musical
Yoga Hosers (2016)
Once upon a time, Kevin Smith decided that he liked “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” so much that he’d copy the cliff notes and paste them on to a recycled fossil of his former glory in the shape of “Clerks” and build himself a brand spankin’ new cult classic. Instead what we get is a movie pandering to teens that is very obviously made by a fifty year old man if he were trying to write like Diablo Cody. I imagine Kevin Smith spent much of his time writing his screenplay for “Yoga Hosers” and promising to cast daughter Harley Quinn in it if she helped with the dialogue and much of the modern colloquialisms. Meanwhile he stuck to what he knew: which is stuff about convenience store clerks, and mocking Canada wholesale. There are shelves of maple syrup in the background, and boxes of cereal like “Cheeri-EHs.” Plus, our two main characters begin their work shift (almost in a subliminal apology to the audience) muttering in repetition “Sawrry Aboot That.”
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again (2016)
TV is dying and the only way a lot of the networks are being able to stay relevant is by hosting a ton of live remakes of classic movies and musicals. Many of them even live. After the huge successes of productions like live “Grease” and “The Sound of Music,” FOX boldly takes on a remake of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” The latter of which is a production that’s above and beyond a cultural landmark more than a movie musical. Unlike most remakes, I didn’t have a problem with “Rocky Horror” being remade for television this year. Fans have been offering up their own interpretations since the original film became a midnight movie classic, and the movie has managed to transcend the cinematic medium and become something of a statement. I think of this remake from FOX as more of a cover song of a great original tune, and it’s hard to not enjoy this as a sweet companion piece.
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Disney’s 1951 adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” is perhaps one of their most iconic animated productions. And yet it’s one of my least favorite Disney films of all time. More so than “Hunchback of Notre Dame” even. Alice, as played by Kathryn Beaumont, is a restless British girl who falls down a rabbit hole when she attempts to chase a talking rabbit who is insistent on reaching an appointment. After falling down a rabbit hole, she enters in to Wonderland where nothing is ever what it quite seems in her world. Up is down, big is small, and everything garners some sense of sentience that makes her exploration of this world even more menacing and baffling than she imagined.
The Mask (1994)
Based on the ultra-violent underground comic book of the same name, “The Mask” is a perfect vehicle for Jim Carrey at the peak of his career. In 1994, star Jim Carrey was capable of being in anything he wanted, and “The Mask” propelled him in to the image of an actor who could transform in to a living cartoon. “The Mask” is not at all faithful to the source material, aiming more toward the PG crowd, while dropping enough adult overtones to appeal to a broader audience. Much in the way Looney Tunes and MGM cartoon shorts once did. Carrey plays Stanley Ipkiss, a normal banker who lives alone with his dog Milo and disappears in to his love for classic cartoons on his spare time. After a bad night at a local night club, he finds a mysterious mask floating in the ocean and takes it home.
Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh (1996)
No one celebrates Halloween like the friends from the hundred acre woods. Although you have to appreciate how they embrace most holidays, including Thanksgiving. In either case, as usual, the gang is very ready to trick or treat, and they all have their own motives for going out for the night. Pooh is especially dead set on stealing honey from the local bee hive and he plans to do so by dressing as a bee for the holiday. Rabbit is also anxious to keep his pumpkin patch in good shape, especially with the group out on their usual antics.
The Haunted Mansion (2003)
It is a shame that “The Haunted Mansion” has the Eddie Murphy taint all over it. I think there’s a good movie to be made about “The Haunted Mansion” and it doesn’t involve the same old Eddie Murphy tropes we’ve seen in the past fifteen years. Eddie Murphy is once again a dopey work a day man who babbles to himself, and is so self involved he can’t notice his family is right in front of him. It’s the same goofy plot points that count as conflict in Eddie Murphy movies these days. Murphy is one note yet again as workaholic dad Jim Evers, a dopey real estate agent impossibly married to a beautiful woman who is, as always, put upon and ever patient toward his priorities of choosing work over family. When Jim’s wife Sara is called to an old mansion to oversee the property, Jim tags along hoping to garner a sale.