Tag Archives: Thriller

Musings On An Ear

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“Torture you? That’s a Good Idea. I Like that One. Sounds Fun.”

I’m often given a stink eye when I proclaim “Reservoir Dogs” as one of my lesser liked Tarantino films. While I think it’s stellar, I also think it possesses a lot of the hallmarks of a fresh talent desperate to impress right out of the gate. That said, I would agree “Reservoir Dogs” is a wonderful example of crime cinema, and a wonderful exploration on the levels of brutal violence. All at once Tarantino explores cartoonish action movie violence, brutal realistic violence, and a personal kind of violence that people still talk about to this day.

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Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

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Watching the sequel to the shockingly successful “Venom” is like watching a screensaver. Sure, there’s a lot of activity and colors, but at the end of it, nothing has actually happened; and then you move on to the next thing. This schlocky follow up to the goofy “Venom” leans more heavily in to the mid-nineties silliness mixing a buddy action comedy with a body horror film. Normally that could be a formula for success, but—again: screensaver.

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Street Fighter (1994): Steelbook [Blu-Ray]

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Oh brother, you could build a wonderful documentary around the making of Steven E. De Souza’s “Street Fighter” that would be so much better than the actual movie. The behind the scenes tale of the making of what was supposed to be a blockbuster film is absolutely fascinating, funny, and just downright entertaining. In 1991, the video game “Street Fighter” virtually changed the face of video games, pop culture, and competitive gaming forever. Universal Pictures led the charge in banking on the game’s success by adapting the hit video game in to a feature film.

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Beyond Fest’s Black Friday: George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” with Ken Foree In Person

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Join the American Cinematheque and the Cinemtatic Void for the Ultimate Black Friday mall trip: George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead with Ken Foree in Person.

In celebration of mass consumption and the grotesque gluttony, George A. Romero’s “Dawn of trhe Dead” gets a rare theatrical screening this Black Friday at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. Joining for both a pre-screening introduction and post screening Q&A will be lead actor Ken Foree to share on-set stories and the importance of Romero’s enduring Magnum Opus.

The sequel to Romero’s landmark “Night of the Living Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead” obliterated genre normas and shattered sensese jupon its release in 1978. A razor sharp social commentary on material society, Romero’s vision is fully realized in the collapsed civilization that he meticulously wrote, directed, and edited. With electric performances from Ken Foree, Gaylen Ross, David Emge and Scott Reiniger, and revolutionary special effects from the master Tom Savini, “Dawn of the Dead” remains an untouched masterpiece at the very peak of genre cinema.

Attendance to all Beyond Fest screenings requires physical proof of vaccinations and guests must follow mandatory mask mandates. Go to americancinematheque.com for details.

Ranking the Rocky Series: From Best to Worst

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Being born in 1983, I grew up around the period where Rocky Balboa was a household name, and the movies were wildly popular. “Rocky” and the sequels are childhood favorites, and I very fondly remember watching the worn VHS copies on our VCR, and catching their airings on my local television station WPIX. With Stallone re-releasing “Rocky IV” this year with a brand new Director’s Cut, I thought it’d be fun to re-visit the original series and rank the entire franchise from best to worst.

Feel free to post your ranking in the comments.

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Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

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Fans have long awaited the proper third film in the “Ghostbusters” series, and while it’s become very apparent that the original cast is much too old to carry the series further, “Afterlife” is a great step in to a new world. Like most legacy sequels of beloved movie series, “Afterlife” pays great reverence to the original, while also carving out a path for a new direction and brand new cast of ghost fighting heroes. While “Afterlife” is very light in laughs and levity, it stills comes out in the end as a fantastic follow up that clicks right in to the first two films beautifully.

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