John Carter Bombs
“John Carter,” Disney’s $250 million sci-fi spectacular, floundered at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, pulling in only $30.6 million, according to studio estimates. Universal’s “The Lorax,” a $70 million animated picture in its second week of release,…
Southend Gangster
A FILM director has caused a stir after labelling Southend “a sort of low-rent English Las Vegas – a Vegas of the Third World”. David Hughes, 37, the writer and director of a new British gangster film set in Southend,…
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was a major MGM star in the early 1940s. Among her movies at the studio were I Take This Woman, Boom Town, Comrade X, Ziegfeld Girl, and White Cargo. Her co-stars included Spencer Tracy, Robert Taylor, Clark Gable,…
Leonardo Cimino RIP
Obituaries are uncomfortable to write at the best of times. It’s only tougher when you realise how little you actually knew about the person in question. But while the late Leonardo Cimino may not exactly be a household name, mention…
Troma’s Fathers Day
Winnipeg collective Astron-6’s first feature, “Father’s Day,” is a gleefully tasteless quasi-grindhouse nasty that’s funnier than most of the many such parodic cheesefests that have been created since, well, “Grindhouse.” Though the result is inevitably hit-and-miss, its attention to retro…
John Carter
The Story “Our hero is John Carter, the Confederate Civil War veteran who strikes gold in the Arizona territory but who is whisked to the planet Barsoom on the flimsiest of pretexts. Barsoom is Mars by another name, and the…
B Movie Star Martha Stewart RIP
Actress Martha Stewart (photo, with Perry Como), a pretty blonde who had supporting roles in a handful of Fox movies of the ’40s, died of “natural causes” in Northeast Harbor, Maine, last February 25. She was 89. Needless to say,…
Tim Burton Exhibition
Peopled with lonely little monsters, dancing corpses and boggle-eyed creatures from the underworld, Tim Burton’s cult universe hits Paris this week with a show that journeys through his life’s work. Some 500 sketches — the starting point for all Burton’s…
The Cabin In The Woods
Much like homage to the classic Evil Dead, Cabin in the Woods is best explained as their own tagline describes: People go to a cabin in the woods. Bad things happen. But the movie is much more than that. Wish…
Island of the Cannibal Death Gods
As much as we all share our common love for all things horror, we also all have a heart and I’m sure you would like to help people less fortunate than yourself. Well, the guys behind the ultra low-budget b-movie,…
‘The Godfather’ hits 40
Leave the gun, take the cannoli, and make movie history: Forty years ago this week, “The Godfather” opened. And Francis Coppola’s masterpiece crime drama is still able to wrap you in a kiss-on-each-cheek embrace no film can match. It’s rare…
Charles Lamont
Charles Fred Lamont was a man of slightly mysterious origins. He was apparently born on May 5, 1895, in St. Petersburg, Russia. His father’s last name was Ausmus, and his mother’s maiden name was Barenco. They were French actors from…
Machete Maidens Unleashed
Today’s Internet-savvy movie promotions seem mighty tame compared with the publicity tricks (vials of “green blood,” upchuck cups, slitherama, etc.) that lured thrill-hungry young audiences to fare such as Women in Cages, Mad Doctor of Blood Island and Night of…
Luis Bacalov
Sijbold Tonkens: How did your career start in the past as a film composer? I believe you started as Ennio Morricone did at RCA to work with pop stars in Italy like Gianni Morandi, Dino, Rita Pavone etc. Luis Bacalov:…
Casa de mi padre
The premises of a spaghetti western, a Spanish novella and Will Ferrell’s signature comedy all combine to make “Casa de mi padre,” Ferrell’s first foray into the Spanish-speaking world. Ferrell plays Armando Alvarez, a simple Mexican rancher who spends his…
Spaghetti Dr.Who
Doctor Who star have been heading out to Spain to film an episode for the latest series of the Sci-fi drama. After a number of guest stars were reported yesterday for the new series, along with a fleeting mention that…
Trancers
Jack Deth (Tim Thomerson) is a police trooper in the year 2247 who has been hunting down Martin Whistler (Michael Stefani), a criminal mastermind who uses strange psychic powers to make people into zombies that carry out his every desire….
Mothra
With the rampaging Godzilla decimating half the countryside of Japan, a small band of reporters journeyed to Infant Island in hope that the Shobijin will hear their pleas. Their calls almost went unheard though, because of the interference of the…
Tremors
Tremors is often described by many to be a cult classic, which is odd. The fact is, cult films usually have a quirky quality to them that separate them from the usual Hollywood-churned machine. Take Re-Animator, for example, or even…
Frogs
A look at the 1972 B-Rate horror film Frogs, starring Sam Elliot and Ray Milland Frogs revolves around an environmentalist named Pickett who is canoeing off some island in some unknown location. He is documenting the animals, as well as…