Flavours of the Month: February/March 2021...

Spooky doings, doublethink, and an alternative history are just some of what has been setting the tone of my February and March 2021...

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3 From Hell (Rob Zombie, 2019) Review...

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“Hello, America. Did you miss me?” 3 From Hell is the belated third, and likely final, entry in Rob Zombie's grisly 'Firefly family' saga. Following on from the psychedelic slasher circus of 2001's House of 1,000 Corpses and the down 'n' dirty killers on-the-run road movie of 2005's The Devil's Rejects, 3 From Hell might seem inexplicable considering the spectacular guns-a-blazin' finale of the previous film (arguably Zombie's finest cinematic moment), but the story's continuation, maybe somewhat incredibly, actually works.

“Free The Three!” Having been riddled with lead, the audience discovers that Otis (Bill Moseley, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie, The Lords of Salem), and Captain Spaulding (the late, great Sid Haig) clung to life and were promptly sentenced for their heinous crimes. Now, ten years later, they are perceived as cult anti-heroes as a TV documentary within the film lays out with star struck groupies watching on from the sidelines, championing The Devils Rejects' status as the ultimate in anti-authoritarianism – they are the ultimate expression of freedom in a fucked up world. Reflecting the bizarro cult status that world's most notorious serial killers have gained – such as the likes of Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy among many others – this extended opening sequence proves to be one of the film's most fascinating and enjoyable moments, thrusting the fringe-dwelling Firefly clan into the limelight...

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Rob Zombie's "Gore Whore" music video...

I'm a big fan of Rob Zombie's music, so naturally I was rather excited to see his new music video for "The Hideous Exhibitions of a Dedicated Gore Whore"...



Not only does it mark the return of the 'Living Dead Girl' (Sheri Moon Zombie) and boast a gaggle of gnarly-looking undead ghouls, but it features Doyle (of Misfits fame) as a bubblegum-chewing tattooist Frankenstein's Monster. Great song, great video (especially so after the, I'll be honest, rather disappointing quick-fire video for "Medication for the Melancholy") ... so anyway, check it out.

Flavours of the Month: May 2016...

Thrones, walkers, F1 glamour, and future war are some of what's been setting the tone for my May 2016...

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Flavours of the Month: April 2016...

Giallo gems, cliffhangers, alcoholic spies, horror rock, assassination, and - of course - a fair bit of writing (including a word or two on O.C.D. and Intrusive Thoughts), are just some of the things that have been setting the tone for my April 2016...

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Flavours of the Month: May 2015...

This month I polished off the excellent "South Park: The Stick of Truth" (shame about the constant loading screens, though), gave the show's 18th season a quick second spin, and indulged in the superb "6 Days To Air: The Making of South Park" documentary ... there's also been an awful lot of Rob Zombie, plenty of writing, crackin' telly, and the glamorous thrills of the Monaco F1 weekend among the flavours of my May 2015...

Flavours of the Month: June 2013...

LOOKS:

Django Unchained (Blu-Ray) - I finally got to see it, at long last, and I absolutely loved it. It's a shame that QT's flicks never come accompanied with much in the way of extra features, though.

Argo (Blu-Ray) - three-for-three for Affleck.

Jay & Silent Bob Get Old: Teabagging in Ireland (DVD) - as an avid listener of the SModcast Network, I have to admit I'm getting a bit tired by the formulaic Hollywood Babble-On (it could use freshening up - new jokes, new impressions, more varied targets for seething parody) as well as Jay & Silent Bob Get Old, but only in regards to the repetitive portions of the shows (e.g. the same questions getting the same answers from different audiences in different editions of the podcast during the recent 'Groovy Movie' tour, or Smith going on yet another long-winded rant about filmmaking ... yes, it's inspiring the first couple of times you hear it, but when you've heard it literally more than a dozen times, you get a bit fed up and skip to the best bits of the show). Anyway, point being, I find there's a lot more humour to Jason Mewes' stories when you can see him perform them on-stage ... the added dimension really helps bring back the funny (as well as the shows on the DVDs cutting out the 'chuffa', as Bruce Willis might say).

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The Lords of Salem (Rob Zombie, 2012) DVD Review...

Horror-rocker Rob Zombie's supposed last dip into the horror genre, The Lords of Salem, has garnered mixed reviews: established dividing lines on the subject of RZ's cinematic outings will probably not be crossed by the respective parties, but his latest offering is a breath of fresh air after the controversy of his Halloween remake (2007) and it's unruly sequel Halloween 2 (2009). Zombie is back to an original script of his own for this low budget devil worshipper, and it illustrates the continued cinematic maturation of the Writer/Director.

“I spit upon the book of lies!” - What if witches were real? This is the main conceit of RZ's film – a stripped-back, majestic-yet-gritty, mood piece that seeks to chill rather than scare. Kicking off in 1696, the Reverend Jonathan Hawthorne sets the stage as he prepares to end the blasphemous activities of head witch Margaret Morgan (Meg Foster) and her coven of six – all of them in the woods, stripped-nude and invoking the return of Satan.

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Flavours of the Month: May 2013...

LOOKS:

24 Season 7 - I've done seasons 1-through-6 twice-a-piece, but the last two seasons I've only done once. It's been three years since the show ended, and so I gave the seventh season a second spin - it's good to have another dose of the Jack Bauer Power Hour on the telly.

L.A. Confidential - I absolutely barged through the book, and as I like to do, if there's a film adaptation of the book I've just finished reading, I run off and watch the movie to compare. While "The Black Dahlia" was a pretty poor film adaptation, "L.A. Confidential" (while reorganising and dispensing with a lot of back-stories and side-plots) is a superb example of exactly how a film adaptation should be.

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