Cookies and Kisses Edition: The Walking Dead 6x12 memes...

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Click to Enlarge: Back from the dead for tasty treats...

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Cookies and Kisses Edition: The Walking Dead 6x05 memes...

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Click to Enlarge: The kid's got a one-tracked mind...

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Cookies and Consequences Edition: The Walking Dead 5x14 memes...

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A bumper crop of memes this week - 7 in total - for what turned out to be quite a stunning episode.

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Click to Enlarge: Bit of a rough one this week...

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Randy Rick Edition: The Walking Dead 5x13 memes...

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Click to Enlarge: Cookie Monster vs Hungry Eyes...

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A bunch of movie musings...

The Godfather Trilogy:

I'd seen the first two once-a-piece (a long time ago), and had never seen the third. So I figured it was about time I had another gander, mainly inspired to give the second another run-through for the first time in years and to really see if I thought it was "better than the first".

Part II is certainly very grand, and has a strong plot - but I do feel it's overblown and dragged out. Not enough happens, which damages some of the very strong themes in the film, such as Michael's descent in himself as a result of being consumed by this lifestyle which has been hoisted upon him as a result of Vito Corleone's death in Part I.

Part III is, well, pretty dull. I struggled to follow all this stuff about business and different families and the church ... in fact, I do struggle with these sorts of films in general. There's a lot of people, often looking somewhat similar to each other, with names I can't remember, and then all of a sudden someone has another killed - but I'm not sure why. They've betrayed them somehow, but it feels like I missed a reel of the movie or something.

Anyway, Part III isn't much cop, it really does feel like "one and two together ... and then three on it's own in the corner" ... and, yep, I couldn't do with Sophia Coppola's performance either - she's much better suited behind the camera (with The Virgin Suicides, and the excellent Lost In Translation, for example).

Part I though, is the best of the lot I think. It's grand and lengthy, but not too much - Part II is definitely 20 or 30 minutes too long, and certainly too wordy. Part I lets you see what happens in this world - stuff actually happens. I don't want it to be like Crank 2, it's not that kind of film of course, but something does have to happen to propel the plot along ... otherwise it's three hours of people with confusing names and similar faces talking to each other and not letting the viewer get a toe-hold on what the fuck is going on.

But then again, like I said, I've never been so good with these kind of movies. I get lost by them quite easily.

So yeah - Part I all the way - that's the best one in my view. Part II may have stronger themes, but Part I tells the story more convincingly and efficiently. Part II - while very good - is definitely too drawn-out and too wordy. Part III is mostly pish, but it does have a few good bits in it, but to be honest, it shouldn't have really happened.


Street Trash:

Someone was talking about this flick on Homepage of the Dead the other day, and I remembered I have a copy that's remained unwatched until now.

Immediately when I saw that it was 101 minutes long, I knew that was too long for this film - and I found it to be very much the case. This movie needed to be 90 minutes max, and preferably 80 minutes. It also needed better pacing and a tighter script - characters come and go, they mumble around in circles about nothing in particular and occasionally we get to see a kick arse 'meltdown' sequence - something which pretty much disappears during the second act of the movie - a second act which drags on unmercifully, it has to be said.

It's cheap and tacky, and that's part of the point, but it simply needed to be far leaner and meaner. I've seen it now, and that's enough for me personally.


Darkman:

I'm a big Sam Raimi fan, but there are a few of his films that I haven't gotten around to - until recently, Darkman was one of these films. I kept missing it on TV, and didn't bother getting the bare bones DVD - then I spotted it on Sky Movies, so I recorded it and checked it out.

It's a fun flick. Not Raimi's best work, but you can see a lot of things in it that fed into the Spider-Man films a number of years later, and many stylish flourishes which have been somewhat diluted by the same Spider-Man films. It does make you yearn for Evil Dead 4, but at least we got the almost-full Raimi festival with the excellent Drag Me To Hell (which would have only been improved by not being a PG-13 ... that said, it scared the crap out of me, and grossed out the entire audience - so it really pushed the PG-13 barrier, I thought).

Anyway - Liam Neeson - you can't go wrong with him ... the running time was lean, the pace efficient ... overall, it's a rather good Raimi flick, and although not his best work, it still exhibits all the gusto that Sam Raimi typifies.


Ace Ventura 1 & 2:

The other week I came back from the cinema, sat down with a "naught-to-tasty" microwave burger, bunged on the telly and starting at that moment was the first Ace Ventura movie. I hadn't seen it in years, and it's still as gloriously stupid and downright funny as it always was. A solid plot and plenty of room for Carrey to go insane makes for a solid, very enjoyable movie. Plus, it was a great moment of nostalgia for me.

The same can't be said of the sequel, which - naturally, came a year later - feels rushed and like a pilot for the kid's cartoon more than a proper sequel. The plot is naff and all about a bunch of stereotypical Hollywood "tribes people", and even Carrey seems like he's left dangling in the wind. That said, there are a few great chuckles to be had, but it just can't live up to the sheer fun of the first movie.

...

Well there you have it, a few flicks I've barged through of late, as I'm in a bit of a creative lull at the moment ... will pick up again soon though, so I might as well make the most of it.

Drag Me To Hell...

Sam Raimi's return to horror - it's about time (not that I haven't loved the Spider-Man flicks, or superb films like A Simple Plan). The Evil Dead is one of my favourite all-time movies, and is one of my enduring inspirations for my own filmmaking, so I was cautiously optimistic about Drag Me To Hell.

I have to say I was a bit "dude, lame..." when I heard it was going to be a PG-13 in America, but fortunately that equated to a softer 15 here in the UK ... but I needn't have worried, because in this particular case, the film worked outside of the rating. Actually, it felt a bit hardcore for a PG-13 ... it felt ideal at a 15 I though.

As it was my birthday weekend, I managed to convince my usual troupe of cinema goers to join me in seeing this movie (one of the group is an avowed anti-horror fan - he just doesn't like it). Two of the other lads were a bit in-between about it going in, and one (plus myself) was all up-for-it.

By the time we came out, everybody had had a bloody good time - heck, the entire audience had had an absolute blast (and there was quite a number in the cinema too). Everybody jumped in unison, or went "oooh, ewwww, urrgghh!" at the right moment, and there were even a few hushes shrieks of sustained terror from some of the ladies in the audience (clearly there on a date with their boyfriends).

I've seen many horror movies in my time, and few have really left me on the edge of my seat - or necessitated me to try and soften the blow of the horror jolt by tentatively trying to anticipate the scare (like the entire audience was doing). I've also been to a lot of movies at the cinema, and until Drag Me To Hell, I've never seen an audience so worked up, so unified by their shared terror, and having so much fun before - illustrated perfectly by the trembled laughter that would jangle from the audience's bones after they'd been tricked by Raimi's skilled hands into a bloody good scare.

I've heard many filmmakers talking about how they like to scare the audience, and how they sometimes sneak into a screening and watch the audience's reaction - and finally, thanks to Drag Me To Hell, I was able to witness thost very reactions first hand - sat amongst it, and performing those reactions myself.

There's a couple of moments where I was a good leap ahead of the characters, and indeed one plot angle is a bit of a tricky sell, but I quickly got over the couple of mild script wobbles simply because the film was so charmingly entertaining (in a scary-arse way). It really is like one of those theme park horror house rides, that's exactly what it feels like.

Considering what happened to the leading lady on screen, it's no wonder that Ellen Paige sodded off after Juno caught Oscar fever ... she does what she does well, but she does come off in interviews like she's above being gummed on the chin by a slimey-gobbed witch ... yes, I am having a bit of a joke, but Paige does come off, in all seriousness, a bit egotistical. Back on track & topic though, the official line was "scheduling conflicts" - which it may very well be ... but you do wonder (and I'm not the only one to think it certainly), was there an element of "I don't have to get witch-gummed anymore"? Hmmm...anyway...

Regardless ... her sodding off felt a bit like a slap in the face ... but on the other hand Alison Lohman more than fills Paige's vacated wardrobe. She is continually impressive throughout - and she really gets dragged through the mincer throughout, making her turn even more impressive - it is a surprisingly gross-out horror movie for a PG-13.

All I need now is the film getting the proper double-disc special edition, feature-packed treatment on DVD - it deserves it. I want to see how the flick was made, I want to see the gleefully icky set pieces coming together, I want to see Raimi pratting around having fun behind the camera, and I want to enjoy the Evil Dead nods again and again.

As for Evil Dead nods, with my horror nerd cap on, the main ones were referencing 'going to a cabin in the woods', Raimi's own "classic" Oldsmobile car (looking menacingly creepy here), the 'dancing' and airborne possessed people, and the bit with the goat all provided me with plenty of fanboy love. In terms of Raimi's horror filmmaking, this feels like that scene in Spider-Man 2 (where Doc Oc's tentacles go to town on the doctors & nurses) mixed with Army of Darkness. He's got the money to make his horror stylings slick now (but in a good way), and you know what Drag Me To Hell really made me salivating for (as did My Name Is Bruce)?

Yep - Evil Dead 4 - I don't want an Evil Dead remake, no way, no how - I want Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi together again ASAP giving us a slice of awesome cake in Evil Dead 4. If DMTH is anything to go by, it would make for one hell of a wild ride (and a gory one - providing it would retain the necessary "R" rating).