The Nice Guys - mini review...

What's it about?
Los Angeles, 1977. A goon for hire and a bumbling Private Investigator, both with questionable morals and a streak of bad luck trailing in their wake, find themselves thrown together as they investigate a case of corporate conspiracy that spirals outwards from the death of porno star 'Misty Mountains'.
Who would I recognise in it?
Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe, Matt Bomer, Kim Basinger, Keith David.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Shane Black brings his love of L.A. and crime fiction back to the silver screen with a hefty dose of humour ladled on top. If you dug the vibe of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang then you'll know what to expect here, but with an added 1970s groove and a rowing back from the sheer self-awareness that stood so proudly at the heart of Black's last foray into noir-tinged sleuthing in the City of Angels...

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Flavours of the Month: September 2016...

Gore, gaming, horror rock, and the boys from the little rouge one - what's been setting the tone of my September 2016?

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The Bloodstained Butterfly (Duccio Tessari, 1971) Blu-Ray/DVD Review

Find more giallo reviews here.

 

“I'm a smart killer, Inspector – a little smarter than all of you.” Consider the giallo genre – what springs to mind? Black-clad killers with razor knives, blood-splattering violence, and scintillating sexuality? Chances are that forensic examination of a crime scene and perspective-altering scenes of court room drama didn't crop up – but that's exactly what sets Duccio Tessari's The Bloodstained Butterfly apart from the crowd. Side-stepping many of gialli's visual clichés, nestling into a pace akin to the more thoughtful examples of the genre such as Aldo Lado's Short Night of Glass Dolls (1971), Tessari's film nonetheless paints a bleak and savage picture of inter-generational betrayal, lust, abuse, and shattered illusions...

 

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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.

The Trouble with Blockbuster Scores...

From the excellent YouTube channel Every Frame A Painting, here is a video that flags up a very real issue with many modern blockbusters - with particular attention paid to the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Can you recall any pieces of music from the scores for the MCU flicks?

This is well worth a watch.



However, in the video Mad Max: Fury Road is referenced, and I would disagree on that point. I thought the soundtrack to that film really stood out and that particular track referenced in the video stood out most of all. I still recall it a year or so after seeing the movie for the first time. The rest of the examples? You cannot argue with them...

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