With the right amount of practice, you too can learn to dance like this...
(This is off the hook)
Reversed Perspectives
"When you're a kid, you can't wait to grow up and be free from parental guidance. When you're older, you want to be a kid again..."
Planet Terror
When Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk ‘Til Dawn came out in 1996, I watched it in the theater and realized it was the perfect combination of horror/comedy for a vampire film. And to make it better, it had Quentin Tarantino’s fingerprints in the story as well. I freaking loved it. So when I heard the terms “Rodriguez”, “Tarantino”, and “zombies” used in the same sentence describing the recent movie Planet Terror, I couldn’t wait to check it out. Planet Terror is part of a double feature named Grindhouse, which pays homage to cheesy, low budget films from the 70’s and 80’s.
Ok, first off, this movie is bloody as hell. A lot of the scenes are probably too gross for anyone with a weak stomach, but just enough for any horror fan, or if you're a mortuary student. I never knew blood could splatter in a movie as much as it did in this! In fact, it’s hilarious at how over-exaggerated the scenes are whenever someone is shot. Second, this movie is not to be taken seriously. This is made intentionally to come off as a low-budget horror film. And it seemed that Rodriguez went all out to give you the feeling of sitting in a cheap Grindhouse theater, complete with grainy picture, and even at one point, the film being stopped because the movie reel has “melted”! For someone who was too young for the original Grindhouse films, but who’s watched his fair share of B-movies, and experienced a movie reel melting in the theater (Pirates Of The Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest, Man I was pissed), I got a good laugh out of these small details.
As with most action or horror films, there’s always some type of hero. The heroine here is none other Charmed star and former Mrs. Marilyn Manson, Rose McGowan. She plays Cherry Darling, the machine-gun legged girl who helps save our world from flesh eating zombies. Just as George Clooney kicked some vampire ass in From Dusk ‘Til Dawn, Rose's character Cherry uses her leg to help wipe out the infestation of zombies. Cherry is an unlikely hero though. In the beginning, she’s an unhappy go-go dancer who quits that to pursue a career as a stand-up comedian. On her way out of town she bumps into a guy named El Wray (who also kicks his share of zombie ass). Cherry seems frustrated with the cards that life has dealt her. And when talking about goals in life, she says, “That's the problem with goals, they become a thing you talk about instead of a thing you do." Well, Cherry Darling never did get to become that stand-up comedian. Instead she was destined to become something bigger. She helped save the world from zombies!
Along with Rose McGowan, there’s a diverse cast consisiting of Bruce Willis, Josh Brolin (yes, that guy from The Goonies), Quentin Tarantino, and even Fergie (who's character winds up becoming 'roadkill')!
Like I said, this is a horror movie not to be taken too seriously. But it’s seriously a zombie movie in it's own class.
Transformers - The Movie (20th Anniversary Special Edition)
Transformers - The Movie (20th Anniversary Special Edition)
With the hype of latest Transformers movie, I figured this would be the best time to write about the animated movie from the 80's. Last year they released Transformers - The Movie (20th Anniversary Special Edition) , which I just watched the other day. The Transformers played such a big part of my childhood. I watched all the shows and had most of the toys. I remember vividly seeing the ongoing battle between the Autobots and Decepticons and the tension between their leaders, Optimus Prime and Megatron. With the animated version of the film, there was closure to their ongoing battle. Unfortunately, Optimus' fate didn't turn out so good as he was killed off in the beginning, traumatizing every childhood fan! But, all was not lost as the Autobots fought to the very end, with an unlikely hero named Hot Rod rising up to keep hope alive. It was awesome to be able to relive those childhood memories while seeing this animated version again. And as much as I liked the recent film, it didn't bring me back to my youth like this one did. On top of that, this DVD contains a bunch of extras, like Q&A sections with the producers. This is great for anyone looking to find out why the hell they killed off Optimus, as they answer this in some of the interviews on the DVD. If you never grew up watching the cartoon, but loved the latest movie, watch this one. It'll give you a glimpse of why this became such a phenomenon.
The Essential Jars of Clay
The Essential Jars of Clay
I guess greatest hits albums sometimes give you a better appreciation of an artist. If you're a die hard fan of a particular artist, then naturally you'll love their greatest hits compilation. Now I'm not a die hard fan of Jars Of Clay. In fact, up until their release of Good Monsters, I kept waiting for them to make some real noise. They had their breakthrough debut album when they released Flood, but they haven't made any big waves in the music scene since then. But something in me knew they had hidden guns just waiting to be pulled out, and they did just that with Good Monsters. I think at this point in time, with such a wide open field of music styles, it's the ideal moment for them to flex their skills. So in light of the Good Monsters album, and now The Essential Jars of Clay, I can appreciate their work more. Looking back on their older songs in light of their newer ones shows the potential they always had. The Essential Jars of Clay is basically a greatest hits album spanning their career from when Flood was released up until now. There's a couple tracks I was surprised that didn't make it (Show You Love for example). But it's a good compilation to cover the progress they made through the years.
* Funny observation: If you look on the right of the album cover, Steve Mason looks stoned out of his mind. Just thought I'd add that additional info. Haha...
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