Monday, May 28, 2012

Review: Dead Hooker In A Trunk. Also: Meet the Soska Sisters

One of the top 5 posters ever. Fact.
After having to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait, I finally got Dead Hooker in a Trunk from Netflix. It had been sitting at the top of my DVD queue for weeks with that dreaded "Very Long Wait" notification next to it, which, needless to say, left me quite disheartened. Thusly, when it showed up in my mailbox, I was quite thrilled. Looking back at the last few sentences, it may be one of the most poorly constructed paragraphs I've ever written. And for that, I'm sorry. Let me kind of start this again.
Meet your new indie flick masters...mistresses...wait, that sounds pretty S&M-ish...
Dead Hooker in a Trunk was written, directed, & produced by the "Twisted Twins," Jen and Sylvia Soska, who also star in the film. Right there shows the dedication that these two women have for their vision, not to mention their craft as a whole. Saying that the film was made on a shoestring budget would be like saying Kristen Stewart has an expansive range of emotions. But the Soska Twins make it work. In fact, the lessons learned from Robert Rodriguez's book "Rebel Without a Crew" (a book that also shares space on my bookshelf) are quite evident. And boy, do these ladies make sure that they get every last bang for their buck.
I feel that trying to explain this picture will ruin the amazingness of this scene. Also: don't ask about the duct tape over Jen's eye. Nobody likes spoilers.
Let me vague up a summary for the three people who read this: The film deals with two sisters (and their respective friends) that find a hooker. Dead. In their trunk. I can only describe what happens after is a series of unfortunate events. Crap, that was a Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) book. I'll just toss out some buzz words to pique your interest (if, for some reason, it isn't already): dismemberment, disembowelment, cyclops, home dentistry, twinning, sociopaths, sheep-lover, muscle car, serial killer, chainsaw-wielding Asians.
Cowboy Pimps. Almost forgot Cowboy Pimps.
And now, the numbers:
Film - 4 out of 5 Stars
Awesomeness - 7 out of 5 Jon Hamms (face it: nobody's as awesome as Hamm)
Grindhouse-i-ness - 5 out of 5 Overexposed, Scratchy Reels

Clearly, I can't say enough about this movie.
I can't wait for this to come out.
American Mary is their next project, which was just shown at Cannes.Unlike the grindhouse/exploitation feel of Dead Hooker, Mary is going to be a horror flick. Made by Canadian Twins. Who grew up reading the work of Stephen King. The Soska Sisters might be the best people ever. It's going to be awesome.

Now, I went to school for film, but haven't produced (well, finished) anything since college, which is a shame, because this film made me remember how much I love it.  So there's a good chance that I'm going to be going back to working like a mad man on my shockingly historically accurate Nazi Western script. And for that, I want to say thank you to Sylvia & Jen.

Also, if anybody who reads this (so nobody) knows of any comic artists that are looking for an awesome project to work on, have them get in contact with me.

Anywho, go see it, be it Netflix or through IFC Midnight or better yet: buy it on Amazon. I just did last night. Like 20 minutes after I finished watching the movie. For realsies. Should be getting here Wednesday. While you wait for the DVD to get to you, follow the Soska's exploits on their website, their Blog, or follow them on Twitter @twisted_twins.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Review: The Avengers

High Fashion
Oh...wait, that's not right...
That's better.
All I can say about Joss Whedon's The Avengers is "Wow." I think that it's the perfect climax to what the five Avenger-verse films (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, & Captain America: The First Avenger) had been building towards. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I'll keep this short and sweet.
When is RDJ not a (loveable) doucher?
The Avengers is the giant "Screw you! Do you see what happens when you let me do my thing, Hollywood?" from Joss Whedon that has been festering for years. Aside from his Oscar nomination for being one of the writers of Toy Story (he was the one who made you actually care about the toys), his track record in Hollywood has been spotty, at best. Most of the time, his scripts get butchered by needless rewrites or directors changing things during shooting (Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Alien: Resurrection come to mind), or his films are box office bombs, regardless of how good they are (Serenity & Titan: A.E.).
Don't remember this? Yeah, most don't.
If there's one thing that Whedon knows, it's how to become the darling of Nerdom. If there is a close second, it's how to properly make an ensemble piece. The Avengers is just more proof of that. He takes great pains to be true to each character, without weakening them to make the others shine. Though...
Oh look, Tony Stark's being a dick to the potential timebomb. Shock.
With limited screen time, Whedon has finally given the Hulk his due. You finally see the fallout of what Banner really has to deal with: not the wanton damage he causes while fighting off enemies, but the collateral damage and unrestrained terror that he causes to his allies. Unlike the previous two films based on the character, Whedon uses The Avengers as a way to not tell, but actually show Banner's greatest fear. and IT. IS. AWESOME. 
Avengers: Assemble...biatch.
Listen, I could gush about this movie all day I could go over why it's the single greatest film of all time (biggest opening weekend, biggest 2nd weekend, beloved by critics & audiences alike, audiences full of multi-time viewers, doesn't really solely on IMAX & 3D as money-making gimmicks, damn funny, damn entertaining, 93% at Rotten Tomatoes, etc.), but I don't want to get into any specifics. So, let's get to numbers:

Movie - 5 out of 5 Stars

Awesomeness - 5 out of 5 Undies Peed in Due to Glee
Hulk Smashes - ALL OF THE HULK SMASHES!!!!
Heehee...this makes me giggle.
Listen, if you are reading this article, I'm sure you've already seen the movie. That's cool. Go see it again. If you haven't seen it yet, what the Hell? Do you live under a rock? GO SEE IT NOW! But, I digress. All I know is that everything seems to be coming up Milhouse for Joss Whedon in Hollywood this year: The Avengers is the biggest movie in the world, The Cabin in the Woods is a bona fide success, and his upcoming film, a black and white adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing which he shot in 12 days...with a bunch of his friends...basically at his house, is one of the most hotly anticipated films to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival. The future's so bright, Whedon's got to wear shades. Which is a good idea, anyway...he's very pale.
Look at all the Whedon mainstays...
Fun Fact: Ashley Johnson is in Much Ado. She also played the waitress that Cap saves in the film's climax. More importantly, though, she played Chrissy Seaver on Growing Pains.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

The Avengers: The Pre-Review

Eff Yeah!
I meant to write this last night, but I'm sick & I fell asleep early. And there's no time to do a drawn out one this morning, because I'm going to spend literally the entire day in a movie theater, watching all of the films leading up to the Avengers.
Raise your hand if you ever thought Whedon would be directing Sam Jackson. Liar.
Suffice to say, I'm pretty stoked for this film, because, if no other reason: Whedon.

Pre-Review:

Movie: 5 out of 5 Stars

Awesomeness: 5 out of 5 Downeys
True-to-the-Bookiness: 5 ouHULK SMASH!!!!!!!!