3-DVD Imperial Edition
Image Entertainment
Release date: October 2007
CALIGULA.
At the mere mention of the name, eyes roll and brows furrow, typically evoking reactions of either perverse pleasure or derisive disgust. Based on the reign of the notoriously sadistic and perverted Roman emperor of the same name, this erotic historical epic is widely considered to be the most controversial (and catastrophic) film in cinematic history. Now that Penthouse is free of Bob Guccione’s grasp, the company has bravely undertaken the seemingly thankless task of re-editing, re-mastering, and re-releasing this misunderstood masterpiece as a 3-disc set -- and I for one am glad they did.
As a big fan of both the ancient world and pornography, I’ve always loved this film. In fact, my best friend (and pagan high priest) Lord Julian — who shares my aforementioned affinities — and I have even taken to shouting “CALIGULA!” at moments of extreme debauchery and/or brutality. But despite my former interest, it wasn’t until I watched the extensive documentaries, interviews, and commentaries on this edition that I learned all the sordid details of the movie’s past...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
DVD Review: Caligula: The Imperial Edition
The Hellraiser Project: Hellraiser IV: Bloodline
This could be the first signs of stir craziness at this assignment, or that I have seen the first truly awful Hellraiser movie, Hellraiser: Bloodline. This movie blows not only goats, but everything in the barnyard and THEN rims the farmer. Those of you thinking I was being too good-natured about an undertaking such as this and WISHING for my old motherfucker self to pop up need wait no longer. I barely even made it through the opening credits alive, once I saw that this little flicker-show is directed by one Alan Smithee.
For those of you not in the know, here is the story of Alan Smithee: He doesn’t actually exist, but rather he is the pseudonym that the Director’s Guild of America places on movies that had creative control wrested from their directors by the studios and executives. The name has covered the work of people like Don Siegel (Dirty Harry) and Academy Award nominee Arthur Hiller (Love Story) for Death of a Gunfighter and Burn Hollywood, respectively. So if ever you see the name Alan Smithee on a movie, know that this movie was not made by a director who knows about film, but by a suit who knows only demographics...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!
Monday, November 5, 2007
'Hellboy 2’ Concept Art
The latest concept art can be found in the Gallery section of the site and it includes descriptions from del Toro and concept artist Francisco Ruiz Velasco.
For the image at right of Hellboy's "Big Baby" gun, del Toro gives the following description:...continue reading this article at Geeks of Doom!
Movie Review: American Gangster
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Ted Levine, Josh Brolin, Joe Morton, Common, RZA
Rated R
The first time Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe appeared together was a little sci-fi action film called Virtuosity. Crowe played an android serial killer and Washington played a cop with a robotic arm. Twelve years and Academy Award wins for both men later, the two reunite in American Gangster, a film that above all, showcased how far the men have come in that time.
Based on a true story, American Gangster follows the rise and fall of Frank Lucas (Washington) as one of the biggest drug kingpins in American history while simultaneously showing the fall and rise of officer Richie Roberts (Crowe) in his career in law enforcement...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!
'National Treasure 2’ Trailer #2
I'm really looking forward to this one and I think it was real cool that when this trailer hit the net, I was in Washington, DC, watching it. The trailer shows scenes from DC like the Lincoln Memorial and other landmarks, which I had just visited earlier that day...continue reading this article at Geeks of Doom!
Comic Review: The Darkness: First Look
Written by Phil Hester
Pencils by Michael Broussard
Inks by Ryan Winn
Colors by Matt Milla
Letters by Troy Peteri
Cover by Michael Broussard, Joe Weems, and Larry Molinar
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: 99¢; On-sale date: Nov. 2007
Though brief, The Darkness: First Look is a hint that there may be some good things to come from Top Cow comics.
After success of the video game version of The Darkness, another reintroduction to the series -- which has already experience two previous launches -- was inevitable. The Darkness follows ex-mafia hitman Jackie Estacado, who after being betrayed by his uncle, discovered a curse that has plagued his family for uncounted generations. The Darkness gives Estecado the powers of the damned but at the same time struggles for control of his very soul. Given the truly fantastical nature of the story and the Darkness itself, this story is probably best told in the form of a comic book...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!
DVD Review: Amazing Journey: The Story Of The Who
Universal Studios
Release Date: November 6, 2007
Sometimes, when thinking about the giants of rock and roll, one band gets short shrift at times when others discuss the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, or Led Zeppelin.
Believe it or not, that band is The Who.
The music of The Who is timeless, and they revolutionized rock and roll with rock operas, power chords, and mass chaos and destruction on stage. Yet, at times they’re regarded as a step below those other bands...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Movie Review: Bee Movie
Directed by Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith
Starring (voices) Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Oprah Winfrey
Rated PG
Let this be a lesson to all you ants! Ideas are very dangerous things! You are mindless, soil-shoving losers, put on this Earth to serve us! - Hopper, A Bug’s Life
The Skinny:
Bees are busy, Barry gets bored. Bees make honey, Barry wants more.
The Review:
According to an interview I read with Jerry Seinfeld, Bee Movie started out as a pretty funny premise. Seinfeld told host Steven Spielberg that he might want to make something that would be a Hollywood “B movie” about bees and call it Bee Movie. I think the possibilities to that idea would have been all but endless. Sadly, the only thing that remains from that original conversation is the title.
Coming from Jerry Seinfeld and some of the many other minds that brought us Seinfeld, this should have been a scathing commentary comparing the social structure of the bee colony to that of today’s society. Or bee’s effective use of teamwork and communication would have been the perfect setting for a satire about corporate America. What do we get instead? Ambition blinded by the half-assed notion to be as clever and well animated as a Pixar movie. For the record, it is neither...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!
Music Review: Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets
Compilation box set
Rhino Records
Remember those Fabulous ’60s? The marches, the protests, the be-ins?
Um, if you're reading this, odds are against it. I mean, I was BORN in the ’60s, but as for remembering the Summer of Love, I don't think that's possible.
Yet, I, like many other music geeks, love the music of the ’60s. The wide variety of sounds that became touchstones for a generation is incredible. And of course there are the famous ‘scenes' -- the most famous in the U.S. was based in San Francisco starting about 1965.
Most everyone knows the major songs and groups from that era. The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, and others revered to this day as musical pioneers, even demi-gods. But there were a lot of other bands that contributed to the sound of San Francisco, even if many of them left the scene as quickly as they started...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
'The Golden Compass' Trailer; New Line Partners With World Wildlife Fund
The Golden Compass hits theaters December 7, 2007.
This trailer shows a glimpse of Christopher Lee, who plays Lord Boreal, as well as several daemon's -- the animal spirit that embodies a human’s soul, accompanying them throughout their life -- in action.
The film's official site has a Meet Your Daemon feature where you can answer a few personality questions to get your own person daemon avatar.
New Line Cinema announced this week their partnership with the World Wildlife Fund to help educate the public about the impact global warming is having on animals throughout the world...continue reading this article at Geeks of Doom!
The Hellraiser Project: Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth
-That damned “Mission Accomplished” banner.
-The details of Bill O’Reilly’s phone sex conversations.
-Any episode of Saturday Night Live past the ’01 season.
-Four words and a hyphenate: “Aaron Boone walk-off home run.”
With all the depravity, deceit, and just plain ooginess on display in those four examples, a disembodied cervix that has hydraulic equipment embedded in it is the chumpiest of chump change, which is what’s on display in this week’s installment. I don’t know how it’s gonna pan out in quality, but in terms of grisly imagery at least, I have a feeling that The Hellraiser Experiment might just be more easier than I thought...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Movie Review: Rendition
Directed by Gavin Hood
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon, Omar Metwally
Rated R
Rendition is about the post-9/11 American torture practices and shocks the audience into facing the truth of what their fear created, both home and abroad. Rendition made me ashamed to be associated, even by nationality, to those people who voted for, or support the Patriot Act.
A terrorist bombing rips through a crowded market street in the morning in an attempt to kill a middle-eastern official Igal Noar (Abasi Fawal). They miss the official, but it sets in motion a series of events which leads to Anwar El-Ibrahimi being kidnapped and taken to be tortured. Personally invested and morally conflicted, CIA analyist Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal) is brought in to observe the “extreme interrogation techniques” approved by Corinne Whitman (Meryl Streep) and inflicted upon the detainee, who may have information on the bombing. Anwar’s wife, Isabella (Reese Witherspoon), sets out on a mission to find her husband by contacting her old friend, Alan Smith (Peter Sarsgaard), now Senator Hawkins’s (Alan Arkin) personal aid. While Igal Noar attempts to deal with the terrorists in his country, his daughter Fatima (Zineb Qukach) starts to slip into the hands of her shady boyfriend, Khalid El-Emin (Mohammed Khquas)...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!
Book Review: I, Lucifer: Finally, the Other Side of the Story
By Glen Duncan
Grove Press
Shall we start with the opening sentence of the opening chapter?
I, Lucifer, Fallen Angel, Prince of Darkness, Bringer of Light, Ruler of Hell, Lord of the Flies, Father of Lies, Apostate Supreme, Tempter of Mankind, Old Serpent, Prince of this World, Seducer, Accuser, Tormentor, Blasphemer, and without a doubt Best Fuck in the Seen and Unseen Universe (ask Eve, that minx) have decided – oo-la-la! – to tell all.
I saw this book with its striking red cover positively leaping off the shelf as I passed it while on an escalator. An escalator? Where to you ask? Heaven? Hell? (I hope) No. To the first floor of a multistory bookstore in the heart of Manchester. Great...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Eleven Questions with T.E. Pouncey: Mort Todd
"I was always drawing as a youth and became editor of my summer camp newspaper," Mort said. "I appropriated their mimeograph machine and started self-publishing comics by junior high."
Moving from Maine to New York City , Mort met Dan Clowes and other teens and began Psycho Comics and other titles. He also sold stories to DC comics, Marvel, Fantagraphics, and Kitchen Sink before becoming editor of Cracked magazine.
"After that I started my own company, put out a Bill Ward magazine, a bilingual humor comic," Mort said . "Later I launched the Marvel Music line working with bands like Alice Cooper, KISS, the Rolling Stones, and Bob Marley with work by Neil Gaiman, Kyle Baker, Gene Colan and other great talent."
Currently, Mort has his own company Comicfix, which did newspaper strips (Speed Racer, Molly the Model) and is now focused on, but not limited to, the Sadistik photo novels, featuring the adventures of a Super Criminal. Mort is also working on a few scripts that are being considered for film and TV.
T.E. Pouncey: Can you tell us a little about how you came to be involved in Cracked magazine?...continue reading this AWESOME interview at Geeks of Doom!
Weekly Comic Book Pulls for 10-24-07
Casanova #10 – Still crazy, still fun, still awesome. Fabio Moon’s art is I feel easier to follow than Garbiel Ba’s art was one the first bunch of issues. You can tell this is Matt Fraction’s baby. ---5 out of 5
Umbrella Academy #2 – Meanwhile, Ba is the perfect match for this book, and I think the colors from Dave Stewart really help bring the work to life. Builds on the promise of the first issue. ---4 out of 5
JLA Classified #45 – Martian Manhunter deals with his crazy mental clone of a brother who killed all the other Martians and is no trying to get the Manhunter to kill himself or be killed by his friends. Read it for Rick Leonardi’s art which is great. The story is kind of crap though. ---3 out of 5...come see what else Henchman21 has been reading at GEEKS OF DOOM!
