Michael has been ahead of me on keeping everyone up to date on the happenings at Aint It Cool. So anyway, I just wanted to point out how hopeful I am that the first review of Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses is right. A good, old fashioned horror movie that will reinvent and revive the genre would be perfect. No more teeny-bopper horror.
Category: Movies
Crouching Tiger Is No Matrix Clone
After showing Michael the trailer for the new film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This film is getting all the buzz and looks to be great. But here’s my gripe.
IT’S NOT A MATRIX RIP OFF!!! For anyone who doesn’t know, The Matrix is just an American take on a Chinese film style that has been around quite some time. Perhaps it’s similar because all the fights in The Matrix and Crouching Tiger were choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping. When filming the Matrix, the Wachowski brothers wanted to translate this style to the American screen, so why not hire who is considered to be the best.
Also, Charlie’s Angels is not a Matrix rip-off. Guess who it was choreographed by, Wo Ping. So maybe it does look similar, but for a reason. Anyway, if you like that sort of thing, look for this Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon film to be the best over here yet. Be warned, it is all in Chinese, but the film is supposedly so great that it does not matter even to those who care.
In the meantime, if you want some wacky Asian cinema at its best, check out A Chinese Ghost Story or any one of its sequels. And if you want to know where the story of the Matrix really came from go rent Ghost in the Shell and if that excites you, Mamoru Oshii, the director has a new film coming out that combines animation, computer animation and live action. It’s called Avalon. Enough for now, I have lots of other things that really need to be done.
Top Ten Halloween Horror Films
My latest article came out in the MTSU paper (Sidelines) today. It was a huge, front page blurb, two pages inside. I think it really came out well. Look on the Sidelines to check it out.
Apparently, they’re archiving all of my old articles now. Re-Animator is also available right now and there might be more lurking in there somewhere.
Blair Witch 2
I really did like the first Blair Witch movie. It may not be cool to say so, but I did. I watched a bootleg videotape of it, three months before it came out in theaters, while sitting by myself in the dark. It worked, I was spooked and the different approach was great. The ambiguous ending, with no credits following the end of the film, was a new and great approach to horror.
The sequel comes out in a few weeks and I can’t decide what to think. Director Joe Berlinger has filmed several incredible documentaries, when combined with his comment that he wanted to make a “commentary on media, violence, and the nature of documentaries,†I thought that there was hope. Another reinterpretation of horror film.
But, after reading the latest article in Entertainment Weekly. I am scared again. They talk about restructuring the story to satisfy a commercial audience, worrying that the film wasn’t disturbing enough, and filming a new, less ambiguous ending. Berlinger says he’s not happy with the way the new footage is integrated in the film. He would like to change it, but he’s up against an Oct. 27 release date.
So, what’s left? A steaming pile, good movie, or inventive approach. I’ll have to wait until Oct 27 to find out, but I don’t like the way things are looking. They should have learned from the first film. A unconventional approach and groundbreaking ideas helped to make it what it was, why change and try to satisfy the public at large and make a worthless film.
Watch The Scooby Doo Project. Definitely the best and funniest parody of The Blair Witch.