Pinched from Ponder







Yes I have nicked this graphic from Stacey Ponder http://finalgirl.blogspot.com/ , but she is magnanimous and great, so I guess she will be OK with it. And she is 6500 miles away in L.A., so if she isn't, I should be OK (unless she sends the Space Girls round) http://www.spacegirlsnow.com/.
Anyhoo... I have decided to make an effort to thrash my way through a part of my massive backlog of horror movies in celebration of the month of samhain (or however you spell it). I am currently on number 17 on day 17 of October, so am on course for 31/31. It has also inspired me to consider writing this again. Not that anybody reads it, but I do look for comments every now and again. Plus, my brother is off back to live in Vietnam, so he may start his blog up again, which is how all this started.
The plan is to critique (big intention) all the films this month. But now it is time for bed, so I'll be back (again). Honest...if not, I'll have 62 films to write about for October 2011.

I hate zombies - Beyond the City of the living dead

Firstly it's not a film about Dublin on a Sunday morning. It has been a while since I was in Dublin, but as far as I know the same rules apply. Anyhow...
I have heard three or more podcasts recently going on about these films, so despite my lack of enthusiasm for zombie based films, I thought I would risk it (although they don't make "Swisskits" any more apparently).
I started in the correct order, with Cat McColl going crackers and her friends getting their eyes/guts/brains ripped out by alleged zombies. I admit, watching the films on my computer monitor at work (it is calibrated!) is a bit dodgy, but if I was to wait to see them at home, I would be waiting along time(Mrs Filmo is not that interested).
I'll be back...

Fulci sucks

OK, so I have been listening to a few podcasts recently that have been going through the Fulci "Beyond" trilogy. I reckoned it was probably time for me to watch them , despite my lack of interest in "zombie " movies. So...

I'm back, and why not. Well, cos I talk a load of shite for one.
OK I'm busted. Any how, I have been filling in my film watching log with scores, and felt that I am missing something, especially as I have been recently watching films that are hard to get hold of.
That and the fact the fascists are back in power. Don't get me started on that tack. Bloody Tories.

The Happening

So if you have not seen it, do not read any further. Mind you, it is bleeding obvious, so feel free to read on.
I managed to get to this latest M Night Shayamalan piccy without knowing much, which was hard given my daily trawl through horror websites. I guess I quite liked it, but during the following week I heard so many bad things about it I feel my opinion has been derailed. Back on trak, Zooey Deschanel should be banned from acting, as she looks crazy for most of the film. Yes, I have thought about director guidance, but I go with her bad skills.
Mark Wahlberg on the other hand, I am not so sure about. He acts like a simpleton (being a devout christian (him not me) I can believe it). I am not sure he is the best choice as a science teacher, as he seems a bit parrot-like when performing some of his lines.
At the end of the movie, all I wanted to do was rush home and hug my family.
The fact that I didn't is a fact of family life (I had to go to Tesco), but once home I was chuffed.

Lady not dead in the water

Now I know this has been out for a while now, but what with babies, job, crazy Yakuza films to watch, I have not got round to it. Any how, a recovery day from work gave me the opportunity to take in this M. Night Shyamalan joint after a small amount of persuasion with Mrs Mick.
Trepidation filled my bones, as I had heard a lot of bad comments about this addition to the MNS oeuvre. I need not have feared however, as Mr Indian pulled another monster out of the closet. I guess if you would not buy into the whole "fairy-tale" scenario then the film would be problematic. But hey, I am hard to please, just not a fanboy-with-a-stick-up-my-arse. The film moved me, engaged me, made me cry (not too hard to do), put my hackles up, and generally did everything a good movie should.
Given the negative stuff I had heard from various podcasts, and read through various genre publications, I was almost overwhelmed by the whole experience.
I think I am probably a fan of Mr Shyamalan, having liked Sixth Sense, liked Unbreakable, almost loved Signs (apart form the Gibson factor), and really quite liked The Village, but headed in to this viewing with fear in my heart. Stuff the nay-sayers I say.
I am off to see The Happening tomorrow with a bit of luck and child good behaviour.
I can't wait.

Hit me with your rhythm stick. And your walking stick. And your car. And your hand grenade. Ooh, and lets make sure with a nuke!

Bloody hell, I'm glad I have not seen Crash. Well the Paul Haggis version anyhow. Just watched In the Valley of Elah and yes, it was well written well directed and all that cobblers, but bloody hell, talk about beat you senseless with the main point. War is hell, blah-blah, it makes devils of us all, blah-blah, when we return we are still devils, blah-blah.
Ooh, look at all these evil phone videos. Ooh, lets make the culprit blank-faced with PTSD. Ooh, lets put this flag upside-down. Ooh just in case anybody didn't get it, lets dedicate it to the children.
Perhaps if more Americans dedicated their lives to not shooting children in their own country, the world would be a better place. But God probably told them to shoot the suckers.
It all comes back to the fact that even post 9-11, more Americans have been killed by their own kind than by terrorists. Go figure. Or as Paul Haggis would say:
Bam! with a fist!
Bam! with a stick!
Bam!! with a knife!!
Bam!!! with a gun!!!

On a more parochial note, at least Donny got promoted today!!