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Showing posts from August, 2010

Beware of Shark Attack

First Piranhas and now sharks.     Director David R. Ellis (Final Destination 2, Snakes On A Plane) has cast his first four vacationers for his upcoming 3D epic, the aptly titled Shark Night 3D.  Heat Vision reports Ellis has cast Sinqua Walls (Savage County), Chris Carmack (The Butterfuly Effect: Revelation), Alyssa Diaz (Red Dawn) and Joel David Moore (Avatar).  Who cares about a cast of people no one has heard of? I agree. But the horror film, penned by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes, revolves around seven men and women who spend a weekend at a lake house in Louisiana's Gulf area and find their vacation quickly becomes a nightmare of hellish shark attacks, unheard of in freshwater lakes. The group soon discover that the sharks are part of a sick, greedy plan on the part of several locals.  If done right, this could be a lot of fun. The film rolls in September.

Sly Tweets For Expendables 2 Ideas

Sylvester Stallone, writer and director of the incredibly awesome box-office hit The Expendables, is on Twitter and looking for you ideas for the eventual follow up. He said he's had dinner with Bruce Willis and was thinking about making him the villain of the next film. Apparently Willis suggested Stallone bring Stone Cold Steve Austin back to life as Willis' twin bald brother. His response: "Do I have to battle that monster again!!!!!!!?????" Sly's also soliciting ideas as to where the film should take place, asking fellow Tweeters what the "most dangerous places in the world" are. Responses have included North Korea, South Africa and Thailand, Iran, Afghanistan and Milan. All I know is I want the sequel to arrive sooner rather than later! If you haven't watched it, get your ass into a theatre seat now!

Box Office Report: Last Exorcism steals top spot from Takers

Following the motion picture box office is kinda like playing the stock market, only with nothing invested and nothing gained. Sure, there's movies you like that you hope will perform well but, if that doesn't happen, you're not out anything. I've been a box office tracker for years now and never cease to be amused and entertained by watching some films succeed while others fail. So, starting this week, we're going to try and keep you, our favourite Basement Dwellers, in the box-officer loop by posting results every Sunday night. It's all part of our master plan to take over the world, or generate content for our radio show, you decide. Read on for the weekly box office report: The Last Exorcism, a gruesome documentary-style horror movie, beat out competitors for the top spot this weekend. The movie, directed by Daniel Stamm and co-produced by Eli Roth, a director known for his bloody thrillers, follows a disillusioned minister supposedly filming hi

Not Such An Impossible Mission?

First came the news that The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner will join Tom Cruise in the next Mission: Impossible movie and today Variety reports that the film won't be a Mission: Impossible movie at all. Huh? Stick with us. There were talks early on in the development that the project would introduce a younger agent to take over from fading star Cruise when he leaves the franchise. That way the producers wouldn't need to do a traditional reboot per say, but the series could still keep going. It looks like that time is coming sooner as opposed to later. Mission: Impossible 4 won't be called Mission: Impossible 4 at all. Variety says neither word, nor the : or 4 will appear in the title. Paramount intends to explore new titles that would relaunch the series, kinda like what Warner Bros. did with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Might we in The Basement suggest The Death of Ethan Hunt? The new-non Mission: Impossible movie is directed by Brad (The Incredible) B

The Dead Will Walk On Halloween

This isn't a trailer for a movie, but it might as well be. AMC announced today that its highly anticipated new serial thriller The Walking Dead premieres with a 90-minute episode on -- wait for it -- Halloween night! For those of you who have no idea what The Walking Dead is, then shame on you! Robert Kirkman's ongoing black and white comic book is great stuff and ripe for translating into a TV show. The series will be helmed by three-time Academy Award winner Frank Darabont, the director of The Shawshank Redemption. Colour us excited. Zombies rule, especially when done right!

Piranha 3D Sequel Already Announced

Dimension Films announced this morning that after earning rave reviews from critics, cheers from audiences and a $10-million opening weekend at the box office (that's it!?!) that work has already begun on Piranha 3D: The Sequel. Piranha 3D producer Mark Canton stated in a press release that "We are thrilled that audiences are not just loving Piranha 3D, but cheering for it. And it’s fantastic that so many critics are really getting the movie and recommending it. We can't wait to get to work on the sequel."  Hey, sure. Why not. I haven't watched Piranha 3D yet but anticipate that it will be a lot of fun. Perhaps, if I can escape the clutches of life on Friday, I might take in a showing. Or maybe The Last Exorcism. Tough call. Both are right up our alley here in The Basement. According to Entertainment Weekly director Alexandre Aja, who made the kick ass High Tension and the so-so Hills Have Eyes and Mirrors remakes, is involved in the sequel as well

Movie Round Up: Reviews of Sahara and the first 22 minutes of Date Night

Jason here with reviews of two movies watched during a smoky, drunken Thursday night. Well, I lie. It's only a review and a bit as I couldn't sit through even 30 minutes of Date Night. Guess the rating on that one. Sahara is a wannabe Indiana Jones style adventure that just can't cut it. Based on Clive Cussler's classic adventure novel of the same name, the film offers boat chases, gunfights and stunts galore, but to minimal effect. Unlike Raiders of the Lost Ark, which this movie wants desperately to be, there's nothing here to engage the brain along with the eyeballs.Yes, Penelope Cruz is gorgeous and Steve Zahn makes a great sidekick, but Matthew McConaughey is no Harrison Ford. In the end, Sahara isn't a total waist of time, but I can't recommend it either. A Bad review from The Basement on this one. Twenty-two minutes in and I hadn't even cracked a smile. Fuck you, Date Night! I'd rate you an Ugly, but I need to see all of you to form a

Hatchet 2 Teaser Trailer Is Unleased!

Everyone who saw Adam Green's awesome 80's slasher movie throwback Hatchet raise your hand. That's everyone? Good. That film was a loving tribute to Friday the 13th and every generic gore fest that came in the wake of the original Halloween. It was low on plot and big on gore. Lotsa gore. Great gore. It was gorerific. It also introduced us to Victor Crowley, who has all the makings of a great horror icon. Now Green is back with the inevitable sequel. I'm sure more heads will roll. Literally. Hatchet 2  follows Marybeth (Danielle Harris) as she escapes from the clutches of Crowley (Kane Hodder), learns the truth about his curse, and heads back into the haunted New Orleans swamp to seek revenge for her family and kill Crowley once and for all. Take a gander at the teaser below, and prepare for the film's limited release Oct. 1 . . . just in time for the premier of our radio show!

Another Day, Another Trailer For A Horror Movie

But this one actually looks good! If you aren't familiar with the name Brad Anderson and you consider yourself a horror film, well, shame on you. Anderson made the exception Session 9, the effective The Machinist and the so-so-but-still-worth-seeing Transsiberian. Now he's about to unleash his latest effort, Vanishing on 7th Street, and it looks creepy cool. The film features Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo as a disparate group brought together by the fact that darkness itself seems to be making people disappear into thin air. Soon, the survivors are clinging to what light sources they can find, spurred on by ominous warnings to avoid the dark at any cost and to only trust the light they carry themselves. Sound good? Just forget Christensen is in it and give it a try. The film doesn't have a release date, but premiers at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

Trailer Alert: My Soul To Take

Remember Wes Craven? The guy who created the original A Nightmare On Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes and The Last House On the Left? How about Scream? Well, he's back. My Soul To Take features an overused plot about a serial killer coming back from the dead. There's a lot of expository dialogue, and everything feels a bit flat.Granted, but it's Craven so there will be a couple of good scares. And the imagery is nice. We'll know more once the film opens in October. In 3D you say? Well, maybe we'll rent it instead. Check out the trailer and judge for yourself.

David Fincher Finds His Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Sony Pictures announced today that Rooney Mara of the recent Nightmare On Elm Street remake will star alongside Daniel Craig in the Hollywood version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. She will play the film's lead, computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. Duh. Reports also suggest Mara is signed on for film versions of all three books in the trilogy, including The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, provided the North American films prove as popular as the Swedish ones of the same name. Mara is no stranger to Fincher, having filmed a role in his upcoming Facebook drama The Social Network. While some have complained Mara's performance in Elm Street was too wooden (don't know, haven't seen it yet) one must have faith that Fincher tends to bring out the best in actors. The film starts shooting next month in Sweden. To hear our review of the Swedish film just click on the handy dandy embedded player to your right.

Micro Review: The Expendables

Remember films like Commando, Missing In Action, Cobra, and Rambo? That's The Expendables in a nutshell. Plot? Who cares. Character development? Minimal. Pathos? Fuck off! This is man's movie. There's so much testosterone in this thing that I think my biceps will explode like the villains dispatched by Terry Crews' beautiful automatic shotgun. The action scenes in this thing are so awesome, well, I'm awesomed out by how awesome they are. The cameos by Willis and Schwarzenegger? Perfect. Did I mention the action scenes are awesome? Hollywood, take note: this is how you make an action movie. A pure action movie. A balls-to-the-wall, knife-in-the-throat, fist-to-the-face action film for people who grew up on them during the 80s. A Good review from The Basement on this one. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go eat a steak.

Micro Review: Kick Ass

There are some who will be appalled by the amount of violence perpetrated by and against children in this movie. I say that as warning to those who haven't seen it. Everyone else, especially those who grew up on the dark era of 1980s comics, should love it. This adaptation of Mark Millar's comic book series has enough wit and action to justify the title. It's tough to call it a comedy but it's not a straight ahead superhero movie either. One could say it's a biting commentary on our times, where everyone wants to be famous and violent antics (I'm talking to you, Jackass) are socially acceptable. The film is at odds with itself. At first it's a comic indictment of fanboy fanaticism taken to its logical end before giving in to the very formula it wants to subvert. Fortunately, the whole works better than its parts. A Good review from The Basement on this one.

Guest Review: The Green Zone

Mike S is back with his thoughts on The Green Zone, a movie this Basement dweller gave a bad rating to. Read on to "hear" this thoughts. And there's not a "delightful romp" in the entire piece. Promise! I've never been a fan of most American modern war films, since they are either "Hooray to the US for saving the day" films, or "war is nothering but a waste of humanity" films. Luckily, this movie isn't one of those types. Rather than focusing on having the US as the saviors, or telling us from a soldier's perspective the horrors of war, this movie looks at the reason for the war in Iraq. We all know that the US invaded Iraq searching for the reported Weapons of Mass Destruction Saddam supposedly had. We also know that there were ultimately, no WMD's to be found. At the time though, it was a good enough reason in the light of George W. Bush's declaration of War of Terrorism, to attack Iraq. It'

Trailer Alert: Skyline

Between this teaser and the trailer for Monsters it looks like genre film making is in good hands. The Strause Brothers, who made the R-rated Aliens vs. Predator movie and also run the top level special effects house Hydraulx, have self-financed a large-scale sci-fi movie and shot it with their own cameras at their own home studio.  It is called Skyline and the very short trailer shows a lot of promise. The teaser doesn't really offer much from the movie itself except for a few cool shots of the alien ships sucking lots of people into the air, but it does build some tension. And it looks slick. The film opens Nov. 12.

UFI: The Amityville Horror House Has Been Sold

How about that? I didn't even know it was up for sale. Newsday reported on the weekend that the five bedroom house with one of the most notorious house in North American history was on the market for a  $1.15 million. The Dutch Colonial at 108 Ocean Avenue is where Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his parents and his four siblings in 1974. The shootings became the inspiration for Jay Anson's book The Amityville Horror: A True Story and, of course, the 1979 film "The Amityville Horror, its 2005 remake, and many crappy films/sequels inbetween. The home was only on the market for 70 days.

Micro Review: Cop Out

Not the crapfest many critics and filmgoers have claimed it to be, but nothing to write home about either. The film is saved by the presence of The Bruce and a welcome supporting role played by Sean William Scott. Tracy Morgan's performance becomes tolerable as the film rolls along, and his fight with a foul-mouthed 10-year-old car thief is hilarious. The rest of the film is uninspired and there are too many gaps between laughs. Director Kevin Smith really doesn't know how to shoot an action scene either. They aren't poorly staged, but the gunfire fails to generate excitement. A Bad review from The Basement on this, at least as far as Jay is concerned.

Trailer Alert: Unstoppable

I'm not sure why I'm jazzed to see the latest Tony Scott/Denzel Washington collaboration Unstoppable. Up until about five minutes ago I hadn't watched a lick of footage. But the concept of an out-of-control train loaded with dangerous chemicals smashing everything in its path is a great one for an action film. And it co-stars Capt. Kirk himself: Chris Pine. Not Shatner. But that would be cool too. I think Pine has the chops to be a huge star, so it's nice to see him in another high-profile project. The trailer below provides exactly what I expected: big trains smashing stuff. It also looks like the film could be a lot of fun. We'll know for sure in November.

The Expendables Theme

Watched the trailer? Heard that cool tune from Shinedown? Well, we've got the song in all its rockin' glory for you right here in The Basement! Just click on the link below on enjoy. The song is called Diamond Eyes. The Expendables, with Stallone, Willis, Statham, Li, Lundgren and Schwarzenegger opens August 13 at a theatre near you.

Guest Review: Kick Ass

Regular contributor Mike S is back with a review of Kick Ass, therefore making me the last person on the planet to see this movie. I intended to rent it tonight, actually. But my fave movie store had no copies.  Literally. None were sent to the store and I had to walk away with a lone tear falling down my face. True story. Anywho, S's review makes me want to see this flick even more,despite him actually using the phrase "delightful romp." Check it out. A wonderful look at the world of superheros, this movie has humour, and action balanced in a ride that takes you from laughing to cheering. It's a beautifully shot film, that manages to bounce from the slow, drab and plainly shot expositional parts to the over the top, well choreographed and violent action sequences. The acting is pretty good, if not the greatest, but you don't mind as the characters are still engaging and fun to watch. The story is very much like what you'd find in a comic

Trailer Alert: Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

We here in The Basement love our horror. And one of the name's horror geeks have bowed at the alter of recent years is Guillermo del Toro. The man's got a good resume under his belt, be it as a director (Blade 2) or as a producer (The Orphanage). So when his name turned up on this trailer for the remake of the 1973 TV movie Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, I had to give it a look. The film promises to be creepy and, given the R rating, bloody. Throw in some pint-sized creatures and a big, spooky house and I'm there. Oh, and Katie Holmes is still cute. The film is due out in January. If the main trailer looks good, I could venture to a theatre to see this. What say you? Don't Be Afraid of the Dark in HD Trailer Park Movies | MySpace Video

Next On the Chopping Block: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

We've been not so hard at work on our August special, which features a review of the international blockbuster The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and, honestly, little else. But that's because we've been hard at work on our premier episode of the radio show, which goes live just two months from now! The August episode of Film Reviews From the Basement will be up Monday, August 9. Here's a trailer for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Stick with us.