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Showing posts from December, 2015

Jason versus The Hateful Eight

There's only one director alive who can drive a movie with dialogue, and his name is Quentin Tarantino. Love him or not, love his movies or not, you gotta admit the man has a gift for great gab. How much you like his work depends on how much you like talky movies with bursts of graphic violence. I've only disliked one -- Jackie Brown. And it wasn't even bad. Just not memorable. Sure Pulp Fiction made the writer/director a star, but I think his movies got increasingly better with time. Self indulgent? Sure. But I believe his skills have matured like a good Scotch.

Jason verus Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Thirty two years is a long time wait between Star Wars movies. Sure, there're the prequels, but really. Do they count? Not to me. For me, the Star Wars saga went on hiatus in 1983 and didn't pick up until just a few short weeks ago. Thirty two years. A long wait. Was it worth it? Stick with me!

Jason versus Until Dawn (PS4)

OK, first stab at putting thoughts down on a video game. But PS4's Until Dawn is so much like an interactive TV show or movie that this shouldn't be too hard. Video games sure have come a long way from Donkey Kong and Pong! But does shockingly realistic character design, easy playability and a compelling -- to me at least -- storyline make for a good game? Stick with me!

Jason versus In the Heart of the Sea and Sicario

I'm still about 48 hours away from catching Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but I have had the opportunity to catch up with a couple of the fall's bigger releases. Sure, they aren't Star Wars big, but one is a critically acclaimed crime flick and the other a blockbuster wannabe about a really pissed off whale. That's right, I'm talking In the Heart of the Seas (the whale movie) and Sicario (not the whale movie), and I've sobered up long enough to toss a few thoughts down on this blog post. Just a few thoughts, so stick with me!

New Deadpool trailer delivers

Not my most inspired headline ever, but it's the day after Christmas and I'm a bit bleary eyed and hungover on turkey, booze and other good cheer. But I just had to share this latest trailer for the upcoming Deadpool movie. And here it is:

Merry Christmas from The Basement

That headline pretty much sums it up: Shawn, Amy and I would like to wish our listeners and readers a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years. This was a big year for us, as Shawn and I came back from self-imposed exile and, with the help of the beautiful and talented Amy Wickenheiser, resurrected The Basement into something new and exciting. And many of the people who stuck with us before continue to do so, so thanks to you, our audience and fans, and to Amy for coming on board.

Lights Out will light up theatre screens in July

Everyone out there who has seen David Sandberg's creepy as fuck horror short Lights Out put up your hands. All of you? Good! But not YOU, George? Shame on you! Sandberg's flick is the creepiest three minutes I think have ever been put on film. And it only makes sense that, given the short's viral success, it would be turned into a feature film.

Back to Back to Frank Black, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and The X-Files revival

It's a packed house in terms of people and content this episode as Jason, Shawn and Amy welcome back Troy Foreman and James McLean of the Back to Frank Black campaign, which aims to revive, in some form, Chris Carter's 90s TV series Millennium. Naturally, The Basement Dwellers discuss that series, which starred the great Lance Henriksen, and where the campaign is at in terms of bringing the series and its hero, Frank Black, back. But the conversation quickly turns to a little movie that's quietly slipped into theatres this weekend -- Star Wars: The Force Awakens -- and the impact the Star Wars saga has had on popular culture. Plus James's theory that Luke is a douche. Plus, Troy and James have a few words to say about the revival of Chris Carter's uber popular series The X-Files, which hits TV screens next month. Things also take a political turn as The Basement dives into politics, and opinions are voiced about U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Shawn and Anthony Michael Bosa versus Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The most anticipated movie of all time is here, and Shawn and sometime Basement contributor Anthony Michael Bosa have seen it. That's right, we're talkin' Star Wars: The Force Awakens!

My Two Bits: Extraction

There was an era when action movies were simple, straight-ahead entertainment. I call this era the 80s and Cannon Films was the mecca for such fine, filmed entertainment. Modern cinema could take a cue from this time period, and learn well from it. It's rare when a movie comes along like those I grew up watching. But every now and then a flick surfaces that reminds me of those simpler times. Lean on story and mean on action, the perfect Friday night beer drinking fare.

Our CBC Kamloops/Star Wars: The Force Awakens interview

Just a quick update today, Basementites. Shawn and I wanted to share with you our 15 minutes of fame that occurred earlier today on Daybreak Kamloops. For the uninitiated, we sat down with host Shelley Joyce to rap -- not in song -- about a little movie called Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which of course opens everywhere this weekend. We could go into details about the conversation, but figured it was easiest to share it with you.

John Wick 2 has Morpheus

Looks like the much anticipated -- at least by anyone with a brain -- sequel to the 2014 action smash John Wick will be a bit of a reunion for Keanu Reeves and his Matrix co-star Laurence Fishburne. That's right, Neo and Morpheus will share some screen time again . . .  only not as Neo and Morpheus, obviously, making my analogy pretty stupid when I stop to think about it.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the CBC

Readers will have noticed we stepped up activity here on The Basement site, and that's because it truly feels like Shawn, Amy and I have hit our groove when it comes to what we want the latest incarnation of We Came from the Basement to be -- a fun hangout where we talk all things entertainment. And it's super awesome that our renewed energy has coincided with an exciting opportunity for Shawn and I to talk the year's most anticipated movie on our nation's national broadcaster.

Mike S and Star Trek Beyond

Recently, Jay spoke to all of you about the recent "Star Trek Beyond" trailer.  He shared his thoughts as a "casual fan", which inspired me to share my thoughts as a more "hardcore fan". Because I am one.  I've got pretty much all the novels, all the movies, I've almost have all the episodes (including the animated series), prop replicas, Enterprise models, figures, bobble heads, a Spock cookie jar (I'm actually hoping to get a set of Star Trek cookie cutters for Christmas).

In defence of the Star Trek Beyond trailer

The trailer for the latest instalment in Paramount's bazillion dollar Star Trek franchise hit the Internet today to much fanfare, both positive and negative. The positive camp found it a fun look at what could be a decent summer blockbuster. The negative said it doesn't seem anything like the vision Gene Roddenberry brought to life with the 1960s TV series and subsequent feature films.

Jay tweets to Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

It's been a good couple of years since anyone in The Basement tweeted along to anything. Used to be we'd do so on a weekly basis, teasing what we'd review on our radio show/podcast. Even our mad twit Mike S would tweet along to flicks using the  @camethebasement account. Then the tweeting ended, for reasons we can't remember. But, given a recent self pledge to kick things up a notch here on the site, I figured I'd pick a flick at random -- in this case Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse -- and see if I still had it in me. The experiment occurred last night and involved many beers.

Mad Max video game tune asks tough question

How is that for a weird as fuck headline? Pretty good, eh!?! A real WTF moment? Thought so. I've taken two cracks now at the Mad Max video game. Not because I don't dig it. I dig it a lot, tell the truth. It's one of the better games in my library since the wife got a PS4 earlier this year. I'm new to the gamer world, and don't have much of a knack for it. Which is a polite way of saying I generally suck at playing video games. And I play so sporadically that I just figure out how to play one and then have three or four weeks of other commitments that I don't get to play. When I do finally find the time, it's like I've got to figure my shit out all over again.

Labour of love Shockwave Darkside hits VOD in January

Having dabbled in the film industry alongside my bro John Fallon these last three years, I've come to realize just how big a hurdle it is to get a project off the ground and onto a screen somewhere. The effort can take years, and even then there is no guarantee of success. So we in The Basement applaud writer/director Jay Weisman for getting his sci-fi flick Shockwave Darkside into the hands of distributor Uncork'd Entertainment for a Jan. 5 VOD release. It took the man 10 years to complete his special-effects laden adventure, so Good, Bad or Ugly, our hats are off to you sir.

The Netflix Top 5 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Those pretentious bastards and bastardette are back with more podcast goodness designed to pleasure your ear holes. This time Jason, Shawn and Amy are fulfilling a fan's request to break down what the Basement Dwellers consider the best of the best on U.S. and Canadian Netflix. That's right, between Canucks Jason and Shawn, and transplanted Canuck Amy down in the Good ole U.S. of U., the crew feel they've got a pretty good handle on what's worth watching on the popular streaming service. This is the first of what could become a monthly-ish instalment on the show. Because, with so many TV shows, docs and movies to choose from -- and programming added all the time -- there's certainly more than five things worth watching. What do the Terrible Trio go with this go around? Stick with us! Plus, a hardcore Superman fan like Shawn, and comic-book expert like Amy, aren't going to let the drop of the much anticipated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer g

The Nice Guys trailer is proof Black is back

That's Shane Black to you. The genius screenwriter behind such action classics as Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. And yeah, the director of Iron Man 3. The man is a master of the violent, trashy action/comedy and one liners. I'm aware the trailer hit yesterday and has already trended on Facebook. Tough. We talk about things when we want here in The Basement.