Paradox (2010)

Directed by: Brenton Spencer
Run time: 86 minutes

This movie should have been entertaining.  It has a noir police story,  weird alternative history,  and Kevin Sorbo.  Instead it uses famous movie lines to poor effect,  the plot staggers around like it's drunk,  and the comic book ascetic feels out of place.  Paradox was based on a comic book but I am guessing that everything of interest was left out.

The plot revolves around  Detective Sean Nault played by Kevin Sorbo. Sean is a hard nosed cop who plays by his own rules. He also believes in a new age cult that most of society has written off as superstition at best. He is a practitioner of the scientific method. The Earth that Sean lives on developed magic in stead of science. So lots of spells and crystal machinery and not a lot of metal tools and common sense.

A series of unexplained murders have occurred and the weapon that is killing people is small metal objects that can move fast enough to pierce the body. One of the people murdered is Sean's partner. giving him more motivation to bring this killer to justice and to bring respect to forensic science. This investigation brings to light another Earth where magic doesn't exist, a drug ring that imports drugs from the other Earth so narcotic spells can't detect them, a conspiracy with dire consequences, and that Sean is a Paradox. Paradoxes are people who do not have a twin on the science Earth.

Sean uses the scientific method, his intuition, and lazy writing to solve the mystery of who is bringing non-magical drugs and guns into the world.  He also goes to the non-magical Earth with Lenore, she runs a vaguely explained science store,  in order to find how the illicit items are making it back to their world. While there, the two of them fall in love with the non-magical world and each other. They also find enough evidence to pull apart the sinister conspiracy and lead to the end of the movie.

This is a movie full of great ideas that are never carried out well. Nothing is fully explained, the setting is interesting but never explored, and there is lots of lazy writing to make the protagonists look better. Also the rotoscoped comic book transitions did a lot to force me out of the movie. Cast a Deadly Spell and Witch Hunt are better films in the genre that tis movie is going for.

It's a struggle to find a positive note to end this review on. It's not that Paradox is a bad movie,  it is just too much was thrown at the screen and what stuck was a wandering mess. If it a slow week or you are looking for a comic book movie that is off the Marvel and D.C. beat and path this might be a film to watch.

MVT: I have nothing.  Normally I can find something that stands out but with this movie it's either ok or crap.

Make or Break: Two things broke this movie for me making background characters dumber so the heroes could show off how awesome their science skills are and the references to better movies. After hearing for the third time that a magnum 44 is powerful hand gun and a obligatory assault rifle "Say hello to my little friend" line makes it hard to stay invested the movie.

Score: 4.1 out of 10

Four Lions (2010)

Directed by: Chris Morris
Run time: 97 minutes

This movie is a biting satire of Islamic extremism and human stupidity. Written and directed by Chris Morris who has also written The Day Today,  Brass Eye, and episodes of Veep. The Day Today and The Brass Eye were satirical takes of the media with no care given to how badly they made fun of them or what subject matter they choose to satirize. The best example of this was the Drugs episode of Brass Eye, the show claimed there was an Eastern European drug called "Cake". "Cake" affects the Shatner's Bassoon region of the brain and slowed the users perception of time. It also was claimed to cause water retention in the neck. Now they asked David Amess, a Conservative member of parliament, to film a PSA about the evils of "Cake". He was so taken in by the joke that he asked the government if they knew what it was and had they banned it yet. This is the level of satire Chris Morris brings to his work.

The tone of this movie is set with the opening scene of the character Waj filming his martyr video with a small toy AK-47 and a camera with low battery life. Instead of recording his last message, he is busy arguing with the other members in terrorist cell on the best way to make the toy look like the real thing. This is one of many videos that Omar, leader of the cell, is trying to edit in some way that does not make their group look like a collection of morons. Like Faisal, who refuses to be filmed unless he is wearing a box over his head. Or Barry, a recent convert to Islam and thinks ingesting sim cards is a brilliant way to avoid authorities listening in or tracking them on their cell phones.

The cell's problems start when Omar and Waj go to Pakistan for terrorist training and direction as to what their target will be. Their training doesn't even start when Waj takes a real AK-47 and uses his cell phone to take a video of himself firing it. This pisses off the people running the camp and Omar and Waj will be sent back to England without the training or guidance. Ensuring that the situation is made worse, Omar spots a drone and gets the bright idea to shoot it out of the sky with a rocket launcher. This dumb idea is made worse by the fact Omar has never used that weapon and is holding it backwards. So instead of missing the drone he hit another near by training camp. Omar and Waj get the hell out of Pakistan and get back to England as quickly as humanly possible. Instead of cutting their losses the group just doubles down on the stupidity.

This movie does a great job of showing four flawed people who are all for killing themselves in the name of God. Collectively the four of them can't agree on why they are dying or where they should attack but they all ready to be welcomed into paradise. No one in this film is the cunning evil terrorist, the ultra innocent bystanders, or officer Amazing Slab Chunkhead. It is a movie universe full of people with absurd ideas with an absurd and satirical slant. It is dark, unapologetic, funny, and unafraid to call everyone an idiot. If you like what you have read so far go out and watch this movie. You will not be disappointed.

MVT: The Cast and the writing are the reason this movie is funny as it is.

Make or Break: This is filmed as cable news feature showing the lead up to an event. So a lot of the footage is from closed circuit tv, news footage, cell phone footage, and documentary like footage. It was jarring getting used to the way this movie is put together.

Score: 7.95 out of 10

Tetherball: The Movie (2010)

Directed by: Chris Nickin
Runtime: 90 minutes

Time for something completely different. This unapologetically crude and amusing film is about three and a half friends who enter the strange world of semiprofessional tetherball competition.

The story follows Zach, Alex, Mikey, and sometimes Joe. Zack is a failed boxer and starting to get tired that his life has not changed since college. Alex is allergic to latex, can only get sexually aroused by women dressed in furry costumes, and has ten to thirteen kids. And Mikey who has been a functioning alcoholic since he was thirteen years old. They all work at a direct marketing company that sells offensive t-shirts and is managed by Joe, Mikey's brother and the only reason they are all employed.

Zach is unimpressed with his life and the fact that nothing has changed since college. So after a night of drinking Zack, Alex, and Mikey end up in a playground at six in the morning and play tetherball to sober up. This leads to tetherball becoming a popular sport on the internet. This also leads to Jack White (played by Ron Jeremy) and his son Vince White setting up a tetherball league.

So Zack, Alex, Mikey, and Joe end up being both sport heroes and internet celebrities. However this has not removed compilations from their lives. Joe becomes estranged from his wife in the most humiliating way possible. Mikey girlfriend wants him to be sober. Alex's negativity could tear the team apart. And Zack is not willing to deal with the reason that made him quit boxing. Also Jack and Vince White are trying to see which one of them Zack will sleep with.

Overall this is a fun film and it is nice to see crude humor that is not mean as well. Unlike anything Adam Sandler has produced in the last ten years. Also Dustin Diamond gave an amusing and strange performance as Coach McAger. This is a great film to rent or stream with a group of good friends and some great drinks. Or if you can't get annoying and very politically correct people to leave, put this movie on.

MVT: The writer took the time to explain how competitive tetherball would be played out. Including how penalties work. It made me laugh.

Make or Break: What made this movie for me is the way it took all the beats and cliches of sports hero's journey and did something interesting with it.

Score: 6.9 out of 10

Episode #327: Welcome Home Monty

Welcome back for another episode of the show that give you the most for your free download!!!

This week Large William is joined by CDR from the Cult of Muscle podcast for coverage of Welcome Home, Soldier Boys (1971) directed by Richard Compton and Flexing with Monty (2010) directed by John Albo!!!

Direct download: ggtmc_327.mp3 

 

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Adios!!!

Ultramarine: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie (2010)

                   "...in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. And Hello Kitty"

Warhammer 40,000 is a war game were people spend a lot of money on interesting looking model soldiers and then stage battles with other people who also spent a lot of money on these models. Then every six months the company that makes changes to the game that forces you to buy more stuff and this cycle keeps going until you get tired of it and sell your collection off to the next generation of suckers. The setting is the far future where anything or anyone that can use a weapon is out to kill everything and anyone else. It is grim, dark, and full of interesting stories and sadly this movie is not one of them.

After the dull intro that points out who you are to cheer for and who to hate, the movie shows Brother Grizzled Captain and Brother Wants to be Grizzled Captain are dueling to see who is the bigger dick. Brother Grizzled Captain wins and the Captain sets up the plot and the Chekhov's props for the film. On the planet McGuffin 42 there is a relic of such strategic importance that a thousand space marines from The Emperor's Gold Shirts have been assigned to guard this thing.

The forces of chaos have found McGuffin 42 and wiped out The Emperor's Gold Shirts guarding this relic. So Brother Grizzled Captain, Brother Wants to be Grizzled Captain, John Hurt playing Doctor McCoy as a space marine, Brother Sidekick, and ten other space marines that are puzzled that they have been given red shirts to wear under their armour.

The rest of this movie is nothing more than an ad for Warhammer 40,000 and strongly inspired by a lot of World War Two movies. There is really nothing more I can say about the plot without spoiling it. So I am going to move on to the technical parts of the movie.

First thing about this film is that it is completely devoid of female characters. Now I understand that the models and art work that this movie is based on show space marines as male. There are female characters with the other factions that could have been brought in to the movie but instead they opted for a sausage fest. Next on my list is the characters or the lack of characters in this movie. There are few things to tell the space marines apart but if you weren't paying close attention or drinking instead of taking notes, there is a good chance you have no idea what is going on or why you should care about these space marines.

The audio quality is complete crap as well. A lot of the audio sounds like the actors are mumbling some of the time so trying to hear the dialog can be difficult. Mind you what little dialog there is really not worth hearing anyways because it is mostly badly written military drama and game speak. In the game, everyday speech requires making reference to the emperor at least once a sentence or you can be found guilty of heresy. So as a nod to the numerous novels about the Warhammer 40,000 universe this was added. Also the screen play was written by Dan Abnett who has written several of these novels.

I feel this movie was never intended for people who were not already fans of Games Workshop to begin with. Even as someone who played the game, I found myself lost or not sure what the hell was happening on screen. This movie is more an advertisement than anything else. Avoid it if you have a choice and if you don't have a choice stop for drinks first, it helps.

MVT: Not a damn thing.

Make or Break: What breaks this movie for me is the utter lack exposition. It just assumes that it is as universal as Star Wars and just runs with it.

Score: 0.5 out of 10

Instant Action: The Stranger (2010)

Slow and awkward equals great action now, good to know!

Written By: Quinn Scott
Directed By: Robert Lieberman

The sort of casual approach I've been taking to this column is to attempt with each new review to focus on a specific type of action, or a movie starring a specific action star. Back in the days when I watched professional wrestling all the time I never thought I'd be writing about Steve Austin, action movie star. I'm still not sure if I'm doing that, because while Mr. Austin is in a movie he certainly isn't a star and the action he delivers hardly qualifies as action. That lets the cat out of the bag I guess, but The Stranger is very much an awful movie with an awful actor in the lead role.

The thing about an action star is usually, not always, they can make even the worst movie seem eminently watchable. Cynthia Rothrock, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jackie Chan (for example) have been in their share of movies that should have been horrendous. The very presence of those actors helped to elevate the film, to make it more than the rest of its surrounding parts. The Stranger puts all of its eggs in the basket that is Steve Austin and hopes that he can carry the film with his style, persona, and presence. That's the biggest mistake The Stranger makes, because Mr. Austin is not able to carry a movie and that means all the poorly done elements of the rest of the film stick out even more.

The biggest problem with The Stranger is Mr. Austin, specifically his ability as an action actor. The film tries to hide his lack of acting chops by keeping his talking to a minimum. That was a smart choice, but the film is counting on the action actor part of Mr. Austin to do more than it can. He's clumsy, awkward, without any flare, and most importantly, super, super slow. Mr. Austin's action scenes move like a cow making its way across the pasture. His moves can be seen two steps before they happen, and his slowness only serves to slow down the actors he's interacting with. As a professional wrestler Mr. Austin was a brawler, and it worked. In the context of a wrestling match his boorish, wear you down with brief flashes of speed, style worked in spades. Translated to the big screen his style is just boorish, and slow, and a pain to watch.

Not helping matters is the direction of Robert Lieberman. I swear, if the same flashback isn't repeated over and over this hour and a half movie would only be about an hour and ten minutes. Some of my umbrage towards the flashback usage I throw at script writer Quinn Scott, but it's Mr. Lieberman who presents the flashbacks in the same manner every single time. The direction of Mr. Lieberman matches the boorish nature of his star for the most part, but during the action scenes he attempts to compensate by filming them as if they were shot in a blender. There's a car chase scene that is bereft of tension or suspense because we're never given any visual space to work with. Mr. Lieberman moves his camera around as if it doesn't matter where the motorcycle or car are in relation to one another and their surroundings. There's nothing worse than a lazy action director who confuses rapid camera movement with the implementation of visually interesting action.

When the best thing I can say about your film is that it's awful it's clear that a lot of mistakes were made in the production of said film. There's very little left to say about The Stranger other than that it is an awful representation of an action film. It's biggest sin is that it gives the very alive and vibrant genre of direct-to-video (or in this day and age I suppose it would be direct-to-BD/DVD) action a bad name There are plenty of great action films that never saw the darkened effect of a theater screening room. The Stranger isn't one of those movies, it probably would have been for the best if both it and Mr. Austin were never delivered upon the wold of action cinema.

Rating:

1/10

Cheers,
Bill Thompson

Instant Action: Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)

I'd never trust a guy in a spandex suit named Robin, but that's just me!

Written By: Judd Winick
Directed By: Brandon Vietti

Watching Batman: Under the Red Hood felt like a breath of fresh air. That's generally the feeling I get any time I watch a well made Batman film that isn't associated with the Christopher Nolan monstrosities. His insipid films, I've only seen the first two entries in his trilogy, have sullied the franchise to an unbelievable extent. It helps that Batman: Under the Red Hood is very well made, but even if it weren't it's different than the soul sucking film from Mr. Nolan and therefore it feels completely fresh. That being said, Batman: Under the Red Hood is a well made film, and that's why it's an enjoyable film to watch.

The story in Batman: Under the Red Hood is interesting, if a bit trite. The old friend comes back to haunt the hero shtick has been done in comic books for years. The question in a film like Batman: Under the Red Hood isn't how original the story is, rather it's how said story is handled. I'm happy to say that the story in Batman: Under the Red Hood has been handled in fine fashion. What the film does to make the story work is to couch so much of it in what exemplifies the Batman character. This isn't a Bruce Wayne story, it's a story of the man under the cowl. We see him be a detective, we get to see his process at work, and we get an almost tangible feel for why he makes the choices that define him as a hero. The destination of Batman: Under the Red Hood was never in doubt, but the journey to get there was interesting throughout.

Filming action scenes sounds like it should be easier in an animated film. The animators have the entire world at their disposal, they need not worry about physical limitations of any sort. The animated form often leads to problems in presenting coherent action. Because of the freedom that the animated form offers the desire is acted upon to do whatever the mind can think of in a scene. Batman: Under the Red Hood avoids such a pitfall by keeping the action well oriented. I was never lost for place or location in Batman: Under the Red Hood. The action made sense, and it ties into the strengths and weaknesses of the characters involved in said action. The action in Batman: Under the Red Hood is easy to follow, but it never comes across as lacking or haphazardly implemented.

Batman: Under the Red Hood is not without its flaws. The dialogue is clunky at times, and does in a few instances feel like it's coming out of a different character's mouth. My main beef was with the character of the Joker, simply put I did not like this version of the Joker. Joker in Batman: Under the Red Hood is too bland, with a performance by John DiMaggio that undercuts the contradiction that is the character of the Joker. Mr. DiMaggio is a great actor, but I'm not sure what he thought he was doing with his version of the Joker. This is probably a lot of personal bias coming into play, but if I don't believe in the Joker as a madman and a depressed funny man, then that's a big problem with a Batman film.

Flawed though it is, I still enjoyed Batman: Under the Red Hood. The folks at DC Animation are doing fine work in the superhero realm. Batman: Under the Red Hood is a well constructed action film that tells an interesting tale. The Joker isn't handled all that well, and the dialogue takes too many shortcuts. Still, I had fun watching Batman: Under the Red Hood. I appreciated the crispness of the animation and the adult themes that Brandon Vietti's film was willing to take on. If you're looking for a decent Batman yarn there's no reason to not give Batman: Under the Red Hood a spin.

Rating:

7/10

Cheers,
Bill Thompson

Midnite Ride #17: Yellowbrickroad

Large William reviews Yellowbrickroad (2010) directed by Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton!!!

Direct download: MidniteRide17.mp3

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

Midnite Ride #16: The Dead

Large William reviews The Dead (2010) directed by Howard J. Ford and jonathan Ford!!!

Direct download: MidniteRide16.mp3 

 

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

Episode #192: Incendies

We are back in your earholes and we bring you more GGtMC goodness you have come to love!!!

Thie week our episode is programmed by boulevardmovies.com and it was Large William's pick. He selected Incendies (2011) directed by Denis Villeneuve which finished high on his top 10 of 2011.

We also go over some feedback and devolved into random silliness...pretty much a normal but lovely time.

Direct download: Incendies.mp3

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

Episode #167: Viva 30

Welcome to a special episode of the GGtMC!!!

This week, William and Sammy couldn't get their schedules together and had to step outside to some friends to get a review for you Minions this week!!! Pickleloaf from The Silva and Gold Podcast, CineMasochist Justin from the Freakin' Awesome Network and The Lightning Bug from The Lightning Bug's Lair review Viva Riva! (2010) directed by Djo Munga.

Also, to add to this weeks jam packed show...Large William talks about his Top 30 favorite OLDER films he saw in 2011.

This is a huge show filled with a massive amount of GGtMC goodness!!!

Direct download: Viva_30RM.mp3

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

Episode #162: Sympathy for the Unjust

Welcome to the GGtMC!!!

This week we bring in Jake McLargeHuge from the Podcast Without Honor and Humanity to review a couple of films for our Program for Japan charity event we ran earlier in the year. We cover Sympathy for the Underdog (1971) directed by Kinji Fukusaku and The Unjust (2010) directed by Seung-Wan Ryoo.

Kick back and enjoy!!!

Direct download: Sympathy_for_the_UnjustRM.mp3

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Adios!!!

Episode #154: Hisss-O-Mania

Welcome to another episode of the GGtMC!!!

This week the Gents are joined by the guys from the Entrails from the Skeleton Closet podcast and James McCormick from The Criterion cast and cineAwesome to cover some very different but equally strange cinematic fare.

Large William and the guys from Entrails from the Skeleton Closet review Psychomania (1973) directed by Don Sharp and James and Sammy review Hisss (2010) directed by Jennifer Lynch.

This is a beefy and fun episode and we thank the guys for coming on for some podcasting fun!!!

Direct download: Hissss-O-ManiaRM.mp3

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

No feedback again this week, we will get to it when we can folks, please don't hesitate to send as much as you please!!!

The Aurora Monsters: The Model Craze That Gripped The World (2010)

I used to have a photo of one of my brothers from when he was a kid. Granted, this, in and of itself, is nothing to get excited over. In the image, my brother," Hans" (not his real name), is wearing a "Snidely Whiplash" mustache which was probably cut out of a loose piece of faux fur that was lying around (hey, it was the 70s). This is not the interesting part (it is, unfortunately, the funny part). No, what is most interesting is in the background. Standing majestically on a table behind "Hans" is a model of Jack Kirby's Devil Dinosaur, the cherry red co-protagonist (along with semi-primate, Moon Boy) of the comic book of the same name. I wanted that model. I still do. Of course, it wasn't until decades later that I discovered that what I thought was the coolest toy in the universe was actually a Tyrannosaurus Rex model from Aurora's "Prehistoric Scenes" line. Sadly, this photo has been lost to time, but I know deep down that it was really a Devil Dinosaur kit, just disguised as a T-Rex.

This is the overall feeling both informing and evoked by The Aurora Monsters (for brevity's sake, we'll skip the subtitle in this review), a documentary love letter to, specifically, Aurora's line of monster and horror-themed model kits first produced in the 60s. Sadly, there are no Devil Dinosaurs presented herein. Produced for The Witch's Dungeon (a museum dedicated to classic horror) by Dennis Vincent and Cortlandt Hull (the Dungeon's founder and great nephew of Werewolf of London's Henry Hull), the documentary is set up in segments of individual interviews bookended by short skits and introductions with legendary horror host Zacherley and puppet sidekick Gorgo the gargoyle as a framing device. While trying to cure Gorgo's sinus problems, the duo find some old Super 8 film reels and play the interviews therein. That's basically it.

Now, I like nostalgia. I think, in general at least, nostalgia is a good thing (hell, it's given Joe Franklin an entire career). It's only when your sense of nostalgia prevents you from moving forward that it becomes restrictive and harmful. If it weren't for nostalgia, I probably wouldn't watch and review half the movies I do. If it weren't for nostalgia, you probably wouldn't be reading this at all, I'd guess (unless you're one of the people I bribe to read it). And it is the sense of nostalgia as an inspirational factor that really drives this doc. The filmmakers are not so concerned with history (only about a half-hour is devoted to the people involved directly with Aurora at the time the line was introduced) as they are with the "monster kids" who were fans of the kits and how their future endeavors were stimulated by them. For Example, there's artist Daniel Horne who paints and sculpts classic horror characters. Actor Jeff Yagher sculpts garage kits that more closely resemble the James Bama box art than the Aurora originals did. And so on…

If the producers' point of view regarding the subject is under any doubt, their use of the "Cool Ghoul" as emcee eradicates it handily. Touted as one of the first (and certainly the most famous this side of Elvira) television horror hosts, Zacherley gives it his all in each of his segments. It is easy to see how the man has maintained so rarefied a career for over half a century. He delivers his lines, hits his marks, and most of all, sells the character and his situations. As cornball as it sounds, on some level you have to believe that a horror host is more than a collection of bad puns and crappy slapstick with a tinge of the horrific, and Zacherley accomplishes this with an exuberant ease (especially praiseworthy considering the man's almost 100-years-old). This was my first experience with Zacherley, and his mastery of the form is in full evidence. The effectiveness and need for this framing device is open to debate, but to me it's like chocolate and peanut butter, spaghetti and meatballs, Captain and Tennille, etcetera. Yes, it is incongruous and tangential to the subject matter, but it feels right. Monster kids build Aurora monster models and play with them while watching late night horror movies hosted by characters like Dr. Morgus, Uncle Ted (our own local talent), and Zacherley.

In documentary films, the idea of objectivity has been at the center of debate since the medium was invented (even before, probably). While some feel that the camera presents truth, others feel that its mere presence constructs truth. Personally, I fall in the latter category. Once there is a person behind the lens, no matter what the intent is (or says it isn't), some form of editorializing takes place. You can give ten people ten cameras, have them all film the same event (you can even stipulate the intent), and you will get ten different documents with ten different points of view. But that's a discussion for another day. Suffice it to say, The Aurora Monsters doesn't worry itself with ideas of objectivity at all. After all, the filmmakers aren't out to attain any lofty societal goals. They are all about spreading their affection for this short-lived and much-loved trend. Does that make this a "good" documentary or a "bad" one? Well, as a documentary, it won't have the Frederick Wiseman's and Errol Morris's of the world in fear for their jobs. But that's not really the point, is it? Mash notes don't have to be particularly well-written or be transcendent. They only need to be heartfelt. And this is.

I was astounded at how little of the film deals with the people who were personally involved with Aurora at the time of the line's inception. What's here, though, is fascinating, and listening to the three interviewees (James Bama, Andrew Yanchus, and Ray Meyers) is informative and entertaining. These interviews are interspersed with (what I'm sure are rarely seen) behind-the-scenes artwork and photos. Sadly, I wanted more of this history but didn't get it. Perhaps there are practical reasons behind this. Perhaps there's no one else from then still alive. Perhaps the historical aspect was only intended as a springboard into the monster kids' later exploits. Only the producers know for sure, but for something titled The Aurora Monsters, you'd think it would have a stronger emphasis on the eponymous objects.

Which brings me to structure, and this may be the films' biggest problem. It plays like this: Zacherley and Gorgo do a little sketch, Gorgo finds a reel of film, they roll the film, and we watch the interviews (ostensibly from the film reels), one at a time. The interwoven photos do some of the heavy lifting at fending off boredom (and they are thankfully shown with notations of who they portray), but the monotony of the formula gets old. Ultimately, it gives the proceedings the feel of a show on the Discovery channel (not that that's necessarily bad). I believe that, had they intercut between interviewees, they could have built and maintained a nice sense of momentum, even including Bama, Yanchus, and Meyers throughout the whole film instead of only at the start. They could have still had Zacherley in it, and it would have been a more unified whole. Still and all, if you were ever a monster kid (or ever wanted to be one), you can certainly do much worse than wasting a couple hours with The Aurora Monsters.

MVT: The James Bama interview. If you ever saw any of the man's artwork, you'd understand why this interview is such a treasure for his fans. Plus, he seems like a damn nice guy.

Make or Break: The Mad Geppetto segment is the "Make" for me. These guys take their love of classic monsters to a new level. This is the best example in the film of innovation over imitation (not that the others herein are just imitators). Great stuff.

Score: 6.5/10

Episode #133: Freak Hill 60

Welcome to another episode of the GGtMC and our continued coverage of the Ladies Appreciation picks for the month of May!!

This week we cover Castle Freak (1995) directed by Stuart Gordon, selected by Becky and Beneath Hill 60 (2010) directed by Jeremy Sims selected by Rach from the Girls on Film Podcast.

We had to get creative this week due to some scheduling issues and unexpected curveballs, but the show is complete and it's here for your listening enjoyment.

Direct download: Freak_Hill_60RM.mp3

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

Episode #118: The Maple Vice Squad

Welcome to a much delayed but ultimately awesome episode of the GGtMC!!!

Sammy has had some personal matters kick up and Large William and Uncool Cat Chris stepped in and put together a lovely little show for the listeners.

The week the guys cover 9 Souls (2003) directed by Toshiaki Toyoda and Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010) directed by Tsui Hark.

Direct download: Maple_Vice_Squad.mp3

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

GGtMC at TIFF: 13 Assassins & I Saw The Devil

This time around, Large William is joined by the Uncool Cat Chris for some genre film coverage from the eastern side of things!!!

                They talk about Miike's 13 ASSASSINS and Ji-Woon's I SAW THE DEVIL.

GGtMC at TIFF: Black Swan and Pink Saris

This time around Large William reviews BLACK SWAN and Pink Saris. For more on PINK SARIS check out the following link: http://www.slate.com/id/2260797/pagenum/all/

GGtMC at TIFF: Gorbaciof & The Ward

Large William is back and reviewing films while running throught the streets of Toronto in his track suit. This time Will covers GORBACIOF and John Carpenter's THE WARD.

GGtMC at TIFF 2010: Our Day Will Come & 22nd of May

Large William's coverage of his TIFF adventures begins, covering OUR DAY WILL COME and 22nd OF MAY.