Warner Bros' monster-verse hits gold with the hugely enjoyable Kong: Skull Island. Here's our review...
What ingredients go in to a really good, satisfying monster movie? It goes without saying that you need a big, scary creature. A few decent human characters are worth having. Lots of great action. A splash of humour might help.
Less grandiose and romantic than Peter Jackson’s King Kong, more action-packed and pulpy than Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island feels like a throwback to a more innocent era of cinema - a period where movies had titles like The Valley Of Gwangi or Warlords Of Atlantis. Tom Hiddleston stars as a buff hero vaguely in the Doug McClure mould, though inevitably, he isn't really the main draw here - no, the true star of Skull Island is, of course, a certain colossal ape who first appeared in 1933.
Skull Island’s unusual, in that...
What ingredients go in to a really good, satisfying monster movie? It goes without saying that you need a big, scary creature. A few decent human characters are worth having. Lots of great action. A splash of humour might help.
Less grandiose and romantic than Peter Jackson’s King Kong, more action-packed and pulpy than Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island feels like a throwback to a more innocent era of cinema - a period where movies had titles like The Valley Of Gwangi or Warlords Of Atlantis. Tom Hiddleston stars as a buff hero vaguely in the Doug McClure mould, though inevitably, he isn't really the main draw here - no, the true star of Skull Island is, of course, a certain colossal ape who first appeared in 1933.
Skull Island’s unusual, in that...
- 3/2/2017
- Den of Geek
Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 31 Oct 2013 - 07:01
We train our sights on the year 1996, and the 25 underappreciated films it has to offer...
Independence Day managed to revive both the alien invasion movie and the disaster flick in 1996, and just about every other mainstream picture released that year lived in its saucer-shaped shadow.
Yet beyond the aerial battles of Independence Day, the flying cows in Twister, and the high-wire antics of Tom Cruise in Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible, there sat an entire library of lesser-known and underappreciated movies.
As part of our attempts to highlight the unsung greats of the 90s, here's our selection of 25 such films from 1996 - the year chess champion Garry Kasparov lost to the might of the computer Deep Blue, and the year comedy star Jim Carrey starred in an unexpectedly dark tale of obsession...
25. The Cable Guy
We can't sit here and...
We train our sights on the year 1996, and the 25 underappreciated films it has to offer...
Independence Day managed to revive both the alien invasion movie and the disaster flick in 1996, and just about every other mainstream picture released that year lived in its saucer-shaped shadow.
Yet beyond the aerial battles of Independence Day, the flying cows in Twister, and the high-wire antics of Tom Cruise in Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible, there sat an entire library of lesser-known and underappreciated movies.
As part of our attempts to highlight the unsung greats of the 90s, here's our selection of 25 such films from 1996 - the year chess champion Garry Kasparov lost to the might of the computer Deep Blue, and the year comedy star Jim Carrey starred in an unexpectedly dark tale of obsession...
25. The Cable Guy
We can't sit here and...
- 10/30/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation announced today that legendary visual effects pioneer and stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen passed away earlier today, at the age of 93. The foundation released the following statement, which illuminates the artist's iconic career, and includes quotes from top filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, and Peter Jackson, who pay their respects to the late legend.
Raymond Frederick Harryhausen
Born: Los Angeles 29th June 1920
Died: London 7th May 2013.
The Harryhausen family regret to announce the death of Ray Harryhausen, Visual Effects pioneer and stop-motion model animator. He was a multi-award winner which includes a special Oscar and BAFTA. Ray's influence on today's filmmakers was enormous, with luminaries; Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, George Lucas, John Landis and the UK's own Nick Park have cited Harryhausen as being the man whose work inspired their own creations.
Harryhausen's fascination with animated models began when he first...
Raymond Frederick Harryhausen
Born: Los Angeles 29th June 1920
Died: London 7th May 2013.
The Harryhausen family regret to announce the death of Ray Harryhausen, Visual Effects pioneer and stop-motion model animator. He was a multi-award winner which includes a special Oscar and BAFTA. Ray's influence on today's filmmakers was enormous, with luminaries; Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, George Lucas, John Landis and the UK's own Nick Park have cited Harryhausen as being the man whose work inspired their own creations.
Harryhausen's fascination with animated models began when he first...
- 5/7/2013
- by MovieWeb
- MovieWeb
Peter Jackson was born in New Zealand on October 31st, 1961 (and oh what an appropriate day that is). An only child, Jackson was given an 8mm camera at the age of eight, which he utilized to the fullest extent imaginable. As a youth Jackson made quite a few low budget independent films, a few of which even earned him notice. "World War Two" and The Valley were two such short films made by Jackson during his teenage years, and both afforded Pet…...
- 10/9/2011
- Horrorbid
František Vlácil, Edinburgh, Glasgow & London
While the likes of Milos Forman and Jirí Menzel benefited from attention focused on Czech cinema in the late-60s and early-70s, František Vlácil wasn't so lucky. He's been mentioned in the same breath as Welles, Tarkovsky and even Kurosawa; and on home turf, his 1967 historical drama Marketa Lazarová is considered a masterpiece. Yet few of Vlácil's films have ever been shown in the UK. Vlácil, who died in 1999, kept working up to the late-80s, and this selection gives a good indication of his range, incorporating Marketa Lazarová alongside lesser-known works such as The Little Shepherd Boy From The Valley and Shadows Of A Hot Summer.
BFI Southbank, SE1, to 30 Sep; Filmhouse, Edinburgh, to 3 Oct; Glasgow Film Theatre, Tue to 28 Sep
Ray Harryhausen, London
In the year of his 90th birthday, Ray Harryhausen can't say he feels too overlooked these days, especially after...
While the likes of Milos Forman and Jirí Menzel benefited from attention focused on Czech cinema in the late-60s and early-70s, František Vlácil wasn't so lucky. He's been mentioned in the same breath as Welles, Tarkovsky and even Kurosawa; and on home turf, his 1967 historical drama Marketa Lazarová is considered a masterpiece. Yet few of Vlácil's films have ever been shown in the UK. Vlácil, who died in 1999, kept working up to the late-80s, and this selection gives a good indication of his range, incorporating Marketa Lazarová alongside lesser-known works such as The Little Shepherd Boy From The Valley and Shadows Of A Hot Summer.
BFI Southbank, SE1, to 30 Sep; Filmhouse, Edinburgh, to 3 Oct; Glasgow Film Theatre, Tue to 28 Sep
Ray Harryhausen, London
In the year of his 90th birthday, Ray Harryhausen can't say he feels too overlooked these days, especially after...
- 9/3/2010
- by Damon Wise
- The Guardian - Film News
Peter Jackson was born in New Zealand on October 31st, 1961. An only child, Jackson was given an 8mm camera at the age of eight, which he utilized to the fullest extent imaginable. As a youth Jackson made quite a few low budget independent films, a few of which even earned him notice.
"World War Two" and “The Valley” were two such short films made by Jackson during his teenage years, and provided Peter some notoriety early on as the blossoming filmmaker managed to incorporate some impressive stop motion effects regardless of functioning on a non existent budget. Despite a lack of formal training, the New Zealanders initial love for special effects and short films have steadily evolved into successful major motion pictures.
In an interview with David Stratton, Peter Jackson once said “I wanted my special effects movies to have little stories and plots. And so the concept of writing...
"World War Two" and “The Valley” were two such short films made by Jackson during his teenage years, and provided Peter some notoriety early on as the blossoming filmmaker managed to incorporate some impressive stop motion effects regardless of functioning on a non existent budget. Despite a lack of formal training, the New Zealanders initial love for special effects and short films have steadily evolved into successful major motion pictures.
In an interview with David Stratton, Peter Jackson once said “I wanted my special effects movies to have little stories and plots. And so the concept of writing...
- 2/28/2009
- Fangoria
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