Being Film #3 for Hooptober 2021 Somewhere there's a version of Blood Red Sky where Samuel L. Jackson is screaming "GET THESE MUTHAF-CKIN' VAMPIRES OFF MY MUTHAF-CKIN' PLANE!" and that is a movie I want to see. Instead what we have here is a German action/horror hybrid with a great premise that becomes a slog... Continue Reading →
At the time of writing, the first trailer for The Matrix Resurrections has just been released today. I don’t care speculate on exact plot details or on the film’s ultimate quality, but I am interested in the ways the filmmakers reflect and reinterpret the franchise with almost 18 years of hindsight and growth. It seems to have at least some bearing on the plot, as Neo and Trinity struggle to remember their past together, but also may have some bearing on the film as a whole. The trailer certainly carries enough visual signifiers of the past series, but stylistically it evokes less of the late 90’s industrial nu-metal vibes of the original and instead feels closer to the more recent and earnest output from the Wachowskis like Cloud Atlas or Sense 8. What does it mean for Lana Wachowski to go back to this particular subject matter now?
Being Film #2 for Hooptober 2021 Malignant is many things. It's proof that James Wan lost none of his horror chops having made the leap to massive big budget fare like Aquaman and the Fast and Furious franchise. It's a high camp tribute to giallo, filtered through the lens of a guy whose first movie... Continue Reading →
Being Film #1 for Hooptober 2021 Stan Winston is a legend. This is undisputed. The man was a master of practical effects. The stuff he did for both Aliens and Jurassic Park (two films you can definitely spot shades of here) are some of the most breathtaking works of imagination put to screen. So when... Continue Reading →
A bit of history. I've always been a horror nerd, doing some kind of solitary fright flick marathon as far back as 2007 with the abominable Resident Evil 3: Extinction. On another defunct blog I started calling the annual fest Hail Horror - if you can believe this post from 2009 I was already on... Continue Reading →
On this episode of Cinema Dual, Jon and Chris turn up the heat on a couple of neo noir films.
If I had to boil down my renewed interest in movies (going on 10 years at this point) to one thing, it would be the realization that the history of movies is broader than I ever imagined. There are so many movements and trends filtered back and forth across cultures and time periods it’s unlikely I could ever reach the end of movies. I think the best moments on Cinema Dual tend to be when Chris and I find a film that make one of both of us just a little too giddy to coherently talk about it. And while the recent(ish) trend of trying to assert the supreme importance of and unhealthy attachment to a particular work of art has exposed the bankruptcy of fandom in recent years, there’s nothing wrong with celebrating the joy in something you like.
On this episode of Cinema Dual, Jon and Chris plot their escape through a couple of heist movies.
One of my favourite cinematic surprises of 2020 was the documentary Dick Johnson is Dead. Director Kirsten Johnson, as a means of processing the deterioration of her father's health and eventual passing, sets up several mostly fantastical scenarios in which Dick might die. Dick himself seems game to have some fun, demonstrating the trust, respect and love the filmmaker and subject have for each other. The film is alternately silly and painful as you track Johnson’s emotional journey through the process. This brings us to the complicated relationship between Agnès Varda and Jacques Demy.
On this episode of Cinema Dual, Jon and Chris are joined by Diary of Doom's Dylan Gonzalez to talk about monster movies.
Cinema Dual 