RagN'Bone's WHITE ZOMBIE trailer!

The cool guys at RagN'Bone Productions asked if I would pass on the word that the trailer for their next film WHITE ZOMBIE is up and ready to be viewed on THE YOUTUBE.  Below is the links to their website and their Youtube page which features the new trailer.  They are taking the gutsy approach and remaking the classic film WHITE ZOMBIE that starred Bela Lugosi.  The trailer shows their ambitious and extremely unique take on the material.  I gotta say that the last image in the trailer left a gruesome image in my brain in a good way.  I am beyond intrigued.  This should be a good one.

CLICK HERE FOR NEW WHITE ZOMBIE TRAILER!!!

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE!!!

Jason

I was interviewed on THE GOLDEN AGE OF EVERYTHING! Part 1.

Me with prop axes from YOU'RE NEXT!

I was interviewed for my friend's podcast THE GOLDEN AGE OF EVERYTHING!  We talk about movies and film and web series projects that I am apart of.  It is a really great show that is doing more than just being a review show.  It is about how music, art and movies affect us and how we are all connect through these mediums.  It is more about our personal stories than just what we think about media.  Check out the links below and please share with your friends and "LIKE" the facebook page.  You guys are the best.

It is a two part interview.  Part 1 is out now with part 2 coming out next week.

CLICK HERE TO HERE THE INTERVIEW AT THE GOLDEN AGE OF EVERYTHING!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE FACEBOOK PAGE!

GORILLA INTERRUPTED is a different kind of good.

Let me just start off by stating that I am a huge fan the guys over at RedletterMedia.com.  I love their review shows HALF IN THE BAG, BEST OF THE WORST and the extremely insightful/hilarious PLINKETT REVIEWS.  The shows' creators Mike Stoklasa, Jay Bauman, and Rich Evans are three talented and funny individuals that bring something a little different to the Internet with their web series.  They have a bunch of short films on their website and occasionally put out a movie now and then.  I highly recommend FEEDING FRENZY.  They have been gracious enough to release their first movie they made back in the day called GORILLA INTERRUPTED.

GORILLA INTERRUPTED is about Ray Grabowski, a man who is turned into a gorilla by aliens.  With the help of his kind-of-sort-of friends Dex, Sid and Jar Jar Binks the four yahoos stop an alien invasion and fight the Devil for some reason.  It has "shot in the backyard with dad's camera" production values but the film has this strange crude energy that you don't get too often in comedies.   I was reminded of the show THE YOUNG ONES which I was excited to hear them mention on the commentary track. The story is strange and the humor is absurd but there are genuine moments of greatness that hint at the greater things that came afterward.

The real reason why you should get this movie is for the making of documentary and the commentary track with Mike, Jay and Rich.  Both give funny insights into the guys of Redlettermedia and where they came from, how they got together and what struggles and obstacles they encountered when making this movie.  Friendships were tested, stuff was broken and in the end they came out with a film that left them tired and disappointed.  Yet, without GORILLA INTERRUPTED there wouldn't be RedletterMedia.  I am glad that they do show some love for their film by going back and redoing some of the special effects to make them more palatable to the eyes.

I had fun watching all that GORILLA INTERRUPTED had to offer.  Yes, it is not for everyone.  But if you are into making movies then buying this movie will not only encourage you to proceed with media production (In more ways than one!) but you will be helping a smart group of guys continue to make the Internet a funny place to visit.

Jason

THE WOLVERINE is CLAWLESS!

I have been reading a lot of praise lately for the new Wolverine movie referring to it as the Wolverine movie we have always wanted.  I got to tell ya, folks.  I completely disagree.  Many will argue that X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE was terrible while overlooking the many more faults the new WOLVERINE has.  Dare I say that ORIGINS is a better film than the new.  Maybe that is going a little too far.  Nah, screw it.  ORIGINS is a better film overall.  While ORIGINS did screw up a lot of Wolverine's back story it did at least have a story you could follow with a strong villain and characters like Wolverine and Sabertooth that had some chemistry together.  Liev Schreiber was fantastic.  THE WOLVERINE has none of that.    Be aware of possible spoilers ahead.


THE WOLVERINE begins in World War 2 with our title character being held captive in a Japanese P.O.W. camp.  Yashida, a Japanese officer is releasing all the prisoners knowing that an atomic bomb is about to be dropped on them.  Wolverine saves the officer from the bomb blast and all the radiation somehow.  Decades later the now old Yashida is dying and seeks Wolverine to give him a gift.  That gift, it turns out, is the ability to take away Wolverine's X-Factor and give it to someone else.  After rejecting that offer because its stupid, Wolverine gets tangled up in the family drama and ends up saving Mariko, the granddaughter of Yashida from a bunch of bad guys and ninjas and stuff.  Oh, and they manage to stop Wolverine from using his healing abilities so now he is vulnerable to bullets, sharp pointy objects and harsh language.

The film does everything in its power to shoot itself in the foot.  Over and over again weird little moments happen making me question if anyone paid attention to the script whatsoever.  At the beginning this bear that Wolverine kind of sort of befriends has killed a bunch of stereotypical redneck hunters because they used a poison arrow that caused the bear to go crazed.  One of the hunters escaped and Wolverine tracks him down in a bar the same night.  The hunter lost all his friends and went immediately to a bar instead of the police station.  That doesn't make much since.  Later THE WOLVERINE descends into an empty and passionless love story.  We are shown four too many times that Wolverine is madly in love with the very dead Jean Grey who appears to him in dreams.  He opens up and expresses his emotions to this dream girl.  However with the very much alive Mariko he merely has the sex with her to show his interest.  Its weird and never develops into anything believable.  When Yashida dies there is a funeral for him.  Wolverine shows up and notices some guy hiding on a nearby roof.  Nothing suspicious about that!  Wolverine ignores him!  But when Wolverine notices a monk participating in the funeral has a tattoo on his arm he jumps into action and starts killing everybody.  What if the monk was some reformed junkie or criminal?  Wouldn't that be the first thing you would think of?  Not kidnapping!  It doesn't make sense that the suspicious guy hiding out on the roof that clearly doesn't want to be seen doesn't kick on Wolverine's Spidey Senses while some monk with a tattoo does.

The villains are generic and never pose a real threat to Wolverine.  Ultimately the last bad guy Wolverine has to take down is some old guy in a robot suit.  That suit by the way contains the power to absorb Wolverine's powers.  That is kind of stupid.  Wouldn't just a little bit of Wolverine's DNA or whatever be enough?  There is this one woman who is a scientist and a venomous mutant called the Viper.  I think that was her name.  Who cares I guess.  She is a little more interesting but really the story doesn't give her much to work with.  We could care less about their motivations.  They just are not that interesting of characters.

The two characters that work the most together are Wolverine and Yukio.  A real movie of their new friendship would have been great and something new and different.  Instead once Wolverine is back in Japan she almost completely disappears into the background.

THE WOLVERINE overall feels unfocused and unsure of what the audience wants.  We want a badass Wolverine running around killing bad guys with his claws with a smart story that knows how to use him in the most prolific way.  Instead we have a muddle mess of a story with unclear motivations for almost all the characters.  The fight scenes are incredibly unimpressive with so many shots too close to leave much of a visual impact.  Wolverine himself looks like he is just punching people instead of running them through with his trademark claws.  The biggest let down of all is at the end when Wolverine confronts an army of ninjas and he says something to the effect that they are going to need more.  He couldn't be more wrong.  They kick the crap out of him.  At first he kills a few of them but then for no reason other than bad writing he tries to run right by all of them.  They simply shoot him in the back with a bunch of arrows and down he goes leaving us with the impression that his bark is bigger than his bite.  Lame.

By the end of THE WOLVERINE I was left a little cold by the film.  It is not one of the worst but it is undeserving of all the praise that seems to be coming from the Nerdosphere out there.  I think they are just in denial at this time.  In generations to come I believe that THE WOLVERINE will be mostly forgotten lost in the jumble of the better X-MEN films and forth coming AVENGERS movies.  Just face the facts ('facts' meaning my unenlightened opinion of myself and not the dictionary definition of), Nerds.  THE WOLVERINE at best is ORIGINS equal not better.  I do like at the end that they take away Wolverine's adamantium claws.  His bone claws come back but I would have loved to have heard the gasps of a theater full of nerds when Wolverine's metal claws were cut from his body.  Oh, the humanity!  I feel like that scene is like some kind of metaphor for the whole movie.  There is not a whole lot of positive to stick your claws into.

Jason

SUPPORT SHADOW BOUND'S INDIEAGOGO CAMPAIGN!!!

Here is another excellent chance to be a part of something truly special in the cinematic world of horror.  SHADOW BOUND is a black and white silent web series inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.  The story is about a man named Jack Pickman who returns to his home town from the big city to attend his father's funeral who has died under mysterious circumstances.  When he arrives, however, he discovers that his brother has been institutionalized and is no longer the man Jack knew before.   Believing that something more sinister is afoot Jack sets off on his own investigation to discover what happened to both his father and brother and their connection to a strange symbol that seems to be the start of all the strangeness.

This is a horror series that goes in the complete opposite direction of what everybody else is doing out there on the world wide web.  SHADOW BOUND is about story and atmosphere with a silent early 1900's film style.  The goal is to tell a scary story visually without pathetic jump scares and  strewing a bunch of gore and gross stuff about.  It's called class, people.  I am blessed enough to be 1st AD on the project and was allowed to direct the diner scene in the first episode.  Everyone involved in front of and behind the cameras is a remarkable talent.  There is so much work, sacrifice and creativity involved with a large project such as this.  We have done a lot of filming on location too including in the very haunted Pythian Castle which can be seen on t.v.'s HAUNTED COLLECTOR and GHOST LAB.

We are currently filming and we need your help.  So click on the link below and visit our Indiegogo page.  Watch the video and get to know the people behind the creation of SHADOW BOUND.  Nathan Shelton is the writer and star of SHADOW BOUND as well as one of the directors.  He is a true talent.  I cannot stress that enough.  I saw a short sci-fi film he was in a few years back.  It was a really good film but when Nathan was on screen I felt like I was watching BLADE RUNNER for the first time.  His mere presence elevated the look and the feel of the film.  SHADOW BOUND is his creation and with his talent and vision there is no telling how big this series is going to get.   You can easily be a part of it.  Spread the word and donate if you can.  A little bit goes a long way.  All of us on the production team thank you.  Stay in the light, folks.

Jason

CLICK HERE TO VISIT SHADOW BOUND'S INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN!!!

and....

Don't forget to "LIKE" SHADOW BOUND's Facebook page for behind the scenes photos and more!!!

NINJA 3: DOMINATION

I saw NINJA 3: DOMINATION back in the day when I was a little kid and thought it was the most badass thing I had ever seen.  How could you not be amazed by a ninja that comes out of nowhere onto a golf course kung-fuing four body guards, casually murdering some guy and his girlfriend, throwing ninja stars into the faces of a hundred cops and jumping on a helicopter killing everyone on board allowing it to crash into the water.  Then after all that the little bugger kills a hundred more cops with his ninja sword while getting shot over and over again by the police before throwing smoke and burying himself into hiding.  For a kid in the eighties NINJA 3 was the hella-coolest.  Nowadays I resent the film for reminding of what a stupid kid I was in the eighties.


 Honestly though I do like this movie.  It is good silly fun from the good ol' boys at Cannon Films.  How can you hate a movie whose title can't even count?  Its like hating on some kid in a wheelchair just because he is in a wheelchair.  There is no NINJA 1 and there sure as heck ain't no NINJA 2.  I have to ask where did the '3' in NINJA 3 come from?  Sesame Street?  The big problem with NINJA 3 is that almost all the good stuff happens at the beginning of the film.  The movie decides to put on the brakes and try to form some kind of story to justify all the badass shenanigans that just happened.......It didn't do a very good job.  In fact the story went in the most wrongest direction possible.  The ninja is a bad guy that ends up dying and possessing a nearby female utility worker named Christie.  That is pretty random if you ask me.  Then the movie becomes a revenge movie of sorts where the ghost of the ninja takes control of Christie and goes around killing the last five extras playing the cops who just happened to not die from awesome ninja skills of the ninja.  Of course one of the cops falls in love with the girl and they hook up but really its all rather boring.  We want our nearly indestructible ninja back.  This guy could teach Steven Segal what "HARD TO KILL" means.

There is a weird collection of bizarre heavy special effects scenes suggesting that NINJA 3 was more inspired by movies like POLTERGEIST and THE EXORCIST rather than classic ninja or samurai films from Japan.  There is an actual exorcism that takes place that tries to out do the head spinning in THE EXORCIST with body flipping crazy Christie in a straight jacket.  Then there are the moments when Christie's apartment goes bonkers and there is all this smoke and lasers and moving appliances and floating swords and crap as the ghost of the ninja takes hold of Christie.  I guess it is suppose to be scary like POLTERGEIST but NINJA 3 can barely muster the hair raising suspense usually associated with watching The Jackson 5's TORTURE music video.

There is no doubt you will have a great time watching NINJA 3.  Don't worry though. That won't last long once you realize that all the non-ninja characters in this movie are about as exciting as burnt toast.  If I was giving advice to NINJA 3 on how to make the movie better I would say that I would like to see more ninja in my ninja movie.  Watching some woman walk around and fall in love with some dildo of a cop doesn't make the most exciting ninja film ever.  I guess if anything you could spend the run time laughing at how "Eighties" NINJA 3 is but don't be surprised if a small hint of guilt creeps up squirreling in your belly making you feel like you just got finished laughing at a kid in a wheelchair.  I did.


Jason

CHANBARA BEAUTY: THE MOVIE-VORTEX

CHANBARA BEAUTY: THE MOVIE-VORTEX has no nudity.  I know that is the first thing you would be wondering so I just thought I would get that little fact out of the way.  This is a video game movie that apparently is a remake of the ONECHANBARA movie.  It is not a sequel.  I guess someone saw ONECHANBARA and decided that they could make the same movie only with less story and more shots of fake cartoon blood splattering the camera lens.

Aya (Yu Tejima) is a bikini wearing, double-samurai sword wielding cowgirl that roams the zombie filled wastelands with her step-sister Saki killing the undead because they haven't got anything better to do.  This woman shows up and says her name is Misery and she can help find the evil woman, Homiko (I think that was her name) who is responsible for all the zombie nonsense going on.  Turns out Misery is actually Homiko and she needed help (supposedly) kidnapping some little girl who has special blood.  Saki betrays Aya and helps Homiko with the promise that Homiko can bring back her dead parents.

You would think that a movie about a bikini wearing, double samurai sword wielding cowgirl would be an extremely entertaining movie with extremely striking visuals.  Sadly  CHANBARA BEAUTY: THE MOVIE-VORTEX is nothing but an eye sore.  Every aspect of this film seems like a step down from the original with the exception of Yu Tejima playing the new Aya.  Visually CHANBARA is uglier than the first.  Every set is the same as the last.  The barely there story wades through from scene to scene with little change in the scenery.  It looks like the whole movie was filmed in the same abandoned school/warehouse/apartement building.  It is all bland, bleak, boring and uninspired.  The visual effects are just a bunch of bright computer blurs and distortions that add little energy to a movie that is about two people walking from point A to point B.

At times the fight scenes begin to muster some enthusiasm for the film.  Aya kicking zombie butt is a blast at first but they keep throwing blood at the screen over and over again to the point that you never ever want to see another movie that does that particular gag ever again.  The end fight between Aya and Homiko is repetitious  at best and doesn't seem to want to ever end.  The fight scenes never quite hit the hyper kinetic energy you get from a really good Japanese action film.  A few good examples of one that succeed in that are VERSUS, DEATH TRANCE and the HARD REVENGE MILLY movies.

CHANBARA BEAUTY WHATEVER is at best a forgettable film.  How ironic.  I don't believe the choices made on every level of production were correct.  It would be nice if they had a solid interesting story that had some heart to it.  At least the original made you care for the characters which is a strange thing to say about a movie with an obviously silly premise.  There is this really hot gun toting woman who you would think would help Aya like she did in the first one but instead the choice was made to make this annoying guy who does nothing but annoy and not get killed (when clearly he did get eaten by a bunch of zombies but he shows up and acts like it is no big deal) be Aya's tag along.  He is the film's Jar-Jar.

I think the guys who made this movie didn't care about anything except the attractiveness of the lead character.  Everything else production-wise was added in as an after thought.  If you have a fetish for Japanese women in bikinis and cowboy hats fighting zombies with their double samurai swords then this is the movie for you.  But I will assure you that after watching CHANBARA BEAUTY: THE MOVIE-VORTEX you will have that fetish no longer.  Though not the worst or the most tasteless this movie should have been at least memorable.  Maybe the next remake will be better.  Hope for a remake, folks because a sequel to this movie would be a flashy, fake blood on the screen with a giant glowing "X" across the screen soul sucking blandfest.

Jason