Empire UK has “Suicide Squad” Joker as coverboy for Halloween

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Denise
Suicide Squad Joker 1

Image: EmpireUK/ComingSoon

Happy Halloween Week, everyone!  And to celebrate, Empire UK has delivered the goods on the #1 bad boy everyone’s talking about.  No, I’m not talking about the various debates, twitter wars or troll-of-the-week.  I’m talking about the Joker from Suicide Squad.

Empire UK has dropped its latest issue, and Jared Leto’s Joker is front and center y’all.  Love the bare feet, the shiny purple crocodile longcoat,and of course the Arkham Asylum printed pants.  It’s an amazing cover shot, and a great look at Suicide Squad‘s Joker revamp.  I’m digging it.

I’m also digging the other stills they’ve included, especially Cara Delevingne’s Enchantress.  Looks like she’s nailed the appearance of someone battling her dark side.  Plus, the gritty, nature-gal-gone-dark vibe is a nice touch from the usual Slutty Witch vibe she sports.  I’m dying to see June Moon’s other side in Squad, as her character should be good for a few nice twists and turns.

Peep the pics below, and head over to Coming Soon for the full deets!

[New Joker Photos at Coming Soon]

 

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#31in31: Late Phases

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Denise

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Oct 26 Late Phases“This place is great. New units opening up all the time.”

Story: A blind Vietnam vet moves into a secluded, woodsy retirement neighborhood. When his neighbors die from “animal attacks” during the full moon? He may be blind but he’s not an idiot.

Scares: A sense of foreboding and lots of chills.

Splat factor: Werewolves. Cue the disembowelments!

Closing scene “shocker”?: Zippo.

Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?: Yeah, you know werewolves, but this one’s original.

Trick or Treat?: Monster movies can get pretty played out, especially when movie makers dust off a same old thing over and over again. That’s one of the reasons I enjoyed the hell out of Late Phases; the idea of having a blind senior citizen puts a fresh spin on a cool mythology. Continue reading →

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#31in31 – Nightbreed: The Director’s Cut

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Denise

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Oct 25 Nightbreed“What’s below, remains below.”

Story: A guy picked the wrong shrink to tell his troubles to. Before you know it  guy is dead…but he’d been to see the monsters of Midian. Now he’s one of the Nightbreed. But his killer is still out there…

Scares: A few, mostly thanks to the button-eyed killer.

Splat factor: A little, because there’s a serial killer in the mix.  Oh, and the climax.  Bloody action-tastic.

Closing scene “shocker”?: Nup.

Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?: Movie version of Clive Barker’s Books of Blood novella “Cabal”.

Trick or Treat?: Barker’s look at outsiders banding together to form their own family has been re-cut from its original studio driven mess. And it’s definitely a wild, groovy ride. Shades LGBT folks of hiding from society? Most definitely, right down to the freaked out priest spouting Armageddon. Continue reading →

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ROE Giveaway: Rock the Kasbah!

Posted on October 24, 2015 by Denise

Rock the Kasbah onesheet
UPDATE: ALL ROE PASSES HAVE BEEN GIVEN OUT. CONGRATS TO THE WINNERS, AND A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED!

Free screenings are awesome, amirite? But you know what’s even awesomer?  Getting to see a movie for free when it’s in theaters.  No waiting in lines, no wondering if the people in front of you will be the last one’s admitted.  Easy-peasy.  And I’ve got ROE’s (Run Of Engagement) passes to the latest Bill Murray  joint, Rock the Kasbah. Synopsis!

A has-been rock manager from Van Nuys, California stumbles upon a once-in-a-lifetime voice in a remote Afghan cave in Rock the Kasbah, a dramatic comedy inspired by stranger-than-fiction, real-life events and directed by Oscar winner Barry Levinson. Richie Lanz (Bill Murray), dumped and stranded in war-torn Kabul by his last remaining client (Zooey Deschanel), discovers Salima Khan (Leem Lubany), a Pashtun teenager with a beautiful voice and the courageous dream of becoming the first woman to compete on national television in Afghanistan’s version of “American Idol.”  Richie partners with a savvy hooker (Kate Hudson), a pair of hard-partying war profiteers (Danny McBride and Scott Caan) and a hair-trigger mercenary (Bruce Willis) and, braving dangerous cultural prejudices, manages his new protégée into becoming the “Afghan Star.”   Starring: BILL MURRAY, BRUCE WILLIS, KATE HUDSON, ZOOEY DESCHANEL, DANNY MCBRIDE, SCOTT CAAN

So, want a free pass to see this film at any Baltimore area AMC?  Right this way… Continue reading →

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31 in 31 – A Place of One’s Own

Posted on October 24, 2015 by Denise

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oct 3 a place of ones own“I’ll be hanged if I’ll be dictated to by a woman who’s been dead for 40 years! “

Story: Downton Abbey meets Insidious. A young woman takes a position as a companion to an elderly woman who has just bought a long-vacant house with her husband. The young woman meets a dashing young man (is there any other kind?), but the evening of their engagement, the ghost of a young woman who died in that house 40 years ago makes herself known.

Scares: Extremely mild. But satisfying in that 40s horror-lite way.

Splat factor: This movie is from 1945. So that’s a negatory good buddy. Continue reading →

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Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza: Burnt!

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Denise

burnt onesheetBradley Cooper is one bad motha-chef’er.  At least he is in Burnt, where he plays a high-caliber cook that has been spiraling near the drain of late.  But why should I blather — synopsis!

Chef Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) had it all – and lost it. The former enfant terrible of the Paris restaurant scene had earned two Michelin stars and only ever cared about the thrill of creating explosions of taste. To land his own kitchen and that third elusive star though, Jones will need to leave his bad habits behind and get the best of the best on his side, including the beautiful Helene (Sienna Miller). BURNT is a remarkably funny and emotional story about the love of food, the love between two people, and the power of second chances.

I get a Mostly Martha/No Reservations and Chef kinda vibe here, and I hope this film will be as much fun.  So why not see if I’m right by grabbing some passes the studio and their lovely PR posse has sent my way?  Here’s how… Continue reading →

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TrailerWatch: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Denise

Pride Prejudice ZombiesStoked.  STOKED.  Read the book, looking forward to seeing it up on the big screen.  I’m also a huge Pride and Prejudice fan anyway (COLIN FIRTH FTW…oh yeah, the novel too), so adding zombies to the mix is a hoot.  But what’s really great is how this novel managed to keep its classics feel while adding in the walking dead.

The first trailer for the film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies looks like it’s managed to do the same.  Plus, I’m always happy to see Matt Smith, Charles “Brother Numsie Lannister” Dance and Lena Headey in anything.  I’d watch them read the phone book.  I’m that big a nerd for their work.  Especially since Smith will be playing uptight Mr. Collins, Dance the wonderful Mr. Bennett, and Headey the uber-socialite Lady Catherine de Bourgh.  *rubs hands together with glee”

Synopsis!

A zombie outbreak has fallen upon the land in this reimagining of Jane Austen’s classic tale of the tangled relationships between lovers from different social classes in 19th century England. Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet (Lily James) is a master of martial arts and weaponry and the handsome Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) is a fierce zombie killer, yet the epitome of upper class prejudice. As the zombie outbreak intensifies, they must swallow their pride and join forces on the blood-soaked battlefield in order to conquer the undead once and for all.

Peep the trailer — it looks suitably bloody, and very, very period perfect.  Even this movie poster is a loving tribute to the ol’ Penguin Classics covers.  My only problem?  I wish this was an October release, rather than a February 2016 one…

 

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#31in31: The Last Witch Hunter

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Denise
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last witch hunter onesheetWhat?  It’s in theaters.  And FWIW, this would be hella cool “on the Blu-Ray”

Story: Centuries ago, a guy named Kaulder kicked the Witch Queen’s ass.  But maybe not as thoroughly as he thought.  Luckily, she cursed him with immortality, so he gets another chance to end her when she tries to come back.  But he’s gonna need help…cue the nice witch!

Scares:  All action, all the time.  Very little room for scares, though the Witch Queen herself is pretty creepy.  Thumbs up on her bad self.

Splat factor: Very little blood here.  Mostly magic, mud and trees.

Closing scene “shocker”?: Nup.  But there’s a shock in the climax that’s a real jerk move.

Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?: Original.

Trick or Treat?:  On the one hand, The Last Witch Hunter is a perfect Halloween movie.  It’s got the whole witches thing, a kick-ass hero, cool Viking-like flashbacks, and a very interesting mythology tying it all together.  Let’s face it; Vin Disel wearing a ponytail-ed beard and mustache ain’t something you see every day.  Plus, there’s Ygritte Rose Leslie as the coolest witch since Stevie Nicks, Michael Caine as retiring babysitter priest/”Dolan” tasked with documenting Kalder’s life, and Elijah Wood as the new babysitter “Dolan”.  Not a bad lineup at all.

Then there’s the other hand.  The Last Witch Hunter hopes the cool battle scenes and action-palooza will make you forget that the script is borderline incoherent, and the plot is basically “Guy Beats Up Witches”.  Then there’s a complete 180 from one of the characters that’s so completely out of the blue I actually felt embarrassed for the screenwriters.  (I definitely felt embarrassed for the actor in question, who had to figure out the motivation for such an abrupt character shift.)

But after I let myself stew a bit after that weird WTF plot hiccup, I decided that it could have been worse.  Witch Hunter could have starred Nic Cage.  Though as the Witch Queen uses flying insects to peeve/creep out her enemies, I would have loved to have seen Cage scream “NOT THE BEES AGAIN!”  We always want what we cannot have.

With Diesel’s patented ennui-meets-stone-face acting, his Kaulder feels grounded.  At least he does for the level of act-tor-ing required of a horror/action film.  And Michael Caine’s scenes with Diesel lift up the joint.  That, and the mythology of witches, Kaulder’s “Axe and Hammer” society, and the “not all witches are evil” plot points have me willing to check out a sequel.  Which, of course, this film primes you for just before end credits.  Don’t expect too much, and you’ll have a Halloween film that anyone can enjoy.  Yes, even those folks who scare easily.  Because The Last Witch Hunter is basically Taken with witches.  Somebody page Liam Neeson, stat.

Score: 3 out of 5 pumpkins.
wpid-pumpkin9.jpgwpid-pumpkin9.jpgwpid-pumpkin9.jpg

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#31in31: Day of the Dead

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Denise
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Synced with the 31 Day Horror Movie Challenge

Oct 22 Day of the Dead“This is a great big 14 mile tombstone! With an epitaph on it that nobody gonna bother to read.”

Story: The dead are up and about. Where’ya gonna go to keep safe? How about an underground Army storage facility? But better make sure you aren’t sharing the space with frakkin ijits going stir crazy, total wussies, and zombies who are “learning”. Because if you are? Rest in peace.

Scares: Quite a few, even though the film is 80s-tastic and I know the story by heart. But what’s truly chilling is how the soldiers break down and turn into a Lord of the Flies tribe.

Splat factor: ROMERO. ZOMBIES. Need I say more?

Closing scene “shocker”?: Nup. In fact, you could almost say it’s a happy ending.  Almost.

Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?: The third in Romero’s Dead series, after Night of and Dawn. A straight-to-DVD Day remake hit in 2008.

Trick or Treat?: A definite Treat. Why? All the things. Incredible FX, pretty damn good acting for a horror sequel, the evolution of the zombie mythology, and, of course, Bub.

Day of the Dead Bub Continue reading →

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#31in31: Flavorwire’s Creepiest Houses in Literature

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Denise

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Okay, so the title is really “20 of the Creepiest Haunted Houses, Castles, and Mansions in Literature“.  But Sarah Seltzer has nailed it, from quaint homes with a sinister secret to full blown mansions with full-blown ghosts, they’re here and they’re…hungry.
books collage

Seltzer has the usual suspects; Hill House (one of my absolute favorite haunts), Jane Eyre‘s Thornfield, Dracula’s castle, the House of the Seven Gables, the House of Usher, and, of course, the Overlook Hotel.  But there are plenty of new scares here too, that I won’t spoil for you.

So take a peek at her list, and dive into a few of these books for some off-the-grid spookytime.  Makes your house feel a little more cozy, don’t it?

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