Cinema is Dope » Genre: Monster

REC 2 at the 66th Venice Film Festival – Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza & Manuela Velasco

blake — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 11:00:19 +0000

[ View Image (1024x680) ]
[ View Image (1280x850) ]

[ View Image (1024x768) ]
[ View Image (664x1000) ]

***
Nikkatsu Noir Contest from Cinema is Dope – Enter Today
***

I have been showing glimpses of them in my ongoing 42 Sitges Film Festival preview and now here they are days ago at the 66th Venice Film Festival.

It’s not every horror film that gets to walk the famous Venice Film Festival red carpet but such is the life for the REC franchise and its creators Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza and lead actress Manuela Velasco. This horror sequel from Spain is set to explode the film festival circuit this month and next from Midnight Madness to the 42 Sitges Film Festival (and possibly others…).

There has been a Screen Daily review (here) and a Variety review (here) with an overall buzz very enthusiastic from what I’ve heard. By all accounts it played very well at the 66th Venice Film Festival.

Image Source:
Official publicity stills from the 66th Venice Film Festilal. la Biennale di Venezia © 2009

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

La Horde (2009) – Daily Movie Wallpaper – Loud & Proud French Horror

blake — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 10:00:02 +0000

[ View Image (1024x683) ]

[ View Image (1024x682) ]
[ View Image (1280x853) ]

[ View Image (1024x768) ]
[ View Image (665x1000) ]

The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Sunday, September 6, 2009

***
Nikkatsu Noir Contest from Cinema is Dope – Enter Today
***

I know longer see Xavier Gens named attached in any capacity for producing this French zombie horror meets Die Hard, but he originally was the person that got me all excited about this film last year. This co-directed effort byYannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher is one of the top films I cannot wait to see at the 42nd Sitges Film Festival. The imagery and all the promo reels I’ve seen (most recently the updated one at Cannes) have been thrilling. The word from FrightFest was lukewarm with many citing it as a very intense film that had some jaw dropping moments and to others it felt way too loud.

Synopsis:
On the outskirts of Paris, four corrupt cops go on a rampage to avenge the murder of one of their own by a group of ruthless gangsters, holed up in a condemned building. Once there, the officers’ personal vendetta turns into a nightmare. Trapped, they are about to be executed when the unimaginable occurs: hordes of bloodthirsty, cannibalistic creatures invade the building, savagely attacking everyone. Running to the roof, the survivors discover that their entire world is in chaos. The streets are filled with massive heaps of countless cadavers and the entire city is in flames. Alone and wounded, despite their mutual hatred, the gangsters and cops have no choice but join forces if they want to survive. They’ll have to make it down thirteen floors full of voracious creatures but the greatest threat lies elsewhere…

Related Coverage:
::: 42 Sitges Film Festival

Image Source:
Official stills that were used in the original international release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

REC 2 (2009) – Daily Movie Wallpaper – The Horror Film of 2009

blake — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:00:43 +0000

[ View Image (1024x682) ]
[ View Image (1280x853) ]

[ View Image (1024x576) ]
[ View Image (1280x720) ]

The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Friday, August 28, 2009

[REC] 2 is Aliens to Alien, a sequel that ramps up the action but does not defile the spirit of its predecessor. Balaguero and Plaza have proved themselves exciting additions to the gory canon of Euro-horror masters, and they can’t wait to drag the Midnight Madness audience into the darkness, screaming at the top of their lungs.

- Colin Geddes (Midnight Madness TIFF Write Up)

Ok if Colin’s write up for this sequel doesn’t get you ramped up and excited then nothing will! REC 2 is storming both Midnight Madness and Venice (info) and kicking off the Sitges Film Festival (info) this year! Believe me, I’ll never forget the day I first saw the original at the Melia in Sitges and I’m sure when I see the sequel it will equally leave an imprint in my brain. The footage I saw at Cannes which has yet to be released was hands down the most exciting film footage I’ve seen this year.

Image Source:
Official stills that were used in the original international release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

District 9 (2009) – Daily Movie Wallpaper – Great Science Fiction

blake — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 03:00:39 +0000

[ View Image (1024x680) ]
[ View Image (1280x850) ]
[ View Image (2000x1328) ]

[ View Image (1024x576) ]
[ View Image (1280x720) ]
[ View Image (2000x1125) ]

[ View Image (1024x670) ]
[ View Image (1280x838) ]
[ View Image (2000x1309) ]

[ View Image (1024x574) ]
[ View Image (1280x717) ]
[ View Image (2000x1121) ]

[ View Image (1024x576) ]
[ View Image (1280x720) ]
[ View Image (2000x1125) ]

[ View Image (1024x549) ]
[ View Image (1280x686) ]
[ View Image (2000x1072) ]

The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Friday, August 14, 2009

Freshly back in from having finally seen District 9 at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. The lines wrapping around the building and crowds there to see it was pretty overwhelming and not to mention great seeing a first time filmmaker in Neill Blomkamp get this type of response. Not to mention earlier in the day all the shows for District 9 had already sold out. Seeing this reminded me of older days when a movie like Predator would come along and unless you wanted to wait in line several hours, forget about it. If you are going to try and see District 9 in Austin (South Lamar) this weekend you better buy your tickets way in advance.

I thought this movie was great science fiction. It’s really rough around the edges and its imperfections make it even more wonderfully unique. For a first time filmmaker under what seems like a 1/10th of a budget Hollywood makes similar budgets on this scale… Neill Blomkamp more than delivers. He also plays against convention of sci-fi vehicles of late in not trying over explain every aspect of the movie, if anything he leaves a hell of a lot of unanswered questions and rather intentionally so I would think. I noticed a couple of answers to key points already in the movie but many are blink and you will miss variety. The other interesting aspect of District 9 is that it doesn’t have the typical 3 act story, much more of a 2 act movie, which to me largely indicates this will ultimately be part of a trilogy (box office willing). And like others have said this movie is so good and done so well on its budget that whomever pulled the plug on Halo will go down in infamy.

Related Links:
::: Official Site
::: IMDb Profile

District 9 (2009) – Daily Movie Wallpaper – Sharlto Copley

blake — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:11:03 +0000

[ View Image (1024x681) ]
[ View Image (1280x851) ]
[ View Image (2000x1329) ]

[ View Image (1024x747) ]
[ View Image (1280x934) ]
[ View Image (2000x1460) ]

[ View Image (1024x681) ]
[ View Image (1280x851) ]
[ View Image (2000x1329) ]

The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Wednesday, August 12, 2009

***

::: Enter the INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Twitter Contest from Cinema is Dope!

***

The gun we see Sharlto Copley carrying here in District 9 I luckily have no idea how it works so I can be surprised when I see the film this Friday. It does look like something straight up out of of Halo though and I like how everything I’ve seen from this film has looked distinct which is no easy feet for a film with this tight of a budget.

Related Links:
::: Official Site
::: IMDb Profile