Last night I finally got around to watching the new french horror film Frontier(s) or Frontiere(s) as it is called in some places. I had heard alot of good things about the film and have to say it really does live up to all the buzz if your a horror fan.
While an extreme right-wing candidate advances to the second ballot of the presidential election, a group of young armed robbers holes up in a backwoods inn. The inn is located in an old mining wasteland, and its managers are a particularly sordid lot [to wit, (neo-)Nazi cannibals].
The film itself is very much like HOSTEL and makes me wonder which movie came first. Frontiers however has alot more merit then Hostel as it is very well shot has some really creative visuals and easily some of the coolest special FX in horror in some time. Although the film is a gore fest unlike Hostel it has an intense story and a batch of creepy and believable characters to go with that story. Sure its not likely that you will encounter Cannibal Nazi’s in a country Cottage in France but the film is done well enough you can easily believe it, if even only for the 90 minutes the movie runs.
It can be quite difficult to build tension and atmosphere in a foreign film since we spend so much time reading the sub-titles you can miss the ’sub-text’ the message in the way its said, and expressed. I can say that does not happen in this movie. Its creepy, its gorey, its appropriately creepy and did I mention its gorey?
If you like carnage this film is definitely for you. . The movie pulls no punches, it has every possible way you can die right down to being thrown head first through a band saw, and yes it looks pretty darn real. The Visual FX really help to make this movie a bloody fine mess and overall a pretty darn good movie. For those in the know this was part of this years HorrorFest and for some reason at the very last minute it was yanked and released on its own. I have to say HUGE mistake. This years horrorfest was a mish mash of really crappy movies, accept for Borderland. Had they of released Frontieres as part of HorrorFest 2 I think that fans of the genre would have a new found respect for the whole event.

moviesonline.ca

George Garrett, novelist and mentor to many a writer, gave me some soothing advice when I once complained that, in the writing process, some of the best passages get cut from the draft. There are various reasons why this happens — the essay changes direction and that passage is no longer relevant to the argument, or, let’s face it, that passage was never very good in the first place. Then George advised me, "Nothing is ever wasted." He told me to hold on to the unused material until it inevitably bubbled up somewhere else. He assured me that it would. He said he had this experience many times in writing his novels. He was right. I always find
someplace else to cram my darlings.
Now, I have the great distress of learning that the people behind the forthcoming "Sex and the City" movie have taken the same tack with a companion book. NDTV quotes Sarah Jessica Parker: "It’s a brand new book of the movie with every picture, every costume, location and the entire script so there are characters in there and scenes in there that didn’t make the movie."
One person’s zen-like approach to writing is another person’s marketing scheme, I guess.
One other brief mention: Comedian Jeff Foxworthy has written a book, "How to Really Stink at Golf." Are you kidding? People don’t need help with this, Jeff.

latimesblogs.latimes.com

Then you’ll enjoy "Homo Erectus," writer/director Adam Rifkin’s hilarious new National Lampoon comedy about Ishbo, a confused, insecure, philosophical Jewish cave nebbish who thinks there must be more to prehistoric life than throwing spears, hunting dinosaurs and clubbing women.
Larter actually met her fiance on the "Erectus" set, so clearly all that clubbing paid off. MacArthur has had some small film and TV roles (a doorman in "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Curt "Ironman" Irons in "How I Met Your Mother").
In "Erectus," he plays Thudnik, the jock brother of Ishbo (Rifkin) who’s secretly in love with Fardart (Larter). Naturally, Fardart has the hots for Ishbo’s hunky but dumb brother. Ah, the eternal triangle.
Rifkin has captured the self-obsessed neurosis, romantic longing, universal questioning, comedic pratfalls and deadpan delivery of a young Woody Allen ("Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex," "Sleeper").
If "Homo Erectus" feels inspired by Allen’s schtick, it’s not without the maestro’s blessing. The two writer/directors have met, and there was talk of having Allen do a cameo as a caveman who literally hands Ishbo (Adam) "the torch." It didn’t happen due to scheduling, but it would have been an appropriate touch.
The film, due out nationally June 13, also stars David Carradine, Talia Shire, Ron Jeremy, Carol Alt, Tom Arnold as the first gay caveman and the usually incomprehensible Gary Busey as the be-feathered, out-there leader of a neighboring warrior tribe, who has a fatal flaw. I can say no more. Watch the trailer.

latimesblogs.latimes.com

Dear Mr. Smithee: I recently acquired an original "Blade Runner" poster and got to thinking: What is the greatest movie poster ever created?
Dear Good Buy: My friend, that might be the toughest question I have ever been asked. You see, a movie poster can benefit from the quality of the movie itself. As you look at it, fond memories of the movie light the corners of your mind. Is that better than a movie poster that stands by itself as a fine piece of art?
And what about the latest in movie posterdom — the dramatic 3-D poster for "Speed Racer"? It involves 36 separate images and is one you must see in person, but there is a simulated way to experience it by going to www.startribune.com/a4387. (Click on the image and drag the cursor for the effect.)
For me, the following 20 posters are just about perfect. ("Blade Runner" was a semifinalist.)
20. "Kill Bill, Vol. 1" (2003) This poster with its crisp visuals not only looks good, it’s a dual image. The back is a reverse look. It’s cool.
19. "Around the World in 80 Days" (1956) I’m not much of a fan of the movie, but the poster successfully screams Victorian England.
18. "Rififi" (1955) The mood is set for a great heist movie with a tangle of jewels and other images formed into a skull.
17. "Scarface" (1983) I love how the red shouts Al Pacino’s name with the same turbulence as the film’s title.
16. "The Exorcist" (1973) The poster for the rerelease enlarged the original poster’s image, heightening the unsettling feelings of fear and dread.
15. "Frankenstein" (1931) The looming, lighted-from-beneath vision of Boris Karloff commands attention.
14. "Thelma & Louise" (1991) The colors are amazingly vivid, the smiles infectious.
13. "E.T. the Extra-terrestrial" (1982) Fantasy comes to life with the signature vision of a boy and bicycle in flight against an enormous moon.

startribune.com

Mattel, the American producer of the action figures for the new Batman movie, has pulled the late Heath Ledger’s original “Joker” figurine from production, claiming the toy was too scary.
The move has left collectors scrambling to buy the limited edition original before supplies run out.
Mattel has hastily thrown together a friendlier version they can sell to children, movie and celebrity site, collider.com, said today.
Collider.com said Mattel was expected to sell a strange “hybrid” doll, based on the movie and an animated version of the notorious Batman villain.
There were speculations in the media at the time of Ledger’s death that the dark and twisted Joker character had stayed with the Australian actor long after the film’s wrap.
Batman: Dark Knight is scheduled for release in July this year.

livenews.com.au

Quick, when I say “Wing Commander” and “Meet Joe Black,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
If it’s “two crappy movies, starring Freddie Prinze and Brad Pitt,” you must have actually had a life back in the primitive Internet age of 1998-1999. The rest of us have fond memories of buying tickets to those movies, getting a glimpse at early “Star Wars: Episode I” trailers, and then sneaking out of the theater to go see something else.
Now, the phenomenon might repeat itself some ten years later, as news has broken that “Speed Racer” will hit theaters next Friday with the highly-anticipated “Twilight” teaser attached. That’s right, kids, fork over your $10 and you’ll get a two-minute glimpse of Edward and Bella on the big-screen.
You’ll also get the bonus of a 129-minute Emile Hirsch movie that some people really, really want to see; others might not.
And here’s the rub: If you keep your eyes peeled on these here Internets at the beginning of next week, let’s just say that there’s a good chance you’ll discover that very same teaser trailer. It ain’t 1998 anymore, folks, and a decade later we’ve all become more accustomed to watching a hot trailer unfold on our computer monitors.
So, Twilighters, here’s a 3-part question of the day: Are you more likely to pay for “Speed Racer” next Friday now that “Twilight” is attached? If so, will you actually stick around to watch “Speed,” or sneak into something like “Iron Man”? And finally, if you see the trailer on the Internet next week, how does that impact your decision?

moviesblog.mtv.com

As if I needed another reason to look forward to Speed Racer, it looks like the first teaser trailer for December’s Twilight will ship with the prints of the May 9th film. According to Collider, the trailer will ship “in the can” rather than attached to the print, which works as a strong suggestion to exhibitors that they should show the trailer with the film, but isn’t a mandate. So if you’re considering buying a Speed Racer ticket to get your first glimpse of Twilight, you should know you’d be taking a chance.
I’m quite curious to see the trailer, not because I’m a fan of the novels (which I now feel duty-bound to read) or think that Robert Pattinson is dreamy, but because I’m so fascinated by the singularly bizarre pop culture phenomenon that this movie represents. There’s been a sort of droning hum in the film community about Twilight becoming a Christmastime mega-hit, but no one (save Kim Voynar) can find anything useful to say about it because no one knows what it is. Adults without children of the right age are completely out of the loop on something that — we’re told — is going to absolutely burst out of the gate. This was not the case with Harry Potter, which raises a question: How explosive can Twilight be given its age and gender-specific appeal?
Sorry, but this information has NOT been confirmed. According to Summit, there is absolutely no guarantee that the trailer will be shown with this film or if it will show at all in May.
I compare the readers of Twilight to the readers of Pride & Prejudice. Note, I’m not comparing the literary substance of the books but merely their ability to create downright fantaticism for the story and the main couple.

cinematical.com

In Saturday’s Culture section, the Gazette’s Bernard Perusse surveys the history of rock music on film, and asks musical artists and experts to opine on their favourites. (You can read Bernard’s story here, which includes his personal 10-best and 10-worst list.) We’d like to know what you think: What are your favourite movies about rock music? Share your picks in the comment box below:
The Rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. You must have a javascript enabled browser to submit a comment.

canada.com

DENVER — New figures from NPD Group suggest that the Amazon DRM-free digital music service is doing more to grow the overall digital music market as opposed to simply stealing customers from iTunes.
The research group says only 10% of Amazon customers had previously bought music from Apple’s iTunes service. While many tagged the Amazon service as an “iTunes killer” when it first launched, the music industry’s hope all along was never to cannibalize iTunes sales but rather encourage new digital buyers. NPD’s data suggest exactly that is happening.
“The fact that Amazon’s early growth does not appear to be at the expense of Apple iTunes is a healthy indication that the digital music customer pool can expand into new consumer groups who have not yet joined the iTunes community,” said NPD analyst Russ Crupnick in a statement.
NPD says Amazon is now second only to iTunes in the a la carte digital download category (for those keeping score). The company did not disclose how many users Amazon has attracted in total, however it did say iTunes volume is 10 times that of Amazon.
Some interesting demographic breakdown has emerged between the two services as well. NPD says 84% of Amazon customers are male, compared to 44% of iTunes, but only 3% of Amazon customers were teens, compared to iTunes’ 18% (the latter attributed primarily to the popularity of iTunes gift cards.)
NPD says Amazon’s growth is likely more due to existing Amazon customers adopting the new service rather than due its lower pricing or DRM-free policies.
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hollywoodreporter.com

"Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" is a rare case where the sequel is far superior to the original, but still is hardly a good film. I say this as a fervent fan of both science fiction series that forms the genesis of the AVP franchise and as a person who despised the first AVP entry, "Alien vs. Predator." The first film was simply awful and had very little value in watching the film aside from seeing the big-screen return of the "Predator" creatures. Its plot was laughable and the human characters that populated the film were best served as food dishes to the hordes of aliens. Thankfully, screenwriter Shane Salerno decided to allow these feared xenoforms to the general human populace and provide a concept that the longtime fans of the "Aliens" series has long waited for. If it weren´t for one or two plot missteps and poor human characters, "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" would have been a clear-cut winner.
The film takes place directly after the events of the first film. The corpse of the scarred Predator warrior from the first film is shown on-board the alien ship. A Chest Burster leaves the corpse and it is quickly revealed that the offspring of the Predator host is the first big-screen appearance by the ´Predalien´ (Tom Woodruff, Jr.); an Alien that takes on half of its characteristics from Predator DNA and is able to produce full-strain Alien offspring without the need of a Face Hugger. For those unfamiliar with the Alien universe, an Alien typically requires a spider-like creature to cling to a host victim´s face and this creature places a single alien offspring into the chest of the host. Eventually, the newborn alien will burst through the chest of its host and enter the world to begin its life of carnage and death. The Predalien simply transfers its offspring, which take on none of the Predator characteristics, by mouth-to-mouth transfer.

dvdtown.com