MOVIE REVIEW - "IRON MAIDEN: FLIGHT 666"

    This week, I had the opportunity to experience a very rare movie event with the release of "Iron Maiden: Flight 666" (ironmaiden.com/flight666), a rockumentary about one of the biggest British heavy metal bands in the world! This film documents Iron Maiden's "Somewhere Back In Time Tour" 2008 in which Iron Maiden toured 13 countries, travelling 50,000 miles while in their very own airliner called "Ed Force One" and piloted by none other than the band's singer Bruce Dickinson! Written and Directed by Sam Dunn and Scot McFayden ("Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" (2005) and "Global Metal" (2008)) "Flight 666" is a unique experience for any heavy metal fan as we get a behind the scenes look at Iron Maiden during their biggest and most ambitious tours ever. Not only do we get to see the band perform many of their most beloved hits but watch as the literally travel across the world to such locations as South America, Tokyo, Australia and even Papua New Guinea.
    Although it's not just about the tour as we get to see a little more of a personal side to the band as they play golf and tennis in their spare time, even touring Mexican pyramids or just taking their families along. The most impressive aspect of the film is seeing the incredibly multi-talented Bruce Dickinson himself (in uniform) pilot an enormous airplane full of band members, crew and all of their equipment.
Another aspect of this film also shows how a metal band that were in the height of popularity in the 1980's is still going string and how their music means so much to people all over the world both young and old. And to any fan (old school or new) can come together and enjoy a truly awe inspiring musical experience.
    I must admit, upon first hearing that the movie which would only be released only in select theaters until its intial DVD release later in June, would come to my local theater in a one time only showing on a Tuesday night I half expected to be one of maybe less than a dozen fans in attendance but it wasn't long before the theater was almost packed with fans both young and old, and the majority wearing various Iron Maiden T-shirts and even one diehard fan who donned a full-headed "Eddie" mask. (And if you don't know who Eddie is, why are you even reading this?!
    Along with "Live After Death" and "Rock In Rio" This is one of the best live Iron Maiden shows ever! If you're an Iron Maiden fan or heavy metal in general, this is a must see, and totally worth seeing on the big movie screen before it comes out on DVD. I also recommend "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" for a little Metal 101!

MOVIE REVIEW - "Friday the 13th" (2009)

    As a fan of the horror/”slasher” film, there are few in the vast ocean (of blood) of slasher imitators and cheap knockoffs and sequels over the years that are considered original or significant. Among these few great originals such as the first “Halloween” (1978), “Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984) and even “Psycho” (1960), one series has survived the longest despite numerous sequels: “Friday the 13th” (1980). After 10 sequels and even a drop down fist fight with another slasher icon Jason Voorhees is regarded as one of the most memorable names in horror films, along others such as Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers (not “Shrek”!) even Leatherface. The 1980’s was when the slasher was the most prolific although it very quickly became stale and shallow. In recent years, Hollywood has attempted to revitalize the slasher/horror genre as the horror icons of the past come back from the grave to torment promiscuous teenagers once again!
            With the trend of remaking horror films in recent years with successes such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003) and Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” (2007) and “The Hills Have Eyes” (2006) have brought some much needed originality rather than failures like “Psycho” (1998) and “The Omen” (2006) which utterly defeated the purpose of the remake by just copying the original. As the horror icons have reemerged in the last decade with Leatherface (“Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) and Michael Myers (Halloween), the newest killer to be remade (or “re-imagined”) is none other but Jason Voorhees with the release of New Line’s “Friday the 13th” on February 13, 2009.
            Although genuinely frightening and mildly impressive the new “Friday the 13th” could easily be another installment (“Friday the 13th Part XII”) in the long series as the only connection with any of the original series would be the original “Friday the 13th” (1980) as it seems to take place after the events of the film with Jason’s mother Mrs. Voorhees being the killer. However it is more of a combination with the original and “Friday the 13th Part 2” (1981) as the murders have taken place years ago and a new group of licentious teenagers happen upon Camp Crystal Lake (apparently searching for a rumored marijuana crop, I didn’t know Jason was a pot-head) it’s obvious what is going to happen. 
      From the beginning, (by which I mean the first 15 minutes) it’s the same tired “murder-fest” where the first victims are dispatched one by one by the masked “mongoloid” but only after they conveniently set up the story by telling us the events of the first movie (as if we didn’t know) only to not follow their own warnings and GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! The only difference is that after the first massacre (which turns out to be the longest prologue in horror film history) only then do we get the title sequence.
    As we get into the real story we meet Clay Miller, played by Jared Padalecki (“Supernatural” TV series), who is searching for his sister Whitney Miller (Amanda Righetti, “Return to House on Haunted Hill”) believed dead. When he happens upon a group of college kids led by the overbearing Trent (Travis Van Winkle) heading to his parents lake house to party, they are all drawn into the plot when Jason begins exacting his mindless slaughter on all of them. Unlike most of the Friday the 13th movies we are given very little into Jason’s story other than basic clues to his origins as the filmmakers made no attempt to improve or add upon his already known past. Like “Part 2” he starts out very plain as just a silent, mindless killer with a burlap bag over his head. He does don his trademark hockey mask, as in “Part 3” (1982) but only by accident.
    There is almost nothing to set this movie apart from the other 10 movies as it keeps the same predictable, formulaic story fraught with merciless ultra-violence, sex, and death. Without spoiling the ending Jason is dispatched in almost the same way as any of the other Friday’s, you know he can never be stopped and he will always come back, there is almost no end to the pointless killing, I had high hopes for this movie but despite the hype and the new talent this is just another bland slasher flick, good for a cheap scare and a little thrill but nothing more. Hopefully, as the new decade is upon us and the new era of horror film remakes we may see some of our old favorites reborn with new twists on an old scare. With new hype for movies such as Rob Zombie’s “H2: Halloween 2” later this year and the remake of “Hellraiser” in 2011, there is even rumors of a new “Nightmare on Elm Street”. But of course as we all know Jason Voorhees will not rest at the bottom of Crystal Lake forever, it’s only a matter of time before he rears up his deformed hockey masked face and wreaks havoc on a new generation of screaming teenagers.

MOVIE REVIEW: "SHERLOCK HOLMES"

   "Elementary my dear Watson", "Sherlock Holmes" is a new spin on a classic detective. Starring Robert Downey, Jr. (Holmes) and Jude Law (Watson) as the original dynamic duo Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson! Adding a little more of an action-adventure style to the original more cerebral-type of Holmes story. British action movie director Guy Ritchie elevates the otherwise dry and proper Holmes to almost an Indiana Jones-like status. Holmes' character differs greatly from previous film versions and is less of uptight, deerstalker hat wearing gentleman and is now more of an eccentric, neurotic, anti-social, recluse with a curious hobby of engaging in pit-fighting! Watson is almost as odd with a severe gambling addiction, while their whole relationship is like that of an old married couple?!
    The story itself is a fascinating mix of action, mystery, and love with a little occult/supernatural intrigue! Holmes methods appear even more amazing as the film features these odd Zack Snyder-like slow-motion scenes as he plans his next moves carefully analyzing every stage. The love interest in the film is Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams ), a talented female thief who continues to elude and best Holmes surprisingly at every turn! The villain is Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) who dabbles in secret societies and occult alchemy in order to cheat death and destroy parliament.
    To the more purist Sherlock Holmes aficionados, this is definitely NOT old-school Holmes, rather a more modern and action-centered version to appease those who shy away from the more dry and traditional Holmes adaptations. While fun and exciting, it tends to depart from the more intellectual side of Holmes in his usual deductive methods sacrificing them for a more direct and visceral incarnation. Although Downey, Jr. makes an impressive Holmes, I find the episodes where Commander Data from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" could do a better job than him. Sorry Robert, stick with Iron Man!

Concert Review: Blackest of the Black Tour 2008, Featuring Danzig & Dimmu Borgir, Dallas, TX

Thursday, October 30, 2008
Blackest of the Black Tour 2008 Featuring: Danzig & Dimmu Borgir @ Dallas, TX - The Palladium Ballroom

       Rarely does such a perfect grouping of the darkest of heavy metal bands perform together but on October 30^th, the legendary Devil’s Night, the “Blackest of the Black Tour 2008” came to Dallas, Texas, featuring Danzig and Dimmu Borgir with Moonspell, Winds of Plague and Skeletonwitch. All the supporting bands were exceptional but the biggest draw came with Dimmu Borgir and Danzig, the headliners for this night of dark revelry. Like a black mass did fans of Norway’s black metal band Dimmu Borgir take the stage around 9:00pm with a huge banner depicting the cover art to last years album In Sorte Diaboli depicting a 10-foot-tall satanic goat surrounded by a host of faceless clergy and flying fallen angels behind them. As the band gathered, the smoke rising and the light effects creating an eerie glow they began with their epic “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse” from 2003’s Death Cult Armageddon. With vocalist Shagrath, Galder on guitar, I.C.S. Vortex on Bass and backup vocals, Mustis on Keyboards, unfortunately, lead guitarist Silenoz, along with their usual drummer Hellhammer were not present at this concert. Instead, a guitarist and drummer from Suspiria played with DB.
            DB followed with a long set including older and newer songs such as The Serpentine Offering, The Sacrilgous Scorn, In Sorte Diaboli, Reptile, Kings of the Carnival Creation, Puritania, and Spellbound. With an impressive set and usual macabre theatrical performance, DB prepared the crowd for the main headliner Danzig, after an unusually long setup period by the stagehands Danzig was ready to take the stage around 11:00. As the stage was decorated with the classic Danzig skull on basic black and the newer skull with tentacle design from 2004’s “Circle of Snakes”, they began with Wotan’s Procession from the same album before opening with Skincarver from the same album. Danzig then proceeded to play a multitude of songs chronologically from his first, second, third and fourth albums such as Twist of Cain, Am I Demon, Killer Wolf, Her Black Wings, How the Gods Kill, Brand New God, along with Lilin from Danzig 6. Surprisingly they did not perform any songs from Danzig 5 or 7.
            As this tour commemorates the band Danzig’s 20^th anniversary (1988-2008), most do not recall his time as the front man of "Samhain” (1983-1986) after the breakup of the original punk legend “The Misfits” (1977-1983) which Glenn Danzig founded but has since estranged himself from any association with his former band. Look for last years release of Danzig’s double-disc “The Lost Tracks of Danzig” album, which is featured prominently on this years tour T-shirt.

The “Blackest of the Black Tour” 2008 is definitely the most diabolical metal tour in years and as Dimmu Borgir gain more notoriety here in the U.S., so too will Danzig hope to continue shredding for more years to come!

MOVIE REVIEW - "TROPIC THUNDER"

   When a group of popular actors embarks upon a controversial Vietnam War movie they are thrown unawares into a real jungle warzone! This whole movie is a hilarious satire on Hollywood, actors, and what the business of movies in general, has become. Director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan), unsatisfied with the films progress and his constant berating by the films producer Les Grossman (Tom Cruise), decides to take the crew out of the studio and into the jungle to film the rest of the movie when everything goes horribly wrong and the whole cast encounters a Cambodian opium ring and has to fight their way out with fake guns and no catering!
    Ben Stiller stars as Tugg Speedman, a popular action star whose dwindling action career after a string of over the top action "Scorcher" movies and one serious drama as a "retarded" farmhand leads him to portray John "Four Leaf" Tayback (Nick Noltes alter ego) a supposed Vietnam War hero who whose book about his heroic efforts and the "alleged" loss of his hands. Robert Downey Jr. stars as Kirk Lazarus, a talented, Oscar-winning, Australian actor known for his highly controversial parts and his deep commitment to his roles, plays Sgt. Osiris, but in order to play this role he transforms himself with surgery and make-up to become black/African-American, and never breaks character! Jack Black plays Jeff "Fatty" Portnoy, a drug-addicted excess driven comedian/actor known for his movies "The Fatties". Brandon T. Jackson plays hip-hop entertainer turned actor Alpa Chino, who makes millions of his product endorsements.
    Both Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stillers' characters are the epitome of this films pop-culture satire as Downy plays the actor who will do anything to win an Oscar and Stiller as the actor that becomes so type-casted as a character that he cannot escape it and ruins his life and career forever. With an all-star cast, this movie, despite its initial negative criticism, is not just some fun comedy, it has a profound underlying criticism of Hollywood and celebrities.

MOVIE REVIEW - "THE DARK KNIGHT"

Very rarely does a movie sequel prove to be better than it's original. Lately, with the trend of popular comic book film adaptations, the sequel, very often, has been much more successful, such as X-Men 2 (2003) and Spider-man 2 (2004). With the release of Batman Begins (2005), the comic book adaptation and DC comics ushered in a new beginning in comic films. Unlike Superman Returns (2006), while trying to cash in on the same concept, met with much more criticism and less success. The much-anticipated sequel to the Batman franchise began with not just the announcement of the return of director Christopher Nolan and actor Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman but with the announcement of a new villain. As in Batman Begins the introduction and first-time movie appearance of second-string villains such as Scarecrow and Ra's Al Ghul (although fan favorites, and mine!) the next villain had to be a major one to be a success and they found one with actor: Heath Ledger as The Joker! With past bat-villain flops such as Jim Carrey as the Riddler and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, both film-makers and fans knew it would be hard to give new life to Batman's number one arch-nemesis having so impressively been played by Jack Nicholson in 1989's Batman. With the new Ledger-Joker, the most dangerous and psychotic of Batman's villains, gives more of an intensely disturbing depiction with Ledger's overly eccentric and scarred Joker. Not only would young actor's role give even more hype and excitement to the movie but also would Ledgers untimely and tragic demise (Jan. 22, 2008) six months before the initial release of the film.
  Although the focus of the movie is on Joker, as he almost steals the show; the plot of "The Dark Knight" is about Batman dealing with the reputation he's created in Gotham City and how his presence has affected the crime rate. With bands of roaming vigilantes dressed up as Batman are creating havoc alongside the chaos of the Joker and his rise in the crime world it proves what Gordon, now police commissioner said in the last scene of Batman Begins foreshadowed: "escalation". All of the cast of Batman Begins returns but with one exception of Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes instead of Katie Holmes and the addition of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent and as the new secondary villain: Two-Face (previously played by Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever (1997). The Dark Knight is a long and intense movie with an impressive story and deeply thought provoking themes. If not for Batman, you would almost mistake it for a blockbuster true-crime story which make it all the more real and disturbing and great!
    Since its release, "The Dark Knight" has become the #2 all-time in the USA box office (above Star Wars (1977) and just below Titanic (1997) and remains the most popular comic book movie as previously held by Spider-man (2002), now in the 8 spot.

MOVIE REVIEW: "HELLBOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY"

    I first became a "Hellboy" fan in 2001 when I discovered the first graphic novel while working at a local comic book store. Since then I have been a devoted fan of all things Hellboy, including anything B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) related! When the first movie was released in 2004, I was blown away by director Guillermo del Toro's film until then the I had only seen Del Toro's American film "Mimic" (1997) and would search out his Spanish-language films such as "The Devil's Backbone" (2001) and later "Pan's Labyrinth" (2006). Already impressed by del Toro's vision and imagery I was eagerly awaiting Hellboy's sequel this summer.
    I have realized over the years being both a moviegoer and comic book fan that the line between comics and movies has been severely twisted. With older classics such as Richard Donner's "Superman" and Tim Burton's "Batman" (1989), which I had grown up adoring. I was always aware that any comic book adaptation has to have an equal mixing of both the comic book and the moviemaker in order to work. Like "Batman" (1989) which was delightfully dark as Batman should be it was also very Burton, ("Beetleguise", "Edward Scissorhands") at that time still a young filmmaker. And in recent years with Marvel comics burst of film franchises like "Spider-man" and "X-Men" which were very successful although somewhat dwindling the third time around, all has the directors style but still remains devoted to the comics original flavor.
    Like "Hellboy", whose original creator Mike Mignola had a lot of involvement with the first "Hellboy" movie as well as the sequel, however it is noticeable that Mignola's presence is somewhat lesser and del Toro's style has completely overtaken the film. Not only has del Toro taken liberties with the film but he used this sequel as an opportunity to have a little "Fun" with "Hellboy" which, as far as I'm concerned, is too much!
    "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army" is remarkable, the special effects the imagery, the inventiveness. Its downright overwhelming, its no longer dark and mysterious as the Hellboy comics were originally, now, its bright and funny!? What happened!? Don't get me wrong, Ron Perlman as Hellboy is fantastic, I met him shortly after at a convention. Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) is incredible. I was even overjoyed that this movie would introduce a new B.P.R.D. agent from the comics into the movies: Dr. Johan Krauss! On first seeing his ectoplasm suit and hearing hi voice (although humorously voiced by "Family Guy"/"American Dad" creator and voice: Seth MacFarlane. Although Krauss now sounds more like Klauss, the goldfish from American Dad, which I enjoy watching.)
    The failing of Hellboy 2 starts with the soap-opera level love story between Hellboy and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), and not to mention Abe Sapien becoming smitten with the new character Princess Nuala, which goes so far as to have him begin drinking and singing annoying love songs (Come on! WTF!)
     The final stab is the overly convoluted story that has no basis in the Hellboy comics! We've gone so far from the original concept of Hellboy and a far turn from the original film that I dread to see if and when there will be a Hellboy 3, will Hellboy return to his roots marked with dark, Lovecraftian stories or will be off to the north pole to fight an evil Santa Claus. Guillermo del Toro, stop please and re-evaluate your situation before it gets too much for us to handle. I cannot even think about what's going to happen when his vision of "The Hobbit" will be released in 2011 (Really!) and they've already slated for "The Hobbit" in 2012! I can't wait…