Devistating news the wonderful actress Kelly Preston has died aged 57 : Kelly was know for her work in the movies such as Twins, For the Love of the Game, Nothing to Loose, Spacecamp, Jerry Maguire, Jack Frost & so many more : she is the shining light in those movies and I will always remember her for that beautiful radiant smile x
Here’s 3 great Behind the Scene shots from 1968’s Once Upon a Time in the West – Directed by Sergio Leone and stars : Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards & Woody Strode : A mysterious stranger with a harmonica teams up with a notorious gunslinger to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad in the old west : The late great Ennio Morricone composed the musical score and it’s one his finest in my opinion.
The GREAT actor IAN HOLM has died aged 88 – what a wonderful, versatile performer Ian was – his roles such as Ash in ALIEN, Sam in CHARIOTS OF FIRE and Bilbo Baggins in THE LORD OF THE RINGS are all memorable, some are disturbing but all are pure cinema – he is an incredible actor to watch and truly one of the great actors of our time RIP
I’m a sucker for these type of movies and this looks BRILLIANT – the premise looks fresh, dark & truly twisted and has a small hint of Fincher’s Seven blended with the bloody terrifying franchise we love so much !! Spiral (aka: Spiral: From The Book of Saw) is the ninth installment in the Saw franchise. Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman who brought us Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV, and starring Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella, and Marisol Nichols
So last week I was luck enough to revisit one of my favorite horror movies of all time Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece The Shining on the big screen and today I visited my local cinema to watch Doctor Sleep and let me tell you something IT is nothing short of EXCEPTIONAL !! This is director Mike Flanagan’s love letter to the Torrance family & all things that shine, how he managed to recreate such iconic sets such as the spine chilling blood from the elevator scene, Danny exploring the hotel on his tricycle, the room to room interior of the Overlook, those scary twins and of course the overheard camera following Danny’s car up towards the Overlook accompanied by that haunting score God Only Knows – Ewan McGregor is terrific as Danny Torrence, Rebecca Ferguson’s Rose the Hat & her power draining cult known as the True Knot are so bloody scary, reminding me slightly of the roaming blood suckers in Bigelow’s Near Dark – some of their scenes especially the one that involved No.19 the young baseball player scared the hell out of me whilst the incredible Alex Essoe literally sent shivers down my spine with her remarkable performance as Wendy Torrence – Overall Doctor Sleep is a cinematic triumph that pays homage to it’s predecessor whilst creating a creepy atmosphere & super scary horror of it’s own !! ★★★★★
Some actors make other actors and the films they appear in look better than they actually are Robert Forster was one of those, an honest hard working pro that no matter how big a part he had in that particular movie he always stood out and made that scene memorable – many knew him for his work on Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown but this New Yorker has been around since the late 60’s appearing in hidden gems throughout his career such as: 1978’s Avalanche, 1980’s monster movie Alligator, William Lustig’s brilliant Vigilante, one of my favourites Walking the Edge, Renny Harlin’s Cleaner and so many more – his latest film had just aired on Netflix where he played Ed in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie he only had limited screen time in the film but what he did with it mattered and that basically sums up the screen career of Robert Forster…… may you rest in peace !!
Sadly one of cinema’s finest actors ALBERT FINNEY has died aged 82 – his movie roles range from the likes of Tom Jones, Daddy Warbucks in Annie, George in Alan Parker’s brilliant & possibly my favourite Finney movie Shoot the Moon, Leo O’Bannon in gangster thriller Millers Crossing, Geoffrey Firmin in Under the Volcano, Ed Masey in Erin Brockovich and Bloom Snr in Tim Burton’s magical Big Fish and so many more – Albert Finney made a name for himself as an outstanding character actor, one that could play a mean bastard, a great detective, a prime minister and a loving father – he was loved by his peers and will be missed by all who love movies.
Terribly Sad News the Film world has lost another of it’s shining stars – BURT REYNOLDS the star of such endearing classics such as Smokey and the Bandit, The Cannonball Run, The Longest Yard, Sharky’s Machine and City Heat has died aged 82 – Burt also gave career defining performances in movies such as Deliverance, Boogie Nights and more recently The Last Movie Star and had just signed up to star in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Growing up I fondly remember him as this charasmatic, cocky but big hearted action hero, that great big smile shining from ear to ear and that twinkle in his eye…. he’s had one hell of a journey and appeared to enjoy every minute of it – goodbye for now Burt – RIP
“after a team of soldiers enter and don’t return five women scientists enter what is known as The Shimmer essentially a wall between our world and the infected area in hope of discovering what happened to those men and the truth behind this anomaly”
24hrs on and I can’t stop thinking of Alex Garland’s latest Annihilation – firstly it’s nowhere near as as complicated a story as people make out, yes it’s slow, brooding and set to a surreal back drop but when all is said and done it’s quite simply an alien invasion movie and a blooming good one too – music is used sparingly throughout the movie but when used it’s to eerie effect, the strumming of a guitar, a haunting melody really does up the tension and you just can’t help but think something bad is gona happen and soon – along with it’s exciting young cast there’s a certain likeness in Garland’s Annihilation to classic scifi of yesteryear such as The Thing and Alien, there is so much greatness and so many talking points throughout it’s rather short 115 min runtime, those scenes when Anya played by Gina Rodriguez decides to take matters into her own hands by tying the team to their chairs, attempts to interrogate and what happens next is edge of the seat brilliance and lets not forget the aligator attack, that bear like creature and Lena’s own discovery towards the pictures epic finale – if your over thinking about watching this movie then please stop what your doing take a breather and let your movie indulgence be enhanced by Garland’s Annihilation a modern scifi gem that will have you chomping at the bit for a rewatch seconds after it’s conclusion ★★★★½
Elizabeth Taylor – seen here in 1963’s epic CLEOPATRA
I love watching, collecting and talking about movies it’s my passion – 2017 has been an exciting year in film, unlike many I’m not one of these people who make an end of year list based around whether a female directed a movie, a person of color appeared in a movie or a certain film carries a message that I should find important enough to place it on my list NO that’s not how this guy rolls My Top 15 Movies of 2017 are movies that have excited me but they are mostly movies that I have enjoyed the shit out of regardless of what political correct nonsense some people come out with – My Number One movie of 2017 is Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 Villeneuve’s scope his imagination and his ability to transfer all of this to the screen is nothing short of magical, not many movies in recent times have given me the chills from start to finish but Blade Runner 2049 did – and what can I say about Jennifer Lawrence in Aronofsky’s exceptional, weird as bat shit Mother it’s one of the truly great performances in the last 20yrs and a film that’s helmed by a visionary who’s never afraid to take us on a journey into the darkness of his soul, Mother nailed that Number Two slot – and making up My Top Three is the fantastic Wonder Woman with the beautiful, sexy Gal Gadot kicking some ass in one of the best origin stories to hit our screens – to those of you who have come across me on social media or may have visited us at absolutebadasses from time to time may we wish you all a Happy New Year and may 2018 be a healthy one to you and yours….. #LoveMovies
TOBE HOOPER (1943-2017) – directed one of the truly great films of our time, and in my eyes the scariest, most brutal raw ride into terror that i’ve witnessed – THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE stills gives me chills as it did when I first came across it as kid watching it on video over a friends whilst his parents were at work – I was HORRIFIED it gave me NIGHTMARES but it also started my love affair with all things horror – you will be missed but your legacy of horror such as TEXAS, THE FUN HOUSE, SALEM’S LOT, LIFEFORCE and POLTERGEIST will continue to entertain and inspire a new legion of fans forever…..
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