An Even Dangerouser Game: Adrien Brody (right) and Alice Braga (center) take point in PREDATORS.

This week, the Cinefantastique Podcast sets its sights on PREDATORS, produced by Robert Rodriguez and directed by Nimrod Antal, from a screenplay by Alex Litvak and Michael Finch. Is this sequel to PREDATOR (1987) a brilliant pop culture mediation on the ability of the human spirit to triumph in dire circumstances, or is it merely a crushing disappointment that fails to deliver on the promise of its trailer? Listen in to find the answers to these and other intriguing questions, along with the usual roundup of news, events, and home video releases in the world of science fiction, fantasy, and horror film.

Not Quite Human: Delphine Chanéac as Dren in SPLICE

In Volume 1, Episode 17 of the Cinefantastique Podcast, Dan Persons Lawrence French, and Steve Biodrowski delve into the worlds of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, unraveling the mysteries of genetic engineering and bad parenting as they analyze SPLICE, Vincenzo Natali’s thoughtful variation on the old “mad scientists create a monster” scenario. Also this week, the usual round-up of news, home video releases, and upcoming events.

Click on player to hear show.

This week, the Cinefantastique Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction Podcast scrutinizes a pair of sequels that seem to have nothing in common: SHREK FOREVER AFTER, the latest family-friendly CGI fantasy from DreamWorks Animation; and SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD, the latest horrifying episode in George A. Romero’s on-going zombie apocalypse, which began way back in 1968 with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. What’s the connection? Although each film has its worthwhile moments, both raise the question of whether their franchises are tapped out and in need of a hiatus to recharge their batteries. Also on the menu: a round-up of recent news, a preview of the week’s home video releases, including TRUE BLOOD: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON and THE ROAD; and listener mail.

In MICMACS, Jeunet gives us a cockeyed protagonist in the person of Bazil (Dany Boon), a man who quite by chance winds up at the precipice of the eternal when a stray bullet gets lodged in his brain. This makes him not so charitably inclined towards the manufacturer of said bullet, a matter only exacerbated when he discovers that the land mine that killed his father in the Middle East was created by a neighboring company. His only recourse: Take down both corporations, with the help of a ragtag assortment of unusually talented junkyard misfits. For such a dire theme, the film turns out to be quite a lighthearted adventure, with Jeunet deploying all his powers of visual invention into the narrative, while also making copious nods to film history, particularly to the works of silent comedians and Sergio Leone.

George Romero is also taking a few pages from cinema history, most specifically from classic westerns. In SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD, the group of renegade guardsmen we met in DIARY OF THE DEAD — led by Alan Van Sprang — decides they’ve had enough of zombies, and aim themselves for a respite on an island off the coast of Delaware. Problem is: Not only is the place already infested with the walking dead, but they’ve become a rather peculiar stake in a kind-of range war between waged between two feuding clans. As always, Romero mixes zombie assaults with some particularly vivid death scenes — for both living and dead — along with some trenchant observations of our current, fractious times. Turns out the departed still have something to say to their survivors, and it has nothing to do with moving into the light.

Click on the player to hear the show.

This Episode is Brought to You by:
HALO: REACH – Autumn 2010

MICMACS
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www.sonyclassics.com/micmacs

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====================================

SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD
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www.magnetreleasing.com/survivalofthedead

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It’ll make you smile.

]]> http://mightymoviepodcast.com/blog/2010/05/21/survival-of-the-dead-and-micmacs/feed/ 0 Activism,Art,Comedy,Death,Emotion,Explosions,Fantasy,Gore,Horror,Indie,Justice,Love Y'know, people probably shouldn't be this gleeful about issues of mortality, but in the cases of the movies being discussed in this episode, we're kinda glad they are. This episode features interviews with Jean-Pierre Jeunet and George A. Romero, Y'know, people probably shouldn't be this gleeful about issues of mortality, but in the cases of the movies being discussed in this episode, we're kinda glad they are. This episode features interviews with Jean-Pierre Jeunet and George A. Romero, both of whom have previously addressed matters of life-and-death in their own, unique ways, and have decided that there's still more sport to be had from the subject. Twisted Love: Dany Boon (left) and Julie Ferrier meet peculiar in MICMACS. In MICMACS, Jeunet gives us a cockeyed protagonist in the person of Bazil (Dany Boon), a man who quite by chance winds up at the precipice of the eternal when a stray bullet gets lodged in his brain. This makes him not so charitably inclined towards the manufacturer of said bullet, a matter only exacerbated when he discovers that the land mine that killed his father in the Middle East was created by a neighboring company. His only recourse: Take down both corporations, with the help of a ragtag assortment of unusually talented junkyard misfits. For such a dire theme, the film turns out to be quite a lighthearted adventure, with Jeunet deploying all his powers of visual invention into the narrative, while also making copious nods to film history, particularly to the works of silent comedians and Sergio Leone. Home on Deranged (Sorry): Joris Jarsky (left) wrangles Kathleen Munroe in SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD. George Romero is also taking a few pages from cinema history, most specifically from classic westerns. In SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD, the group of renegade guardsmen we met in DIARY OF THE DEAD -- led by Alan Van Sprang -- decides they've had enough of zombies, and aim themselves for a respite on an island off the coast of Delaware. Problem is: Not only is the place already infested with the walking dead, but they've become a rather peculiar stake in a kind-of range war between waged between two feuding clans. As always, Romero mixes zombie assaults with some particularly vivid death scenes -- for both living and dead -- along with some trenchant observations of our current, fractious times. Turns out the departed still have something to say to their survivors, and it has nothing to do with moving into the light. Click on the player to hear the show. This Episode is Brought to You by: HALO: REACH - Autumn 2010 MICMACS Trailer [youtube TjKW0tG7I8s nolink] www.sonyclassics.com/micmacs IMDB Listing ==================================== SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD Trailer [youtube aFqUbY-pWqQ nolink] www.magnetreleasing.com/survivalofthedead IMDB Listing Subscribe to MMP on iTunes Sign Up for E-Mail Updates [amazonify]B0000640VO[/amazonify] It'll make you smile. Dan Persons no 38:48 http://mightymoviepodcast.com/blog/2010/05/07/the-cinefantastique-horror-fantasy-science-fiction-podcast-v1n12-a-nightmare-on-elm-street/ http://mightymoviepodcast.com/blog/2010/05/07/the-cinefantastique-horror-fantasy-science-fiction-podcast-v1n12-a-nightmare-on-elm-street/#comments Fri, 07 May 2010 21:03:17 +0000 Dan Persons http://mightymoviepodcast.com/blog/?p=1792

Jackie Earle Hailey as Freddy Krueger in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

Freddy’s back, and the Cinefantastique Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction Podcast has him in its sights. Is the new A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET a dreamscape of unspeakable terrors, or is it a big snooze guaranteed to induce micronaps? What’s up with those dour teens? Why are their parents so oblivious? And how big a distinction should be make between the old ”child killer” Krueger and the new ”child molester” version? These and other questions will be pondered, ruminated upon, delved into, and dissected by Dan Persons, Lawrence French, and Steve Biodrowski.

Turn Your Head and Scream: The inimitable Dieter Laser as Dr. Heiter in THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE.

There are some films that you’re either for or agin, and wow, does THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE fit into that category. A vivid little bit of Grand Guignol wherein a couple of hapless tourists (Ashley C. Williams and Ashlynn Yennie) stumble upon the lair of the prototypical mad doctor (Dieter Laser) who proceeds to stitch them (and a Japanese guy played by Akihiro Kitamura) together to form the titular medical abomination — and yes, that means mouth-to-anus and, yes, we do get to watch them experience the subsequent digestive process — this offering from Dutch director Tom Six is the kind of thing that seems expressly designed to test the will of the die-hard horror-lover.

And I surprised myself: I like it. Yeah, I turned off the playback about a half-hour in, but once I steeled my nerves enough to resume, I found that, after reaching about the halfway point, a certain grand absurdity begins to take hold of the proceedings. It helps that the good doctor’s creation, once unveiled, is patently ridiculous, and that Mr. Laser has no problem chewing the scenery with a ferocity that suggests that director Six kept him away from the craft services table for the length of the shoot. The film still pushes all kinds of buttons (the tag line reads, “100% Medically Accurate,” after all; and the young actors seem to have been cast for their capacity to sob and groan), and some will style this as yet another sign of the coming fall of civilization. If so, at least we’re having a laugh as we go down the drain.

Tom Six and I had an opportunity to talk about how the film was born from a rather creative notion on the meting out justice, as well as what it takes to wardrobe the modern mad scientist and what the audience might expect from the upcoming sequel (danger, Will Robinson). Click on the player to hear the interview.

This Episode is Brought to You by
HALO: REACH – Autumn, 2010

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FIRST SEQUENCE)

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More Medical Malfeasance (Alliteration!)

Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) takes on mob boss Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong).

Cinefantastique’s Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction Podcast returns with a blow-by-blow knock-down debate regarding the merits (or lack thereof) in the new comic-book superhero fantasy KICK ASS, starring Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, and Nicolas Cage. Does the film kick ass, or does it fall flatter than an empty cape? Also on the agenda, the usual round-up of news, recommendations, and home video releases.

Remy (Jude Law) has a blast in REPO MEN

This week’s topic is REPO MEN, the new science fiction film starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker as company agents who retrieve artificial organs from donor recipients unable to pay for the price of a new heart. Dan Persons, Lawrence French, and Steve Biodrowski also discuss the week’s top news stories, offer random recommendations of horror, fantasy, and science fiction films worth checking out, and preview the week’s home video releases.