Sunday, August 27, 2006

It's only a ripoff...

On September 26, the indie horror film Chaos arrives on DVD.

Here's Vern's hilarious review of the DVD. ("This is the best review anyone has ever written," says Moriarty, and he may just be right.)

And here's Roger Ebert's appalled review of the movie itself. (See also his article about the filmmaker's response to his review, and his response to their response.)

Now. The guys who made Chaos insist that it isn't a ripoff of Wes Craven's Last House on the Left.

Of course it isn't. For instance, the poster concept for Chaos is completely different from the poster concept for Last House on the Left. The Chaos poster also clearly does not plagiarize Last House's iconic victim's-POV shot of the killers.

Chaos is obviously an utterly original endeavor and those who say otherwise are just, y'know, jealous.

Friday, August 25, 2006

It's pronounced jo-WAN-ow.


Once upon a time, back there in the late '80s and early '90s, Phil Joanou was considered one of the hot up-and-coming directors. Three O'Clock High. U2: Rattle and Hum. State of Grace.

Today? A football movie starring The Rock.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Current hotshots like Wayne Kramer and Brett Ratner might want to take note.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Separated at birth?


The problem with casting Ben Affleck as George Reeves in the upcoming Hollywoodland isn't that he lacks the acting chops — it's that he doesn't look a damn thing like Reeves. As you can see, Reeves had that lumpen, Dad-like '50s look. Affleck is simply too chiseled and slender and, well, modern, no matter how much weight he puts on.


Now, this is more like it: Michael Shannon, who played the Marine with a mission from God in Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. Did Reeves have a son — or a grandson — we don't know about? The resemblance is uncanny.