Cinefantastique Online

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Far from a glorious return to gory horror by the mastermind behind THE EVIL DEAD and, more particularly, the magnificent EVIL DEAD II, DRAG ME TO HELL is a modest exercise in nostalgia; it’s a bit like a reunion tour by an aging rock band running through a medley of their hits: it’s fun to see their routine again, but the magic is gone, and when the show’s over, you realize you would be better off listening to the old albums instead of spending money on the new stuff.

Pixar’s latest computer-animated comedy – this tme in 3-D – opens this weekend. Edward Asner provides the voice of a grumpy old man who attaches balloons to his house and sails off for adventure. There is a sentimental, dramatic element to the film not apparent from the trailers, and reviewers are saying the film is [...]

In which we consider how an increasingly formidable animation studio is like a certain, humble but beneficial insect, and I — inveterate cat person — confess to an irrational love for a non-existant, talking dog. Hey, whaddya want? It’s Friday.
From MIGHTY MOVIE PODCAST, a review of Disney/Pixar’s UP

Read more about Up (2009) by clicking the links below:

Up [...]

[ August 28, 2009 to August 30, 2009. ] Like it or not, the Shape is back once again. Hopefully, this one will be a little more imaginative and a little less blunt and crude than its predecessor. Oh wait, who am I kidding? Director: Rob Zombie. Stars: Scout Taylor-Compton, Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell. Studio: Dimension Films.

[ August 14, 2009 to August 16, 2009. ] Advance word says that Japanese anime auteur Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film – which mixes Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid” with Japanese folk tales – is another masterpiece, this time aimed at five years olds. Miyazaki has opted for a simpler style of animation to tell his fairy tale, relying on old-fashioned hand-drawn cells with pastel [...]

[ August 14, 2009 to August 16, 2009. ] Hollywood offers up a film version of the novel, about a librarian whose genetic structure causes him to involuntarily time travel, creating complications for his marraige. Director: Robert Schwentke. Stars: Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston. Studio: New Line Cinema.

[ August 14, 2009 to August 16, 2009. ] Director Neil Blomkamp expands his sci-fi short film into a feature-length story about  extraterrestrials who have become refugees in South Africa. Stars: Sharlto Copley, Robert Hobbs. Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).

[ August 28, 2009 to August 30, 2009. ] Of course, there’s nothing final about these destinations. Another interchangeable group of young friends escape death, only to have death catch up iwth them. After Hunt’s (Zano) premonition of a deadly race-car crash helps saves the lives of his peers, Death sets out to collect those who evaded their fate. The plot is the same [...]

[ August 7, 2009 to August 9, 2009. ] The writer of WATERWORLD offers a tale of  about four people on vacation in Hawaii, but the vacation turns bad when they stumble upon a horrible secret: psychopaths are  murdering tourists. We would have preferred aliens, but we’ll take what we can get. Director: David Twohy. Stars: Milla Jovovich, Steve Zahn, Timothy Olyphant. Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

UPDATE: This [...]

Cinefantastique Online would like to take this opportunity to offer best wishes to Christopher Lee on this, the occasion of his 87th birthday. The actor was born on May 27, 1922. He has played a wide variety of roles, earning steady work as a character actor, but his claim to stardom rest mostly with fantasy, [...]

Christopher Lee is celebrating his 87th birthday today, and it appears that the icon of screen terror is busier than ever. He has finished roles in several movies that have yet to be released, including a large part opposite Colin Farrell in TRIAGE, directed by Danis Tanovic (an Oscar winner for NO MAN’S LAND). He [...]

PASSENGERS is a not-quite direct-to-video title that should have had more than enough star power to warrant a wider theatrical release: Oscar-nominee Anne Hathaway and Oscar-winner Dianne Wiest. The film may not be a conventional blockbuster, but it has an intriguing premise that is reasonably well executed; though not a complete success, it certainly delivers enough to have appealed to fans of more subtle, suggestive scares.

[ August 21, 2009 to August 23, 2009. ] Warner Brothers releases another fantasy-kid flick from the creator of SPY KIDS. The plot follows a boy who discovery of a rock that grants wishes, but things go wrong when local adults get hold of it. Can our young hero and his two new-found friends save the residents of Black Falls from themselves? The studio must be hoping that this colorful comic fantasy is not another SPEED RACER at the box office.