Cinefantastique Online

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If we had to pick the five greatest theatrical experiences of our adult life (eliminating childhood, where even the lights going down could give goosebumps) then catching TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY on opening day back in July of 1991 would rank highly among them. It’s an amazing thing to walk out of a [...]

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Science fiction, fantasy, and horror titles run hot and cold when it comes to home video releases each Tuesday, and this week is definitely cold – at least in terms of numbers. However, as the old cliche goes, if Donald Trump walks into a bar the average net work of everyone in the [...]

Tired of seeing the same old stuff, co-writers Sean Keller and Jim Agnew believed they knew exactly how to inject some much needed style and substance back into the jugular of the horror genre. The fans of ’70s & ’80s Italian horror-thrillers – known as gialli – scripted an homage, little knowing that the reigning king of the form would choose to direct.

[ July 31, 2009 to August 2, 2009. ] Teenagers protect their vacation home from invading aliens who have taken over the top floor of the dwelling. Director: John Schultz. Stars: Ashley Tisdale, Robert Hoffman, Carter Jenkins. Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation.

[ July 24, 2009 to July 26, 2009. ] You thought chihuahuas were cute – well, how about this: a specially trained squad of guinea pigs battles a diabolical billionaire to foil his evil plan. In 3-D yet!  Hoyt Yeatman directs this computer-animated fantasy-comedy from Wat Disney Studios. Will Arnett, Penélope Cruz, Zach Galifianakis, Nicolas Cage, Steve Buscemi, and Tracy Morgan provide the voices.

The Weinstein Brothers bought this slasher film after it earned positive buzz on the festival circuit two years ago, and then they just sat on it. Thankfully, a new distributor aquired the rights and plans to let the movie finally see the light of a projector bulb. Director: Jonathan Levine. Stars: Amber Heard, Anson Mount. [...]

[ July 15, 2009 to July 19, 2009. ] Things get dark in Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts, as the inevitable confrontation with Voldemort grows ever closer. Except blood, tragedy, and tears… Director: David Yates. Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint. Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures.

[ July 1, 2009 to July 5, 2009. ] The beloved animated characters are back in action and apparently going back in time, since the dinosaurs lived and died well before these wooly mammoths and sabre-tooth tigers, etc. Whatever, as long as Scrat is back, yearning for his beloved acorn, we’re happy (and this time he meets a female of the species). Director: Carlos [...]

[ June 24, 2009 to June 28, 2009. ] Director Michael Bay is back with another film about those toys that turn into robots or something. The first one wasn’t any good, but it made a ton of money, indicating that Bay had finally found his true calling: making films for kids. Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel. Studio: DreamWorks SKG.

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[ June 19, 2009 to June 21, 2009. ] Jack Black and Michael Cera star as a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers who encounter various Biblical and historical figures after being banished from their tribe. The humor seems mostly based on anachronisms – having characters speak in contemporary slang even though they are in historical – or pre-historical – situations. Olivia Wilde co-stars for director Harold [...]

[ June 19, 2009 to June 21, 2009. ] Another little movie gets a limited roll-out, hoping to generate some publicity that will boost home video sales. The plot involves young people who run afoul of Nazi zombies. We haven’t seen it, but Eric Snider of Cinematical says that once you get past the novelty of zombie Nazis, this Norwegian film is only so-so. [...]

[ June 12, 2009 to June 14, 2009. ] Eddie Murphy stars as a financial executive who finds solutions to his career problems in his daughter’s imaginary world. Sounds too much like BEDTIME STORIES, no? Thomas Haden Church co-stars in this Paramount production, directed by Karey Kirkpatrick (Over the Hedge, Chicken Run).

[ June 12, 2009 to June 14, 2009. ] This excellent little science fiction film – with elements of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, SILENT RUNNING, and SOLARIS – gets a limited release from Sony Pictures Classics. Hopefully enough people will buy tickets so that the distributor will role it out into wider distribution, because the film really deserves it.