Cinefantastique Online

You are browsing the archives of 2009 May.

Lael Loewenstein doesn’t think much of NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN:
Bigger, longer, and even more chaotically crowded (more stars! more f/x!) than its predecessor, “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” proves that adding another ring doesn’t make for a better circus. Swapping Gotham’s Natural History Museum for D.C.’s Smithsonian, this [...]

86-year-old actor Charles “Bud” Tingwell died from cancer on May 15 in his native Australia. A successful character actor, Tingwell was most well known in his native country for the television series HOMICIDE, but fans of Hammer horror remember him for his role as the ill-fated elder brother in DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS (it is [...]

Ridley Scott’s first three feature films (THE DUELISTS, ALIEN, and BLADE RUNNER) earned praise from fans who thought he was a brilliant visual stylist and criticism from those who thought his work was all empty visual flash, with no substance. With LEGEND, he offered up a piece of evidence that seemed to support his critic’s [...]

There seem to be an exceptionally large number of DVD releases in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror this week, but that is mostly because several old discs are being reissued as part of a promotion for the upcoming theatrical release of LAND OF THE LOST. If you’re a horror fan looking for [...]

Hollywood Reporter tells us that actor Chris Hensworth – last seen as Captain Kirk’s ill-fated father in the new STAR TREK – has been cast as Thor in Marvel Studios’ film version of their popular comic book character. He will also take on the lead role in a remake of RED DAWN. A young Australian [...]

Hollywood Reporter film critic Kirk Honeycutt thinks the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival is running red with blood, thanks to a series of violent flicks unspooling in competition, including Park Chan-wook’s vampire film THIRST and Lars Von Trier’s art house horror film ANTICHRIST.
In such cases as a razor-blade murder in Jacques Audiard’s finely [...]

The tenth STAR TREK feature film is not the worst of the bunch – in fact, with the exception of STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT it is probably the best to deploy the cast of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION – but there is a sense that, by this time, the anti-matter had been drained out [...]

[ May 21, 2009 to May 24, 2009. ] The fourth TERMINATOR film finally takes us into the future to witiness John Connor’s fight against Skynet. The plot involves an encounter between Connor (Christian Bale) and Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), who may be a man rescued from the past – or someone sent from the future to foil Connor’s plans. McG (CHARLIE’S ANGELS) directed. [...]

The composer discussions his musical collaboration with the Italian master of horror.
Dario Argento & Marco Werba
Dario Argento has been a legend in Eurohorror cinema since the 1970s, and in many ways his films of that era, which include DEEP RED (1975), SUSPIRIA (1977), TENEBRAE (1982), PHENOMENA (1985) and others, define the giallo form – that uniquely [...]

Hollywood Reporter’s Michael Rechtshaffen has an advance peak at TERMINATOR SALVATION, which opens this week. He thinks the machines are great, but the humans are too robotic.
The latest chapter in the successful cyborg series following 2003’s “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” — and the first sans Schwarzenegger — “Terminator Salvation” doesn’t skimp on all [...]

Hollywood Reporter’s Maggie Lee gives us the rundown on THIRST, the new vampire-romance from director Park Chan-wook (THREE EXTREMES, LADY VENGEANGE), which screened at Cannes last week.
Park takes his famed eroticization of violence, pain and cruelty to new, feverish heights, and garnishes it with deliciously sadistic gallows humor. Those who thrive on gore, twisted sexuality [...]

Maggie Lee of Hollywood Reporter gives a positive review to YUKI & NINA, which recently screened at Cannes:
Two little girls, one French and one Eurasian, respond to crises of separation by escaping in nature and fantasy in “Yuki & Nina,” a low-key children’s drama made for adults, with the faintest touch of magic-realism. A directorial [...]

Hollywood Reporter calls this an “intelligent mystery” that movies into TWILIGHT ZONE territory, and predicts that with smarkt marketing it could appeal to both young audiences and fans of classic mysteries. It’s about an over-the-hill supermodel who moves into an isolated country home in order to pursue new career options (reading scripts to become an [...]