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Author Archives: Ross Birks
Intruder (1989)
Scott Spiegel is best known as the co-writer of Evil Dead II and for his cameos in various other Sam Raimi movies, but as a filmmaker in his own right he is responsible for one of the more interesting entries in the … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2016, Reviews, Rewatch, Uncategorized
Tagged Intruder, Scott Spiegel
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Ganja & Hess (1973)
After the surprising success of 1972’s dopey blaxploitation flick Blacula, financiers were keen to cash in on the “black vampire” craze and Bill Gunn’s Ganja & Hesswas born. But Gunn, a respected playwright and stage director, had no intention of turning in … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2016, Reviews, Uncategorized
Tagged Bill Gunn, Ganja & Hess
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The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)
The best advice I can give to people with an interest in The Girl with All the Gifts is avoid all trailers, avoid everything and go in as cold as possible. I really didn’t know much about this movie other than it … Continue reading
Deepwater Horizon (2016)
Deepwater Horizon is a movie that blows shit up real good. It shouldn’t come as a surprise being that Berg’s Lone Survivor has some of the most punishing action I’ve seen in an American movie this decade. He continues that film’s penchant for physicality … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2016, Reviews
Tagged Deepwater Horizon, Kate Hudson, Kurt Russell, mark wahlberg, Peter Berg
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31 (2016)
31 is the kind of Rob Zombie movie I could do without. As a big fan of The Devil’s Rejects and his Halloween interpretations, I was disappointed to find him making a straight and narrow body count flick. 31 is all meat and bone with not … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2016, Reviews
Tagged 31, Malcolm McDowell, Rob Zombie, Sheri Moon Zombie
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Scream 3 (2000)
This was always my favourite of the Scream trilogy when I was a kid. Probably due to the fact that all the “buzz” elements are really brought into the foreground and dialled up to eleven. The self-referentiality is heightened to such a … Continue reading
Crisis in Six Scenes (2016)
Basically a very long version of one of those very average-to-mildly okay Woody Allen movies we get three or four of before a great one comes along. It looks nice. And I enjoyed Woody Allen and Elaine May as a … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2016, Reviews
Tagged Crisis In Six Scenes, Elaine May, Miley Cyrus, Woody Allen
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Anaconda (1997)
This was a staple of my VHS-dominated childhood and I haven’t revisited it in a long time. Anaconda is dopey as hell but there’s something very charming about it. The mix of early CGI with practical effects makes me happy. It exists … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2016, Reviews, Rewatch
Tagged Anaconda, Danny Trejo, David Hyde Pierce, Eric Stolz, ice cube, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Voight, Luis Llosa, Owen Wilson
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Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011)
Where Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance really blazes is when the voices of its star and directors are in total harmony. The combination of Neveldine/Taylor and Nicolas Cage is spectacular. Naturally, when the film goes big it goes BIG. Ghost Rider pisses fire, … Continue reading
Swiss Army Man (2016)
Swiss Army Man is a weird fucking movie, but also gleefully child-like and optimistic in ways we don’t really see a whole lot these days. Which is another way of saying: it’s immature. And that might not be a bad thing. … Continue reading
Posted in Movies Watched In 2016, Reviews
Tagged daniel radcliffe, Daniels, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Paul Dano, Swiss Army Man
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"This Film Should Be Played Loud" 