A new hottie picks up the mantle of Hottie of the Day and this particular one is the ridicilously cutie-hot Sugimoto Yumi.
Born in Osaka, Japan in April 1, 1989, the girl-next-door hotness that is Ms. Sugimoto started her career as a model. She started her modeling career when she was in elementary school. She was picked in a Grand-Prix audition for Ribbon, a manga magazine which is about 4 girls, their friendship, love lives, and various adventures. Ms. Sugimoto went from there to posing for gravure and other idol-related photoshoots where her innocent look made her popular. She has ventured into being an actress in addition to being a model. Sugimoto Yumi could be seen in Japanese tv shows such as Boys Este (tv drama) and the Power Rangers-like tokusatsu series, Engine Sentai Go-onger. In the latter she would play the equivalent of the Silver Ranger.
Ms. Sugimoto continues to model both for gravure and regular modeling photobooks. She has segued into film as part of the film-adaptations of her tokusatsu series Engine Sentai Go-onger. While her fans in Japan have never made mention of it those fans she has in the US has likened her as the Japanese Mary Elizabeth Winstead due to her close resemblance to the actress. In the end, she more than earns her hottie label due to her girl-next-door looks and innocent persona.
The news which hit the blogosphere and geekdom like a thrown vibranium shield has Chris Evans (formerly known as Johnny Storm (Human Torch) of the last two Fantastic Four films) being offered the role of Steve Rogers aka Captain America.
The titular role for Marvel Picture’s The First Avenger: Captain America has been talked off non-stop for the last month or so with many names from John Krasinski to Mike Vogel being mentioned as possible choices to play Steve Rogers. Even Ryan Phillipe got his name in the ring just in the last week or so. Now, it looks like Marvel and Joe Johnstone (picked to direct the film) have decided upon Chris Evans as their Captain America.
News broke with The Hollywood Reporter one of the first to break the story late Friday afternoon on March 19, 2010. While neither Marvel or Chris Evans’ CAA reps have confirmed anything about the purported offer sources who have been following the process have said that Chris Evans is indeed the choice and offered the role. The question now is whether Evans will done the red, white and blue and The Shield.
Chris Evans is not new to the superhero film genre as mentioned earlier being the one to bring the definitive Human Torch of the Fantastic Four on the silver screen. While my geek pick was Ryan McPartlin from Chuck or Jensen Ackles from Supernatural I am not against Evans being chosen to take the role (if he deigns to accept the offer). He’s got cred with the geekdom of comicdom and he has the look.
Here’s to hoping he does accept just so the production can start principal photography. If he does the unthinkable and declines one of the top roles of the 2011-2012 blockbuster season then hopefully Ackles still has an outside chance.
1979 saw the release of a film titled Zombi 2. It was suppose to be an unofficial sequel to Romero’s own Dawn of the Dead which was released in Italy under the title of Zombi. many thought this pseudo-sequel was a way to cash-in on the success of Romero’s film in Italy. This wasn’t true for the fact that it’s director and producers had already been working on their own zombie film as Romero started on Dawn of the Dead. It was by coincidence that both were released within the same year and in order to try and tie the two films together their titles reflected it.
Lucio Fulci’s Zombi 2 (or just plain Zombie in the US) has no connection whatsoever with Romero’s own Dawn of the Dead except for the zombies and the rules governing their destruction. This is not to say that Fulci’s Zombi 2 wasn’t good. In fact, I would say that Zombi 2 was, and still a great horror movie that’s been unfairly compared with Romero’s ultimate zombie classic. The two films tell different type of stories even when sharing similar plot devices and rules. Where Romero used the backdrop of the zombie epidemic as a damning visual commentary on the growing consumerism culture in the United States, Fulci’s film eschews any such social observations and goes for pure horror instead.
Zombi 2 helped begin the Italian cinema’s love of zombie movies and Fulci’s film still stands as the best of the lot. Starring Tisa Farrow as Ann, the daughter of a missing doctor working in the Carribean, and Ian McCulloch as reporter Peter West who helps Ann try to solve the mystery of her father’s disappearance in one of the Carribean Islands. The only clue they have being the mysterious reappearance of a boat belong to Ann’s father. A drifting yacht which, when inspected by NY Harbor Patrol, a disfigured, obese man violently attacks one of the patrolmen before falling overboard into the city harbor. From that moment on, Ann and Peter head off to her father’s last location on the Carribean island of Matool. Once on Matool, Ann and Peter discover that one of her father’s colleagues, a Dr. Manard, has been trying to solve the mysterious disease, or curse as the native islanders call it, which her father became afflicted with. A disease which seem to kill those it infects and then return them to life to attack the living.
These two are soon joined by a vacationing couple who seem to have arrived on Matool at the worst time. Ann and Peter soon enlist the aid of Brian and Susan, but before they could solve the island’s deadly mystery the island’s dead, both past and recent, rise up from their resting place and doom the remaining inhabitants. One sequence involving these zombies has gone down in horror history as one of the most cringe-inducing scenes on film. It involves the torturously slow sequence where a woman’s head is dragged forward toward a door splinter aimed directly at the woman’s eye. This gore-sequence in addition to the scenes of the zombies attacking and feeding on the visiting Westerners and the remaining living islanders were very well done and all due to make-up FX master Giannetto de Rossi. There’s even a spectacular sequence where a zombie tries to attack and feed on a live shark. Even to this day I still marvel at whichever stuntman volunteered for that action shot.
Zombi 2 has been called a dumbed down attempt to capitalize on Dawn of the Dead. I wholeheartedly disagree with this obeservation. Zombi 2 was never meant to be socially relevant, but one whose only goal was the scare, disgust and disturb its audience with scenes of extreme violence and gore. In this respect Fulci succeeded with the final cut of Zombi 2. The acting itself was very well done considering that half the cast spoke in English as their natural language while the other half were saying their lines in Italian. The dubbing of the Italian-spoken lines were done particularly well. A rarity when it comes to dubbed films.
The final few minutes of Zombi 2 where the Matool survivors make it back to New York through its harbor makes for a great ending. With a city radio station recounting the growing zombie crisis which seemed to have begun while Ann and Peter were on Matool, the final shot of zombies walking on the pedestrian level of the Brooklyn Bridge with cars below them seeming to be rushing out of the city to escape the crisis still makes for a haunting scene. Lucio Fulci’s Zombi 2 might not have been the iconic, cultural and societal masterpiece that was Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, but it more than holds its own when seen as a pure horror film.
I rather enjoyed the literary classic and genre mash-up that was Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. That mash-up soon spawned other copycats and imitators from Sense and Sensibilities and Sea Monsters right up to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim. There’s actually even more classics which have been mashed-up with genre staples such as zombies, vampires, werewolves and even steampunk. Writer Seth Grahame-Smith even follow’s up his best-selling Austen collab with a historical what-if to be titled, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
With Grahame-Smith busy with that book Quirk Books turned to Steve Hockensmith to write the prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This prequel will keep the original’s title with the additional title tag of Dawn of the Dreadfuls. This prequel will explain how the Bennett girls from the original novel were such good zombie-hunters and killers. This prequel will be a major detailing of the backstory of the existence of zombies in Austen’s literary world.
There’s already a film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in the works with Natalie Portman headlining the cast. This trailer for the prequel novel just gives a gory and quite awesome glimpse at just how awesome (did I say awesome twice because it definitely is) the film adaptation would look.
Some have been saying that all these literary classics being mashed up with zombies is getting old. I say those people do not know what fun is when it kicks them in the groin. I, for one, think zombies added to anything makes them better in the long run.
This is another film from 2009 that has still to get a release in the United States. A thriller from filmmaker Daniel Barber and starring two-time Academy winner Michael Caine, Harry Brown looks like another in the line of revenge films which all share some similarities with the Charles Bronson 70’s classic Death Wish. The film also stars Emily Mortimer, Liam Cunningham and Iain Glen.
The premise of the film does seem to owe much to Bronson’s Death Wish series with some of the rioting of hoodlums and gang members in the trailer reminiscent of the cult-classic Death Wish 3 where Bronson’s Korean War veteran literally goes to war with the neighborhood gang on the streets. I like Michael Caine as an actor and he always seems to inhabit a role no matter how much, at first glance, it seems like its not a good fit. Caine’s early works has had him play characters with a darkness in them and I think this film will help remind younger viewers to the fact that he was not always Alfred the Butler.
The Hottie of the Day returns with a new addition to the growing harem. Today’s hottie is the lovely Ms. Seto Saki.
Born in 1982 on June 21, Ms. Seto is not your typical Japanese gravure idol in that she doesn’t see herself as one. She’s actually one of Japan’s up and coming young actresses. Despite earning her initial fame for winning the 2003 Miss Shuukan Shounen Magazine gravure idol contest, she truly earned her lasting fame as part of the cast of the popular Japanese tv comedy show Haruka 17. Ms. Seto’s popularity and fresh-faced beauty made her perfect for the ever-growing modeling scene in Japan. She’s modeled for product ads and fashion lines. In 2002 she tried her hand in the music business as part of the Japanese pop-trio band “Strawberry”.
She’s lasted in the modelling and entertainment industry more than most people in her business. She currently has several modeling photobooks already in-print. Her acting career has spanned beyond Haruka 17 and into others series such as Hana Yori Danga 2 (Boys Over Flowers 2), Memories of Matsuko and Shimokita GLORY DAYS. While she hasn’t transitioned yet into the film industry it probably won’t be too long before she does and her fame grows even more. Until then her fans will continue to follow her through her tv shows and many modeling photobooks.
What can I say about David Cronenberg’s latest work that hasn’t already been said by film critics everywhere? My answer to that has to be: not much. A History of Violence will remind people that David Cronenberg is one of the more underappreciated film directors of the last 30 years. This film also solidifies Cronenberg as one of his generation’s genius filmmakers on the same level as Scorsese, Coppola, Spielberg and Lumet. Using a loose-adaptation (yet echoing enough of the graphic novel’s themes) of the John Wagner and Vince Locke graphic novel of the same name, Cronenberg creates a multi-layered film dissertation about the nature of violence. I will pause for a moment and say that the film also happens to deliver as a taut, gripping thriller of recent memory. A thriller that looks to ape the action-films of blockbusters past, but Cronenberg’s skill as a director manages to keep the film above it’s B-movie aspirations.
David Cronenberg is more well-known as the creator of eccentric and unusual fare with legions of fans and admirers in the horror community. David Cronenberg may have his most mainstream and accessible film to date since his remake of The Fly during the mid-1980’s with this adaptation. In A History of Violence Cronenberg’s existentialist beliefs continue to show as he probes through the dark and shadowy corners of human behavior and instinct. He posits a question of whether people as a whole — no matter how saintly, well-balanced, and civilized — secretly revels in the violence they see around them even as they denounce, show discomfort and unease when inundated by it. Some have seen this film as something of a historical commentary of American history and how the nation itself has been shaped by its acceptance (some would go so far as to say embracing it) of violence and its many repercussions. I would say that those people are not far off the mark, but to compartmentalize Cronenberg’s film to such a narrow focus is not fair to the film. Cronenberg deftly shows the brutality of violence and how its effect can be far-reaching and intimite at the same time.
As his past films dealt with the horror of the body politic (Shivers, Crash, The Brood, The Fly) and the nature of reality and existence (Videodrome, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, Spider, eXistenZ) Cronenberg continues these themes with this film. Despite the gore and viscera being small in comparison to his past works, History still shows the carnage and horror that violent acts can perform on the frail human body. The film also points out that people as a whole deceive themselves of the true world around them in order to hold onto the ideal and the quaint. This is really put forward by the dynamic interaction between the character of Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) and his wife Edie (Maria Bello) from beginning to end. It is a testament to the excellent performances by both these actors that the audience truly believe and care for their characters on-screen. I would have to say that this is some of Viggo Mortensen and Maria Bello’s best work. The chemistry between these two performers is genuine, searing and very intimate. The very last can be seen in graphic detail in the two scenes of sex between the characters. One in the beginning is naughtily playful and shows how much in love the two characters still are and the second being more brutal and primal as the hidden layers of each character is slowly peeled away to show whats been hidden all along.
The two characters of Carl Fogarty (played with sublime menace by Ed Harris) and Richie Cusack (William Hurt in a scene-chewing performance) play the opposite end of the film’s character-driven dynamic. Where Tom and Edie live what we see unfold as a life full of secrets and hidden skeletons beneath the Norman Rockwell facade, Fogarty and Cusack are comfortable in their chosen life. It is a life steeped in violence past, present and future but it is one they’ve embraced instead of hiding and trying to deny its allure. While Mortensen and Bello were great in their roles I must say that both Harris and Hurt shine in their roles. It was very clear to all that both actors were relishing their chosen roles. This was quite evident with William Hurt’s role as crime boss Richie Cusack. While his screen-time was brief hurt made use of every second to dominate the screen right up to the very end. It was not too much of a surprise that Hurt got nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 2006. A nomination despite a role and screen-time which lasted a mere 8 minutes.
For an art-film masquerading as an action-thriller, A History of Violence is very deliberate in setting up each violent outburst. There’s an underlying dread that permeates through each set-up. We know that something is about to happen, but the film doesn’t rush into it and gradually builds-up until something has to break. The violence is not your stereotypical action sequence that looks staged, but comes and goes quickly with the brutality and lethality of reality. In fact, the violence has the feel of being very intimate. Everything is up close and personal. Nothing is done from a distance with each strike and violent act painful to see, yet in all instances each scene also gets a rousing response from the audience. This is particularly evident in a scene concerning Tom Stall’s teenage son dealing with a particular high school bully in brutal fashion. Everyone in this film is touched by violence in some way or another. From the very young to the very old. The final scene at the dinner table is both haunting and familiar. With all that has been going on through Tom’s life and that of his family there’s a sense of acceptance of the violent genie that was unleashed in the beginning and one of “life must go on” mentality.
I must say that A History of Violence has to be one of the best films I’ve seen since I’ve been watching them. For a film that is really just a revenge-thriller similar to Chan-Wook Park’s Oldboy, Cronenberg’s latest has so many layers and depth to it that anyone who sees it are going to be tempted to talk about its themes and subtext long after the film has done it’s fade to black. Where Oldboy is like a hard kick in the gut then a devastation stomp on the neck, A History of Violence is more insidious, intimate and subversive — like a sharp papercut just beneath the fingernail that lingers and tells one that its going to be there for awhile and there to stay. Some may end up not liking the film due to its deliberate nature or not having enough people dying in elaborately staged action sequences, but that will only show exactly what Cronenberg has been trying to show. That people nowadays have been so inured and desensitized by violence that we’ve come to accept it as entertainment and actually have come to yearn and need it like a drug-addict looking for their next hit. For the first time in a decade I have no choice but to give this film a perfect score. I will definitely say that David Cronenberg is back and has put down a heavy gauntlet for the rest of Hollywood’s elite filmmakers to come one-up his work if they have the courage and skills to do so.
News which may just strike some genre and geekdom fans blind with excitement it look like Dr. Horrible and The Guild star Felicia Day has been tapped to portray the descendant of Little Red Riding Hood in the SyFy Channel’s re-imagining of the Red Riding Hood tale.
SyFy has already done their re-imagining of the Wizard of Oz with Tin Man a couple years ago and have made it known that they will do similar re-imagining’s of classic fairy tale stories with Red their version of Little Red Riding Hood. Ms. Day will play one of Riding Hood’s werewolf-hunting descendants whose family shares the same proclivity to hunting the shapeshifting beasts. Her character of Red brings home her fiance to meet the family but who remains skeptical of their lineage and their werewolf-hunting sidejobs. That is until he himself gets bitten by one of the beasts and now must try to stay away from Red’s family who know what must be done. Red must try and save her man against his curse and her family.
While Ms. Day has had success starring in two of the web’s most popular and successful online series with Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible and her own The Guild, SyFy’s Red marks her first lead role in a production in film and tv. Here’s to hoping this is the sign of better things to come for the internet’s redhead darling.
May 7, 2010 is still two months away but it sure is a long wait after seeing the second official trailer for this summer’s most anticipated blockbuster. I am talking about Marvel’s Iron Man 2. The trailer premiered on the post-Oscar Jimmy Kimmel Show episode and I will say that it was the highlight of the night.
There’s been some concern about Iron Man 2 after the release of the first official trailer. Some said that trailer gave them feelings that the sequel was going to be way over-the-top and almost crossing the line into ridiculous. Others thought there may have been too many bad guys involved. Then there are those who are still bitching about the look of the main villain, Mickey Rourke as Whiplash.
I’d like to say that the second trailer went a long way in dispelling some of the concerns. There were more scenes about Tony Stark and the Iron Man suit (in its many variations). There seemed to be more explained about Whiplash and his role as the main villain. Even Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer character comes to the forefront. The clincher was the sequence when the Hammer Iron Men showed up to battle not just Iron Man but the War Machine. This sequel may not be all about the Iron Man story-arc called “Armor Wars” but it sure seems to borrow a lot from that arc and, for that, this self-confessed comic book geek is giddy. GIDDY I SAY!
Oh yeah, one last thing: On-The-Go Mk. V Iron Man suit!
It’s a Friday night, long day at work and now home to relax, unwind and just plain decompress. What better way to do this than to have a glass of 16-year old Lagavulin single-malt scotch whisky (three fingers worth poured), a pint of Guinness, a nice novel and, finally, light up a nice cigar. But to truly round things out listening to The Black Keys’ Attack & Release album just tops it all.
One particular track in their 2008 Delta-blues and Zeppelin psychedelic rock fusion album which really gets my head nodding to the beat and my foot tapping is the second track listed. I speak of “I Got Mine” and does this song ever blow my mind like 10k call-girl with skills. This song right from it’s first heavy chord right down to the last brings to mind some down and dirty southern, Mississippi Delta-blues and classic Hendrix psychedelic rock. While this song like the rest of the album has a more polished sound than the typical lo-fi and “garage band” music The Black Keys have been known for it still retains an in-the-moment and live vibe to the track.
The first 30 or so seconds of the beginning is an aural assault from Dan Auerbach almost channeling Hendrix and Duane Allman. Accompanying Auerbach on the drums is the heavy sticks of Patrick Carney who seem to be attempting to pound every drum beat right straight through onto the floor. Delta-blues segues into a psychedelic late-middle section before the two fuse into one unique sound to finish off the song.
When it comes to two-man rock bands many seem to be fans of The White Stripes with a growing legion of music lovers prefering Flight of the Conchords. They’re both very good groups, but I’ll choose The Black Keys w/ Auerbach and Carney over the two any day of the week plus Sundays twice over. The Black Keys really keep classic southern blues rock alive and well.
Through the Shattered Lens 