Song of the Day: The Touch (by Stan Bush)

Posted on June 28, 2014 by Arleigh

So, I saw Transformers: Age of Extinction this weekend. I know, I know. I’ve become part of the problem and not the solution. For that I am sorry.

My road to redemption begins today with this post of the greatest superhero theme song ever made. It’s Optimus Prime’s theme song from the best Transformers film. Live-action it is not, but the animated film which came out during the mid-80’s.

Stan Bush pretty much made his career on this hit single which remains a nostalgic favorite of the 80’s crowd. This is a song which kids of my generation sung over and over right up to now and we don’t see ourselves stopping anytime soon.

Without further ado, here’s “The Touch”.

The Touch

You’ve got the touch, you’ve got the power.
Yeah.

After all is said and done, you never walk,
you never run, you’re a winner.
You got the moves, you know the streets,
break the rules, take the heat, you’re nobody’s fool.
You’re at your best when the going gets rough,
You’ve been put to the test but it’s never enough.

You got the the touch, you got the power.
When all hell’s breaking loose,
you’ll be right in the eye of the storm.
You got the heart, you got the motion.
You know that when things get too tough,
you got the touch.

You never bend, you never break, you seem to know
just what it takes. You’re a fighter
It’s in the blood, it’s in the will, it’s in the mighty
hands of steel. When you’re standin your ground.
And you never get hit when you’re back’s to the wall
gonna fight till the end and you’re taking it all.

You got the touch, you got the power,
when all hell’s breaking loose,
you’ll be right in the eye of the storm.
You got the heart, you got the motion.
You know that when things get too tough, you got the touch.

You’re fighting fire with fire.
You know you got the touch.

You’re at your best when the going gets rough,
you’ve been put to the test but it’s never enough.
You got the touch, you got the power.
Yeah.

The Purge: Anarchy Trailer #2: Grillo Strikes back

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Arleigh

Last summer’s surprise hit, The Purge, was something that ended up being better than it should’ve been. Using a premise that the United States of America has a yearly 12-hour event where all crimes are legal in order for the population to vent their frustrations was an interesting one. The fact that this event was cooked up by what the film calls America’s Second Founding Fathers was a nice touch.

The film itself started well enough but ended up becoming another take on the home invasion trope. At least, the box office success of the film meant a sequel was quickly greenlit. What we have with The Purge: Anarchy takes the original film’s premise and goes much wider in scope and scale. Instead of the film using a home invasion premise we now go the “Most Dangerous Game” route. If we’re to believe what the latest trailer is showing it’s that the Purge Event might be something cooked up by those rich and powerful.

We also have the very awesome Frank Grillo channeling his inner Frank Castle and using the Purge event to find those who killed his son in the year’s previous Purge.

This sequel has me more excited for it than I probably should, but if the film pulls off half of what this trailer promises then I’ll be satisfied.

Oh, if The Purge was real then people better not be trying to give me a visit because I’m ready.

Song of the Day: Cosmo Black (by Dynatron)

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Arleigh

Yesterday, Lisa Marie reviewed one of the film’s that I’ve been waiting to see in the theaters when I first saw the trailer for it a couple months ago. Lisa’s review of Cold In July has more than whetted my appetite to see this film. I mean it’s the latest from Jim Mickle who is starting to become one of my favorite genre filmmakers in the last ten years. It’s a film based on the novel of the same name by Joe R. Lansdale which is just a reason on top of the others reasons to go see this film.

While I haven’t seen the film yet I already have fallen in love with it’s soundtrack. One of the songs in the Cold In July soundtrack actually makes it into the trailer and it’s “Cosmo Black” by Dynatron. It’s a tune that evokes memories of 1980’s John Carpenter soundtracks with it’s heavy reliance on synthesizers and electronic keyboard. Any soundtrack that can make one reminisce about those classic 80’s Carpenter film scores must be doing something right.

So, until I get a chance to see the film for myself I might as well get a headstart and enjoy listening to the score to Cold In July.

AMV of the Day: The Breath of Spring (Bakemonogatari)

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Arleigh

Harem anime tend to be very popular with fans of anime and manga. One such series that has become a huge favorite with anime fans has been the Monogatari anime series. It’s from this that we get the latest “AMV of the Day”.

“The Breath of Spring” by VovanKoperativ uses the first installment in this series, Bakemonogatari, to help highlight why this series is an great example of a harem anime. The video take the song “Opportunity Nox” by Roxette and shows the series protagonist, Koyomi Araragi, in different situations with the many girls of Bakemonogatari. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Hitagi Senjougahara, Suruga Kanbaru or Tsubasa Hanekawa, our male lead will become enamored with all of them at some point during the series. While he inevitably will pick just one girl in the end it doesn’t stop him from becoming the perv that fans have grown to love.

Fellow site and anime contributor pantsukudasai will agree that this is also one of his favorite anime series of recent times though will mostly likely say that this particular video is lacking in Mayoi.

Anime: Bakemonogatari

Song: “Opportunity Nox” by Roxette

Creator: VovanKoperativ

Past AMVs of the Day

Guilty Pleasure No. 21: Hawk the Slayer (dir. by Terry Marcel)

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Arleigh

Tonight was the season finale of Game of Thrones season 4. It was another great piece of storytelling that managed to juggle several subplots and giving each one their own time to shine.

The latest “Guilty Pleasure” is the 1980 epically mind-numbing fantasy film Hawk the Slayer starring the great Jack Palance in the the villainous role of Voltan the evil elder brother to the film’s title character, Hawk the Slayer. This film is in the other side of the quality spectrum of tonight’s Game of Thrones season finale.

Hawk the Slayer was part of the 80’s flood of sword and sorcery films that included such titles as Conan the Barbarian, Beastmaster and Ladyhawke. To say that this film was bad would be an understatement. Yet, I’m quite drawn to it whenever I see it on TV. In fact, it was on syndication that I first saw this when I was just a wee lad. I might have been around 9 or 10 when I came across it halfway through.

Maybe it was the fact that I was just discovering Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, but this film spoke to me. It had that timeless story of brother against brother. The evil tyrant with legions of evil ne’er do wells against a small band of class-specific heroes and rogues. I mean this had it all. We had the hero of the film who I would probably place in the swordsman class. Then we had Ranulf with his repeating crossbow that would be the band’s rogue. Of course, there’s Gort the giant with his mighty hammer and Baldin the dwarf skilled in the art of the whip. But the one character that really shouted RPG for me throughout this film was Crow the Elf who could fire his bow as fast as any machine gun I’ve ever seen.

I think it’s very awfulness is why I keep returning to it whenever I see it on TV. The acting is atrocious with special effects that even in 1980 would be seen as laughable. The characters themselves were so one-note that one wonders if the person who wrote the screenplay was actually a trained monkey. Yet, the film was fun for all those reasons. It’s one of those titles that one would express as being so bad it’s good. Even now, with childhood several decades past, I still enjoy watching Hawk the Slayer and always wonder when they plan to get the sequel set-up and made.

Oh, the synth-heavy disco-fantasy-western soundtrack was also something to behold.

Trailer: All Cheerleaders Die

Posted on June 14, 2014 by Arleigh

Lucky McKee is one of my favorite horror filmmakers since I first saw his 2002 film May. I’ve followed his career since and last year he premiered his latest horror film during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

All Cheerleaders Die will have a limited release this summer and will most likely be available on Video On-Demand soon after. Whether I see it on the big-screen or in the comfort of my own home I know for a fact that my partner-in-crime, Lisa Marie, will be watching this as well. She won’t be able to resist after just seeing the title alone. It’s right up her wheelhouse, so to speak.

Trailer: Harbinger Down (Official)

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Arleigh

Last summer something caught my eye while scrolling up my Twitter feed. People I had been following were retweeting a Kickstarter campaign for an independent film. No, this wasn’t a Veronica Mars deal or Zach Braff begging the public for millions so he could make his own film. This was for a scifi-horror film that was going the whole practical effects route.

Harbinger Down is the brainchild of practical effects masters Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. whose own special effects studio Amalgamated Dynamics were instrumental in creating some of the practical effects for films such as the latest Godzilla and the underwhelming prequel for The Thing. It was their practical effects work for that prequel being replaced by CGI monsters at the very last second which convinced the two men to try and make a film using nothing but practical effects to show Hollywood bean counters and studio heads that there was still a place for the practical instead of going all-CG.

Their Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds to start Harbinger Down succeeded and in addition to the $387,000 or so raised and their own money and studio time the film began principal photography this past January. A rough trailer was shown around MArch, but now we have the first official trailer to Harbinger Down which looks like a love letter to Carpenter’s very own The Thing.

Scenes I Love: Centurion

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Arleigh

In honor of tonight’s episode of Game of Thrones which was once again directed by the great British filmmaker Neil Marshall I’ve chosen a favorite scene from his last film as the latest Scenes I Love.

Tonight’s episode saw the pivotal Battle of Castle Black which showcases the battle of Mance Rayder’s 100,000-strong Wildlling army against the few hundred Night’s Watch defenders of Castle Black and The Wall. It was a very bloody affair that saw more than a few important deaths. It also highlighted the fact that Neil Marshall has to be one of the great action directors of this era. He’s able to work both with CG and practical effects and definitely do so on a budget (yet still making the whole episode look cinematic).

For those who have followed Marshall’s work they won’t be surprised by his work on Game of Thrones. He’s done large-scale battles before and none more bloody, brutal and chaotic as the ambush battle in the forest in Centurion.

Trailer: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal

Posted on June 7, 2014 by Arleigh

“Mūn Purizumu Pawā, Meikuappu!”

When it was announced in the summer of 2012 that a new Sailor Moon anime series was in production the anime fandom was all a-twitter about the news. Whether one was male or female, Sailor Moon was a major part of the viewing regimen of anime fans young and old.

It’s now two year since that announcement and we finally have the first trailer of the return of Sailor Moon back on the airwaves. The series title will be Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal, but it will most likely be shortened to just Sailor Moon Crystal to keep it simple. Toei Animation will be the studio doing the animation work while the series will premiere on the network Niconico in Japan while it will also stream on the website streaming service Crunchyroll.

It’s been over 20 years since the original Sailor Moon series went off-the-air and to say it’s back with a brand new season has made anime fans ecstatic (grumblings about the change in animation style notwithstanding) the world over.

Sailor Moon Crystal to premiere on July 5, 2014.

Trailer: The Green Inferno (2nd Official)

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Arleigh

Ah, the Italian cannibal subgenre of grindhouse and exploitation films. It’s been awhile since we’ve had something like this. Sure, we’ve had cannibal-based films throughout the years with some even becoming cult hits (I look at Ravenous as an example), but not one that takes it’s setting and basic plot straight out of the cannibal films of the late 70’s and early 80’s from the Italian horror filmmakers of that era.

Eli Roth returns to directing after a seven years in hiatus to give horror fans a taste of the old-school cannibal flicks with his homage to Ruggero Deodato’s classic grindhouse film Cannibal Holocaust. The interesting bit about Roth’s film is how it’s title actually is part of the homage to Deodato’s film which was originally suppose to be called….The Green Inferno.

This is the second official trailer for The Green Inferno and it even uses a quaint, serene song to open it up the way Deodato’s film and trailer for said film does over thirty years ago. We don’t see much cannibal feasting going on, but it’s hinted at that it’s what’s for dinner.

Eli Roth’s The Green Inferno is set for an September 5, 2014 release date in the US.