“Bullseye” #1 — Hit Or Miss?

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)

I really don’t know how well Daredevil is selling these days, but it must be doing alright since Marvel is launching no fewer than three spin-off titles under their new “Running With The Devil” umbrella label this month. Kingpin hits next week with Elektra following the week after, but first out of the gate is Bullseye #1, the opening salvo of a five-part miniseries from writer Ed Brisson, artist Guillermo Sanna, and colorist Miroslav Mrva. The premise of sending the world’s deadliest assassin into the middle of the Colombian drug war in order to rescue a dying mob boss’s kid sounded reasonably interesting, and Brisson impressed the heck out of me with his gritty, “street-level” Image series The Violent, so I figured what the heck? Nothing to lose — except five bucks, I suppose — in giving this debut installment a go.

Allow me to bitch for just a…

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Late To The Party : “The Purge : Election Year”

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)

Trash Film Guru

Regular readers around these parts probably figured it was only a matter of time before I got around to casting my supposedly critical eye on writer/director James DeMonaco’s summer 2016 release The Purge : Election Year given that I had generally good things to say about the first two films in this so-called “evolving franchise,” but seeing as how I never got around to catching it while it was playing in theaters, you fine folks are stuck with a “better late than never” appraisal since I just got it on DVD (a “bare-bones” rental DVD, I hasten to add, so I’m afraid I can’t discuss whatever extras the “real” disc might offer) from Netflix the other day and gave it a watch last night. There’s a better than good chance that many of you reading this have probably already seen it, I suppose, but what the heck — I’ve got…

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Dazzling “Moonlight”

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)

Trash Film Guru

I missed writer/director Barry Jenkins’ much-hyped Moonlight on its first pass through theaters, but now that it’s back for a return engagement thanks to a wheelbarrow-full of Oscar nominations, I found myself without a valid excuse for missing out a second time. Sure, sometimes the PR machine that kicks into high gear during awards season puts its muscle behind a lackluster effort that leaves you scratching your head and wondering what all the fuss was about, but everything I’d read made it seem like this flick was the real deal — it sounded timely, topical, authentic, and exceedingly well-made, and on the whole, bets don’t come much surer than that.

For those unfamiliar with the particulars, Moonlight follows the story of a bright, sensitive, and quiet African-American kid growing up in and on some of the meaner streets of Miami, and wears its conventional three-act structure on its sleeve by…

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“Split” Opinion

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)

Trash Film Guru

Don’t look now, but M. Night Shyamalan has two (admittedly modest) hits in a row — so maybe the “career death” capped off by After Earth was the best thing that ever happened to the man Time magazine once referred to (waaaaaaaay prematurely) as “The Next Spielberg.”

Of course, that was in no way a label Shyamalan himself ever asked for, especially considering that his “gotcha twist”-heavy career seems to be at least circumstantially indicative of a guy who was trying to ensconce himself more as “The Next Hitchcock” than anything else, and the stylistic debt he owes — and has, perhaps, always owed — to The Master Of Suspense has never been on more clear and present display than it is in his latest, 2017’s Split.

First, I suppose, the good : James McAvoy gives a performance — or perhaps that should be a series of performances —…

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Are You Up To The “Kamandi Challenge”?

Posted on January 28, 2017 by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)

Trash Film Guru

Near as I can tell, 2017 looks like it’s gonna be a pretty rough year — what with an insane, mouth-foaming lunatic in the White House and everything — but on the plus side, it’s also the 100th anniversary of the birth of the greatest genius to ever grace the comic book medium with the fruits of his imagination, the one and only Jack Kirby. From all appearances, Marvel appears to be doing fuck-all to honor the man who created 90-plus% of the characters they’ve built a multi-billion-dollar empire off, but at least DC seems to be willing, perhaps even downright eager, to give “The King” his due, so kudos to them for that. First item up in the year-long celebration? Kamandi Challenge, a 12-part “round-robin”-style series that revives the old DC Challenge conceit of having a different creative team solve the “pickle” left for them by the…

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Lisa Marie’s Thoughts On The Oscar Nominations

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Okay, I’ve had plenty of time to think about today’s Oscar nominations and now I’m ready to share my thoughts. Obviously, my picks were a lot different from what the Academy selected. That’s okay. That’s the way it goes every year. I don’t mind being a contrarian.

So, let’s take a look at what was nominated, category-by-category.

(If you need a refresher as to what was nominated, here’s a complete list of nominees!)

Best Live Action Short, Best Animated Short, Best Documentary Short: I’m sure that these three categories are full of wonderful nominees that were created by wonderful people but I don’t believe that I’ve seen a single one of them. So, with that in mind, I can only imagine that the Academy did a perfect job selecting all 15 of these nominees! Good work, Academy!

Best Foreign Language Film: Again, I have seen none of the nominees so I really can’t comment one way or another. Normally, this would make me feel like a failure but I imagine that 90% of the people reading this post are in the same boat. I imagine Toni Erdmann will win, just because of all the good things I’ve read about it. But, since I haven’t actually seen any of the nominees, I will refrain from making any sort of prediction.

Best Documentary Feature: I’m disappointed that my favorite documentary, The Witness, was not nominated. And, quite frankly, I’m shocked that Weiner was not nominated. That said, I can’t complain about any of the documentaries that actually were nominated. It was a good year for documentaries. In fact, it could be argued that it was a better year for documentaries than for features.

Should Win: O.J.: Made in America

Will Win: 13th

Best Original Song: Not a single song from Sing Street was nominated and that is amazingly disappointing. Original song can be surprising. Remember last year when that terrible song from SPECTRE somehow won? That said, I’m expecting that this year will see a huge sweep by La La Land and one of its nominated songs will probably win.

Should Win: Audition (The Fools Who Can Dream) from La La Land

Will Win: City of Stars from La La Land

Best Original Score: The Neon Demon deserved a nomination but I’m not surprised it was snubbed. There’s no way the Academy was going to honor Nicholas Winding Refn’s subversive masterpiece. La La Land is going to win this one easily.

Should Win: La La Land

Will Win: La La Land

Best Visual Effects: I was glad to see that Kubo and the Two Strings was nominated and I wish that Arrival had been nominated as well. I’m going to go ahead and predict that Doctor Strange will be the first MCU film to win an Oscar.

Should Win: Doctor Strange

Will Win: Doctor Strange

Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing: Let’s be honest. I couldn’t explain the difference between sound editing and sound mixing and, unless you specifically work in the sound department, neither could you. As a result, these categories are always difficult to predict. But Hacksaw Ridge has to get some love somewhere and I bet it would happen here if not for La La Land.

Should Win (Both): Hacksaw Ridge

Will Win (Both): La La Land

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: As soon as I saw that Deadpool wasn’t nominated here, I knew it wouldn’t be nominated anywhere. Can you believe that fucking Suicide Squad is now an Oscar nominee? I haven’t seen A Man Called Ove but I’m going to predict its victory because I just can’t imagine the Academy honoring either Star Trek Beyond or Suicide Squad.

Should Win: Star Trek Beyond (that had good makeup in it, right?)

Will Win: A Man Called Ove

Best Film Editing: I can’t complain about any of the films nominated here. La La Land is pretty much a guaranteed winner here.

Should Win: La La Land

Will Win: La La Land

Best Costume Design: I was shocked that Love & Friendship was not nominated. If La La Land sweeps, it’ll win here. When I made out my list of my personal picks for the Oscars, I gave the costuming Oscar to La La Land but now that I’m looking at the actual nominees, I’m remembering just how good everyone looked in Allied.

Should Win: Allied

Will Win: La La Land

Best Cinematography: My personal pick for this award was The Neon Demon but it wasn’t nominated. Out of the nominated films, I would go with Moonlight but I think La La Land is going to sweep.

Should Win: Moonlight

Will Win: La La Land

Best Production Design: Well, it won’t be Passengers! How the Hell did that get nominated for anything? I think, of the nominees, Arrival deserves the award for making science fiction feel and look like science fact. But, again, I think La La Land is going to win here. (Are you sensing a theme in my predictions?)

Should Win: Arrival

Will Win: La La Land

Best Animated Feature: I was happy that Kubo and the Two Strings, Zootopia, and Moana were all nominated. I haven’t seen The Red Turtle or My Life as a Zucchini but, on the whole, the Academy has a record of nominating the right films for this award. I loved Kubo and I think it might win, just because it picked up that Visual Effects nomination as well. Zootopia, however, would allow the Academy to make a political point and Moana has Lin-Manuel Miranda. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict a Kubo victory but I wouldn’t be surprised if any of these five nominees won.

Should Win: Kubo and the Two Strings

Will Win: ~~Zootopia~~ ~~Kubo and the Two Strings~~ ~~Moana Zootopia~~ Kubo and the Two Strings

Best Adapted Screenplay: With La La Land likely to sweep the technical awards and Manchester By The Sea and Moonlight set to pick up some acting awards, this category will give the Academy a chance to acknowledge Arrival.

Should Win: Arrival

Will Win: Arrival

Best Original Screenplay: I think this is one of the few awards that La La Land will not win. This category gives the Academy a chance to honor Hell or High Water.

Should Win: Hell or High Water

Will Win: Hell or High Water

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis is a guaranteed winner, even though her performance was a lead role.

Should Win: Naomie Harris, Moonlight

Will Win: Viola Davis, Fences

Best Supporting Actor: I was really happy to see that Michael Shannon got a nomination because Shannon is a great actor who always seems to be taken for granted. That said, Mahershala Ali is almost as much of a lock as Viola Davis.

Should Win: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Will Win: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Best Actress: Let’s just get this out of the way. Amy Adams not only deserved a nomination, she also deserved the Oscar. Arrival works because of a twist that occurs halfway through the film. The twist works because of Amy Adams’s performance. If not for Amy Adams, Arrival would never have been nominated for best picture. The fact that she was not nominated will be remembered as one of the biggest mistakes in Academy history.

This morning, I was happy to see that a lot of people on twitter agreed with me about the Amy Adams snub. What took me by surprise was how many people also agreed with me that Meryl Streep essentially took a spot that should have been given to Amy Adams. This morning, among other things, I discovered that there’s actually a growing backlash against the annual tradition of automatically nominating Meryl Streep, regardless of whether the film was any good or not.

Could Meryl win yet again? It depends on whether or not the Academy wants to hear another Meryl Streep speech. Given the political climate, I wouldn’t discount that as a possibility. Since I’m on the subject and it’s possible that everyone stopped reading a few categories ago, I’m going to go ahead and admit my unpopular opinion. While I’m definitely not a fan of the new President, Meryl’s Golden Globe speech felt like almost a parody of upper class white liberalism. Listening to her, it was easy to imagine Meryl at a cocktail party, bragging about how she’s on a first name basis with her maid.

But, I’m in the minority as far as that opinion is concerned. The Industry loved Meryl’s speech and, after Donald Trump’s overreaction to it, giving an Oscar to Meryl and giving her a chance to repeat the speech on a much bigger stage would be the perfect way to give the finger to the current administration.

That said, I think Emma Stone will be carried along in the La La Land sweep. Whether justified or not, many members of the Academy will look at her character and see themselves.

Should Win: Amy Adams in Arrival (Yes, she wasn’t nominated but she should still win, goddammit.)

Will Win: Emma Stone in La La Land

Best Actor: Could anyone other than Casey Affleck win this one? Denzel Washington is popular and giving him an Oscar for Fences would be a nice to way to reward all of the effort that he put into bringing this acclaimed play to the screen. Affleck was sued for sexual harassment by a producer and a cinematogrpaher and ended up settling with both of them. However, I doubt if it will stop him from winning the Oscar. If the allegations were going to hurt Affleck’s chances, it would have happened long before now.

As for the nominees — well, I have no complaints. While I wasn’t as impressed with Affleck’s performance as some, I think he did well enough. I would have liked to have seen either Sully‘s Tom Hanks or Hell or High Water‘s Chris Pine nominated. I’m glad that Andrew Garfield picked up his first nomination.

Should Win: Denzel Washington, Fences

Will Win: Casey Affleck, Manchester By The Sea

Best Director: I’m going to go out on a limb and predict a minor upset. I think La La Land is going to win in a lot of categories but I think that Moonlight‘s Barry Jenkins will win this Oscar. Best Picture and Director have been split fairly regularly over the past few years and, after both the #OscarsSoWhite controversy and the 2016 presidential election, it may be felt that it’s time for a black director to finally win the Oscar. Based on the skill shown in Whiplash and La La Land, Damien Chazelle will have other opportunities.

Should Win: Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Will Win: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Best Picture: Though I don’t necessarily think it was one of the best films of the year, I would have loved it if Deadpool had actually scored a nomination. It would have been an unexpected surprise and it would have shaken up a race that’s gotten rather predictable.

But no. Deadpool received no nominations and the expected films were nominated. Perhaps the only thing that could be considered surprising (though not that surprising) was that Martin Scorsese’s passion project, Silence, was not only snubbed for best picture but also only picked up one nomination. Passengers picked up more nominations that Martin Scorsese’s latest film. When it comes to total number of nominations, Silence is tired with Suicide Squad.

La La Land is going to win. It’s probably going to win nearly all 14 of the Oscars it has been nominated for. My pick for the best film of 2016 was American Honey. Of the nominees, I think Arrival is the one that deserves to win. But La La Land is an exuberant valentine to both the Academy and the industry.

La La Land‘s going to win.

Should Win: Arrival

Will Win: La La Land

Death Race 2050 – ALT Title: Miffed Max: Budget Road, Reviewed like a boss!

Posted on January 22, 2017 by casewright

dr2050

We’ve got a great big Death Race… runnin’ through the night. [sung]

So, the OA was ok, but just not good enough to keep anyone’s interest for my reviews. The result: my editor took pity on me and gave my brain a rest with…..

DEATH RACE 2050

I will say this for Death Race 2050 – Manu Bennet AKA Slade Wilson can act. It kind of got to me that he’s in a Roger Corman flick. The other actors belonged in Roger Corman films, including Malcolm McDowell, who I always thought was a hack, but Manu Bennet really needs a new agent.

The Death Race world is a desolate shit hole with 99% unemployment; yet, we are overpopulated…. somehow. Also, because of the over-population we need to do some culling in a very inefficient way, hence the Death Race. We all need to NOT think about why we need such an inefficient way to decrease the population because it will ruin your guilty pleasure. The political statement doesn’t really make sense because America is supposed to be a Corporation, but nobody works or makes anything and all we do is watch people’s homemovies. So, America is Youtube! HIYOOOO!!!

The Death Race is a coast to coast kill spree that awards points to drivers who kill pedestrians along the way. The Chairman who is obviously Donald Trump is the inventor of the death race. He sees it as a good distraction for the masses who use VR to experience the carnage. The drivers are Frankenstein – the anti-hero and reigning champion, Minerva-the rapper, Tammy- interfaith evangelist (really), Perfectus- a genetically engineered heir apparent- who is closeted, and an artificially intelligent car. To advance the plot, every driver is paired up with a co-pilot to provide openings for dialogue and comic relief.

The anti-hero of the story is Frankenstein (Manu “Why am I doing this?” Bennet). He doesn’t care about the craphole that the world is because he likes to race. Annie is his Co-Pilot, but she is actually with the Resistance … DUN DUN DUN! The Resistance is a group of angry democrats who are trying to figure out how 1) we elected a fascist and 2)how we can get people to vote in 4 years…. Wait, that’s my reality. The race begins with a lot people getting run over and points being awarded to drivers – this goes on for about a half hour.

Then, they reach the Heartland. These people are slightly harder to kill because they shoot back. During this time, we learn by a lot of telling that Annie is in the Resistance and needs to kill Frankenstein, but she is starting to love him. Also, the Resistance leader is in cahoots and the paramour of the evil Chairman.

Annie tries to set up Frankenstein as per her orders and he gets attacked by Ninjas. Ok fine, ninjas it is! He kills the ninjas and quasi-forgives Annie. They end up at a well-stocked, but unattended hotel. Perfectus over-acts, attacks Frankenstein, and tries to come to terms with his sexuality. It’s a very fast arc. Just as Perfectus is about to kill Frankenstein, Annie knocks him out. Annie’s gonna knock you out….I’m gonna you out. [Sung as LL Cool J]. This allows Annie and Frankenstein to begin to fall in love. AWWWW.

The Southwest and New Los Angeles

The Chairman changes the rules to keep Frankenstein on one road that is a trap. Frankenstein wins, the other racers die, and Frankenstein decides to kill the Chairman. Yep, life comes at you pretty fast in Death Race 2050. This is not at all like Death Race 2050 BC because chariots couldn’t go that fast. BAM!

Frankenstein runs down the Chairman and then asks America to do their own race, causing the entire population to kill each other. This begs the point: why not do that instead of a Death Race?

Death Race 2050 had a lot of schlock for the buck. There was loud death metal, weird cars, bewbs, Donald Trump references, and Manu Bennet. I would say Death Race 2050 is a fine way to spend 90 minutes of your day, if you are into these films. I don’t know if this was Grindhouse, but it’s gotta be close to the genre. Cheers!

death_race_2050-300x278

Some Pretty Choice “Curse Words”

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)

Trash Film Guru

Oh, yeah — it’s party time!

Charles Soule and Ryan Browne’s new Image Comics (ongoing, I presume) series Curse Words has looked like all kinds of batshit-crazy fun since it was first solicited some months ago, and now that the extra-sized first issue is here, I’m pleased to say the preview pages that have been non-Wiki leaking out didn’t lie : this is a high-energy, full-throttle, goofy-ass, balls-out book that doesn’t care half as much about making sense as it does about just giving its readers a good, old-fashioned good time.

Not that Soule’s script doesn’t make sense, mind you — in fact, it’re pretty simple, straightforward stuff :an other-dimensional evil wizard named, get this, Wizord finds himself thrust into our world (New York, to be specific), and rather than destroy the place as was his original intent, he decides to hang around, make some money, and live the…

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Dying For Art : “Tabloid Vivant”

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)

Trash Film Guru

The pursuit of wealth, celebrity, fame, and recognition is the subject of many a cautionary tale and morality play, it’s true, but I’m not sure this tried-and-true trope has ever been presented in as dizzyingly surreal a manner as it is in writer/director Kyle Broom’s 2016 indie arthouse/horror effort Tabloid Vivant. Like a White Castle hamburger, this is a film you’ll either love or hate, with no middle ground to stand on — but one way or another, it will stick in your mind long after the end credits roll.

Like many a would-be art world superstar, Maximilien Klinkau (played by Jesse Woodrow) is desperate for cash and acclaim, and pursues it with a single-minded obsession that borders — or maybe even more than that — on the psychotic. Max’s overzealous drive is magnetically alluring to wannabe-famous-herself art critic Sara Speed (Tamzin Brown), and together the two hit on…

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Logan: The 2nd Trailer

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Leonard Wilson

Fox recently released the 2nd trailer for James Mangold’s Logan, and we finally get more an idea of what one of my favorite Marvel characters has to offer, with a little bloodshed. I’ve been waiting for some confirmation that the girl is actually Laura Kinney (a.k.a. X-23), and this trailer pretty much removes all doubt with her dual blades. So far, it’s looking interesting, though I’m not sure how it all fits into what’s become of the X-Men Timeline. Hopefully, those answers will come when the film premieres in early March (in the U.S.). Enjoy.

While you’re at it, if you’re looking to learn more about the character, Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men-The New Age: The Cruelest Cut covers Issues 450-454, with the first two showcasing X-23 as a feral assassin up against the X-Men. You can also find Kinney in Marvel vs Capcom.