Bone Tomahawk

Absolutely brilliant. It more than lived up to my high expectations. Kurt Russell is manlier and more bad ass than ever and totally believable. Richard Jenkins is the best he's been in awhile and up there with Kurt as the star of the show. Matthew Fox wasn't bad either. Anyway, it's more of a straight western than horror, but there's a constant bleak tone and some pretty gruesome violence which really satisfied my taste buds. Without a doubt one of the best movies of 2015 so far. Highly recommended. It's tasty.

Gummo (1997)



Trash cinema comes in many forms. Funny, shocking, confusing, offensive, scary. And then there's Gummo, which, I guess, is a mixture of all that, and also, just plain pointless. But hey. Not all movies need a point to be entertaining, or to gain a cult following. A fact which makes writer/director, Harmony Korine a very lucky man. Because, even after watching his masterpiece (?), I'm still not convinced this guy has all that much talent. But he does have some pretty unique shit going on in his head. And above all, that's what Gummo is. Whether it's a good movie or not is debatable, but let's just go with unique at the moment.

About a town full of backwards, hateful fucks who have simply given up on ever being anything. A bad tornado hit this town some years ago, and things were seemingly never fully restored. Ignorant, aimless and bored, these hateful fucks love killing and torturing cats, running their mouths about bullshit, fucking retards and just hanging around and being trash. Some of them get in fights with chairs. Some of them even win. Hell, some of them enjoy eating spaghetti whilst getting their hair washed. But I don't think any of them are very happy people. And they'd probably prefer to live somewhere else, but are too lazy and stupid to take the steps to do so.

The movie seems to revolve mostly around some ugly little pussy kid who's probably an asshole, yet, we don't get very many examples of this. The kid pumps iron, using handfuls of spoons, and apparentluy needs his mother to bath him. There's also some other little weirdo kid, wearing a pink bunny hat, and wandering around in his own little world. I'm not sure what he symbolizes, if anything, but like everyone else, he's just there, existing. Despite everything I've said so far in this paragraph, There's something very real about this movie. And surreal at the same time. It almost comes off as some kind of bleak documentary about a small town full of trash, where a bunch of stuff happens.



As a lifelong cat lover, I find it hard to watch a cat get hurt or killed, even in a movie. But strangely, I see the treatment of felines in Gummo as somewhat fitting for the characters, as they just naturally feel the need to bully and destroy the only thing they see as beneath them. Adding to this perfect portrayal of hateful, pathetic trash.

After despising the abomination that is Spring Breakers, I thought I'd give Harmony Korine one more chance to prove himself not a talentless piece of shit. And much to my surprise, I'm glad I did. I think I actually get Gummo, and even have an appreciation for it. However, I could easily see someone hating this as much as I hated the obnoxious Spring Breakers, because one thing Gummo (and Spring Breakers as well) is not is a likable movie. Seemingly no story, with just a bunch of random scenes put together, showcasing these hopeless citizens and their attempts at killing time and, I guess, having fun. But if you look a little closer, it's clear that these people's behavior tells the story. oud and clear. And it's not a pretty one. Of course, this is not the most entertaining movie I've ever seen, but I'll give Korine one thing. Gummo is far more entertaining than it should be. 6/10



#Review

The Hateful Eight (2015)



I figured I'd share my thoughts on it because like ol' Jack Burton always says...what the hell? Nothing super in-depth because I don't want to spoil anything, but it's another quality film from Tarantino, one of his best films to date even.

Quentin Tarantino delivers once again with The Hateful Eight, his feature length follow up to Django Unchained. As with Django Unchained, it's another western, and it surpasses Django Unchained on terms of humor, story, and pacing. It's a film that has all of Tarantino's signature style and elements with a cleverly engaging story that'll leave you on the edge of your seat until the end credits roll.

The film is split into six different chapters and follows eight strangers in post-Civil War Wyoming who are stranded by a blizzard and forced to hole up at a stagecoach lodge. One of the men, bounty hunter John "The Hangman" Ruth (Kurt Russell) is escorting a fugitive, Daisy Dormergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to be hanged in the nearby town of Red Rock, Wyoming. The other strangers include: Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), a fellow bounty hunter who's looking to claim a reward of his own, Bob (Demián Bichir), a Mexican who works at the stagecoach lodge, Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), a man who claims to be the hangman of Red Rock, Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), a cowboy on his way to see his mother, and Sanford Smithers (Bruce Dern), a former Confederate general, and Chris Mannax (Walton Goggins), a former militiaman sympathetic to the Confederacy who claims to be the new sheriff for the town of Red Rock. No one is to be trusted or believed as the film progresses.

What The Hateful Eight does right first of all is that it features everything audiences have come to love about Tarantino. This includes over the top violence, fleshed out and memorable characters, clever dialogue that moves the story along, and the darkest of humor. All of the actors are phenomenal in their respective roles and Tarantino proves once again he knows how to pick them, not to mention direct them. Jennifer Jason Leigh especially shines in her role. She's funny, nasty and a lot of the violence in the film is directed at her, and Tarantino manages to make it work in a darkly humorous way.

In addition to the Tarantino elements audiences have come to love, the story also plays out in a tense and captivating way. The murder mystery approach is executed flawlessly and the second half of the film is especially eventful and chaotic. The gradual reveal of what brought all of the strangers together is so well done thanks to Tarantino and the use of his signature nonlinear storytelling. Pacing wise, the film isn't dull for a second and doesn't feel overlong at its runtime of 187 minutes. On technical terms, the film looks absolutely stunning in Panavision. While a good portion of the film takes place in the interior of the stagecoach lodge, the exterior scenes are phenomenal and capture the real beauty of the Colorado landscape. The film also benefits from another first-rate score from composer Ennio Morricone, truly one of the best at his craft.

Overall, The Hateful Eight is another fine film from Tarantino and definitely one of his best films to date. Audiences almost didn't get it due to the film's script being leaked much to Tarantino's disliking, and what a shame it would've been because it's one of the best films of 2015 and one of the best contemporary westerns. Tarantino's love for story and characters is as apparent as ever and so is his love for film in general.

Knock Knock

I really enjoyed this. Although I still prefer Cabin Fever, I think this is probably Roth's best movie to date. Anyone else check it out?

Crazy Murder (2015)

Basically it's about a mentally ill homeless guy who kills and shits everywhere. Anybody seen it? Some of the reviews are praising/feeling sickened by how realistic the violence and poop looks.

Would anyone like a Hellraiser reboot...

... without Pinhead?

I read an article yesterday suggesting that they use other demons. I'm for it. I think with the mythology of the Lemanchard's Box it'd be interesting to see all the different horrors it could conjure up.

Thoughts?

How was everyone's Christmas?

I worked most of the day, but I did manage to get a Cheech and Chong shirt. Pretty uneventful, but nothing to complain about. I still want to watch Black Christmas sometime soon though.

Your turn.

Merry Christmas, Jerks.

Dog shit.



#dogsballs

Does anyone remember that Scandanavian Santa movie

I remember hearing about this fucked up Santa movie, about a killer Santa funnily enough. I'm sure it's Norwegian and hard to find, but apparently it's gruesome. That's all I can remember about it. It was discussed on the horror board a couple of years back.

AIDS! AIDS! AIDS!

Kids (1995) is a great one. Directed by Larry Clark and written by Harmony Korine, so you know it's gonna be funky.

Dallas Buyers Club (2014), where Jared Leto wins an oscar for playing a drag queen and Matthew McConaughey wins an oscar for being a redneck.

I'm pretty sure Jenny has AIDS in Forrest Gump (1994) too.



Thoughts on AIDS? And Charlie Sheen?