FanDominion

Get your geek on.
April 5th, 2009

Review: Scab

scab-flRATING: R (Graphic Sex, Nudity, Gore, Violence, Language)
OPENS: Currently playing the art-house circuit and expected on DVD for Halloween 2009.
GENRE: Horror, Gay, Indie

CHILD FRIENDLY: NO
PARENTAL WARNING: This is a film for adults. It has graphic gore, violence, same-sex sexual situations, full frontal nudity . This is ot a film you’d want to watch with any of your family members in the room – let alone children.

This film is not for the faint of heart – or the easily offended. It is full of gore, violence, seedy graphic sex (both heterosexual and homosexual) and language that would make a sailor blush.

But if that kind of stuff doesn’t bother you, Scab offers an original take on the vampire mythos.

Throughout the literary and filmed history of movies, the line between vampirism and sexuality has been blurred – at best. In Scab, the debut film by writer-director Thomas Jason Davis, who explains his own film’s matter-of-fact take on sexuality:

In my twisted little geek-boy fantasy, the lusted-for slut-boy Ajay finally admits that he loves the geek. It’s like Sixteen Candles with cockrings. Say Anything with fangs and lube and a touch more self-loathing.

- Thomas Jason Davis, Director

The Plot

The movie starts with a rather graphic and violent gay one-night stand where Ajay learns “not” doesn’t always mean know at the hangs of a vampire.

We have our initial assessment confirmed in the following scene through his two friends, Teague and Floor, talk – unknowing what happened to Ajay – discussing how their good friend Ajay is a slut who is living an empty life. We also learn that nerdy Teague has an unrequited crush on Ajay and the hunky and straight Floor is a heterosexual version of Ajay who is not above flirting with anyone – men or women – to get advantage of a situation.

Needless to say, the next time we see Ajay, he’s woken up undead and is dealing with his new hunger for neck tartar and loses touch with Teague and Floor, who come over to check in on their friend.

This leads to a road trip to Las Vegas for the three, where their journey brings about some much-needed self discovery – with a body count. This is a vampire movie, after all.

The film crates yet another mythos of what vampirism is and how it spreads. In doing so, it eliminated the already blurred line between vampires and sex.

WATCH THE TRAILER

WARNING: Course language

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9KETJHoKm0]

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August 26th, 2007

Video: ‘Moonlight’ – interview with a vampire

 Promo faux interview with Nick St. John, the main vampire character of Moonlight, the upcoming CBS supernatural crime drama.

March 7th, 2006

Film Review: ‘Ultraviolet’ a beautiful mess

Underworld Evolution

5 out of 10
Ultraviolet (2006)
NO SPOILERS

If you’ve been dying for the first big-budget live-action anime film, the good news is your wait is over. The bad news is that it comes in the form of Ultraviolet, the new wire-fu sci-fi flick from Sony’s Screen Gems genre studio.

The plot revolves around a concept that sometime in the future, scientists will stumble upon an ancient disease (one for human vampirism) and modify it in hopes of creating a super soldier with enhanced, speed, strength, intelligence and healing ability. Things go awry and the virus mutates to become very infectious. Society devolves into a war to save itself, led by a pseudo-religious inquisition bent on the extermination of the infected.

(No that wasn’t a spoiler because it is never fully explained in the film, although an attempt is made over the beginning credits.)

The film stars Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil, The Fifth Element) as Violet, William Fichtner (Invasion, Armageddon) as Garth, Cameron Bright (Stargate: SG1, The Butterfly Effect) as Six and Nick Chinlund (The Chronicles of Riddick, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, X-Files) as Daxus.

A few things work very well in this film. A true fan of free-form plot anime or wire-fu (Matrix, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) films will probably thoroughly enjoy this film. The special effects are stunning, the camera shots are gorgeous, and the feel is very … Japanese.

As a semi-silent film or a work of visual art, this film succeeds.

But alas, films in the American action-adventure tradition tell a story with a clear beginning, a clear middle and an end that resolves something. Ultraviolet lacks these conventions. Now, for an audience that doesn’t care, that can be a good thing.

But, for an audience who wishes to find a good hour-and-a-half of swashbuckling fun, this lack of clearly defined story is not good at all. For the vast majority of the American film-going public, Ultraviolet will probably be seen as boring or confusing. The writers and director fail to explain to the audience why they should care if the main character lives or dies.

Otherwise it is a gorgeous, dreamlike and exciting film destined for cult status.

But as a mainstream film, something is missing – something big.

After watching Ultraviolet, I left the theatre with a definite feeling that I had witnessed a film with much potential that just didn’t live up to its promise. In essence, there was no there there … to borrow Gertrude Stein’s famous quote.


RATINGS
Overall: 5 out of 10
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Genre:Science Fiction
Sex: Minimal.
Violence: Fantasy violence.
Special Effects: Good.

CAST
Milla Jovovich … Violet
Cameron Bright … Six
Nick Chinlund … Daxus
William Fichtner … Garth

For: Fandominion

February 27th, 2006

Satan becomes a cop in new Weinstein supernatural thriller, ‘Evilseek’

According to an article in Variety, The Weinstein Company has bought the rights to make Evilseek, a supernatural thriller starring Thomas Jane (The Punisher, Dreamcatcher, Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

IN the film, Jane plays a police officer who commits suicide after being toyed with by a serial killer. Because of this final sin, the cop belongs to Satan – who decides to possess the cop and track down the killer himself, aided by a lesbian partner.

Meanwhile, Satan-as-cop has to deal with a feisty ex-wife and a slutty teen daughter.

Evilseek was written and and will be directed by Wayne Kramer (Mindhunters) and produced by Michael A Pierce (The Cooler).

February 20th, 2006

Film Review: ‘Underworld Evolution’ sucks and bites – in a bad way

Underworld Evolution

3 out of 10
Underworld Evolution (2005)
NO SPOILERS

Every so often a stylish little film comes out of nowhere and becomes a cult hit. That happened in the fall of 2003 when a lower budget vampire and werewolf movie called Underworld opened in theatres. To almost everyone’s surprise, it was the top movie of the weekend and went on to attract a sizable audience and made a handsome profit for the studio.

The film was full of chemistry. A mixture of nihilistic sexiness not seen since 1983 when Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie and Susan Sarandon steamed up the screen with The Hunger, did a vampire film get so much attention in fandom.

After the debut, fans were pleased to hear that both a sequel and prequel were already written for Underworld. Sony, the studio in charge of the film, set December 2005 as the debut for the new film.

But things started to go sour. First, Sony moved the debut of Underworld Evolution, as the sequel was named, out of the prime holiday season. Second, when the film finally did debut on the weekend of January 20, 2006 – the studio refused to pre-screen the film to critics.

That is usually a bad sign. It usually means that studio honchos are afraid of bad word of mouth since they think the film is poor quality and do not want to take a ribbing from critics.

Well, I’m breaking out the ribs.

Underworld Evolution is one of those sequels like Jaws 2 or the Matrix sequels that leaves many fans befuddled and annoyed. Like those films, this movie achieves the rare and dubious honor of making the original film appear less special in hindsight.

Quite frankly it is a movie that should never have been made.

The special effects are sub-par, the story is predictable and boring and the acting talents of the talented cast are wasted since it seems the studio was more interested in showing the scenery and action than any emotional depth or character development.

If you like the Underworld mythos and world of the original movie and want to get more of it. I suggest skipping Underworld Evolution the movie, and instead head over to your local bookstore and buy the novelization by Greg Cox.

The book costs less than a movie ticket, lasts longer and is better written.


RATINGS
Overall: 3 out of 10
MPAA Rating: R
Genre:Dark Fantasy
Sex: Minimal.
Violence: Fantasy violence. Graphic depictions of death.
Special Effects: Average

CAST
Kate Beckinsale … Selene
Scott Speedman … Michael Corvin
Tony Curran … Marcus
Derek Jacobi … Corvinus
Bill Nighy … Viktor
Steven Mackintosh … Tanis
Shane Brolly … Kraven
Brian Steele … William
Zita Görög … Amelia
Scott McElroy … Soren
John Mann … Samuel
Michael Sheen … Lucian