Tuesday,
June 20: AUTOMATONS
INVASION
Here are
some of the nice things folks have said about the Automatons
(2006)
official site and trailer:
Johnny
Butane, The Horror Channel:
"Why the hell haven't we been covering this movie more?"
"Made with a very low budget and shot in stark black
and white (or "Robo-Monstervision" as the trailer
calls it), Automatons looks like a combination of 50s old
school robot throwback mixed with modern day sensibilities."
Todd,
Twitchfilm.net:
"David Tennant et al may be hard at work updating Doctor
Who for the current day and age but this looks as though it
could have been made in the early days of BBC sci-fi, all
grainy black and white and robots made of boxes, bowls and
dryer vent tubing. God, yes."
Matt
Withers, Arrow in the Head:
"Got a pretty cool, somewhat indescribable indie for
ya'll to check out. It's called AUTOMATONS and harkens back
to the feel of 50's era SciFi."
"Cool concept, and the trailer is a lot of fun. This
is probably a get it or don't get it kind of project, but
in my case I was definitely grooving to the vibe."
Carlos
R. Wiscovich, Creature Corner:
"AUTOMATONS Filmed in ROBO-MONSTERVISION: 50's style
Robots. In glorious black & white. With Angus(The Tall
Man)Scrimm. And that's without a doubt, one of the coolest
posters I've seen in a long while."
"Check out the film's old-school vibe at the official
site, which contains a very cool trailer."
Places
that YOU can see the Automatons
(2006) trailer include: the Official
Site, Automatons
on Myspace, MonsterPants
on Myspace, Google
Video, Yahoo
Video, YouTube
and ifilm.
Please
take a look, if you haven't already.
Sunday,
June 18: Fumetti on Film, Part 1
I’ve
been so busy trying to cram Automatons
(2006) down everybody’s throat that I never explained
this month’s list of film recommendations, all of which
are adaptations of comic books.
My better
half recently returned from a business trip to the Swiss –
Italian border. She brought me some chocolate for Switzerland
and a couple of comic books from Italy: “Julia”
– the adventures of a criminologist (in which she meets
a cannibalistic elderly couple) and an issue of “Diabolik”.
Diabolik
is one of Italy’s most popular comic book characters
and the inspiration for the entire costumed master thief genre
that was so popular in the 1960’s Europe. Most people
in the US are familiar with the character thanks to the film
by the great Mario
Bava, Danger:
Diabolik (1968). This movie is a blast, it’s super
space-age mod, featuring some of the coolest costume and production
design of Bava’s career, even out-doing Planet
of the Vampires (1965)! It’s also very true to the
comic, unlike our next film…
Blueberry
(2004), released here in the U.S. as “Renegade”,
doesn’t really capture the feel of the comic by Jean
Giraud (aka Moebius) that it was “loosely”
based on. The title character’s origin is different
(although at one point, I swear I caught a glimpse of Blueberry’s
old cavalry uniform in a trunk that he rifles through), as
is the whole texture of the film. But it still worth watching
for several pretty amazing drug trip scenes. The cast is made
up entirely of B-list names including: Vincent
Cassel, Juliette
Lewis, Michael
Madsen, Geoffrey
Lewis, Eddie
Izzard, Colm
Meaney and Ernest
Borgnine.
Like a
lot of people, I love Akira
(1988) and Princess
Mononoke (1997), but to be honest, my favorite anime film
of all time is Fist
of the North Star (1986). At the time of its release,
no one here in the US had seen a cartoon anywhere near this
violent. The gore is so over-the-top; it is simply a delight
to behold. There’s also a couple of animated
series that are fan-favorites and a less-successful live
action film was made in 1995. The Toei film is pretty
forgettable -- literally. I saw it back when it came out and
I honestly can’t remember a thing about it, good or
bad.
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 |
Another
all-time fave of mine is The
Storm Riders (1998), one of those Hong Kong effects spectaculars
that Andrew
Lau has become known for. I love Hong
Kong comics. I buy them in stack in Chinatown for a few
bucks and just stare at the pictures, since I don’t
speak/read the language. But the art in these things are so
beautiful and graceful in their depiction of mythical action
scenes, the words aren’t necessary to enjoy them.
In this
film, Lau uses cgi effects to effectively bring to life Ma
Wing Shing comic book art to life. In those pre-X-men
(2000) & Spiderman
(2001) days, this was the most ambitious and spectacular
comic book action films I had ever seen. It’s also boasts
a fairly impressive cast: Ekin
Cheng, Aaron
Kwok, Sonny
Chiba (in one of his best performances ever) and the cute-as-a-button
Shu Qi
in one of her first non-softcore roles. God, I love this movie!
When I
was about eight years old, I saw a comic book on a rack at
a gas station in Maine. With 18 different super heroes on
the cover, many of which I hadn't seen before, I had to have
it. The comic was the now-classic Justice
League of America #135, entitled "Crisis in Eternity".
There
were two characters in this book (both from comics' Golden
Age of the 1930's & 40's, which I had yet to discover)
that fascinated me: one was the original
Green Lantern and the other was a friend of Captain
Marvel named Spy
Smasher.
Amongst
all of the higher profile, more powerful characters in the
story, this mysterious masked hero didn't get a lot of exposure
in the comic. But that made the man in the green costume and
goggles that much more intriguing. I never found him in any
other comics, as his modern age appearances have been few,
so Spy Smasher remained an enigma to me. But back in the 1940's
he was quite popular, appearing in both Whiz
Comics and his own Spy Smasher magazines as well as the
Republic serial Spy
Smasher (1942).
Ask any
fan of old-time movie serials and they'll tell you that this
is one of the best of them all. The scale of the thing is
amazing, with so many different and elaborate sets and action
sequences involving fire, floods, horses and futuristic aircraft.
But the most incredible element of the film is its star, Kane
Richmond, who plays the title character and his alter
ego; Alan Armstrong AND Alan's twin brother Jack. The fight
sequences are fast and convincing, never stiff or hokey. Richmond
is a living dynamo who performs acrobatic stunts that would
make Jackie
Chan proud.
If you
see only one classic action serial, this is the one to see
and AC
Comics is releasing a remastered DVD, just for you. Get
it. Watch it.
Thursday,
June 8: AUTOMATONS
On MySpace
Go on
over to MySpace
and make friends with some killer robots:
Myspace.com/Automatons_movie.
Or check
out the MonsterPants profile: Myspace.com/MonsterPants_Movies.
Johnny
Butane at The
Horror Channel had some really nice things to say about
the new Automatons
(2006) official site. Read them here
 |
| Me
& Larry on location for Trigger Man |
In other
news: Ti
West has finished shooting his film, Trigger
Man (2006) in which Larry
and I appear.
Also,
Rich
Kapenas has wrapped principal photography on Ranchero
(2007).
Everybody's
making movies!
Tuesday,
June 6: AUTOMATONS
ATTACK!
The Automatons
(2006) Official
Site is up!
Visit
deathtotheautomatons.com
to watch the all-new trailer, look at photos and more!
This black
& white, low-tech, special effects film about the horrors
of war and robots stars Christine
Spencer, Brenda
Cooney & Angus
Scrimm with Don
Wood, Noah
DeFilippis, John
Levene and Larry
Fessenden.
Automatons
will be available for film festivals this July. Screening
dates will be posted here, so check back often!
