Quick Thoughts: World War Z, Only God Forgives, Monsters University

I surprised myself last week by dragging my lazy ass to a staggering THREE preview screenings last week, none of which I had to review... But thought I'd share a few quick words here if anyone cares to read.

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World War Z - It's not as bad as the negative pre-release press (ballooning budget, last minute rewrites) would have you believe, but meh, it's nowhere near as good as you want it to be either. I haven't read Max Brooks' zombie apocalypse novel which it's based on, but word is that Marc Forster's adaptation removes everything remotely interesting in favour of making a dumb, blockbuster action-centric thriller.

The decision to keep carnage off the screen where possible to get a PG-13 rating is crippling and laughable: there's a scene where a character whose hand has just been chopped off is bandaged up with not a drop of blood in sight. You really expect us -- adults -- to buy this? There are a few suspenseful moments, and I was moderately entertained in the moment, but as the film limped to its disappointingly scaled-down climax, I started to care less and less until walking out of the film feeling unsatisfied. World War Z opens on Thursday, and if you hate 3D, I recommend that you do not see it in its worthless 3D state.

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Only God Forgives - I was surprised at how quick this got a screening here.. within a couple weeks of its booing at Cannes! It's not getting boos from me though, but nearly a week since seeing it I'm still yet to be able to formulate a coherent thought about it. Any Ryan Gosling fans casually heading along to see their favourite hunky Drive star act tough and cool will probably be in for a deeply unpleasant time at the movies: Nicolas Winding Refn's ultra-stylized neon-splashed noir, set in the sordid underbelly of Thailand, unfolds with the blood-curdling, unsettling tenor of a horror movie rather than your traditional crime drama.

Gosling's performance, all smoldering glances, is even more pared-down than in Drive; how many pages of dialogue did he have to remember, like two? Maybe less. If you don't mind pure style, visuals and atmosphere over plot and everything else, Refn's film might seduce you. Dig that Alejandro Jodorowsky dedication in the credits. Only God Forgives opens August 1st.

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Monsters University - I for one would prefer if Pixar stuck to new stories instead of cashing on their existing franchises, but when it's as expertly conceived as this Monsters Inc. prequel, it's hard to complain. University definitely has a Pixar-by-numbers feel, as opposed to say, Toy Story 3 - but it's also another a smart, funny and visually dazzling demonstration of what they do best. Monsters University is out in theatres July 11.

Misery Bear: Dawn of the Ted

This has to be the cutest zombie movie parody ever!
Warning: contains horror violence to soft toys...

Friday the 13th: Special Screening!

If you're in Auckland tonight and at a loss for something to do...

(from the facebook event)

Old School Horror on the Big Screen for Friday 13th

Venue : Academy Cinema

Tickets : Oldschool Price - $9.99

Available from Box office in Academy Cinema, under the Auckland City Public Library in Lorne Street, on the 13th from 1pm.

When the Incredibly Strange team were young we used to look forward to every Friday 13th on the calendar year because that meant a horror film would be on the big screen.

However somewhere along the way distributors simply couldn't be fucked in providing some thrills for the kids on this very special day. So here at Incredibly Strange HQ we find that lack of showmanship pretty damn dire and to prove a point, we're going to screen some old school 35mm horror for the movie fiends in Auckland.

From the prolific and diverse mind of Umberto Lenzi (one of Italy's greatest genre directors), comes the deranged zombie flick NIGHTMARE CITY aka CITY OF THE WALKING DEAD. A zombie pic that delivers the meaty goods in a kooky pic that breaks all the rules of the walking dead. For starters these zombies are fucking fast and they're no dummies either, they're happy to either chow down or use a machine gun on your arse.

The film has none of the mean-spiritedness of his MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY but contains the utter lunacy and high gore factor of Lenzi's EATEN ALIVE and IRON MASTER. It has an inept lead who producers forced onto Lenzi, not exactly what you'd expect from the 'heroic male' lead.

******BONUS BONUS*********

Roadshow Distributors are releasing an upcoming film that all incredibly strange fans will want to check out. They're supporting old school horror by giving us 100 dbl passes to give out to fans.

So the first 100 people to buy a ticket on the night will receive a free double pass (worth $36) to Alexandre Aja's kickass PIRANHA 3D!

Zombieland

It's Halloween tomorrow, so to get you in the mood, here's a post solely focused on nothing but zombies, zombies and zombies...

First item of interest: [REC] 2. If you haven't already heard, there's a marketing challenge out there to create as much buzz as possible for the New Zealand theatrical release of this sequel to the Spanish horror hit. There have been some cool ideas floating around already - visit the website to see them - and one of the niftiest is probably the zombie insurance auction ("Revenant Emergency Coverage 2") that's up on trademe at the moment (Bid now to avoid losing out...).

This Balloon Boy mash-up is cool too:


[REC] 2 opens on November 13, and is having its premiere this weekend at the very sold-out Vendetta Films 24 Hour Movie Marathon (which a few of us here at fatso are crazy enough to attend).

For those going out trick or treatin' (probably no one in that age group will be reading this) or dress-up Halloween parties and need some tips, check out this amazing zombie invasion in Monroeville, Pennsylvania where around 2000 people, fully caked in pasty, skin-peeling make-up, took to the mall where Dawn of the Dead was shot. Read more here.

Meanwhile, in Iowa, a man was called a zombie and punched twice (!?).