December 30, 2014

Horror for the Holidays withdrawal.

We're excited for our new monthly series to begin, but we're gonna miss Horror for the Holidays. With that in mind, we thought we'd share with you our vote for January's H4H would have been. There aren't many New Year's horror movies out there, but one that Horror for the Holidays didn't get to was Terror Train.

Jamie Lee Curtis stars in this low budget slasher that was specifically written to ride the success of John Carpenter's Halloween. (According to the filmmakers, the premise came to them when they asked themselves what would happen if Halloween took place on a train.) But for a rip-off movie, it doesn't borrow too heavily and there are some seriously amazing surprises like: a magic act by 24 year old David Copperfield, appearances from Hanz's future “white knight” and favorite B-movie Prince-protege Vanity, and John Alcott on cinematography!

“John Alcott,” you ask? Not only did he win an Oscar for Best Cinematography for Barry Lydon, he also shot most of Kubrick's iconic work. He shot Terror Train and The Shining in the same year. (Drink that in for a second. The man who shot one of the most atheistically important movies of the 80s shot Terror Train the same year. This is either a testament of how humble he was, or an incredible illustration of how little the film industry values cinematographers.) Make no mistake, his presence adds some interesting visual elements to this fairly straight forward slasher.





This forgotten classic is perfect for ringing in the new year: it's got a great cast, creepy masks, great visual effects, an appearances from a legendary magician before his prime, and a totally ripped off premise staring the same star as the movie it rips off, and takes place on New Year's Eve. (I mean really, that's the reason to watch it on New Years...)

December 17, 2014

Have you seen these kids?


If you aren't familiar with Y.N. Rich Kids, take a second to get aquatinted because they will be hosting the Defenders Series at the Trylon microcinema tonight! To quote the organizer "Their movie pick is amazing by the way. You'll be surprised.

The Defenders Series is always hosted by a local celebrity who picks a movie to screen No one in the audience knows what's been chosen, and after the movie ends the Defender stands in front of the audience to defend their selection. It's amazing, and to the best of my knowledge it's never been hosted by a kid (let alone a group of them) before. Don't miss this amazing chance to see what these bright and talented kids have selected to Defend!


Tonight (Wed 12/17) @ 7pm, Trylon microcinema $8 (half of the proceeds will go to the Beats & Rhymes Program at the Harold Mezile YMCA.)