It's finally He-Man week! The blonde barbarian celebrated his birthday on September 5th and this Friday the 18th, we kick off a two day celebration of the pop culture powerhouse. Join us at The Egyptian Theatre for a 35mm presentation of the 1987 mini-classic Masters of the Universe, a film that blends Star Wars, Conan the Barbarian and Steven Spielberg style 80's Americana. A bevy of guests are slated to join us:
Director Gary Goddard, former Disney Imagineer who struck out on his own and created large scale attractions like Terminator 2 3D, Jurassic Park: The Ride and Conan: A Sword and Sorcery Spectacular. Goddard has also worked extensively in theater on and off Broadway and recently helmed the first ever 3D play. Masters of the Universe would be Goddard's only foray into film but audiences will also remember his work on shows Captain Power and Skeleton Warriors.
Production Designer William Stout joins us once again to tell tales from his varied and awesome career. Known for his work in comic books, fantasy and paleontological art, Stout also drew album covers for the likes of The Rolling Stones and The Who. His film and TV career includes stints as Production Designer, artist and illustrator on the likes of Conan the Barbarian, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Living Dead and MOTU. He's also a photographer and explorer, being one of the few selected to travel to Antarctica to dive, hike and detail the landscapes and wildlife. Like Goddard, Stout spent time at Walt Disney Imagineering working on projects for Disneyland and World before designing for Lucasfilm, Universal Studios and GameWorks.
Actress Chelsea Field began her Hollywood career as a dancer on hit show Solid Gold before popping up in Arnold Schwarzenegger's Commando and landing the role of warrior Teela in MOTU. Her 80's and 90's credentials would be solidified with appearances in genre classics Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man and The Last Boy Scout. Field has also keep busy on television with roles on Time Trax, Tales from the Crypt, Cold Case, Without a Trace and NCIS.
Actor and weapons master Anthony De Longis has been swinging swords, cracking whips and kicking ass since the 70's. A Jack of all Trades when it comes to stunt work and acting, De Longis has appeared in the likes of Circle of Iron, MOTU and Road House while training Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, Michelle Pfeiffer and many more. He's recently appeared opposite Jason Patric in western short The Weight of Blood and Bones. On MOTU, De Longis trained Dolph Lundgren to use a sword while appearing as the dual blade wielding, eye patched and spiky shoulder pad wearing...Blade.
Robert Towers played Skeletor's mercenary leader, Karg, the pimp, alien looking guy with white hair and a short white cape. Towers has been seen and heard for decades in Doctor Dolittle,Star Trek: The Next Generation, Angel, Frasier, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and played Albert Einstein on an episode of Hanna Montana!
We also have SFX lead Max Cervantes joining us to introduce the film. Max worked on the armored suits Skeletor's crack troops wore and still has his crew jacket! We're working on more guests but get ready for an amazing evening that could only be brought to you by the magical 1980's!
After a late Friday night at Disneyland, Saturday morning we headed up to Long Beach for their Con. I've been attending LBCC since 2009 and watched it expand, contract and expand again. They've done Halloween themed shows, one day smaller cons, had lots of guests and panels, not many guests and panels, food trucks and Star Cars outside or nothing at all. This particular show seemed to be shaping up to be their biggest ever with the inclusion of several more celebrity guests available to charge for autographs, beefier programming and a reported 450 vendors. Their last show in March utilized the back side of the Long Beach Convention Center near the aquarium but the September edition would be holding court out front along Pike Street once again. Things seemed amiss near immediately when the two parking structures next door were closed off and drivers didn't know where else to go. Following the signs I realized that Lobster Fest was also going on nearby and they were herding everyone to park on the other side of Shoreline Drive. A huge queue was waiting to get in so they could pay $10 bucks then trek the half mile back to the convention center. That was not a very nice welcome, especially as LBCC has always been one of the easiest shows to attend.
Not accepting the grassy option, I found street parking five minutes away but would have to feed the meter every 2 hours. It's not that big a show so a couple of trips and 4 hours should be plenty, right? Well, the line to get into the convention center took up 3 huge queues and ended up taking 45 minutes! I asked some of the crew what the hold up was and they simply stated that the staff didn't expect such a large turnout. Wait, you're telling me in this day and age you can't tell how many tickets you've sold online to staff accordingly?! There's no excuse for poor crowd control in my opinion. People are paying to attend an event, not wait in line twice before getting to said event. The problem was that inside, there were only 4 booths open to scan tickets and distribute wrist bands. Horrible flashbacks to the shit show of Salt Lake City Con came back to me where they only had 5 people admitting those who actually paid extra to wait less but ended up waiting 2 hours. Like SLCC, it would have been faster to just buy a ticket onsite and go into the show. It seemed pretty crowded in the lobby but the actual show didn't seem any bigger than it's ever been so waiting so long was a doubly insulting.
It was great to catch up with William Stout and Mike over at the RAW Studios booth, Stout will be a guest at He-Man night this weekend while Mike is headed to New York. I introduced myself to future guest Alan Oppenheimer and chit chatted with a few vendors we see regularly on the con circuit. There were various new spaces on the floor highlighting NASA, Power Rangers, Cosplay and Star Signings along with your usual Artist Alley and Laser Tag. There weren't a ton of big names at the show with John Barrowman, some actress from Agents of Shield, some guys from Daredevil and Sam Witwer holding down the paid meet and greet area. It's not the exhibitors fault that the organizers did such a poor job of getting people through the doors and I wanted to spend some dough on the floor but sadly came up short and bought...nothing. No comics caught my attention, the NECA Ripley still carries a stiff price tag and no random item looked like it should be on my shelf. Adam Kubert was making his LBCC debut and we saw awesome artists like Art Adams and Whilce Portacio on the floor. Mark Silvestri popped up at the Top Cow! booth while I never found Bryan Edward Hill to ask him about Dolph's The Russian Specialist. A group of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cosplayers had a booth complete with an April O'Neil but later I saw them hanging out with their prop helmets off, didn't you see Old School?! Put your head back on! We ran into G.I. Joe expert and Duke historian Diana Davis in line and caught the tail end of the Joe panel where cast members reminisced about their time working for Sunbow and the incredible legacy the cartoons and toys have created like they did back in March.
Outside your usual line up of cinematic and television famous vehicles were waiting to be checked out including the Back to the Future Deloreon, Jurassic Park jeeps, Bumblebee from Transformers, not one but two KITT's from Knight Rider and a new addition, the Firebird James Garner tooled around in for hit show The Rockford Files. Like the awesome discount book store before it, Geeky Mama's (moved to Anaheim) had also closed and we didn't hit the Auld Dubliner for any Dublin Donkeys since we were on the clock. It's interesting looking back on some LBCC posts as it's usually been one of my favorites to attend due to it's easy access, solid exhibitor floor and terrific surrounding area. Not long ago I thought they might be losing ground to Comikaze in terms of size, scope and social awareness but his weekend proved that LBCC's ready to grow. It was also a reminder that bigger isn't always better and quality still trumps quantity. Very disappointing.
Another weekend, another theme park. This time it was back to our usual stomping grounds of Disneyland and California Adventure Park in my former residence of Anaheim. It's been real frigging hot in Los Angeles lately and Friday night was not shaping up to be any less sticky and sweaty even though temperatures were allegedly on their way down. We already secured a room for Saturday night after Long Beach Con and to hit the park and see visiting friends Sunday. Doing a quick search, a room would be even cheaper for Friday so we decided to chug some SURGE and hit the road. The Red Lion is usually our home base for Disney or shows as it's close to the park and Convention Center, is reasonably priced plus you get a fridge and microwave in the room. Disneyland was open until midnight so after a quick Seagram's and Ginger Beers, we hoofed over to the park just in time to see the nightly fireworks. The joint was pretty packed around Main Street and apparently there was a near stampede/trampling episode by The Haunted Mansion. Come on people, it's the same ride that's been there for decades with some Halloween decorations. Is that really worth bodily injury? What is this, Wal-Mart?! Do better. We managed to do Single Rider line for Indiana Jones where you waited completely in beautiful air conditioned cave and The Matterhorn before taking in the crazy electric parade and then hitting up Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. The parade was pretty intense with lots of lights and dancing from the casts of Frozen, The Little Mermaid, Toy Story and more. Can't wait to see some Marvel peeps included at some point.
On Sunday we headed back and it was hot hot hot! But when everybody else is also sweating buckets, you don't feel so self conscious about being a hot man, like Sean Connery. Hitting California Adventure Park first, we grabbed a Fast Pass for Soaring Over California because the queue would be inside in the cold. It's always good to get on some kind of small ride right away to keep yourself mentally sane rather than waiting in some huge line and getting demoralized. So it was off to The Little Mermaid ride, those flying Zepplin things, Silly Symphony Swings and Goofy's Flying School all in a couple of hours. It was recently announced that the Aladdin Stage Show Musical Spectacular is going to be replaced by a Frozen themed dealy so we checked it out one last time. I hadn't seen the show since the mid-2000's but it holds up great with terrific production value, flying carpet and the scene stealing Genie. Back in 2005 it was very Queer Eye for the Straight Guy as that was popular on TV while in 2015 you got Arnold Schwarzenegger, Deflate-gate, Ben Affleck, Batman and other current topics as the butt of jokes. We hadn't eaten all day and figured on getting some All-You-Can-Eat BBQ at Big Thunder Ranch before it goes bye-bye to make room for Star Wars Land but it was a little too stuffy out for such a heavy meal. Instead we sat in some more AC over at The Plaza Inn for some fried chicken and Cobb Salad goodness. Taking a break at the Golden Horseshoe for ice cream, we randomly got to view their fun old west style theater act with singing cowboys, piano player and audience participation. Makes you wonder how a 50 something year old man who can sing, dance and act ends up working at Disneyland. Is there a casting agency for that?
See you in October for the Halloween Tour! Oh and did you know that Oswald is a rabbit? I didn't.
After seeing some light Back to the Future goodness at Universal Studios Saturday morning, that evening we headed to Hollywood for a screening of the classic 1985 flick. We've seen Future a half dozen times over the years in settings as varied as The Egyptian Theatre for a marathon (twice), a theater converted into a Church in Hollywood (where they stopped the movie midway for a cosplay contest), outside at the awesome but now defunct Oscars Outdoors and downtown at the renovated Ace Theatre. This 7th or 8th time out would be part of the new Rooftop Film Club series out of London and New York. Repertory titles play near every night on the roof of The Montalban Theatre on Vine, named after actor Ricardo of Star Trek II fame. Just around the corner from The Acrlight, Pantages and happy hour spot The Well, I had no clue the place existed.
Unlike your usual outdoor venues where you lug in blankets, chairs, snacks and booze, Rooftop provides rows of deck chairs and headphones with blankets, dranks and snacks available. It was a terrific setting and the ambiance was quite nice but the viewing experience itself leaves much to be desired. To start, the deck chairs are not very comfortable. The wooden frame cuts into the back of your legs and apparently being 5'8" with a weight lifting background made me too wide for the chair as the wood dug into my back and shoulders. By 7:30 PM it was getting dark and a host said we'd start in a few minutes...which turned out to be 30...Back to the Future is of course a classic flick and this time out I noticed how nuanced the performances of Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown and Crispen Glover as George McFly were in terms of physical tics and body language. Pretty sure Michael Richards' performance as Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld owes Lloyd a debt. Being given wireless headphones was a new development but I'm sure there's noise ordinances in the area plus there's lots of honking and yelling from the busy Sunset Blvd nearby. But using the headphones really destroyed the communal aspect of watching the film for me. All in, an interesting night but not something I'd do again.
YouTube Space LA hosted a pretty awesome event last night, an early screening of Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak followed by a chat with the man himself. Taking place next door at the Cinemark Playa Vista and at their space in the campus, del Toro welcomed the audience and reiterated that the film is not a horror flick but a Gothic romance. I honestly didn't know too much about the movie going in but was a big fan of his work on Hellboy and Pacific Rim. The story of Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), a bright young woman with aspirations to be a writer who falls for the dapper yet dark Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston). Moving to their decaying manor in rural Europe, Edith tries to play nice with Thomas' foreboding sister Lady Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain) while getting used to the cold and scary Crimson Peak. Named after the red clay that seeps up from underground. Mystery, ghosts, deception, intrigue and blood follows in a very handsomely produced film that's at times beautiful as well as terrifying. Without giving too much away, Peak is hardly your typical Halloween slasher flick but instead more of a character piece that utilizes a bygone era, atmosphere and customs to keep things interesting leading up to a pretty exciting and scary conclusion.
After the film, del Toro sat down to discuss his philosophy of life and filmmaking, spoiler free:
- Believes in two forces, fear and love.
- Passion project that took 7 years to produce. Going for R rating meant a budget reduction of 30-40% but sees budget only as a mindset, not a hindrance.
- Views filmmaking as a table with four legs encompassing costumes, production design, cinematography and directing.
- Wanted costumes built and the set dressed. Every thing you see is planned, designed and created.
- Feels people who like his movies are creative types who appreciate the effort.
- Was originally set up with Emma Stone and Benedict Cumberbatch but losing them was best thing for the project as it was a great experience.
- Movie sets are like any social setting, there's always going to be an asshole.
- Hates conformity or people telling you what you can and can't do. The only reason giant elephants don't pull the stake from the ground is because they weren't strong enough to do so when they were small and still have same mindset.
- Wanted to make a film with strong female characters which shouldn't be an exception given the amount of strong women walking the planet every day.
- Chances of a Hellboy III are highly improbable.
- Trying to be a good person is one of the biggest contributions people can make to the world.
- Always wanted to be a bank robber like Robert DeNiro in Heat. Finds himself casing the joint any time he's cashing a check.
- Directors never have total control, if they did, results wouldn't be any good. Need collaboration.
Much more was discussed, particularly concerning the film but I'm not gonna ruin it for ya. del Toro has always been a funny and warm speaker and seeing him live was fantastic. The guy is extremely intelligent and experienced, citing examples from Jung, the Dao, Stanley Kubrick and oh so many more in a non-elitist way. I'd love to hear him in a conversation with Jean-Claude Van Damme as his roundabout, somewhat spacey views on life always seem to make total sense. Because divorce is a word but love is a feeling...
This past weekend marked the end of the Summer Movie Season as Labor Day is generally pretty quiet at the box office. Newcomers The Transporter Refueled and A Walk in the Woods were no match for faith based holdover War Room. Woods stars Robert Redford and Nick Nolte as old writing buddies and hell raisers as Redford's aging, semi-retired author Bill Bryson decides to hike the Appalachian Trail to see America after living abroad for a couple of decades. The trailers made the film out to be a coming of old age, heart warming, odd couple style adventure comedy and it didn't disappoint. It's not great and there's no career defining performance from either actor but it's a fun flick that makes you want to hit the road, see some nature, meet strangers and eat some deliciously heavy food.
Bill Bryson (Redford) is living a nice life in suburbia with his loving wife Catherine (Emma Thompson, who I thought was his daughter at first, whoops). Having only written forewords and overseen re-released past works for years, Bryson is getting a little bored and one day sees a sign for the Appalachian Trail while on a walk. Feeling like he needs to see more of his own country, Bryson decides to devote six months to becoming one with nature but Catherine is afraid he'll be eaten by a bear or get lost and die out in the woods. Wanting him to find a hiking buddy, Bryson reaches out to old friends who think he's crazy until one night, a grizzled voice from his past calls up, wanting to join. Said grizzled voice belongs to Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte), a woman chasing, booze swilling son of a gun that Bryson knew in his younger days. The two haven't spoken in decades and Katz still owes him $600 bucks. Katz shows up looking like he's on his last leg, for real, Nolte is perennially red faced and seemingly struggling for breath, overweight, limping and has some wild hair. Either this is some real good acting or art simply imitating life. The duo hit the trail and encounter a slew of fellow hikers and small town folk played by a litany of familiar faces including Nick Offerman, Kristen Schaal and Mary Steenburgen.
Of course the two discuss life and love, missed opportunities, who they were, who they are and the like while enduring heat, rain and snow while surviving treacherous trails, falls and maybe a bear or two. I wasn't quite sure where the film was going because they weren't going to reach the end of the trail at the pace the flick was moving and I wasn't sure if it was gonna get real by killing off one of them. There's justifiably long sequences of beautiful landscapes set to soothing music and by the end, there's a touch of being at peace with oneself not being justified by accomplishments or titles. There's a quick photo of both leading men in their primes and hot Damme, was Redford a handsome devil. Still dignified if a little frail, Woods was easier to watch than the overrated All Is Lost while Nolte couldn't top his excellent performance from Warrior. Director Ken Kwapis directs from a script by Rick Kerb, Bill Holderman and Bill Bryson that was originally meant to be a third vehicle for Reford and Paul Newman after mega-hits Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting. Sadly, the project languished since being optioned in 1998, Newman's health declined and the actor, race car driver and philanthropist died in 2008. Only a few years younger than Redford, Nick Nolte was then lined up to co-star. To date, A Walk in the Woods has grossed a not shabby $13 million bucks in it's first week. Not bad for a surprisingly tame R rated (Nolte's potty mouth) flick starring two 70 something year olds. Zach Efron would kill for those numbers.
We're just over a week away from Masters of the Universe on the big screen at The Egyptian Theatre where we'll be joined by several several members of the cast and crew. It's been a busy summer for the big Swede as Lundgren was recently in the news when photos from the Vancouver set of Kindergarten Cop 2 hit the web, Thor screenwriter Christopher Yost had been hired to take a crack at the MOTU reboot set up at Sony and passion project Skin Trade hit Blu-Ray shelves. But that's not all, folks. This past Labor Day weekend saw the El Rey Network playing the Rocky marathon on repeat hosted by Sylvester Stallone and Robert Rodriguez which means you got to see The Iron Man in all his 80's yoked and flat topped glory punching bags, killing Apollo Creed, training with high tech equipment, doing roids and fighting the Cold War against Rocky set to Vince DiCola's glorious synth soundtrack at least twice a day.
Tonight at the Hollywood Arclight, Dolph is expected to attend the premiere of War Pigs, the World War II action flick co-starring Luke Goss (Blade 2), former UFC champion Chuck Liddell and Expendables co-star Mickey Rourke. Ryan Little directs from a script by Adam Emerson, Andrew Kightlinger and Steven Luke. I'm a sucker for WWII men on a mission flick and a lot of love and work went into the project so here's hoping for an action packed and entertaining 90 minutes. Next week you can catch Dolph on the big screen three days in a row! On Thursday, 9.17, Warner Brothers premieres the long awaited documentary, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films at the Landmark Theatre on the west side. Roger Corman, Lucinda Dickey, Mark Helfrich and the American Ninja himself, Michael Dudikoff are scheduled to attend for Q&A. The following night, you can catch Cannon's mini-epic Masters of the Universe at The Egyptian with me while War Pigs hits select theaters the same night.
If that weren't enough Dolph for ya, the actor, karate expert, chemical engineer and filmmaker takes the stage for TEDx Fulbright Santa Monica to discuss Human Trafficking. This is an independently organized event to bring people together in TED like environments to spark discussion and connection. More information HERE and tickets over HERE. Phew, I'm tired just trying to keep up with him, see ya at the shows!
Labor Day Weekend! For those not in the service industry, it's a three day weekend to celebrate the working men and women with a national tribute to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country. On Saturday we headed over to Universal City to visit the park. It's been a while since we've hit Universal Studios, the last time being when The Simpsons took over Back to the Future. Since then, The Terminator stage and 3D show has been replaced by Minions, Backdraft made room for Transformers but the Waterworld show is still going strong. Harry Potter land is nearly complete with crews able to work 24 hours a day due to the lack of residential neighbors. The park didn't seem too crowded on this Saturday morning as we headed straight for the Tour before it got too jammed. Between line queues there are giant, bus stop style poster displays and way back when you could spot leading guys and gals from Universal flicks, most notably a mulleted Jean-Claude Van Damme from Timecop. Now there are large displays for prominent titles like Jaws, Spartacus, Meet the Parents and Apollo 13. Ron Howard is no longer your voice on the tour, replaced by Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon. At just under an hour, the tour is still the best attraction in the park, showcasing the dozens of classic titles produced, the city size studio and behind the scenes movie magic. Also, every other street is named Kirk Douglas Dr., which is cool.
Peter Jackson's King Kong 3D portion is a highlight where you watch the giant ape duke it out with pissed off dinosaurs. Towards the end you get another 3D showcase with the Fast and the Furious where you take off on a chase with Vin Diesel, The Rock and company. It's pretty cool because the tram platform moves up and down, wind blows in your face so you feel like you're moving but all of the action and actors look very CGI and video game like. From there we discovered the secret of Universal's lower lot, Single Rider Lines! Seriously, we avoided 35, 45 and 55 minute wait times on Jurassic Park, The Mummy and Transformers by simply riding solo and still ended up in the same cars. Outside JP is a cool new attraction, a raptor pen! A guy in an animatronic suit whips, slashes and hisses at you in a very cool character meet and greet. It's been a while since we've ridden JP, or basically a scarier version of Pirates of the Caribbean with a giant T-Rex coming to get you while you get soaked by spitting dinos and a waterfall. The Mummy is like their version of Indiana Jones and was a lot more fun than I remember it being the first time I rode it. Still short though. Transformers is a cool attraction as you tear around a studio, driving and flying in a jeep fighting giant robots. After conquering 4 awesome attractions and lunch by noon, we really had nowhere else to go as lines for The Simpsons and other attractions were pushing the 60 minute mark. I figure when Harry Potter land opens, we'll opt for some season passes and Front of the Line upgrades to really take advantage since we've already experienced everything else in the park.
It was interesting to see so many non-Universal attractions like Shrek, Transformers and The Simpsons accounting for so much real estate. Once upon a time they had theme park rights to Marvel characters but I believe those recently expired, just in time for Disney to utilize the brands at their parks and resorts. I was surprised Back to the Future didn't have much of a presence there beyond a Doc Brown character walking around and some Delorean models for sale in the shops. You'd think they'd have a picture car just hanging out for photos and nostalgia. I mean come on, they had a frigging Mustang from the new Knight Rider show on the tour, not even the old, badass Trans Am one!
Apparently Time Warner customers get Showtime for a free preview this summer, flipping through listings, none other than Judge Dredd was on! This was one of my favorite films growing up after seeing it for a buck at the local second run theater. The scope of the future, the design and brutal violence all made for an excellent 90's sci-fi action flick. Little did I know back then that Dredd was a bit of a flop, unloved by critics and despised by fans of the source material while audiences more or less weren't interested. Based on the cult British comic book that started in 1977, Judge Dredd takes place in an over crowded, post WW III future where millions cram into Mega Cities while the desolate land in between is known as the Cursed Earth. Street Judges are given the power of Judge, Jury and Executioner as they can arrest, convict, sentence and execute criminals on the spot. Armed with a Lawgiver pistol that is DNA coded and fires six kinds of ammo, Judge Dredd sports a helmet he never removes along with shoulder pads and armor as he rides a machine gun equipped Lawmaster motorcycle.
While the comic books never gained the mass appeal of a Batman or Spider-Man in the states, producer Charles M. Lippincott thought Dredd could make for a futuristic version of Dirty Harry and in 1983, secured the rights. Working with independent producer Edward R. Pressman (Conan the Barbarian), the duo set out to find scribes for the film. A small army of writers came and went, including Ed Neumeier (Robocop), Tim Hunter and James Crumley, comic book maestro Howard Chaykin, William Wisher (Terminator 2) and Steven E. de Souza (Die Hard). 1987's law enforcement-satire-western hit Robocop drew much of it's inspiration from Dredd while the project continued to languish. Arnold Schwarzenegger was rumored to be interested but it would be his then rival Sylvester Stallone that gave the project the necessary star wattage to push it closer to production. Cinergi, the company of former Carolco partner Andrew G. Vajna, stepped up to co-finance with distribution coming from Disney's Hollywood Pictures. 27 year old Danny Cannon won the director's job through a mix of his impressive love and knowledge of Dredd, vision of the film and heat from debut film The Young Americans.
Budgeted at a rumored $70 million bucks, Judge Dredd began shooting in England on giant street, prison and the Statue of Liberty sets while utilizing miniatures, matte paintings and CGI. With no Cinergi production executives on set, the young director clashed with star Stallone over the tone of the film which had already been targeted for a PG-13 rating and a Burger King toy-in promotion. Cannon wanted to keep the film serious and violent like the comics while Stallone aimed for an action tale with morality, humor and fun. The film would be given an X rating before downgraded to an R, losing the fast food and toy deals while spurring lawsuits from angry spurned partners in the process. The flick opens with comic book panels filling the screen as we meet freshly released hacker Fergie (Rob Schnieder) as he's dropped off at his new home, Heavenly Haven, a misnamed hell hole filled with gun toting squatters involved in a violent block war. Stallone's Judge Dredd takes out the bad guys with extreme prejudice and sends Fergie back to prison for violating his parole while trying to save his own ass. Seemingly emotionless, Dredd is the most feared Judge on the street and a big problem for Judge Council member Griffin (Jurgen Prochnow) who has more nefarious plans for the Halls of Justice. With manpower in short supply and faced with a growing population, Griffin is all about harsher punishment for lesser crimes. To tip society's scale, Griffin has disgraced former Judge Rico (Armand Assante) freed from prison in order to start a war on the streets.
Like I said, Judge Dredd is great. You're thrown into the flick with Alan Silvestri's big orchestral score, James Earl Jones' narration and a vision of the future that is at once grimy, giant and violent. The film's sense of humor is established early on with memorable gags like an automated food serving droid and Dredd blowing up a car to punish the driver. Sets and costumes are awesome with the city streets crowded, cramped and going high into the sky with neon while Dredd's costume looks straight out of the comic book with a little help from Gianni Versace. The look of the film is immense, detailed and very expensive looking. There's also a giant, menacing mechanical robot bodyguard done practically versus CGI. While many fans were upset Dredd takes off his helmet 17 minutes in, as a non-reader, I was fine with it and let's not forget, the film wouldn't have been made without Stallone's famous mug. The Italian Stallion is solid as Dredd, playing both shouting and over the top while quiet, sad and reserved as he lives in constant solitude and judged his only friend Rico while delivering memorable lines like "I AM THE LAW!" and "I KNEW YOU'D SAY THAT!" with action hero relish. Diane Lane is smart and spunky as love interest and fellow Judge Hershey while Schneider gets a little more screen time than he did in Stallone's previous sci-fi flick Demolition Man as the comedic relief sidekick. The film's cast is deep and excellently filled with Armand Assante, Jurgen Prochnow, Max von Sydow, Joan Chen and James Remar.
The action is both big and close quartered with highlights including Dredd pacifying two rooms filled with heavily armed thugs using Rapid Fire, Grenade, Double Whammy and Armor Piercing shots, a showdown with mutated thugs in the scorched Earth wasteland, a flying motorbikes chase through the skies of the city and a fight on top of the Statue of Liberty. The motorbike chase scene is one I've always remembered since seeing the film nearly 20 years ago as it just felt like a roller coaster and the only thing I can think to compare it to is the speeder bike chase from Return of the Jedi. Sadly all of this would not be enough to save the film upon release on June 30th in 1995. It's $12.2 million take would only be good enough for # 5 behind Apollo 13, Pocahontas, Batman Forever and Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers on it's way to a not great $34.6 mil take. Overseas the film would gross an additional $78 million. While Stallone had scored with a string of R rated thrillers like Cliffhanger, Demolition Man and The Specialist, Judge Dredd was supposed to be a kinder, gentler film meant to capture a young audience. The same gambit did not work for his brothers in arms Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme with family friendly fare The Last Action Hero and Street Fighter. Having just come back a bit from the under performing Rocky V, Oscar and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, Stallone would struggle as high profile and big budget films Assassins and Daylight would disappoint at the U.S. box office.
Director Danny Cannon publicly stated he'd never work with a big star again after clashing with Stallone and found solace in television with credits on CSI, Nikita and Gotham. The decade plus journey from panels to screen would mark Charles M. Lippencott's final producing credit to date while writer William Wisher moved on to another troubled but enjoyable flick, viking epic The 13th Warrior. Steven E. de Souza would reteam with Jean-Claude Van Damme for 1998's Knock Off before guiding Tomb Raider sequel, The Cradle of Life. Years after Dredd's release, de Souza would be blamed for writing an R rated Disney film after Danny Cannon delivered a such a violent piece that it lost promotional deals for toy and fast food tie-ins. In 2012, a medium budget, gritty, more faithful take on the character hit theaters with Karl Urban sporting the helmet as Dredd. Fans and critics liked the film more than Stallone's version but the flick landed with a thud opening weekend with an anemic take of $6.3 million on it's way to a $13 million total and worldwide gross of $35 million, woof! Fans might have gotten the Dredd they always wanted but I found the new flick to be boring, self serious, cheap looking and used way too much CGI and slow motion. Guess that just shows you how unknown the character is and partially validates the original's star driven attempt. Until next time, Judge this!
Our friends over at Beyond Fest dropped their 2015 lineup like a cinematic block of C4 this week as America's most attended genre film festival prepares to take over The Egyptian Theatre for 11 days and nights starting October 1st. A whopping 18 films will have their west coast premiere including Tom Hardy's Double Impact style crime saga Legend as well as the Kurt Russell starring Gothic western Bone Tomahawk. After hosting Goblin for their first United States appearance, Beyond has recruited legendary composer Fabio Frizzi to make his first stateside performance complete with an 8 piece orchestra followed by a rare screening of The Beyond. On the repertory front, Bruce Campbell, Edgar Wright, Savage Steve Holland, Al Pacino and Brett Ratner among many more will be on hand for screenings of Evil Dead, Dog Day Afternoon and Better Off Dead.
I'll probably see you at no less than:
Legend | Thursday, 10.1 | 7:30 PM | West Coast Premiere Better Off Dead | Friday, 10.2 | 7:30 PM | Cast & Crew Reunion with The Meltdown The Evil Dead I & II | Saturday, 10.3 | 7:30 PM | Bruce Campbell and Edgar Wright in Person The Invitation | Monday, 10.5 | 7:30 PM | West Coast Premiere with Cast & Crew BONE TOMAHAWK | Tuesday, 10.6 | 7:30 PM | WC Premiere with S. Craig Zahler & Matthew Fox Dog Day Afternoon | Saturday, 10.10 | 7:30 PM | Al Pacino & Brett Ratner in Person
Phew, gonna be some long days of driving to and from Hollywood but will be totally worth it! Check out the full listing and ticket links HERE. See you at the movies!
After driving up north on Saturday, Sunday morning we headed down to Orange County for a first visit to the Brewer Brothers Model Kit, Hobby & Toy Expo in Huntington Beach. I heard about this show from the great forum over at HissTank.com and thought it would be interesting to check out a new show out of our usual spectrum. I lived in OC for a couple of years, it's a great place to be with open roads designed in squares, easy access to the beach, lots of movie theaters, plenty of food, on and on. Brewer Bro's was held at the Old World Village, a curious outpost across from the new and modern Bella Terra center. Set up like a German village, Old World has restaurants, shops, a bakery and motel in a quaintly designed, near theme park like setting. The show was nothing like we'd ever seen, just tables of models, statues and books focusing mainly on World War II and the military. People were walking out with stacks of model planes and cars to build and paint and I realized that this was a hobby that took more doing than just reading comics or placing action figures on your shelf. It was a pretty happening show, everyone was nice and as often happens we were the youngest attendees there I think. There was even a lunch buffet being served next door and their next show is straight World War II with veterans speaking and a mock air drop!
After some walking around and trying an apple strudel, it was back to the 405 the opposite direction, past home and up to the San Fernando Valley for their Comic Book Convention. Housed in an events center next to a Trader Joe's, the SFVCBC is located caddy corner from the pizzeria Ron Perlman owns in Drive! The show itself was like last week's event at The Reef, just a bunch of tables and a few actors set up selling comics, swag and toys. Exhibitors were nice as I continue to learn about conventions from a business side and how many of these folks don't work out of physical stores, instead traveling the circuit or selling online. Picked up a few cheap comics before we headed over to a friends house in the area where I traded a Rambo III theater program for a fistful of magazines and even a press kit!
A couple of cool videos celebrating the glorious 80's, today! First up is synth artist Gunship with their latest track, Tech Noir. You know, like from The Terminator?! I don't watch too many music videos anymore but this one was just very clever, inspired, fun and violent! Watch as our hero utilizes the power of VHS tapes to rescue the damsel in distress; battling evil icons of the era like Pinhead, Jason and Leatherface while harnessing the power of Robocop, Rocky, He-Man and...a Care Bear?!
Next up is a video sent to me from a Dammaged Goods supporter who attended The Van Damme Double Dip, one Chris Anthony. Mr. Anthony has put together an homage to classic arcade side scrolling brawler Double Dragon, where Billy and Jimmy Lee battle thugs after the death of a lady friend. Martial arts, 8-bit tunes and super knees to the face action ensues. Keep spreading the gospel of the 80's and 90's, my friends!
