Wednesday 22 January 2014

Sharknado : Old Reg Jumps the Shark.

 
Cool cartoon shark. Vector illustration with simple gradients. All in a single layer. - stock vector
 
Who don't want to see a bleedin' flick called Sharknado? The owner of the Abandoned Video Shop, that's who. He told me to watch that rubbish by meself, well his loss.
I think Sharknado is based on a true story, because I seem to remember something like that happening. You see a massive storm hits L.A. ( Los Angeles, not Little 'Ampton ) and loads of sharks come in land and get swirled up in these tornado's, hence the name of the flick. They don't just throw this old rubbish together you know. And you learn things from these flicks, who knew sharks could not only thrive out of water, but fly quite well. David Attenborough don't tell you that kind of useful stuff, you have to get it from bleedin' Sharknado. Anyway, it's also about a family torn apart (at times literally ) coming back together through the every day adversity of hungry, flying sharks. The cast is mainly actors whose careers will never take off and those on the slide. You don't star in Sharknado if everything in the garden is rosy now do you? The special effects are some of the best I've seen, but I didn't have me bleedin' glasses on, so I could be wrong there. The end got a bit silly, two people cutting their way out of a shark was a bit far fetched, spoiling the well researched authenticity of all that had gone before. No matter what you think of Sharknado, I know I'll feel a little more weary next time I walk around Eastbourne pier.
Old bleedin' Reg. 

Tuesday 21 January 2014

Twixt : A Tale of Two Coppola's.

"Well there must be two bleedin' Francis Ford Coppola's," Old Reg said after we finished Twixt the second film we pulled out of our big box of videos given to us by Mr. Apollyon. And I have to agree with him. Twixt was written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and it is not only a million miles from his best, this might well be his worst.
Val Kilmer plays Hall Baltimore a down on his luck horror writer, who while on an unsuccessful book tour is asked by the local sheriff ( Bruce Dern ) to view a body in the morgue. I'm sure it happens more than you think. Well this leads to all sorts of dull, inconsequential  shenanigans as the film lurches and lumbers  making the 90 minute running time feel interminable. Baltimore starts having nightmares haunted by Edgar Allan Poe ( Ben Chaplin ), these dream sequences look like all the stuff that was left on the cutting room floor from Twin Peaks. And only adds to the complete lack of suspense that pervades Twixt.  The whole thing is not helped by Val Kilmer who gives sleepwalking through a performance a bad name. There's not much point in saying much more, only that if you are ever unlucky enough to have the opportunity to watch Twixt, just refuse the offer. Decorum forbids me telling you what Old Reg thought of it.
The Owner 

Monday 20 January 2014

Byzantium : Vampires Doing What They Should.

Every January Mr. Appolyon brings in a big box of videos and slings them on the floor saying :
"See what you two make of that lot."
In truth me and Old Reg enjoy this yearly ritual, it gets us away from the Dolph Lundgren and Molly Ringwald videos we spend all year tending to at The Abandoned Video Shop. We look at that box of vids as our Cannes Film Festival.  
The first one Old Reg picked out was Byzantium. Our hearts sank a bit when we saw it was vampires. These days vampires are all callow youths and doe eyed girls, but thankfully Byzantium  wasn't like that.
 "Gemma Arterton's in it," Old Reg said trying to sound matter of fact but he has had a crush on her ever since she wandered around in those cut down jeans in Tamara Drewe.
Anyway Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan play Cara and Eleanor a particularly blood thirsty mother and daughter  who take up residence in a run down Hastings hotel, like they wouldn't be spoilt for choice there. They are hiding out from a shadowy group of uber vampires, yep there's always a shadowy group of uber vampires. But, just for a change, there is a very involving and quite complex flash back story. Director Neil Jordan (this is his best film for a while ) keeps the whole thing moving at a fair old pace and it is well played by all concerned. But it is nice to see vampires back doing what they should, ripping things apart and bathed in blood. Edward and Bella wouldn't last two seconds with Cara. Byzantium got our box of videos festival off to a good start. But as Old Reg said : "There are a lot bleedin' worse things in Hastings than vampires."
The Owner