Saturday 25 May
 
 
DVD reviews

The Burning

It speaks to the strength of The Burning’s reputation among cult-film fans that what’s most memorable about the 1981 slasher is not that it was written by the Weinstein brothers, nor that it represents early appearances of the likes of Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens. It’s that its Cropsy is just a damned good villain.
05/24/2013 | Comments 0

Dexter: The Seventh Season

There's no way to discuss the seventh and penultimate season of Showtime's hit Dexter without acknowledging how the previous year ended. Therefore, if you haven't finished the sixth season, stop reading now. You've got work to do.
05/21/2013 | Comments 0

Nightfall

As Simon Lam gets older, he gets better. The veteran actor has appeared in such in seminal HK action films of the 1990s as Once Upon a Time in China (opposite Jet Li) and Bullet in the Head (directed by John Woo); in the aughts, he graced audience and critical favorites Election and Ip Man.
05/20/2013 | Comments 0

Grand Duel

Lee Van Cleef enjoyed a secondary career in Italy cranking out spaghetti Westerns, with little regard to quality. However, 1972’s Grand Duel — aka The Big Showdown — is deserving of its Grand label. No wonder Quentin Tarantino borrowed its sweeping theme song by Luis Bacalov for Kill Bill; you'll recognize it in two notes.
05/20/2013 | Comments 0

The Last Stand

Early in The Last Stand, the small-town sheriff played by Arnold Schwarzenegger says, "It's my day off. Should be a quiet weekend." That's the new way of saying, "I've got one week to retirement," because it signals — with flashing neon and everything — that life is going to royally upend those plans.
05/17/2013 | Comments 0

Happy deadCENTER day!


What you can find about the fest in today’s issue.

By Rod Lott June 6th, 2012
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As tweeted a few minutes ago by Tracey Zeeck, today’s issue of Oklahoma Gazette is indeed deadCENTER-ific.

Here’s why:

• First, colleague Phil Bacharach and I interviewed five directors about their Okie-connected movies, all showing at the festival. That includes actress Famke Janssen, who makes her behind-the-camera debut with the dramedy Bringing Up Bobby, which was shot here; and Lance McDaniel with the Chris Kattan comedy, Just Crazy Enough, also shot here.

With lesser star power but no dip in quality, there’s also the revenge flick The Unusual (Calling of) Charlie Christmas, the documentary Where Did the Horny Toad Go? and the comedy Cinema Six.

• Secondly, Phil and I also review six films beyond the above that you don’t want to miss, whether because it’s really, really good or, in the case of Keyhole, because it’s an utter mind-rape.

• Thirdly, Susannah Waite discusses the special Native American films showing at deadCENTER, as part of a whole weekend of tribal culture in the metro that extends to the Red Earth Festival and the Jim Thorpe Games.

• And finally — whew! — in the middle of today’s issue is a four-page advertising section from deadCENTER that includes a handy, pull-out schedule. (Oh, and wrapped inside that? The primary ballot for Gazette’s Best of OKC 2012 readers’ poll!)

Unrelated to deadCENTER, but still all about movies, we spotlight two indie films currently playing in the metro that are outstanding: the brainy sci-fi drama Sound of My Voice, about a cult, and Jack Black as a lovable murderer in Bernie, which is about as far from Kung Fu Panda 2 as he could get.

Staying at home? Be sure to consult our DVD and Blu-ray reviews, which is updated on a near-daily basis. Many suggestions — and warnings — reside there.

This weekend, you have absolutely no excuse not to see something.  —Rod Lott

 
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