Showing posts with label Maxxxine. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Maxxxine. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 31, 2024

The Music at 12 to Midnight

As the comments on this video repeatedly declare, The Music may be the most underrated band of all time. These guys were a powerhouse, and I believe this is a great example of when the industry started to dissolve. If their eponymous debut had been released five, hell maybe even three years prior, this would have been a HUGE record. That, sadly, was not the case. Digging back into their albums yesterday, I was reminded just how much I love them, and this song - man, the guitar on this song reminds me so much of the music for the Nintendo Game Ninja Gaiden it crosses all kinds of wires in my head.

Watch:

Two days ago, Bloody Disgusting ran an article about an upcoming sequel to J. Lee Thompson's 1983 sleazy action flick 10 to Midnight. The sequel, 12 to Midnight, comes 41 years after that original and 21 years after 10 to Midnight's star Charles Bronson passed away at age 81. Here's the news that I have been unable to stop thinking about since first seeing this article - the new film stars a Charles Bronson lookalike named Robert Bronzi as the main character. This is an "unofficial" sequel, so they've swapped out Bronson's Leo Kessler for Toth, but goddamnit! Look at this guy! He is the spitting image of Bronson:

I loved Charles Bronson's action flicks as a kid in the 80s, but I'm pretty sure my folks never let me watch 10 to Midnight. It's grimy as all hell—the killer is a naked man who kills couples out in public in the dead of night. Think The Town That Dreaded Sundown but directed by Andrea Bianchi.

Oh, wait. Did I forget to mention that 12 to Midnight takes a totally different route with their killer and goes all-in for a werewolf? Cuz, yeah, this flick has all kinds of reasons for me to be so all-in on it.

But I really can't get over how much Bronzi looks like Bronson. It's uncanny. I mean, if you spot a Channing Tatum lookalike, no big deal, right? But Charles Bronson was one of the most unique-looking dudes to ever grace the silver screen, so this is just blowing my mind.

12 to Midnight hits VOD today and you can bet your sweet arse I'm watching it ASAP. Also, 10 to Midnight is currently included with Prime. I had a viewing a few weeks back, the night of my first MaXXXine viewing, to be exact. My friend Chris was in and in talking about the influences we saw in Ti West's latest film, I brought up Midnight.

Read:

My good friend and cohost on The Horror Vision, Professor John Trafton, posted a new article on his website about mapping The Dude's Los Angeles in Joel and Ethan Cohen's The Big Lebowski.

It's a fascinating read. I can't recommend it enough. Read the article on John's website HERE. I met John after I found his article on Messiah of Evil. I'd just watched the film for the first time and went looking for something to read about it. Turns out I could find no critical writing except John's, which was fine because he nailed it. I'm always happy to see a new article, especially for a movie I love.

Playlist:

The Music - Eponymous

The Music - Welcome to the North

The Ocean - Precambrian: Proterozoic

The Ocean - Precambrian: Hadean/Archaean

Melvins - (A) Senile Animal

The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs - OST

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

Mannequin Pussy - I Got Heaven

Metropolis - The Darkest Side of the Night (single)

Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE. Also, starting today for the next 30, Grimm's Kickstarter for the Hand of Doom Tarot Art Book is up. Check it out HERE.

• Page of Swords

• II: High Priestess

• Five of Wands

Page of Swords, or the Earthly aspect of the Intellect, flanked by the High Priestess, literally the Will that takes the spark of creativity and gives it form and the five of Wands, quite literally the Conflict of my own self-defeatism.

Read: Stop stalling finish the book.

Friday, July 12, 2024

New Music from The Jesus Lizard!!!

I'm behind everything by a couple of days. Had a friend in town earlier in the week, and between catching up at work after a few days off, digging back into finishing Black Gloves & Broken Hearts after five days away at a crucial point in the novel, and recording podcasts for both MaXXXine and Longlegs, I just haven't had time to do anything else. So here's some awesome new music by one of my all-times. You can pre-order the new album RACK from Ipecac Records HERE, it drops September 13th.

Watch:

In the past week I have seen three movies that I expect will define much of 2024 for me. First, MaXXXine, which I've now seen twice on the big screen and am planning for another round:

I'm in the final stages of editing a HUGE episode The Horror Vision just did on this one. Ti West has been a favorite of mine since I first saw The Roost in 2005, and to see his very distinct filmmaking on the big screen for the first time since I caught The House of the Devil back in 2009 at the old Laemmle's on Sunset (after waiting for it for something like 3 or 4 years), but with a much bigger budget and not in a limited art-house release (I'm in Clarksville for hell's sake; I seriously doubt Hosue of the Devil played in Clarksville, haha) was an awesome experience. MaXXXine has some issues, but none that blind my love for it or the director.

Although I saw Nikhil Nagesh Bhat's Kill last September at opening night of Beyondfest 2023, I am counting my viewing this past Sunday on a big screen in Nashville as the first salvo of what may very well be my favorite film of the year.

This film takes the "Surprise, I'm getting married" trope of Indian Cinema and uses it to propel the best Action-Horror film I've seen since Dog Soldiers, easy. See this on the big screen if you can, and don't worry about the run time. It's a little over two hours, and I won't feel it AT ALL.

Finally, Oz Perkins' Longlegs... I'm not really sure how I feel about this flick after seeing it last night. It's fantastic, no doubt, but something about all of Perkins' films creates a disconnect in me.

You'll read this is the scariest movie of the decade. I think that's a bit much. But it is extremely unnerving, and everyone turns in a fantastic performance, especially Nick Cage, who defies all possible expectation and description with his performance.

The only other really big films I'm still waiting on for the year are Fede Alvarez's Alien: Romulus, Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, and Robert Eggers' Nosferatu. I know there will be other, unexpected greats that filter in here and there, but for now, those are the horizon line. All in all, so far it's been a pretty great year, with Kill and Stop Motion duking it out for my favorite thus far.

Playlist:

Various Artists - The Void

High on Fire - Cometh the Storm

Dean Hurley - Anthology Resource Vol. 1: △△

Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes (single)

Scorpions - Rock You Like a Hurrican (single)

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis

Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• XIV: Temperance

• XX: Judgement

• Page of Wands

XIV is Art in the Thoth deck, a variation that projects a slightly different connotation for me. Having only used Thoth for the first 17 or so years I've been familiar with the cards, this recent switch is something I've not quite worked out yet. Art usually suggests synchronization, often of disparate elements into a pleasurable outcome. Temperance, on the other hand, suggests Balance, which is and is not the same. Seeing this card here and thinking about it, I take this as a definite nod to balance some of the uneven and, frankly, negative emotions/thoughts that have ruled my head of late. Taken with XX - ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES - and the Page (Princess) of Wands, or the Earthly aspect of Fire, I'd say this is a Pull that suggests I really have some work to do on myself in order to regain the mental/emotional balance I've kind of misplaced the last two weeks or so

Monday, July 1, 2024

Hellboy's Evil Eye

From Valkyrie's 2020 album Fear, I dug this one back out recently, and although I did really like it at first introduction, I haven't really given it much play lately. That's changing - this is a fantastic record and one that seems stuck in my current rotation. Also, just realized Valkyrie released a follow-up in 2021 that I haven't heard yet. That's about to change...

You can check Valkyrie out on their Bandcamp HERE or on Relapse Records' site HERE.

Watch:

I skipped the Neil Marshal Hellboy film from a few years ago because, from everything I read at the time, Marshall's version of the film is not the one that ended up being released. Sure, David Harbour had huge shoes to fill (literally) stepping in as a replacement for Ron Pearlman, but Harbour's no slouch in my book, and I'd expect he did a great job. A few people I know who saw it gave it favorable reviews, but I just don't know - when I read that the Director didn't go to the review because he felt his film had been trifled with, well, I lost interest.

Now we have a whole new Hellboy coming in, and honestly, I'm excited (and I appear to be alone). I won't get my hopes up too high, but seeing that Mignola and Golden wrote the script and were heavily involved, well, that definitely bodes well. Also, hot damn if Jack Kesy doesn't almost look like Pearlman while in makeup. Here's the trailer that Bloody Disgusting posted yesterday; read their more in-depth article HERE.

Directed by Brian Taylor, who will forever be in my good book for the Crank films and HAPPY!, it's looking like Millenium Media has pulled off a great new starting point for more Hellboy films, especially seeing that they have definitively stated Hellboy: The Crooked Man is an R-rated Folk Horror Film.

Read:

The latest issue of Fangoria arrived late last week, and it's killing me that most of the articles inside are about movies I'm already chomping at the bit to see. The newsstand cover is Ti West's Maxxxine, but the subscriber cover is, well, apparently a secret:

I've looked around online, and although the embargo has been broken, it hasn't been broken much, and not by Fangoria itself, so I'm playing it cool and only going to post the cover as they have teased it. Regardless, I LOVE this.

Playlist:

Audio Commentary - A Field In England

Zombi - Direct Inject

Valkyrie - Fear

Beyond the Void Podcast: Director of The Coffee Table - Caye Casas

The Revolting Cocks - Beers, Steers and Queers

The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me

Deafheaven - Infinite Granite

Tina Turner - Private Dancer

Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Four of Cups

• Ten of Swords

• Six of Wands

A solid foundation for emotional support during a climatic time that, ultimately leads to harmony.

Yeah, that's about as vague a reading as I've ever posted here. I'm dancing around shit I don't want to recognize at the moment, and the cards seem to understand that; like they're drawing it out of me. Which, of course, is what they do because the cards aren't magick, they're just windows into our subconscious.

Friday, June 21, 2024

New Music From The Mysterines!

Another fantastic new track from The Mysterines' upcoming Afraid of Tomorrows album, out this Friday, June 21st. You can pre-order the album HERE.

Watch:

On Tuesday night, K and I went to see the one-night-only re-release of Ti West's X at our local Regal. This screening was followed by a "sneak peek" of West's upcoming third film in the trilogy, Maxxxine.

The "sneak peek" was basically the opening scene of the film. The real talking point here is seeing X again on the big screen. This is my third or fourth time doing so, but first since watching Pearl. Talk about a prequel shedding some serious light on the original film!

K said it best when she wished for an article that might point to whether these were all written together. My understanding (based on what I remember from an interview West did on the Colours of the Dark Podcast HERE) is that upon arriving in New Zealand to film X, the cast and crew had to quarantine for three or four weeks, and during that time, West and Goth conceived and wrote Pearl. My guess is from there, they had ideas to continue Maxine's story and A24 greenlit it the moment they realized what a good thing they had going.

As I intimated above, watching X again for the first time since seeing the prequel, I have to say that Pearl's character resonates in a completely different and affecting way than when just experienced in the first film. There was already an element of that, thanks to the moments West steals in X to show the character's fragile longing (the "Landslide" scene). Now, however, Pearl becomes at once more frightening and more sympathetic—not an easy task for a filmmaker to achieve.

I've been a fan of Ti West since I first saw 2005's The Roost, thanks to my good friend Dennis' knowledge and knack for curation at the time. From the first mention of House of the Devil until the film's release, I waited for what felt like years, and I've watched the man grow as a filmmaker, always hoping for success on the level he has now experienced. There's a bit of a cultural fever pitch surrounding Maxxxine's release - one that seems to transcend Horror circles - and I can't wait to sit down and watch the end of the character's story play out surrounded by what I now assume will be a bit more people than I'm used to seeing at Horror screenings in Clarksville.

Hell yeah.

Read:

I finished FantasticLand several days ago and was pretty much left breathless. This one affected me deeply; I'm seeing shades of the worst humanity has to offer echo in my perception of the world around me, and it's a bit disorienting. Based on that, I decided to switch it up and finally dig into my good friend and Horror Vision cohost John Trafton's latest book, Movie Made Los Angeles.

This is exactly what I need at the moment: a scholarly discourse about the nuances and intangible nature of the Cultural Economy of Los Angeles and how it became the mythic location it is in the world's mind. I'm forced to slow down and really "chew" what I'm reading, which is a good thing. I can feel my brain working in ways fiction just does not utilize.

You can order this one anywhere books are sold. You can also check out John's writing on his website, Johntrafton.com. I recommend starting with one of these two articles right HERE or HERE.

Playlist:

Riz Ortolani Feat. Katyna Ranieri - Oh My Love (single)

Molly Nilsson - Excalibur (single)

Mr. Twin Sister - In Heaven

Julie Christmas - Ridiculous and Full of Blood (single)

Jim Williams - Possessor OST

Tim Hecker - Infinity Pool OST

Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies EP

Alice in Chains - What the Hell Have I? (single)

Alice in Chains - A Little Bitter (single)

Megadeth - Angry Again (single)

Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?

Alice in Chains - Dirt

Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction

Black Sabbath - Sabotage

Ozzy Osbourne - Patient Number 9

Pulling out the Thoth Deck for this morning's Pull:

• Prince of Cups

• Ten of Wands: Oppression

• VII: The Chariot

Emotional Intelligence creates the opportunity to emerge from a trying situation Victorious!

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Maxxxine!

I woke up the morning of the Eclipse with the B-Side of Soundgarden's final album Down on the Upside. Giving this one a spin always takes me back.

Watch:

Ti West's Maxxxine finally gets a trailer! Yeah, I know I always bitch about trailers, but I am so excited for this one there was no way I wasn't watching it at least once.

I don't need any press to get me pumped for this one, as to say I've been waiting for it since that first after-credits tease at the end of Pearl's credits would be an understatement. I've been a West fan since I first saw The Roost back in 2005; I remember waiting what seemed an eternity for House of the Devil, and seeing him get a huge boost in the Horror community from that movie. That boost was nothing compared to the one he's had with this X trilogy, and I fully expect Maxxxine to further that.

July 5th cannot come fast enough.

NCBD:

Fairly big week and I'm pretty psyched for some of these, especially

This issue will round out the second volume of Jeff Lemire & Gabriel H. Walta's Phantom Road. This book is getting weirder and weirder.

The Penultimate issue of Al Ewing & Luciano Vecchio's Resurrection of Magneto. I've LOVED this one, and I'm super curious to see how it resolves, even if I most likely won't be sticking around afterward. There's such an interesting 'metaphysical' aspect to this book, and where that can often go wrong and incur a big eyeroll, Ewing always does that kind of thing correctly.

Starscream verses Soundwave? F**k yeah!

Christopher Yost and Val Rodrigues's Unnatural Order ends its first arc with this fourth issue. Great series so far; I'm digging the blend of Pre-history and future space, Vikings and Picts and Tech. Kind of a throwback, in some ways, to a lot of 80s SciFi Fantasy comics.

Despite my initial misgivings, I really dug the first issue of What if... Carter Burke had lived. Looking forward to where this is going.

Also, I thought I'd try a new book that technically came out last week:

I don't know anything about this one, but the title grabbed me right away.

Playlist:

Soundgarden - Down on the Upside

Bauhaus - The Sky's Gone Out

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Talk About the Weather

Drug Church - Hygiene

Jim Williams - Possessor OST

Thee More Shallows - More Deep Cuts

Final - Solaris

Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

Some friends drove down from Chicago this past weekend and, after hanging out for the weekend, we drove out to Paducah, KY for the Eclipse on Monday, April 8th. From that location, we experienced totality, which was crazy awesome. Totality lasted for about two minutes; during that time, I made sure to pull one card.

Six of Swords. In the Thoth deck, this card is "Science;" it can indicate objectivity and clarity, a healthy balance of emotions and intellect. Also, this card may indicate a good time to make a decision.

In my grimoire, I also have this added, "I can see clearly now the rain is gone." I find that last bit particularly interesting, in that it's been raining all week, and literally just seems to have stopped.

Other attributes for this card include Innovation and experimentation.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)