Good afternoon all,
Our friends at Silver Bullet Pictures are casting for a new film being shot this summer in the MI. Cast and crew auditions are being held April 21 and 28. Hope to see you all there.
Regards,
F
The Number 23
Starring: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen
Directed By: Joel Schumacher
Jim Carrey’s wife, played by Virginia Madsen, finds a book called ‘The Number 23′ which
Carrey’s character reads and becomes convinced of the power of the number 23. He also
feels somehow he is connected to this book. He sets off on a journey to find the author
and an explanation of the book. This was a very dark movie both subject and lighting. I’m
not a big fan of Schumacher who directed this. It reminded my of David Lynch Lite. It
held back from the full punch this movie could have taken. Some people couldn’t get past
the numerology. I saw the numerology as just a background to the characters story which
was entertaining. The point about the numerology was made several times but also the
over use was mentioned as well. Jim Carrey gave a strong performance playing two
characters, the lead and the man in the book. The ending wasn’t a big shocker. I would
wait till video before being haunted by 23’s.
Snakes On A Plane
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Juliana Margulies
Directed By: David R. Ellis
Funnest movie I’ve seen in a long, long time. Not the funniest, not the scariest, not the
most action packed, but it was damn fun. Sam Jackson is just a bad ass. Great to watch on
screen, makes me wish I saw this at the theaters. Cool death scenes thanks to the
director’s practice on Final Destination 2. I don’t have to explain the plot, it’s in the title.
Just watch this movie….NOW!!
Little Miss Sunshine
Starring: Abigail Breslin, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin, Toni Collette,
Steve Carell
Directed By: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
The most Feel Good movie of the year. A family of misfits take a little girl on a road trip
to the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Contest. Great laughs in this movie. I’m gonna make
some enemies here but I wanted it to win Best Picture. The whole tone of the movie was
positive and supportive. Child actors are great when nobody knows them. They are fresh
and open to act. Abigail Breslin was the most like a real child I’ve seen in movies. The
rest of the cast were excellent in their characters. Very complex mix of personalities
which made it feel so real. The directors seem to have only done music videos till this
point. They have made a very enjoyable film. Good for multiple viewings.
The Perfect Score
Starring: Erika Christensen, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Bryan Greenberg,
Darius Miles, Leonardo Nam
Directed By: Brian Robbins
The guy from Head Of The Class is back with another movie. The story of kids trying to
steal the answers to the SATs. Scarlett Johansson HOT! Erika Christensen Girl Next
Door HOT! Leonardo Nam STOOOOONED!! A fun little waste of time. They need to
show this on FX or Comedy Central. Wouldn’t go out of my way to see it, but if your
looking for something where you don’t have to invest a lot into, get this.
Green Street Hooligans
Starring: Elijah Wood, Claire Forlani, Charlie Hunnam, Marc Warren
Directed By: Lexi Alexander
Bubbles! Bubbles! Green Street Elite! Awesome Freaking Movie! Elijah Wood gets
kicked out of Harvard, flies across the pond, and joins a group of ‘football’ fanatics. Elijah
Wood has been showing up in some pretty cool movies lately. Just being in Sin City and
the character he played in that he’s alright, even if he is Frodo. First, go to the pub, get
drunk, go to the game, get into a fight then go back to the pub. Friends become brothers
and brothers stick by each other till the end. Loyalties and respect. Revenge and loss. Past
haunting them. These are many of the themes in the film. Blood is spilt before the end
and vengeance is dealt in spades. Do yourself a favor and rent this. If you liked The
Departed and Boondock Saints, you will like Green Street Hooligans.
The Devil Wears Prada
Starring: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, Adrian Grenier
Directed By: David Frankel
Okay, you can laugh……….are you done. No? Okay………….Now that you got that out
here’s the review. Journalism major gets job at snobbish fashion magazine. Boss is a
bitch, hilarity ensues. This movie is good at what it does. It’s like a bubble gum pop song.
You know all the beats and when the chorus is coming. It doesn’t necessarily make this a
bad movie, just predictable. It was like a long sitcom. Ahhh….Wait, I got an idea for a
sitcom. Meryl Streep is good in this movie. It is hard to play a hated and loved character
and do it with comedy. I have to give her credit for carrying this movie. Oh, and the
beginning of this film is girls in lingerie. It is set up for a certain audience and I am not
one of them. This will be shown countless times on Oxygen and Lifetime perhaps even
USA or TNT. Just wait, do not rent.
Ok, so my broken Japanese to English translation is a bit off….
Looking though our traffic monitoring program the other day I realized one thing, people find us in weird ways. How Google search strings people to us with the phrase “martin riggs Halloween costume” is beyond my simple comprehension of this thing called internet. So in an effort to find out how you all get here and hopefully drive some traffic. Motor D Films is proud to present the first annual Win Big Happy! Contest.
The Rules are as follows:
*Find the funniest, strangest, or weirdest search engine word combination that leads you to motordfilms.com
*Contest open now through March 1.
*All entries must be sent to frank@motordfilms.com with the words “Win Big Happy! Contest Entry in the subject heading.
Simple, fun, and to the point.
The winner will be judged solely through the demented minds of the Motor D Films staff of trained helper monkeys.
Oh, and more importantly the grand prize:
*1 autographed copy of “The Fistfull of Stupids Sampler Vol. 1″
*1 autographed copy of “Fundraiser: The Movie”
*1 autographed copy of “Methods of the Macabre Vol.1″
* 1 autographed mini poster of “Detroit Blood City” suitable for framing and available here before it is available for purchase.
*Plus a chance to make yourself heard on the Motor D Films website with a special guest posting entitled, “Why I am a winner and you are not”
Hey, who doesn’t like free stuff. So have fun!
Frank
Even though I’ve moved to the Great White North, my video reviews shall continue. There being only one movie theater up here, my selections are limited. Plus, this theater is only open week day nights and all day weekends. Ten screens, ten to twelve movies at a time. Let’s add on to that Family Video is the only video store up here and I, as of yet, do not own a video card. I am now in the process of rewatching the Sopranos. So in that spirit, Let’s Review!
The Departed
Starring Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen
Directed by Martin Scorsese
First, the reason I went to see this was Martin Scorsese. I really haven’t seen anything great from him since Casino. The Aviator was alright but it kind of dragged a little. Gangs of New York was muddled and didn’t carry me through the movie. I had a completely different experience with The Departed. The story moved in a way, that I never sat waiting for the next scene. It kept me in the moment, which forced me not to think about how it was going to end. A good director, doing what he does best, will accomplish this. The second thing that drew me to this movie was the actors. Jack Nicholson alone will get me to look at a movie. One of the most versatile actors out there. He can do drama, comedy, horror, hell he could do sci-fi if he wanted to. Leonardo DiCaprio is so hyped that I don’t think he gets enough credit for being a great actor. When I first saw him in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? I knew he was a great actor. Then that big, bloated boat movie came along and stunk up the screen for 3 hours. We get it, the boat sinks, big surprise. Anyway, to get back on track, Leo does an awesome job here getting pushed into being a mob informant on Nicholson’s insane portrayal of a crime boss gone crazy. Matt Damon plays the opposite of Leo’s character as a spy in the house of Hoover. Not the vacuum guy. Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg round out the cast as FBI agents pushing Leo’s character deeper into the pile he’s already got himself into. Oscar nominations should abound for this movie. If you want a moving plot, excellent acting and a few twist at the end then this is the movie.
Rocky Balboa
Starring Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Geraldine Hughes
Directed by Sylvester Stallone
YO, ADRIAN!!!!!! I couldn’t resist. I love the Rocky movies. I think we could all have done without Rocky V but every series of movies has a rotten egg, Rocky V sucked the egg dry. Thank God, Rocky Balboa does not follow this trend. This Rocky goes back to his roots. Rocky lives in the same neighborhood, sees the same spots of his youth. Adrian died, he doesn’t see his son much, and he is stuck telling stories of his past triumphs. A computer reacts what would happen if Rocky took on the new champ. Rocky would win. Has Rocky still got it? If you liked the first Rocky movie, you will like Rocky Balboa. Once again another actor overshadowed by hype. Stallone can give so many emotions just by looks. Everyone is so concerned with dialogue these days; no one watches the subtle things that make a character. Burt Young, Paulie, plays the hell out of his role. It’s not expected but he puts a spin on Paulie that we never saw in the other movies. The rest of the cast is enough to support these great actors. Geraldine Hughes, who plays Marie, surprised me; she brought a different feel to the movie. A sense of time passing. The fight scenes are awesome, though not as good as the original. I liked how they show the fight like you were watching it on pay-per-view, then cut to in the ring fight. Just a very satisfying movie experience.
Cars
Voices by Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, John Ratzenberger
Directed by John Lasseter, Joe Ranft
Pixar makes great movie period. Toy Story 1&2, Monster’s Inc, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles. All of these are fun, enjoyable movies. You don’t have to invest a lot into these movies, but they have such a big payoff. They work on both a child’s level and an adult level that makes them rewatchable. A moral story, hummable songs, and a few laughs keeps you entertained. Pixar has the formula Disney had in the late eighties; the only difference is Pixar’s ideas have originality. I can’t recommend this movie enough.
The Da Vinci Code
Starring Tom Hanks, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany, Ian McKellan, Audrey Tautou
Directed by Ron Howard
Read the book. I first saw this at the theaters and didn’t like it. I didn’t like Tom Hanks as Langdon. The plot was really slow and it held your hand throughout the movie. After watching it again on DVD, I still don’t like Tom Hanks as Langdon but the plot and pacing has worked out for me. If you haven’t read the book, this movie is probably better than if you had. Too many great scenes that don’t translate in this film. Angels & Demons should make a much better movie than Da Vinci Code. Also, the controversy over this movie is outrageous. Once again this is fiction. Believe what you will, just enjoy the ride. Try this movie, I’m not really hooked.
The Karate Kid Part 3
Starring Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita
Directed by John G. Avildsen
Danielson’s back again for another battle against the Cobra Kai. Mr. Miyagi, with help from Danielson, opens a Bonsai store. The Cobra Kai sensei, John Krease, gets help from an old Vietnam friend to rid himself of meddlesome Daniel and his teacher. Ultimately, fighting once again in the All Valley Karate Championship, Daniel triumphs once again. Other than that it’s a pretty good movie and has more focus than the first two movies. Surprisingly, I liked this movie. Remember only seeing it once before, not sure if I liked it then.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Really wanted to like this movie. Went out and bought it the day it came out. Didn’t see it at the movies. Just by how much I liked the first one, I thought I’d like this one. It’s just more of the same. Which done by these actors isn’t all that bad, but I was expecting the bar to be raised. Maybe after multiple viewings I’ll like this movie better. Johnny Depp does the same joke through the whole movie, Orlando Bloom has the same goal, the only one who has changed a little is Keira Knightley who is, if you’ve seen Domino, smokin’ HOT. Then, I kept hearing about the surprise at the end. So I thought it was going to be something cool. Most disappointed I’ve been at the end of a movie in a long time. This is not a bad movie; just my expectations for this movie hindered it from being enjoyable. That’s all I’ve got for now maybe I’ll have more in a couple of weeks. Miami Vice, Talladega Nights are under the tree just waiting for my reviews. My nephew got Superman Returns too, so I’ll probably watch that one again. Really didn’t like it in the theaters. Until then Demonic Weber signing off.
Last year when Motor D hit Dark Xmas ‘05 we learned a valuable lesson - even if you don’t sell a pile of DVD’s, it is still fun to get drunk in the hotel bar with a bunch of freaks and skanks. Dark Xmas ‘06 taught us that hanging out in an abandoned hotel restaurant listening to a screaming contest is not as much fun, although selling more than twice the merchandise is pretty cool.
Moved from Warren, Ohio to Austintown (also known as the poor mans youngstown) - Dark Xmas ought6 took up residence at the America’s Best Value Inn and Suites, which I can assure you is neither a value or sweet. At $45 a night one would think any lodging establishment with running water would be a bargain, yeah, well one would think otherwise after staying at the ABV (and suites).
You know those investigative reports where reporters take black lights into hotel rooms to show off bodily fluids in the linens? Here the reporters bring in a Geiger Counter and antibiotics. I’m pretty sure I got herpes just from checking in, although it could have been when Mike Hartman of Silver Bullett Pictures shook my hand, who knows.
Oh yeah - there was a convention!!!!
I almost forgot about Ken Foree and Michael Berryman - stars of classic films such as The Devil’s Rejects, The Hills Have Eyes and Dawn Of The Dead. I actually did forget about Bill Moseley from House Of 1000 Corpses, it seems he forget about himself too since this was the second straight year he was on the guest list and didn’t show up…..but who did show you ask? Well lemme tell you somethin…..
Cerina Vincent from Cabin Fever
Danielle Harris of Halloween 4 & 5
Children Of The Corn star Courtney Gains….He was in Back To The Future for like 8 seconds and lists it at the top of his resume like he was a star, what a douchebag. Some people might knock me for calling him a douchebag, but seriously, if I can’t call Courtney Freakin’ Gains a douchebag than I am an absolute nothing in the film industry.
Oh yeah, also appearing were Barbara Nedeljakova of Hostel fame and our sweet ass super fuckin cool convention neighbor Brenna Lee Roth - star of numerous B horror films and also a singer with the band Bosworth, she was kind enough to pose for some photos, which are featured in our store, where you can buy our shit, which you should do right now…..
fine, buy shit after you finish reading.
Motor D graphic arts guru and all around nerdophile Darian whipped up a phenomonal new poster design that we unveiled for the first time, check it out…….
We made big playa style cash money dollars selling our fantastic and reasonably priced DVD’s, which of course you can purchase through our store, and even got half drunk in a mexican restaurant. We really felt like losers until everyone else including Michael Berryman followed suit and crashed Salsita’s with us. 4 pitchers and a plate of nachos later Motor D and Silver Bullett wrecked a hotel room and drank a case of Genny lights while staring out at the hotel pool….check it out!
All in all it was a weekend in another state with nerds and stuff, but it was cool.
The only thing that could have made it cooler was Skankasaurus dancing on a table while Carl Merritt blared Skid Row cassette tapes on his ghetto blaster. I wonder what she’s doing now…..oh that’s right, she’s pimping amateur Ohio wrestling through her own sexy website, don’t believe me, visit skankasaurus on the web at www.amandafire.com
I’ll never forget the look of defeat in her eyes when we saw her emerge from that dirty old mans hotel room last year after a bender that would have put Hemmingway in a coma.
Despite Carl Merritt and his “promo team” skipping this years event, we still had fun. Mike Hartman sold sleazy pictures of his wife Sherrie in order to buy that Bahama Mama hot dog from the gas station he’d been dreaming of, Darian got a speeding ticket, Frank got to hang out with Toby Radloff again and me, what did I get…..I won’t ruin it, you go ahead and insert your own joke.
Now go buy some fuckin DVD’s ya deadbeats
Howdy all,
Here’s three quick reviews from local moviephile Weber or Demonic Weber as he is known in some circles. Great choices if you are looking for something to keep you entertained in doors that does not involve either crisco or twister.
Enjoy,
Frank
So I go to the video store, find couple of movies before the ballgames start. Tigers kicked the Yankees asses and Michigan beat Michigan State. Anyway, at the video store I find two movies, take them up to the counter. “We’re having a deal,” the clerk informs me “three for $9.99.” I jump for joy, all my dreams answered, I get to leave line and find another great movie to enjoy. Searching the shelves hoping to find that one movie that jumps at me, even though I just spent 10 hours to find two that were worthy of my superior taste. Coming back in disappointment to the counter, I spot it. The Return Tray. Was there a movie there that I miss looked? Is there some out there that had better taste in movies and rented a great movie and brought it back just for me? Or did they hate it, returned it early only to tempt my curiosity? Curious George must have been a fine film. A character worshiped by so many….. First graders. And I, I have so much in common with first graders. Then, I see it a treasure in the midst of trash. The golden print. The holy grail of moviedom. I take the movie to the clerk. “This is the movie I want.”, I proclaim with great confidence as the customers in line cheered. I found the perfect movie. Rushing home as fast as I can I whip into the garage, slam open the door, turn the TV on and pull the movie out of the case. Curious Friggin George. O cruel fate, the shame I felt as I loaded my DVD player could not be measured. By the way, if you believed a word of this story, you see what movies I reviewed. It’s all about misdirection.
REVIEWS…
THE PROPOSITION
Starring Guy Pearce (LA Confidential)
Charlie, played by Pearce, finds himself screwed over when he has to chose to either watch his younger (good) brother hang on Christmas Day or track down and kill his older (evil) brother. A grisly shoot out at the beginning of this movie suddenly stops and slows to a crawl in a character study of good versus evil. Half way through the film, the line between good and evil blurs. Can Charlie kill his brother? Can he let his younger brother swing from the gallows? Does evil beget evil? If a good person can become evil, can a evil person become good? The acting though not Oscar worthy delivers on intent but not in depth. A very good western but then again what is good?DOWN IN THE VALLEY
Starring Edward Norton (Primal Fear, Fight Club) David Morse (St. Elsewhere, The Negotiator)Edward Norton surprises you every time you see him. He changes characters so often, even within the same film (Primal Fear), that you’re never sure what to believe from him. In Down In The Valley, he plays a gee-golly aw-shucks cowboy, Harlan, from South Dakota who falls for a young girl in the Valley. The father of the girl, played by David Morse, doesn’t trust Harlan or believe his wholesome image. Slow moving at the beginning but picks up a lot near the last quarter, you wonder if it’s ever going to get where it’s going. It not only gets where it’s going but twists and goes somewhere you’re not quite expecting. The ending was a little disappointing perhaps confusing. Still a really fun ride when you’re with Norton.
LUCKY # SLEVIN
Starring Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor, Sin City) Bruce Willis (Hudson Hawk, Four Rooms) Lucy Liu (Kill Bill, Charlie’s Angels) Morgan Freeman (Unleashed, Dreamcatcher) Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Dave) Stanley TucciTypical setup pit two warring gangsters (Freeman and Kingsley) against one another, the exception is a stooge caught in the middle, Slevin (Hartnett). Every one’s against Slevin, he’s been beat up, robbed, mistaken for a gambler who owes some big debts, and his girlfriend’s cheating on him. This doesn’t bother Slevin one bit, through it all he just keeps smiling. Misdirection in this movie is a character own its own. Than once The Usual Suspects comes to mind in that you’re trying to put the pieces together. Good acting all around balance the glossy feel the film has. A well rounded movie.
Of the three above movies, my pick would be Lucky # Slevin. The others are great movies but you didn’t need to get through the slow parts in Slevin. Funnily enough, Slevin is the longest of these movies. Hope you found the reviews useful.
Give Em A Chance
-WEBER
Contributed by Weber
Methods is now available at:
Wunderground Magic Shop
16 South Main Street
Clawson, MI 48017
(248) 280-5925
Check it out!
Hey kids,
Motor D Films is proud to announce that the ultimate DVD of makeup and F/X for Halloween, Methods of the Macabre Volume 1, is now in stores in the Detroit area.
Now available at:
Lauer’s Novelties and Costumes
28063 Gratiot Ave
Roseville, MI 48066
(734) 775-0030
Just north of 696 on Gratiot, right next to Chester Boot Shop.
So if you are looking to start your career in effects or need ideas for that killer Halloween costume, this is the DVD and place for it.
Greetings friends,
Below you will find the first of many contributions by the star of the epic Motor D short film, Interview with the Vampire: The Count Chocula Story and the still unfinished masterpiece Coxalot, Mr. David Kandt. For those of you who have never met him or had the pleasure to watch a film with him, Dave displays a child-like wonder to every film he sees. It reminds me of the same youthful exuberance of a young boy who discovers that you can kind of see a boob in the scrambled porn stations on the old school cable hook-ups.
Enjoy
Frank
Snakes on a plane… Has the world ever created a greater killer? Consider time,
disease, famine, war, zombies, misfortune and even bad luck; these things are
nothing in the face of the imminent danger presented to us by a pile of snakes on an
in flight plane. I’m sorry, that’s “mother fucking snakes on a mother fucking
plane”, to be precise.
This movie will undoubtedly receive all kinds of theatrical criticism for lack of
plot, character development, special effects, creativity and cinematography. But
those are all easy opinions to hold because it’s easy to beat a guy when he’s down.
So the question really is, “What can be said at the benefit of SOAP?” Snakes on a
plane is a movie that at its inception was intended to be a serious drama / horror
film that wanted to scare the life out of those who are afraid of snakes, flying,
the dark, suffocation and drop down oxygen masks. What a bunch of sissies they
targeted! I’m a tough guy, so snakes “ain’t shit” to me. But if I were a sissy,
then I would have sissied my pants so badly the row of seats in front of me would be
wet, and angry.
A brilliant woman once said, “It’s the ability to see under what is shown that makes
the difference between assessing which [movies] are good and which are bad.”
SOAP, the unknown acronym for ‘Snakes On A Plane’ was a ferocious “jump out at you”
suspense flick with so much “out jumping” that it could make you ’startle’ even when
you knew with full confidence that a snake was about to do an “out jump”. Snakes,
the unexpected all time jumping champions of the world (you know, the creature with
no legs), can jump like mother fuckers. Up ladders, over persons, out of toilets or
whatever obstacle they needed to concur. But beware; their only motivation to do a
“jump” is for the love of doing a “bite”. So if your wang is hanging out, or if
your nipples are exposed for an awkwardly long time on screen, or if you’re ugly and
sleeping then a snake is sure to strike out against your gratuitous indulgence to
the audience.
So did I like the film? The answer is yes, but understand that this is not a movie
that you go see because you’re ‘double serious guy’ with some kind of super eye for
watching and critiquing real deal film. No sir. This is a movie that you go to see
with the good humor that it wasn’t intended for. It’s a cheesy idea that was played
out as well as could possibly be played out. Put yourself in the position of the
director; you come into work one day, the boss says, “Here’s your new project. It’s
called ‘Snakes on A Plane’.” After kissing ass sufficiently you go to lunch and
peruse the script. You immediately realize that you’ve been handed that one script
that is a total box office embarrassment that everyone openly loves to hate and that
your career is over and your only recourse is to make the best out of what was
dropped on your nuts. What would you do?
The answer is you pay most of your budget to get Samuel L. Jackson to frontline the
movie and spend the rest of your budget getting B and B+ actors and actresses to
fill in the remainder. The only actors that could have done an equally impressive
job in delivering the true calmness needed to handle that cursed situation of having
snakes on a plane would be Magnum PI, Sgt. Martin Riggs from Lethal Weapon or Claude
Van Damn from anything he’s played in… you know his typecast.
So before you go hating, just remember that if you were sitting in that window seat,
and the take off of the plane was bumpy, and it was a red eye from Hawaii, and you
hated snakes, then this documentary would have led to all kinds of government
funding to say that they’re sorry that you’re black.
But I digress.
It’s just a good movie for those who like to be entertained, not for those who are
demanding of the movies they watch. You’ll not be moved to make drastic changes to
your life, but you will love it! I next hope to see a sequel to this movie.
Perhaps “Snakes on A Truck”, or “Snakes in A Submarine”. Or maybe step it up a
notch to something like “Snakes AND Spiders Everywhere”.
Review Contributed by David Kandt
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