It’s time for Beyondfest 2017!!

Posted in Jean-Claude Van Damme on September 7, 2017 by Michael S. Moore

BEYOND FEST ANNOUNCES ITS FULL SLATE FOR 

THE RETURN OF LA’S BIGGEST GENRE FILM FESTIVAL  

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vince Vaughn, Dario Argento, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Edgar Wright, Tommy Wiseau and Paul Williams headline a star studded roster of guests and a slate featuring 23 West Coast Premieres including BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99, THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER, and BEST F(R)IENDS.

Los Angeles, CA – Thursday, September 7, 2017 – Beyond Fest, the highest-attended genre film festival in the US, is excited to announce its full slate of 2017 programming featuring 32 events and 23 West Coast premieres of cinematic excess. Co-presented by Shudder, Beyond Fest returns to Hollywood’s famed Egyptian Theatre for 12 days of movies, music and mayhem spanning Friday, September 29th – Tuesday, October 10th to generate funds for the nonprofit 501c3 American Cinematheque.   

With a diverse slate that includes films from all corners of the globe Beyond Fest is proud to open with BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99 with director S.Craig Zahler returning with Vince Vaughn and Udo Kier in person, while closing night honors are bestowed upon Yorgos Lanthimos’ ferociously-twisted follow-up to THE LOBSTER, THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER. Other hotly-anticipated titles making their debuts include the World Premiere of Justin MacGregor’s BEST F(R)IENDS with Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero reunited and in person, Joe Lynch’s blissfully violent MAYHEM, and, courtesy of Amazon Prime Video, a very special theatrical premiere of JEAN-CLAUDE VAN JOHNSON with the Muscles from Brussels himself, Jean-Claude Van Damme, in person with the show’s cast and creators.

“While the two worst manbaby haircuts on the planet prepared for nuclear destruction, we prepped cinematic armageddon,” said Beyond Fest Co-Founder, Christian Parkes. “We’re immigrants and we saw DR. STRANGELOVE – we know how this ends – but at least we get to watch some great films with our heroes and friends and go out with a real bang.”

The most beloved genre films are highlighted with a series of special event screenings throughout the festival. Arnold Schwarzenegger takes center stage for an explosive 30th anniversary one-two punch of PREDATOR and THE RUNNING MAN. The Master, Dario Argento, will be in attendance to celebrate the 40th anniversary of SUSPIRIA with screenings of Synapse Film’s 4K restoration AND the recently unearthed 35mm print. ‘Car Chases, Collisions & Conversation: An Evening with Edgar Wright and Walter Hill’ covers four decades of filmmaking and the interrelated nature of the pulsating smash BABY DRIVER and the seminal THE DRIVER in one epic night. Musical maestro, Paul Williams, will share stories from behind the mask of PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE. Mick Garris and Masters of Horror preside over a reverential tribute to two of the greats – George A. Romero and Tobe Hooper –  with a double bill featuring the West Coast premiere of MOMA and FIlm Foundation’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 4K digital restoration and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. And the theatrical premiere of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE BOOTLEG EDITION pairs a totally gonzo WTF double bill with HOWARD THE DUCK on 70mm with Lea Thompson in person.

Beyond Fest welcomes the return of genre streaming platform Shudder as its co-presenting sponsor, a partnership that provides 14 screenings (11 West Coast premieres) absolutely free to film fans. Every night, the 90-seat ‘Shudder Theatre’ will feature a brand new film selected from across the world including Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s triumphant return BEFORE WE VANISH, home invasion thrill ride BETTER WATCH OUT, the critically acclaimed Canadian zombie shocker LES AFFAMES (THE HUNGRY), Marc Meyers’ searing portrait of a serial-killer-in-the-making, MY FRIEND DAHMER, Alexandre O. Phillippe’s revelatory PSYCHO shower scene doc 78/52, and Ted Geoghegan’s sophomore scalper, MOHAWK.

For Cinematic Void’s sidebar they have enlisted the help of like minds as they venture further into the unknown with a series of special screenings. Author and academic Kier La Janisse will be present for Jean Rollin’s THE GRAPES OF DEATH and the release of the book, Lost Girls: The Phantasmagorical Cinema of Jean Rollin which she is publishing. Friday Night Frights are co-presenting the west coast premiere of the 4K restoration of the thoroughly bugnuts RAWHEAD REX and the Death Waltz Records record release of HELLRAISER on 35mm. And filmmakers Amy Holden Jones and Deborah Brock will be present for a double bill of anniversary screenings of their films SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE and SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II.

Tickets go on sale starting noon on Friday, September 8th on Fandango.  See below for the full lineup of Beyond Fest 2017.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE

BABY DRIVER

Director: Edgar Wright

Country: USA

Runtime: 102 min.

Year: 2017

GUESTS: Edgar Wright & Walter Hill in Person

BAD BLACK  (free screening)

West Coast Premiere

Director: Isaac Nawibana

Country: Uganda

Runtime: 60 minutes / Year: 2016

BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM

Directors: Bruce Timm, Eric Radomski

Country: USA

Runtime: 76 min.

Year: 1993

GUESTS: Andrea Romano plus voice actors TBA in Person

EGYPTIAN THEATRE- Continued

BEST F(R)IENDS

World Premiere

Director: Justin MacGregor

Country: USA

Runtime: 95 min.

Year: 2017

GUESTS: Tommy Wiseau, Greg Sestero and Justin Macgregor in Person

BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99

West Coast Premiere

Director: S. Craig Zahler

Country: USA

Runtime: 132 min.

Year: 2017

GUESTS: S. Craig Zahler, Vince Vaughn and Udo Kier in Person

DOUBLE IMPACT

Director: Sheldon Lettich

Country: USA

Runtime: 110 min.

Year: 1991 / 35mm

GUEST: Jean-Claude Van Damme and Sheldon Lettich in Person

THE DRIVER

Director: Walter Hill

Country: USA

Runtime: 90 min.

Year: 1978 / 35mm

GUESTS: Edgar Wright & Walter Hill in Person

HELLRAISER

Co-presented with Death Waltz Records + Friday Night Frights

Director: Clive Barker

Country: USA

Runtime: 94 min.

Year: 1987 / 35mm

ICHI THE KILLER – Digital Restoration

West Coast Premiere

Director: Takashi Miike

Country: Japan

Runtime: 129 min.

Year: 2001

EGYPTIAN THEATRE- Continued

HOWARD THE DUCK – 70mm

Director: Willard Huyck

Country: USA

Runtime: 110 min. 

Year: 1986 

GUESTS: Lea Thompson in Person

JEAN-CLAUDE VAN JOHNSON – Episodes 1 & 2

Presented by Amazon

World Premiere

Director: Peter Atencio

Country: USA

Runtime: 60 min.

Year: 2016

GUESTS: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Peter Atencio, Dave Callaham, Kat Foster, Moises Arias.

THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER

West Coast Premiere

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Country: UK, Ireland

Runtime: 109 min.

Year: 2017

MAYHEM

West Coast Premiere

Director: Joe Lynch

Country: USA

Runtime: 86 min.

Year: 2017

GUESTS: Joe Lynch and cast in person

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE – THE BOOTLEGGED EDITION

Theatrical Premiere

Director: Jared Hess

Country: USA

Runtime: 96 min.

Year: 2004

GUESTS: Cast and crew in person

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD – 4K Restoration

West Coast Premiere

Director: George A. Romero

Country: USA

Runtime: 96 min.

Year: 1968

GUESTS: Mick Garris & Masters of Horror in Person

EGYPTIAN THEATRE- Continued

OPERA (aka TERROR AT THE OPERA)

Director: Dario Argento

Country: Italy

Runtime: 100 min.

Year: 1987

GUESTS: Dario Argento in Person

PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE

Co presented with Creature Features

Director: Brian De Palma

Country: USA

Runtime: 92 min.

Year: 1974

GUESTS: Paul Williams in Person

PREDATOR

Director: John McTiernan

Country: USA

Runtime: 107 min.

Year: 1987 / 35mm

GUESTS: Arnold Schwarzenegger in Person

RAWHEAD REX 4K Restoration

Co presented with Cinematic Void and Friday Night Frights

West Coast Premiere

Director: George Pavlou

Country: USA

Runtime: 89 min.

Year: 1986

THE ROOM

Director: Tommy Wiseau

Country: USA

Runtime: 99 min.

Year: 2003

GUESTS: Tommy Wiseau, Greg Sestero and Guests in Person

THE RUNNING MAN

Director: Paul Michael Glaser

Country: USA

Runtime: 101 min.

Year: 1987 / 35mm

GUESTS: Arnold Schwarzenegger in Person

EGYPTIAN THEATRE- Continued

SUSPIRIA – 4K Restoration

LA Premiere

Director: Dario Argento

Country: Italy

Runtime: 100 min.

Year: 1977

GUESTS: Dario Argento, Udo Kier, Barbara Magnolfi in Person

SUSPIRIA – 35mm Italian Cut

LA Premiere

Director: Dario Argento

Country: Italy

Runtime: 98 min.

Year: 1977

GUESTS: Dario Argento and Barbara Magnolfi in Person

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

Director: Tobe Hooper

Country: USA

Runtime: 83 min.

Year: 1974

35mm

GUESTS: Mick Garris & Masters of Horror in Person

SHUDDER THEATRE

78/52 (Free Screening)

West Coast Premiere

Director: Alexandre O. Philippe

Country: USA

Runtime: 91 min.

Year: 2017

BEFORE WE VANISH (Free Screening)

West Coast Premiere

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Country: Japan

Runtime: 129 min.

Year: 2017

BETTER WATCH OUT (Free Screening)

West Coast Premiere

Director: Chris Peckover

Country: Australia, USA

Runtime: 85 min.

Year: 2016

SHUDDER THEATRE – Continued

COLD HELL (Free Screening)

West Coast Premiere

Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky

Country: Austria

Runtime: 92 min.

Year: 2017

THE GRAPES OF DEATH AKA Les Raisins de La Mort (Free Screening)

Director: Jean Rollin

Country: France

Runtime: 90 min.

Year: 1978

HAUNTERS: THE ART OF THE SCARE (Free Screening)

West Coast Premiere

Director: Jon Schnitzer

Country: USA

Runtime: 88 min.

Year: 2017

JAILBREAK (Free Screening)

West Coast Premiere

Director: Jimmy Henderson

Country: Cambodia

Runtime: 92 min.

Year: 2017

LES AFFAMES (Free Screening)

West Coast Premiere

Director: Robin Aubert

Country: Canada

Runtime: 100 min.

Year: 2017

MOHAWK (Free Screening)

West Coast Premiere

Director: Ted Geoghegan

Country: USA

Runtime: 91 min.

Year: 2017

MY FRIEND DAHMER (Free Screening)

West Coast Premiere

Director: Marc Meyers

Country: USA

Runtime: 107 min.

Year: 2017

SHUDDER THEATRE – Continued

REVENGE (Free Screening)

West Coast Premiere

Director:  Coralie Fargeat

Country:   France

Runtime:  108 min

Year:  2017

SEQUENCE BREAK (Free Screening)

West Coast Premiere

Director:  Graham Skipper

Country:   USA

Runtime:  108 min

Year:  2017

GUESTS: Graham Skipper, Cast and Crew in Person

THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE (Free Screening)

Co-presented by Etheria and Cinematic Void

Director: Amy Holden Jones

Country: USA

Runtime: 77 min.

Year: 1982

GUESTS: Amy Holden Jones in Person

Double Feature with SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II

THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II

Co-presented by Etheria and Cinematic Void

Director: Deborah Brock

Country: USA

Runtime: 77 min.

Year: 1987

GUESTS: Deborah Brock in Person

Double Feature with SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE

Attend Beyond Fest:

Tickets for Beyond Fest 2017 are will be made available for purchase through Fandango and the American Cinematheque on Friday, September 8th at noon PST.

For the latest developments, visit the Beyond Fest official site www.beyondfest.com and follow us on Facebook & Twitter.

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Review: Savage Dog (2017)

Posted in Cung Le, David No, JuJu Chan, Marko Zaror, Scott Adkins, Uncategorized with tags on August 29, 2017 by Michael S. Moore

Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror have a really, really bloody rematch! And Keith David!!

 

Starring Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror, Cung Le, Keith David, Juju Chan

Fight Choreography by Luke LaFontaine

Directed By Jesse V Johnson

Savage Dog is a period film set shortly after the French Indochina War in 1959 tells the story of Martin Tillman, an Irishman and displaced soldier, spending his days as a prisoner of Von Steiner, a sadistic jailer who pits Tillman into a series of martial arts fights with various opponents for money. When not fighting, Tillman spends his time in prison being visited by a local flower girl, Isabelle(Chan). When pressured by a British government official, Steiner releases Tillman, but since Tillman is still a wanted man, he chooses to hide out at a local bar run by Valentine(David) and also the home of the flower girl, where a romance blossoms, but as it happens in action films, Steiner brings Tillman back, but when Steiner and his henchmen go after his love, Tillman goes on a rampage to ensure Steiner never bothers anyone ever again…

It’s nice to see Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror leave their comfort zones and do a period film, and the production values looked great on what had to be a small budget. The story is well done, with, for a change, the villain Steiner being a more well rounded character, with his own motivations, and surprisingly, regrets. Scott Adkins is good here, but, from an acting standpoint, isn’t much of a stretch from most of the characters he plays. The same goes for Marko Zaror, but he is actually a more chilling villain here than in his other bad guy roles. He’s a real bastard here, and I want to see more of him in this mode. Keith David is KEITH MOTHERFU&@!ing DAVID! He’s the spice that makes ANY film better, and he brings his patented coolness here as both the star and narrator. He’s so cool he gets to dispense with a solid rule of cinema that isn’t supposed to be broken. But he can do that, ’cause he’s Keith Motherf&%^!ing David. Cung Le is okay here, but his character gets to real development until his final lines in his fight with Adkins. It made me wish the film had done more than mention his viscous general’s backstory.

The fights here…Let’s get to that.

I’m not gonna lie, it’s brutal. Like they watched the The Raid 2 and said “Hold my beer.”

The blood flows like a river in this film, and I have to admit I’ve never seen the like. You know, like watching a guy get shot with a shotgun in the face point blank. Twice. Or even what Scott Adkins does to Marko Zaror at the end…I can safely say I’ve never seen an action star at ANY level do what he does! It was shocking, but really hearkens back to the title of the film.

The fights are technically well done toward the beginning, but with the exception of a quick fight with stuntman/actor David No, I was really marking time until we get to the main event: Scott Adkins versus Cung Le and Marko Zaror. The Cung Le fight is short, but Le acquits himself well here as the choreography matches his strengths as a martial artist but not at the expense of having Adkins take the petal off the gas, so to speak. It’s a good fight that’s only marred by how cheaply the film ends it, but now we come to the true event, the Undisputed 3 rematch between Adkins and Zaror, and it’s great. First with weapons, both men show why they are awesome, moving fast but their movements are precise, and that knife Marko had…I would NOT want to get stabbed with that sucker. But then the weapons go away.

And then it gets REAL.

The director knows what you want. The fight choreographer knows what you want. Scott Adkins and Marko Zaror sure as HELL know what you want. And they made sure you get it! The fight is everything I was wanting it to be. So help me they put on a clinic in beautiful kicking of every kind. And the music with the furious violin playing during it? Holy hell they hit the sweet spot. The fist work was well done, and the fight lasted exactly as long as it needed to given the story and characters.

Bravo, Jesse V Johnson. Bravo. Now do it again!

Kiai-Kick’s Grade: 8.5

One of Scott Adkins’ best films. Marko Zaror establishes himself as a great villain, and Keith David does Keith David things. Bring on the sequel!

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Review: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal (2015)

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , on August 14, 2017 by Michael S. Moore

“No gelflings here, bro.”

Starring Li Bingbing, Chen Ku, Winston Chao

As many of you know, I’m not the biggest fan of wuxia films. I mostly prefer my martial arts films like my phones: Wireless.  Having said that, there is fascinating thing going on with those films: they are becoming a giant special effects extravaganza, not unlike many superhero films today. So how does Snow Girl fare given this new light?

In a word, I’m still not really impressed. Maybe even less so than I was of the genre before.

Snow Girl tells the story of Zhang Kui (Chen Ku), protector of the town of Hu, and is tasked by a Lord of Heaven, Daioxin,  to steal the Dark Crystal, a vessel from Hell that has imprisoned the souls of the populace and may cause the end of the world if activated. Zhang succeeds, causing the Demon King to unleash the Snow Girl to get it back. To prepare Zhang to defeat the Snow Girl Daioxin trains Zhang to harness his energy to turn himself into a powerful creature. Of course the moment Zhang meets the Snow Girl everything becomes much, much more complicated…

The story has moments where I was engaged, but by the third act I knew what was going to happen, and there were some dull stretches here and there. The acting in the film is pretty good, and Li Bing Bing does some particularly good work here, but the effects are the real star of the film, and unfortunately that’s a mixed bag. Most of it is really good, but the moments where we have CG monsters fighting made me feel like I was watching a video game being played, and I immediately checked out of the film during these really LONG sequences. It doesn’t help that the CG animation looks exactly like that, and not realistic at all. The final fight ends with one of those “so if the hero could do this the whole time then WHY DIDN’T HE?”. This is, for me at least, the most irritating kind of climactic finish.

The martial arts are kept on the down low here, except for one brief fight toward the end, which is nothing to write home about but adequate. It really could have used more of this and less of the CG monster fights. The ending of the film is jarring, as I didn’t really understand what Zhang was doing at the end and what it meant.

Kiai-Kick’s Grade: 5

I’ve seen way better Wuxia films, and this one was definitely mediocre. I’d rather revisit Zu, Warriors from Magic Mountain, or the Storm Riders.

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Scott Adkins + Marko Zaror with Keith David! Savage Dog Trailer (2017)

Posted in Scott Adkins with tags on August 2, 2017 by Michael S. Moore

So watch the trailer here and we’ll talk after:

Damn! Scott Adkins looking his actiony best, Marko Zaror looking properly villianous, JuJu Chan looking great, and Keith David, is, well, Keith Friggin’ David! I’m watching the film this week, and my review will be out over this weekend, so I can’t wait! What did you think? Let me know in the comments below! This month may need to be called Scott Adkins Month! I’m down with that! Scott is without a doubt the best martial arts action hero in cinema right now, and we need him to get an A list film. C’mon John Wick guys! Make a franchise film series for Scott!

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Birth of the Dragon Trailer (2017)

Posted in Philip Ng with tags , on July 30, 2017 by Michael S. Moore

Okay, things have been crazy lately but it’s time to get caught up. First up, Birth of The Dragon. I showed a different trailer not long ago (the overseas version) and I’ve since heard not-so-good things about the film. One item I hear about is how the film almost treats Bruce Lee’s conflict with Wong Jack Man almost a side story to the Steve McQueen-style hero, which would be a shame. I’m hopeful for the film, but remember there are several other Bruce Lee biopics currently in development. I’m confident in Philip Ng and his ability, so there are positives even if the film doesn’t turn out to the be ideal Bruce Lee film. So far the trailer looks great! Fingers crossed for the film!

 

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Dave Bautista kicks ass in BUSHWICK Trailer (2017)

Posted in Dave Bautista on July 18, 2017 by Michael S. Moore

With the exception of Bautista’s work in Guardians of the Galaxy (and hopefully the new Bladerunner film) I haven’t been enamored with his work, but this looks really interesting, and seems to give Bautista a genuine vehicle for him to show off his skills. Or this could really be a Brittney Snow film and the trailer makes it look like he’s in it more than what he is. Here’s hoping its the former. Check out the trailer below! From the producers of The Raid, this looks really good. Fingers crossed. Let me know what you think in the comments! Are ya’ll into this?

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