Seven Holiday Horror Films to Scare the Entire Family

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December 22, 2015

During the holiday season many of you like to watch the “classics.” The “Masses” watch films like It’s A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, White Christmas, and many, but some folks like to be a bit more adventurous in your viewing. Here is a list of some bloody, gory holiday horror classics that are sure to thrill AND scare the bejesus out of you.

Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972)

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Jeffrey Butler inherits his familial mansion, which was once a mental hospital. He sends his attorney John Carter, play by Patrick O’Neal to sell the Butler Mansion. He wants the property sold for $50K by the following day. To accomplish such a feat the lawyer must meet with the town elders to get approval. Once the meeting has taken place Carter and his assistant – with whom he is having an affair with – go back to the mansion to have sex and stay the night. What the pair are unaware of is that they were not the only ones in the house and they are killed by a mysterious person. The killer calls the police and reports the murder and leaving the name Marianne. It is revealed that the mansion was full of more than crazy people and the town elders are not all that they seem. Incest, madness, and murder are the name of this game. This holiday horror also stars cult actress Mary Moronov and John Carradine. If you inherit a house, do your research to make sure it’s safe!

Black Christmas (1974)

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Next out of the bag of holiday horror fun, Black Christmas. The film stars Olivia Hussey (known for her role as Juliet is Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet – 1968), Margot Kidder, Keir Dullea (2001: A Space Odyssey), and John Saxon. This Canadian psychological thriller is not for the faint of heart. It is the story of a group of sorority sisters start receiving threatening phone calls and are being stalked my an unknown assailant at Christmas time. What they don’t know is that the murder is hiding in the attic of their sorority house waiting to pick them off one by one. It’s not a Happy Christmas for these Canuck ladies.

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

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Little Billy Chapman witnesses the gruesome murder of his mother and father by a deranged criminal dressed in a Santa suit. He and his infant brother are spared by the murderer and sent to an orphanage where they were physically and mentally abused by the Mother Superior. When Little Billy turns 18 he leaves the orphanage and finds a job in a local hardware store. He is determined to have a normal life and even develops feelings for his co-work Pamela. His life of normalcy is short-lived when Christmas time rolls around and his new employer forces him to dress as Santa for the party. No one has any idea that this event will bring back memories of his parent’s murder and set into motion a gruesome killing spree. Don’t go anywhere near this Santa.

Christmas Evil (1980)

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When little Harry was just a boy he saw “Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and it forever changed his outlook on life. Fast-forward years later to an adult Harry who works in the Jolly Dreams Toy Factory as a low-level employee. He lives in an apartment decorated for the Christmas holiday all year-round – complete with toys. He spies on the neighborhood kids noting which ones are naughty and nice. Harry attends his company Christmas party and upon his return home he comes to realization that everyone thinks he’s joke and they used him at every turn. This moment of clarity drives him over the edge and he has a breakdown. In his delusion he thinks that he’s the real and true Santa Claus and will punish all those on his naughty list. You better watch out!

Gremlins (1984)

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A quintessential holiday horror classic. The story of inventor Randall Peltzer and his desire to give his son a new and unique gift for Christmas goes wrong. He finds an old antique store and stumbles across a little furry creature called a Mogwai. When he asks the owner to buy him he refuses, but his grandson sells him the Mogwai, Gizmo, behind his back. The grandson does however give him strict rules for Mogwai care and ownership. Rule 1: Don’t put it near light, especially sunlight, it can kill them. Rule 2: Don’t let it get wet with water nor give it any water to drink nor bathe it. And, Rule 3: No matter how much it cries or begs, NEVER feed it after midnight. All these rules are followed until water Gizmo is exposed to water and spawns additional Mogwai and terror begins. This film goes a long way to prove a point: Some rules are meant to be followed.

Jack Frost (1997)

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Not to be mistaken with 1998’s Christmas dramedy of the same name, THIS is the dark story of Jack Frost (Scott MacDonald) a serial killer on route to his execution when his transport collides with a chemical truck full of genetic material. During his escape Jack comes into contact with the chemicals which melt his flesh and bones. He dies and his remains mix with the snow. Even though Frost is determined to be dead, the Sheriff, Sam Tiler, continues to be uneasy about it all. He remembers the threats that Jack made about revenge. Not long after the accident Old man Harper is found murdered, a shortly there after a local bully and his gang. The Sheriff’s fears are substantiated when his son tells him that a snowman was responsible for the deaths. The snowman isn’t a ‘Jolly Happy Soul’ and he sure ain’t like our old friend Frosty. This film will make all your holiday horror nightmares come true.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

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A group of reindeer herders living near Korvatunturi Mountain in Finland discover hidden story of Santa Claus. This film – based on a 2003 short of the same name – follows the ‘herders’ as their Christmas is disrupted by excavation taking place on the mountain. A scientist working on the project orders his crew exhume the “largest burial mound in the world,” but what they do not know is that the inhabitants of the grave are still alive. Not long after the opening of the grave site the local reindeer population is killed off and children and supplies start to disappear around town. The thing that emerged from the earth is a supernatural entity that punishes naughty children instead of reward them. If you want to give the kiddies nightmares and/or scare them straight let them take a look at this. Screw the Elf on the Shelf!

If you’re tired of the old “fell good” films of the season, you will surely enjoy these holiday horror classics! Have a Silent Night, Scary Night, y’all!

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REVIEW: Young Black Jack ‘Season of Mania’ – A forgotten season of great drama

By

Anthony Wendel

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December 21, 2015

Summary: At a time when a subset of the nation’s students is becoming radicalized, Hazama meets a college student activist named Imagami Eri. After treating her injury, Eri and Hazama develop a curious friendship.

And so the series comes to an end. Reinforcing the themes which made this series so entertaining, Hazuma once again faces the dilemma of wanting to save someone with his medical skills and being impeded by bureaucracy, politics, and the foolish pride of others. His path is clear and he is on the road to becoming the underground, unlicensed doctor known only as Black Jack fans know he would become in the future. After watching all he has had to endure, you can’t blame him for not wanting to follow the rules.

This episode’s end is a bit shocking when compared to the source material. The credits of this show make it a point to showcase the original manga artwork and how they look in this new series. The character who gets massively hurt and is clinging to life is based on Osamu Tezuka`s Princess Knight, a much more kid friendly series (also available on Cruchyroll). Seeing such an innocent character endure such hardship is a bit distributing to say the least.

A full series review will be up very soon but if you have taken the time to read the individual episode by episode reviews, it will come as no surprise this is a contender for best anime of the year. Sadly, many have not taken the time to check it out. Do your part and recommend this new take on a classic character. Your friend will thank you for it.

Young Black Jack is streaming at Crunchyroll.

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Review-Concussion- Smith Soars Despite Flawed Story

By

Dewey Singleton - Film Critic

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December 21, 2015

It’s certainly an interesting question whether or not moviegoers would be eager to line-up for a film about an autopsy doctor who discovers reasons to feel bad for people who play America’s most popular sport. Will Smith should be able draw some people into the theaters. One thing that we should note about Peter Landesman’s Concussion is that, despite some pre-release worries, it won’t be a complete whitewash of professional football’s concussion epidemic. Furthermore, hopes that Concussion would do for forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu what Micheal Mann’s The Insider did for whisteblower Jeffrey Wigand are unfounded. Concussion tries to be many things- a public health expose, a corporate thriller, and an immigrant love story that never comes together in a richly satisfying way. Concussion is a cautionary tale about blatant ignorance and a showcase for Will Smith. Smith delivers a wonderful, understated performance as Omalu, the doctor who discovered CTE in former NFL players. The film itself is deflating due to a confused and cliché-riddled screenplay, which struggles to take a complex story and finesse into a relatable tale.

What makes Omalu unique (other than his Nigerian accent which Smith nails) is that he dissects each body in the Pittsburgh coroner’s office as if they were still living patients, treating them with tender loving care. An outsider in a football crazy city, Omalu doesn’t think much of the name of Mike Webster when the 50-year-old’s body turns up in the city morgue. Mike Webster (a member of the championship Steeler teams of the 1970’s) is a local hero, yet after his retirement he started suffering memory loss, depression, mood swings, and eventually ends up being homeless. Omalu is puzzled by how an otherwise healthy athlete could suffer such a psychological breakdown and decides to examine his brain further (even if it means paying for the tests he wants to run out of pocket). What he discovers is shocking: a degree of neurological deterioration comparable to that of Alzheimer’s disease. He decides to the name the disorder chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and further hypothesizes that thousands of head-on collisions endured in a pro football career are to blame. Omalu publishes his findings in a medical journal and it attracts instant pushback from the NFL.

Concussion certainly has enough material for a film that would be quite a compelling medical procedural. Mix in football fans willing to shoot the messengers especially if they have any bad news about America’s #1 sport, you would have had quite a potent subtext to the story. Omalu naively feels that his discovery will be welcomed by the NFL and that they will use it to make the game safer. Concussion never quite gains any momentum and plods along, stammering from one cliché riddled scene to the next. Concussion had no need to delve into Omalu’s personal life as all it did was serve as a roadblock to any sort of plot momentum.

It’s kinda of unfortunate, considering this story is most effective when it shines a spotlight on CTE, which affected players like Justin Strzelczyjk and Dave Duerson who both lost their lives due to CTE. There’s something heartbreaking about seeing these gladiators of the gridiron stumbling around, frightened and confused. The NFL takes it on the chin the most as Landesman splices in punishing blows while the TV announcers are going nuts (with the most troubling shot being that of peewee-aged kiddos tacking each other helmet to helmet).

Landsmen makes a tepid attempt at showing the consequences of Omalu telling the truth. Aside from a few crank calls, Landesman rarely shows what being a social pariah must have been like for Omalu. On the rare instances he does attempt to show the consequences of Omalu’s actions, the scenes are quite puzzling. One scene shows Omalu’s wife (Prema) believing that she’s being followed, and then immediately cuts to her having a miscarriage. Another scene has Omalu’s boss, Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks) dealing with a surprise raid of his office. If Landsmen is trying to imply that somehow these all because of the NFL, he doesn’t even begin to connect the dots. Also, who’s idea was it to case Luke Wilson as Roger Goodell? Having Luke Wilson in this film proves more of a distraction than anything.

However, Concussion certainly does belong to Will Smith as he gives his best performance in a film since Ali. Smith has a commanding presensce on the screen and he does in this film what you rarely see him do in any film – plays down the character. We don’t get our typical Will Smith like bravado but we do get is an actor who understands the pathos of the character he played and he knocked it out of the park. Smith will certainly garner attention for this role during awards season unlike the film he stars in.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was certainly pulling for this movie right from the get-go. Maybe it’s my passion for the game of football, but Concussion could have been something so much other than the missed opportunity that it turned out to be.

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Movie vs. Script: “Magnolia” – Strange things happen all the time

By

Oscar Moreno

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December 21, 2015

Time for another edition of Movie vs. Script! Now we will discuss another Paul Thomas Anderson film, his 1999 ensemble drama Magnolia. Magnolia has been a controversial work for the director since its release. Although mostly acclaimed (If Rotten Tomatoes is anything to go by), it still was a polarizing film, particularly due to its legendary climax. The overall perception now seems to be that although it may be a great film in its own right, it seems to be one of Anderson’s least beloved “great” works. People don’t seem to pay it much attention in comparison to There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights and Punch-Drunk Love. Regardless, this is a very interesting film that only loses in comparison to Anderson’s other movies. If you haven’t watched it, go ahead and check it out, especially as there are spoilers in this piece.

Now, the overall script sticks quite closely to the final film. But one of the most interesting parts of the script that Anderson got rid of in the final film is the subplot of “The Worm”, the man suspected of killing the man in Marcie’s closet. In the script, after Stanley runs away from the What Do Kids Now? studio, he goes to a café called The Lamplighter, and ends up with “The Worm” sitting a few feet away from him. They get to talking about their personal lives, and both realize they have abusive fathers. Worm tells him that at least his father doesn’t hit him, and seems to care for him despite his behavior. Later, Dixon, the little boy who raps to Officer Jim Kurring to give him clues about the case turns up, attempting to steal money from Stanley and reveals he’s Worm’s son. Worm reprimands him and the three of them get away just as the rain of frogs rages outside. The movie also reveals that the dead man in Marcie’s closet was no other than Worm’s father, and Marcie confesses to the crime, saying she did it to defend her son and grandson. In the end, Dixon himself throws the gun out the window after cleaning the fingerprints, implying that it was Worm himself who stole Jim Kurring’s gun.

It wouldn’t have been a huge addition to the film, and some people would accuse it of making what they could consider an overlong film of being longer, but it does help tie up a few loose ends in regards to the murder subplot, as well as the return of Jim Kurring’s gun at the end of the picture. The DVD and Blu-Ray have a great Making-of documentary entitled Magnolia Video Diary in which Anderson seems to be having a hard time figuring out how to direct the scene between Stanley, Dixon and Worm. He apologizes to his actors for not having worked it out earlier. Although no more explanation is given, Anderson probably cut these scenes from the movie because he wasn’t satisfied with his own direction. It’s unclear if they were actually shot.

Another deleted scene that’s in the script and can be found in Home Video releases is a part where T.J. Mackey tells an anecdote of his Seduce and Destroy technique and how he worked it out on a girl. It’s a good sequence in its own right, showing Mackey’s douchebaggery, but it does feel slightly gratuitous as it has no bearing on the rest of the story, and Mackey’s character is already more than crystal clear.

One fun tidbit is that as the rain of frogs is reaching it’s end, the action calls for an Aimee Mann cover of Kermit the Frog’s It’s not easy being green. Sadly, it seems like it was never recorded, and although Anderson probably (and wisely, maybe) decided against it in the final film due to tone or pacing, it would’ve been fun to watch that sequence as it had been written.

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Sixteen years later, Magnolia remains a fascinating piece of work. Maybe it’s that the Newmarket book has the Shooting Screenplay, but it reads as a more carefully written script than a lot of Anderson’t other scripts. His descriptions are more detailed than usual, with a lot of camera and editing directions thrown in. It’s a good read, but Anderson’s sometimes writes dialogue that is either too naturalistic or too stylized. Yet in the movie, it sounds mostly spot-on. Anderson chose great actors and directed them perfectly. Regardless of how you may feel about the movie, there’s little doubt that it’s one of the most unforgettable movies ever made. Even if it doesn’t hold up in comparison to Anderson’s other films, it is at least, a minor classic.

You can get Magnolia on Blu-Ray or DVD here.

And you can get the Newmarket Shooting Script right here.

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Top 10 Most Controversial British Movies

By

Kieran Freemantle

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December 21, 2015

As a nation Britain has a rich cinematic history, making many great movies like The 39 Steps, Lawrence of Arabia and Gosford Park and producing directors like Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott and Matthew Vaughn. But there is a dark side to British cinema, with many movies garnering controversy, whether it’s for sexual and violent content, religious satire or political commentary – so let us look at some of the most controversial movies from the UK, good and bad, and show that Britain is not just a land of country manors, tea and crumpets.

10. Sex Lives of the Potato Men

Kicking off this list is the 2004 ‘comedy’ Sex Lives of the Potato Men led by Johnny Vegas. On the surface, Sex Lives of the Potato Men is an appalling sex comedy about two potato delivery men in Birmingham who attempt to fulfil their sexual fantasies. The movie has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and ranked seventh on Empire Magazine’s The 50 Worst Movies Ever list. Many British and Irish critics declared it one of the worst movies ever made, with BBC and Observer film critic Mark Kermode describing it as “absolutely, indescribably horrible, vulgar, stupid, tawdry, depressing, embarrassing, filthy, vile, stinky, repugnant, slimy, unclean, nasty, degenerative and mind-numbing”.

Though Sex Lives of the Potato Men is an awful comedy with questionable views about women, the controversy comes from how the movie was funded, receiving £1 Million from the National Lottery via the UK Film Council. Or to put it another way, a third of the movie’s budget came from public money, raising questions about how British movies were funded and the overall quality of British cinema at the time.

9.Three and Out

Three and Out is a poor dark comedy from 2008 that is deservedly forgotten. However the movie’s premise that earned it notoriety following a tube driver who runs over two people in quick succession and then finds out if a third person dies in front of him within a month he gets a bonus pay-off. Consequently he goes on a mission to find a willing accomplice to achieve this.

The premise is a hard sell: suicide is generally not a good subject for comedy and the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) protested the release of the movie – seeing it as offensive to its members who have been traumatized by these types of events.

8. Life of Brian

Life of Brian is seen as the pinnacle of the works of Monty Python’s, and for good reason – it’s bloody funny. It was also very controversial when it was released, earning condemnation at home and abroad.

Life of Brian is about Brian Cohen, a man who born in the stable next to one Jesus was born in. As an adult Brian is mistaken as the messiah and is chased by religious fanatics and the Roman occupiers. But he’s not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy!

The movie was accused for being blasphemous due to it lampooning religion. The president of the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association (NVLA) and moral crusader Mary Whitehouse protested outside cinemas that showed the film, and 39 local authorities banned showing the movie or gave it an X-rating, effectively banning it. Internationally Life of Brian was banned in Ireland and Norway and picketed by protestors in New York City.

Torbay Council, Devon refused to allow any public showings of Life of Brian until September 2008 and Aberystwyth in Wales only lifted their ban in 2009. Officials in the German region of North Rhine-Westphalia banned a public screening on Good Friday in 2013.

The marketing team in Sweden took advantage of the controversy by advertising Life of Brian as ‘So funny, it was banned in Norway’.

7. The War Game

The War Game was a what-if documentary originally made for the BBC’s The Wednesday Play series back in 1965. It has the distinction for being the only fictional film to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

The premise of this 48 minute documentary is showing what would have happened if the Cold War turned hot and how the British government would deal with a nuclear war before, during and after a series of nuclear strikes on the South-East of England. Even now The War Game is a harrowing watch, showing how under prepared the UK was in the event of nuclear war. It was an unflinching portrayal of a nuclear strike on the civilian population and how law-and-order would break down. One of the most notorious scenes is when uniformed police officers shoot civilians accused of looting and also shoot civilians doctors deem they are unable to saved. Because of this the BBC refused to broadcast the film for twenty years, and only showed The War Game on the fortieth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.

The War Game is a very popular film for campaigners for nuclear disarmament.

6. Killer Bitch

With the title Killer Bitch is it safe to assume it is not going to be a subtle affair and that is what we get from this cheap, poorly produced straight-to-DVD release. Killer Bitch was a notoriously bad movie, having a 1.5 rating on IMDB and James Benefield from Eye For Film describing it as ” it looks like it’s been shot by a sexually starved 15 year old film student who is both untalented, and careless about rudimentary research.”

The plot of Killer Bitch focuses on Yvette (Yvette Rowland), a woman who witnesses her boyfriend being murdered and she seeks profile from local gangsters. However the gangsters will only do this if Yvette kills five men they want dead.

Killer Bitch has a cast of Z-list British celebrities, having the likes of cage fighter/Katie Price’s then boyfriend Alex Reid, former football hooligan Cass Pennant, former gangster Dave Courtney and Michael ‘King of the Chavs’ Carroll. The movie was particularly notorious for its rape scene which it is rumored to have made Alex Reid walk off the set and the movie struggled to be passed uncut by the BBFC.

5. 9 Songs

Director Michael Winterbottom has had an eclectic career making comedies, war and social dramas and documentaries. One of his most controversial movies is the romance 9 Songs – considered to be one of the most sexually mainstream movies ever made.

9 Songs focuses on Matt (Kieran O’Brien) and Lisa (Margo Stilley), a young couple who have a mutual love for rock music and explores their romantic and sexual relationship. 9 Songs was a very explicit movie with unsimulated sex scenes which included oral sex, footjobs and the use of sex toys. O’Brien is the only actor to ejaculate on screen in a mainstream British movie.

9 Songs earned an 18 rating in the UK, making it the most the explicit movie to earn that rating in the nation. It was the first movie with explicit sex scenes to receive a certificate in Ireland and a mainstream certificate in France. It was given an X-rating in Australia and the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards in New Zealand tried to lobby the Office of Film and Literature Classification to prevent the movie being released in theaters.

Due to the nature of movie, Stilley did not want her name credited and asked Winterbottom to only refer to her by her character name during interviews.

4. Peeping Tom

Peeping Tom was a great horror-thriller from 1960 and because of its subject matter of murder, psychological damage and voyeurism made the movie very controversial. The focus of Peeping Tom is on Mark Lewis, a camera assistant and aspiring filmmaker, who is also a serial killer that films his murders. Peeping Tom was ahead of its time for its portrayal of violence, nudity and POV filming style, even it is a bit tame by today’s standards. It makes for an interesting companion piece to the similar Psycho.

Peeping Tom was made by Michael Powell, a director who famously made movies like 49th Parallel, Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes with Ermeric Pressburger. Peeping Tom was mauled by critics when it was first released, being seen and sold as low brow horror. Premiere magazine put Peeping Tom in its “25 Most Dangerous Movies” list, it was forced to be cut by the BBFC and it was banned in Finland until 1981. Fortunately Peeping Tom was reappraised in the 1970s for being the revolutionary piece of work that it is.

Because of the controversy Peeping Tom pretty end killed Powell’s career and he was forced to make low budget movies in Australia.

3. Scum

The youth prison drama Scum was originally conceived and made as a TV play for the BBC’s Play for Today, a dark story featuring racism, gang rape, instituted violence and suicide. The BBC demanded cuts before broadcasting the play – instead director Alan Parker and writer Roy Minton decided to remake Scum as a feature film, making Scum more explicit.

Scum gave Ray Winstone an early role as Catlin, a young man sent to a Borstal (a youth prison) for violent behavior and introduced to the facility with beatings from the guards and his fellow inmates. But this does not stop Catlin from being the ‘daddy’ of the Borstal and allows him to protect the younger prisoners.

Scum was a graphically violent movie – characters get hit with a variety of weapons, others attempt suicide and there is a causal use of racist language. One of the most harrowing is when a teenage boy is gang raped and commits suicide because of trauma and the lack of support he received.

When Scum was set to be broadcast on British television moral campaigner Mary Whitehouse brought a private prosecution to prevent the transmission. She initially won but that got overturned on appeal. Scum was considered one of the most controversial British movies on the 1980s, getting caught up in the Video Nasty controversy which also effected movies like Cannibal Holocaust, The Evil Dead and The Last House on the Left. In Australia the DVD sleeve stated “one of the most controversial films ever made in the UK and one which caused a furore when it was first screened on television”.

2. The Devils

Ken Russell is renounced for being a Great British director and one of his most famous (or infamous) movies is the historical flick The Devils. Set in the 17th Century France, during a time of religious upheaval, a morally ambiguous priest (Oliver Reed) tries to protect the city of Loudun and ends up being accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed nun.

Due to The Devils’ very sexual content Warner Brothers forced major cuts to the movie. These included nuns sexually attacking a statue of Jesus and a nun masturbating with a femur. The uncut version of the movie has never been released on DVD. The original cut earned an X rating in the UK and the MPAA forced even deeper cuts for The Devils‘ American release.

One scene that did make it into the final cut was one where a nun hallucinates having sex with Jesus. As you can imagine the Catholic Church are not fans of The Devils.

1.A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange is one of Stanley Kubrick’s most famous and popular movies. It is also his most controversial movie in his illustrious career and one of the most controversial movies from the UK – even though it’s a British-American co-production.

A Clockwork Orange is set in a then near-future where the youth are running amok and one gang leader, Alex (Malcolm MacDowell), enjoys stealing, drug taking, rape and a bit of the old ultra-violence. The scenes of violence and sexual violence were considered very explicit for the time, including a scene where the gang attack an old homeless man and a horrific home invasion.

The movie received an X-rating in the US and 30 seconds had to be cut. It passed uncut in the UK, but resulted in two copycat attacks. Though if someone is influenced by a type of media to commit a violent act they were properly not right in the head in the first place. In response Kubrick withdrew A Clockwork Orange from release in the UK and it was not shown again officially until after the director’s death.

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Oscars 2016: Predicting Best Supporting Actor

By

Larry Taylor - Managing Editor

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December 21, 2015

Category fraud aside, the Oscars’ supporting categories are always more intriguing to me. Best Supporting Actor and Actress are typically rife with key roles in films that would flounder without them. That seems obvious I suppose. Lead performances are the face of the film, but their performances are enhanced by riveting characters on the periphery. Oscar 2016’s Best Supporting Actor stable is just as fascinating as it always is, and this will be yet another year where two or three performances will be on the outside looking in simply because there isn’t enough room. Enough rambling, let’s do this.

Best Supporting Actor

Mark Rylance is feeling more and more like the lone nomination from Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies. As the film steadily drifts into the background this season, Rylance’s performance as captured spy Rudolf Abel is the captivating, quiet calm of a middling, quietly calm picture. The frontrunner as we sit today, and my personal favorite of the category, is the one and only Sylvester Stallone. In Creed, Stallone slips back into his Rocky role with ease, with grace, and with a charm anchored by the history we all share with his most iconic character. Seeing Stallone win would be a wonderful thing, and it’s the sort of story the Academy loves.

Then there is Benicio Del Toro, absolutely brilliant as the mysterious assassin Alejandro in the great Sicario. He seemed like a lock in October, and his chances are still good though his odds on winning have slimmed considerably. That leaves two slots for a staggering number of candidates, some who share the same films.

Steve Carrel and Christian Bale are both late chargers for their roles in The Big Short, which is sneaking up on the Oscar season. They may split votes, leaving them both on the outside. The same thing goes for Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo, who danced on opposite ends of the journalism world in Spotlight. Ruffalo is the standout, but Keaton is great as well. But again, split votes might hurt their chances. This fourth spot could – and should – go to young Jacob Tremblay in Room. Tremblay is fantastic, and the Academy Awards always seem to have a perp in their step when a tot gets nominated (see: Haley Joel Osment, Quvenzhané Wallis, etc.).

And the fifth spot will land at the feet of Paul Dano. Love & Mercy has been pushing hard these past few weeks, and Dano is getting notice for his portrayal of a young Brian Wilson. It would be a nice career jolt for Dano, who’s always brilliant in supporting roles.

PREDICTIONS

Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies

Sylvester Stallone – Creed

Benicico Del Toro – Sicario

Jacob Tremblay – Room

Paul Dano – Love & Mercy

Next week it’s time to look at Best Actress…

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‘F is for Family’ Review: Bill Burr’s Rants Finally Earn Him a Victory

By

Robert Franco

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December 21, 2015

Bill Burr is a comedian that has somehow survived this era of political correctness, and outrage. For me personally, he is my favorite stand-up act, and a hero in the realm of celebrity personalities, along with Conan O’Brien and Robin Williams. Seeing him live at Madison Square Garden this fall, was a momentous day and I’ve been very anxious to see him become more mainstream. That’s not to say he hasn’t been successful, especially in the stand-up world, and landing of small parts of the caliber of ‘Breaking Bad’; however, he’s never got the opportunity to have his style be the forefront in television or film. His pilot with the ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ gang called, ‘Pariah,’ seems to be in developmental hell, but ‘F is for Family’ proves he is worth it. On part of his late-night show publicity tour, he explains to Jimmy Fallon why animation has finally been the key to getting his ideas made: “For years I’ve done failed pilots, that involved real people…[and people end up caring for the characters, so I made my family stories into a cartoon].”

Later on Conan, he describes his dad’s angered catch-phrase and essentially how his family’s inspiration to the show is…”like ‘Lord of the Flies.'”

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFzrvMS6P8g[/embedyt]

The show defiantely exhibits Bill Burr’s style of ranting, complaining, and disgust for people in general, and quite frankly the animation allows it to work. It gives the content a pass for a society that has become rightfully sensitive to issues regarding bullying, verbal abuse, language, sexism, and so forth. I believe the show does confront these issues, in it’s own way. It has incredible depth in character motivation, development, and honesty. Even though ‘F is for Family’ is set in a different time, 1973, with different ideals, and a different societal structure, the viewer can pick elements of the storylines and relate. Everybody from the exhausted, overworked, overstressed Dad, to the underappreciated, unfilled Mom, to the kids trying to find their place in the family, and to the hump-happy dog who is trying to love everyone, ‘F is for Family’ provides laughter with emotional depth.

Although only six episodes, I would place Bill Burr’s work as a top three adult-content cartoon with Adult Swims’ ‘Rick and Morty’ and Netflix’s ‘Bojack Horseman.’ All these shows deal with depression and serious elements of human relations, while simultaneously delivering gut-punching laughter.

Some specific things that really make this show go above and beyond:

The 70’s show “Colt Luger” that is a frequent backdrop. It’s the quintessential 7o’s action show; including it’s sexism, racism, and ridiculous fun. It’s dear to Frank Murphy’s, the dad’s, week.
‘The Waffler,” which is a movie the kids watch and is quite reminiscent of something from another dimension’s cable station that would be on ‘Rick and Morty’.
Any ad, news, or show that’s on the T.V.
The balanced cynicism with valuing one’s family.
Frank Murphy’s rants, and Bill’s excellent job at voice acting. The entire casts job, really.

My only issue is the consistency of the animation. Being that Bill Burr’s show only got six episodes from Netflix, it’s fair to say it didn’t have the biggest budget, so the quality isn’t where it could be. There are continuity errors with Frank Murphy’s tie, the answering machine wire, and stuff along the lines as that. Hopefully, the show gets picked up with added money, so they can improve these very minor issues.

This show is a must watch. Bill Burr is a comedic genius!

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Every Box Office Record Broken By ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’

By

Matthew Sardo

-

December 21, 2015

The Walt Disney Studios announced today that Star Wars: The Force Awakens has set a new all-time domestic debut record with an estimated $238M. With a five-day international debut of $279M, the film has taken in $517M globally.

“Our sole focus has been creating a film that delivers that one-of-a-kind Star Wars experience, and director J.J. Abrams, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, and the Lucasfilm team have outdone themselves,” said Alan Horn, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. “To all of the fans around the world who not only came out in Force to make this such an exciting and astronomical debut but who treated this film as their own and helped preserve the experience for their fellow fans by not spoiling it – thank you, we do.”

En route to this galactic launch, the film has smashed several all-time domestic box office records, including:

Biggest Thursday preview gross with $57M.

Biggest Friday and biggest single-day gross with $120.5M.

First film ever to post a single day over $100M.

Fastest film to $100M and $200M.

Biggest December debut (nearly 3 times previous record of $84.6M).

Biggest IMAX Thursday night preview ($5.7M), single-day ($14M, Friday), and weekend ($30.1M).

Highest theater average for a wide release ($57,568).

Star Wars: The Force Awakens debuted day-and-date internationally in nearly every market (except Greece and India, which open Dec. 24, and China, which opens Jan. 9) and set records in many. Highlights:

Biggest opening weekend of all time in UK (4-day), Australia, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, Poland (3-day), Denmark (5-day), Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Serbia, New Zealand.

Biggest IMAX global debut of $48M.

Source: Disney Media

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Internships – Writers Wanted

By

Matthew Sardo

-

December 21, 2015

Earn college credit for writing about pop culture.

Monkeys Fighting Robots is looking for passionate writers to drive the site’s coverage of pop culture. Writers will be responsible for a particular pop culture niche, providing opinion and news, and building a reader community using their multimedia storytelling skills. The best candidate has solid writing skills, understands pop culture, has a desire to be first, and is engaged on social media. Targeted areas of expertise include movies, television, comic books, music, craft beer and technology.

Required skills/experience:
Clean, clear, creative, persuasive writing.
Technically versatile and savvy enough to create content for different formats, devices and media, including video.
Strong familiarity with top sources for pop culture news.
Ability to produce 3-5 weekly blog posts on a topic with varying lengths and content styles.
Enthusiastic commitment to staying on top of the world of pop culture.
The ability to communicate with fans through social media.
An understanding of SEO (or willing to learn).
Must live in your parent’s basement (Just kidding!).

Work requirements:
Available to provide steady stream of content 3-5 articles days per week.
Always looking for breaking news in the world of pop culture.
Comfortable working remotely, staying in touch via e-mail, chat, text and phone.

Compensation:
Pay is based on web traffic.
If your article goes viral, you will be rewarded.

Start date/Application deadline:
Fall, Spring, and Summer internships available.
Apply now. We will contact qualified applicants.
Send your resume to matt@popaxiom.com

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Review- ‘Carol’- Dazzling and Delightful

By

Dewey Singleton - Film Critic

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December 21, 2015

Todd Haynes (who has a history examining what makes up the “homosexual identity mixed with classic melodramatic pieces”) was the perfect choice to film the adaptation of The Price Of Salt, Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel about two women who boldly defy the strict social conformity in their 1950s. Even with the high expectations surrounding the adaptation of The Price Of Salt, nothing will prepare you for the startling impact of Carol. Carol is a beautifully developed, deeply felt love story that flushes out every nuance of its characters inner lives with great intelligence, amazing poise, and masterful filmmaking. Carol is right in-line with Haynes’ Far From Heaven and Mildred Pierce to the point where it could be easily called a companion piece. Carol is an inricate re-creation of mid-20^th-century Americana and should have little trouble receiving critical praise, especially for Cate Blanchett. Blanchett’s portrayal of Carol is incandescent and will translate into significant year-end attention.

It’s rare to have a film with this much prestige centering around a homosexual relationship during the 1950’s, but Carol does seem to be generating a warmer audience embrace than films like Brokeback Mountain did ten years ago. The obvious differences between the two films go beyond the mere fact that Carol takes place in the 1950’s; Haynes’ film is not framed as a tragedy. For all its period restraint, Carol speaks to a larger issue that applies unmistakably to the present moment. It’s a modern film, disguised as 1950’s family drama.

The story takes place during Christmas 1950. A quiet Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) leads a boring seemingly ordinary existence, holding down a temporary job in the doll section at a Manhattan department store (Haynes does seem to have a thing for dolls in his films). Into this world of manufactured items and display cases (which looks amazing thanks to the amazing production designer Judy Becker) steps Carol Aird (Blanchett) who’s looking to shop for a Christmas gift for her daughter.

The moment when Therese first sets eyes on Carol is a classic, unadorned love-at-first-sight moment. Therese uses Carol mistakenly leaving her gloves at the counter as a way to secure a second meeting. Haynes’ talent as a director is on full display during a scene where the two women have lunch at a nearby restaurant. He’s able to up the pace of the shot (which portrays anxiousness) during very soft yet very vunerable encounter and visualize the unspoken desire that these two women have for each other.

One of the film’s more remarkable moments is, despite their obvious differences in class and background, Therese and Carol seem to ease themselves (and the audience) so quickly into a bond that neither have any interest in defining. Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy makes some very smart adjustments to the text, such as having Therese aspire to a career in photography (rather than set design) her black and white practice shots of Carol adding yet another layer of desire to Haynes’ work of art. Carter Burwell’s score is both haunting and quite appropriate for the story being told. Burwell’s use of two-step progressions and random repititions seemed the perfect undercurrent to the longing that Carol and Therese felt. Haynes seems to have faith in the whole process and he’s able to achieve final product that is eloquence beyond words.

Rooney Mara is as mesmerizing as she was in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, albeit in an entirely different film. Mara seems at her best when she plays the role of a person who’s guarded, yet unafraid to pursue what she wants. Her longing for Carol is the most important part of the film and if it’s not done with the appropriate balance then Carol becomes a joke. Lucky for us, not only does Mara step up to the challenge, but delivers quite possibly the best performance of her acting career.

Carol ultimately belongs to Blanchett, and rightly so. In a world of smothering decorum and forced family cheer, Blanchett illuminates the screen with her best performance since Blue Jasmine. What caught me off guard was Blanchett’s method in Carol to play the role in a much more quiet and underplayed tone. Her decision pays off because what we have is a deeper and fuller performance from Two-time Oscar winner.

Overall, there is a reason why Carol ended up on my Top 15 films list of 2015 and that’s because it’s sensational. It’s superbly wriiten, brilliantly acted, and skillfully shot, an amazing film and a triumph for the cast and crew. At this point it’s a foregone conclusion that both Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara are both destined to be nominated for an Academy Award for their roles respectfully. Monkeys Fighting Robots own Larry Taylor even predicted as much in his Oscar article recently. While I’m not sure how Mara will fare against the field of contenders, Blanchett is a different story all together. Cate Blanchett’s performance as Carol is in such a class by itself that we all should start getting use to the idea of Cate as a three-time Oscar Winner.

Regardless of whether Carol wins any Oscars doesn’t take away from the idea this film needs to be celebrated. In a world where see the same regurgitated nonsense played on screens again and again, it’s refreshing to finish watching a film and feel delight.

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