Cinema Psychos Movie Reviews

Two men enter! One man Leave! Welcome to the first Cinema Slugfest; The mini episode series from The Cinema Psychos Show. This week, two batmen will enter our cinematic thunder dome of doom as we try to settle the age old argument of who the better Batman is: Michael Keaton or Christian Bale.

This week, Brian, John, and Elaine begin decking their halls for the holiday season. What better way to celebrate the warm and fuzzy feelings of Christmas than by diving into Bad Santa 2, the brand new sequel to one of the most offensive, vulgar, and roll on the floor funny holiday films. Billy Bob Thornton is back as dirty curmudgeon with a heart of gold in this sequel 13 years in the making. So does the sequel hold up? Or does this film suffer from the usual retread and lackluster plot as other sequels based on "nostalgia" have in the past year. So polish up your jingle bells and gulp down your egg nog, as we explore Bad Santa 2.

This week, Brian, John, and Elaine provide you with some great post Thanksgiving food coma entertainment as we break down our Smorgasbord of Shit by reviewing 3 Thanksgiving themed horror movies. For your appetizer, we will be serving up the very smart Thanksgiving fake trailer by Eli Roth as part of The Grindhouse Double Feature from 2007. The main course will be the quintessential modern classic, Thankskilling....a movie that may make your eyes bleed during viewing. And to cleanse your palate, our dessert will be the 1981 slogfest, Home Sweet Home; a film known for the oscar worthy performance by Body by Jake himself, Jake Steinfeld. So take a break from the Black Friday pillaging for blu ray players and gear up for our Thanksgiving Special.

In a gear up for the gastro feast known in the USA as Thanksgiving, Brian, John, and Elaine are taking you on a tour of the Seth Rogen animated adult food fest, Sausage Party. While this episode proves to be our most vulgar to date, we take the time to analyze the film and answer some of the deeper questions, such as is this movie a parable about the dangers of blind faith in religion? Also, does this film illustrate the modern practice of people believing their own facts rather then accept the truth which may be unpleasant...(we have to balance out the vulgarity somehow). So sit back with a plate of sausages and prepare for some early guilt in the horrors of eating said sausage as we dive into Sausage Party.

Things get a little "Strange" this week as Brian, John, and Elaine throw on their sling rings and dive into the mind bending mystical stage 3 marvel film, Doctor Strange. We try to use our mystical movie powers and conjure answers to some of the biggest mysteries facing this entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe such as does it suffer from weak villains that aren't Loki and forgettable female characters that marvel gives no time to. Also is Benedict Cumberbatch playing Tony Stark or Doctor House or some other asshole who is redeemed after some trauma? So grab your cloak of levitation and trip out on the astral plane as we review Doctor Strange.

• Doctor Stephen Strange is an accomplished surgeon who seemingly has everything..money..confidence bordering on being a douche...so what could go wrong.
• Strange gets into a horrible car accident that cripples his hands.
• Strange becomes obsessed trying to cure his hands and return to his career. In his search, he comes across Karma-taj, a mystical place run by The Sorcerer Supreme: The Ancient One.
• Strange learns to master the mystical arts and get over his own hubris along with battle the villainous Kaecilius who looks to open The Dark Dimension and it's overlord, Dormamu, to our world.

• Racial white washing in casting
• The Ancient One in the comics is asian. In this adaptation, Tilda Swinton plays The Ancient One which is indicative of Hollywood's love affair with casting white people in non white roles.
• Suffers from the typical Marvel villain problems.
  • Marvel is notorious for crafting extremely forgettable villains (other than Loki of course).
• Kaecilius is extremely under developed and is given no time to develop as a character or add any reason to care or relate to the villain.
• Doctor Strange acts just like Tony Stark and even goes through the same kind of "trauma" and character arc as Tony Stark.

• Visual effects are simply beautiful in this film.
• Definitely worth seeing in 3D simply for the ability to trip out during the alternate dimension scenes.
• The story itself, despite being predictable, does stand on it's own and doesn't feel like a checklist for the next Avengers film (**I'M LOOKING AT YOU AGE OF ULTRON!!**).
• Cumberbatch does create a solid Stephen Strange that adds just the right amount of humor without going full Whedon.
• Ending is fantastic as it uses the ability of Doctor Strange outsmarting Dormamu instead of simply punching him.

Subscribe today to never miss an episode. If you like the show or want to leave a comment, please feel free to give us a quick review. We are always looking to improve and add more to the show and your input is definitely appreciated. Also, join our monthly newsletter to get exclusive content and previews of upcoming episodes.

As indie filmmakers, we can appreciate the value of a review of your work. Film festivals, distribution companies, sales agents, etc. all look at reviews and press that a film can get when considering picking up a film. If you are interested in submitting your indie film for review, contact us at the links below with a digital screener of your movie and we will do what we can to feature it on a future episode of The Cinema Psychos Show.

Twitter @PsychosShow Facebook-PsychosShow Website-cinemapsychosshow.com Instagram-cinemapsychosshow Tumblr-cinemapsychosshow Google+-cinemapsychosshow Email- [email protected] Brian Cottington-@BrianCottington

This week, Brian, John, and Elaine are nursing really bad post halloween hangovers. Seriously, we overdosed on candy corn and peanut butter cups. So as we recover, we decided to turn our attention to the coming apocalypse...I mean presidential election by examining some of the cinematic offerings of the more political and patriotic variety. So buckle up as we navigate some of hollywood's most revealing critiques of our political system as we dive into election films.

Movie News! Johnny Depp Joins Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Cast Election Films

History

Political films used to be more about the "everyman" going to Washington and serving the country in our political system (ie. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington) Around the 60's and 70's political films started to reflect cynicism of the time due to The Vietnam War and Watergate.

Reflective of our time

Ultimately, all political films are reflective of not only their time but also the societal and political narrative of the time. Cold War paranoia also seeped into movies like The Manchurian Candidate and The Dead Zone. 1990's became less cynical and more satirical with movies like Primary Colors, Bullworth, and Wag the Dog.

The Contender (2000)

Joan Allen plays a politician who is potentially being vetted as vice President. Becomes bogged down by sexual accusations and discrimination by her enemies. Mirrors some of the sexist arguments brought up in our current election.

Election (1999)

Dark Comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick Notable for showing a girl who is aggressively going after political power in a high school election. Tracy Flick is presented as a scheming opportunist and over achiever. The movie presents utterly unlikable characters. Matthew Broderick starts off as a popular teacher and ultimately is caught up in a male vs female battle to destroy Tracy Flick's chances of winning the school election. Reads as slightly disturbing in a time when candidates like Donald Trump our reflected in Matthew Broderick's character of Jim McCalister.

Election (1999) Trailer

Subscribe / Rate / Review Subscribe today to never miss an episode. If you like the show or want to leave a comment, please feel free to give us a quick review. We are always looking to improve and add more to the show and your input is definitely appreciated. Also, join our monthly newsletter to get exclusive content and previews of upcoming episodes.

Calling all Indie filmmakers! We Want Your Movies! As indie filmmakers, we can appreciate the value of a review of your work. Film festivals, distribution companies, sales agents, etc. all look at reviews and press that a film can get when considering picking up a film. If you are interested in submitting your indie film for review, contact us at the links below with a digital screener of your movie and we will do what we can to feature it on a future episode of The Cinema Psychos Show.

Connect with us!

Twitter @PsychosShow Facebook-PsychosShow Website-cinemapsychosshow.com Instagram-cinemapsychosshow Tumblr-cinemapsychosshow Google+-cinemapsychosshow Email- [email protected]

Contact the Hosts!

Brian Cottington-@BrianCottington Elaine Wooliscroft-@La_Croft John Wooliscroft- @TheUnRealJWools

The post Election Movies – Episode 29 appeared first on The Cinema Psychos Show.

To close out our month long celebration of all things Halloween, we are giving you the ultimate treat or trick with a Halloween themed entry into our Pantheon of Utter Shit. This time around we induct the 1986 heavy metal classic, Trick or Treat. This is not to be confused with the very, very, very good Michael Dougherty film from 2007 titled Trick 'r Treat. No, this film is pretty much an example of what can go wrong when you combine hair band heavy metal and horror with a dash of 80's cheese thrown on top. So settle in as you're checking your candy for razor blades and poison as we dive into Trick or Treat.

Movie News! British Production Company Fined $2.7 million for Harrison Ford Star Wars Injury Trick or Treat (1986)

The Story

Film revolves around Eddie AKA Ragman who is a typical 80's high school misfit who is obsessed with hair band heavy metal, chased by very violent 80's preppy bullies, and pines over the out of his league girl. His Idol is the "rock warrior" Sammi Curr who Eddie has a bit of an obsession with. Eddie finds out that Sammi has died in a hotel fire which crushes him. Eddie receives a acetate record from his disc jockey friend, Nuke, played by Gene Simmons, which is the last and only copy of Sammi Curr's final album. The record starts talking to Eddie when played in reverse at first helping him deal with the bullies, but then taking a murderous turn by threatening Eddie's mom and nearly killing a girl (smoke rape and ear melting). Sammi is revived out of the record and goes on a rampage killing people with his electrical powers.

Meh things

Sammi is kinda a poor man's Freddy Krueger combined with Livewire from DC Comics.

Minus the awesome Robert Englund jokes

Sammi kills people in the most comically goofy ways

Possesses a car via a tape Kills "Large Marge" by ripping her out of a TV Swipes at Ozzy Osbourne on TV killing him The bully, Tim, gets his head blown off. Cops get blown up leaving only their boots. Quick question, what do the people in the TV station think is going on when Sammi kills these people via tv?

Never stated but surmised, Sammi only exists in copies of the original acetate record. Worst lip sync performance ever. Apparently, water can deter Sammi since he is made of electricity.

Sammi gets trapped in a toilet......SO WHY FLUSH THE TOILET, WOULDN'T THAT GET RID OF THE WATER!!

Final Thoughts

When you spend all your money on Gene Simmons, Ozzy Osbourne, and rotoscoped lightning there won't be any money left for visual effects other than puffs of smoke and dry ice. Never meet your heroes.....cause they could turn out to be demons made of electricity. No reason for this movie to be named Trick or Treat. Should just be called "Death Metal" or the german title "DAS RAGMAN!"

Trick or Treat (1986) Trailer

Subscribe / Rate / Review Subscribe today to never miss an episode. If you like the show or want to leave a comment, please feel free to give us a quick review. We are always looking to improve and add more to the show and your input is definitely appreciated. Also, join our monthly newsletter to get exclusive content and previews of upcoming episodes.

Calling all Indie filmmakers! We Want Your Movies! As indie filmmakers, we can appreciate the value of a review of your work. Film festivals, distribution companies, sales agents, etc. all look at reviews and press that a film can get when considering picking up a film. If you are interested in submitting your indie film for review, contact us at the links below with a digital screener of your movie and we will do what we can to feature it on a future episode of The Cinema Psychos Show.

Connect with us!

Twitter @PsychosShow Facebook-PsychosShow

Podcast Audience! You gotta come back with us! Where you ask?..BACK TO THE FUTURE! This week, in honor of Back to the Future Day 2016 (October 21st-The Day Marty and Doc land in the future) we decided to take a look back at the franchise that introduced us to hover boards, self lacing Nikes, and Donald Trump....I mean Biff Tannen. So grab your Gray's Sports Almanac and refuel your Mr. Fusion as we gun this podcast up to 88mph and explore the world of Back to the Future!

Movie News! Tommy Wiseau, Director of cult classic, The Room to star in new film, Best F(r)iends The Back to the Future Trilogy (1985, 1989, 1990)

Back to the Future (1985)

Written by both Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale and centered on the idea of "what if you could go back and see what your parents were like as teenagers." No studio wanted this film. Disney did show interest until they saw certain incestual tones in the screenplay (ie. Marty and Lorraine McFly). Zemeckis directed Romancing the Stone which was a huge success and ultimately led to his directing Back to the Future. Eric Stolz originally was cast as Marty McFly. However, Stoltz portrayed a very morose Marty that ultimately was counter to the vision that Gale and Zemeckis had. Michael J. Fox was brought in and brought a lighter and comedic tone to the character of Marty. The shooting schedule was grueling for Fox who would shoot Back to the Future at night and Family Ties during the day.

Back to the Future-Take Aways

Film is more about George McFly's transition from doormat to self confidence rather than Marty's journey. One of the biggest issues with the film is that it creates plot points for Marty yet fails to deliver.

Marty never is shown gaining the confidence to send in his demo to the record company.

Robert Zemeckis is not that great at diversity.

Mayor Goldie Wilson is a corrupt politician. Rock and Roll is gifted to Chuck Berry by Marty McFly.

Back to the Future: Part II (1989)

Centers on Doc and Marty travelling 15 years into the future to stop an incident from occurring with Marty's kids that would destroy his family. Ultimately, they are success and create a secondary plot in which future Biff steals the time machine and changes the past and creates a dystopian 1985. Cartoon version of the original film. Relies on goofy future tech and style as well as a goofy Donald Trump-esque dystopian present. Light on plot. Does the job that a sequel should do by expanding the mythos of the original. Plot starts to focus more on Marty and the repercussions of his short temper. This movie is full of plot holes- See John's extensive list at 52:17 Plot holes can be resolved with the application "SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF." Also, IT'S A FUCKING TIME TRAVEL MOVIE.

Back to the Future: Part III (1990)

Dumbest of the three. The plot centers on Marty and Doc Brown being stuck in the old west after the events of the 2nd film and their journey to get back to 1985 before Mad Dog Tannen, an ancestor of Biff's, shoots and murders Doc over a matter of 80 dollars. Secondary plot, deals with Doc falling in love with school teacher, Clara Clayton. The time machine is ultimately destroyed after Marty makes it back to 1985. Doc Brown stays in 1885 with Clara. Doc Brown then comes back from 1885 with a brand new time machine made out of a train----which is completely counter to his "I should have never invented that infernal time machine" logic. The guess is that this was tacked on to lead into the Back to the Future cartoon.

Final Thoughts

First film is a near flawless movie. Sequels are ok, but not great and definitely do not hold up nearly as well as the original film.

Welcome children of the night! This week, Brian, John, and Elaine regale us with the long and storied history of the vampire film and its place in horror cinema. We will try to answer some of the big questions associated with vampire movies, like how in less than 100 years we can go from blood thirsty, sex obsessed, gothic romantics to sparkly hipster vampires that simply "suck". So grab your holy water and sharpen your wood stakes as we crack open the crypt on the history of vampire films.

Movie News!

Blumhouse Productions Releases Awesome Trailer for Jordan Peele's Get Out Vampire Movies

Vampire History

Most of the cinematic vampires can be traced back to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Dracula was based on an amalgamation of different vampire myths and legends dating back to the dark ages.

Vlad the Impaler Countess Elizabeth Bathory

Vampires are based on a misunderstanding of how death and decomposition works. Vampires are also symbols of our feelings of lust, the sacred nature of blood, fears of foreigners, fear of venlarial disease.

Vampires at the Dawn of Cinema

Nosferatu (1922) an unofficial production of Dracula is considered to be the first vampire film. Murnau's Count Orlock terrified audiences with rat like features and is far removed from the dashing count later introduced. Excellent example of German Expressionist filmmaking.

Universal Monsters of the 30's & 40's

Bela Lugosi's Dracula featured the first cinematic version of the dashing romantic count. Director, Todd Browning, based his film more on the broadway play rather than the Bram Stoker book. 1931's Dracula is more of a filmed version of the play. There really isn't a lot of variation in the cinematography. A lot of wide angles and not a whole lot of movement within the frame. Interesting fact, the Spanish language version of Dracula features more creativity in cinematography and visual effects for its time.

Hammer Horror and the Rise of Blood and Sex

In the 1950's, the UK's Hammer Studios releases Horror of Dracula, a Dracula film in color featuring a vampire that drinks blood on camera and is far more sexual than previous incarnations. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing become the archetypes for Count Dracula and Van Helsing respectively.

Exploitation Vampires in the 70's

The 70's saw the rise of exploitation vampire films with movies like Blacula, Andy Warhol's Blood for Dracula, George Romero's Martin, and Tobe Hooper's Salem's Lot. Anne Rice Vampires are introduced. The vampire now is more of a self reflective creature that contemplates their immortality rather than just being a bloodthirsty monster.

Mixed Bag for The 80's

Vampires now had to compete with the popular slasher films of the decade. Goofy vampire movies became popular.

Once Bitten Vampire's Kiss My Best Friend's a Vampire

Vampire films reflected a more comedic tone due to the the association of blood and the AIDS epidemic. Vampires also took a much darker and bloodier turn, yet stayed away from the gothic horror roots, with movies like The Lost Boys and Near Dark.

1990's Buffy and the Return of Dracula

The 90's brought a new twist of the vampire myth with Joss Whedon's Buffy The Vampire Slayer film and tv series.

Notable for changing the role of a male vampire slayer into a female.

Gothic horror returned to the screen in 1992 with Bram Stoker's Dracula- Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Notable for being the first major film to be digitally edited. The film saved Francis Ford Coppola's production company, American Zoetrope, from going out of business. All effects were done in camera, no digital effects.

Led to a resurgence in gothic horror films with Frankens...

'Tis the season for ghosts, goblins, and horror movies and Brian, John, and Elaine have the picks for your halloween season viewing. We break down our top 3 favorite horror movies to get you in the halloween mood with plenty of scares, blood, gore, and a gratuitous nudity. So turn out the lights and get comfortable as we dole out our favorite pieces of nightmare food.

Movie News! Mindy Kaling's Brother Accuses Actress of Sabotaging Book TOP 3 HORROR MOVIES John's Picks

Honorable Mention:

Halloween (1978) The Shining (1980)

Brian's Picks

Elaine's Picks

Honorable Mention:

Carrie (1976) Let The Right One In (2008)

Brain Damage (1988)- Aylmer's Song

Subscribe / Rate / Review Subscribe today to never miss an episode. If you like the show or want to leave a comment, please feel free to give us a quick review. We are always looking to improve and add more to the show and your input is definitely appreciated. Also, join our monthly newsletter to get exclusive content and previews of upcoming episodes.

Calling all Indie filmmakers! We Want Your Movies! As indie filmmakers, we can appreciate the value of a review of your work. Film festivals, distribution companies, sales agents, etc. all look at reviews and press that a film can get when considering picking up a film. If you are interested in submitting your indie film for review, contact us at the links below with a digital screener of your movie and we will do what we can to feature it on a future episode of The Cinema Psychos Show.

Connect with us!

Twitter @PsychosShow Facebook-PsychosShow Website-cinemapsychosshow.com Instagram-cinemapsychosshow Tumblr-cinemapsychosshow Google+-cinemapsychosshow Email- [email protected] Brian Cottington-@BrianCottington Elaine Wooliscroft-@La_Croft

The post Top 3 Horror Movies for Halloween Viewing – Episode 25 appeared first on The Cinema Psychos Show.