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InMovie News

Awesome restoration of Robot Jox Achilles model

July 11, 2012By

Rocketbobs on the Replica Props Forum has put up one of the most awesome projects in the history of awesome projects showing up on message boards on the internet. Restored one of the robots from the film Robot Jox, Achilles. He reassembled from two of the models used on screen, the Tank Tred Bot and the Flying Stunt Bot. Both of the models were missing parts or damaged, but when combined they make a fully restored Achilles! Besides the great photos of the restored model, there are plenty of pictures of the restoration in progress. It took four years(!) of loving care to bring the world something so cool. One thing I did learn was that the Robot Jox models were five feet tall, that’s pretty crazy!

Rocketbobs explains how the prop worked:

For the big bots the went old school Thunderbirds style. Picture frame cable was screwed directly to the internal 2×4 wood internal structure. The pivot points are all cast iron plumbing fittings, on the inside. The knees and elbows are simple slip joints…loosen the screw if ya want it to move:) a long steel pole stuck out his back that was puppeteered for gross body movements. Above the whole thing was scaffolding with cables to hold him up. He was also pushed and pulled off screen to make him move. There are very few shots of the full five footer in the film. Mostly close-ups…I’m sure six guys are holding him up right off camera.
If mine didn’t have the back pole and base pole, he would sit down by him self…just like a marionette.

Rocketbobs might put up archival prints of the original art by Steve Burg, based on Ron Cobb initial drawings. If so, I’ll link it here.
Robot Jox Achilles
Robot Jox Achilles
Robot Jox Achilles plans
Many more pictures on the Replica Props Forum

InMovie News

Found Footage Spoof with Cedric the Entertainer and Marlon Wayans

July 10, 2012By

Marlon Wayans is jumping back into the world of spoofing horror films, and he’s dragging Cedric the Entertainer kicking and screaming! Okay, maybe he’s doing it willingly, but does that follow the horror film motif? I think not. We got to be proper!

The plot:

From the creators of Scary Movie comes another hilarious horror spoof, a parody of the Paranormal Activity franchise. When newlyweds Malcolm (Marlon Wayans) and Kisha (Essence Atkins) move into their dream house, they quickly find they’re not alone. But it’s not the house that’s haunted, but his wife that is possessed with spirits – or as Malcolm calls it – “relationship baggage.” Malcolm hires everyone from a priest to modern day ghostbusters to rid her of the demon, determined not to let the evil spirit ruin his marriage… or his sex life for that matter.” The pic will also spoof Paramount’s The Devil Inside.

The original working title was Smart Ass, but that’s being changed, maybe because the title is too close to the Academy Award winning 2505 film Ass. I also like that added line at the end about The Devil Inside, which looks quickly added once that film made money at the box office despite being worse than anything the Wayans have ever made. Even Most Wanted! Found footage horror films are getting annoying, so hopefully this nameless beast trashes them good. Or at least trashes them some.

via DreadCentral

Wayans Most Wanted

Everyone wants me!

InMisc News

Cookie Monster – Share It Maybe

July 10, 2012By


Confession: I’ve never heard the original “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen on the radio, but it’s played on the background on videos my wife watches, so I’m familiar enough with it when it went enormous I wasn’t completely lost. But ignoring all that, the Muppets are awesome, Sesame Street is awesome, Cookie Monster is awesome, and this video is awesome. So that’s a lot of awesome. Watch it, be awesome.

InMovie News

Birdemic 2 teaser

July 10, 2012By

Birdemic 2

America asked for it. America got it.


Birdemic II: The Resurrection is not only a reality, it’s reaching teaser trailer phase. And even though that teaser is just a riff on the Avengers, it shows that somewhere, somehow, this film got funded. The world can’t seem to get enough of animated gifs attacking dotcom millionaires and Victoria Secrets models. And whatever the other characters did. Mostly collected large amounts of guns. But now the birds are back, and they’re more bird than ever! Maybe.

Let’s find out the plot:

Synopsis: A platoon of eagles and vultures attack Hollywood, California. Why did the eagles and vultures attacked? Who will survive?

Wait, what?

Let’s find out a better plot:

Bill is a struggling filmmaker; Gloria is an aspiring actress. Rod, a Silicon Valley millionaire, finances Bill’s film, a dream come true until eagles and vultures attack Hollywood and it’s up to Rod, his girlfriend Nathalie, new friends and old to mount the resistance. Who will survive?

Birdemic II, you asked for it.

Wait, what???

Oh, well. With much of the original cast returning along with a whole bunch of new characters, Birdemic 2 looks to be just as much of a trainwreck as the prior film, except now with needless swagger. But I’ll probably watch it. James Nguyen better bring it!

Birdemic 2 cast

Best gun placement ever!


Official Site
via DreadCentral

InMovie Reviews, Ugly

The Sorcerer and the White Snake (Review)

July 9, 2012By

The Sorcerer and the White Snake

aka 白蛇傳說 aka It’s Love aka Bai she chuan shuo aka Madame White Snake

2011
Written by Charcoal Tan, Tsang Kan-Cheung, and Sze-To Cheuk-Hon
Directed by Tony Ching Siu-Tung
Action Directors – Tony Ching Siu-Tung and Wong Ming-Kin

Ice Age 5: Journey to Mt. Doom!

The Sorcerer and the White Snake is a big budget effects bonanza that also doubles as a sleeping aide. Thanks to China attempting to become a major player in the movie department, they’ve begun adopting the worst aspect of Hollywood blockbusters. Giant empty special effects, bland characters, story arcs that go nowhere, and a film made as generic and non-offensive as possible to ensure the widest possible audience. Sadly, that also makes The Sorcerer and the White Snake just like so many of those big budget films in that it is not very good. Now, I can’t fault them entirely for being inspired by generic Hollywood junk, that’s most likely the films that are imported over to China that clean up in the box office. But in the race to show how China can do it too, they failed to realize what China is doing is failing just as bad.

We’ve come to avenge Ting Ting from Thunder of Gigantic Serpent!

When making The Sorcerer and the White Snake, the producers decided the most interesting part about this classic love story was a supporting character who fought spirits. My thinking is they wanted to do a familiar story but also wanted to do a film with huge action sequences. The only feasible way was to graft it onto the classic White Snake story. But it just doesn’t work. The original tale is diluted and weakened, while the Monk’s expanded story receives little payoff. This decision even further boggles the mind because they kept the title It’s Love, which hints that the film should be focused on the couple and not the monk. The biggest sin of all is the action sequences ring hollow and bland. Large portions of what should have made the film great were sacrificed for spectacles that focues on looking good over actual impact. Thousands of people at thousands of computers worked for thousands of hours to make me bored. Many of the huge battles fail to even convey a sense of danger for the combatants, even when the entire ocean is turning into giant tidal waves with giant snakes swimming around, no one seems to be in real danger.

Someone wasn’t paying attention when they read the Book of Genesis!

But are there bright spots? Well, the film certainly looks very nice. Good cinematography. Moments of the action sequences are good, but not enough. This paragraph should be longer, but I really can’t think of anything.

By that time, my mouse lungs were aching for air.

It is legally impossible to talk about The Sorcerer and the White Snake without bringing up the last well known theatrical version of this story, Green Snake. I’m serious. Lawyers will call you and yell. While Tsui Hark’s film is a masterpiece, it is a completely different story (based, in fact, on a separate work, the book Green Snake by Lilian Lee!) Comparing Green Snake to The Sorcerer and the White Snake is like complaining because The Muppets Wizard of Oz isn’t enough like Wicked. They are two different stories with two different tales, with the same narrative starting point. And this post isn’t about Green Snake, it’s about The Sorcerer and the White Snake.

I hate it when I’m in the bamboo forest and a rap video breaks out…

Let’s meet the cast, then I’ll point out some places where the film did okay and where I got annoyed.

Master Fahai (Jet Li Lian-Jie) – The abbot of Jin Shan Temple and famed demon hunter. Very arrogant and strict, though he does try to capture most of the spirits in case they want to meditate for rehabiliation. See more Jet Li in The Forbidden Kingdom.
Susu aka White Snake (Eva Huang Sheng-Yi) – White Snake spirit that is thousands of years old and has the fortune/misfortune to fall in love with a human being. Eva Huang is best known for appearing voicelessly in Kung Fu Hustle, then getting fired from Stephen Chow’s production company, and drama ensuing, then still making it in the cutthroat world of acting/producing.
Qingqing aka Green Snake (Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin) – The rowdy Green Snake, who is more emotional and joking than her friend White Snake. But she is loyal and will defend her friend to the end. Charlene Choi is also on TarsTarkas.NET in Treasure Inn, Hidden Heroes, Beauty on Duty, and Protege De La Rose Noire.
Monk Nengren (Wen Zhang) – Assistant monk to Master Fahai and he accompanies him on all his adventures. Until he’s bitten by a bat demon and begins turning into a spirit himself. It also looks like the monks don’t have much of a health care plan…
Xu Xian (Raymond Lam Fung) – A young herbalist with big dreams and posessing enough of a cool factor to catch the eye of Susu for some cross-species romance. Turns out he isn’t that upset that his wife is a snake.
So much CGI, the excitemenZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz…..
InBad, Movie Reviews

Matching Escort/Fury of the Silver Fox (Review)

July 8, 2012By

Matching Escort

aka Fury of the Silver Fox aka 金粉遊龍 aka Wolf Devil Woman 2

1982
Written by Pearl Cheung Ling and Peng Wei-Wei
Directed by Si Ma-Peng
Planning Director Pearl Cheung Ling

Dances with Wolf Devil Women

If you are a fan of wolrd cult cinema, especial cult fantasy martial arts flicks, and are not familiar with the directorial works of Pearl Cheung Ling (aka Chang Ling), then you need to get educated! Luckily, TarsTarkas.NET is there for you! Not only are we working through Pearl’s films that she had her hand in creating, but there are also Infernal Brains podcasts featuring awesome background information about Pearl Cheung Ling and further discussion of her work (featuring fabulous Guest Brain duriandave of SoftFilm!) But if you don’t like hearing people talk, don’t worry, there are plenty of text reviews going around! Beyond the previously covered Dark Lady of Kung Fu, the other major Pearl films are each getting their well-deserved reviews on TarsTarkas.NET.

We’re putting half the budget into things that go in my hair!

Matching Escort is considered the second of Pearl Cheung Ling’s auteur films. Pearl Cheung Ling is best known in the west for Wolf Devil Woman, and to capitalize on that fact, one of the many release retitles of Matching Escort was Wolf Devil Woman 2, despite this film being made first! (Even worse, the film Miraculous Flower was made before both films yet also released as Wolf Devil Woman 3!) The hallmarks of Pearl’s style are all present, and she has more creative control for weird side plots that start to blur the traditional wuxia narrative, though it is still more cohesive of a film than Wolf Devil Woman, Dark Lady of Kung Fu, or General Invincible. This is probably due more towards the credited director, Sima Peng (if he’s an actual person!) Pearl is credited at the planning director, but based on her other films she probably was calling most of the shots for Matching Escort.

My Basement, the Motion Picture

Besides Matching Escort and Wolf Devil Woman 2, another common retitle is Fury of the Silver Fox. This title makes about as much sense as the others, which is not much. The dubbing, however, is ridiculous, as all of the dub jobs on Pearl’s films are. And I can verify that there are missing song queues in the dubbed version. Most notably, the film’s theme song sung by Pearl is gone. They lyrics were written by Sun Yi, legendary songwriter of classics like The Moon Represents My Heart. Venus the Ninja and Venus the Ninja Wolf are also listed as reissue titles, both seeming to be cashing in on a craze (ninjas or the Wolf Devil Woman film.) I don’t think this was reissued as Wolfen Ninja, though, as I know that is a retitle of Wolf Devil Woman (but I could be wrong, because there is a dearth of information on the reissues!)

People selling magazine subscriptions are getting pretty aggressive!

Pearl themes featured here include this being a revenge film featuring her father being murdered (to be fair, that is a fairly common plot devise in martial arts cinema), random bursts of goofy comedy, scenes featuring beggars, scenes featuring crazy old man martial arts masters, Pearl spending some of her scenes wearing fur, a handsome prince with a comic relief sidekick, Pearl “transforming” into a martial arts master, Pearl donning solid color outfits when it’s time to get down to business and slaughter the bad guys, lots of blood and gore, scenes that look suspiciously inspired by recent Western cinema blockbusters, and overly dramatic scenes of Pearl either flying into places or riding with purpose. One thing this thankfully doesn’t have is animal deaths, a sadly too common Pearl theme. In fact, there is a monkey and a parrot who both have minor roles and aren’t killed!

When Little Boy Blue became a man

Sadly most versions of Matching Escort are dubbed versions, and I am not aware of a widescreen version at all. Like most of Pearl’s films, it has falled into a state of neglect and forgotten history. Thanks to the awful dubbing, many of the character names are just decriptions as the dubbing decided that giving major characters names was too big of a hassle.

This spa sucks

Chu (Pearl Cheung Ling) – Just a girl born into a martial arts world. Her father is killed along with the rest of her family and she’s forced to flee for her life, to seek revenge at a later date. This is the story of that revenge.
Prince Cao Tien (Mang Fei) – A wandering Prince on a mission agains Wan Ching’s martial gang. His true reason for undertaking the mission is not revealed until the end of the film. Often called Young Master by Peanut.
Peanut (???) – Cao Tien’s sidekick and loyal servant. And famed comic relief player. He’s not a woozle, thank goodness, because Jeff Dunham is awful awful awful.
Wan Ching (Peng Kong) – The man who ordered the killing of Pearl’s father while looking for the Jade Amulet of the Emperor, which he wanted to gain control of the army. I guess the army listens to anyone wearing a jade amulet. Maybe they should look into better army chain of command practices. Wan Ching has a magic power glove that he throws that rips off heads like flying guillotine, and a parrot that condemns people to death!
Shiny Guy (Chan Gwan-Biu) – The man who killed Pearl’s father thanks to his shiny ring blinding him during the swrodfight. Because he wears a jeweled ring, he has red streaked hair and another jewel embedded in his forehead. It’s the law. The law of giant jeweled rings.
Old Man (Sek Ying) – Pearl’s crippled master who lived in a hole for 20 years while making a potion to get revenge doesn’t get a name, though his evil twin brother gets a mouthful of a name – Tse Ma Bai Yuen. Teaches Pearl more martial arts techniques in exchange for her killing his brother.
Yu Mei (???) – The female member of evil gang, she uses her feminine charms to invite people to dinner where she poisons them. This never works for the entirity of the film, though it’s interesting to see a female suductress character not using seduction for murder during sex but during a nice sit down dinner.
Anyone for handball?
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