On this episode of Mondo Squallido, we are looking at another film from bizarre maestro, Alex de Renzy. It’s been a while sine I got balls deep with his unconventional cinema, The film in question is Little Sisters from 1972. This film is dubbed as one of his more strange efforts. To be fair we […]
Stars: Jim Sturgess, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Brendan Gleeson, David Thewlis, Jason Flemyng, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Sinéad Cusack, Edmund Kingsley, Ciara Flynn, Christopher Fulford | Written by Joe Gangemi | Directed by Brad Anderson If you were told about a film based on an Edgar Allen Poe short story with stars including Kate Beckinsale, Michael Caine, […]
Stars: Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka, Shinji Takeda, Naomi Nishida, Kiyoshirô Imawano, Tetsurô Tanba, Naoto Takenaka, Tamaki Miyazaki, Takashi Matsuzaki | Written by Ai Kennedy, Kikumi Yamagishi | Directed by Takashi Miike Being a Takashi Miike fan takes you down some strange roads. Whether it is the extreme Ichi the Killer and Visitor Q, or the fun […]
“I welcome judgment.” Cool, Ray. You asked for it. True Detective‘s first season seemed to have the zeitgeist firmly in its swamp-mummy claws, an unexpected pulp hit hitched to live-wire performances by Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, filmed by the thunderous Cary Fukunaga, and veined through with little rills and creeks of cosmic horror. It […]
Stars: Julia Stiles, Scott Speedman, Stephen Rea, Alejandro Furth, Frank Cuervo, Pixie Davies, Vanesa Tamayo | Written by Alex & David Pastor, Javier Gullón | Directed by Lluís Quílez Two words for you. Killer kids. OK, make it three: killer ghost kids! Out of the Dark is the latest film from brothers Alex and David Pastor, the […]
In todays episode we look at a film which has a reputation for being so bat shit insane and trashy… Mad Foxes! Throw action, violence, sleaze and nazi bikers (as well as naked mustached Erik Falk) in to one somewhat homerotic cocktail and this is what we get. You guys know I love my trash […]
Stars: Bruce Willis, Ambyr Childers, Thomas Jane, Bryan Greenberg, Johnathon Schaech, Charlotte Kirk, Brett Granstaff, Ryan O’Nan, David Gordon, Colin Egglesfield, Cameron Brexler, Jesse Pruett, Tyler Jon Olson, Don Harvey, Lydia Hull | Written by Andre Fabrizio, Jeremy Passmore | Directed by Brian A. Miller Take one part The Matrix, one part Surrogates and mix […]
Stars: Scott Adkins, Dolph Lundgren, Yi Huang, Nathan Lee, James Lance, Lydia Leonard, Geng Le, Murray Clive Walker, Viktor Sobtchak, Tom Austen, David Thomas Jenkins, Li Shengye, Yang Caiyu, Paul Philip Clark, Ivan Kotik | Written by Andy Briggs | Directed by Eric Styles Take one 80s action star and one current kick-ass action movie […]
“It’s easy. You just lie down, get nice and comfy, don’t move, and don’t think about anything…” Oops. The last time Steven Universe went this weird it was for the paranoia-driven ‘Rose’s Room,’ an episode built around the impossibility of wish fulfillment. ‘Chille Tid,’ by contrast, is as placeless and strange as its name. The Norwegian phrase “chille […]
WrestleMania 31, the WWE’s biggest event of the year is over and we arrive at Extreme Rules, the pay per view that WWE claim is their time once a year to “go extreme”. The PG era has meant that “extreme” in the current WWE climate is very different to what it meant back in ECW […]
Stars: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Luke Grimes, Jennifer Ehle, Eloise Mumford, Victor Rasuk, Marcia Gay Harden, Max Martini, Callum Keith Rennie | Written by Kelly Marcel | Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson When “innocent” Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) finds herself interviewing handsome billionaire business man Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) an obvious attraction is shared and sparks fly. […]
Stars: Michael Shannon, Samantha Morton, Peter Fonda, Natasha Calis, Charlie Tahan, Peter Fonda, Leslie Lyles | Written by Stephen Lancellotti | Directed by John McNaughton John McNaughton, enfante-terrible of the BBFC thanks to his stunning 1986 debut feature Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, returns to genre film making after two decades away from horror […]
Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Leehom Wang, Wei Tang, Viola Davis, Holt McCallany | Written by Morgan Davis Foehl | Directed by Michael Mann About an hour into my viewing of Blackhat I was struggling to remain conscious from boredom. About an hour later I was glued to my seat, my eyes and ears on full alert for whatever the film was going to throw […]
“Get open, get honest. That’s fusion.” Most shows with fantasy conceits similar to fusion use it as part of an ongoing game of power creep, ratcheting up the stakes by combining existing characters into newer, shoutier, more powerful versions of themselves. Leave it to Steven Universe to make it an expression of connection and love, a sort-of-but-not-quite […]
Written by Abid Gangat As I trundled up the steps to where EA were meeting with various press and media, I found myself being introduced to Alex Grimbley by one of the EA team. Alex suggested I try FIFA on mobile to see what the company have done to make one of their most successful […]
“This room holds sound and motion, great snakes wrestling and heaving in the dark.” One by one the figurative dead are passing through the mouth of the cathedral at Palermo and into the vastness of Hannibal’s palace. What they seek there differs from person to person. Inspector Pazzi sees a chance to recapture glory by […]
“I wish you hadn’t seen that.” This is a dang kids’ show, y’all. ‘Keeping It Together’ takes a long, unnerving look at something Steven Universe has had on its radar since ‘Frybo,’ season 1’s early gross-out fest: voluntary and involuntary dynamics. The show has bumped up against the idea softly and repeatedly in its portrayals of imperfect people trying […]
Written by Abid Gangat Walking into the LA Convention Center this morning I was greeted by what I can only describe as organised chaos, with the spectacle of hundreds of industry members walking around with an air of nervousness and excitement about them. It was as though they were all there for their very first […]
“I’m so brave to be doing this.” ‘Rising Tides / Crashing Skies’ is that rare character study that offers insight without demanding that the audience render up sympathy. Ronaldo Fryman is a typical teenage boy in that, whether it’s acclaim or love, he believes the world owes him something. The faux-‘Loose Change’ format of his delightfully […]
