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Author: BRWC

  • We Are Twisted F***ing Sister! (2014): Film Review

    We Are Twisted F***ing Sister! (2014): Film Review

    By Last Caress.

    “Alright, Mister Sister! I want you to tell me… no, better yet, stand up and tell the class: WHADDA YOU WANNA DO WITH YOUR LIFE?!?”

    “I Wanna Rock!”

    Who doesn’t love Twisted Sister? I know I do. I know my son does too, although that may be thanks to SpongeBob SquarePants’ admittedly excellent reworking of I Wanna Rock: I’m a Goofy Goober. Still, who cares how you arrive at the party? Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider doesn’t care, he just cares that you get there.

    Twisted Sister

    We Are Twisted F***ing Sister!, the 2014 documentary by Andrew Horn, opens with this clip from seminal UK music show The Tube in 1982 depicting Twisted Sister at what I would call the peak of their career, and then quickly backtracks “3267 shows earlier” to Manhattan in 1972 where guitarist Jay Jay French had grown tired of the pot-heavy, hippified scene from whence he’d sprang, and taken instead to much more glamorous-looking outfits such as David Bowie, Lou Reed, Mott the Hoople and the New York Dolls. He wasn’t overly impressed with the music, mind you (“The Dolls – they look great, but… man, they suck!”), but thought that if he could find a band who looked glam but could actually play, he’d realy be onto something. And so it came that he landed a gig with The Twisted Sisters, a band playing Led Zeppelin and The Who covers whilst dressed fundamentally as women (“We’re dressed as women? Are there groupies for that?” “Oh yeah, you’re gonna get laid a LOT!”). A few miles away in Long Island, a disenchanted teenaged vocalist called Daniel “Dee” Snider was drifting from band to band, honing his craft. Dee was making a name for himself locally as were The Twisted Sisters (who, somewhere along the way, had become simply “Twisted Sister” by this point). Dee liked what Twisted Sister were all about but Twisted Sister, for their part, had been experiencing difficulties with vocalists (they sacked one, another one bailed on them, Jay Jay had a go but wasn’t in truth up to it), and ultimately split altogether. Undaunted, Jay Jay and Twisted Sister founder Kenny Neill revived the band with a new lineup which included guitarist Eddie Ojeda and Dee on vocals.

    The band’s move from a covers band to a band playing original music produced a coup d’etat in which the young Dee took over writing duties from band leader Jay Jay, but this poduced a more raucous, rock n roll sound which coincidentally tallied all the more with their on-stage persona, which had begun transforming from an avant-garde house band into a wilder bunch of effeminately attired party boys, frequently holding on-stage drinking competitions, leading the crowd in chants of “Disco Sucks!” and hanging effigies of Barry White (although this act, unfortunately, began attracting the attention of racists blithely unaware that the band hated Barry for his music, not his skin colour).

    Twisted Sister

    It’s not all rise-and-rise of course; every story has to have a bit of adversity in there somewhere and so it goes for We Are Twisted F***ing Sister!

    An epileptic seizure for Eddie Ojeda on a crucial night for them put paid to their chances of being signed to a major label. By the time the opportunity to play for all the big labels rolled back around, their glam look was considered passe. Forcing them back a step or two proved fruitful ultimately however as they retuned and retooled some more, becoming heavier and rockier just as NWOBHM bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were becoming truly global, and spandex “hair” bands such as W.A.S.P. and Motley Crue were on their way to the big time. It’s Twisted Sister’s time. What will they do with it?

    As a fan of the music in general and somewhat of the band in particular, I suppose it’s tough for me to gauge exactly how essential We Are Twisted F***ing Sister! is to all-comers. It’s much more of a conventional talking heads doc than, say, Sacha Gervasi’s phenomenal Anvil: The Story of Anvil (2008), a true triumph of the human spirit and in this reviewer’s opinion a must-watch for anyone, regardless of one’s interest in conventional heavy metal from three decades ago. To me though, We Are Twisted F***ing Sister! is nothing less than absorbing, not least because neither Jay Jay French nor Dee Snider were drinkers and still have their wits about them, and provide detailed and interesting commentary throughout (Dee is also highly interesting throughout Dick Carruthers’ more general metal documentary from 2006, Heavy Metal: Louder Than Life). You’ll no doubt already know whether We Are Twisted F***ing Sister! is something you want to see; Dee Snider himself would no doubt rather you just rocked out to the f***ing music, man!

    We Are Twisted F***ing Sister! has an Australian DVD release.

    @TwistedSisterNY

    http://www.twistedsister.com/

  • From Star Wars To The Lion King: Visualizing The 100 Highest Grossing Summer Movies Of All Time

    From Star Wars To The Lion King: Visualizing The 100 Highest Grossing Summer Movies Of All Time

    By Ben Taylor.

    With summer comes a familiar parade of cinematic tropes: the classic film reboot, the series that just won’t die, the ongoing, never-ending, isn’t-anyone-tired-of-these-yet superhero movie assault. Why do we get this barrage of summer cinema, year after year after year?

    The answer is money. If you want to win an Oscar, the numbers say you should release your movie in November or December. But if you want to blow up the box office? Try the summer. Of the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, 30 came out in May, June, July or August.

    With school out and vacations on the rise, summers and blockbusters are as inseparable as Han Solo and Chewbacca.

    Given summer’s bankable track record, PrettyFamous, an entertainment site from Graphiq, set out to rank the top 100 highest-grossing summer movies of all time. Rather than using raw, worldwide gross figures — which tend to favor recent films — the team used inflation-adjusted domestic receipts. As such, the list might undervalue films that did particularly well overseas, but it will do a better job putting older movies in context. In other words, $100 million in 1977 is much more impressive than $100 million in 2016.

    May, Not August

    Among the top 100 summer blockbusters of all time, May dominates, while August lags behind. Intuitively, this makes sense — films with longer summer shelf lives tend to do better overall. There’s likely a self-fulfilling cycle at work here too, as studios see May success, then aim to release future movies in the same timeframe.

    Star Wars

    Adjusted for inflation, the original “Star Wars” remains the highest-grossing summer movie ever, a film that went on to net nearly $2 billion in domestic receipts. In fact, the Star Wars series earns four of the top six slots, including all of the original series and “Episode I: The Phantom Menace.”

    Episodes II and III appear further down the list, but critical reception to “The Phantom Menace” might have doomed the two movies to sub-Star Wars performance. “The Force Awakens” — the series’ 2015 reboot — made more than enough to make the list, but the film was released in December, marking the first time a major Star Wars film wasn’t released in the summer.

    Spielberg

    Steven Spielberg’s two directing Oscars already put him in rare company, but the man is even better at summer blockbusters than award-winning films. Between “E.T.,” “Jurassic Park,” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Spielberg nabs three of the top 10 slots. Several Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones sequels pepper the list as well.

    All told, Spielberg notches nine spots among the top 100 films, by far the most of any director. Michael Bay’s five entries come mostly from the smash-hit Transformers series, while George Lucas’ four slots come thanks to the Star Wars franchise.

    Children’s Movies

    When it comes to genre, nothing basks in the summer’s lucrative rays quite like kids movies. For every iconic series on the list, there’s an animated feature to match, from “The Lion King” to “Bambi” to “Shrek 2.” Here, Hollywood is taking full advantage of summer vacation and busy parents. What better way to keep the kids occupied than shuffle them off to “Toy Story 3?”

    Note: Movies on this list can have multiple genres at once, such as “animated,” “fantasy” and “children.”

    After a record-breaking opening weekend, “Finding Dory” looks poised to continue the trend.

    Naturally, action-adventure films like “Jurassic Park” do particularly well, as does science fiction and comedy, the familiar staples of summer cinema. Drama — which dominates November and December — nearly disappears during the summer months.

    If there’s any surprise here, it might be horror’s poor showing. While the most iconic horror films tend to come out in October, there’s still been a steady stream of summer hackfests over the years, and only one cracks the top 100 (“Alien”).

    Still Growing

    But has the golden age of summer blockbusters come and gone? The data says no.

    Each new decade has a habit of surpassing the last, even when adjusting for inflation. The 2010s are already on pace to surpass the 2000s, and keep in mind that many films will get bumped to make room for the summer hits of 2017, 2018 and 2019.

    Put another way, settle in for next year’s deluge of animated sequels, Michael Bay retreads, and lest we forget, piles and piles and piles of superheroes. After all, it’s just good business.

    More: Decoding 2016’s Song of the Summer

  • Independence Day: Resurgence – The Aliens Are Coming

    Independence Day: Resurgence – The Aliens Are Coming

    So, twenty years have passed since the original Independence Day battle between alien and man.  Earth may have won, but the invaders haven’t completely vanquished.   The aliens are back and more determined than in ever in Independence Day: Resurgence.

    But what is really out there?  The boffins at Vue Entertainment have produced an interesting video about aliens and alien conspiracy theories from the highly acclaimed sci-fi writer James Swallow (responsible for some great Star Trek and Stargate tie-in novels).

    You need to watch the content below for those all important tips to survive an alien abduction.

    Vue Entertainment have also commissioned a UK-wide survey to find out where in the UK has the most alien believers and how many people believe that aliens are already among us, among other questions.

    Some nuggets include:

    Brits have voted The X Files as the television show that has most influenced their views on life on other planets.

    One in six people have seen a UFO, rising to a third of 18-24 year olds, and four in ten of us think that UFOs have landed here.

    More than half of Londoners (51%) believe UFOs have landed on Earth.

    Yet there is good news. Two thirds of us think aliens would come in peace.  This trust peaks in the North East where nearly three quarters of us predicted peaceful aliens.

    Having spent the last two decades preparing for a larger scale attack, Earth is about to face its biggest challenge yet. Jeff Goldblum reprises his role as David Levinson and Liam Hemsworth is welcomed to the franchise as Jake.

    Grab your tickets now as Independence Day: Resurgence has landed in Vue cinemas nationwide.  Get them here – www.myvue.com

  • Brucey Bonus: The Best Of Bruce Willis

    Brucey Bonus: The Best Of Bruce Willis

    With a winning combination of movie star swagger, effortless charisma and a tongue planted firmly in his cheek, Bruce Willis has been entertaining audiences around the globe for over thirty years now. Whilst action is the first genre that springs on mentioning his name, Willis has frequently crossed genres, proving himself just as at home fronting comedies, dramas and thrillers as well. His latest film, Precious Cargo, sees Willis make a rare appearance as the villain of the piece, portraying  murderous crime boss Eddie, the thorn in the side of our heroes (Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Claire Forlani).

    Precious Cargo lands in cinemas and on demand on July 15th, so what better time to look back at some of the great man’s finest moments?

    Precious Cargo (2016)

    Willis gets his snarl on in this glossy action thriller, convincingly playing against type as decidedly unhinged crime boss hunting down a seductive thief (Claire Forlani – Meet Joe Black, TV’s CSI: New York) after a botched heist. The film also features Mark-Paul Gosselaar, former star of the iconic kids TV show, Saved By The Bell, here playing a decidedly ripped fellow thief caught in the web of deceit and lies being spun around him, so whether you’re in it for the eye candy or the grizzled charm of Willis playing evil, Precious Cargo is a gloriously high octane way of kicking off your summer in style!

    RED (2010)

    This action-packed comedy delivers a star studded cast, with Willis leading the pack as Frank, a retired CIA agent who’s building comes under attack by assailants. In order to save himself and the people around him he recruits his now retired ex-colleagues to help him. Even alongside award-winning cast members Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich, Willis stands out with thanks to some trademark wise-cracking humour and a typically charismatic performance. The conceit even led to a winning sequel (imaginatively called RED2) that threw even more heavyweights into the mix in the form of Sir Anthony Hopkins.

    Looper (2012)

    Willis takes the lead role alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt in this critically lauded, mind-bending sci-fi crime thriller. Set in a future where time travel exists but is only used a formed of execution, Looper follows our hero, Joe (Willis) who learns that the mob want to close his particular loop by sending him 30 years back in time where is former self will kill him. Sure, critics derided the prosthetics used to make Levitt look like Willis but the premise, performances and a killer twist all mark this out as one of Willis’ finest hours.

    Sin City (2005)

    Based on the acclaimed comic series by Frank Miller, Sin City comes to life in a live-action feature from director Robert Rodriguez. The stylised crime noir interweaves multiple storylines from the series’ history as it explores the den of iniquity and misery that is Basin City. With so many standout performances fans were hard-pressed to settle on a favourite moment, but Willis’s portrayal of John Hartigan, a noble man prepared to stop at nothing to defend the woman he loves, drew widespread admiration from all who saw the film.

    The Sixth Sense (1999) 

    The film that brought us one of the most memorable lines in cinema (“I see dead people”), also saw action hero Willis deviate from type and dip his toe, very successfully, into the realms of supernatural horror. He stars as Dr Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist attempting to cure a young boy (Haley Joel-Osment) who claims to be able to communicate with spirits who are unaware that they’re dead. Willis shocked his critics in portraying Crowe, delivering a sensitive and haunted performance that helped The Sixth Sense become 1999’s second highest grossing film whilst also attracting six Academy Award nominations.

    Twelve Monkeys (1995) 

    In yet another critically acclaimed film, Willis’ portrays James Cole, a prisoner of the state in the year 2035, thirty years after a deadly virus wipes out 99% of the population. Cole is however, able to earn parole if he agrees to travel back in time and thwart the plague. Due to the virus, the remainder of Earth’s population have to live underground because of the poisonous air. Wills’ gives a captivating and riveting performance that demonstrates a wide range of emotions and versatility that critics and audience members had not seen from him before. An added bonus was Brad Pitt who gave a Golden Globe-winning performance as Jeffery Goines.

    Pulp Fiction (1994)

    Tarantino’s second movie, and arguably even more loved than Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction follows two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster’s wife and a pair of diner bandits as they intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption. Sure, Willis might only play a minor role as boxer-on-the-run Butch Coolidge, but his performance combined physical comedy and some fairly hefty dramatic chops, calling many critics to cite this as his comeback film after a run of less than successful ventures.

    Die Hard (1988)

    Arguably Willis’ most iconic performance, this action classic introduces audiences to John McClain, an NYPD cop who decides to visit his estranged wife in Los Angeles in an attempt to reconcile with her. However during a visit to her offices, a group of terrorists storm the building – and only McLain can save the day. Spawning four sequels, and with a fifth in the offing, Die Hard arguably colours the public’s perception of Willis more than any other film in his catalogue, as well as being responsible for some of the most repeated lines in movie history. Yippee ki-yay mother…

    Moonlighting (1985-1989)

    Before becoming the action star we all know and love, Willis scored his first lead role at ABC Television in the much-loved Moonlighting.  The show also starred Cybill Shepherd as former model, Maddie Hayes, with Willis portraying smart-alec detective, David Addison. Crime of the week detective stories soon took a back seat to the will-they-won’t-they love match between Shepherd and Willis (even though they were widely rumoured to hate one another off set), with Willis even earning a Golden Globe and an Emmy during the show’s five year run.

    PRECIOUS CARGO arrives in cinemas and on demand from July 15th, 2016, courtesy of Signature Entertainment

  • The Colony: Florian Gallenberger And Richenda Carey Q&A

    The Colony: Florian Gallenberger And Richenda Carey Q&A

    By Angie Sinclair.

    Based on true events The Colony is a must see film for 2016. Emotional and gripping, the thriller follows a young woman’s (Emma Watson) desperate search for her abducted boyfriend that draws her into the infamous Colonia Dignidad, a sect nobody has ever escaped from.

    How did the film come about?

    I was aware of the story of the Colonia since I was a kid and about 7 or 8 years ago I read about it in the newspaper and was reminded of it. I started to go online and do some research and I found out the story was much bigger than I ever knew because as a kid I didn’t know about the political involvement of Pinochet and the background of it.

    Does the colony still exist?

    Yes, it is a private property. Paul Schafer sold everything in Germany and bought 30,000 acres of land in Chile in 1961. He led the cult and he was developing his system of abuse until 1998. In 98 he was hiding on the compound from the police. He escaped to Argentina and discovered by a TV reporter and was finally put into jail in 2005. And he later died in prison. At its peak The Colonia had about 350 members. It still exists because simply some of the people still live there. The founding generation who are there are about 90 years old and I don’t think they can live anywhere else because they have been living in that system for 40 years and I don’t see them living in a normal society. The younger ones mostly have left and now there’s 180 people still living there. Strangely, they are now trying to survive by tourism, they have a hotel in place of the main building on the compound and a restaurant exists where the women used to be beaten.

    Were you allowed to film in The Colony?

    No I’ve been going back and forth for four years. A small group of younger ones supported the movie. We had one of them on our shoot as our expert, so that we got things right on set. A lot of them didn’t want the movie to happen because they’re still trying to cover it up and ignore it. It took about three years of building up trust with some of the younger ones to get their support. They were born into the compound and some had never left. They just existed within this enclosed world of Paul Schafer. It is really difficult for the older ones because if they condemn Schafer, they are condemning their entire life. They dedicated everything to that man. They acknowledge that he made mistakes but it’s the first duty of Christianity to forgive so they needed to forgive him. They believe he was truly a man of God. Which is shocking after what happened there.

    Richenda, how did you channel the part?

    Well, nobody gets to be that horrible unless they are devoid of love. Brutality and hardship are what they are used to and that is then how they deal with life. And I think it’s as simple as that. When there’s no love, you’ve got no love to give.

    Was it a difficult film to shoot?

    Yes, for many reasons, for finance for instance, we originally wanted to make the film in German because they are all German but we couldn’t raise enough money from Germany for a film of that size, so the choice was to forget about the film or do it in the English language. When Emma Watson took on the part it changed the project into a different film. For finance reasons we shot the film in Luxembourg and half of it in Munich and one day in Berlin and the rest in Argentina. It’s a lot of pressure to recreate South America in Luxembourg.

    What was the role of the embassy?

    They were shockingly supportive of the Colony. The compound was fenced in with an electrical fence, watchtowers and things it was very dangerous to try to get out. Some made it out. They had to go to the embassy because their passports were kept by the Colony. For more then 25 years the embassy sent the escapees back to the compound. The first escapee in 1966 and then two escaped in 1968 and hid in the Canadian embassy. They gave a long testimony of what was happening there so they couldn’t be sent back. In 1976 photos from inside were published in a German magazine, it caused a scandal then the German ambassador was sent to check it out. He gave a press conference after and denied the allegations of abuse and even went as far as praising Schafer. In 1985 he landed a helicopter into the compound and was shot at. So German authorities said they were not going to anything else about what was happening there. Upon seeing the movie the German authorities said they needed to look at their own history and we have made mistakes. It turns out they knew what was happening there all along.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9tpFVlm1pA

    Richenda, how did the character play on your conscience?

    It wasn’t very confortable. You have to put yourself in a place of a person who didn’t know about love. It was difficult playing somebody that cold and loveless but that’s the game and that’s what we do. Michael who played (Schafer) found it unbearably hard – it was a horrible journey for him.

    Florian: I remember you suffered Richenda, when you had to beat Emma’s character and you found that strange, but she had a protective cover on and you looked  at me as if to say you couldn’t do that.

    Richenda: Emma being a third of my age and half of my size, on the first day of shooting I was given a rolled up piece of hosepipe and told to whip Emma, one of the world’s most popular actresses and I said, “yeah but I don’t really, do I.” and Florian said, “yes you do.” I felt terrible.

    Florian: That makes me look really bad now haha.

    How do you think Emma’s fans are going to react seeing her in a different role?

    A lot of people reacted to seeing her kissing Daniel and were wishing they were him. She wanted to show she could play the part of a woman and not just a teenage girl and she cared a lot about the fact it’s the girl who saves the boy and it’s the girl who puts herself in danger to rescue him and not the other way round as it would normally be. She really cared about that and it goes hand in hand with her work on female empowerment.

    Do you feel it is your duty as a director to tell these stories?

    In a way yes, because the young ones had no one to talk to about what had happened.  One of them said seeing it on the screen was like a cleansing process, although it was painful to relive what he had gone through. He was able to distance himself from his reality. I started to care for them and it liberated them.

    Was it difficult to recreate the Colony?

    A lot of research went into it and it was dialogue with true history so that was difficult.

     

    *I give this film five stars.