Every year Hollywood has its tragedies. Thus far in 1997, we have had several. The death of James Stewart saddened me to no end. With the loss of Robert Mitchum, we lost one of the last real tough guys the world will ever know. Burgess Meredith’s loss made me want to go back and watch the first three ROCKY movies (and helped stifle any plans for a third GRUMPY OLD MEN sequel)…
Every now and again, the world of cinema delivers to us an icon. This icon exemplifies the finest that Hollywood has to offer: rugged good looks, unmistakable charm, and universal appeal…
The last movie that I saw in a theater was this past Friday night, when I went to see THE INCREDIBLES. While it was a great movie, I found that I was craving something a little more. . . substantial…
For those of you who don’t know me, I recently inherited three kids. They’re good kids and I like them, but the whole thing takes a little getting used to. One definite upside to the whole thing is that I now have a perfectly legitimate excuse to go to see kid movies on opening night…
With the release of the STAR WARS trilogy on DVD for the first time occurring this week, everyone is in SW-Mania mode. Message boards on the internet are lighting up with discussions, water coolers all over the world are being subjected to talk about Wookiees and Ugnaughts, and video stores are enjoying watching copies of the trilogy fly off the shelves…
There have been a lot of smaller films that generate a lot of buzz before us hicks here in Atlanta get a chance to see them, and more often than not that buzz leads to expectations that can’t be lived up to. Fortunately, this was not the case for SHAUN OF THE DEAD…
After thirty years of Independent filmmaking, Troma has seen its ups and downs. They’ve made some bona fide cult classics, and they’ve also produced a few stinkers…
After watching TALES FROM THE CRAPPER, perhaps Troma’s most perverse film to date, I felt as if I needed to be cleansed. Something just wasn’t sitting right. I was still a little disturbed…
Since 1985’s TOXIC AVENGER turned Troma films from an obscure independent film studio to the undisputed leader in low-budget gross-out flicks, there have been a lot of ups and downs for the flagship character…
Troma studios made their mark by creating a universe of films that feature some of the sickest, most gratuitous stuff you’ll ever see on celluloid…
Folks, let me tell you a little about love. I’ve seen this movie probably 15 times. Twice, I’ve let enough time go by between viewings that I forgot that I already owned it. As a result, I am the proud owner of THREE copies of John Carpenter’s masterpiece, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS…
I started a new job about a month ago. It’s a high-pressure gig, and I found a new way to increase that new employee pressure. We had some kind of company outing planned for two Fridays ago. HR looked at the weather forecast and decided to move the location to Startime Cinema in Roswell…
In the mid-to-late 1980’s, Troma was riding a wave of cult success. THE TOXIC AVENGER and CLASS OF NUKE ‘EM HIGH had put the indie studio on the map, and they had a little more to play with in the realm of resources…
When people think of Troma, they tend to think of a few trademark characters. Of course, everyone loves Toxie, the character that helped put the studio on the map through four films…
Halloween is approaching, and I’ve begun on my customary week-long
immersion in the world that is (usually bad) horror films. It’s fun, keeps me centered, and generally makes me into a horrible driver for several weeks to come…
The biggest player in the Tromaverse created a whole bevy of followups. As I mentioned in my review for THE TOXIC AVENGER PART 2, that film was four hours initially and had to be split into two different sequels…
Ah, the lovely beaches of California…after the “big one”. That’s our setting for the cult classic SURF NAZIS MUST DIE, which is kind of like MAD MAX crossed with THE ENDLESS SUMMER…
If Shakespeare had been more like this when I was in high school, I’d have a friggin’ Master’s degree in English Literature. Granted, it would probably do me just about as much good as what I have now, but I’d still probably have it…
Now, I realize that what I’m doing this Halloween season is a tribute to the fine folks over at Troma films, but by no means does that imply that I’m not going to be brutally honest when I need to be…
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