Hoovy’s Halloween Recommendations 

Hoovy's Halloween Recommendations
It’s that time of the year again… you know, where Americans go trick or treating, carve pumpkins and get into the horror (and commercialisation) that is Halloween. Here in Australia, some of us throw Halloween parties here and there but the majority couldn’t care less.

Personally, I see it as a time to sit down and watch some freaky ass movies. After all, the horror genre is often over looked and with Hollywood running out of ideas and creativity in this genre, it’s getting harder and harder to find a recent, well-made example. The following are some of my picks for a good Halloween night in. Most of these you’ve probably already seen or heard about millions of times before, but they’re all worth a rent again if it’s been a while since you last ventured into their dark waters. My picks emphasize on atmosphere and intensity rather than gore. If anyone else has a recommendation or two, let us know. There’s still time today to get down the video store and check some of these out:

Halloween (1978)

Halloween Well it’s an obvious one but the original 1978 Carpenter film still holds up extremely well today. The steadycam, the blue lighting, the use of shadows, the score and the measured approach allow this classic to stand the test of time. The acting is highly cheesy in parts but luckily Donald Pleasance brings some much need authority. Clearly inspired by Hitchcock, Carpenter is at his best here and once it kicks into gear, it’s unrelentless. Forget the sequels but if you MUST, rent Halloween H20 as a companion. And yes. Rob Zombie is making the NINTH! Halloween movie due for release next year and it will serve as a remake (or re-imagining) of the original. You can check out how he’s going to tackle it here

» Wiki

Read more

 
 
3
 
Tuesday, October 31 2006
 
Film General
 

The Wire (Season 1) 

The Wire: Season 1
And so it continues… the amass of HBO indulgence. I was a little hesitant getting into The Wire because normally I’m not a fan of cop shows. CSI, Law and Order, NCIS, etc… all follow the ‘crime of the week’ pattern which is fine for the casual viewer but when you have a season long story arc, the payoff is infinitely more fulfilling. And this was a HBO show so I knew it would have top quality writing, excellent three dimensional characters and the trademark HBO addictive viewing quotent. To clinch the deal, metacritic also provided reviews for season 4 and it averaged 98/100. I was sold.

After having just finished the first season, I can say without a doubt it’s one of the best drama shows ever produced and certainly one of the best seasons of TV. Yes, you’re probably sick of hearing me say that everytime I get through a HBO series, but this shits all over the CSIs and Law and Orders. Recently on the Filmspotting podcast/blog, Adam and Sam (the podcast reviewers) were inundated with people swearing by this series, claiming it to be much better than any films released in the past 5 years. The Filmspotting reviewers listened to the input but ultimately declined to watch it due to time constraints. True, there are 13 hours of investment but I would gladly swap those hours in a heartbeat if I had the choice between most of the shit being produced in Hollywood at the moment and The Wire. When the season wrapped up, I came away thinking I had just seen the best television series ever. Better than The Sopranos or Deadwood (yes those are fighting words but I’d stand the challenge to anyone who can contend a better show). Now I can see why Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant (creators of the UK The Office and Extras) plan to make a HBO drama series as their next project.

Bring on seasons 2 - 4! (and a 5th to be produced) :)

 
 
2
 
Monday, October 30 2006
 
TV
 

Tenacious D take on Bach 


You either love em or you don’t.

 
 
0
 
Sunday, October 22 2006
 
Film General
 
Previous Ramblings