
Dave Brockie, also known as Oderous Urungus, the frontman of GWAR, was found dead in his apartment on Sunday night at the age of 50. On paper, I’m not a massive GWAR fan. I only own one of their records (Beyond Hell, for
by Hunter Duesing24 Mar 2014, 1:23 PM PST0

Zach Braff’s Garden State is the embodiment of everything that was awful about American indie movies in the last decade. Cute color schemes, fashionable twenty-something alienation, Natalie Portman’s mentally-ill male hipster fantasy construct causing everyone to decide they liked a terrible
by Hunter Duesing25 Apr 2013, 8:56 AM PST0

The opening of Terrence Malick’s To the Wonder sees a couple, an American man and a French woman (Ben Affleck and Olga Kurylenko), intoxicated in love whilst twirling through Paris. They take a trip to Le Mont St. Michel, an
by Hunter Duesing21 Apr 2013, 8:51 AM PST0

Dark Skies is the latest outing from Scott Stewart, the guy who essentially remade Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive with pissed-off angels in the place of homicidal 18-wheelers in Legion. Stewart does some more borrowing in Dark Skies, but with more well-known
by Hunter Duesing22 Feb 2013, 3:44 PM PST0

Christophe Gans’ adaptation of Konami’s Silent Hill video game was a bit like an Italian horror film from the early ’80s: compellingly surreal, yet muckily plotted (think Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond). Its sequel, Michael J. Bassett’s Silent Hill: Revelation, is more
by Hunter Duesing15 Feb 2013, 3:13 PM PST0

Rob Halford, the iconic banshee behind the metal mic of Judas Priest, articulated his thoughts on the Chick-Fil-A controversy over at Noisecreep while promoting the upcoming 30th anniversary re-release of his group’s celebrated album, “Screaming for Vengeance.” Halford, who himself is
by Hunter Duesing8 Aug 2012, 5:59 PM PST0

Despite being one of the more eye-popping talents in the music video world, Joseph Kahn’s feature debut, “Torque,” seemed to go over the heads of audiences and critics. A biker-burlesque show that amped the conventions of “The Fast & the Furious” and its
by Hunter Duesing1 Aug 2012, 2:39 PM PST0

Criterion is re-releasing two of director Whit Stillman’s gems thats decorate their prestigious collection on Blu-ray this week, “Metropolitan” and “The Last Days of Disco.” “Metropolitan” is a film that feels as though it could’ve been written by J.D. Salinger, with its preppy debutante
by Hunter Duesing26 Jul 2012, 12:25 PM PST0

Discourse is something that is always changing, but not necessarily evolving. I think of television footage I’ve seen of one of my heroes, William F. Buckley, engaging in discussions with people from the other side of the aisle like Saul Alinsky, Huey
by Hunter Duesing4 Jul 2012, 10:59 AM PST0

You’ve got to hand it to Tyler Perry, whether you want to or not. He’s done what few have been able to achieve by carving a successful filmmaking niche, a prolific studio with his name and face-in-drag as the brand,
by Hunter Duesing2 Jul 2012, 12:45 PM PST0

Director Steven Soderbergh and raconteur Spalding Gray collaborated in 1996 on “Gray’s Anatomy,” in which Gray described his battle with a rare ocular disease, piercing through to larger subjects involving illness and death. While he worked as an actor and
by Hunter Duesing19 Jun 2012, 2:31 PM PST0

The film that pops to mind when seeing “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” is another Marvel Knights effort, “Punisher: War Zone.” Like “War Zone,” this movie isn’t necessarily a sequel, but it doesn’t entirely ignore its predecessor either. Both are
by Hunter Duesing14 Jun 2012, 1:17 PM PST0

In my initial review of Disney’s “John Carter,” I said it suffered from the “‘Dune’ Syndrome,” in that it’s a film that may have a tough time penetrating an audience outside the one built-in, which was quite small for this
by Hunter Duesing5 Jun 2012, 10:57 AM PST0

Alexandre Aja’s “Piranha 3D” is a trash movie that understood what it was and joyously reveled in its ridiculous garbage vibe. It was a remake with roots in B-movie cheapies, as it comes from the sans-3D Roger Corman/Joe Dante “Jaws”
by Hunter Duesing1 Jun 2012, 2:51 PM PST0

Creepy kids have been a staple of horror movies for some time, almost all of them being manipulative little monsters masking themselves under a veneer of innocence. Despite the clever ruse, usually an honest kid or a suspicious adult sees
by Hunter Duesing31 May 2012, 12:19 PM PST0

“The Secret World of Arrietty,” the latest film from Studio Ghibli, comes from the tradition of films like “The Secret of NIMH” and “Ratatouille” in which small creatures survive in a big world, taking what they can from humans without being
by Hunter Duesing24 May 2012, 10:40 AM PST0

When “Chronicle” came to theaters earlier this year, it instantly drew comparisons to Katsuhiro Otomo’s landmark anime film, “Akira.” Despite their deeper cultural differences, both films invite comparison, as each of them features an unstable character who is bestowed with
by Hunter Duesing15 May 2012, 12:21 PM PST0

While I enjoy “Gremlins,” I actually prefer “Gremlins 2: The New Batch.” The first one is a bit on the mean-spirited side, luring the kids in with a cute little creature before blindsiding them with disturbing violence, as well as
by Hunter Duesing8 May 2012, 11:17 AM PST0

Bravo, Soderbergh. Too often do action directors feel compelled to get in the middle of the mayhem and jiggle the camera around in a half-assed attempt to put the audience “in the action.” The result is almost always muddy, confused
by Hunter Duesing1 May 2012, 11:34 AM PST0
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You know a family film is doing it right when they make it look effortless-yet-awe-inspiring, and when it makes the parade of mediocre sequels and spin-offs to a certain fractured fairy tale look that much worse. Aardman’s “The Pirates! Band
by Hunter Duesing27 Apr 2012, 12:40 PM PST0

It never bodes well when directors revisit one of their classics to mine more material from it decades after the fact, and it’s especially bizarre when it happens in the low-budget world of cult horror. A recent example is Dario
by Hunter Duesing26 Apr 2012, 10:20 AM PST0

I saw Steve McQueen’s “Shame” in a theater full of elderly couples. I knew going in the movie was a nice, hard NC-17, but I wasn’t quite prepared for the onslaught of wall-to-wall screwing that followed. I felt almost as uncomfortable
by Hunter Duesing18 Apr 2012, 11:40 AM PST0

There is a good movie to be made about the remarkable life and career of Margaret Thatcher. Unfortunately that film has yet to be made, as “The Iron Lady” certainly isn’t it. “The Iron Lady” suffers from incompetent direction by
by Hunter Duesing11 Apr 2012, 2:47 PM PST0

There will be no HomeVideodrome podcast this week, we shall return next week. Normally films that have the premise of a bond between a person and an animal make me wretch. I loved Disney’s “Old Yeller” as a kid, and cried every
by Hunter Duesing3 Apr 2012, 12:34 PM PST0

Because I was on vacation, there will be no podcast this week. I don’t have any strong feelings of nostalgia for the Muppets. Like most kids, I watched “Sesame Street,” occasionally caught “The Muppet Show,” and I even remember seeing
by Hunter Duesing24 Mar 2012, 5:30 AM PST0