Batch o’ Hatch: To Kill a Mockingbird, Star Trek Into Darkness, and V/H/S 2

To Kill a Mockingbird

Fathom Events screened To Kill a Mockingbird a few weeks back and, heeding some advice from @20SomeAwesome and @jess_fts, I made a special trip to check it out. I’d never seen it before and catching it on the big screen seemed like a great way to rectify that. I wasn’t disappointed.

Wikipedia

It wasn’t quite what I expected - I thought it would be more straight-up courtroom drama and it had a lot more Scout and Jem than I was expecting (I haven’t read the book) - but the performances and the film as a whole were great.

Anyone love To Kill a Mockingbird? Did anyone else catch the 50th Anniversary Re-release?

Star Trek Into Darkness

Thanks to C.H.U.D., I learned the official synopsis of Star Trek Into Darkness, the highly anticipated (by me, at least) follow-up to 2009’s Star Trek.

In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes “Star Trek Into Darkness.”

When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.

With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.

As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

I’m a little worried that it took four years to get a follow-up to Star Trek. I think two years between films is a nice gap, and with Zachary Quinto recently alluding to the fact that he might not be up for more adventures as Spock after this upcoming film (I guess he’s counting on playing different characters in American Horror Story for the foreseeable future), another four years might be too long of a wait.

Do you like the sound of Star Trek Into Darkness? Do you hope Quinto sticks around for more films?

V/H/S 2

Wait, V/H/S is getting a sequel already?

Both Film School Rejects and Total Film have reported that filmmakers including Gareth Evans, Jason Eisener, and found footage Grand Poobah Eduardo Sanchez have signed on for S-VHS (The hell? Will each sequel’s title advance to a higher medium? We’ll be on Blu Ray in a few years at this rate). Thankfully, no mention of Ti West’s involvement.

Anyone excited for S-VHS? 

Tweets

There was a ton of hullabaloo about this Twinkie business on Twitter, including a tweet from Lucy/@bmovielass. Nice seeing Zombieland references worked in.

Oh well, looks like Woody Harrelson is gonna be pissed #Twinkies
— Lucy (@bmovielass) November 18, 2012

I caught The Relic for the first time recently. I surveyed the Twittercosm about the film and got some good responses. My take? It was a decent monster movie.

@zerbert under-rated monster flick, some scenes shot a little dark but worth a peek 4 sure..
— Socrates Johnson.... (@nowshowinghigh) November 18, 2012

@zerbert If that's the one with Tom Sizemore, then yep. Not in years, though. It was fun at the time.
— George Bell (@CallMeSirPhobos) November 18, 2012

This tweet from Ruth at "....let's be splendid about this..." doesn’t really need any further context.

@zerbert I've seen them all -_-, I regret everything.
— Ruth(@RuthElizabeth_R) November 18, 2012

The $64,000 Question

Thanks for reading! And now, it's question time:

A Peek Through the Hatch: V/H/S

Robert’s Preview

Hey youse guys. We’re gonna check out the found footage anthology horror flick V/H/S tonight. If you haven’t heard anything about it, here’s the synopsis (courtesy of IMDb) and the trailer:

“When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they bargained for.”



I think a found footage flick like this has the potential to avoid the repetitiveness that the horror subgenre sometimes carries with it. I don’t know about you, but sometimes an hour and thirty minutes of home video quality shots of someone running through the woods kinda gets to me. We have six different stories to enjoy here, all unique. I’m hoping this keeps the movie fresh and fun.

If you’re like me and enjoy other anthologies like Creepshow or the more recent Trick ‘r Treat, you’re quite excited for V/H/S (man I hate typingthoseforwardSLASHES!!!). Creepshow spawned a few sequels (and Trick ‘r Treat is trying to) and hopefully - if this new film is good - we’ll see some more found footage shorts throughout the years.

H/a/v/e/a/g/r/e/a/t/w/e/e/k/e/n/d/,/g/u/y/s/.

Nick’s Preview

When I first watched the trailer for V/H/S, I was extremely giddy and ultimately enticed.  Being a true horror fan that grew up with the likes of Creepshow 1 & 2, Body Bags, Cat’s Eye, Campfire Tales, and Twilight Zone: The Movie; I find horror anthologies to be devilishly delightful.  I smiled throughout Trick `r Treat, I dug Stephen King’s Nightmares and Dreamscapes (TNT series), and I still watch Tales From The Crypt and The Twilight Zone (original b&w episodes).  Needless to say, but I will anyway, I love the horror genre.  Even though most additions to this genre are sub par at best, I still look for new entries to shock, awe, and titillate.  V/H/S has a lot to live up to regarding my expectations, but (unlike the wretched The Innkeepers) I have a good feeling that this anthology will be right up my alley.

Wikipedia

Admittedly, I’m a fan of the “found footage” subgenre.  I like each one of the Paranormal Activity movies and will definitely be enjoying the 4th installment next month.  I was wowed with how freaky Grave Encounters was (regardless of the questionable actors & dialogue).  Catfish even kept my interest throughout and even though the good ones are few and far between, I’m constantly adding “found footage” flicks to my Netflix instant queue.  It was only a matter of time until someone thought up the idea to combine “found footage” and horror anthologies into one, creepy ass mixed bag of terror.  And “kudos” to you all in Hollywood that made this happen.

At this point in time, in the savage year of our lord, 2012, VHS tapes are generally just creepy all around.  They lack the nostalgic-ness of vinyl, the comedy of cassettes, and the pointlessness of floppy discs yet they still hang around like your grandfather’s nasty older brother at the local swimming pool.  I can’t help but to think of the plot of The Ring when I think about popping in an old VHS (The Ring is a solid entry in the horror genre, I don’t care who you are) and maybe that’s why I’m so excited for V/H/S.  Regardless, the film boasts that “each entry is more terrifying than the last” so I expect to be blown away by the end.

Here’s to the summer that now was and the frightening fall that lies ahead.  Cheers!