Friday, July 24, 2009

The New Jonah Hex Poster!



Straight from the San Diego Comic Convention 2009, Warner Brothers Pictures has released the first official art work for the upcoming weird western JONAH HEX. Its a great looking poster, You don't see too much right off the bat, you kind of get the color scheme they are planning with it, and you see Jonah's scar....my only problem is the font they used for the title...it feels a bit too modern, sort of like its a Transformers movie. I was kind of hoping for a more period feeling one....but maybe this is just a pre-release thing they put together for Comic Con...In fact I'm sure it is.

I hate to be so picky, I'm a big fan of Jonah Hex and I just want everything to be right for the first film, Ive been thinking of a Jonah Hex movie for years now (since the 90s at least) but I will put my trust in Jimmy Hayward (the director) and the rest of the people working on this.

Jonah Hex, for those who don't know, is one of the great DC Comics Western characters. He's in the position of not only being in straight up westerns, but also in Weird Westerns as well....So this film has the very real possibility of being either one or the other. This is the official press release detailing the films plot:

In the Wild West, a scarred bounty hunter tracks down a voodoo practitioner bent on liberating the South by raising an army of the undead.

Hmm, sounds decidedly "Weird" to me. And yes, Jonah has a very distinct scar on his face that somewhat colors his character and the attitudes of people around him.
I'm going to be writing more about Jonah in the future, and Ill also be reporting more about this movie as information becomes available.

Here is the Wikipedia bio of him and, go HERE for a little taste of Jonah as he has been portrayed in animation recently.

There is much more about Jonah to be had, and more animation goodness, Ill revisit him periodically in the weeks and months leading up to the film.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

"Mah Pistols, They Tell a Story...."



So Lionsgate released this, which makes me think it could be, if not good, at least fun....because they did release the superior film, The Burrowers (Which I will get to reviewing soon) I will say this about the Burrowers, Its probably one of the best Weird Westerns Ive seen in a LONG time, very serious, but with interesting characters you actually care about, and full of human horrors; not just the monster kind. Its a very unusual film in a world where a GOOD Horror Western movie is so rare.

Now THIS film, which I haven't yet seen, looks either really bad, or really.....I hesitate to use the work good. The trailer is fast paced, and it has a driving Latin beat, and reading about the film, I know that it was shot in Argentina.....but the selling point for me is the strong female lead, a gunslinger named Clementine Templeton, who seems to be a girl monster hunter, maybe? Or maybe just a gunslinger trying to escape her past.....

Ugh, who am I trying to fool, this movie is going to suck, but that's just my own opinion, I'll reserve judgment until I see it.

Until then, check out the trailer to see what I'm talking about:

Monday, July 20, 2009

Desperadoes! Gideon Brood in the Weird, Wild West!



Written by Jeff Mariotte (of Graveslinger fame) and drawn by various artists, the Desperadoes Omnibus is a gorgeous presentation. Published by IDW, someone forgot to tell them how Omnibuses are supposed to look (mostly newsprint with black and white images) because this is full colored and glossy paper'd...yet priced at about the same as the less stellar versions.

The book collects every Desperadoes story that has been published thus far, about 5 mini series', and clocks in at 492 pages; Well worth the price Amazon is selling it for. This book should cost two to three times as much.

Desperadoes is the continuing story of Gideon Brood and his band as they travel and adventure throughout the Weird West tracking down killers and trying to stay out of trouble. Here is what Amazon has to say about it:

Over the course of its decade-plus lifespan, the Western/horror series Desperadoes has traveled some long, strange trails. Since its hard-riding heroes first met while tracking a ritualistic murderer whose crimes gave him supernatural powers, they've experienced quarantine in a haunted town, a reanimated dead boy with a thirst for revenge, a spiritualist's nightmare, and a bizarre quest to the birthplace of the buffalo on behalf of Geronimo himself. For the first time ever, the Desperadoes Omnibus brings all the published Desperadoes stories together in one place, teaming the series' creator, award-winning, bestselling novelist Jeff Mariotte, with a veritable galaxy of superstar artists, new and established. John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men) became a household name working on the first five-issue run, while John Severin (Bat Lash) made a triumphant return to comics after a long absence with this. John Lucas, Jeremy Haun, and Alberto Dose earned national attention and acclaim from their runs. Saddle up and hang onto the reins, because once you start in on this ride, you won't want to stop!

If you get a chance you should pick this up. The book is thick, and the stories are well worth getting lost in, a very satisfying read.

Friday, July 17, 2009

So they were......Vampires?



Corbin Bernsen is a captured Confederate officer, during the Civil War, whose men have suddenly become supernaturally endowed. They have been traveling around killing Union Soldiers and crucifying them. So Adrian Pasdar releases him from prison so he can help track the renegades down and stop them. At least that's what I think the story was, the audio on the DVD was so bad I could barely hear what was going on....and of course there were no subtitles...

The film starts off strong with a creepy, effective title sequence. The camera pans around actual Civil War photographs of wounded and deformed soldiers. Then the film goes to a make shift medical facility where soldiers are having bullets removed and legs sawed off, in all sorts of bloody, gruesome realness.....Very cool! There was even a pretty interesting cameo by Martin Sheen...but then the film takes a bit of a nose dive as it starts to think that it is more intriguing than it actually is and begins to show its sloppiness; Ham-handed acting, weird situations, and a gross out factor that kinda bothered me...example, a character gets doused with a bucket of urine, ugh.

...and then the problems begin as the supernatural Confederate soldiers appear. But its completely unclear what they are exactly. They can't be shot, or stabbed, and after they've been turned into whatever they are, they wear this white tribal makeup.....(I'm pretty sure it has something to do with Voodoo). For most of the film, as I'm watching it, I'm thinking, "are they Zombies? Are they just ghosts or something?" (One of the titles of the film was Ghost Brigade) but I couldn't tell since they didn't look or act like anything I'm familiar with....Then at one point near the end, one of the Soldiers cuts the throat of a character and drinks her blood....and I thought "That's weird why did he do that"......well, as it turns out, and I didn't actually find this out until I watched the special features, they were supposed to be....Vampires.....ok....

After I found this out, it felt a little like an artsy reinterpretation of vampires, and it fails miserably.

The acting was alright, with Adrian Pasdar's Union Soldier probably being the most interesting character. But the story and filming were sub par, and the complete mishandling of the films main creatures (or total lack thereof) made this film somewhat of a boring uninspired viewing experience.

I could seriously write more about Grey Knight, there is more story to be told, but I was so bored by it, and I'm so not interesting in writing a review of it that story points will have to come from viewing it, which I should warn you, you do at your own risk...

This film gets 1 out of 5 Bloody Spurs

Monday, July 13, 2009

More Werewolves in the Old West!!



Written by Matt Maxwell, Strangeways: Murder Moon is the story of Werewolves in the Old West. As a tease, a Flickr page has been set up to showcase a lot of the art work!

Huzzah!

But if that isn't enough well, Pard, Take a look at the first chapter right here


Friday, July 10, 2009

Epic FAIL!



I'll admit right off the bat that this isn't a review, I wasn't even able to finish this film. Really slow, bad acting, incompetent writing, bad production values, poorly filmed....this really had a lot going against it. Jack Elam, the headliner of the film, first name in the credits and the name ABOVE the title on the poster.....is in the film for about two minutes...ugh, such a disappointment. Not that I was holding out any hopes for a good film, but maybe something that was a little entertaining. Its really hard to find good Weird Western films. For some reason, the Weird West works really well in other mediums, but on film there are so few good films worth watching.

I dont blame this one for its low production values, or small budget. Bravo for getting it made (In fact Jack Elam's appearance was probably why it got made, since the rest of the cast are total unknowns)...but boo on it for the shoddy film making and poor acting.

And the Sound design! ugh! Talk about generic!

I'm sorry, but this film gets 0 Bloody Spurs...

Friday, July 3, 2009

Bison Bill's Weird West Show



Bison Bill's Weird West Show is a site dedicated to the strangeness of the Old West. While it doesn't quite go into the Supernatural that this sight does, it is still occupied by Western eccentricities, such as The Terror of Tiny Town, featuring Jed Buell's midgets! Also, the gruesome hanging and bad death of Black Jack Ketchum.....Pictures and all!

Now Bison Bill hasn't posted anything in a while (almost a year and a half) but what he has on the site now, as you will see, is as he claims: All Things Western: Funny, Fanciful, Fictional, & Factual and is certainly worth a little time of exploration.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

With Single Minded Purpose They Come....



Uninvited is a film that I only heard about recently, and after seeing the trailer, I think that it will either be really good or really bad. I'm not convinced that the "Ghost Indian" effect is very scary, but the scares could be more story related....the cast looks to be inhabited by eccentric, interesting characters which is always (in my opinion) a plus for any Western. As soon as I've seen this I'll write a full review.

Until then here is a taste....and major kudos go to the fact that the always awesome Jack Elam stars, and Mr. Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime himself) narrates the trailer!

Enjoy...