Tag Archives: violence

Blood spills over the edge of your screen in ‘I Saw the Devil’ trailer

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Aaron Faulkner | Leave a comment

I Saw the Devil (dir. Kim Ji-woon) was a 2010 film you might have missed last year, but you’ll want to find. The film highlights the kind of stylized violence and gore audiences raved over when director Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy hit the scene (it even features Oldboy lead actor, Choi Min-sik) Prepare yourself for a bloody good time.

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Why Christians Should Love “Pulp Fiction”

Posted on October 19, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 9 comments

Much to my dismay, there are people who don’t like Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece Pulp Fiction. Among cinema fans you’d be harder pressed to find such sentiments, but out in the wider world such antipathy is surprisingly common.

When one of my undergrad classes watched the film, about half the class didn’t like it. The most oft-repeated complaints: the copious amounts of swearing and violence. I don’t know the religious affiliations of my disappointed classmates, but several people I’ve been speaking to recently, specifically Christians, have commented along similar lines. The thing that is so mystifying to me is why they would hate a film with such strong Christian themes. Continue reading →

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Posted in Articles

Tagged analysis, Christianity, Commentary, Drama, Film, Forgiveness, Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino, swearing, Theology, violence

The Expendables: Full of action, yes. Worth $10, no.

Posted on August 15, 2010 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

It’s harder to find straight up action packed cinema these days, with more and more studios walking the PG-13 line for bigger box office figures. Notably, Bruce Willis couldn’t even say his catch phrase in Live Free or Die Hard because an F-bomb is an R-rated offense. In contrast, The Expendables is a violent swearing sailor that pisses drunkenly on these sad sods that call themselves “action films” – but that doesn’t make it the best. Continue reading →

Lost Gem: Ginger Snaps Unleashed (part 2)

Posted on May 29, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 3 comments

:you can read part 1 here:

Trying to compare Ginger Snaps to Ginger Snaps Unleashed (released in the U.S. as Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed) is like trying to decide between Alien or Aliens: they are both good, but different. Ginger Snaps Unleashed picks up where the first left off. And no, there are no silly gimmicks, there really is continuity between the two (even the same actresses return). Continue reading →

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Posted in Articles, Filmsmith Faves, Reviews

Tagged canada, Cinema, Comedy, Drama, Drugs, Emily Perkins, Evil Dead 2, feminism, feminist, Fright Night 2, Ginger Snaps, Ginger Snaps 2, Ginger Snaps 2 Unleashed, Ginger Snaps II, Girls, Hollywood, Horror, Katharine Isabelle, menstruation, Monkshood, Sex, Trilogy, violence, Werewolf, werewolves

Lost Gem: Ginger Snaps (part 1)

Posted on May 28, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 4 comments

Teenage girls battling werewolves. Nope, it’s not Twilight: it’s another horror gem like The Descent and Carriers.

Katharine Isabelle as Ginger (left) and Emily Perkins as Brigitte (right)

While I was working at a video store, Ginger Snaps was just another straight to DVD horror film: attractive girl, catchy title, some ominous background music, BOOM, you have a cover just like all the other straight to DVD features (right next to Lord of the G-Strings and Santa’s Slay). But as I’ve been working on my dissertation detailing “unsafe” horrors, Ginger Snaps came up enough times to merit a screening. Results? The best werewolf film since Landis’ An American Werewolf in London. Continue reading →

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Posted in Articles, Filmsmith Faves, Reviews

Tagged An American Werewolf in London, canada, Carriers, Cinema, Comedy, Drama, Emily Perkins, feminism, feminist, Ginger Snaps, Girls, Hollywood, Horror, John Fawcett, John Landis, Katharine Isabelle, menstruation, Sex, Teeth, The Descent, Trilogy, vagina teeth, violence, Werewolf, werewolves

Lady Gaga vs. M.I.A.

Posted on May 5, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 4 comments

M.I.A. of “Paper Planes” fame isn’t a fan of Lady Gaga to say the least. So after Gaga’s “Telephone” mini-movie/music video received so much attention, it seemed fortuitous (though I wouldn’t say planned given the time it takes to make even a short film) that M.I.A. had a mini-movie/music video of her own released a few months after Lady Gaga’s, titled “Born Free.” For this piece, I’d like you watch the two back to back.

Here’s Lady Gaga’s “Telephone”

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Tagged analysis, Beyonce, Born Free, Lady Gaga, M.I.A., MIA, Movie, music video, Nudity, pop, pop music, Sex, short films, Telephone, Telephone music video, violence

Go see the “Repo Men”

Posted on April 28, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 7 comments

The trailers for Repo Men hinted at two possible paths for the film: interesting dystopian setting for an unmemorable action flick–or something more special. I am glad to say it’s the latter.

Repo Men, as the title suggests, is about repo man Remy (Jude Law), who reclaims organs from customers who have fallen behind on their payments for artificial livers, spleens, hearts, etc. Victims (or “clients”) are tased, read their rights while unconscious, and then Remy goes to work collecting. Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Filmsmith Faves, Reviews

Tagged Action, Battlestar Galactica, blood, Civil War, Crash, David Cronenberg, Daybreakers, dystopian, Forest Whitaker, healthcare, I Am Legend, John Carpenter, Jude Law, Lost, Marvel, Oldboy, repo, Repo Men, repossession, Repossession Mambo, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Sex, sex and violence, They Live, Vanilla Sky, violence, Y: the Last Man