Cool News
First Test Screening of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 2: HANGMAN'S DAUGHTER
SPOILER ALERT !!
Alright folks, perhaps you hated the first one, if you did, why are you reading this. This is for all us DUSK TILL DAWNERS and this sounds pretty good. Personally I hope we all get to see this sucker (yes that was a bad pun) on the big screen instead of straight to the lil one, but well, I guess that's up to Uncle Bob over at Dimension. So... whaddaya say Bob? We want Blood... We Want Guts! We Want Monsters!!!
I Just got back from seeing the first test screening of From Dusk
Till Dawn: Hangman's Daughter, and I must say as far as sequels and
prequels go it wasn't half bad. The film opens with Michael Parks
playing the legendary historical journalist Ambrose Bierce. Bierce has
these prophetic hallucinations of what the future holds, including a
sinister night at the Trecherous establishment known as the Titty
Twister. Bierce witnesses an outlaw named Johnny Madrid (Marco Leonardi)
escape his own execution, and kidnap a young woman named Esmarelda. It
turns out that Esmarelda is in fact the executioner's daughter. As
Bierce and a young couple safely flee from the bullets and blood shed
they end up running into Johnny and his band of mercinaries later on.
Through a character called Reece, Johnny is told that Bierce happens to
be carrying some valuebles. When this proves untrue he leaves Bierce and
the couple stranded in the desert. As the group struggles through the
sandy terain under the scortching sun they end up at, Guess where? Any
way the rest is pretty cut and dried, all of the characters end up at
the Titty Twister to be the guests of honor at a vamp blood buffet,
however some interesting tit bits are revealed about the origin of these
vampires, and Salma Hayek's character from the origional. (Now played by
Ara Celi Lopez) The characters in this film aren't the slightest bit
empathetic, and are all in one way or another morally bankrupt, which
ironically makes them as bad as the vampires. Danny Trejo also returns
as Razor Charlie but his character is barely used.
The Titty Twister itself looks a lot more sinister and malevolent
than it did in the first one. In this film it resembles a giant Aztec
tomb. K.N.B.'s FX were once again top notch, and P.J. Pesce's direction
was slick and very reminicent of Robert Rodriguez's own Desperado. Now
for the performances:
Michael Parks: Hands down gave the best performance in the whole film.
He plays Bierce with the sardonic charm of a John Carpenter Anti hero,
and is able to retain that composure through the entire film.
Marco Leonardi: This guy is definently reminiscent of a Sergio Leoni
villian, and when you think about it, having a Leoni esq. villian in a
Vampire film is a very cool concept and was done well. However his
character was too unlikeable. At least George Clooney was empathetic.
Rebecca Gayheart: She playes a young vergional newly wed whom gets
cought up with Bierce. Her performance is competant, but the guy playing
her husband sucks so hard he makes a black hole.
Sonia Braga: She playes the vampire princess, and an incredible job she
does. She seductivly slips into the role convincing the audience that
her character means business.
Ara Celi Lopez: Though shes no Salma Hayek (Who could compare?) she
steps into the role vibrently, playing the innocent girl who could turn
on the protagonists at any given time.
Orlando Jones: He easily gives the worst performance in the film, and
his character had no busisness appearing on celluloid at all. He playes
Traylor, the brush salesman who shares an unnescessary tango scene with
Rebecca Gayhart.
One more thing before I go, this screening was intended to see if it
could hold its own in the theatrical market. If it tests well, thats
where its going to go, if it dosen't, it will be sentenced to
direct-tovideo oblivion. I hope that doesn't happen because the only way
to expierience this film is on the big screen.
Call me Bruce
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Harry, oh Harry, what have you done?!?!? What made your site so different was that is was businesslike and too the point, much like your reports. Load "Cool News" and that's what you got, all the news in plain colors. Your new sight looks like Mr. Showbiz for idiots. We are an intelligent crowd here Harry, not children who will laugh and sigh over pretty colors. I feel like I've been demoted at a reader and ridiculed as a web user. You've been a favorite bookmark of mine for over a year now and though I will contine to be an AICN geek, I must say that I am disappointed that you think so little of your fellow members of geekdom as to try to attract us with flashy pages.
Princess of Tides
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This site is excellent. I love the matter of fact movie reviews and all the information gathered from such a huge variety of sources. I found it somewhat amusing to find as many spelling errors as I did in a world blessed with spell check :) All in all I am glad to have found your site. I watched a program on Cnet about this site and decided to check it out. Excellent job. By the way, any news about whether Tomb Raider III will be out on both PC and Playstation by Christmas... this may be a little off your typical topics, but I thought I'd give it a try. I saw a news program on CNN last night about Tomb Raider III coming out at Christmas but no word about the format(s)... :( Thanks again for such a cool site!!!
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I liked the site better before because there was no annoying little "continue" thing to click on every time I scrolled to the end of the screen. I like being able to scroll and scroll and scroll without waiting throught the load time.
I do like the arrows very much though..they look kinda cool.
But I still liked the simplicity of the site more before... -
something doesnt feel right about the new design. i personally liked the "thrown together in a coupla minutes in my parents basement on my old shit computer" design more than this new one. plus this takes longer to load... if you want to change a little something here and there, thats cool. but its too much, looks too slick. if that means anything. tone it down a bit. like someone said before (in another posting) go for the minimalist c-net approach.
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The horror... the horror....
I used to like your site 'cause it was fast and to the point (if not the eptiome of graphic design). Now the site is pretty much unusable:
- unbearably slow to load,
- gratuitous cutesey graphics
- broken and misdirected links
I love what you do, but can't stomach the new design. I'll check back in a week or two to see if things have improved, but you've lost me as a loyal reader for now. -
Its so confusing now....before i could miss a few days, and just scroll down until i hit a link that i already hit, then i knew i had read it before. Now it feels like im at a cheesy movie promo website that i cant ever seem to find what i really want to see, some plain content. Just my 2 cents. L8r
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Oh Christ, Harry. I know it shouldn't matter but it does! I'm lost and I don't like it. It feels like you paid a whole lotta designers to do all the work for you which kinda defeats the whole point of AICN being a quick, easy to use list of cool news given to us by YOU.
If you don't want to lose too much credibility for Gods sake change it and fast. We like to scroll down long pages to find where we got to last time!
I hear worrying murmurs of 'sell-out' from the back of the theater. -
AAAAAAAHHHH It's so hideous!!! Change it back!
The navigation is terrible and you squeeze all the text in this tiny area.
I liked the site before because you looked like one of us - a true fan - now you look like some corporate shmoe. Can it be too long before you are kissing up to the big studios and selling out???
ps. I'm not even gonna go into the winking graphic
pps repent now while you still can! I know you can do it Harry! -
Geez. Harry has sold out. Is that what you all think? C'mon. If he has truly "sold out" don't you think he would have done it by now? Don't you think "Ain't It Cool News" would have been gone a long time ago? I'm sure there has been many offers, which, I personally wouldn't see anything wrong with him taking. But that's not what he wants, apparently. What it does look like what he wants is to crusade for the greater good -- to rally for great cinema. That's what it's all about, whether the webpage itself is in a different format or not. Isn't progression what it's all about to begin with? Admittedly, the new site is somewhat hard to get used to, but at the same time, I would rather get used to a new site than not have any AICN at all. And load times? Geez, why whine? If you cruise the Internet with such low frueqency to warrant complaints about this site, then I would say it's time to get a new modem. Let's remember what it's all about -- the movies. That's what we all love and why we come here in the first place, I've been coming here for literally years now, and I expect to come for years more, hopefully.
It began as a grassroots effort and it has grown into something much more, and that's a good thing. When the studios actually start to cower in fear at Harry's mere presence, I think that's a good thing... there's someone to voice what we want, and to provide us with a free news service. I think that's quite a deal.
So... keep up the good work, Harry! -
New font is too small.
it is no fun anymore to read cool news
olaf -
Hey you big time cineguru I love the new site design. Pleasing to the eye, relatively straightforward for usage and I notice you kept the graphics goofy enough to make us all still think you are our friend but it's quite obvious that your takin someone's big buck buyout and become a studio-promo-whore. But that's okay I guess if that's where your heart is. I guess I'd do it too... thing is I would've built the site myself and been proud ... I'll still tune in everyonce in a while but the credibility is gone. It's one thing to speak and have the world listen but when you try and pass yourself off as slick-media you send out the exact opposite message from what you started with...
... cheers man see you at the cocktail parties -
see subject.
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okay -- several points. first, all the whiny babies should wipe their snotty little noses & quit bitchin' about you selling out just because you decided to make the site more attractive and user friendly. changing design & visuals is not the same as changing content or the honesty thereof, & to accuse you of selling out just for that is beyond idiotic -- or, as my father used to say, asinine.
second -- i hate to say this harry, but your goal of a more visually appealing site has not been accomplished (in my humble opinion). for example, various shades of mustard yellow dominate here. mustard yellow, in case no one's told you, is one of the most hideous colors in existence. all other colors seem to be muted, greyish versions of real colors. the cool blues and reds of the old design were relaxing and attractive -- you don't have to lose them just to do a new design!! please please please get much better colors & soon!!!!!!
also, the above post's point about having to hit "continue" just to keep reading is echoed here -- that's damn annoying, harry. could you please eliminate that awful feature of this new design, please?
third -- the new design is confusing, yes, but i'm sure we're intelligent enough to get used to it. we older users need to understand that many people like this non-linear format & have a hard time with the old one, and we should not want them to stay away from such a mega-cool site just because of an amateur and antiquated design.
which brings me to my 4th and final point -- amateurism. some are whining because you no longer look like a primitive hack in daddy's basement with a shit computer, claiming (once again) that it appears that you have sold out. once again, that strains logic to the breaking point. i applaud your effort (despite my color complaint) to make your site look cooler. just because you're doing this on a little computer out of dad's house doesn't mean the site has to look like crap!
harry, as long as you keep giving us what we love -- your uncensored opinions, your vast knowledge of movie info, and wicked cool advance news on upcoming projects -- your truly loyal readers will stay, myself among them. keep up the great work, and (as my mom would say) joke 'em if they can't take a fuck! :) -
I understand trying to improve the site. I can empathize, you are doing it for us, the readers. I don't mind the cutesy stuff, but i would appreciate less links and continues. I like a weeks worth of news links loaded on one page. I will admit that i like the caricture of you.
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Catherine Zeta-Jones from Mask of Zorro, that's who. A quintessential beauty who we will be seeing alot more of!
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Hey - if you're missing the good old format of AICN, then check out the 'Harry's World' section cos it hasn't been changed yet!
Now, doesn't that bring back fond memories? -sob!- -
Harry, I really like the new look of your site. It's better organized than before. The only suggestion I have is that you put reviews on a single page so that we can scroll through them.
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The new design came as shock when I loaded it up. Very lo-fi to hi fi with no warning!
But I think the screaming is unwarranted, by and large. It's certainly not the worst I've run across in regards to download time (try MSNBC). It's easy on the eyes and well organized. The only beef I have -- noted by so many others here -- is the need to hit "continue" on review and news stories. THAT'S a pain. I like my articles readable using only my finger on the down arrow key. You gotta fix this.
Life on the Internet IS Change, and I see no reason why you should be different, Harry. It's the content that really matters, and as long as you keep producing incisive reviews and the latest dirt on the cinematic world, I'm with you. Keep up the good work. -
So Harry, this looks SLICK! I'm just curious, did you dish for this? I know how much these things cost and just wondering - where were you hiding that stash?!? Or maybe Jamison Gold was simply overwhelmed by your "right on" reviews and felt they should make a donation? Perhaps it was Sony, Columbia Tristar or Dreamworks Interactive (Jamison Gold's other clients, hmmm...what a coinkydink) who felt that you have given them enough hype that you deserve this?
So really, Harry, who paid?
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