Koji Suzuki's novel "Ring" was first published in 1991, and no one could have guessed that the simple, tech-based ghost story would spawn a decades-long, worldwide media franchise that incorporates multiple movies, crossovers, comics, audio dramas, and video games. If one does a deep dive into the entire "Ring" series, one will uncover a massively complicated mythos that repeatedly peels back layers of reality to reveal an onion-like media metafiction that Marshall McLuhan would be proud of.
The premise of "Ring" is wicked and fun, and would have been all the more terrifying in 1991 when VHS was still in vogue. In the book, an investigative reporter named Asakawa finds a cursed video cassette of a surreal, 20-minute short film. At the end of the video, a captain informs him that he has seven days to live. Asakawa takes the threat seriously, as several teenage girls who watched the video have already died.
The premise of "Ring" is wicked and fun, and would have been all the more terrifying in 1991 when VHS was still in vogue. In the book, an investigative reporter named Asakawa finds a cursed video cassette of a surreal, 20-minute short film. At the end of the video, a captain informs him that he has seven days to live. Asakawa takes the threat seriously, as several teenage girls who watched the video have already died.
- 5/6/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
In his ongoing rally against the culture of political correctness, Jerry Seinfeld says that there is plenty of material on his namesake show that couldn’t get made today – and he’s not talking about the Soup Nazi.
As far as moments that Seinfeld doesn’t think could make the show had it been made in today’s climate, he said, “We did an episode of the series in the nineties where Kramer decides to start a business of having homeless people pull rickshaws because, as he says, ‘They’re outside anyway.’ Do you think I could get that episode on the air today?” He added that things would have to be far more PC, referring to season nine’s “The Bookstore.” “We would write a different joke with Kramer and the rickshaw today. We wouldn’t do that joke. We’d come up with another joke.” Seinfeld could have...
As far as moments that Seinfeld doesn’t think could make the show had it been made in today’s climate, he said, “We did an episode of the series in the nineties where Kramer decides to start a business of having homeless people pull rickshaws because, as he says, ‘They’re outside anyway.’ Do you think I could get that episode on the air today?” He added that things would have to be far more PC, referring to season nine’s “The Bookstore.” “We would write a different joke with Kramer and the rickshaw today. We wouldn’t do that joke. We’d come up with another joke.” Seinfeld could have...
- 4/30/2024
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
Get ready for a gritty noir mystery thriller series set in Los Angeles created by Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) and directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God). Apple TV+’s latest series titled Sugar is an original story and it follows the titular character Private Detective John Sugar, who goes to LA to find a missing girl named Olivia Siegel, the beloved granddaughter of Hollywood producer Jonathan Siegel. As he digs deeper into the case he finds some secrets the Siegel family would have liked to keep buried.
While the critical reception of Sugar is not as good as I would have hoped, it is still an impressive series and worth your time. So, if you want to lose yourself in the dirty underbelly of LA with Pi John Sugar, here are the dates for the series’ upcoming episodes.
Sugar – Episode Guide (When Will The New Episodes Air?) Credit...
While the critical reception of Sugar is not as good as I would have hoped, it is still an impressive series and worth your time. So, if you want to lose yourself in the dirty underbelly of LA with Pi John Sugar, here are the dates for the series’ upcoming episodes.
Sugar – Episode Guide (When Will The New Episodes Air?) Credit...
- 4/5/2024
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
Bhutanese writer-director Pawo Choyning Dorji’s second feature, The Monk and the Gun, begins with a crackling radio broadcast. It’s 2006, but as it’s only been seven years since the Kingdom of Bhutan lifted its ban on television and internet, this is still the most efficient way to bring information to the masses. The broadcast itself informs the people of a bold new form of modernity that’s about to arrive in the country: democracy.
The main plot of The Monk and the Gun concerns the old lama (Kelsang Choejay) of a small village named Ura. He seems disturbed by the news that the king will be stepping down, so as to cede power to the people, and asks his young disciple, Tashi (Tandin Wangchuk), to help him with a ritual that will “make things right.” He won’t say what this ritual is—only that it must take...
The main plot of The Monk and the Gun concerns the old lama (Kelsang Choejay) of a small village named Ura. He seems disturbed by the news that the king will be stepping down, so as to cede power to the people, and asks his young disciple, Tashi (Tandin Wangchuk), to help him with a ritual that will “make things right.” He won’t say what this ritual is—only that it must take...
- 2/4/2024
- by Ross McIndoe
- Slant Magazine
Horror is iterative, but it just as regularly moves through the same cycles decade after decade, ostensibly breaking new ground, when in reality, the genre is simply doing what is has always done. Today's horror landscape, for as remarkable and diverse as it is, is principally a landscape of legacy sequels. The horror of yesterday is new again, and commonly, old faces and names are dredged up to headline the latest nostalgic bloodbath. Reasonably, the present iteration could be decried as Hollywood's lack of originality, though seasoned horror veterans have seen this cycle before.
The early aughts were replete with imported horrors. Hollywood studios regularly borrowed transnational scares, repackaged them, and presented them as the next big thing. They were successful, too. Gore Verbinski's "The Ring," a remake of Hideo Nakata's "Ring," grossed nearly $250 million when released in 2002. Hollywood studios also remade the likes of "A Tale of Two Sisters,...
The early aughts were replete with imported horrors. Hollywood studios regularly borrowed transnational scares, repackaged them, and presented them as the next big thing. They were successful, too. Gore Verbinski's "The Ring," a remake of Hideo Nakata's "Ring," grossed nearly $250 million when released in 2002. Hollywood studios also remade the likes of "A Tale of Two Sisters,...
- 1/14/2024
- by Chad Collins
- Slash Film
The episode of Wtf Happened to This Horror Movie? covering The Grudge (2004) was Written and Narrated by Adam Walton, Edited by Juan Jimenez, Produced by Andrew Hatfield and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.
If there was one thing the early noughties had in an abundance, especially within the horror genre, it was remakes. We were graced with reboots, or re-imaginings, whatever you want to call them, of the likes of Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, The Amityville Horror, House of Wax, Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake from 2007 and The Ring. However, despite the decent quality of those examples, well most of them, one thing that stands out in the film we’re focusing on today, The Grudge (watch it Here), is the fact that the original’s director, Takashi Shimizu, chose to also take on the remake. In 2002 the aforementioned The Ring,...
If there was one thing the early noughties had in an abundance, especially within the horror genre, it was remakes. We were graced with reboots, or re-imaginings, whatever you want to call them, of the likes of Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, The Amityville Horror, House of Wax, Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake from 2007 and The Ring. However, despite the decent quality of those examples, well most of them, one thing that stands out in the film we’re focusing on today, The Grudge (watch it Here), is the fact that the original’s director, Takashi Shimizu, chose to also take on the remake. In 2002 the aforementioned The Ring,...
- 10/18/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
After weathering the pandemic and its shifting regulations for the past three editions, the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) returns to full strength this year with its 27th edition, kicking off on June 29 with the local premiere of Ari Aster's Beau Is Afraid, starring Joaquin Phoenix. Serving as the closing film will be the world premiere of Sana, the new film from Japanese director Takashi Shimizu, the man behind the Ju-on (The Grudge) films. Among the 262 films from 51 countries screening this year, major new genre titles from Screen Anarchy favorites include Brandon Cronenberg's Infinity Pool, Álex de la Iglesias Four's a Crowd and Anurag Kashyap's Kennedy. The festival returns under the slogan 'Cinema+', a term that captures the broad canvas of...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/7/2023
- Screen Anarchy
The action adventure marks the latest from the director of Berlinale award-winners ‘Parade’ and ‘River’s Edge’.
Japan’s Isao Yukisada is adapting award-winning novel Revolver Lily as an action-adventure feature, which Toei Company is unveiling to buyers at the European Film Market.
Isao is best known internationally for titles including Go, A Day On The Planet, Parade and River’s Edge, all of which played in the Panorama strand of the Berlinale. Parade and River’s Edge both won the Fipresci prize at the festival in 2009 and 2018 respectively.
His latest takes place in 1924 and centres on Yuri, who killed 57 people...
Japan’s Isao Yukisada is adapting award-winning novel Revolver Lily as an action-adventure feature, which Toei Company is unveiling to buyers at the European Film Market.
Isao is best known internationally for titles including Go, A Day On The Planet, Parade and River’s Edge, all of which played in the Panorama strand of the Berlinale. Parade and River’s Edge both won the Fipresci prize at the festival in 2009 and 2018 respectively.
His latest takes place in 1924 and centres on Yuri, who killed 57 people...
- 2/16/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
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