51 Films Movie Mazzupial is looking forward to in `09

Happy New Year and all that jazz!
It’s 2009 and majority of the Gold Coast population is waking up in a gutter somewhere with vomit down their front. I however am instead greeting the New Year with a post on some of the films I’m most excited about for 2009. I could write a brief run down on each film to explain it better but everyone knows my run downs aren’t brief. Therefore titles is all you shall get greedy, greedy readers and you will have to Google them at your own leisure. FYI there are 51 delicious titles listed here in order of my excitement. Ciao :o)

51 Films Movie Mazzupial is looking forward to in `09

The Lovely Bones

Let The Right One In

Caroline

Watchmen

The Brothers Bloom

The Fighter

Milk

Killshot

New Moon

Trick `R Treat

Up

State of Play

Shutter Island

Slumdog Millionare

Red Sonja

Sherlock Holmes

The Wrestler

New York, I Love You

Monsters vs Aliens

The Wolf Man

Little Ashes

Revolutionary Road

Where the Wild Things Are

Fantastic Mr Fox

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Doubt

The Spirit

Role Models

The Unborn

Bruno

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Public Enemies

500 Days of Summer

G.I Joe: Rise of the Cobra

Cadillac Records

Inglorious Bastards

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Game

The Surrogates

Old Dogs

Nine

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

Challenging

Nottingham

The Soloist

The International

Zac and Miri Make a Porno

The Box

Defiance

Adventureland

Notorious

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I'll have the McGowan meal thanks

I've had quite a few comments from friends and colleagues since I did a blog with the movie posters for Robert Rodriguez's latest project Red Sonja. Most of those comments were about Rose McGowan's mega yumminess. Sooo I decided to give all you McGowan fans out there something to squeal over and pay homage to the actress with more attitude than Ice T and Grace Jones combined. Here are my top three favourite McGowan performances:

3. Courtney Alice Shayne
Jawbreaker (1999) McGowan's attitude and X factor are put to full use in this black teen comedy which sees the girls in the popular group accidently kill their BFF in a birthday prank gone wrong. Courtney Shayne is one of the most underrated bitches in cinema history and McGowan plays her to perfection. Everyone else in the cast pales in comparison to McGowan who is the ultimate femme fatale, using her sex appeal and wit to manipulate those around her. The only thing more ridiculous than the fact the audience are supposed to believe these 27-year old’s are teenagers are the corsets and leather Courtney wears to school. She is the ultimate mean girl and other high school Queen Bees have nothing on Miss Shayne.
Best line:
“I killed Liz. I killed the teen dream. Deal with it.”

2. Tatum Riley
Scream (1996)
A testament to McGowan's ability to hold her own in a cast alongside some of the biggest names in nineties Hollywood. While initial attention may have been drawn to the clever plot, sharp script and tongue-in-cheek performances who can forget Sidney Prescott's loyal best friend Tatum Riley. Not only does she have some of the best one liners in the film (“Billy and his penis don't deserve you Syd”) she also has one of the best deaths (garage doors+Tatum =gnarly!). While some people are always cast as the `token black guy' it seems McGowan is always cast as the `knowing slut with attitude' and she pulls it off well as a buxom blonde.
Best line:
“No, please don't kill me, Mr. Ghostface, I wanna be in the sequel!”
1. Cherry Darling
Planet Terror (2007)
I may be a little biased to pick this as my favourite McGowan performance because I'm a Rodriguez whore but honestly, she gets to do what she does best and that's deliver her natural blend of comedy and sass. McGowan plays Cherry Darling, a stripper who has just quit her night-job to pursue a career as a stand up comedian. Anyways, some zombies rip her leg off and her ex replaces it with a machine gun. Awesome much? In the style of some of the greatest exploitation films ever made violence, sex, horror and comedy ensue as Cherry and her machine gun stump blast their way through the movie. Only McGowan would be able to make an amputee one of the sexiest characters on screen in 2007. Notably, her comedic turns are still effective against a back drop of zombies whose genitals explode.
Best line:
There's so many, sigh, so here are a few of the best . . . .

“Useless talent number 66. I'm very pliable.”

Cherry: Name's Cherry Darling...
El Wray: Sounds like a stripper name.
Cherry: No, it sounds like a go-go dancer name. There's a difference.

“I am not leaving you here like this. Motherfuckers around here eat road kill.”

El Wray: So what are you going to do now?
Cherry: I'm going to be a stand-up comedian.
El Wray: You're not funny.
Cherry: That's what I keep trying to tell everybody but they all say I'm hilarious.
El Wray: But you're not.
Cherry: There's a difference between being frank. . .and being dick.

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They say red heads do it better . . .

Two potential movie posters for the 2009 release Red Sonja sprouted up on the internet a few days ago and there’s been no shortage of hype surrounding Robert Rodriguez’s latest venture. When news that a film was to be made based around the Marvel Comics character, Red Sonja, it raised a fair few eyebrows. But I have to say these nifty pieces of graphic art have got me hooked (either that or I’m afraid the red head will stab me). Rose McGowan is looking hot, hot, hot as the sword wielding she-devil.

Red Sonja first appeared as a side character in the Conan the Barbarian/Adventurer/Raving homosexual comics before branching out in her own series. If the posters are anything to go by (which I say they are) then McGowan’s Red Sonja looks likely to surpass Angelica Bridges god-awful version of the character played in the 80s TV series Conan the Adventurer. Plus McGowan’s costume doesn’t look like it was bought from `Dominatrix’s R Us’ so brownie points for that one. There was also a film adaption of Red Sonja in 1985 with the title character played by Brigitte Nielsen accompanied by the heavily tanned and bulging Arnold Schwarzenegger. Again I use the term god-awful to describe this cinematic effort.

The last time Rodriguez and McGowan paired up was for the hugely entertaining but financial flop Planet Terror. No doubt the real-life lovers are hoping Red Sonja will make more of an impact at the box office. Anyway, the talented and slightly scary Djimon Hounsou will be playing the other lead role of Thusla Doom while Douglas Aarniokoski is up to direct. But never fear! Although you mightn’t have heard of Aarniokoski before, he has worked with Rodriguez on majority of his films as first or second assistant director etc etc. The main draw card for me here is with Rodriguez on board, the action scenes are bound to be spectacular and well executed. He’s also one of the few directors in Hollywood who has his actors perform majority of their own stunts so McGowan better get used to lugging that pointy stick around otherwise someone just might lose an eye! Or boob! Stay posted for more Red Sonja pics and news.

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