KGB Productions

Frankenstein's Army is a cleaver horror film that uses the found footage concept to tell a story about a lost Russian unit that comes across a secret Nazi lab where the journal of Dr. Victor Frankenstein is being translated into gruesome experiments.  The film is directed by Richard Raaphorst and Mr Raaphorst does a good job with what little he has.  I was unfamiliar with Raaphorst work so I enlisted a friend who knew of his work.  Mr. Raaphorst was the individual who did a fake trailer of a film entitled " Worst Case Scenario ".  The clip went viral and was nominated for the best trailer, no movie , at the golden trailer award.  Frankenstein's Army is a movie with some of the ideas Raaphorst presented in his trailer " Worst Case Scenario" video . Shot in Prague, in the Czech Republic the film uses it's location to maximum effect.It was shot in an old abandoned mine.  I was fascinated on how the film came about, and since this is Raaphorst's ...

I had been waiting to see this film for some time.  After reading Linda Lovelace's books "Ordeal" and " Out of Bondage " I was mortified by what she experienced and what she went through.  It wasn't until I met the lady at a convention that I had a chance to talk with her for about 10 to 15 minutes.  Some critics point to Lovelace's appearances at these conventions as her being a hypocrite and that her experiences were all a lie.  I only spoke to her for a little while, and she was pleasant and I addressed her as Ms Marchiano since that was her name now.  She told me to call her Linda, and she really seemed genuine.  She talked about her children, and I saw how much she was committed to them.  I believe it was this that drove her to provide for her family, and why she would resurfaced as Linda Lovelace. So how was the movie?  Seeing this film is hard.  Especially if you've read the book "Ordeal".  It's well written and written wit...

To start with my wife and I are fans of the first movie, and so Reds 2 was an inevitable for us to see, and I have to say that Reds 2 is a good popcorn movie.   Bruce Willis , John Malkovich , Mary-Louis Parker , and Helen Mirren are all back as our favorite retired but extremely dangerous assassins.  Even though the movie has it's funny parts it doesn't work as well as the original movie did.  Malkovich and Willis are the anchors to this story.  Their banter between each other is hilarious, and it really works.  It is when the story goes into Frank's (Willis) relationship with Sarah (Parker) that the story seems to drag.  In the beginning of the movie we see that Frank and Sarah are trying to have a normal life, and it's killing Frank, but he loves Sarah so he does what most normal people do and not kill anyone.  The movie is funny, but it jumps around from one location to another as our hero's try to piece together why everyone connected to a pro...

Dennis Farina passed away Monday Morning in Scottsdale Arizona.  Mr. Farina was born in Chicago, and became a Chicago police officer for 18 years in the cities Burglary division.  It was while Mr Farina was a consultant for Michael Mann's film entitled "Thief" that Mann gave him a brief role in the movie. Farina continued to do parts while he was a police officer in the Chicago theater scene.  It wasn't until Mann cast Farina as a lead in his series "Crime Story" that Farina made the full transition to actor. He later played many different parts.  Some as police officers and other as mobsters.  Farina was a life long cubs fan, and he eventually took the part of Detective Joe Fontana on the series of Law & Order. I was always enamoured by Mr. Farina's style of acting.  He was a natural, and you could see he was having fun.  He did a stint on a show called "In-Laws" which showed his comic timing, and how well he did in comedy...

So it's July 4th week-end, and what's more American then going to the movies, and so we did.  I'm a big fan of the first movie, and I have to say I loved the whole story.  Having said that I was a bit disappointed by the 2nd film.  That's not to say that I hated it.  I enjoyed seeing the film with my family, and we all laughed at bits in the film, but it is no where near the movie the first one is. Why is that?  Why was I a bit disappointed at the film?  Simply put it was the story.  They were on the right track.  After all our main character Gru is now out of the super villain business because he has his new family that he loves.  Making him a superhero is the right thing to do, but the story seemed to be too simplistic.  The movie did have some cute elements in the story which is one thing that made the first film so endearing, but it all seemed forced which is sad since you would think that Universal Studios would give more thoug...

I just had to go see World War Z being an avid "zombie" genre film fan.  I had never read the book by Max Brooks , about eyewitnesses account of the zombie outbreak, but I have read a few chapters here and there and what I read seemed interesting.  What the movie does is compile all those survivors accounts into one character's view of the outbreak.  Gerry Lane played by Brad Pitt is a former employee of the UN's health organization.  He is seen in the first scene of the movie making breakfast for his family.  He has two daughters, and a wife, and we find out that he quit his job due to what it was doing to him.  But that is latter on in the movie, and in the beginning of the movie we see Pitt interacting with his family while making breakfast.  We hear on the radio and on the TV that things are happening in the world, but like all news with a 24 hour cycle it is background noise to the characters.  For us the audience we all know that someth...

I just found out that Jim Kelly passed away yesterday.  Jim Kelly starred along with Bruce Lee in "Enter the Dragon", and after seeing that I was completely hooked on Jim Kelly's performance.  He made everything look easy and he exuded coolness like no one else.  His films include "Three the Hard way", Black Samson, Black Samurai, and Black Belt Jones.   After several more films Jim Kelly left acting and became a professional tennis player.on the USTA  senior man's circuit. He will be missed.

So for Father's day we all went to see "The Man of Steel".  I have always been a BIG Superman fan, and remember seeing the old episodes of Superman on the TV while I was growing up.  So I was anxious to see this new one.  I have to say that I wasn't disappointed at seeing it.  Now I do remember when Superman came out while I was a teenager.  The two Superman movies were something special for me, and Christopher Reeve was a very special Superman.  But I always wondered what happened to Superman during his teenage years.  Sure I read the Superboy comic books as a child, but in those he just seemed like a Superman who was just younger.  In "The Man of Steel" Superman is seen more human.  He is conflicted about who he is and what he is.  The flashbacks of him and his Earth dad Pa Kent is touching and revealing.  After all could not have Superman been bad.  Could he have used his powers for evil instead of good, and this movie ex...

Yesterday I heard that we lost another great writer.   Richard Matheson was a writer of over 25 novels and countless short stories.  He was a big influence in my life because I was introduced to him through the old Twilight Zone episodes.  He wrote one of my favorite novels " I am Legend " which has been made into several movies.  " Nightmare at 20,000 feet " and the episode called "Steel" were two of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes.  He was what writers needed to aspire to.  What Mr. Matheson wrote and conveyed in a 30 minute episode no one has yet to come as close to perfecting.  His writing touched you like no one elses could.  He brought humanity into his stories, and he certainly was prolific with the work he produced. Not only did he produce great work but he influenced others such Stephen King, George Romero , and Anne Rice just to name a few. He will be missed, and all I can say is thank you Mr. Matheson for the great work you...

Here in Philly and the surrounding area there are a group of people I admire and hope to work with some day.  They were on a panel about film making at a gaming con.  They mention some things that I think is relevant and true, so give it a listen it's worth hearing.

I've been researching and looking into DSLR filmmaking.  There are many cameras to do this.  The Canon 5D is one of those films, but I wanted to look into the Nikon side of DSLR. The below clip was shot with a Nikon D800.  I've already come to the conclusion that the Nikon d600 has too  many problems and is not good for the average filmmaker.  It has a problem with low light, aliasing, and it can only be used for 20 to 30 minutes of continuous filming. It seems that the Nikon D800 has fixed those problems.  More on what I find out and what the D800 can do.  In the meantime here is a film that was shot with the D800.  You be the judge.

  After seeing Star Trek Into the Darkness I have to say that the franchise seems to be in good hands.  Being a fan of the series, and the movies I was a little worried about re-vamping the franchise, but all those worries were for nothing.  The creators of the new Star Trek seem to respect and admire its past while giving us a new future.  What Star Trek is about hope.  Hope that man gets it right after all it's screw ups and that the human race does makes it to the stars and becomes a catalyst for hope in the universe.  That's the big picture of course.  What Star Trek is also about and what makes it a phenomenon is its all about relationships.  The crew of the Enterprise is like a big family and the two centered in that family is the relationship between Spock and Kirk.  It is these two characters that make the adventure of Star Trek so endearing to its fans.  In the old series William Shatner , and Leonard Nimoy were two sides...

Okay this is my last Godard review for awhile.  Since I read the book: "Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard" I wanted to review some of his films to get a better rounded view of Godard.  First was Breathless, and now "Weekend".  Weekend is considered Godard's last film of the 60's. He would eventually come back to movie making in 1972, but till then Godard was as he said "finished with cinema".  The end of Week-end even states this in the end credits. To tell you that it was a difficult movie to get through is an understatement.  Not that it is a bad movie.  It's far from that.  Weekend is one of Godard's darkest films, and it really reminded me of  certain other films about the end of the world, but what Godard does which other filmmakers do not is to include sociopolitical undercurrents within the story.  The film is about consumerism, and breakdown of civilization into savagery.   Our main characters Corin...

So I did get a chance to see "the Iceman" starring Michael Shannon, and directed by Ariel Vromen .  The story is based on a true story about a man who was a contract killer for the mob.  But that is over simplifying the film or the subject matter.  The movie is based on the book : The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer. The film is also based on the HBO documentary called " Conversations with a Killer ". The man's name was Richard Kuklinski and he was a contract killer.  He claimed to have killed over hundred people, but some authorities say that his body count is much more since Kuklinski was also a sociopath.  I have to say that the film gives a chilling account on how he preformed the murders and how he lead a dual life as a family man and a killer.   Michael Shannon gives a wonderful performance as Kuklinski, and the movie is all on him.  But the supporting characters here also need their due.   Winona Ryder , Rob...

When I feel a bit less inspired I try and find films that inspire me, and that sometimes means going back.   Breathless by Jean Luc Godard is one of those films.  I did see it while in film school, but I've grown to admire it more and more, and after seeing it again the movie reverberates through me in what good cinema is.    For those who cannot get over Godard's style I understand that it may not be your cup of tea, but Godard is one of the more innovative directors of the era then most.  In each film he pushes cinema a bit further in what he thinks it should be.  Sometimes it's entertainment, but most times there is a message.  In a way it's a feeling, a response he wants to get out of his audience, and Breathless certainly does that.  From its cinematography to its editing the film has a feeling of restlessness.  Even in the sequences where the characters talk about nothing in particular.  To Godard these scenes are important, ...

It's getting to be summer season, and summer movies have always been fun and roller coaster rides in a way.  I was a fan of the first two, and was interested in the third.  I also hoped that my boys would also be excited, and they were to a point.  But now after seeing it something still bothers me.  Also when I asked my boys if they liked it they said it was okay.  Right there is when I thought my vibe of the film was right.  Something was off with this one. Was it something to do with the actors?  I can't say that was the problem.  The actors were all good.  It was more the film as a whole.  The pacing in Iron Man is off, and while watching it you do feel how off they are.  Also the story is lame.  I was a comic book fan of Ironman, and I do remember a villain by the name of "The Mandarin", but I believe it was some eastern block enemy.    I won't give any spoilers here, but the enemy here was weak.  The...

It's been a time of reflection and re-tooling for me. Getting back to basics and picking up a few new media tools. I've been reading "Everything is Cinema: The working life of Jean-Luc Godard" by Richard Brody. I've always been fascinated and have admired the French New Wave.  To me nothing in the cinema has been as innovative as the French New Wave.  Sure there have been great films made since the New Wave, but not since that time has cinema become as innovative or as intellectualized since the New Wave.  New terminology was thought of, and new theories had been discussed and discovered.  Maybe I romanticize the era too much but I do know that time was a time of innovation, and experimentation. It's what I'm doing or trying to do.  Just trying some new stuff, and getting a bit more schooled in new ways of doing things.  Here's an interview of Godard.

Soderbergh says a few things that are right. The distinction between cinema and movies is real, and something I always think about.

Seeing this brings back the little kid in me who looked forward to summer movies.   I also want so very much to share this with my boys.  See the joy and the wonder in their eyes.  Funny how a movie can be so emotional on so many levels.

I was shocked to hear the other day that well known Roger Ebert lost his battle with cancer.  He had been battling the disease for some time, and even in the face of adversity he became more vocal in his passion which was the cinema. I can remember in my youth when he and Gene Siskel were on a certain UHF channel which was hard to get in.  Back in those days you played with the TV's rabbit ears and hoped for a good signal.  I was so happy when they made it onto PBS, where the signal was a lot better.  Listening to Ebert and Siskel was like discovering new country.  My own burgeoning interest in cinema grew as I reached my teenage years and their program furthered my own love for the cinema.  Movies weren't just for entertainment.  They were art, and they said something to all of us.   Eberts love for the cinema came from his show, and his writings.  He knew good cinema and he was the first to shout from the rooftops when a particul...