Game on!!!

A few years ago Marvel finally got their act together, special effects were finally up to the challenge and we reaped the rewards of super hero films that actually entertained.
Spiderman was no longer being hoisted up the side of a building, the X-Men could take on Magneto with laser beams & telekinesis and the Fantastic Four were able to send the Human Torch flying through the streets of New York City.
The defining moment for me, the moment when I knew they had this covered and could make the panels come to life was when The Silver Surfer flew through the Lincoln Tunnel (or was it the Holland?)
There have been some duffs along the way, but that was down to scripting for the most part, something that has always baffled me since the scripts and the story boarding has already been done for most comic book sourced films, but I digress.
This year saw the release of a new beast, a beast destined to redefine the genre, possibly more than Christopher Nolan and his Batman films. Dark and gritty though they are, they should always have been that way, (Tim Burton's films and the subsequent franchise really just modernise a dated 60s TV show) Nolan just proved that dark was commercially viable.

No, this year saw Kick Ass, kick ass.
Any comic book fan would be telling you one giant lie if s/he said they'd never lied back on their bed and fantasied about fighting crime, or being the villain. Kick Ass was something one could relate to, it did what films are meant to do, it allowed us to live out our fantasy and it did it flawlessly.


Today, Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim Vs The World sees it's UK trailer officially released exclusively through The Guardian.
And holy trailer Batman!!! This looks set to seriously upset the Kick Ass apple cart.
Combining the superhero genre with the video gamer's mental power bar is a stroke of genius, but then what else would you expect from Mr. Wright? He was toying with this stuff back in '99, more than 10 years (holy shit! Really?!) on, you bet he's got his shit together!!! And with a track record that reads like a list of desert island must haves, I see nothing but win for Scott Pilgrim.

Check out the trailer at The Guardian's page here and while you're there... you might was well watch the Kick Ass trailer again, ya cunts!

Fishmen

Presented without comment:

This one's for you dear friend

Good luck in New York.

End of an era

So Ed has officially passed the torch. It has to be said that as torch passing ceremonies go, last night was a belter, complete with cake, provided by the lovely red and black enigma that is Lil Claire.

(Sadly this terrible phone photo does it no justice at all)

Ed put together a wonderful collections of personal shorts. I've had a fair few requests about them and so decided I'll post them here.

Jonny Bower, Ed & Varrick Zed's
Fiend of the Fell


And the epic that is
Eraser Ed
Directed by Jonny Bower and starring the magical Ed Zed



Next month is all lined up and ready to go, but I'll post the trailer and poster up in a day or so.
In the meantime enjoy these films.

Monday

The time is upon us once again to venture into the world of weird with none other than Mr. John Waters and Kathleen Turner in Serial Mom as she slays her way through suburbia.
We hope that you will make every effort to come down and join us as in addition to our normal fun, Ed has convinced Troubadour Rose to come along and twang a few ditties for your aural enjoyment.
We do take care of you, don't we? Sight and sound covered.

As this is a bit of a farewell for Ed, we are starting earlier than usual, so get down for 7ish and lets see where the night takes us, shall we?

I'll leave you with these interesting little bits I found while web trawling...

Birdemic

Heralded by many as the new Best Worst Movie, James Nguyen's um... romantic thriller... is nothing short of a non-stop cinematic disaster. Words truly fail when it comes to trying to describe Nguyen's calamity.
Birdemic is follows a young couple through their early days of courtship, only to inexplicably throw them into the middle of an avian attack. The story is really that simple with the occasional "Global Warming will kill us all" threat, which is never as subtle as you suspect this third time director intended. But then that would imply Nguyen had some talent, or any, or employed talent, or was possibly even aware at all of what talent might look like were it to fly into his face and explode, like his CGI birds do. CGI in this case meaning copying and pasting the same three frames of a bird floating and filling the sky with them... until they make dive bombing sounds and explode, this is a literal translation of the threat that these birds pose. It's scary.
But Best Worst Movie? That invokes Troll 2, and I think we all know what a marvelous disaster that was, if you don't, I suggest you stop playing video games for 90 minutes and wallow in the shocking terror that is Troll 2.
Is this on par with such greats as The Room, Blood Feast or even Plan 9 from Outer Space?
Sadly, despite it's car crash nature and genuinely horrible technical elements, and trust me referring to anything in this film as technical is an insult to a pencil, it's missing the naive charms of the aforementioned.
Sure when you watch Blood Feast or Troll 2 you honestly wonder how anyone could have thought they were making a great film, but there's a charm and a level of appreciation in their craft work, it might be misguided or quite possible even broken, but it's there.
Birdemic: Shock and Terror is missing that, acting so terrible that you are reading the lines off your hand is different from terrible to the point of being unable to walk down the street naturally.
That said, any fan of bad cinema should not miss the chance to catch the up and coming movie genius that is James Nguyen introduce Birdemic at it's UK premire this Friday, 28th May at the Curzon Soho. This film really must be watched with beer, in a roomful of people.

Achtung!!!!

We are very excited to announce our website is now up, not running fully, but up and rocking with all the important information that needs to be seen right away.
So now I can go back to posting on here without fear of losing anything down through the bloggy abyss.

Please set your little arrow to click here:
Cigarette Burns Cinema


This makes us very happy!!!!

7th June

3rd May

Godzilla! This is gonna be a cracking one!!!

I have realised that this blog may not be suiting Cigarette Burns' purposes, the main reason for it is to keep people up to date on what we are showing. Unfortunately, due to the nature of blogs shifting content lower and lower down the page and eventually into the oblivion of "older posts" posting anything other than what is coming next is rather defeatist in nature.
So we are working on a new more sensible alternative, hopefully up and running in the next few weeks. It will enable us to post articles without losing the important info.
I'm quite excited about this, and it's just one of the coming changes.... exciting, eh? I bet you're shitting yourself in anticipation.

Big thanks to Andy of V2

6 Million Light Years Beyond Reality!!!!

While the US was farting about with Cap'n Kirk and his pointy eared mate Spark, Japan was busy setting Ultraman on giant outer space monsters intend on flattening the small island nation.


Come the 70s, Ultraman and the spin offs were everywhere and not getting tired.
Next on the black was Kamen Rider. Halfway through season one, Kamen Rider One injured himself, which is a bit lame for a cyborg. But fear not, he was joined by Kamen Rider Two. Who admittedly looks strikingly similar, but they didn't have a lot of time to plan.
by the time Kamen Rider V3 appeared on the scene, this surprisingly darker ancestor of the Mighty Morphen Power Rangers had made Hong Kong terribly jealous of their lack of superheroes.


What should we do, Batman?
Call in the Shaw Brothers!!!



Who delivered unto the world, China's first, and for all intents and purposes, last, super hero - Super Inframan!!!!

Come join us on 3rd May, Bank Holiday Monday for the attack of the Princess Dragon.