I have to admit that I never watched the Hobo With A Shotgun trailer, Jason "Treevenge" Eisener's winning entry in that promotional contest for Grindhouse. I do remember seeing a still of the logo and being impressed by how authentic it looked, more so than the faux trailers in the actual film.
When it was announced this year that Rutger Hauer had been cast as the titular bum in a feature-length version, my interest was piqued. I'm a big Blade Runner fan, and despite the fact that I think Hauer's post '80s career never lived up to the potential displayed in his earlier films (particularly his frequent collaborations with Verhoeven), I still take an interest every time I hear his name mentioned. That's a lot more than I can say for Harrison Ford, who I stopped giving a shit about a long time ago.
Now, with the release of the Hobo trailer my passing interest has turned into keen anticipation. I love the look and feel of the trailer, from Hauer's earnest monologue to the tough looking practical grue FX. The thing that really grabbed me though, is the cinematography and lurid colour palette, which immediately made me think of James Muro and David Sperling's gorgeous work on Street Trash. The Hobo trailer also seems to echo that film's awesome production design - a sort of larger than life urban environment that is simultaneously grimy and fantastically unreal. I hope the film is as aesthetically pleasing as this trailer teases:
So, despite the total financial failure of Grindhouse, this revival of the "style" (however artificial and contrived it may be) seems, if anything, to be gaining momentum. On the one hand, we've got "big" movies like Piranha and Machete chewing and hacking their way into fans' (and critics') hearts and cult notoriety. On the other, we're seeing a resurgence of genuine low budget sleaze and gore fests like Hobo, Bio-Slime (where have you gone?) and Slime City Massacre. Not to mention the unstoppable tsunami of weird fetishistic gore pouring out of the fertile talent pool of Yoshihiro Nishimura & Noboru Iguchi et al in Japan. Hell, we've even got Henenlotter back (another one soon, please Frank).
May this cinematic sleaze-disease spread, fester and flourish!
Nah. I dunno. I'm not entirely sold on this one. That trailer sure has some neat moments, but I also get a feeling that it's not gonna be so great after all...
ReplyDeleteAnyways it's all gonna be crap when DelToro sticks TomFuckinCruise in Mountains of Madness... Gah! Not gonna be wanting to see that one now either. Cruise blows ass hard and couldn't act his way out of paperbag.
WTF does delToro have to go with a big name for? This is obviously not supposed to be a movie for the popcornmunchin mainstream anyways... I now fear that MoM will go right down the shitter as a visual fuckfest with crap acting.
Gah! Me Angry! Must Crush!
Yeah, this one could go either way.
ReplyDeleteIs it really verified as far as Cruise? Has del toro confirmed it? Why the fuck didn't he go with a cast of unknowns?
It'll be embarrassing if The Thing is better.
not sure if he's confirmed it, but that's the way it seems to be going. Probably something that bloody Cameron has forced on him to sure financing... ;=
ReplyDeleteI hope he goes with unknowns, or even better the male cast of Mad Men. That would really be cool!
J:
Hobo looks effin' sweet, definite nod to Street Trash there. What were your thought son Machete (assuming you've seen it)?
ReplyDeleteMachete isn't out here yet, but I think it looks fun, Trejo is a badass. Out of the two though, my money's on this one. Have you seen Machete?
ReplyDeleteYeah. B-
ReplyDeleteExcellent review!
ReplyDelete