The makers of recent Australian horror feature Throwback have launched a Kickstarter campaign for their new feature Starspawn. The sci-fi/horror thriller from Queensland writer/producer/director Travis Bain is about a TV current affairs journalist who uncovers evidence of an imminent alien invasion whilst on assignment to interview some Outback survivalists. The 40-day crowdfunding campaign is aimed at raising $30,000 to allow the filmmakers to commission alien puppets and costumes and shoot a proof-of-concept excerpt from the full feature in Northwestern Queensland. Vernon Wells from Mad Max 2, Commando and Bain’s previous feature Throwback has signed on to play a key role, and other name actors are said to be “circling” the project.
Cairns-based filmmaker Travis Bain says he drew inspiration for Starspawn from the films of John Carpenter and the works of cult horror author H.P. Lovecraft.
“I’ve been a huge Lovecraft fan since I was a teenager in the ’80s,” Bain says, “but I’ve always found it hard to find satisfying film versions adapted from—or inspired by—his mythos, so I decided to try to make one myself. Starspawn will be a film made by Lovecraft fans for Lovecraft fans, and we’re hoping to put some of his most iconic monsters on screen in a way they’ve never been seen before, using old-school practical effects.”
Bain adds that the campaign has a stretch goal of $100,000, which, if reached, will allow him and his team to produce the entire feature rather than just a proof-of-concept excerpt.
Bain’s previous feature Throwback was released on DVD in Australia, the UK, New Zealand and Turkey earlier this year and is due for DVD release in the US on June 23rd. A third and final trailer for the film has been unveiled to support the US release: http://youtu.be/irRi0CZSSQo
The Starspawn Kickstarter campaign will conclude on 19 July 2015. For more information, please visit the Starspawn Kickstarter Page.
Jurassic World sees John Hammond’s dream from Jurassic Park finally come true. Owned by the world’s eighth richest man, Masraini (Irrfan Khan) Jurassic World is a fully functional theme park (that looks alarmingly like Sea World from the air) where people of all ages can come and see all kinds of dinosaurs up close and in more importantly… alive.
The park is kept operational by the hard work of marketing manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Navy man turned dinosaur whisperer Owen (Chris Pratt) who have been able to find a medium that allows the park to be financially stable and also a lot safer for those visiting the Park.
However as is the case with all movies in the Jurassic franchise something has to go wrong. And here in Jurassic World we learn that the park has genetically invented their own new specie of dinosaur by mixing and matching DNA from various other kinds of dinosaur. While Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong) sees this creation as a massive step-forward for science and Claire sees it as a great way to attract more sponsorship and people to the Park, only Owen seems to realise the dangerous situation that this has put them in – there is now a genetically modified dinosaur around that nobody has any idea what is capable of. That of course is something that impresses the gruff Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio) who plans on turning dinosaurs into weapons for the military, but sadly soon places the lives of all at the park, including Claire’s nephews Gray (Ty Simpkins) and Zach (Nick Robinson), in real danger.
Year: 2015
Australian Cinema Release Date: 11th June, 2015
Australian DVD Release Date: TBA
Country: USA
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Screenwriter: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Derek Connolly, Colin Trevorrow, Michael Crichton (characters)
Cast: Andy Buckley (Scott), Tom Bui (Austin), Matthew Burke (Jim Drucker), Heather Ashley Chase (Emily), Vincent D’Onofrio (Hoskins), James DuMont (Hal Osterly), Jimmy Fallon (himself), Judy Greer (Karen), Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire), Bomber Hurley-Smith (O’Hara), Jake Johnson (Lowery), Brent Kappel (Dr. Ryan Crest), Irrfan Khan (Masrani), Christian LaBella (Joey), Lauren Lapkas (Vivian), Rebecca Maltby (Charlotte), Katie McGrath (Zara), Moses Munoz (Charlie), Chris Pratt (Owen), Emilio Reynoso (Doctor Sanchez), Brandon Richardson (Christopher), Nick Robinson (Zach), Ty Simpkins (Gray), Omar Sy (Barry), Anna Talakkattour (Erica Brand), Brian Tee (Hamada), Colin Trevorrow (Mr. DNA), Yvonne Welch (Gabriella), BD Wong (Dr. Henry Wu)
Runtime: 124 mins
Classification: M
OUR JURASSIC WORLD REVIEWS & RATINGS:
David Griffiths:
22 years ago this week we were all walking into cinemas expecting to be wowed by the fact that visionary director Steven Spielberg had brought dinosaurs to life on the screen in a way that nobody would have predicted. Here we are two decades later and once again the expectation of getting to see dinosaurs on the big screen has our cinematic pulses beating in a mammoth way.
The big question you ask yourself when heading into Jurassic World is what can we expect this time around? To be honest this is the fourth installment in a franchise, that let’s be honest peaked with the first film, so we shouldn’t be expecting much, right? Wrong!!! Maybe it is the fact that I’m one of the those people that can spend hours staring at dinosaur bones in a museum and feel like a little kid again but Jurassic World has breathed some life back into this franchise in such a way that I’m now eager to see where they will go next time around.
There are positives and negatives with Jurassic World but first let’s kick off the big plus – the director. Handing Colin Trevorrow the keys to one of the biggest franchises in the world was a massive risk for Steven Spielberg to make. We knew Trevorrow was a great director, that was very, very clear with his feature debut Safety Not Guaranteed, but at the end of the day that was a small indie sci-fi so it was a real unknown how Trevorrow would react working on a film that cost $100s of millions more to make.
The answer to be brutally honest is that Trevorrow is exactly what this franchise needed. Okay so maybe he doesn’t make this film ‘family friendly’ like the ‘political trendys’ would want him to do, but what he does deliver is some truly memorable scenes. The pterodactyl attack on the park visitors is one of the best feathered creature aerial attacks that we have seen since Hitchcock’s iconic The Birds, while Trevorrow will please serious movie fans with some pretty gruesome dinosaur attacks on humans and dinosaurs alike. And while I don’t want to spoil the great finale let’s just say that is a battle scene that will please dinosaur fans and monster movie geeks to the core… suck it up Godzilla you just got owned. Trevorrow takes some massive risks and to his credit they really pay off.
Sadly though there is also a downside to Jurassic World and it lies right at the feet at the screenwriters. Sure this screenplay got the tick of approval from Steven Spielberg but like so many of his recent films Jurassic World falls into the trap of having clichéd characters. Movie lovers see the too-busy-for-children-or-a-partner business woman like Claire in every second film these days, while on the other hand it seems like Owen may have been based on one of Spielberg’s other great creations, Indiana Jones. From his wardrobe down Owen is a screaming Indy clone… not that that is a bad thing because he is still one of the most likable characters in the film.
The other big weakness is the fact that even though Trevorrow sets up pretty early on that he is not afraid to allow his dinosaurs to be a little full-on with their attacks there is a real feel that aside from the clichéd bad guys nobody that the audience really likes amongst the characters are going to meet their deaths today and that sadly takes away from some of the suspense that Trevorrow worked so hard to build up.
Having pointed out those two things though the pluesses of Jurassic World do outweigh the negatives. There are small things all throughout this film that are going to impress fans of this franchise to no end. First of all the filmmakers have chosen to celebrate and pay tribute to the film that kicked this all off rather than ignore it. There is nothing more annoying about a reboot then when you are told as an audience you are supposed to ignore that films have been set in this world before. In Jurassic World you are quickly shown that this isn’th the case here. From a well placed Hammond statue at the park to a employee showing Claire his Jurassic Park T-Shirt he found online and the old park itself playing an important part later on it is easy to see that Jurassic World embraces its predecessor rather than ignoring it.
This might be really film geeky but the other thing that I really enjoyed about Jurassic World was the fact that the film didn’t mind making fun of itself. Lines such as ‘I can’t wait to tell Mum about this’ being responded to with ‘Don’t you DARE tell your Mum about this’ actually make characters like Claire likable, while a character turning to their co-worker for a kiss during a stressed situation only to be told ‘umm…I have a boyfriend’ show that the filmmakers were more than aware that they were making a popcorn action movie and this wink to the audience shows that they were perfectly happy to do that.
While the clichéd characters do make it hard for the actors to really stand out Jurassic World does once again show us what Guardians Of The Galaxy already screamed from the rooftops – Chris Pratt is the your perfect leading man. He can be funny, the ladies seem to like him, he’s blokey enough for guys to love as well and he is a more than capable action hero. At the moment if you want to put bums on seats than Pratt is your go to guy. The people responsible for casting also need to be congratulated for putting ‘serious’ actors into even some of the smaller roles because it is a lot more refreshing to watch talented actors like Omar Sy, Irrfan Khan and Vincent D’Onofrio in roles that many may feel is beneath them than it is to watch blow-ins deliver bad performances. Also Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson also reveal themselves as young stars to watch in the future.
The key to enjoying Jurassic Park is to go into the cinema just expecting your normal popcorn action movie. There is nothing in Jurassic Park that is going to make it one of the best action movies of all time but it is still enjoyable and does more than enough to keep its audience interested one hundred per cent of the time. The nods to Jurassic Park will keep fans of the franchise happy while Trevorrow’s eagerness to bring in some more dinosaur brutality does more than enough to please the monster movie fans out there. Not high art but still the best Jurassic movie since the original.
Average Subculture Rating (out of 5):
IMDB Rating:
Other Subculture Entertainment Jurassic World reviews: You can also read our Jurassic World review on The Book The Film The T-Shirt.
Andrew McMahon is someone who needs no introduction. From his work as the lead singer of Something Corporate to Jack’s Mannequin through to his solo career Andrew McMahon has certainly made a name for himself.
Now Andrew is about to head to Australia for a tour so Subculture Entertainment’s Dave Griffiths sat down and talked to him about everything from what it feels like being able to write from personal experiences, his battle with cancer and what it was like receiving an Emmy nomination for his work on Smash.
You can listen to or download our Andrew McMahon interview right here.
Melbourne band Graveyard Train are playing at this year’s Reclink Community Cup at Elsternwick Park on Sunday 21st June.
Subculture Entertainment’s Dave Griffiths decided to talk to Nick from Graveyard Train to find how this awesome fundraiser manages to marry football and music so well and what the 1000s of people who are expected to attend on the day are in for.
You can listen to or download our Graveyard Train interview right here.
With Cirque Africa about to hit Melbourne from June 24 Subculture Entertainment’s Dave Griffiths decided to talk to the man behind the circus, Winston Ruddle aka Papa Africa.
You can listen to or download our Cirque Africa interview right here.
There has been a lot of buzz around new film distribution company Deadhouse Films over the past few weeks so The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show’s Dave Griffiths decided to catch up with company owner Enzo Tedeschi to find out all there is to know Deadhouse.
The chat sees them talk about Deadhouse Films in general, the recent acquisition of the distribution rights of Inner Demon, how you can get your short film as part of the A Night Of Horror Anthology and Deadhouse’s plans for turning Absention into a film.
You can listen to or download our Deadhouse Films interview right here.
The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show’s Dave Griffiths chats to director Shahin Shafaei about his brand new online comedy called Two Refugees And A Blonde.
Two Refugees and a Blonde will launch during Refugee Week with events at Federation Square Melbourne (15 June) and a performance at Amnesty Refugee Network’s Festival of Hope on World Refugee Day (20 June), while simultaneously premiering globally online via YouTube.
A special benefit preview screening of Season One will occur on 24 June at Classic Cinemas Elsternwick Melbourne, with proceeds going to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. The benefit will include live entertainment and a chance to meet the cast and director. Tickets are available here.
You can listen to or download our Shahin Shafaei interview right here.
The Good The Bad The Ugly Film Show’s Dave Griffiths chats to Osamah Sami and Rain Fuller two of the very creative people behind a brand new online comedy called Two Refugees And A Blonde.
Two Refugees and a Blonde will launch during Refugee Week with events at Federation Square Melbourne (15 June) and a performance at Amnesty Refugee Network’s Festival of Hope on World Refugee Day (20 June), while simultaneously premiering globally online via YouTube.
A special benefit preview screening of Season One will occur on 24 June at Classic Cinemas Elsternwick Melbourne, with proceeds going to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. The benefit will include live entertainment and a chance to meet the cast and director. Tickets are available here.
You can listen to or download our Osamah Sami and Rain Fuller interview right here.
From Forrest Gump to a man on an island talking to a volleyball there is nothing that Tom Hanks can’t do. Now he sits down and talks about his brand new film Bridge Of Spies.
With all the news buzzing about the released of the Bridge Of Spies trailer a few days ago, the film’s director Steven Spielberg has sat down to have a chat about the film.
Bridge Of Spies is directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg and stars Tom Hanks, Amy Adams and Alan Alda. The film is set for release on October 9 (United Kingdom), October 16 (United States) and October 22 (Australia).
With all the news buzzing about the released of the Bridge Of Spies trailer a few days ago, the film’s director Steven Spielberg has sat down to have a chat about the film.
Bridge Of Spies is directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg and stars Tom Hanks, Amy Adams and Alan Alda. The film is set for release on October 9 (United Kingdom), October 16 (United States) and October 22 (Australia).
You can watch the Steven Spielberg interview below.
