A blog about Film, TV, Culture and whatever else that distracts me during the day

I know what you're thinking.

Yet another blog. Yet another frustrated soul crying out for someone to recognise their voice and deem them worthy. I bet he's in his late 20s/early 30s, probably holds some sort of journalism degree, which is completely redundant in his day job, and judging by the title of the blog probably retains an adolescent fascination with Arnie films.

You'd be right.

Welcome to my blog.

Tuesday, 10 May 2011

'HOBO with a SHOTGUN' : Tarantino and Rodriguez have a lot to answer for!

The hype around Grindhouse, the double feature homage to 70s exploitation films directed by Robert Rodgriuez and Quentin Tarantino, didn't really live up to expectations on its release in 2007. What was intended to be a 3 hour double feature was broken up into their individual parts and released seperately, 'Planet Terror' by Rodriguez (daft but entertaining), and 'Death Proof' by Tarantino (daft but mind-numbingly dull).

As part of the hype surrounding the film, a series of spoof adverts were released along with the theatrical and dvd versions of the films hyping other fictional exploitation features. One of those, 'Machete' was made into a full length film in 2010, and now another, 'Hobo with a Shotgun' is due for release in the summer. Made in Canada, and costing $3m, 'Hobo' looks like it is going to be a straight-to-dvd release, but at least it provides a starring for one of my favourite 'under-appreciated' actors of all time Rutger Hauer (The Hitcher).
The latest 'Big Issue' promotional campaign had taken a slightly dark turn







Hauer made his name in his native Holland in the early 70s, working with his compatriot Paul Verhoeven, who directed him in a number of films like 'Turkish Delight' and 'Soldier of Orange', both of which I'm keen to see. Hauer is better known for the Hollywood films he acted in, finding himself in great demand throughout the 1980s, usually as a psychopathic villain or unhinged outsider in the likes of 'Night Hawks', 'The Hitcher' and, most famously, as Roy Batty in Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner'. The 1990s and early 2000s saw Hauer disappear from the mainstream, appearing in a number of low budget B movies and cameos in TV shows like 'Smallville' and 'Alias'.

Hauer has since had small but notable roles in 'Sin City' and 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind', and remains a fascinating actor capable of conveying his emotions through his body language and tone, of considerable subtlety (check out the first 40 seconds of the trailer below and you'll see what I mean). Although 'Hobo with a Shotgun' is unlikely to be a good film, depending on your expectations and views on exploitation films, Hauer's presence will be enough to make me hunt it out on dvd.
                                               This trailer is unrated and is fairly graphic so NSFW
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3 comments:

  1. Unknown11 May 2011 at 01:23

    Dude! This looks like the best film ever made!!! Love the blog, can I add to your sentiments regarding Grindhouse, I was so excited about the double bill coming to the cinema, complete with fake trailers, and had to watch both parts seperately. Gutted. I did kind of like Death Proof though, maybe it was the super slow build up, or maybe it was just KURT!!!

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  2. Rich11 May 2011 at 04:45

    Thanks Spark! Appreciate it man! I've got a lotta love for Kurt too, just felt it was a bit too leisurely in its pacing. Maybe my expectations were too high.

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  3. dave7 December 2011 at 05:10

    Thanks for giving details about Rutger Hauer. Belfast Cinema.

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