The Iceman
Netflix | Amazon | HitBliss | iTunes | SEN | Vudu | YouTube
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Ariel Vromen
Starring Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, Ray Liotta, James Franco, David Schwimmer, Stephen Dorff, Robert Davi
Millennium Films
Originally Released: August 30, 2012

Don’t call him a hitman, contract killer, or mass murderer – Richard Kuklinski will forever be known to history as The Iceman; a mob enforcer named as such for freezing his victims to confuse the authorities as to the time of death. Portrayed by Michael Shannon in the Ariel Vromen-directed biopic, The Iceman is a crime drama worth your attention.

Spanning several decades, The Iceman starts in the 1960s, first depicting Kuklinski’s first date with future wife Deborah (Winona Ryder). Coming from a tortured and abusive background, Kuklinski and his brother Joseph (Stephen Dorff) fall into lives of delinquency, and eventually murder. While Joseph is caught and imprisoned, Richard ends up becoming a mob enforcer for Roy DeMeo (Ray Liotta) as he attempts to also have a normal family life with his wife and daughters.

Immortals
Netflix | Amazon | Google Play | SEN | Vudu | Xbox | YouTube
DVD | DVD
Directed by Tarsem Singh
Starring Henry Cavill, Stephen Dorff, Luke Evans, Mickey Rourke, John Hurt
Relativity Media
Originally Released: November 11, 2011

Coupled with delightful visuals and unreal effects, Immortals is a fantasy, with a reasonable cast and a good dash of battle gore. While it takes the lead from the likes of 300, Troy, and Clash Of The Titans; it also unfortunately butchers the original mythology upon which it is ostensibly based, taking the phrase "loosely based" to new levels of bullshittery.

Immortals follows the legend of Theseus (Henry Cavill), the founder-hero from Greek mythology, responsible for the formation and consolidation of Athens – and eventually Greece as a power in the ancient world. Centuries after the war of the Immortals, evil King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) seeks the Epirus Bow, the only weapon that could possibly free the evil Titans, antagonists of the Gods.

A Hero’s Journey, Immortals depicts Theseus’ rise to prominence, a reluctant mortal who would stand by the sides of Gods – and eventually fight in their names. In a blood-soaked battle that would determine the conceptualization of "souls" in Greek culture, the stakes are high – and may spell doom not only for the mortals, but for Immortal Gods as well.

There is a stone cold presence that Michael Shannon brings whenever he appears on screen and he is going to live up to that when he plays has titular character in Ariel Vromen‘s The Iceman. Check out the first trailer for the film below.

This trailer isn’t for any one with a weak stomach, so if you are a bit squeamish when it comes to blood, then this isn’t for you. But for those who are brave to see brutal violence then you might want to check out this movie.

As a huge fan of single setting films, and an even bigger fan of those with a thriller bend (like say, Buried), one of the more interesting little films coming out relatively soon is the indie thriller Brake.

The film stars Stephen Dorff, and finds our lead trapped inside of a car trunk, kidnapped by a group of terrorists looking to take out the President. Directed by Gabe Torres, Brake looks to be quite intense, and while it’s smaller, the film appears to be rather intriguing particularly when one looks at that great cast.

Cinephiles have followed visionary director Tarsem Singh‘s stunning visual spectacles for years in films like The Cell and The Fall. As a fan of his films, my only regret has been that as an indie director his work has been somewhat overlooked by mainstream audiences. With Immortals being produced by the producers of 300, Tarsem finally has the opportunity to helm a true tentpole epic.

At the Immortals panel today at San Diego Comic-Con 2011 included Tarsem, 300 producers Mark Canton and Gianni Nunnari, and cast members Freida Pinto as the Oracle, Stephen Dorff as Stavros, Luke Evans as Zeus, Kellan Lutz as Poseidon, and (future Superman) Henry Cavill as Theseus.

Tarsem revealed that the actual film is quite darker in tone than recent ads have revealed.

Footage shown was an amazing visual feast for the eyes. Imagine a cross between 300, Spartacus: Blood & Sand, or Troy, but completely in 3D, and on an exponentially more epic scale. Diamond arrows, golden armor, and thousands of warriors shed blood across the screen in terrific stylized slow motion.