Matthew Torti

An embarrassing brain fart

Last night I watched an episode of The Twilight Zone entitled Of Late I Dream of Cliffordville.  It’s a wonderful little story about  Feathersmith, a cruel president of a large company, who travels back in time to his childhood town of Cliffordville, Indiana in hopes of reliving the little moments in his life that he … Continue reading

Get ready to open The Box

There are a number of horror/fantasy/sci-fi writers with whom I hold in high regard; on the absolute top of that list, is Richard Matheson.  One of Rod Serling’s original go-to writers back in the heyday of the original The Twilight Zone, Matheson has written some of the greatest works of fiction, the likes of which … Continue reading

A welcome return to form

First off, I’d like to excuse myself for not writing anything over the past month and a half or so.  Don’t you just hate it when life gets in the way? In any case, as of late, I’ve had trouble thinking about what to write.  Until this morning, when I logged on to USA Today’s … Continue reading

Cannes 2009 line-up

What a wonderful day to be a film geek. If you head on over to the Cannes Film Festival website you will find the press release announcing the films that are set to be screened at the festival in May.  And I don’t know about you, but it looks like this is going to be … Continue reading

Update on The Hobbit

I’m not quite sure if this has become big news just yet, but according to Empire Magazine, Guillermo Del Toro and Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit has changed a little bit.  Instead of having the first film in 2011 tell the tale of The Hobbit and a second film in 2012 connect The Hobbit … Continue reading

"Oh and Miss… Diet."

There are thousands upon thousands of great assholes in the annals of cinema; the kind of characters that are both goofy and smarmy, but also cunning and devious.  For some, Hedley Lamarr from Blazing Saddles is the perfect example, while others might see Biff from Back to the Future as the quintessential goofy villain.  Both … Continue reading

Steve McQueen… meet Peter Lorre

Author Roald Dahl is known for his classic children’s stories, such as The Witches, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  However, very few are unaware of his wicked and decidedly mature sense of humor.  Although, it can’t be too much of a surprise to some, given the dark undertones … Continue reading

Brotherhood of the Wolf

Before making the lackluster adaptation of the Silent Hill videogame, director Christophe Gans made a much better, yet widely overlooked, film in the form of Brotherhood of the Wolf.  Taking place in 18th century France, Brotherhood tells the story of the Gregoire de Fronsac, a man sent to investigate a series of mysterious murders which … Continue reading

Top 5: KNB Effects

Robert Kurtzman, Gregory Nicotero and Howard Berger make up KNB Effects, one of the most impressive and prolific special effects houses in the industry.  They’ve worked and built a niche for themselves in an industry dominated by the talents of Rick Baker, Tom Savini and the late Stan Winston, which, in itself, is no small … Continue reading