Ash Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Shoot 'Em Up opens this week, and Clive Owen is making Bugs Bunny look all sorts of tough and cool. He banters. He sexes up the ladies. He handles guns like a pro. Heck, he even tries to buy them with food stamps. All this badness and guns has thrown me into an antihero state of mind. But before I can go a-listing, we've got to decide what an antihero is.

Blending all of the vague definitions together, your antihero is basically the person who doesn't imbue the classic attributes of heroism. This could mean being inept and stupid, but for the means of this list, I'm going for the antiheroes whose methods, manners and intentions can be questioned. Some are good guys who do bad things, some are bad guys who do good things. Some just don't care as much as a good hero should. But they're all so uber cool that whether you've seen the films or not, you know who they are, and you might just be quoting them.

Note: Only one cop is included on this list, and it isn't John McClane -- he's much more of a bitter hero than a questionable antihero.

Harry Callahan -- Dirty Harry (1971)

I know what you're thinking: "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

While I love most of the guys on this list, the one who has to be there above all others is Dirty Harry Callahan. He might be a cop trying to keep the streets safe, but instead of upholding the law, he enforces morality with his gun, boot, or whatever else he can find. In the first of the action series, Callahan is hunting down Scorpio, a serial killer loosely based on the Zodiac killer. He tortures suspects when he needs to, and does it all in a suit, tie and sweater. Most of all, he's "Dirty," but no one knows the specific reason why.

There's been trouble in Bubba paradise for a while now. In June, Bruce Campbell knew nothing about the Bubba Ho-Tep sequel, Bubba Nosferatu. A few days ago, Paul Giamatti said that ol' Elvis was "waffling" on the idea. Now, it's time to put Bubba Campbell dreams to bed, because Bruce has out and out said he won't be involved. The actor recently appeared on Fangoria Radio, and said: "[Bubba Nosferatu] is dead to me. It sleeps with the fishes. Don Coscarelli is a very passionate filmmaker. We got to a few points [developing the screenplay] that we couldn't reconcile. I want to keep our friendship, so we parted ways. So, I'm not part of that project."

One would imagine that no Bruce would mean the end of things, but the director told Fangoria that he might recast the movie with someone else the fans would embrace, but recognizes the challenge in that. First, I don't think there is anyone who could make the fans not miss Campbell in the sequins. They could come up with an entirely different character and use the same theme, but what Bubba fan will be cool with a replacement Elvis? Second, what on earth is in that script that threatened Campbell's relationship with Coscarelli and made Ash walk? If he's that unhappy with the filmmakers vision, would we be any happier?

In case you were looking for more fan dreams to be quashed -- he's also kiboshed the other sequels right now. There will be no Freddy-Jason-Ash mashup: "It blows! You really think Ash would be allowed to kill Freddy and Jason off?" There will be no fourth Evil Dead for now: "Raimi still talks about it, but he's in no rush to do it with everything else he has going on. Sam jokes: 'Maybe we can do another Evil Dead when we're 70.'" And finally, no Evil Dead remake: "The feedback from the fans was 90 percent negative. It's going nowhere. The remake has fizzled fast at Sam's company." So, there you have it. Any new Campbell that you see for the time being will have to be via Burn Notice.

It has been 8 years since Shirley MacLaine and Olympia Dukakis last acted together in Leelee Sobieski's Joan of Arc. However, what you probably remember is their collaboration in a film 10 years before; the many-hanky chick flick, Steel Magnolias. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the two Oscar winners are now in talks for a third collaboration and second feature film -- Poor Things -- and I don't think it's the type of movie that you'd expect them to star in. While neither have been signed, I'm sure it's only a matter of time since MacLaine is one of the producers, alongside Rob Hickman of Still Rolling Productions.

Hickman collaborated on the story with Troma actor/screenwriter/everyman Trent Haaga (Zombiegeddon, Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV). How a Troma man came to be connected that closely to MacLaine is beyond me. However, that actually makes me more intrigued about the actresses being involved, since the story is based on true, murderous events. It is a black comedy about two female con-artists who befriend and kill homeless men to cash in on their life insurance policies. Considering Haaga's previous work, I'm sure we can expect at least a little camp. The project already has a director attached as well -- Ash Baron Cohen. Described on IMDb simply as "Ash," he is the brother to that crazy faux Kazakhstanian, Sacha. This seems almost too crazy to be real, which has me sold on the idea.

Today is Ash Wednesday. Doesn't that mean we're all supposed to spend the day watching an Evil Dead movie, in which Ash Williams valiantly (and goofily) battles a variety of undead creatures? Shouldn't we reflect on the goodness of Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi teaming up for three sometimes-scary, sometimes-hilarious films? I'm surprised none of the theaters in town are screening Evil Dead 2.

I know, I know, for most people this is not what Ash Wednesday is about, and I don't mean to be disrespectful. (I grew up Catholic and spent many Ash Wednesdays with a big smudge on my forehead, deciding what to give up for Lent.) But some of us will use any excuse to drag out the DVD collection and debate whether we should watch the director's cut of Army of Darkness or the theatrical cut. I prefer the theatrical cut myself—I love that S-Mart ending. The commentary track with Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Ivan Raimi is a hoot. Or are you a purist who prefers the less humorous horror of the original Evil Dead film?