THE LORDS OF SALEM Teaser!

A figure wearing a faceless, iron mask, seemingly hammered directly into bone, handed me a slip of crumpled, bloody paper before falling to the ground convulsing, shrieking unspeakable things. I turned away, I am ashamed to admit, the paper still clutched in my hand. It was no more than a URL. As you will see, it leads to what is apparently a teaser for The Lords of Salem shot at a concert.

Risk madness and despair--watch with the gathered crowd and gasp as Rob Zombie ascends what appears to be a cherry-picker, probably an unholy one.





LORDS OF SALEM
Mon., Sept. 10, 11:59pm:  RYERSON
Wed., Sept. 12, 5pm:  CINEPLEX YONGE AND DUNDAS 6

DREDD 3D Poster and Clip: Judgment Is Coming

Midnight Madness 2012 opens with Dredd 3D, the first 3D movie ever to play the program and the first of two this year!

Check out the official poster and this clip from San Diego Comic Con that Bloody Disgusting says  "[puts] the slow motion madness on display." (More at Bloody Disgusting).

DREDD 3D screening times:
Thurs., Sept. 6, 11:59PM:  RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 8 12"30PM:  CINEPLES ODEON

Why Machida was Right, Jones was Wrong, and Vitor is Intriguing

Hey guys, this is my first opinion piece in a very long time. I wanted to show that I can write opinion just as well as anyone in the MMA media as well as being a technical analyst. I hope this article goes some way towards proving that assertion!
Cheers,
Jack


UFC 152 was recently thrown into further confusion with the news that Lyoto Machida had turned down a rematch with Jon Jones. While many saw this as the second "duck" by a major fighter in 24 hours, Lyoto Machida'schoice not to fight Jon Jones makes a lot more sense than Jones' decision not to fight Chael Sonnen. News has also emerged that Vitor Belfort will be stepping in to face Jones at UFC 152 - a very brave call for a middleweight - and it is certainly worth considering how the two fighters match up.

A great deal of speculation has been made around these fights and fighters and around who is ducking whom but I hope that I can bring some of the technical information about what happens in camps and in the cage to light where other writers would stick to gossip.

Why Machida was Right to Turn Down Jones

The news that Lyoto Machida was scheduled to fight Jon Jones at UFC 152 on September 22 was puzzling to me. It bewildered me that Lyoto Machida would take a rematch with so much to work on in his game at such short notice. Lyoto Machida was stopped pretty emphatically by Jon Jones in their last meeting due to Jones' better wrestling and, more importantly, due to Jones exploiting holes that have always existed in Lyoto Machida's striking game. The error that Jones exploited in Machida's striking is not something that can be changed overnight, it is something that Machida has had trained into him since infancy under the karate tutelage of his father.

The sport of MMA is a bizarre one in that a single quality victory will make everyone forget how you lost your last fight and leads to demands for an immediate rematch of the lost fight. Cain Velasquez showed no inkling of improved striking defence in taking down and pounding out the wrestling averseAntonio Silva, yet it was somehow enough to convince UFC brass and fans that a rematch with Junior Dos Santos was in order. The exact same thing happened with Lyoto Machida when he knocked out Ryan Bader as the latter gave up trying his hand at strategy and rushed Machida with his right hand cocked behind his head and his chin leading the charge. Ryan Bader was not trying to exploit the hole in Machida's counter-punching that the Jackson's MMA camp have already demonstrated and Ryan Bader is a far, far cry from Jon Jones.

Continues at: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/8/24/3264905/UFC-151-152-Jon-Jones-Lyoto-Machida-Vitor-Belfort-Chael-Sonnen

It's Official! MIDNIGHT MADNESS 2012!

It's official! Okay, so this news might be old stuff for the Midnight Madness faithful, but this post kicks off the 2012 Festival season for our humble little blog!

Stay tuned for exclusive info on these killer flicks as well as all the other things you want/need to know about TIFF 2012!

Drum roll, please!

CALLING ALL GENRE GEEKS:
WHEN THE WITCHING HOUR STRIKES, MIDNIGHT MADNESS
SHOCKS AND EXCITES

Action-packed thrillers, nerve-wracking chillers and pitch-dark comedies will bewitch audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival®, with a Midnight Madness programme chock full of shocking and rocking cinematic experiences. Nine world premieres stack this slate of international works programmed by Colin Geddes, guaranteed to awe even the most devoted genre fans.

“Audiences clamouring for this highly anticipated lineup can expect wild rides and crazy adventures into the most chimerical and wicked worlds imaginable,” said Geddes, TIFF Programmer. “Expect everything from outrageous horror comedies to mock-doc eco-apocalypse thrillers, featuring trans-dimensional bugs, lewd Catholic priests, meat monsters and dog-napping psychopaths that will animate the Ryerson Theatre when the clock chimes 12.”

The Midnight Madness selection includes films from Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep), Academy Award® winners Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) and Barry Levinson (Diner, Rain Man), JT Petty (The Burrowers, S&Man) and heavy-metal horror maven Rob Zombie. Onscreen performances feature Clancy Brown, Abbie Cornish, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti, Selena Gomez, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Eli Roth, Tom Waits, Christopher Walken and Karl Urban.

Midnight Madness Opening Night

Dredd 

Pete Travis, USA/United Kingdom/India

World Premiere

The endlessly inventive mind of writer Alex Garland (28 Days Later) and director Pete Travis bring the iconic masked police officer Dredd to life in this futuristic neo-noir action film. Filmed in 3D with stunning slow-motion photography sequences, the film returns the celebrated comic book anti-hero to his dark, violent and visceral roots. Starring Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey.

The ABCs of Death

Kaare Andrews, Angela Bettis, Adrián García Bogliano, Bruno Forzani & Hélène Cattet,
Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, Jason Eisener, Xavier Gens, Jorge Michel Grau, Lee Hardcastle,
Noboru Iguchi, Thomas Cappelen Malling, Anders Morgenthaler, Yoshihiro Nishimura,
Banjong Pisanthanakun, Simon Rumley, Marcel Sarmiento, Jon Schnepp, Srdjan Spasojevic,
Timo Tjahjanto, Andrew Traucki, Nacho Vigalondo, Jake West, Ti West,
Ben Wheatley, Adam Wingard, and Yûdai Yamaguchi

World Premiere

Twenty-six directors... 26 ways to die! The ABCs Of Death is perhaps the most ambitious anthology film ever conceived, featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world’s leading talents in contemporary genre film. With each director assigned a letter of the alphabet, they were then given free rein in choosing a word to create a story involving a tale of mortality. It’s an alphabetical arsenal of destruction orchestrated by some of the most exciting names in global horror including Ben Wheatley (Kill List), Ti West (House of the Devil), Jason Eisener (Hobo With A Shotgun), Adam Wingard (You're Next), Xavier Gens (Frontieres), and Nacho Vigalondo (Time Crimes).

Aftershock 

Nicolás López, USA/Chile

World Premiere

In Chile, an American tourist’s vacation goes from good to great when he meets some beautiful women travellers. But when an earthquake ravages the underground nightclub they’re in, a fun night quickly turns to terror. Escaping to the surface is just the beginning as they face nightmarish chaos above ground. Starring Eli Roth and Selena Gomez.

The Bay 

Barry Levinson, USA

World Premiere

A brutal and harrowing film about a deadly parasite, The Bay chronicles the descent of a small Maryland town into absolute terror.

Come Out and Play

Makinov, Mexico

World Premiere

Beth and Francis vacation before the birth of their child. Francis insists on venturing to a more serene island, Beth hesitantly agrees. They set out to a beautiful island, but soon discover it’s mysteriously abandoned, and the only people on the island are children. Beth and Francis are left to uncover the mystery of the disappearances, and a day in paradise quickly turns into a struggle for survival. Cast includes Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Vinessa Shaw and Daniel Gimenez Cacho.

Hellbenders 

JT Petty, USA

World Premiere

Hellbenders, an R-rated 3D exorcism comedy, follows the Order of Hellbound Saints (Brooklyn Parish), a highly secretive and profoundly blasphemous men of God, as they battle demonic forces too terrible to be cast out by traditional Vatican-approved methods. Cast includes Clancy Brown, Clifton Collins Jr., Robyn Rikoon and Andre Royo.

John Dies at the End 

Don Coscarelli, USA

Canadian Premiere

In John Dies at the End, it’s all about the Soy Sauce, a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. Users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly, a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it gets instead is John (Rob Mayes) and David (Chase Williamson), a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? No. No, they can't. Adapted from David Wong's audacious trans-genre horror novel, John Dies at the End is written and directed by Don Coscarelli (Bubba Ho-Tep) and also stars Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti.

The Lords of Salem

Rob Zombie, USA/United Kingdom/Canada

World Premiere

Heidi, a radio station DJ, receives a wooden box containing a record. Heidi listens and the bizarre sounds within the grooves immediately trigger flashbacks of Salem's violent past. Is Heidi going mad or are the Lords of Salem returning for revenge on modern day Salem?

No One Lives
Ryuhei Kitamura, USA

World Premiere

From the director of Versus and The Midnight Meat Train, No One Lives is a smart and original horror movie with, at its heart, a killer in the grip of a dark and twisted love affair. A ruthless criminal gang takes a young couple hostage and goes to ground in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. When the captive girl is killed, the tables are unexpectedly turned. The gang finds itself outsmarted by an urbane and seasoned killer determined to ensure that no one lives. Featuring Luke Evans, Adelaide Clemens, Derek Magyar, Lee Tergesen and America Olivo.

Seven Psychopaths 

Martin McDonagh, USA/United Kingdom

World Festival Premiere

Written and Directed by Academy Award® winner Martin McDonagh, the comedy Seven Psychopaths follows a struggling screenwriter (Colin Farrell) who inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends (Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell) kidnap a gangster’s (Woody Harrelson) beloved Shih Tzu. Co-starring Abbie Cornish, Tom Waits, Olga Kurylenko and Zeljko Ivanek.

Tickets to screenings for this programme will be available for individual purchase as well as through the Midnight Madness Pack, which includes all 10 screenings for $156, or $100 for students and seniors. Purchase Festival ticket packages online 24 hours a day at tiff.net/festival, by phone Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET at 416.599.TIFF or 1.888.599.8433, or visit the box office in person from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET at TIFF Bell Lightbox. The 37th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 6 to 16, 2012.

THE DAY Drops On August 28th!

One of the coolest things about TIFF is being able to see a film before, and in some cases LONG before it's released to the general public.  Midnight Madness 2009 selection Solomon Kane is one of these - it's only seeing limited release in late September if IMDB is to be believed - and last years selection The Day is another.

The Day, however, is unique in that it's got the chokeslamming, powerbombing muscle of the WWE marketing machine behind it. It's being released on the 28th of August and Vince McMahon and his cadre of publicists ran a special sneak preview of the post-apocalyptic siege film with several wrestlers (don't worry, no cameos from The Big Show in this film) in attendance. Check it out!

With this in mind, don't forget to pick up your TIFF Midnight Madness passes, so when your friends are lining up like schlubs to see these films next year, you'll be able to lord over them the fact that you've seen them all already.  And isn't that what friendship is all about?

TIFF Midnight Madness passes for all ten films in the 2012 schedule are SOLD OUT, but you can still pick up single tickets to films in the Midnight Madness Programme (and others) starting on Sept 1.  

August Update

Hey guys,

It's been a while since I gave a true update here at Fights Gone By, rest assured that this is simply due to my being busy and not my abandonment of my blog. To update you on what I've been up to, as always it's been writing and training for much of the last few weeks. I did, however, get the chance to travel into London to see three events at the 2012 Olympics; boxing, greco-roman wrestling, and weightlifting. I must say that despite having never been someone with a great sense of patriotism, I was truly proud of how well Britain pulled the Olympics off, Beijing was certainly a tough show to follow and we managed not to embarrass ourselves at all (minus the flag incident)!

As someone who has only recently started weight training seriously (embarrassingly late for someone so passionate about combat sports) I found myself getting more excited about the Olympic weightlifting than I ever could have imagined. Having won my seats in a competition (very good seats, six rows in front of Amir Khan!) I had low expectations for what turned out to be one of the most dramatic live events I've ever been to. I had no idea that so much strategy was involved. The boxing was also excellent, I got to see some cracking young talents from the Dominican Republic, Thailand, Kazhakstan, Mongolia and even the tiny Seychelle Islands.

My training schedule has remained much the same, training every day except for Sunday and then pacing around all day on Sunday complaining that I've got too much energy and that I'm bored. My Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is finally feeling a little sharper after training twice a week for the last couple of months. I am no longer feeling so fatigued by rolling and I am hoping to step it up to three or four sessions a week in the coming months, eventually hoping to immerse myself in rolling every day, but that's a little way off yet. I did injure myself this week, crunching my ankle and knee under my weight and the weight of a training partner, but I managed to ice it pretty quickly and take good care of it and have been able to train and teach for the last couple of days. Hopefully I will be back to rolling on Wednesday but it's certainly given me time to catch up with blogging and writing Elementary Striking!

Today I have been running through the photo list for Elementary Striking, looking for ways to keep the book short but somehow comprehensive - it's a tough ask. I have also been uploading three pieces a week to Bloody Elbow and have finally got into a sort of pattern. My first piece of the week is normally a "Finish of the Week" from kickboxing, boxing or MMA. The other two pieces a week are pre and post fight analysis. I'll wrap this update up here because my keyboard has just broken and is only allowing me to type lower case letters if I turn the caps lock on and hold shift! I will keep you all updated but Elementary Striking should be out by the end of September.

Cheers,
Jack

UFC 151: Defusing the H-Bomb

Hey guys,

It's been a while since I've updated because I've been mega busy. I will check in with a full update of everything I'm up to later in the week but for now, here is a BIG piece I wrote over at Bloody Elbow.

Cheers,

Jack

 Ahead of Dan Henderson's meeting with Jon Jones, I want to take a detailed look at what we are more than likely to see in the bout. Henderson's way to win is obvious to all - crowd Jones and catch him with a right hook or straight. Jones' ways to win are what we will look at in this article. While we will keep Jones in mind throughout this piece, most of the strategies discussed can be used by just about anyone against a dangerous right hand puncher like Henderson.

Dan Henderson has had one of the greatest career resurgences in mixed martial arts history, coming back from the middle of the middleweight mix to stop some huge names in the light heavyweight division. What many people fail to realise is that Henderson's career revival has been less to do with him and more to do with his opposition. Henderson hasn't changed; the right hand has always been there, as have the other Henderson trademarks such as the crucifix off of the single leg defence, punching on the guard pass etc - he simply hit a streak of opponents who were vastly overconfident in their striking or lacked the fight IQ to give Henderson the respect he deserved.

Mauricio Rua showed amply what a misplaced belief in speed and boxing ability does against a dangerous puncher such as Dan Henderson. Fedor Emelienenko also lost to Henderson not as much through Henderson forcing his game on the Last Emperor, but through Fedor rushing Henderson overconfidently and giving Henderson the hole through which to connect his power. Rafael Feijao is another excellent example of an overconfident striker - as with Murillo Rua, people are convinced that his striking must be great based on his training partners, and in truth he is even more limited to his right hand than Henderson is on the feet. You cannot make a mistake against Dan Henderson because no-one can change the direction of a fight with one punch as well as Hendo. Unlike most opponents it is not a case of if a mistake will be capitalised on, Dan Henderson always capitalises on mistakes.

What can't be denied is Henderson's ability to knock out just about any man alive. If any of Henderson's opponents fail to make specific preparations for Henderson and believe that the polish on their striking fundamentals will protect them from him they are very much mistaken. Striking IQ is what is needed to defeat Henderson on the feet, and that is something that Mauricio Ruanever had and that Fedor Emelianenko abandoned in 2009.

To summarize the strategies in today's Judo Chop they will be:

- Circling Away with Punches

- Outside Low Kicks

- The Jab

Circling Away with Punches

Henderson's power is all in his right hand; he stands almost side on and cannot throw a strong jab or a left hook out of his stance. I'm sure many will remember the left hook that Henderson knocked Wanderlei Silva out with, but this was thrown AFTER using his right hand to square up - while Wanderlei was standing and trading with Henderson.

When one fights an opponent who is side on it is advisable to circle away from their rear hand, when one fights an opponent who is square on it is advisable to circle away from their lead hand. A square fighter may have a powerful right hand, but it will be an arm punch, and the same applies for the lead hand of a side on fighter such as Henderson.

Mechanics simply dictate that the side with less potential to swing from the hips will have less power. This rule almost always rings true. Felix Trinidad, Quinton Jackson, Paul Daley - all in love with their left hook, but you could know that within a moment of engaging them because they stand so square on. Dan Henderson, Gene Fullmer, Rocky Marciano, Butterbean, Rashad Evans - all stand / stood side on because they are / were in love with their rear hand.

It's not hard to note someone's strong punch even if you've never met them before, it's not even especially hard to circle away from it. What is hard is convincing experienced brawlers like Mauricio Rua or Rafael Feijao that they need to. Career longevity depends not on fancy footwork, but the ability to move away from an opponent's power consistently.



Notice in this still from the opening seconds of Henderson's bout with Jake Shields just how side on Henderson (back to the camera) is. His right hand is forward to somewhat disguise how side on he is, but a quick look at his right hip will reveal that it is pointing almost back towards the camera. When Henderson lunges onto his lead leg he swings his right hip all the way through and allows his shoulder to follow and his fist to complete the motion after everything else. This is where his incredible punching power comes from, not his musculature - which is hardly uncommon at light heavyweight and middleweight. You will notice however that Henderson's left hip is so far forward that he cannot rotate it forward any more to put power on a jab or lead hook.

The disciplined fighter will circle around towards Henderson's lead side, because anything Henderson throws from his left will be an arm punch. Henderson could attempt to turn his hips to the front to allow him to turn them back in a hook but this would be incredibly slow in an area of the fight game where split seconds count. Instead, Shield's threw jabs while circling into Henderson's right hand. This was, of course, foolish - yet Feijao and Shogun circled the same way and got beaten up just the same.

Dan Henderson's side on stance greatly inhibits his ability to pivot or stop his opponents from circling to his left side. For lack of a better diagram online I will use two paint images I used way back in February to describe angles on Head Kick Legend. These diagrams represent a top down look at two fighters.



Standing in front of an opponent is a 50 / 50 proposition. Both men can connect just as easily as each other and more often than not a man with a granite chin and a big punch will win here. This is Dan Henderson's world and no amount of sparring, training on the pads or hitting the heavy bag will take away the tit-for-tat dynamic of head on exchanges. Good striking is about not getting hit, therefore head to head exchanges are not good striking.



In an ideal world, this is what one wants to do against a stronger, tougher opponent. The top fighter has circled towards the bottom fighter's weaker, leading side. Notice how far the bottom fighter's right hand would have to travel to connect - a distance which it is impossible to cover with any power or weight behind the punch. Meanwhile the top fighter is in perfect position to throw both of his hands on target. Punches may also be executed during the step to the angle - such as the left hooks that we looked at earlier in the week from Ray Robinson and Joe Walcott.

In reality a fighter will almost never get a perfect angle, because the opponent will turn to face the fighter who has cut the angle, but this is just as much of a victory - because while the opponent is turning, he is essentially on one leg. No-one in the world can generate their full power while turning - it is simply mechanically impossible. After claiming a slight angle, a fighter may charge in with a flurry that looks like an ugly bum rush, but because the opponent is turning it is not a 50/50 exchange at all. Here is a look at Lyoto Machida taking an angle on Thiago Silva, then running in as Silva turns to face him.

Continues at: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/8/19/3249011/UFC-151-judo-chop-defusing-the-h-bomb#storyjump