Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on May 10th, 2015
“When you have a formula, you work it. You work it to death.”
Cue obnoxious New York bar expert who reminds me of a Mafia hit man, insert a cute mixologist, an experienced chef, and four different sets of confrontational failing bar owners being gifted with five days with Jon Taffer and his longevity in the industry, experience with over 800 bars, and you have Bar Rescue – Toughest Rescues.
Read More
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 29th, 2015
Inherent Vice is the kind of movie I personally love to watch over and over again, partly because it is always tantalizing you with content that you can’t quite get your head wrapped around. Almost anyone would want to see this more than once, even if only to make sure they weren’t stupid for not connecting all the dots. The film has a classy, fun pedigree combing the talents of Paul Thomas Anderson and Thomas Pynchon. Paul is the beloved director of modern classics like Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and There Will Be Blood. Thomas is the novelist of unfathomable masterpieces
Read More
Posted in The Reel World by Archive Authors on March 31st, 2015
Most true life stories are remarkable in some way. If you can get to the truth of real-life history, it almost always unearths treasures of understanding. Art is the process of revealing hidden truth and beauty in real life. Woman In Gold is the story of a painting that was sold for $135,000,000 in 2006 to an heir of Estee Lauder. It was the highest price for a painting at the time. There is a remarkable story that takes place around the painting. It involves the Nazi theft of art in World War II. A previous film, Monuments Men, tackled the subject a couple of years ago.
Read More
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 31st, 2015
Most movies are just not very good. Lots of money goes into turning out boring, repetitive garbage. You watch it and then dispose of it and make room for the next thing. There are some who do more, but the more you do, the greater the risk. Most filmmakers are not given the freedom to take really big risks, but someone who has been given the opportunity to take the big risk is Christopher Nolan. Interstellar is $165,000,000 gamble shooting for the moon. Actually Nolan is shooting for something way past the moon. He wants to take us to another galaxy.
Read More
Posted in The Reel World by Archive Authors on March 10th, 2015
It’s hard to understand our relation to the past today, especially in America. Africa, Europe and Asia had ancient history, but the USA only really has the Old West. This country has no real history, and most of its people came from other parts of the world. The immigrants would funnel into New York City to get away from the Old World, looking to build a better life. The West was unpopulated and barely governed. Most small towns were ruled by the man who could hire the most guns. If we think things are bad today, we really don’t understand how it was when people could be gunned down with little consequence. Sheriffs were often scared, alone, and afraid that each day could be their last. Most people tried to stay to themselves and avoid getting shot. It was a dirty and bleak life.
Read More
Posted in The Reel World by Archive Authors on March 7th, 2015
Unfinished Business starring Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco, Sienna Miller, James Marsden and Nick Frost is a raunchy comedy. I say that because it is the most important thing I can say that would make people want to see this movie. It is raunchy, but it is mixed with so many other issues and tones that the raunchiness and comedy sometimes get lost in the mix. The film is really more about anxiety and failure. There are so many elements mixed in that this emotional rollercoaster of a movie is so full of strange turns that it is difficult to enjoy the ride.
Read More
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2015
Who Killed Alex Spourdalakis sounds like a murder mystery. The cover of the DVD says, “Ignorance, negligence, indifference”. The documentary was produced by the Autism Media Channel, and the cover also says, “Autism and the US healthcare system”. The implication is that things are not going well for the growing number of parents of autistic children. In March of 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that the rate of autism had risen to 1 out of 68 births in the United States, and that was nearly double from ten years prior.
Read More
Posted in The Reel World by Archive Authors on January 30th, 2015
There are certain things that are obvious to some of us, and nobody wants to talk about them. All people are full of weaknesses that they then try to deny exist. People are people, but some people think they are better than other people. It seems obvious that we should all try to get over our hatred and be more accepting of all our differences and see how much alike we all are. Black or White is an important movie that comes in the form of a fun and heartwarming melodrama.
Read More
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on January 30th, 2015
I give James Franco a lot of credit. He works very hard for a big-shot Hollywood actor. He is ambitious in ways that no one from his generation even comes close to being. He’s fearless in his choices and will do practically anything that sparks his creative muse. He is constantly working on film projects, making sure that he includes big-budget blockbusters, but his real passion is a string of micro-budget experiments. He just starred on Broadway in Of Mice And Men. He has won Golden Globes, and he has been nominated for Oscars. He also pursued simultaneous degrees at numerous institutions.
Read More
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on January 30th, 2015
Art And Craft is a documentary about an off-kilter mind. That is not necessarily a bad thing. To have an off-kilter mind, that is. Many great geniuses and many great artists have had off-kilter minds, like Van Gogh and Kafka and others too numerous to mention. Art And Craft is about a man who painted many of the great works of art. The only problem is his paintings are nearly exact copies of the originals by famous artists. Mark Landis is one of the most prolific art forgers of the last 30 years. The other thing that should be noted is that he gives all the art away to museums as original works of the great masters.
Read More
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2015
Boyhood is all the rage right now. With all the hoopla surrounding the film, it should be noted that it is ordinary. It is just about people living their lives. One could even call it boring. One can say that because life is boring. It is not as exciting as it is in the movies. Life is about small moments that add up to memories and then it is over. Boyhood doesn’t make grand statements about boyhood, or about motherhood or fatherhood for that matter. It is just about a few people and what happens to them.
Read More
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 13th, 2015
The internet is destroying everything. It seems crazy, but it’s true, and most people know it. I mean that so many businesses have been destroyed by the tremendous growth of the internet and its insidious and unchecked influence. The newspaper business, music business, broadcast business and probably the movie business have been fundamentally and permanently altered. Men, Women and Children addresses how it affects each and every one of us on a daily basis. We’re all aware of this. It’s our lives now, and it wasn’t 10 years ago.
Read More
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 1st, 2015
What if two radio guys sat around and made up a movie on the air? In this case it actually wasn’t radio guys, because they weren’t broadcasters, but podcasters. I guess the fine distinction between broad and pod is that pod goes out to the world through the internet. It’s kind of like Indie radio. Kevin Smith is a very indie guy and even calls his podcast a smodcast. Smith and his buddy, producer Scott Mosier, were doing their smodcast and talking about a post on GumTree.uk about roommate advertisements. It evolved into crazy talk about what might happen.
Read More
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on December 15th, 2014
Drunk History was inspired by a conversation the creator of the show, Derek Waters, had with actor Jake Johnson (New Girl). Johnson was drunk and told Waters a crazy story about Otis Redding predicting the plane he was getting on was going to crash. Waters took that germ and refined it considerably with co-conspirator Jeremy Konner. They released some videos on Funny or Die (that are readily available on Youtube). They have since made shows for Comedy Central, which are the two seasons included here in this collection.
Read More
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on December 10th, 2014
The story is simple. It chronicles a conversation between two people. Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is found bloody and beaten in an alley by an older man, Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard). He takes her to his sparse flat to care for her and help her. What takes place is a long conversation full of intellectual digressions about Joe. It slowly reveals what led to her downfall. Seligman is a sheltered bookworm who has a detached curiosity about her story.
Read More
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on November 13th, 2014
Satellite is a small, micro-budget independent film that went to a bunch of film festivals and got a bunch of great reviews….in 2005. Why is it taking so long to get a proper DVD release? Such is the fate of many small, micro-budget independent films. It apparently also had some music rights issues, which can be hugely problematic because of the expense. There is also the problem of marketing and advertising, which can be expensive. Then they should be better in some way than the Hollywood product, or it doesn’t have a chance.
Read More
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on November 11th, 2014
Now that it’s over, Comedy Central has put together the entire six-season run of Reno 911 in one big DVD collection. The show that started out as basically a Cops parody (which is pretty funny on its own trailer-trash merits) had become a holy grail of sorts for the Comedy Channel. While some sketch shows like The Ben Stiller Show and Mr. Show have managed to touch on the Cops parody with their material, the only one that did it regularly was the show that used it for inspiration. The show spanned six seasons and a major motion picture. Reno 911 can be best described as a faux-reality show with a good deal of improvisational comedy performed by some very capable actors and actresses.
Read More
Posted in The Reel World by Archive Authors on November 7th, 2014
Most movies are just not very good. Lots of money goes into turning out boring repetitive garbage. You watch it and then dispose of it and make room for the next thing. There are some who do more, but the more you do, the greater the risk. Most filmmakers are not given the freedom to take really big risks, but someone who has been given the opportunity to take the big risk is Christopher Nolan. Interstellar is $165,000,000 gamble shooting for the moon. Actually Nolan is shooting for something way past the moon. He wants to take us to another galaxy.
Read More
Posted in The Reel World by Archive Authors on October 31st, 2014
Whiplash has gotten so many raves that I want to make sure I address the things that are bad as well as the things that are good about the film. First thing I will say is that the movie is implausible, and I had a hard time to totally buy into it for different reasons. The film is about a young jazz drummer at a prestigious music academy who gets to play in the band of the top instructor at the school. It becomes apparent early on that the instructor is crazy. He browbeats and actually beats his students into compliance without a hint of mercy.
Read More
Posted in The Reel World by Archive Authors on October 28th, 2014
Wow! OMG! WTH! This is a towering achievement in every way. It is staggering. It is literally staggering; you will leave the theater drained because all your adrenaline will have been used up. Fragmentary, flowing, electric, and it shows the disintegrating of a man’s mind in a vibrant phantasmagoria. Any director in the world who sees this will slap himself in the face and say, “Why didn’t I do this!” It is a technical tour de force, and everyone in it delivers at full throttle. It is breathless and exhilarating and your mind will be blown.
Read More
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on October 24th, 2014
by John Delia
Here’s a young adult targeted DVD that’s based on a graphic novel called The Scribbler. Perfect for those who want to cozy up on Halloween night, this science fiction thriller has a wicked tone and some ghoulish ghastly scenes. Actually, it’s very well acted for a low-budget indie, and the special effects are also a treat. The story gets kinda funky and way off the wall, but that’s what science fiction’s all about.
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on October 17th, 2014
By John Delia
If you are looking for a comedy with horror on DVD for a get-together with friends on Halloween, check out Witching & Bitching. It’s very raunchy, gross and gory, but if you like rude, crude and unglued, then this film’s perfect for an adult party. The film plays out in Spanish with English subtitles, but don’t let that bother you. The visuals are so funny and wacky, it’s worth a little reading while you watch.
Read More
Posted in The Reel World by Archive Authors on October 17th, 2014
The internet is destroying everything. It seems crazy, but it’s true, and most people know it. I mean that so many businesses have been destroyed by the tumorous growth of the internet and its insidious and unchecked influence. The newspaper business, music business, broadcast business and probably the movie business have been fundamentally and permanently altered. Men,Women and Children addresses how it affects each and every one of us on a daily basis. We’re all aware of this. It’s our lives now, and it wasn’t 10 years ago.
Read More
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2014
By John Delia
Most every child knows the story of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty from early video, books and DVD. Unless you went to see the movie at a theater back in the 1959, however, you probably saw a version that was not crisp and colorful. Finally, after what seems forever, the family animated fantasy has been Blu-ray remastered and digitally restored in super widescreen. The Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD have new bonus features and include the DVD release’s special extras as well.
Read More
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on October 8th, 2014
By John Delia
The History Channel’s biography of Houdini is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. The exciting drama delivers a fascinating story of the greatest magician and escape artist the world over. The transfer from cable to home video is nearly flawless, and the extra 20 minutes of story in the extended version adds a nice touch to the famous entertainer’s prolific story. Special bonus features add credence with actual photos and video of the real Houdini doing some of his most dangerous stunts.
Read More
