Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 17th, 2018
When it comes to the Italian western aka the spaghetti western, the first director who comes to mind is Sergio Leone (The Good The Bad And The Ugly); and then there is Sergio Corbucci. While Leone was blazing a successful career, Corbucci first came onto the scene with his film Django. The film was dirty, violent, and mean. For those who are only familiar with the Quentin Tarantino version of Django, well, you’ll definitely see the films are drastically different aside from them both being revenge films. Much later on Corbucci got the chance to follow up his first big hit with another western, The Great Silence. I had gotten to see this dark western before, though it was in the form of a bootleg copy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 14th, 2018
For some reason, adapting video games into good films has been the nut Hollywood just can’t seem to crack. The Resident Evil series has been successful, but I wouldn’t say it really holds up to the game. Personally, Silent Hill has been the only adaption I’ve really enjoyed, and that film has divided fans as well. As for the Tomb Raider franchise that kicked off in 2001, sure, it had some fun sequences. And with Angelina Jolie becoming a hot commodity at the time, it’s not too much of a surprise that it did well at the box office. Now 17 years later, the time has come for Tomb Raider to get a makeover and work its way through the reboot machine.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 11th, 2018
“Drugs are tested by the people who manufacture them, in poorly designed trials, on hopelessly small numbers of weird, unrepresentative patients, and analyzed using techniques which are flawed by design, in such a way that they exaggerate the benefits of the treatments.” Forbes
This is the quote that opens up the film Altered Perception. It lets us know right out of the gate that we are about to watch a film that involves drug testing.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on June 9th, 2018
There has been so much hype around Hereditary since its debut at Sundance that by the time I got to watch it, I didn’t believe it was possible to live up to this hype. For months I’ve followed this film, hearing it being compared to The Exorcist and being proclaimed the scariest film of all time. I read these things and all I can think is they are simply setting this film up for disaster at the box office, because it’s hard to believe a film could ever be this good. Personally, The Exorcist is my favorite horror film. It’s stood the test of time, and while for audiences of today the film may not seem so scary, for me it was the notion of how it could all really happen that got under my skin.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on June 7th, 2018
When it comes to Paul Schrader, I feel the argument can be made that he is the greatest American screenwriter. I know it’s a bold statement, but when you look over his credits that include Taxi Driver, Rolling Thunder, Hardcore, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ and so many others, I feel there just isn’t anyone out there who can compete. Lately, though, he’s seemed to have had a difficult time recapturing that greatness. There has even been a part of me that has felt that perhaps I should give up on hoping he’ll crank out one more great film and simply appreciate the filmography he’s delivered us cinema fans over the years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 7th, 2018
“I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
The infamous line from the classic The Wizard of Oz is what kicks off this film, and this is simply as close as it gets to ever achieving the greatness of the original film. Over the years we have had several remakes and sequels to the story we love that takes us on a journey through the magical world of Oz, so when a steam-punk version of the material came along, it was something I got a little excited for. Unfortunately the version of the film we get this time around seems to be full of fun ideas but nothing that actually delivers to the screen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 29th, 2018
The film is based on a series of books that I had never read, and from what I understand the film takes many liberties with the storyline and characters. As his sophomore effort behind the camera, there were high expectations for what Garland would do, and the result I believe is one of the most divisive films I’ve seen in a while. This is the kind of film that gets me excited for the future of cinema, not just because I loved the film, but I love the conversation it can provoke with other filmgoers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 24th, 2018
“I find giants…I hunt giants…I kill giants”
This is one of those films that for some reason didn’t find an audience during a theatrical run, but I can guarantee there are viewers who are going to connect with this film and embrace it for years to come. I say this because only a few years ago there was a film that was similar in tone, A Monster Calls, and to be honest, that film devastated me as we went along with the main character as he and his imaginary monster helped him cope with his mother who is dying from cancer. I Kill Giants is at face value the same film, only told through the eyes of a young girl, though despite the films being so similar, it doesn’t lessen the film’s overall impact in the least.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 24th, 2018
I’m going to pretty much start this off by saying The Manor is pretty much the horror equivalent of The Room. When I write this I’m not sure if the comparison is a compliment or not, whether the film was intended to be this bad or not. It’s possible to do a film that is so bad it’s good, this goes way back to the Ed Wood era with some B-movie classics and later on in years we got Troma films. Though despite many of these films later becoming fodder for Mystery Science Theater, there was still a level of quality or charm to them that made them watchable (usually in the late night hours when viewers are too drunk or stoned to care about what they were watching). This brings me back to The Manor where I’m left questioning their intentions. Is this a film made to garner the same success that we’ve seen from The Room or is this film just bad?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 17th, 2018
I think it’s a fair assumption to say the DTV market for film is pretty much the best it has ever been in regards to securing talent to star in the films. When you look at a film like Bent and its cast of Karl Urban (Dredd), Sofia Vergara (Modern Family) and the great Andy Garcia (The Godfather 3, and my personal favorite Things to do in Denver When You’re Dead), it’s difficult to not get excited over its potential. To sweeten the pot, the film’s director, Bobby Moresco, has produced two films that have best picture Oscar nominations, so one has to wonder, what went wrong? I’m not saying the film is bad, but instead you’d just expect this film to be in another tier and not simply settling with a soft release in the new release section at Wal-Mart.
