Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on September 23rd, 2016
Great, just what we need, another remake of a film that is not only a classic, but the film which it was inspired by is also a highly-praised classic. I’ll admit I’ve grown tired of Hollywood going to the well and remaking films that simply don’t need to be messed with. It’s one thing to see Seven Samurai (1954) translated for American audiences to go from a black & white martial arts spectacle to seeing a colorized star-studded western, The Magnificent Seven (1960). When I first heard about the remake, I had hopes that the film would be modernized yet again, but unfortunately the studios decided to keep the setting in the Wild West, and even when Denzel Washington was hired on to head the film with Antoine Fuqua (Training Day & The Equalizer) in the director’s chair, I still wasn’t convinced. Then that first trailer came out, and instantly I was on board. In a lot of ways this is the riskiest film for Fuqua and company to tackle, since it seems the studios still seem to be afraid of the Western genre, but after this remake I can only hope we see this genre get the revival it deserves, because this incarnation of The Magnificent Seven is the kind of popcorn excitement that was missing in theaters this past summer.
The town of Rose Creek is under the control of a ruthless industrialist, Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), who aims to buy/steal the land out from under everyone in the town so he can mine it for all the gold he can find. He’s a scumbag in the worst way and has no problems with putting a bullet into anyone who stands up to him. The opening sequence sets the stage as we get to see Bogue shoot down members of the town in cold blood. He’s a vision of power with a lust for violence that simply makes its mark on the viewer, which is important in this case because we really don’t get to spend much time with Bogue and his cronies. Sarsgaard plays this role so well; he seems to be having fun playing such a deplorable character who practically steals every scene he has on the screen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 22nd, 2016
Growing up I was obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series; it was the Saturday morning cartoon I just couldn’t get enough of. When I couldn’t watch the cartoon, I’d be playing with the toys and eventually the video game back in the original Nintendo console days. So when the movies came out, my parents had no choice but to take me to see them. Back in those days we had the turtles in rubber suits; as a kid the experience was fun but still just not as good as the cartoon. As I got older, well, those original films seem to hold up less and less, and when the news came that an updated version of the film would be coming out I got a little excited, that is till I saw the trailer for the 2014 film. Sure, it had elements from the cartoon, but it just didn’t look inspired; it just looked like a generic kids’ film with passable CGI. The result was simply a blunder, and I would have thought the days of seeing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie were numbered. But here we are in 2016 with the new film Out of the Shadows ready to hit the big screen, and, folks, it’s been nearly 30 years in the making, but FINALLY we get the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie we’ve been waiting for.
Stepping in to fill the shoes as director is Dave Green. He’s relatively a newcomer in Hollywood, but it’s his vision I believe is responsible for the success of the film. His previous film Earth to Echo is simply a wonderful kids’ adventure film that captures the energy of the 80’s Spielberg films, most notably ET. Well, he carries that love for the 80’s into this new installment of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise and injects so much life into it, my inner ten-year-old was cheering with glee over this film. This is just about the closest I’ve seen an animated series come to life on the big screen and manage to retain what made the animated series so much fun. This isn’t a film for grownups; instead this is a film that targets the ten-year-old in all of us, the one who doesn’t question the logistics of flying manhole covers, talking brains, or humans transforming into hulking beasts.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on September 16th, 2016
It’s been just about four years since Savages (2012) hit the big screen. For me Savages was Oliver Stone simply having a blast, shooting an over-the-top action film fueled by sex, drugs, and violence. Now it seems Stone has stepped back into the paranoid, government conspiracy form that he seems to be best known for with Snowden. Whether you view him as a traitor to the United States or a self-sacrificing lamb to expose the government and its illegal wiretapping, it’s a choice that is up to you going into this film. Personally, while I feel his intentions were good, still he did betray his government and committed treason. What I had hoped with this film is that Oliver Stone would capture both sides of the coin, but as the title would suggest, Edward Snowden (Joesph Gordon-Levitt) is front and center on this ride, and that’s not my only problem here.
When we first meet Snowden, he’s locked away in a Hong Kong hotel room getting ready to give an interview to two journalists, Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) and Ewan McAskill (Tom Wilkinson) along with documentarian Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) to film the event. It’s this interview that sets up the rest of the film that is told mostly in flashback form. The dynamic of this opening sequence works so well simply because of the elevated bar of talent on the screen; it sets up for what one could only expect will be filled with snappy dialog exchanges as these figures discuss what Snowden is about to unleash to the world. Instead we get a whimper of what could have been.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 14th, 2016
When a movie that so clearly lifts its inspiration from the films of Roman Polanski and Alfred Hitchcock, I would have expected to simply embrace this film for the nail-biting thriller it is attempting to be. Instead I found myself sitting back wondering why I just couldn’t get into this film. Is it because the storyline seems uninspired? Whatever it is when it comes to The Ones Below, it may hit all the right notes when it comes to what to expect with a thriller, but that’s the problem; it plays everything by the book and doesn’t dare to take unexpected twists.
Kate (Clemence Poesy) and Justin (Stephen Campbell Moore) are a happy couple living alone in an upstairs flat in London with a baby on the way. When they notice that they have new neighbors who have moved into the space below them; it of course comes as a surprise to see that they too are a couple expecting to have their first child. The new neighbors are Theresa (Laura Birn) and her husband Jon (David Morrissey). There is something off about the couple right from the start, and when Kate and Justin invite their new neighbors to dinner, you don’t have to hold your breath too long before things go awry. When an accident occurs that causes Theresa to lose the baby, as a viewer we can already expect things to go bad, since Jon and Theresa seem to blame Kate and Justin for their loss, but what follows just kind of seems silly rather than menacing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 1st, 2016
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I have a fear of clowns, but more of the people beneath the paint. I’m not sure if anyone has recently seen in the news, but there are reports of people dressing up as clowns behind an apartment complex in South Carolina attempting to lure children into the woods. First off I immediately think this is a prank, but also there is the side of me that is curious as to there being something more sinister at play; after all, it seems like a good start to a horror film. Going back through my childhood, I can’t think of any one moment that caused me to despise clowns, but I do remember a trip to Circus World that left me convinced all the clowns there were bad. Yes, I know this fear/hatred is unwarranted if not an overdramatic response from my imagination; after all, I do have an extreme phobia of the Amish that I have trouble coming to terms with. So when Clown was up for grabs to review, I figured this could be a fun experience to sort of face my fear. Well, let me just say (gulp) it didn’t work out so well.
Kent (Andy Powers) is a dad who just wants to see his son have a happy birthday, so when the clown scheduled to appear at the party fails to show up, Kent decides to improvise. After finding an old clown suit that was hidden inside his new home, he does what any dad would do to save the day. He suits up and puts on a show for the kids. Just one tiny problem; after the show when he attempts to take off the suit, it won’t budge. At first family and friends just believe this is no more than a silly joke, that is until Kent asks his wife, Meg (Laura Allen) to help with removing the suit. Already Kent has accumulated a series of injuries while using several sharp instruments to remove the suit, but when Meg ends up ripping off the tip of his nose when attempting to remove the red ball at the end, well, things only grow more intense from here on.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 31st, 2016
It seems there is no end in sight for comic book properties being bought and turned into movies or television series. Lucifer is one of the newest additions getting the television treatment, and personally this was a title I was looking forward to. With Tom Kapinos (Californication and Dawson’s Creek) at the helm, this seemed like it would be a good fit, though one thing did nag at me. When you have a show called Lucifer, and it is about the devil taking a vacation on Earth, is standard television really the proper outlet for broadcast? As a fan of Californication, I was excited to see what Kapinos would do with the material, and for the most part the show doesn’t disappoint.
When we first meet Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis), he’s already been vacationing on Earth for a few years with no real desire to go back home. He’s a ladies’ man who runs one of the hottest nightclubs in Los Angeles; who can blame him for not wanting to return home? Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) is an angel that has been tasked by God to not only look after Lucifer but to bring him back to his rightful place in Hell. This is a struggle that stretches throughout the first season but sadly doesn’t seem to carry any weight till later on in the season as we see the two get their hands dirty as they squabble.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 31st, 2016
Writer/Director Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3) has a way of writing flawed characters who manage to leave more lasting impressions than the films they populate. But where he shines is when he can thrust these flawed individuals into the confines of a detective story. Most people grew their fondness for Black and his quick-witted dialog when he first penned Lethal Weapon, but for me it goes back to The Monster Squad and The Last Boy Scout, where I found myself becoming a fan even in my early years of film watching. So is the fanboy in me excited to see what Black brings to the table this time around? You betcha. In a summer popcorn season filled with comic book movies, sequels, and other films targeting the teenage demographic, it’s nice to have an action film that harkens back to the good old days (the 80’s and early 90’s) for a fun comedy/action romp that has a foul-mouthed edge.
It’s 1977 Los Angeles, where the headlines at the time were filled with the dangers of all the smog in the air. This is the backdrop to the story that kicks off with the mysterious death of a famous porn star, Misty Mountains (Murielle Telio). Despite all the headlines, her mother refuses to believe she’s dead, so she’s hired Holland March (Ryan Gosling) to find out what really happened to her precious little girl. Working on a case of his own, Jackson Healy (Russel Crowe) is a muscle for hire who is put on a job to help a young girl, Amelia (Margaret Qualley) get rid of some men who are after her. It doesn’t take long before both March and Healy find themselves working together, as their cases seem to be connected.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 24th, 2016
For years (at this point we can say decades), fans have been holding out hope for a new installment in the Evil Dead franchise. Over the years there have been rumors of a fourth film, even talks of doing a crossover involving Ash (Bruce Campbell) taking on various horror icons. In the end these talks seemed to be nothing more than pipe dreams, but then in 2013 something special happened. A remake/sequel occurred for the series that actually was pretty awesome and gory while also being a financial success…but it was the stinger at the end of the credits that got people excited, the brief appearance of the man with the chainsaw hand himself. Was it a tease for more to come, or was it simply a wink to the fans of the series? As it would turn out, a little bit of both. It’s a fanboy’s dream come true, not just a continuation of the Evil Dead series, but Starz delivers a 10-episode season that packs a gore-soaked punch to my heart.
When we catch up with Ash, he’s pretty much the same as when we last saw him. He’s a man stuck at a dead-end job and living in a trailer park, but this is the lifestyle choice he’s made on his own. He remains haunted by his past battles with The Book of the Dead and of course the deadites, but in true Ash fashion he copes with it through alcohol and easy women. It’s at his job that he meets Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly (Dana De Lorenzo) who reluctantly find themselves mixed up with Ash and the return of the evil that seeks to be reunited with the Necronomicon.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 24th, 2016
I think for the most part we can all agree that the 90’s were not so kind to horror fans. Sure, you can find a few gems sprinkled throughout the decade, but as a whole the theater was not where you’d find the good stuff. In the 90’s you’d end up having to go to your local video store to check out the straight-to-video titles and the independent films that had just been released. Unless you lived in LA or New York, there were so many titles you’d be missing out on, but the video store brought films like Carnosaur (1993) to your attention. This was pretty much how I first stumbled upon Bad Moon, while cruising the titles in the horror section and this cool box art called out to me. I never heard of the film, but I recognized the writer/director Eric Red as the guy who wrote Near Dark (for the longest time my favorite vampire film), so I just had to rent this. At the time I had only known of two werewolf films that I had really enjoyed, and they were the staples An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. Now, nearly two decades later, I’m getting to write up the review of the new Scream Factory release.
As much as the film is about a werewolf and it terrifying a single mother and her child, I really see this more as a story about the bond between a boy and his dog. Brett (Mason Gamble) is just a young boy who doesn’t seem to have many friends, but what he does have is Thor, his loyal canine companion that is a large German Shepherd. The dog isn’t simply just the family pet but genuinely is part of the family and sees himself as its protector; what’s kind of amazing is how we can see this through Thor’s actions. While the story doesn’t allow for this to have the heart that many ‘boy and his dog’ films do, the relationship is still well established.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on August 20th, 2016
In 1959 when Ben-Hur came out, it was a massive undertaking that nearly closed the gates for MGM after nearly bankrupting the studio. It was a huge risk in producing such a large scale epic that fortunately paid off and became one of the studio’s cornerstone successes. The story of Judah Ben-Hur and his fall from being a prince, to becoming a slave, to eventually becoming a hero to the people in the arena is such a familiar story it’s hard to not feel you’ve seen this before without even entering the theater. In some parts I look at Gladiator and see somewhat the same film, only being set in a separate time and place. But really the story of betrayal at the highest levels, and seeing great figures fall only to pull themselves up again is a theme Hollywood seems to relish, and it seems to attract many viewers in the process. Now it seems Hollywood is desperate for remakes, and I figure someone felt it was time to once again dust off the story of Ben-Hur, only this time throw in all the CGI gimmicks at the director’s disposal; after all, $100 million isn’t the investment it used to be for a film. But to paraphrase the great Ian Malcom from Jurassic Park, perhaps the producers were so preoccupied with thinking if they could remake the film they didn’t stop to think if they should.
