Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 31st, 2014
Just because an actor shares the same last name of their more popular sibling, the talent doesn’t necessarily carry over as well. In the case of The Reckoning, the Australian thriller has two siblings with much more marketable star power. Jonathan LaPaglia comes into The Reckoning and ripping a few pages from his brother’s acting book in playing a detective whose partner is the victim of a heinous act of “random” violence. Also joining the film with famous siblings is Luke Hemsworth, whose brothers Liam and Chris Americans may be more familiar with. Does the hereditary star power help this little Aussie film, or does it flounder down under?
Detective Green (LaPaglia) comes into a crime scene where his former partner, Detective Pearson (Hemsworth), has been found murdered. What at first looks like a random shooting quickly gets more complicated upon the discovery of a digital drive that sets the stage for a more complicated case to unfold. It is what is on the digital drive that is far more interesting to watch than the investigation that follows. In the video we see Rachel (Hanna Mangan Lawrence) and her boyfriend AJ (Alex Williams) piece together the clues to who is responsible for her sister’s hit-and-run murder a year before. Rachel isn’t just some young girl with a video camera making a documentary; instead, she’s a girl with an illness that she knows is going to kill her, and as we see it makes her a force to not be trifled with.
Rachel is out for blood and wants to avenge her sister; in the process as she comes across the drug dealers and crime bosses responsible for dealing drugs to her sister, a trail of bodies is left behind in her wake.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 29th, 2014
For a while now it has been accepted that cartoons are no longer for kids, and it can be argued that most of the popular animated shows now are more geared towards adults rather than kids these days. I’ve grown up with The Simpsons, and I’ve enjoyed the run that Family Guy has had, but really these have been the only animated shows I’d consider myself loyal to. Upon seeing some ads promoting Rick and Morty as well as hearing my friends talk about the show, I couldn’t help but think perhaps this could possibly be a new animated series I could get excited about.
At first glance Rick and Morty seems like the perfected animated blend of Family Guy and The Simpsons, and for the other-worldly locations even Futurama. The comparisons are hard to look past; after all, the family dynamic is just about the same, and the shows both are filled with their pop-culture references throughout, so what is that makes Rick and Morty stand out from the other shows?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 28th, 2014
Here we have a film that knows all the rules and stereotypes of horror films, but instead of twisting things around and turning the genre on its side, we get a convoluted mess that actually had some real potential. The film is stacked with some solid B-list actors who actually put in performances that remind the viewer why at one point these actors had relatively successful careers. Brian Austin Green (90210), Mena Suvari (American Pie and American Beauty), Zack Ward (A Christmas Story and Postal), and Joanne Kelly (Warehouse 13) are some of the actors that fill this cast, all with solid resumes such that you’d expect at any point they could make the leap to the A-list.
A group of friends decide to plan a trip to a secluded resort where they plan to not just have a little fun, but a few of the characters have some big secrets that they plan to reveal. This isn’t anything scandalous, but instead we are talking about wedding proposals as well as certain characters becoming parents in the not too distant future. This should be a happy and memorable trip, but things quickly spiral out of control when the caravan of friends arrive at the resort and discover no one else is around. All the group can discern is that it appears the guests and employees at the resort must have left in a hurry; after all, meals were left behind, pans still on the stove, as well as baths drawn but never taken. But what the group finds more ominous is the lack of wildlife to be seen or heard; it’s as though they are the only living souls in the area.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 23rd, 2014
Imagine if you had a second chance to tell that loved one you lost how much you loved them, or were able to do the things you wished you had done the first time, but you hesitated because you didn’t take into account the fragility of life. Life After Beth shows us the joys that can come with when getting that second chance while at the same time revealing the dark consequences that may come with this new opportunity. There are numerous zombie films and series out in the market, but Life After Beth may be the most unique take on the genre in some time.
Zach (Dane DeHaan) is a grief-stricken young man who is suffering from the tragic loss of his girlfriend Beth (Aubrey Plaza). All he can think about is how the two had last talked and it had been on bad terms and how losing her only seems to have made it clear how much he truly loved her. Her parents (played by John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon) as you’d expect are taking the tragedy badly. The parents take Zach in; after all, he seems to be the only one who can seem to understand the kind of pain they are going through. Back home Zach’s family couldn’t be more opposite and border on insensitive; besides, to Zach no one can seem to understand the pain, loss and guilt that he is feeling. But all this changes when by some miracle Beth returns from the grave.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 20th, 2014
For fans of many of the ghost-hunting shows, Preston Castle is a location many will already be familiar with. Once a former reform school for boys that opened in 1894 and finally shut down in the 1960’s, it was a location rumored to hold many atrocities against its young occupants. Whether you are a believer in the supernatural or not, Preston Castle is a location that upon appearance is beautiful as well as foreboding, and is the perfect location for a haunted house film. Of course the film boasts that it is inspired by true events, but I don’t think anyone should exactly hold the filmmakers up to a fact-checking examination, but instead just simply sit back and enjoy the ride.
Liz (Mackenzie Firgens) is a young and brokenhearted college student who has returned home. Thankfully for Liz, her best friend Ashley (Heather Tocquigny) is waiting for her back home and is eager and to do what she can to cheer up her best friend. From the start what works well for this film is the onscreen chemistry we see between the two actresses. Independent films usually suffer from poor casting decisions, but this is a case where the two work well playing off one another. It is very believable that these two could be best of friends, and this benefits the film later once things start to go sour.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 18th, 2014
Unless you have been living under a rock, I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the Ebola scare that is headlining the airwaves. The release of Chemical Peel couldn’t be timelier to effectively feed off the fears of the American public that is glued to their television screens, waiting for the announcement of the newly infected. This is the kind of free marketing even the big-budget films wish they could get. Unfortunately what is missing from the film are characters for us to care about and root for, and that is never a good sign.
A group of friends skip the fun of having a bachelorette party in Vegas and decide instead to have the party at Rae’s (Natalie Victoria) grandfather’s home. Sure, this means no male strippers or cheap buffet bars, but for the girls it becomes their one last party together before Angela (Arielle Brachfeld) gets married. The odd thing about this is Angela has never been able to forgive her friend Rae for an accident that occurred that killed Angela’s sister. Sure, Rae may have the best intentions of patching up their friendship, but Angela is just filled with too much rage to be letting go of this grudge any time soon. The mending of the friendship between Rae and Angela may at first seem like a movie-of-the-week notion, but it’s a more believable direction than we see here.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 16th, 2014
The creator of Dawson’s Creek and The Vampire Diaries, Kevin Williams, delivers a thriller that is a bold new entry in the crime drama for television. Season one of The Following was 15 episodes of nail-biting bliss that kept the viewer guessing and riveted long after its gut-wrenching cliffhanger. For a while I was beginning to wonder if Williamson had lost his touch with the Scream series, but what you’ll discover in the Fox series is that Williamson may just be the king of creating and penning one of the darkest serial killers on the small screen. Season one of The Following had us in the back seat as Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon), a liaison with the FBI, pursues Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) a charismatic serial killer with a devoted cult following.
Season two picks up right where season one left off with Hardy and Claire (Natalie Zea) stabbed and left for dead. Ryan manages to recover; Claire isn’t so fortunate. We jump ahead a year later, and Ryan has taken the loss of Claire badly. Not only is he battling alcoholism, he’s roped his niece Max (Jessica Stroup) into continuing his investigation into Carroll…”Wait, I thought he was dead.”, you may be thinking, but that is the beauty of television; writers can always find a way to resurrect that fallen villain from the dead just so our hero can hunt them down once again.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 13th, 2014
With the month of October in full swing, it comes as no surprise to see Halloween-themed episodes popping up. With the new DVD of Ben 10: Galactic Monsters, sure, it’s a cash grab for the holiday season, but thankfully on this release we get a set of fun episodes that are a bit of a departure from the average episodes. It’s not that I dislike Ben 10, but it’s a show I enjoy in small doses; after all, too much of anything can always be a bad thing. But thankfully, with the average five-episode release we get on the DVD from Cartoon Network, it has just the right amount of episodes to please everyone.
With the opening episode Rad Monster Party, the stage is set for this three-episode arc we have on the DVD where Ben and his fellow Plumbers (basically a term for their secret group of alien fighters) crash on Inner Transyl, a planet filled with monsters. Old-school monster fans will have fun with these episodes where we get the Cartoon Network version of some of the classic Universal monsters. This is first episode works as an introduction to the main villain we will follow for this three episode arc, The Scare. It’s fun seeing Ben have to do battle up against a supernatural figure rather than the run-of-the-mill alien we are used to seeing, but unfortunately the episode still follows the same formula we see in just about every Ben 10 episode.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 13th, 2014
It’s that time of the year again to dust off the old hunting rifle and shake out the camouflage suits, because Duck Commander is back in action. Duck Dynasty comes to Blu-ray on its sixth season, and I am just about certain it is time the quack pack has hung up their camo and walked away from their television careers. The show has had a good run, but with this current season it is clear the show has run its course, and it is time the Robertson’s should make a graceful exit while their ratings are still strong.
The biggest problem with season six is that it fails to have the charm of what made the early seasons so much fun. Dare I say it is because the Robertson clan has simply become too Hollywood, and it has become nothing more than one character to the next simply mugging for camera time, or perhaps the ridiculous nature of the “plots” for this season.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on October 10th, 2014
With the Marvel universe taking off and scoring at the box office for many years now, studios are digging for franchises they can start up or reboot to cash in on the craze. Warner Brothers is stumbling a bit with DC comics, but Universal has remained quiet, that is until someone in the creative department realized they own the properties to the greatest horror characters of all time. When Dracula, The Wolfman, and The Mummy were in their heyday, actors like Karloff and Lugosi became instant icons of cinema. Now when special FX have never been better and makeup has come along so far, it seems there could be no better time for Universal to open their vaults of horror and unleash their monsters upon the masses where we can witness Dracula and the Mummy sharing the screen together with Frankenstein’s Monster.
Dracula Untold is supposed to be the first film of this monster revival, and the film’s success could determine the fate of these future monster films. I’m not sure if it’s a sign of confidence or a red flag when the man you have helming your film is a relatively unknown director, but it seems Universal has a lot of faith in their man Gary Shore. Sure, finding a director is crucial to making your film, but finding the right actor to fill the shoes that so many legends have filled before in the role of Dracula can make or break your film, and in the case of Dracula Untold we have Luke Evans stepping in as the infamous vampire.
