Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 21st, 2014
Ever since Elijah Wood completed filming Lord of the Rings, it would seem that he has done everything in his power to not be locked down with the label of simply being Frodo. From playing a mute psychopath in Sin City, to voice work in Happy Feet, a suicidal pot-head that is best friends with a talking dog in Wilfred, and even the killer role in Maniac, it’s clear that he’s an actor that likes to challenge himself. With Grand Piano Wood delivers his most dynamic performance as the brilliant concert pianist Tom Selznick who suffers from stage fright.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 21st, 2014
When it comes to locations in horror films, insane asylums seem to be one of the go-to spots, and with good reason. From watching numerous ghost-hunting shows over the years, it would also seem that there are numerous “haunted” asylums out there that are nothing more than rundown relics of what they once were. So getting into House of Dust and seeing it is yet another haunted asylum film, the expectations went down, and I hoped for the best. In the end it turned out to be a fun little film.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 19th, 2014
When it comes to revenge, Hollywood has exploited the theme in just about every conceivable way. It’s a genre that has been done so much that it’s hard to find a fresh hook to bring the audiences in, much less create a story that will motivate the audience to root for this blood thirsty protagonist. Getting the audience on your side as your hero hunts down individuals for retribution is asking a lot, but still there is always going to be an audience that will fill theater seats.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 18th, 2014
The World War 2 genre has been done to death by Hollywood, but The Monuments Men gives us a fresh look at the war and delves into a story that is a breath of fresh air to the genre. Despite all my history classes that delved into the atrocities of World War 2, it was never discussed about what happened to the great landmarks that were spread throughout Europe and encountered the cold hand of war. Granted, when measured against the staggering amount of lives lost throughout the war, the thought of a sculpture being destroyed or a Picasso painting being incinerated simply seems petty by comparison.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on May 16th, 2014
“It’s not the end of the world.”
I still remember the night I walked out of the screening of the Roland Emmerich version of Godzilla. I can’t remember a time I had ever been so angry at a film. It was a film that was an insult to the monster that I had held in such high regard right alongside King Kong. Sure I had seen the trailers, but when I saw that first reveal of their “Godzilla” I cringed; I hated it. Had the film been called anything else perhaps my loathing towards it would have been different, but it was a film that was foolish enough to hold the name of Godzilla.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 14th, 2014
With a title like The Zombinator you basically know the kind of B-movie spectacle you are getting into. Any notions of great special f/x or even a good script should be cast aside, and you simply have to tell yourself to sit back and enjoy the silliness that should follow. But what the title did was build up these crazy thoughts of a cyborg from the future to take out hordes of zombies. Well, this isn’t that movie. Even the cover art gives promise to this kind of cheesy film, but there are no cyborgs from the future; instead we get another run-of-the-mill film about a documentary film crew that stumbles into trouble.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 14th, 2014
With a new Transformers film on the horizon, it is no surprise that the animated series finds its way on DVD. Shout Factory releases the entire series of Transformers: Energon in a 7-disc set with 51 episodes that amount to over 18 hours of Transformer fighting goodness. Over the years there have been numerous incarnations of the hit animated series; just how well does this series fare? Honestly it surprised me how much fun this series turned out to be, and it left me wishing that Michael Bay had drawn some inspiration from this series.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on May 9th, 2014
Walking out of Neighbors one thought struck me, and I haven’t been able to shake it since seeing the film. I’m getting old. It’s the revelation we all deal with at some point or another, and it seemed to be the overall theme of Neighbors. Since Judd Apatow came along I think he has firmly created a new sub-genre the coming of middle-age film. Seth Rogan seems to be the poster child of this new genre, and with his characters he is somewhat the ambassador of all man-children out there.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 7th, 2014
It was 2007 when Veronica Mars concluded its three-season run on the CW. The door was left open for more seasons, and the season three set came with a bonus that showed us the direction things could have gone. But after one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns and seven years later, fans of the show will finally get to see their favorite little marshmallow, Veronica Mars, on one last investigation. I’m going to come out and say it; I was a big fan of the show. The high school noir series was more than just your standard teen melodrama
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 5th, 2014
When it comes to the feud between Marvel and DC film adaptions, I think we can all agree Marvel at this point may be winning the battles on the big screen, but when it comes to the animated films DC has been delivering hit after hit. Perhaps it’s because the landscape in animation is virtually unlimited and comes with a significantly smaller price tag to deliver.
