Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 29th, 2013
Everyone knows the name Bill Cosby, and if you’re an 80’s kid like me then you most likely know him as one of TV’s most likeable dads, Mr. Huxtable. Cosby has been the comedian who’s managed to succeed for decades by keeping his comedy routine clean and family-friendly. From his animated series Fat Albert and his numerous other television projects and the Jell-O pudding pop ads, we all seemed to just feel this was a guy we all let into our homes through the television where we all felt we knew him as a part of our extended family.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 21st, 2013
Creator David Simon (The Wire and Generation Kill) has never been a show runner concerned about cliffhangers or plot twists; instead he thrusts his viewers into the day-to-day life of the everyday Joe and shows that real life generates more conflict than most fiction can ever deliver. Ever since I first watched The Wire I’ve considered myself a fan of Simon’s work, and I feel it could be argued that what Simon did with The Wire is a large factor in why we have the quality of television that we do today.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 15th, 2013
Ben Tennison is back in the action packed collection of Ben 10 Omniverse from Cartoon Network. In 10 newly released episodes we follow Ben and his fellow Plumbers as they do battle against the meanest and the ugliest aliens the galaxy has to offer, in our universe or any parallel universe out there. This cartoon is infectious. From its catchy opening music, imaginative characters and fun action sequences this is a cartoon that simply grows on me more and more, and I have no shame in admitting that I’m a fan of this “kids’” show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 30th, 2013
It’s hard to believe that once if you said the word Google, there is a good chance no one would have known what you were blabbering about. Now the internet search database is the largest search engine on the web and is a dominating company that is given the same reverence Steve Jobs and Apple receive. Because of Google, the days of hitting the books to find information and the Dewey decimal system are all but things of the past. But technology and growth are a part of life.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 27th, 2013
With Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and Dragons: Riders of Berk, it would seem only fitting that Monsters vs. Aliens would get an animated series of its own as well. Nickelodeon seems to know what they are doing by mass producing these hit DreamWorks animated films and bringing them to the small screen. The biggest shock is that in doing so they’ve managed to maintain the quality on a story level as well as animation level while under the budget constraints of having to produce multiple episodes as compared to one feature film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 25th, 2013
Nicolas Winding Refn is a director who may not be a household name but is easily one of the most unique directors working at this time. With films like Pusher, Bronson, and Valhalla Rising, he has managed to make a name for himself for doing artistic films filled with beautiful visuals as well as intense violence. It was the film Drive, though, that most people know him for. I was already a fan of Refn going into Drive, and for me it is one of the best films I’ve seen in the past decade, where the film is a rare piece of perfection that broods with atmosphere and simply captivates me from the opening frame to the closing credits.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 24th, 2013
The Furious 5 are back in the new collection of episodes from the Nickelodeon hit show, inspired by the film Kung Fu Panda. It wasn’t too long ago that I reviewed the first batch of episodes in the collection Good Croc, Bad Croc, and I had a good time with that set. Now with the new collection, would it fare as well as the first, or will it blow my mind with its kung fu awesomeness? Well, why waste any more time, and get right to it. For those unfamiliar with the show or movies, that is fine
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 23rd, 2013
In the wake of Captain Phillips being released in theaters, another tale of a ship being held hostage by Somali pirates is released on Blu-Ray and DVD. This true story comes out of Denmark and has made a successful run through the festival circuit, but how does it fare up against the mighty Tom Hanks and his tense, nail-biting thriller? Well, to be fair, though the two films deal with the same subject matter, the execution is vastly different, but A Hijacking manages to deliver an equally stunning film filled with great performances and filmed in such a way we feel as though we are one of the hostages on the ship
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 22nd, 2013
James Wan is simply a director who continues to impress me. Ever since Saw was released, I’ve been a fan of his visual style that he brings to every film. Let’s face it, Saw is pretty much the biggest horror franchise of the past decade, and it all started with a simple little indie film that took place mostly inside a dirty bathroom. When Death Sentence came out, I was floored by how well he managed to construct a Death Wish film for a new generation. The parking garage scene was just freaking awesome.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 17th, 2013
The Halloween holiday season is upon us, and as kids count down till the day they can trick or treat dressed as their favorite ghoul or goblin, leading to candy binges that would put me in a diabetic coma. It’s also appropriate that the kids get to watch some films to have some thrills and chills that are age-appropriate (don’t make the mistake of showing a six-year-old Friday the 13th 2). With the release of A Monsterous Holiday, we get a short film that clocks in at 48 minutes; the cover art may appeal to some, but looks are deceiving.
