Posts by Brent Lorentson

With films like Sharknado it’s clear that that Hollywood can’t say no to a disaster movie no matter how bad it may sound.  It’s almost as though everyone has given up on the idea that a disaster movie can be good; The Towering Inferno holds up after all these years, yet you can almost guarantee if they attempted to remake it, awfulness would certainly follow.  Heck, the Poseidon Adventure was amazing to watch growing up, and even on the heels of Titanic and with “better” special effects at their fingertips, the remake, Poseidon, was a failure.  What I find all the more odd is that with these straight-to-DVD or SYFY-made movies

The surf culture and those involved are like a tribe separate from everyone else.  Those who are hardcore into the scene seem to care very little about money or material things, all that seems to matter to this group of outsiders are the onslaught of waves that’ll soon be theirs to ride.  Several movies have been made about the sport/lifestyle, Point Break and Chasing Mavericks are the two that stand out the most for me at this time (not sure if admitting my secret love for Back to the Beach is good idea).

Ever since I’ve had a little girl in my life, the amount of kids’ programming I’ve gotten to review has mushroomed.  This is by no means a complaint; if anything it has helped me bond with her.  Granted, at times all the kids’ shows can quickly grow to be as grating as nails to a chalkboard, but when shows like Dragons and The Amazing World of Gumball come along I’m not sure who gets more excited, her or myself. When I reviewed The Mystery DVD I wasn’t sure what I was getting into, but quickly I found myself pleasantly obsessed with Gumball Watterson and the trouble he would get himself into.

The moment I see the words “inspired by true events”, I simply accept the fact that most likely everything that follows should be taken with a grain of salt.  I understand films are not meant to be reference materials to be seen as fact, but simply as a tool to entertain and hopefully motivate you to learn more about the subject matter.  When it comes to Emperor, I know going in this isn’t going to be a history lesson, so I could allow myself to simply enjoy the show.

The quack pack returns for season three of the A&E reality series smash hit, Duck Dynasty.  After season 1 I was thinking perhaps this would be a show that would be amusing but quickly lose steam with the season that would follow.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  The Robertson family is quickly becoming the most recognizable family on TV considering they are flooding the stores with their books, DVD’s, and many other products you can find at Wal-Mart.  I can’t help but think this is a family that is doing everything right, and good for them for the success they’ve managed.

For over 40 years Aerosmith has been rocking the airwaves, and with over a 100 million albums sold, it is safe to say they are one of America’s greatest rock bands.  It had been seven years before that the band previously performed in Japan, and after the devastation the country endured during the earthquake and tsunami in early 2011, the band was inspired to return to Japan and perform.  Rock For The Rising Sun is more than simply a documentary of a concert in Japan; instead it is the documentation of the band’s journey that follows them along their stops throughout their tour and their interaction with the fans.

At some point or another as kids we’ve experienced either the fear of the dark, what lurks in the closet, or perhaps the dread of what awaits under the bed.  As adults most view these fears we had as children as impractical, but for those of us who remember these fears, the possibility of what terrors awaited us come nightfall was something very real.  Sure, mom or dad would check the room to assure us there was nothing there, but we knew better.  We knew the moment the parents left the room the dreaded terrors would crawl out from there dark hideouts and come for us in our sleep.  It’s this childhood terror that director Steven C. Miller (director of the Silent Night remake) attempts to bring to the screen.

The cartoons I’m most fond of from my childhood are all cell-animated, simply because I grew up in a time before computer generation effects and animation had been fully realized.  Now when you flip on the TV it’s hard to find any true animation; everything has moved on and evolved to CGI.  When the studios have the time and money, they can release some breathtaking features like Finding Nemo and The Croods. But when it comes to television the CGI never seemed to match the quality of the features.  That is until Dreamworks released Dragons: Riders of Berk.