Posts by Brent Lorentson

The story about Finn, the human, and Jake, the Dog is something I’ve managed to come into without any knowledge of what is going on.  It’s not as though there is a complex plot built around the characters but I’m somewhat at a loss why the 12-13yrold boy lives with his talking dog with no parental unit to be seen.  I know it’s a cartoon and considering this takes place in the land of Ooo, hoping to find a plot thread that follows any real world logic is asking a bit much.

In this DVD release from Cartoon Network, there is a collection of 16 episodes that follow Finn and Jake as they partake in adventures in the land of Ooo.  With only a few recurring characters, one I enjoyed seeing the most is the Ice King.  Though he may be viewed as a villain, all he claims to really want is to be friends with Finn and Jake.  In a way I find this character the more creative decision the animated series  presents because despite the Ice Kings actions, it does play out as though Finn and Jake are the oblivious villains.  An example of the Kings actions is he uses a freezing potion to spend time with Finn and Jake and tries to force them to bond and become his friend.

From the opening title card, Mafia does its best to fit in with the blaxploitation films of the 70’s, and even with Pam Grier in one of the key roles the film just doesn’t hold up.  It seems a lot of filmmakers and fans have on rose-colored glasses to the exploitation era (I’ll lump myself in with this group as well), but the filmmakers who attempt these films forget a lot of these films of the past had a strong political or sociological message they were trying to send.  Just making a film set in the 70s and throwing on some filters doesn’t mean you made an exploitation film; it simply means you captured the cheap low quality of the pictures they made back then.  Look at Jackie Brown (also starring Grier); that film captures the essence of exploitation cinema and looks beautiful, but Tarantino knew to focus on writing a strong ebony female to capture the heart of the genre.

Looking past the cosmetic style of Mafia, there is actually a lot to like here, and that somewhat makes its attempt to look like an exploitation film rather frustrating.  This is a film that could have taken place during any decade and still could work just fine.  The film opens with Renzo (Ving Rhames) locked away in his prison cell awaiting execution.  Haunted by the demons of his past, he recalls the events that brought him into custody.

I remember watching Heavenly Creatures and believing Melanie Lynskey would break out and become a star.  I never would have guessed her co-star Kate Winslet would be the one to emerge from the film and be the A-list actress she has become.  After all, when you watch Heavenly Creatures, it’s hard to believe this was the first role Lynskey had in front of a camera; I would have imagined she was destined to play some great roles through her career.  Unfortunately that’s not the case, but I’m glad to see at the very least she has a career up on the screen.

In Lynskey’s new release, Hello I Must Be Going, we see her playing Amy who is recovering from a sudden divorce.  For her the divorce took away everything she believes she had made for herself, because she did everything she could to be the perfect wife.  This rejection has done more than crush her, and it has deflated her to the point of returning to live at home with her parents where she sleeps and mopes around most of the day.  Since we’ve all been through rejection at some point, it’s easy to relate to Amy on some level, and with Lynskey’s quirky portrayal of Amy, it’s hard to not be sucked in by her charm.

When this DVD found its way into my hands, I felt  this could go one of two ways; either this is going to be awful, or this is going to be fun as hell.  I have to admit I had a little more concern when I saw that the show aired on Cinemax and had never even heard of the show.  Despite my concern, the idea of an anthology series inspired by pulp novels and film noir revolving around badass chicks simply sounded too good to resist.  The result is a late-night trashy blend between The Twilight Zone and The Red Shoe Diaries.

Each 30-minute episode is introduced by the provocative host, Lilith (Tanit Phoenix) whose involvement in the show’s storyline may take some time to unfold but is worth the wait.  Lilith does what she does best, teasing the male audience with the promise of the sex and violence that will follow.  The lurid, violent scenes deliver throughout the series with one of the most beautiful ensemble of actresses thrown together.  Unfortunately beauty seems to win out over talent in the acting department. With this late-night erotica you can forgive the bad acting long enough to embrace the cool sleazy fun.

What makes the horror genre so unique is that it doesn’t have any rules, but it has one goal: to scare us.  And the weirdest thing I find about horror is that so many people enjoy being scared, and, well, some of us have watched some pretty rotten things all in the name of a cheap thrill (my reasoning for watching A Serbian Film).  Lately the trend in horror is to be in the world where our heroes on the screen are put through some very “real” situations and it kind of poses the question: how far is too far? 

Cherry Tree Lane is far from an original story; I somewhat see it as Funny Games meets Ils aka Them.  This is not to insult the film by any means, but let’s face it, there have been plenty of home-invasion films, to the point it could almost be its own subgenre.  But what Cherry Tree Lane does do is put us in this real-time scenario where two parents are held captive as their captors wait for their son to come home.  The terror isn’t from the violence we see on the screen, or even off the screen for that matter; the real terror in fact isn’t violent at all, but is in fact the waiting for the impending doom we know the son has in store for him.

When being handed this title to review I have to admit my expectations were rather low, but as with every other title I was going to give it a chance.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy cartoons or kid-friendly television; I was simply more concerned that perhaps I had reached an age where I simply wouldn’t be able to connect to the material I had to watch.  By the time the credits to the first episode rolled, I quickly moved on to the next episode. Though the show reminds me a lot of Family Guy, there is nothing in the show parents should find offensive and it is suitable for children’s viewing.  Each episode has a running time of about 11 minutes.  With 12 episodes, a parent could easily pop in this DVD and keep their kids entertained while taking care of some chores around the house.

As for the show, well, it’s filled with more goofy randomness that is better left to be seen than have described.  Gumball after all is a twelve-year-old (Cat???) who has a younger brother who is a goldfish and a father who is a human-sized rabbit.  As for the characters that fill out the school there is a tyrannosaurus rex, a piece of toast, and a teacher who is a monkey, as well as a young girl Penny who just so happens to be a peanut with antlers.  It doesn’t make sense, and it’s not supposed to; that’s just part of the fun of the show.

Warwick Davis many may remember as the dwarf that played Wicket the ewok in Return of the Jedi or as the leprechaun in the Leprechaun franchise.  The role younger audiences may be more familiar with is that of Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter franchise.  In the new HBO series Life’s Too Short, Davis steps away from the fantasy world and into a faux reality show about none other than Warwick Davis. I have to admit Davis is far from the top of my list of celebrities I’d like to see star in their own “reality” show.  Seeing the show is produced by and co-stars Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (both also worked together on Extras and The Office) did ignite my interest.  I understand Ricky Gervais is not for everyone; after all, he does seem to take pleasure in making his audience feel uncomfortable, but I happen to be a fan and believe he’s one of the most consistently funny comedians working currently.

I didn’t know what to expect coming into the show; sure, I figured Davis would end up the butt of many dwarf jokes, but what I wasn’t ready for is how much I really began to care for the portrayal of Davis in the show.  Davis does not simply just play himself in this faux documentary that follows him around.  Instead we see a man on a downward spiral as he gradually loses control of his life.  We not only watch as he goes through the heart wrenching effects of divorce but also we follow along as he struggles to get work as he tries to avoid being charged for tax evasion.  But even beyond these giant hurdles, Davis still has to deal with his day to day life as a dwarf and how it hinders him.