Posts by Brent Lorentson

Coming into the HBO animated series on its third season, I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Life & Times of Tim.  Even after a quick search on IMDB to see what else creator Steve Dildarian had worked on, it left me with little to go on concerning what to possibly expect. I got to go into season three with virgin eyes, and overall it was a good time. When we first meet Tim (Dildarian), his life is at a low point, lower than what most twenty-something graduates would be used to.  But on the bright side Tim has managed to find a job as the personal assistant to a women’s basketball player (Kym Whitley), though Tim is too ashamed to admit to his girlfriend Amy (M.J. Otto) what he really does.

Back in 1964 a film was released about a reporter who wanted to know what it was like to be black in the deep south during the civil rights movement.  When I first heard this my initial reaction had me picturing some white guy in black face strolling the streets and then subsequently being beaten by both sides of the race coin.  It turns out this thankfully wasn’t the case, and the reporter, John Howard Griffin, underwent medical treatments, as well as hours under a sunlamp, to change the hue of his skin.  From the procedure on, the film explores a dark time in America seen through the eyes of both a white and a black man at the same time.

The idea of traveling out into the middle of nowhere, surrounded by snow and with no running water or toilet around, is not my idea of a nice vacation.  In fact, being a former Eagle Scout, just hearing about camping is enough to recall nights of sleeping on the hard ground, in the cold with rocks and sticks being stabbed into my back while trying to sleep.  It’s not that I hate the outdoors; I’ve simply grown to appreciate the niceties of life, and if getting in touch with nature means mosquito bites, I’ll stick with the motel 8 and enjoy the view from my room. 

This short-lived UK television series from 1995 is something I had never heard of, and after watching it, I consider it one of the best horror anthologies produced.  Tales from the Crypt, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits all hold their own place in what they brought to the small screen, each with episodes that are given the same reverence we would give a classic film.  What Chiller managed in five episodes left me wanting so much more; five episodes simply was not enough.

"Everywhere you’ll go you’ll hear that slavery is a thing of the past.  Don’t believe it."

When I got handed this disc to review I didn’t pay it much attention till I noticed it had Michael Caine in it.  Then after a search on IMDB well I started to get more and more excited.  Filling out the rest of cast there’s Peter Ustinov (Spartacus), Omar Sharif (Lawrence of Arabia), and William Holden (The Wild Bunch) all together in an African adventure film directed by Richard Fleischer (Tora! Tora! Tora! and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) I couldn’t believe I had never seen, much less even heard of this film. 

Who doesn’t get a little creeped out any time they see an old van cruising slowly through their neighborhood?  Now, I’m not talking about the soccer mom mini-van you see plenty of, but I’m talking about those vans from the 80s and beyond that seemed to be the vehicle of choice in films where kidnapping is involved.  Creep Van takes the idea of the sleazy van and uses it to its fullest, transforming this white metal beast into the ultimate death trap on wheels.  Unfortunately the van and the gore are pretty much all the film has going for it.