Posts by Brent Lorentson

Like many others I love a good gangster film.  Not every film has to be epic like Once Upon a Time in America or The Godfather; the simple ones are just as good like Snatch and Sexy Beast.  In fact there are so many good gangster films out there I could almost argue is there really a need for any more entries into an already bloated genre?  Okay, silly question, because we’ll always want more of a good thing, but unfortunately with the good we have to take the bad.

Whether it comes in the form of a mid-life crisis or simply a crisis comes along and changes your life, at some point we all reach a moment in our lives where we reflect on the choices we’ve made for better or worse.  Not every decision we make is one we’ll be proud of, whether it concerns those we have relationships with or choices we make in our careers.  With age people have been known to act out to try and recapture their youth, whether it is in the form of a sports car or perhaps dating someone much younger than our friends and family would find suitable

What do you get when you mix Jackass with stunt master Evil Knievel?  Well, you end up with the Nitro Circus.  This group of guys (and one girl) is made up from a variety of extreme sports athletes and guys that simply enjoy pushing the limits of safety and sanity all for the sake of the ultimate adrenaline rush.  Is this something that really needed to be a movie?  Does anyone really want to see grown men (and one woman) doing bike jumps 400 feet in the air?  Hell yeah we do!

When a movie claims to be based on a true story, I tend to take this with a grain of salt.  In some form or another, any movie can have some basis in reality; the writer simply puts their own spin on it.  With a movie like The Cottage, I’m not too sure what part is supposed to be the true story.  Is it the creepy tenant that kills anyone who gets in his way?  Or perhaps it is the fact that the creepy killer stalks families to try and have a relationship with their young daughter?

When you’re the son of an iconic director, it can’t be helped that viewers will tend to expect a little more out of you.  Case in point with Sean Stone (son of Oliver Stone); expectations were in place, especially since dad actually plays a role in the film.  With Greystone Park , it would be safe to assume Stone was looking to remove himself far from his father’s shadow and show he has a vision all his own.  The problem is we get a film that is a bit hit-or-miss throughout.

The collection of episodes found here are supposed to be the rare and unedited recordings from the public access show Dr. Steve Brule once filmed.  Of course the show is actually a fake one, but for those who have channel-surfed late at night I’m sure at some point the channel has stopped on a public access program.  It was supposed to be a forum where anyone could go in and after some training on equipment be able to film their own program.  Some would have the standard one show where the host would take random phone calls while discussing a variety of topics.  In the case of Dr. Steve Brule (John C. Reilly) he tried to produce his own ‘on the town’ news program.

Before Hollywood became obsessed with filming unnecessary remakes, throughout the 80’s and 90’s Hollywood was inspired to fill the multiplexes and video stores with as many horror sequels they could manage to churn out.  Sure, I have a deep seeded obsession with Friday the 13th and the Nightmare on Elm Street franchises, but there are other franchises out there that were blessed with a slew of sequels when the originals, though they hold a soft spot in my horror-drenched heart, just didn’t need to continue the story; it was good as it was and should have been left that way.  And that’s how I feel especially about Basket Case.