Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 13th, 2012
People make fun of us Floridians for a variety of reasons. (Some of them don’t even involve our performance in presidential elections.) One of the most popular ways out-of-staters in the northern part of the country — as well as our Canadian readers — mock us is by chuckling whenever we dash to our closets and dust off our winter wear as soon as the weather dips below 60 degrees. So I can’t even imagine how we’d handle a full-blown Snowmageddon!
Snowmageddon is the latest disaster — in every sense of the word — courtesy of SyFy Original films, which has already brightened countless Saturday nights with tastefully-titled flicks like Stonehenge Apocalypse, Piranhaconda and Snipers vs. Vipers. (Have fun figuring out which one of those I made up. No Googling allowed!)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 12th, 2012
“Every man’s got his dark side”
This is the most fitting quote to describe the exploration of Fire with Fire. My intrigue began with the film’s title, I just love that title. Nowadays most film titles have been reduced to using the name of one of the characters or including “the” in the title; it’s refreshing to have a title that encompasses the overall plot of the film. TV director and reputable stunt coordinator David Barrett takes the director seat for his first feature film (a quick IMDB search would tell you that this step was long overdue), and given the all-star cast he managed to put together, he couldn’t have picked a better film to start with.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 10th, 2012
After watching Tyler Perry’s Awkward Attempt at Action Stardom less than a month ago, it was oddly comforting to see the multi-media superstar back in his wheelhouse. Don’t get me wrong: I like to see a performer expand his horizons. It’s just that Perry looks infinitely more comfortable in his signature character’s wig and muumuu than tracking down a serial killer and grimly saying things like “I will meet his soul at the gates of hell before I let him take a person that I love from me.”
So it’s no surprise to see the actor/writer/director’s latest in-house production truly comes to life whenever Perry throws on heavy makeup or an outrageous costume. Unfortunately, the rest of Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection isn't very good.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 8th, 2012
My favorite genre of music to make fun of is Metal (even though I like listening to it). As an example, This is Spinal Tap, the best musical mockumentary ever, we learn that metal can be freaking hilarious. That’s why when my webmaster offered me Metalocalypse Season Four on Blu-Ray, I eagerly said yes even though I had only seen the cartoon once or twice. However, once I opened it up, I realized before me was perhaps one of the funniest dark comedic cartoons I have ever seen.
This site has not really touched this series since Season One, so I will go ahead and go over the basics. Metalocalypse is about a band, possibly the world’s greatest death metal band, Dethklok. This band has become so successful that they are considered the seventh largest economy in the world. Dethklok consists of five members: Nathan Explosion (lead singer), Skwisgaar Skwigelf(lead guitar), Toki Wartooth (rhythm guitarist), Pickles (drummer) and William Murderface (bassist).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 4th, 2012
“Quirky, messy women whose problems only make them endearing are not real.”
On the surface, Ruby Sparks could be mistaken for the Manic Pixie Dream Girl biopic no one asked for. In case you’re not familiar with this particular cinematic archetype, MPDG derisively describes any unabashedly artsy, quirky young female character that inevitably brightens the life of a brooding, young male protagonist. However, the quote at the start of this review only hints at the fact that this whimsical romantic comedy isn’t afraid to stare down the ugly side of relationships.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 31st, 2012
"Fairlake, West Virginia, established in 1814. The entire population disappeared in 1817. To this day nobody knows what happened to them."
I know what you're thinking. When I look at a direct-to-video horror series and see a number 5 next to the name, it's usually time to roll my eyes and reluctantly place the disc in my Blu-ray player so that I can warn you guys just how bad it really is. But we're not talking about just any horror title. We're talking about the Wrong Turn franchise, which has actually gotten better since it went into sequel-hell. We're also talking about a director in Declan O'Brien who knows that his job isn't to create the next museum piece of art. He doesn't care one bit if he's inspired conversations about form and style. He's a horror film fan himself who has only one goal in mind each time he takes over a project: let me entertain you. And as hard as you might not want to believe it, Wrong Turn 5 does just that. You will be entertained.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 30th, 2012
Whether you’re into their music or not, The Doors: Live at the Bowl ’68 gives fans a chance to see a band (and a rock icon) at the height of their powers. Admittedly, The Doors didn’t have the longest shelf life — the band was formed in 1965, released their self-titled debut album in 1967, and frontman Jim Morrison was found dead in a Paris apartment in 1971 — but their impact can be felt to this day. Of course, when I say the band was at the height of their powers, you should understand that means there’s a pretty good chance Morrison was on acid.
That’s not irresponsible guesswork on my part; drummer John Densmore makes the claim himself in one of the behind-the-scenes documentaries on this disc. (For what it’s worth, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger pass up the chance to confirm Densmore’s statement.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 30th, 2012
"Somewhere in the valley, there is a woman living in a basement. She's actually amassing followers. These people believe that she will actually lead them to salvation, or whatever. And yes, she's dangerous - but we have to see this thing through. All the way."
When The Sound Of My Voice opens you really don't know what to expect. We watch a group of people acting almost as though they have been taken hostage. They are given drab clothes to wear and ordered to clean themselves very thoroughly. They are then bound and hooded and placed into a van for transport to where? Soon we discover that these people have not been abducted at all. They have done these things willingly so that they may be brought into the presence of Maggie (Marling) who claims to be from the year 2054. Her disciples gather around her in a circle as she delivers her enigmatic teachings. Then again, perhaps they are captives after all, but not in the manner you might expect. They are obviously captivated by Maggie's personality, and we soon discover that they fear banishment from her side more than anything else. They are there for enlightenment, of sorts. The earlier routine has been put in place because Maggie is apparently allergic to our time and is dying. She must maintain a germ-free environment at all costs. She's more than a religious leader. She's a martyr who just hasn't died yet. Yet her subjects would gladly die for her.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 23rd, 2012
The best thing about Gone in 60 Seconds is that the film knows exactly what it is. Just take a look at the breathless blurbs on the Blu-ray case for the latest release. “Over 500 crashes!” “93 cars wrecked in the 40-minute car chase!” No one involved with this movie thought they were making an intimate character piece. I mean the top-billed star is “Eleanor.” Did I mention that Eleanor is a 1973 Ford Mustang?
The plot is little more than a necessary nuisance before the movie’s show-stopping climax, but here we go anyway. Maindrian Pace (what a name!) is an insurance investigator who moonlights as the leader of a car thieving ring. Since Pace is the hero of our story, he only steals cars from people who are insured and subsequently compensated for the trouble he’s caused them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 23rd, 2012
“A dragon. A dragon. You bet we saw a dragon. So big and brave he came to save a village in distress. He kept the ship from crashing when he heard the SOS. He faced a group of villains and he fought them with success…”
When Walt Disney Studios released Mary Poppins, the entertainment world was turned on its ears. The integration of live action footage with animation had never been done with such success before. The studio that nearly singlehandedly perfected modern methods of animation was also the studio that learned how to combine it almost seamlessly with real breathing actors. With the release of Pete’s Dragon many years later, audiences couldn’t wait for a peek at how far Disney had perfected the process in those years. While as children we got a big kick out of Pete’s Dragon, anyone looking for the latest in integration technology was in for a dragon-sized disappointment. The creature effects bore no resemblance whatsoever to that earlier technique. The animation itself was crude, by Disney standards at least, and never, not for a second, appeared as if it existed in the same place as the rest of the film. The beast’s green color would fluctuate in hue as well as brightness. There were many obvious mismatches where the two media connected. Even many of the actors’ sightlines were far off the mark. Walt Disney Studios took several steps backwards with the 1977 release of Pete’s Dragon.
