Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 12th, 2007
After going all the way back to the 20s with the last entry in this series, now Cult Epics gives us a collection from 1960s, a period that marks the beginning of the end for this kind of pornographic short. Theatrical hardcore is just around the corner, and things will never be the same. In the meantime, though, things are remarkably the same. Other than some clothing styles (in those brief moments when clothes are actually on), it’s interesting to note that there is very little to distinguish these twelve entries from those of any other decade, a point driven home by the bonus short from the 1940s, which doesn’t feel very different from the rest of the offerings. Artistically, there is not much going on here (surprise, surprise), but the star rating indicates the fact that, despite this, there is some clear archival value here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 10th, 2007
Disney Studios reinvented the afternoon cartoon when they introduced something they called Disney Afternoon. It was the brain child of studio animation head Bob Jacquemin. He saw the potential of taking famous Disney cartoons that were already beloved by millions and spinning them off into regular television cartoons. Not willing to take chances with the studio’s icon, Mickey Mouse, Michael Eisner allowed the Donald Duck universe to serve as the launching pad for this new venture. In 1987 Disney Afternoon and Duck Tales was born.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 10th, 2007
The Jungle Book was a milestone event in the history of Walt Disney’s animation history, so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that the studio would tap this source for future adventures. The Disney Afternoon series has been a chance for the studio to continue many of the beloved characters. Tailspin was just such a series. The show is set in the Jungle Book world but minus little Mowgli. Now lovable bear Baloo runs an airline service with his new little friend baby bear Kit Cloudkicker.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 9th, 2007
Erle Stanley Gardner wrote crime fiction, and while many of his 100 or so works are unknown to most of us, he created a character that has become as identified with criminal lawyers as any other in fiction. It was in these crime novels that Perry Mason first faced a courtroom. He developed a style where he would investigate these terrible crimes his clients were on trial for. He would find the real killer, and in what has become a
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 9th, 2007
It’s probably a pretty bad sign when a film’s star makes a public apology to his fans for doing the film just when it is getting released on DVD. Brad Pitt did just that, and you know what? He should be sorry. This film is an absolute mess all the way around. I think it’s supposed to be a slasher film, but there are never any good 1980’s slasher moments to be found. It’s true that at this point in his career Pitt wasn’t exactly being offered the cream of the crop. He wasn’t paling around with George Clooney and friends just yet. So perhaps it’s not Pitt but the folks who made this film who should be apologizing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 9th, 2007
Wings was one of those unusual sitcoms that depended more on the characters than the situations they were in. While the setting was a small
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 6th, 2007
Hmm. A vision of elaborate torture in washed-out tones on the cover. A three-letter title. Gee, could Gag be inspired by Saw? Perhaps, but fortunately not in any slavish way, limiting its connections to the idea of extended torture, and that’s hardly something Saw invented. As opposed to the Saw franchise’s increasingly risible plot convolutions, Gag keeps its setup simple: a pair a burglars break into a house where they first discover a man chained to a bed, and then are captured themselves by the resident nutjob. The ensuing drama is a claustrophobic one, with the main characters trapped in the torture room at the mercy of a lunatic who has a definite, if mysterious, goal.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 5th, 2007
A woman scorned is a dangerous thing. They will break you, hurt you and leave you for dead in the most unimaginable ways possible. In fact, it might be best for most men to sleep underneath their covers with a flashlight, a security system and no contact with the outside world. It probably wouldn't help. So it makes only sense that one would make films that deal with this subject. However, they had to make it believable even if a scorned woman sometimes does the unthinkable.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 5th, 2007
The name of this double-pack is slightly misleading, but that is not to suggest the film and television mini-series on offer are in any way bad. Quite the contrary, in fact. It’s just that they aren’t exactly “action” films per se. So don’t pick this up hoping for something in the vein of The Road Warrior. Instead, these are brutally intense dramas with strong action elements. Both titles are excellent.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 4th, 2007
Everybody remembers the first scary movie that gave them nightmares for days and months after they saw it. For some, it was the Exorcist and for more recent folks perhaps it was Scream or Saw. For me, it was Poltergeist. I was but seven years old and thought it would be something like E.T. Phone Home, but with swirly demons and ghosts? It was PG, how bad could it be? In the next two hours, I was treated to something that resonates with me to this very day. From the moment I heard "They're Here", I knew I would never see static on televisions the same way.
