Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 31st, 2015
"We're here."
I must start this review by admitting that I did not see 2008's The Haunting of Molly Hartley. In spite of the fact that very few people did actually see that film, I was surprised to find that a sequel would show up seven years later just in time for the Halloween private shock-fests and schlock nights. If you happen to be a fan of the original film, that doesn't mean you should get too excited by the sequel. There is little to tie these films together. Steven R. Monroe takes over the director's chair from Mickey Liddell. Sarah Lind now plays Molly, who was played by Haley Bennett in the first film. None of the original writers remain. While the title character remains, I suspect the thread that actually connects these two films wouldn't support the weight of a fruit fly. Therefore I intend to review this film on its own merits with no more reflections upon what once was back in the salad days of 2008.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 28th, 2015
"Dark forces are rising. The frequency of possession is increasing all over the world."
Must be Global Warming...check that ,Climate Change. It seems the whole warming thing wasn't exactly working out for these guys. So like a business with a bad reputation you change the name and pretend that's what it's been like all along. There is an alarming increase in the frequency of movie possessions all over the world. But it's not Global Warming or Climate Change that's to blame. Hell, it isn't even Bush's fault. It's got to do with the color green. Devil possession has been a popular horror sub-genre since The Exorcist took the world by storm in 1973. Filmmakers are chasing that success, and filmgoers are hoping to see something that special again. It's not going to happen. No film has ever come within miles of hitting us like The Exorcist did over 40 years ago. We all keep chasing that elusive high, but we'll never see its likes again. Now, that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun while we're looking.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 27th, 2015
Between Judgment Day, zombie apocalypses, and various other doomsday scenarios, we've gotten a pretty good look at what the end of the world is supposed to look like. One of the most striking things about Z for Zachariah — an otherwise straightforward and deliberate drama that takes its story from a 1974 novel of the same name by Robert C. O'Brien — is that, for the most part, the end of the world looks an awful lot like paradise.
In fact, the biggest visual clues that this is even a post-apocalyptic story occur within the first 10 minutes or so. That's when we're introduced to a slight, shapeless figure in a makeshift decontamination suit pushing a cart through a barren, abandoned town. We eventually find out her name is Ann Burden (Margot Robbie), and she is presumably the only survivor of an unspecified disaster that has wiped out most of civilization. Ann survives on her family's farmland, which is uniquely (and miraculously) located in a place that shields her from radiation. She also has plenty of fresh water at her disposal. One day, Ann is shocked to find another survivor in a radiation suit.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 22nd, 2015
“If I didn’t have movies, life would be pretty boring.”
That statement obviously applies to those of us who spend an inordinate amount of time watching and thinking about movies. (If you’re reading this, chances are you visit this site with some regularity, so I feel good about including you in that group.) However, the notion that movies serve as a source of escape — in every sense of the word — is remarkably expressed in the captivating, stranger-than-fiction tale of the Angulo family. Unfortunately, it’s pretty apparent that The Wolfpack — a vague, shapeless documentary — doesn’t give us the full story.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 21st, 2015
“Whatever happened to good old-fashioned, run-of-the-mill sex?”
On its surface, The Little Death looks and sounds like the glossy, crowd-pleasing romantic comedies Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail) used to make. But it becomes apparent rather quickly that no one in this funny, insightful, uneven Australian comedy is having “run-of-the-mill sex.” The movie’s jazzy, jukebox-y score also made me occasionally think of Woody Allen films, which is fitting because Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) easily could’ve been an alternate title for The Little Death.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 20th, 2015
“This is the beginning of something, not the end.”
There weren’t any Lost-style mysteries to be resolved here. And unlike The Sopranos or Breaking Bad, this particular series never really hinged on whether the lead character lived or died. (Although a moment in Ep. 5/“Lost Horizon” seems to nod toward fan speculation that Don Draper would take a tumble similar to the silhouette from the show’s iconic opening credits.) Instead, the final season of Mad Men — more than any other all-time great show I can remember — is directly about the end of things.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 17th, 2015
Oh Hell No! is the cheeky subtitle for the latest entry in SyFy's made-for-TV Twitter Sharknado franchise. Coincidentally, “Oh hell no!” was also the response the creators of the first film got from everyone they approached about starring in it a few years ago. Flash forward to 2015, and things have changed dramatically. Now Sharknado auteur Anthony C. Ferrante needs a stick to beat away the washed-up actors, reality stars, and politicians(?!) angling to serve as chum for some comically unconvincing sharks.
“Why do you always have to be a hero?”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 16th, 2015
“People have short attention spans. And there’s always another murder.”
Barely a year after Gone Girl became a mid-range blockbuster, we're already getting our second big-screen adaptation of a Gillian Flynn novel. To be fair, both Gone Girl and Dark Places went into production around the same time in the fall of 2013. But that just means someone anticipated that a single shot of Flynn's twisted brand of Midwest murder/mystery mayhem wouldn't be enough to satisfy movie audiences.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 8th, 2015
"Listen, my friend. This is going to be very hard to comprehend, but none of what you are seeing is real."
Of course it's not real. It's not really that hard to comprehend at all. This is an animated show, after all. And the figures look like cut-out pieces of construction paper. Of course, we're talking about South Park. What is hard to comprehend, however, is that we're talking about the 18th season of South Park. Few television shows last this long, and only The Simpsons has been around longer when it comes to scripted animated shows running today. That's rare air, indeed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 7th, 2015
The last decade hasn’t been too kind to Al Pacino. The man is only one of our greatest living actors, but he’s mostly been stuck appearing in forgettable tripe (88 Minutes) or out-and-out atrocities (Jack and Jill) for the last 10 years. So it’s easy to overlook the fact that Pacino is quietly doing really good work again. I say “quietly” because the actor has recently eschewed the “hoo-ah!” tics that turned him into a caricature. This affecting, engaged, and more subdued version of Pacino can be seen in Danny Collins, and he is also front-and-center in Manglehorn, a whimsical, uneven drama that is grounded by its star’s strong work.
Pacino plays A.J. Manglehorn, a shabby, solitary locksmith whose biggest personal connection is with his beloved cat Fanny. As we watch Manglehorn shuffle through each day — which includes hopping in his rickety van to help clients who have locked themselves out of various places — his life starts to come into focus.
