Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 17th, 2021
"There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie."
No one knew those rules better than Wes Craven. He helped to create them, after all. Starting in 1972 with the cult favorite The Last House On The Left, he followed that just two years later with The Hills Have Eyes, which led to a sequel. But it wasn't until a decade later that he would deliver his masterpiece and most successful franchise, Nightmare On Elm Street. Wes Craven introduced the world to Freddy Kruger, and our dreams have never been quite the same since. While others attempted to reproduce the same results with many sequels, it was Craven himself who put Freddy to bed with New Nightmare exactly 10 years after his birth.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 17th, 2021
From Bride of Frankenstein to Night of the Living Dead and even Godzilla, horror has been a platform filmmakers have used for decades to handle larger societal issues. In 1992 when the first Candyman released, it was a film that tackled issues of class and race, but it did so in a manner that didn’t feel forced, and in doing so it added an extra level to what I’d consider one of the best horror films of the 90’s. I love the story of Candyman, and the performance Tony Todd gave this tragic character was an equal blend of horror, menace, and sympathy. The way the first film builds its impending doom for Helen Lyle has rarely been matched in films since. Watching as her life crumbles around her up until the moment she finally surrenders herself to Candyman and accepts her awful fate is an impactful moment. The sequels just never lived up to the first film, and it’s a shame,
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 11th, 2021
"My name is Nicky Shen, and this has been my home for three years. A Shaolin monastery in Yunnan Province, China. My mom sent me on a cultural tour of China. Turned out, it was really a matchmaking tour to land me a Chinese husband. Just one of the many ways my mom tried to control my destiny. I panicked. I ran. That was the first time anyone told me I had a choice in anything. I was only planning to spend the night. But then I saw something that I knew I wanted to be a part of. These women were warriors. And so I stayed. Pei-Ling became my Shifu, my mentor."
The new Kung Fu series at the CW is not really anything like the 1970's show that starred David Carradine. And while the credits claim to be based on that show, they really do not have anything in common. This show is not a period piece but exists in current day San Francisco. The titular character is no longer a middle-aged quiet hero or a guy. Instead we have law school drop-out Nicky Shen, a twenty-something woman who doesn't quite have a handle on who she is.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 11th, 2021
"My name is Harris K. Telemacher. I live in Los Angeles, and I've had seven heart attacks. All imagined. That is to say, I was deeply unhappy, but I didn't know it because I was so happy all of the time."
Steve Martin plays a wacky TV weatherman who develops a close friendship with an electronic freeway sign in the sleeper hit comedy L.A. Story. I found the critically acclaimed film to lack hilarity, but it does get marks for inventiveness. Martin is enjoyable in most anything he’s in, even if the material is not so great. L.A. Story is one such example of an actor rising above said material. Most of the over-the-top silliness misses the mark, and Marilu Henner has little more to do than play the cliché of snobbish socialite. The true love of the Martin character’s life – played by Victoria Tennant – is so bland vanilla I would have much rather seen him end up with his free-spirited squeeze toy (Sarah Jessica Parker), though any such relationship would be doomed to fail. At least there would be some excitement.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 9th, 2021
"You're going on a journey. A journey through memory. Your destination? A place and time you've been before. To reach it, all you have to do is follow my voice."
So, an interesting factoid that I learned about the film’s director Lisa Joy: she is the sister-in-law of director Christopher Nolan. This doesn’t really add anything to the review, just an interesting fact that I thought I’d share. Then again, I do remember thinking when the film first opened up that it felt very shades-of-Nolan. Not to say that Nolan had any influence over the film, but just the idea of a movie based off a construct is very much in his wheelhouse. Memory is the construct that is explored in this film, and I must admit that the addictive nature with which the film portrays this construct did have some appeal;
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 5th, 2021
Well, this is an interesting plot twist. From antagonist to protagonist. When we last saw Gulf War veteran Norman Nordstrom, he was recovering in the hospital from a gunshot wound, having just spent the previous night protecting his home against intruders. Before you start painting him with a hero brush, it's worth mentioning that Norman isn’t exactly squeaky clean, given that he was holding a woman hostage after artificially inseminating her to provide with a child to replace the one that said woman accidently killed. It’s also worth mentioning that he also attempted to impregnate one of the home invaders following the inadvertent death of the woman carrying his child. The first Don’t Breathe was an interesting and unique horror thriller film that premiered at South by Southwest festival back in 2016 before going on to become a theatrical commercial success.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 5th, 2021
If you were a child in the 1960's or 1970's, you were around at the golden age of the Christmas television special. We just celebrated the 50th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas, and there were a ton of holiday charms that came and went each year. But there were a handful that became classics and found their way to the airwaves every year in December. Of course, A Charlie Brown Christmas became one of these, and it is indeed among the best. It was not the only special to become beloved by generations of viewers. Now Dreamworks has brought together seven of the most memorable of these classics. This was a wonderful trip down memory lane for me, as it will be for millions of children of all ages who looked forward to these event broadcasts each and every year. Now you can watch them whenever you want. And they might not be just for Christmas anymore.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 1st, 2021
Superman: The Animated Series was partly made in the same fashion as the massively popular Batman: The Animated Series. The tone was a little more serious, and the stakes were raised in order to create a sense that Superman might just have met his match. It was first produced in 1996 and made 54 episodes through the year 2000. The show received high praise for raising the bar but at the same time keeping what was important to the mythos of Superman. In fact, it even received a nomination for an Emmy. Besides Smallville, this probably stands out as the best television adaption of the one known as Superman, the Last Son of Krypton and hero to the planet Earth (and beyond).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 29th, 2021
It doesn’t seem all that long ago that Disney/ Marvel decided to fire James Gunn over a couple of tweets and Warner Brothers decided to scoop up the talented director to helm a reboot of The Suicide Squad. Personally, I feel this was the best move WB has done with their DC film projects since the Christopher Nolan Batman films. I’ll come out and say it; I haven’t been a fan of the DC cinematic universe. Wonder Woman and Shazam were decent, but they simply don’t hold up to what Marvel has been able to produce. While I’m fine with attempting to tell more mature storylines and appeal to an older audience, my biggest problem with the DC films is that they just weren’t fun. (Shazam is perhaps the only exception to this.) I’m not part of the “Release the Snyder cut” crowd; instead I just want to see a comic book film that can be entertaining and not take itself too seriously, and that brings me back to James Gunn. I’m a fan of Gunn. I absolutely adore what he’s done with The Guardians of the Galaxy. Those are both in my top five of the Marvel films, because I love how he handles the group of misfit heroes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 29th, 2021
I really liked the film, but I don’t expect that it will be the savior that revitalizes the franchise. Without question it is the best of the three films that were adapted from the popular toy line, but even so I just didn’t find it compelling enough to serve as the launch point for a franchise reboot. I just don’t think it’s in the cards for G.I. Joe to become a movie powerhouse. Snake Eyes is without question one of the most popular characters from the television incarnation, and he was also the biggest draw for the film adaptation as well. Anticipation for a live-action telling of his origins has been in the works for years, with many hoping to see Ray Park, who played the character in the first two films (though we never see his face), reprise the role. However, much time passed between G.I. Joe Retaliation and this film, making that an impossibility.
