Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2017
"Green Acres is the place to be..."
It was 1965, and CBS was enjoying the fruits of the era's fascination with rural sit-coms. Paul Henning was on a roll as a series creator. It started with The Beverly Hillbillies in 1962, where we were all invited to sit a spell with the Clampetts, a rural family who discovered oil on their property and ended up finding out that California was the place they oughta be, more specifically Beverly Hills, complete with "cement ponds" and movie stars. The show was such a success that Henning spun it off into Petticoat Junction a year later. The show covered the happenings at the Shady Rest Hotel which happened to be located at a water stop on the C. & F.W. Railroad in the hick town of Hooterville. Again Henning hit comedy gold. Two years later, Hooterville would be the location for Green Acres, a kind of reverse Beverly Hillbillies. This time a couple from a penthouse apartment in New York City would come to Hooterville and replay the fish-out-of-water routine just as The Beverly Hillbillies had done three years earlier. Green Acres would last until 1971, when all three shows would become victims of the CBS Rural Purge. Under pressure from sponsors who were afraid of losing their urbanite customers, all of these shows were axed. One news reporter at the time reported that "CBS cancelled everything with a tree, including Lassie."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 24th, 2017
For a gritty historical epic to get the green light these days, it has to have some sort of easy-to-understand hook. (“Hey, it's sexy King Arthur!”) And it seems like enough people complained about the prevalence of PG-13 action movies that it led to the current boom of R-rated sensations — like Deadpool and the John Wick flicks — that gleefully go to extremes. There is absolutely nothing gleeful about Pilgrimage, and the movie doesn't seem all that interested in hooking the masses (significant portions of the film are in French, Irish, and Latin). In other words, the most striking and impressive thing about Pilgrimage is also what can make it feel like somewhat of a slog: this movie is dead serious.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 23rd, 2017
Director James Whale and horror icon Boris Karloff teamed up for one of the most memorable horror films ever made when they filmed Universal's atmospheric classic Frankenstein in 1931. Just four years later they reunited for one of Hollywood's best sequels in Bride Of Frankenstein. Lost in these legendary tag-team efforts, and nestled nicely between the two films, one finds 1932's The Old Dark House. That film launched a horror sub-genre that continues to this very day: the Haunted House movie. The film also stared future Titanic survivor Gloria Stuart. It was one of the first films the actress ever made when her career started that very same year.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on October 23rd, 2017
“Welcome! Everything is fine.”
One of my favorite bits from the dearly departed Inside the Actors Studio involved host James Lipton administering a questionnaire that concluded with "If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?" It's a momentous question that often drew a humorous response. The Good Place opens with its main character waking up in the afterlife and being greeted with bright green lettering that says "Welcome! Everything is fine." It's a reassuring sentiment to be sure, but let's be clear: there is nothing just "fine" about The Good Place. This sharp, hilarious, and goodhearted fantasy/comedy is spectacular!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 19th, 2017
When it comes to hearing the name Loch Ness, just about everyone will think about the giant lake where “Nessie” the mythical monster inhabits. Whether you are a believer or not thousands converge to the Scottish Highlands location in hopes to be one of the lucky ones to catch a peak of the elusive beast. But the Loch Ness I am talking about is a beast of a whole other ilk. Thought the TV series does take place in a small tourist town that thrives on the legend that haunts the cold water, the series instead is about a serial killer that has been unleashed upon the town and given its residents something more to fear other than a giant monster that roams the lake.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on October 19th, 2017
The subgenre of horror film that entails a group of friends, coworkers, or even strangers, being trapped in an area that they must escape from might be a tired cliché, but it is a tremendous guilty pleasure of mine. Especially the films where the characters willingly or forcefully band together to discover why they have been placed there in the first place, or how they can use their combined strengths to find the exit. Whether their strengths or their histories are coincidental (as is the case with Cube, 1997) or if they are gathered for a very specific mission of revenge (9 Dead, 2010), these films play with narrative connections in such a way that is irresistible to me.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on October 19th, 2017
“How many more people will you sacrifice?”
When it premiered in 2013, Reign was an effective bit of counterprogramming for the CW, which continues to be ruled by superheroes, vampires, and other Supernatural beings. Even as Reign appalled historians, the series quickly established itself as a campy and compulsively watchable take on the saga of Mary, Queen of Scots. Unfortunately as the show progressed through Mary’s tragic life, Reign inevitably lost some key players. The result is a show that got more convoluted and less interesting as it limped toward its fourth and final season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 18th, 2017
It’s hard to believe it was way back in 1992 when Buffy the Vampire Slayer was first introduced to audiences. It was a title I had missed in the theaters, but I remember picking it up at our local mom-and-pop video store. With the title being what it was, to go in expecting more than a cheesy horror comedy filled with stakes, fangs, and witty dialog would be on the viewer. I wasn’t a huge fan of the film when I first saw it. I sort of felt like it was a film that was trying to be Fright Night, but let’s face it, there are very few vampire films that are as cool. It’s been over two decades since I last visited the film; how does it hold up? Well, to be honest, it’s grown on me quite a bit.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 18th, 2017
- “You know what they say...the house always wins.”
- “What if we were the house?”
The House, a funny and oddly violent comedy starring Saturday Night Live alums Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler, has a great premise. Whereas most movies road trip their way to Sin City in order to cut loose, The House is about what happens when you import the glitz and glamor (and seediness) of Vegas into suburbia. The bad news is the filmmakers here don’t do much to develop their killer concept. The good news is The House is chock full of talented improvisers eager to pick up the slack.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by John Delia on October 16th, 2017
If you are just starting out your horror month, then you may want to make this terror film your first, as it has all the elements of a gruesome, ghoulish nightmare that you’ll remember beyond the big “H” day. A weird name for a film, Red Christmas certainly wreaks havoc on that holiday. Choosing Christmas for the film setting turns out the best way to get this family together so the goings could get bloody. Now on Blu-ray and DVD, it’s a good choice for your opening season fright party.
