Disc Type

Now this was an interesting one for me. Usually when I watch a movie I like to look for uniqueness, what sets it apart from the thousands of films (I’m pretty sure that’s accurate) I have seen in my lifetime. In the case of As Night Comes, I didn’t particularly find it unique, but there was something that I just liked about it. Given the choice, there are aspects I would change to provide a more engaging experience; however, as is, the story is still worth a watch. Well, to start off, I kind of got the wrong impression of the film; I was expecting a fantasy drama, possibly a film about vampires. Not the film’s fault, so I accept the blame on that score; however, if you watch it, I’m pretty sure you would likely get the same vibe I did. What led me to that impression was the antagonist Ricky; he is not a very big guy, but he is treated in a fashion that displays that he is feared by quite a few. The reason for that is explained a bit later, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I was not fond of the way the film opened; we are just dropped right in the middle of a conflict between Ricky and a secondary character (who serves no real purpose; the film would have likely been the same without him). It would have been helpful to start off with a different scenario, somewhere I could identify the characters and their overall roles in the story, because it is difficult to do that from this opening. At this point, it is not even possible to truly determine that Ricky is the antagonist; I mean, yes, it is clear from the secondary character that Ricky and his friends’ presence is not welcome, but the only real conclusion you can draw from that is that this group are outsiders. Possibly a less confrontational opening would have made things slightly easier.

To talk about the acting aspect, the actor chosen wouldn’t have been my first choice. It’s not that he did a bad job; he had a slight presence to him; however, his look just didn’t fit the character he was portraying, especially during the opening. I did warm to the character as the film progressed, and I began to see his talent, especially during the climax of the film between Ricky and Sean. To touch on the character of Sean, the actor does an adequate job of illustrating how misguided his character is and being torn between his affiliation with the group that essentially saved him and his mother (if you want to know how, you’re going to have to watch the movie, I’m afraid) and the call of fitting into the social hierarchy that is high school. When it comes to the acting, these are the only two characters worth mentioning, as everyone else is clearly secondary and truth be told one-dimensional. The dynamic between Sean and Ricky is the best part of the acting aspect; Sean attempts to act as the group’s moral conscience during their escapades of petty crime and vandalism; however, he is very timid and lacks the assertive personality needed to be effective in that position. Later on we learn the reason for his personality, but for now you’ll just have to take my word for it.

As a member of the Upcomingdiscs family, it probably isn’t a surprise that I am a fan of David Hewlett. Yes, Dr. Rodney McKay is a role we are most familiar with, but my appreciation of the good doctor goes a little deeper than the Stargate universe. I first became a fan of David Hewlett after watching him in Vincenzo Natali’s low-budget feature Cube (1997) and began looking to other films in which he was featured, such as Pin (1988) and Nothing (2003). His body of work as an actor goes much deeper than these films, but they are largely responsible for my fandom. With the release of his directorial debut A Dog’s Breakfast in 2007, David Hewlett graced us with a dark comedy that adequately demonstrated his knowledge of filmmaking. Seven years later, he tackles the sci-fi/horror genres with Debug.

The film follows criminal computer hackers and their supervisor, who are assigned to debug a neglected prison ship. Upon their arrival, we learn of a tension between squad members Mel (Kerr Hewitt) and Kaida (Jeananne Goossen) who quarrel over being squad leader. Ultimately their supervisor, Capra (Adrian Holmes), delegates this position to Mel, and the crew begins their mission. Unbeknownst to the team, the ship’s AI (Jason Momoa) has taken over the ship by killing all the prisoners, absorbing their life forces. Soon the squad realizes that their debugging mission’s stakes have risen from finally returning home, to leaving the ship alive.

I’m going to go on record and say that it is highly likely that I do not fit into the target audience for this film. OK, now that we got that out of the way, I feel perfectly comfortable stating that I don’t believe that even the target audience will really enjoy American Bad Boy. I just knew that when Magic Mike was released that we broke the dam; now everywhere I turn there is a movie about male strippers. Now, I’m not a prude, but when it comes to this movie, it is nothing more than a shiny penny; the target audience is expected to be dazzled by the muscular bodies rather than the story itself or lack thereof.

OK, we start with a decent guy, down on this luck. He aspires to earn a record deal with his music and share his voice with the world. Problem is he is indebted to a shady club owner (Katt Williams) who makes him dance at his club to pay off his obscene debt.OK, let’s take a moment right here. A guy working at strip club dreaming of something better, does that sound vaguely familiar to anyone? Oh, come on, I haven’t even seen the movie and it sounds familiar. Pressing on, not only is this guy leading a double life, in his everyday life he is the son of a pastor who, if he discovered what his son did with his nights, would likely bring down a bit of fire and brimstone himself.

As one who loathes sports, ESPECIALLY golf, I thought I’d rather put hot pokers in my eyes than watch the golf and gambling independent film, The Squeeze. However, to my surprise, it wasn’t bad - it wasn’t great- and although the ending teed me off for not providing an adequate resolution, I also didn’t fast forward. The golf scenes were realistically boring to me, so I guess golf fans would love this, but the script needs work. The Squeeze tells the allegedly “based on true story” of Augie (Jeremy Sumpter), a cute, small-town kid who comes from a family where the patriarch of the family is an alcoholic. The dad beats the mom, and based on the reaction of the little sister, probably the kids too. Augie wants to escape that life and rescue his mom and sister by winning the US Open. After a local tournament, he is interviewed on the radio and credits his amazing success to hard work, the Almighty, and talent. Augie spends his days chilling with two friends in the small town, caddying and excelling at the game. Actor Jeremy Sumpter, whom I loved in Peter Pan, deserves props for being as natural as he was with a script that felt like an after-school special.

Riverboat, a slimy arrogant gambler and his wife, hear of his success on the radio and make a beeline to find Augie and their next con. A high five to Terry Jastrow’s casting director for casting Christopher McDonald (who got his start in Thelma and Louise in early 90s) as Riverboat, the devil always in an elegant suit and hat, oozing charm and an irritating Southern accent, who lures the innocent Augie into the illegal yet profitable business of golf for money. McDonald, well known for portraying villainous and/or ultra-obnoxious characters, filled Riverboat’s shiny shoes perfectly, dangling the forbidden fruit in front of Augie, luring him into a dangerous life.

The premise here is dirt simple. They've taken the buddy cop idea and found a way to work in the forensics science fad and deliver a procedural with a few twists. Angie Harmon plays Detective Rizzoli. She's wanted to be a cop all of her life and is living the dream working with a special unit out of Boston PD. Her best friend in life happens to be Dr. Maura Isles, who is the Chief Medical Examiner for the unit and is played by Sasha Alexander. These are the kind of friends who finish each other's sentences and share a lot of history together. That's not to say they are at all alike. 

Rizzoli is a relative free spirit. She doesn't let a lot of things get her down and doesn't take things outside of the job very seriously. But this season she has to deal with severe loss. She ends up having a miscarriage, and the show loses one of its cast members as Detective Cross is killed and Lee Thomas Young leaves the series.

by Dustin P. Anderson

At the end of a long sentence, a notorious inmate, Viktor Khadem, is sent to a minimum-security prison where he works until he can be rehabilitated to join society. His handler, Matt Perry, sees a certain skill for taking care of birds within Viktor, and decides to start a new program for rehabilitating inmates. He puts Viktor in charge of two other prisoners tasked with caring for the injured birds of prey until they are well enough to fly, and hunt on their own. The guards and warden of the jail believe the program is dangerous and will only invite more trouble. A gang of the prison’s thugs harasses the group as they are jealous of their position and makes life even more difficult for them as they try to heal. Through this adversity the three inmates start to form a bond with the birds they are watching and try to let the effect of caring for them wash the violence from their past out of their mind.