Disc Type

This movie is not on my rewatch list for a number of reasons; however, it all stems from one central reason: the delivery. On the surface, I buy the premise for this movie; a girl attracts an evil spirit and starts to feel like she losing her mind. Her parents don’t believe her, her siblings don’t either, or her friends. The film even provided backstory hint alluding to the reason why the parents are overprotective due to a previous stalker situation that the family still hasn’t gotten over. Nicely done on that score; however, a lot of the allure is lost simply because of the way the information is provided.

At first blush, I took this to be a suspense-themed film; trouble is the story does a poor job at building suspense. First thing I would have change is the score; to truly build suspense you need an eerie score that sets the mood for the audience. Now, I understand that money is a factor, but you have to pay for quality to achieve your goal.

The film Mobilize (previously titled Disconnect) is about the potential dangers of cell phones. People have joked about it for years. The AMC series Better Call Saul had a major plot device about a character's aversion to any electronic radiation. The character wound up wearing thermal blankets, not going outside, deactivating electricity in the home, and having all electronic units being stored in an outside mailbox. The show never really explained the source of the character's problem, but it seemed to imply that it was a mental phobia. In fact, there are many people who are showing mental effects such as increased agitation and ADHD. A far more serious problem seems to be a causative effect for brain tumors.

There have also been cases where depending where the phone is normally kept (clipped on a bra or in a pants pocket) of leading to breast cancers and lower sperm counts. The cell phone industry has been actively trying to manage any information regarding the possible harmful effects of radiation from cell towers and cell phones. They have been pretty successful. The simple fact is that there have not been a significant number of independent studies. The studies that have been conducted have been conflicting based on whether or not they have been industry-funded. It is very clear that there might be a problem. The issue is long term effects, and it is just now that people who have been using cell phones heavily for 20 years or more are having problems. Then there is the issue of children using them at young ages and possibly for their entire lifetimes. There are clearly an increasing number of cases of cancers that have been argued are directly related to cell phone use. The U.S. wireless industry is in the range of $200 billion. They have the resources to lobby everyone in the media and politics.

Most of us are used to seeing Hollywood movies. That often bleeds over to British and Australian films, but not everyone wants to see films with subtitles. Still, many foreign films have become popular from France, Spain, Japan, Italy, China, India, Denmark, South Africa and Mexico. Obviously almost every country in the world produces films, but most of us never see them. The sheer abundance of films produced in any given year is mind-boggling. Who sees them all? To some degree, films from one part of the world are mostly watched by people from the same place. Turkish films are mostly watched by Turks. 

Ships (Ferahfeza) is a Turkish  film directed by Elif Refig. The story is fairly strange and slow-moving. It takes place in the port district of Kadikoy in the city of Istanbul. Everything about the movie is dull and sad, including the location. Everything about the place begs to be left behind and escaped from. That is what the main character wants to do.

There are few things that are more bothersome than cheap marketing gimmicks. Private Number is no exception. While sites like IMDb have Tom Sizemore and Judd Nelson as the highest-billed actors in the film, the cover of this DVD is very misleading. Perhaps part of the deal for Nelson and Sizemore was to be featured primarily on the cover, but I really doubt that is the case. The relationship of the DVD’s cover to the film itself feels like producers that have little faith in their project. So instead of promoting the interesting concepts of the film on its cover, they plaster the familiar faces of Nelson and Sizemore onto it, in hopes of making a few extra bucks. So if you are going to watch this movie for those actors, save yourself the trouble: they have a total screen time of 8 minutes. 

Private Number is a peek into the life of Michael Lane (Hal Ozsan), a writer struggling with sobriety and writer’s block after the success of his first book. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Soon he and his wife (Nicholle Tom) begin receiving strange phone calls at early hours in the morning from a private number, all with the same message: “Remember me?” When bringing the issue up to Sheriff Stance (Judd Nelson) doesn’t resolve it, Michael takes matters into his own hands. As the phone calls persist, Michael begins to hallucinate, making his investigation spiral out of control.

by Dustin P. Anderson

The death of the youngest brother in the Burwood family brings together all members in an attempt to see that their brother is laid to rest... OK, here’s the thing. I could tell you all the synopsis as a lead up to this movie review, but I am pretty sure that everyone reading this has seen a movie with a similar synopsis. This movie is basically Sweet Home Alabama, This is Where I Leave You, The Royal Tenenbaums, or many others. It’s been done dozens of times over, and I think what we all really want to know is if this movie differed from the other movies at all.

"I have doubts about my sanity, the Kennedy assassination, the moon landing, but this..."

No doubt about it. Major Crimes has managed to do what few shows before it have been able to pull off. Shows have survived the loss of their lead, but the remaining years were usually something lesser than it once was. That's not the case when The Closer lost its lead actress/character. The title was changed, and with just a few cast tweaks the series returned as Major Crimes, and I dare say it’s a much better show than its predecessor. 

How do you create world peace? Well, according to Bordering on Bad Behavior, you take representatives from three countries and lock them in a room together for six hours with unlimited booze and marijuana. I recognize half of you who see this as a ridiculous idea; however, I know that there are plenty of you who have likely considered this as an option (maybe not the booze and weed part, but the isolation for sure). Well, if you want to know if the idea has any real traction as an option, this movie is your opportunity to see, because despite being crude and possibly offensive in some areas, it speaks some real truth.

So here’s how it starts: Bob (Tom Sizemore) is a member of a United States Army unit posted at a top secret communication outpost in Israel. After years of service, he is disillusioned by the experience, although he does maintain his strong patriotism and love for country. Now a mere 24 hours away from completing his assignment and returning to his unit, he simply plans to kick back and get drunk. Enter Ari, a newly assigned member of the Israeli Special Forces now working at the communication outpost. From the very second they meet, the two are instantly antagonistic to one another. For Ari, Bob represents all the traits he despises about the opposing country; laziness, involving himself in the matters that don’t concern them, and arrogance. For Bob, Ari has a chip on his shoulder and something to prove.