Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on January 7th, 2014
We all know looks can be deceiving, but Voodoo Possession takes that notion to the extreme. Almost nothing about the film’s DVD cover art correlates to what you’ll actually see on screen. Cult favorite Danny Trejo gets top billing despite playing a largely inconsequential role in the story. (You know a movie’s in trouble when it’s banking on Trejo’s star power; even the Machete movies relied mostly on stunt casting.) The cover is dominated by someone who looks like Samara from The Ring standing in front of Shutter Island. (Naturally, the girl has nothing to do with this movie.) At least there is, in fact, voodoo in this occasionally intriguing, ultimately lousy low-budget horror flick.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on January 6th, 2014
I’m curious if there will ever come a time that people will simply give up making WW2 films. After all these years you would have figured that every possible story about this time period would have managed to find its way up onto the silver screen. I have nothing against these war pictures, but the bar has been set so high by films like Tora Tora Tora, Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day, and many others, that if someone were to tackle the genre, that filmmaker would have to step up their game to be noticed amongst these titans of cinema.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on January 3rd, 2014
We’ve been conditioned to expect certain things when it comes to movies about love. The genre has become synonymous with chance encounters, kisses in the rain, and last-second declarations of love. (A tragic/downer ending is purely optional.) The most interesting thing about Last Love is how it explores the sort of deep connection between a man and a woman that isn’t necessarily tied to physicality or even romance. It’s such a refreshing change from the love story norm that it made the parts of the film that don’t quite work more palatable.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on January 2nd, 2014
The first film I saw of Anthony DiBlasi was the adaption of the Clive Barker short story, Dread. It was a small film that hasn’t seemed to have found its audience, but I enjoyed it and thought that DiBlasi showed some promising signs of becoming a name in horror to look out for. In his new release Cassadaga he continues to show his signs of promise, though I feel he’s still got a way to go before he releases the film that is truly going to wow us and have him become a major player in horror cinema.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on January 1st, 2014
“Insanity, it’s a disease that spreads through the mind. Generating twisted and deranged thoughts inside the human brain, making us do awful horrendous acts, much farther beyond the normal sphere of the imagination.”
A collection of ghost stories set in a sanitarium suitable for a Halloween horror screening told in a Tales from the Crypt style. Terrence Stamp acts as narrator for three tales of people driven mad and committing horrific acts.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2013
The subject of terrorism is almost impossible to easily analyze. It certainly deserves films that try to understand the complex psychology behind such acts. American Bomber is an interesting take on the subject. It is not a successful film, but it has a sincere desire to get to some hidden truths. The main point that comes out is that many people who become suicide bombers are more interested in suicide than making a political point. Many terrorist acts come from a basic need for revenge because the person feels cheated, neglected or traumatized by life itself.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2013
One of the easiest ways to shoot a small independent film is to film in your own real life environment. That means you don't have to think about a lot of the details that go into making most films. You already have and know thoroughly the sets and locals of your shoot. It's even easier if you don't have to build sets, since you just use the real locations of your life. It's even easier if you just remove all pretense and you just make the movie about a guy who is making a movie about a guy who happens to be himself. It makes it even easier when the guy is a casting director, because then you have a ready supply of talent at your disposal.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 30th, 2013
“Violence is never the answer.”
That statement is said unironically by a character in Sweetwater, but we know better; in the movies, violence is pretty much always the answer. This is especially true when it comes to the revenge genre which, the films of Quentin Tarantino notwithstanding, is largely a man’s game. (Risk-averse Hollywood studios are much less likely to greenlight WoMan on Fire.) This bloody, straightforward Western from twin filmmakers Logan and Noah Miller is not terribly original, but it does try to put its own spin on the hallowed tradition of cinematic payback.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 30th, 2013
It’s always difficult to watch a stand-up from a guy you know nothing about. No matter how hard you try, you will always have preconceived notions about the guy based solely on what he chooses to title his stand-up. I’ve said it once and I will say it again, titles play a big part in whether or not a person is going to take a chance on something they know nothing about. It is what makes the first impression of a perspective audience, and it is the deciding factor on whether a person picks up and buys or picks up and puts back on the DVD rack.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 25th, 2013
Futurama was the brainchild of Simpson veterans Matt Groening and David X Cohen. With the growing popularity of their iconic cartoon, it was no surprise that Fox would tap the team to bring another show to the network. When Futurama premiered in 1999, it was a combination of The Jetsons and The Simpsons. That would be ironic for those of us who think the Simpsons theme is a direct knockoff of The Jetsons. It was 1000 years in the future, and the joke was that no matter how much things changed, they hadn’t really changed at all. The space-age series would use many of the writing and art team from The Simpsons.
