Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on June 13th, 2012
“You're the good kind of addict. You're the I-got-messed-up-with-the-wrong-girl-and-ended-up-on-a-blow-bender addict. But Ertz is the Skeevy-old-man-who-got-caught with-a-crack-pipe-and-the-17-year-old-from-Speed-Racer addict.”
Where season seven of Entourage was all about the hard life and times of Vinnie Chase (Adrian Grenier) and company stumbling through the shallow traps of an impossibly expensive Hollywood lifestyle: i.e. growing addictions, porn star girlfriends, and desperate career moves, Entourage: The Complete Eighth Season is all about redemption through hard choices. It picks up as a newly clean and sober Vincent is released after a 90 day stint in rehab, and his cohorts scramble to provide a safe environment for him.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 13th, 2012
Films have been around for decades that have followed the life of crime and the pitfalls that come with it. And with the success of the AMC series Breaking Bad, it seems meth is the new drug of choice for Hollywood to exploit for the big screen. There have been plenty of great films and shows to come out of the exploitation of the drug trade; my personal favorites are Blow and Traffic. But what always made this subgenre of film engaging is that it seemed to always balance the pros and the cons of living the life of crime, and in the end the audience would be given the message that crime doesn’t pay. Even the most popular drug film of all time, Scarface, ends with our anti-hero dead.
When it comes to Kill Speed it would appear as though nothing was learned from these films, and instead this felt as though it were a recruitment film for drug trafficking. I don’t believe this is what the filmmakers set out to do with this film, but it does strongly give the message that it’s OK to commit a felony, and not only will you not get in trouble, but your country will label you a hero. I really want to believe that this was not the intention here, and not to sound like a prude, but as a responsible viewer I have a problem with the “hero” of this film being a greedy punk who runs drugs and money but suffers no consequences even when he is caught and even gets the girl. This is bad storytelling wrapped in beautiful aerial cinematography.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 13th, 2012
The wife and I have spent quite a few weekends within the last year going to antique shops and malls, flea markets and basically any place where we might go through a pile of stuff to find that one special item for our collection. The search has produced many interesting items and it brings us joy to see all of the items that simply do not show up in a retail store. Today, we are reviewing American Pickers volume 3, a show that lives on the art of finding that next treasure by going through America’s backyards.
For those who are not familiar with what exactly is American Pickers about, here is a short synopsis There are these two guys, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz who roam the United States in search of knick knacks, car parts, collectibles, anything that will bring them money. A picker. Their method is somewhat unorthodox as they actually visit people’s homes, storage sheds, and any other place where somebody might store their collection.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 12th, 2012
-"And what do I say when they ask me why it wasn't regulated?"
-"No one wanted to. We were making too much money."
At first glance, sitting down to watch a film about the financial meltdown of 2008 seems only slightly more fun than going through the actual meltdown again. Fortunately, director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) and a towering ensemble cast — I felt like I'd died and gone to Character Actor Heaven — mostly keep Too Big to Fail away from CNBC territory and deliver a brisk, entertaining film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2012
"Before my father died, he said that the worst thing about growing old was that other men stopped seeing you as dangerous. I've always remembered that, how being dangerous was sacred, a badge of honor. You live your life by a code, an ethos. Everyone does. It's your shoreline. It's what guides you home. And, trust me, you're always trying to go home."
It would be easy to dismiss Act Of Valor as either a recruiting tool piece of propaganda or yet another in an endless line of war films attempting to capture some form of authenticity. It would be easy, if you haven’t seen the film. I can promise you that no matter what your views on war or the military in general, the one thing you simply won’t be able to do is dismiss Act Of Valor.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2012
"I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop. I work here with my old man and my son, Big Hoss. Everything in here has a story ... and a price. One thing I've learned after 21 years? You never know what is going to come through that door."
Remember that PBS show where some old-stuff expert would come to your town and sift through a lot of junk that folks found in their basements or attics? Remember that he would give you a story about the items these people brought in? The idea was that once in a while someone discovered valuable treasure in those dusty rooms. Remember that show? This isn't that show. It does, however, have some things in common with the old PBS program.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2012
"I'm Brad Meltzer. I've spent my life collecting stories. The best include signs, symbols, and coded messages that are hidden in plain sight. Some have become the basis for my novels. But I've only scratched the surface of what's out there, and now History has given me the resources to investigate the rest. This is Decoded."
What if I told you there was an author out there who was known for writing novels that include historical conspiracies, secret societies and buried treasures, and that this author has found a way to parlay his moderate writing success into a television series for History?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on June 11th, 2012
“Ugh. How many times do I have to explain this to you? If you see the neighbor's house getting broken into, it's probably Karl high out of his mind thinking he's locked out of our house.”
When it comes to office based slacker comedies, Mike Judge’s Office Space still sets the gold standard. Workaholics wishes it could be as quotable and timeless as Office Space, but settles for goofy, instantly forgettable juvenile ramblings suitable for a stoner’s short term memory. Much like the boy’s prank of choice, involving a dollar bill wrapped around poop, Workaholics looks good on the surface, but is pretty much the same old crap underneath.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 11th, 2012
When you look through the list of accolades that writer, director, and producer David E. Talbert has received, you can’t help but be a little impressed with the playwright who is working his way to the big screen. Once you win an award that labels you best playwright, there is a certain standard that you should be held to with the works that follow, and if I were to simply judge his talent based upon how A Fool and His Money turned out, well, best playwright wouldn’t be a label I’d be throwing around.
There is a lot to like about the first half of this production; though the down-on-their luck family may feel a bit stereo typical, it’s hard to not relate to this family that is struggling, especially in today’s economic climate. The father is working hard to keep a roof over his family’s head and steer his children in the right direction so they can have a better life than he does. But no matter how hard he tries, it just never seems to be enough. To help make ends meet their son has been skipping out on school to work, but this has caused his grades to slip which means he’ll have to quit the job to focus more on school. The daughter though is seeing a guy that that the mother disapproves of, but her father seems to be okay with him because he believes the guy is taking good care of his little girl, but of course the mother sees the boyfriend for what he really is but just can’t seem to change her daughter’s mind. Already we have plenty of drama, when the father loses his job and the bills are already piled so high that his marriage is at a breaking point.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 11th, 2012
When the History channel isn’t busy churning out reality shows, they manage to indulge the history enthusiasts with a fresh new documentary to tide us over. Granted I’m an obsessed fan of Swamp People and Brad Meltzer’s: Decoded, but what gets me most excited is when they bring out a new documentary. (I’m a history geek in case you haven’t figured it out.) So when I got the chance to check out Titanic at 100: Mystery Solved, I happily put this in my DVD player.
After the success of James Cameron’s Titanic the world was flooded with several TV movies and documentaries that told the story of what happened the morning of April 15th 1912 in the Atlantic, so I will spare you the details.
