Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on May 24th, 2012
“His name is Samson. He’s big with his cat, with mama and with his stick. Black Samson… he’s mean and clean and rules the scene.”
In the 70s and 80s, filthy little theaters littered New York’s 42nd Street, sandwiched between adult bookstores, porn theaters, and peepshows. These dens of celluloid sin hosted an endless loop of “B” movies affectionately known as grindhouse films. They ran exploitation films, drive-in double features, and European softcore of every subgenre, ranging from Blaxploitation to Sexploitation, from Euro-crime to Sci-Fi and Horror. Some theaters projected these movies 24 hours a day, seven days a week! 42nd Street Forever collects nearly ninety (approximately three hours and forty-five minutes) of sensational vintage trailers from these grindhouse classics.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 24th, 2012
"It's funny how you wake up each day and never really know if it will be one that will change your life forever. But that's what this day was. The day I left the city to spend a week in the house where my mother grew up. A day I'll never forget."
The Secret World Of Arrietty comes from the collected works of English writer Mary Norton. The first book, The Borrowers, introduced us to the Clock family. They were a race of tiny humans known as Borrowers. They lived beneath the floorboards of normal-sized humans and lived off the things they could "borrow" from the human family. It was important to remain unseen or their lives would be in danger. The first book was published in 1952 and was followed by several sequels which continued the many adventures of the family and the fantasy world in which they lived.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 23rd, 2012
This fly on the wall experience follows Ray Romano and his friend and opening act Tom Caltabiano as they engage on an 8-day 7-city stand-up tour while driving from Miami to Atlanta. This candid experience is filmed not with a giant production crew but with one intern Roger Lay Jr. who is just as much a character in this documentary that follows the highs and lows of touring. What could easily have been a forgettable snooze-fest instead turns out to be an eye-opening glimpse into the life of TV star Ray Romano that has more than its fair share of laughs and enjoyable moments of awkwardness.
The film kicks off with Ray heading to the airport, and it’s along the way there he reveals his fear of flying which explains why once touching down in Florida they will be travelling by car through the duration of the tour. It’s inside the car where a good portion of the documentary takes place and where from duct-taped dash cameras we watch Ray and Tom banter through such topics as Tom’s chronic tardiness, Ray’s insecurities with fame, how the production will come together as well as Ray’s “mind bets”. The “mind bets” are best explained by Ray when watching the documentary, and it’s one of those little things that allows the viewer to not just see him as more than the character from his sitcom, but as a regular guy with a few quirks.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on May 23rd, 2012
How many films are lost and forgotten over the years? It would be interesting to know how many films have been made since the advent of the movie industry. It is probably in the millions, and yet most of us would probably have trouble thinking of a thousand. The Red House is probably a film that could be considered lost or forgotten. It stars Edward G. Robinson, who is someone who everyone probably knows and would consider to be a classic American actor. There use to an old expression, “There are 8 million stories in the Naked City, and this is one of them.” This film fits well into the tradition of small human dramas of mystery and murder. It’s part of a well known genre in the history of cinema called Film Noir. Robinson’s career was launched by the famous gangster film of the Thirties called Little Caesar, and his resume is full of scary and threatening characters. Sometimes he would tweaked people’s expectations by playing characters who were more humorous or weak or full of inherent goodness that would belie the image that Robinson’s reputation represented. As Robinson continued acting, it would be interesting to see what twists in character would occur in an Edward G. Robinson movie. Double Indemnity is that kind of movie and made that same year; The Red House is also that kind of movie.
The main setting is an isolated farm where Edward G. Robinson lives with his wife and teenage daughter. The daughter is pining after a boy at the high school and gets him to work for her father. A very young and enticing Julie London plays another girl with her sights on the young man. A local young stud played by Rory Calhoun figures he’s much better match for someone as pretty as Julie London. But the biggest question in the film is what secret is hidden in the woods that Edward G. Robinson wants no one to discover. It becomes more and more obvious that Robinson will stop at nothing to keep what is in the woods secret. Oscar winning actress Judith Anderson (Rebecca) plays the supportive mother figure, and her subtle and controlled expressions reveal little. The secret is clearly making Robinson live two lives. He is both a loving father and husband and clearly someone who did something dark and disturbing that he must hide from nearly everyone. The one person who might know something more is Rory Calhoun, who Robinson has given hunting rights to the woods where the secret lies. He has been told that anyone who trespasses there should be warned to stay away in no uncertain terms including warning shots that can whiz by an intruder’s skull. At one point Calhoun takes numerous sniper shots at the daughter as she wanders close to the mysterious red house in the woods. Clearly the potential for disaster looms over the story. Will the daughter get the boy, or will it be the fetching but manipulative rival? Will the daughter find out what’s in the red house? Will the reckless stud kill someone with his rifle? What is the secret, and what will it mean for Robinson if it is revealed? Will his safe little world unravel as he becomes more and more unraveled?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 22nd, 2012
Hi, this is Casey Casem (play along, alright) and welcome to American Top 40. Michael “Mick” Hucknall was often made fun of due to his red locks in Lancashire, England as a young boy. Little did those children know that Mick would use that to propel himself into a music career at just eighteen years old with the Frantic Elevators during the 1970’s. That was the start of a very fruitful music career for Mr. Hucknall. This long distance dedication goes out to Eddie in Tuscaloosa, Mississippi celebrating his 84th birthday today and here is “Holding Back the Years” by the band known as Simply Red.
Simply Red has always been one man’s brainchild and that was Mick Hucknall. It is said that in 1976 when he watched a Sex Pistols gig in Manchester that well that led to the formation of his first group known as the Frantic Elevators which debuted in 1977. That band would actually last for about seven years until they broke up in 1984. The punk band never really caught attention and was only liked by the locals that saw the band perform. However, before they split up, they released a very important song by the name of “Holding Back the Years”.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 22nd, 2012
“LAPD Lt. Carter Shaw and his special undercover task force understand that to collar criminals, one must first get on their level. They also know that going undercover may require cutting ties with those who mean the most. Adrift, isolated, and frequently faced with situations that strain the line between right or wrong, these officers know that all that matters is loyalty to each other and to the task at hand: bringing down the bad guys.”
That pretty much sums up the best part of what makes Dark Blue such a compelling series. Fresh from the minds of Jerry Bruckheimer and Danny Cannon who brought us the CSI shows, it’s a much darker series that gives us the most intense look at undercover work I've seen on television. In fact, I almost wish this were an HBO show, because it's clear that the series already pushes even TNT's boundaries, and I'd like to see the handcuffs come off the show's creative team, not the bad guys.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 21st, 2012
At first glance Haywire appears a bit out of character for the likes of director Steven Soderbergh. It's not that he hasn't delivered action films in the past. It's that he's never quite tied himself to such a tried and sometimes true formula before. When you first look at the press for Haywire you're going to pretty much dismiss it as a standard action-hero film that follows in the mold of a Steven Seagal/Chuck Norris mold with a touch of Bourne Identity thrown in to meet the more recent trends. If that's what you think, then you've pretty much called it, because that's exactly what it is. But that's not a good reason to dismiss the film either.
I won't lie. The film pretty much follows the path you expect it to follow. Mallory (Carano) stumbles into a bar in an isolated town where she's meeting with a contact. But she's wary because something has gone wrong and she's not sure exactly who she can trust. She's right. No surprise there, is there? She takes Scott (Angarano) hostage for his wheels and makes her getaway. During their flight she begins to tell him the story of how she got to where she is. It's through this narrative that the story unfolds for us. This is where Soderbergh offers up a little of his own tweaks to the story and, for the most part, there's enough of his wit here to keep the narrative humming along. Of course, she's out to find the guys who tried to get her killed, and there's a ton of carnage in the wake.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 17th, 2012
What will a parent do to save the life of their dying son? This is the question that Scott Kane (Drew Fuller) is confronted with in the low-budget action film The Kane Files. In a desperate race against time, Kane needs to get together the money to pay for his son’s heart transplant, and along the way there are plenty of bullets and plot twists to keep the viewer entertained, but the film lacks any real substance to warrant ever mentioning again. Though not the most unique plot device for a film, the idea of parents doing whatever it takes to save their children is rich with potential that it frustrates me is never touched upon.
With a nonlinear story line the film makers have their fun playing with the viewer being careful to reveal who the real good guys and bad guys are. This choice on their part was a wise choice; it made a plot that seemed rehashed come alive and left me feeling that possibly the unexpected was around every corner. Our hero Kane has only one option in getting the money in time to save his son, and that means returning to a life of crime he promised his wife Anna (Whitney Able) that he gave up to have a life with her. Desperate for the cash and willing to do anything to save his son, Kane takes the job which is to kill a man that is pressuring crime boss Daniel Morgan (William Atherton) into giving him money owed from a race or he’ll go to the cops. When the hit goes bad Kane is on the run, and Morgan sends out all his men to find and kill Kane. The plot, as I said, is fun, just poorly executed, which can be blamed on many things, but what matters is the film is still a fun little ride. Along the way we meet an FBI Agent played by the great William Devane that simply chews up the dialog and makes it sound great (the man will always be a badass for me since watching Rolling Thunder). Ethan Embry also is around as a local officer out to catch Kane; he’s the guy flexing the most acting chops here, and I’d like to see him playing some darker roles down the road.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 17th, 2012
By 1978 the television detective model had been nearly complete and possibly already a cliché. Dan Tanna might have well been the complete model as far as the formula goes. It was almost as if you could go down a checklist and, like Dr. Frankenstein creating a monster, check off the necessary elements. The scripts could then almost write themselves, and you let the show fly on autopilot for three seasons or so until someone decides to look behind the curtain.
So let’s go down that checklist, shall we?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 16th, 2012
As one progresses as a reviewer, we come into contact with a wide variety of television shows. Some shows we even come to appreciate season after season. So, after I reviewed season 1 and 2 of Flashpoint, I was a little disappointed that I missed season 3. Later on, I would catch up obviously, but I was more than delighted to take on Season 4 when it came to my door. Thankfully, I was able to pick right up and continue to watch one of my very favorite shows of the last 5 years.
Since this site did not review Season 3, it is only fair that I recap the last few episodes before we break into the most recent string of episodes. The Other Lane saw Ed Lane’s brother Roy get caught up on the wrong side of the law. Jumping at Shadows saw a family under witness protection be exposed by corrupt police officers. Meanwhile, team leader Greg (played by Enrico Colantoni) gets to see his son Dean. Finally, Acceptable Risk puts the team under a microscope for spending too long on a killing spree.
