Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 7th, 2011
A good friend of mine and I have had long-standing difference of opinion about Black Sabbath. He has no interest in anything post-Ozzy. I continued to buy Sabbath albums though all the band’s different incarnations, and while some releases did, I confess, require a greater degree of loyalty than others, the Ronnie James Dio studio albums (Heaven & Hell, Mob Rules, Dehumanizer) have always been favorites of mine.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 7th, 2011
A high school football team has a longstanding tradition of bringing their team good luck by sleeping with virgins and then crossing their names off of a secret list. Three girls on said list figure out the football player's plan and decide to strike back with pranks and some feminist rebellion that is supposed to be inspired by Lysistrata.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 6th, 2011
World War II has just ended, and the recently discharged Robert De Niro hits New York on the prowl for sex. He runs up against WAC Liza Minnelli, and the more she resists his advances, the more determined he becomes. There is more: he is a saxophonist, and she (of course) is a singer). So begins a tempestuous relationship between two artists whose enormous talents and equally enormous personalities mean they can neither live with nor without each other.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 6th, 2011
Happythankyoumoreplease is centered on a group of twenty something New Yorkers at various levels of transition: love, career, and growing up. The film is written, directed, and also stars Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother). Radnor’s directorial debut showcases a colorful side of New York and a variety of colorful characters. The group of young actors all put together solid performances which is essential for an ensemble cast. This is another festival friendly film with a solid group of actors that is definitely worth a look.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 6th, 2011
Liam Neeson has always been somewhat of a versatile actor. From Oskar Schindler in Spielberg's moving Schindler's List to a Jedi master in the rebirth of Star Wars, there don't appear to be very many types of films he hadn't tried. Taken introduced us to a tough-guy character that we hadn't really seen before, even in the film reboot of The A-Team. There he played an intelligence officer trying to rescue his kidnapped daughter. It was a rather powerful performance, so I can't say I was very surprised to see him play the one-man army role once again in Unknown. It's another very fine performance by Neeson
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 6th, 2011
Monster mash-ups have been with us for almost as long as there have been monster movies. Universal gave us Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. The Japanese delivered Godzilla vs. King Kong. Dracula's taken on Jesse James, and Universal brought the whole band together for two House Of movies and an Abbott And Costello romp. In recent years we've been treated or subjected to, depending on your own point of view, Freddy vs. Jason and Alien vs. Predator and its rematch. Lately, SyFy has been attempting to create an entire subgenre out of the monster mash-up idea. One of those movies happens to be Mega Python vs. Gatoroid.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 6th, 2011
A pair of serial “gawkers” are getting into awkward spots in their marriages until their wives offer them a 6-day “Hall Pass” that grants them freedom to act as single men for that time. As each couple go their separate ways, each do battle with the temptation to act on their freedom, versus learn some sort of lesson about the virtues of domestic monogamy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 6th, 2011
There is hardly any differentiation between the Jackass series and its films, aside from a few more celebrity cameos and bigger budget stunts as the years have gone by. A testament to this is the “.5” editions of each film, which are literally cobbled together using rejected sketches and stunts from the original release.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 5th, 2011
Dear John centers around a soldier, John Tyree (Channing Tatum) who falls in love with a college student, Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) while he is back home on leave. This film is adapted from the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name and directed by the melodramatic romance aficionado Lasse Hallstrom. If you are looking for a romance tale that offers very little surprises, look no further.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 4th, 2011
The story begins with the immediate validation of superstition. Anesi Gebara is the head of an illegal lottery and so numbers are crucially linked to his life, both in his work and in the aforementioned superstitions that haunt his life.