Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 16th, 2010
John Wayne Gacy was one of Chicago's most infamous killers. He most remembered for the images of him as a clown. He used to entertain at parties in the costume. While it was never really part of his killing life, he was forever known as the Clown Killer. Gacy would entice young men, often gay hookers, into his home where he would drug them and have sex with them. He would also trick them into putting on handcuffs, and he would strangle them to death. He buried the bodies of his victims in a crawlspace beneath his house, where the mass grave's discovery would lead to his arrest and conviction. A bit of a surprising development was that Gacy himself ended up drawing an accurate map of where each of the bodies could be found, because he didn't want them to rip up his floors. Of course, it should have been clear to him by then that he wasn't going to be living there ever again.
We all know the story. There have already been countless films and documentaries as well as books dealing with every aspect of the killer's life and crimes. Apparently, there was another little known story that hadn't gotten quite the same amount of attention. In the 14 years that Gacy was incarcerated awaiting his eventual execution for the murders, he was quite the communicative butterfly, writing to many of the folks who wrote to him in prison. He would attempt to manipulate these people from behind his own prison cell. One of these pen pals was criminology student Jason Moss. Moss would later write a book about his experiences with Gacy called The Last Victim. In the book he described the correspondence that led to him actually visiting with Gacy in the last days leading up to his execution. Obviously, there are going to be some liberties with the film, but it is nonetheless a fascinating character study of a relationship that got terribly out of hand.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 16th, 2010
“The name's Brogan, Lieutenant Brogan. For 20 years I was with the NYPD. Now? Well ... let's just say I'm transferring to another precinct.”
That Precinct is the 88th, which serves Demeter City from an orbiting station around the planet Altor. Demeter City is one of the toughest cities in the universe. There's tons of slums and every kind of scumbag criminal you could ever expect to find in the worst of Earth's hoods. The planet is primarily populated by three species, although there are literally hundreds of known species that might be found in one of the darkest corners of the city. Humans make up about a third of the dominant population. The Tarns are a species with a third eye that grants them varying degrees of telepathy and telekinesis. The Creons are the dominant species. They look a little like hammerhead sharks with their bulging eyes extended outward on either side of their face. This species is high on ritual and tradition. The three species are well represented in the officers who serve at the 88th.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 16th, 2010
KISS fans will likely feel like they’re in heaven with this quasi-intimate look at the long-tongued demon of rock. All others might be tempted to stay away, and yet, that might be a mistake. Let me first admit that I’m no fan of reality television or KISS. With that said, you might be expecting me to trash this particular program. Wrong! Honestly, as an outsider I have the unique ability to judge the show without all of the trappings of the band’s fame and history.
I’m not sure if it’s a case of morbid curiosity, but I ended up somewhat liking the show. At about 21 minutes an episode, it’s just the right length. Even if I did find this stuff entertaining, there was only so much of Gene’s family I could take in one sitting. The premise is simple and has been done to death by now. Cameras follow some famous person or family in the hopes of providing compelling drama for millions of viewers. OK, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but so is the idea that we’re going to get an intimate inside look at these folks while the cameras are rolling. It’s a lot like wrestling. If you don’t buy into that what you’re seeing is actually real, you can get a few laughs out of the whole thing. I will also admit this show destroyed a lot of the Gene Simmons mystique for me. Let’s face it. Can you ever watch the stage persona in the same light again after watching Gene scoop kitty litter or wash his dog by throwing him in the pool? Let’s not even talk about an attempt to get semen from a bull. Still, Gene turns out to be an interesting character very much removed from the one we’re so used to seeing. While Gene dominates the show, there is plenty of time given to wife Shannon Tweed, from Playboy and soft-porn films.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 16th, 2010
Thierry Guetta has the habit of filming everything he does in his entire life. This habit did not shake while filming the, technically illegal, work of his cousin 'Invader' who is a street artist that pastes up images from and inspired by the video game Space Invaders. Guetta quickly fell head over heals for this underground movement of creating street art and started documenting some of the most famous street artists in the entire world, including the ever (in)famous 'Banksy.' It was Banksy who questioned Guetta as to what his plans were for all of this footage, which was originally nothing, and encouraged him to make a documentary about street art as it is a temporary medium (since it is considered vandalism, all pieces are removed or destroyed soon after being created) and these pieces deserved to be recorded for history's sake in a formal film. Guetta's attempt at the film was deemed unwatchable and so Banksy took over the film and turned the camera on Guetta so that his personal story would be told along with displaying many artists' work.
Some speculations state that this film is an elaborate prank being pulled by Banksy. Remaining anonymous as he directs this film, who is to say that the art made by Guetta is not in fact created by Banksy as a way of demonstrating that pop art is the last vestige of the under-talented, and yet they can make millions if hyped just right. Indeed, the climax of the documentary is Guetta putting on an epic gallery opening in Los Angeles as his new moniker “Mr Brainwash” (a name that has been seen as evidence towards Bansky's message of how hype can brainwash the masses and disguise lack of depth or meaning). I do not subscribe to this theory, as this film seems more like a jab at those (Mr Brainwash being central) who use marketing and gimmicks to make money from something that should be about expression and not profits.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 15th, 2010
Six young men and women head off in two cars for a weekend trip in rural France. Along the way, the car with the three guys runs out of gas, fortunately within pushing distance of a filling station. There, our boys inadvisedly pick up a hitchhiker, who turns out to be an escaped psychopath. But no sooner have they started to worry about their new passenger when a mysterious fog and a ghostly vision send them careening off a cliff. Wounded and lost, they find that not only do they have a killer to contend with, but there is something monstrous and huge under the ground that is hunting all of them.
Clearly shot on a shoestring, but very ambitious in its special effects (an opening prologue featuring a meteor strike in 17th-Century France, giant tentacles reaching of the ground to grasp a helicopter), this is a film that certainly pulls out the stops. The plot is pretty packed, too, what with a ghost, a killer, AND a monster. But for all that, what the film needs is something quite inexpensive: a stronger script. The characters are set up quite well, but nothing much is done with them, and they wind up playing out in fairly conventional ways (the loser is the hero and vice versa, for instance). And for all the elements that are tossed into the mix, much of the running time still involves racing around to little effect in dark woods. Still and all, there is some fun monster work, and the just how much this little movie attempts to pull off, whether it fully manages to or not, is worthy of admiration.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 14th, 2010
7th heaven reaches its 11th and final season of rampant political correctness and lessons of family togetherness through Christian love. Yes, that was a mildly passive aggressive summary of this show, but I feel sometimes one strong bias deserves another to challenge it. This show, the story of a very large family lead by a Minister (and don't deny it, he leads them) as they convey their socially and politically conservative Protestant Christian point of view of “real-life” situations.
To be a fair reviewer, I shall put aside my personal objections to critique how the show works just as a family drama for a moment. The 11th season is quite hard to get into as there are countless references and relationships that have been building up for a very long time. I'm not asking it to be like a Law and Order brand of storytelling, where a viewer can jump in at any episode to enjoy a fully encapsulated story, but this show becomes an undeniable challenge to watch if you are seeing it without any background knowledge of the characters and their previous stories.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 13th, 2010
You can’t really pin down the success and endurance of many Disney films to any one thing. But there's an element that can’t be ignored here. The songwriting Brothers Sherman share considerable credit for the many a film’s appeal. Even if you’ve never seen one of their films, and it’s hard to imagine there is anyone who hasn’t, you do know many of the unforgettable songs from them. Just A Spoonful Of Sugar, Chim-Chin-Cher-ee, Let’s Go Fly A Kite, and, of course, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from Mary Poppins alone. Add songs from Winnie The Pooh, Bedknobs And Broomsticks, and The Jungle Book. The melodies are simple but catchy. Once you get them into your head, it’s an awful chore to try to remove them. The Sherman Brothers are responsible for many of Disney’s famous melodies from most of the musical films. If Walt Disney himself came with a soundtrack, you can bet the Sherman Brothers would have written it, and you’d still be singing it today. The songs captivate children, but somehow even adults can’t seem to help but be enchanted by them.
The troubling fact is that these brothers were not as close as their 30-year partnership would suggest. Their families were always apart, and they almost never spoke to each other out of the office. The animosity went beyond simple sibling rivalry. It's almost as if fate had forced them together completely against their will because there was just too much of a contribution to society to give here. The film is quite candid in covering the differences. The movie was made by one of each of their sons in an attempt to not only tell the important story but to possibly bring their fathers together in the last years of their lives. Well, they got half of what they were hoping to accomplish. The film tells a very compelling story indeed.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 13th, 2010
"Far from a fairytale, Waking Sleeping Beauty is an unprecedented eye-opening look at the conflict, drama and tension that ushered in the second chapter of Disney's animation legacy, a decade of unparalleled creativity..."
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 13th, 2010
In the 1940’s Walt Disney was asked by President Roosevelt to take a goodwill tour across Latin America as an ambassador of sorts. He declined the invitation, protesting that he wasn’t the handshaking kind and that the cause would be better served using someone else. Not to be deterred, Roosevelt made a counteroffer. What if Walt would go to Latin America with a film contingent and then create some kind of a production out of the tour. A government subsidy was even offered. Walt accepted the invite but turned down the subsidy. And so, with a large party of animators, writers, and production crew, they took a whirlwind tour and left with what Walt himself described as a wealth of material. The footage obtained and the experience gained would feed into Disney productions for decades.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on December 13th, 2010
Written by Diane Tillis
Wings had an interesting story to tell when they completed Band on the Run. Paul and wife Linda McCartney wanted to record a new album at an unusual location. From a list of potential locations, they chose a remote studio in Lagos, Nigeria. Right before the departure date, lead guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Denny Seiwell quit the band. It was up to Paul, Linda, and fellow member Denny Laine to finish the project. They spent August and September 1973 in Lagos working on the project under difficult conditions. The band suffered with the intense African heat and survived a dangerous mugging at knifepoint. The thieves stole valuables and the album’s demo tapes. The band had to re-record the entire album from memory. The difficulties the band endured in Nigeria paid off; Band on the Run triumphed critically and commercially. It sold seven million copies, topped the United States album chart three times, and won a Grammy.
![Dear Mr. Gacy [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/dear-mr-gacy-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Band On The Run [Special Edition - 2CD+1DVD Combo] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/band-on-the-run-special-edition--large.jpg)
