Drama

We all remember the classic underdog film from 1984. Then it was awkward child star Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita in the lead roles. It was a coming-of-age story that taught some valuable lessons about discipline and patience. It was an immediate classic that pulled in a much more than respectable $90 million at the box office. It spawned three sequels which did not do near as well as the original. Now we find ourselves in an age where just about any movie ever made has to be remade/reimagined/rebooted/ or merely capitalized upon. Should there have been a new Karate Kid?

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was the first movie I ever saw on HBO. These were the very early days of the cable network. It was before the dawn of any real home video. It was at my Aunt Shirley's house that several members of the extended family gathered in dining room chairs around a 19-inch television to watch a movie uncut and without commercial interruption for the first time in our lives. A lot has changed since that 1970's afternoon at my aunt's house. Today we have hundreds of such choices on our television dials.

It's a classic moment in holiday cinema history. Ralphie, Flick, and Swartz are gathered around a flagpole in the dead of winter. Flick is scoffing at the idea that your tongue will stick to a metal surface under these extreme cold conditions. So Swartz commits a small violation of etiquette when he goes right for the triple dog dare. There isn't any way out for our friend Flick. The results are predictable, but nonetheless hilarious. I wish I could say the same for the teen angst film Triple Dog. For me, there truly was no way out. You, my gentle reader, might yet save yourself.

The other day, I was conveying to my better half that she should do an open review about a movie called Secretary that was fairly new to Blu-Ray. She ultimately decided against it because she felt she could not do a PG review for such a risqué movie. It is only fitting that a week or so later, I find Bad Lieutenant, a NC-17 movie in my own review pile and I was faced with the same task. Take an absolutely gritty, dark and disturbing movie and do what you can to make it a wholesome review. I always did like challenges.

Most people who actually know me can say that I do love to sing. Much of my singing is relegated to a combination of karaoke and Xbox 360 games (Lips/Rock Band). But a long time ago, I wasn’t very comfortable with my singing. Had I been comfortable, I might have joined my school’s glee club. Fast forward a few years and we have a show about a high school glee club. Its funny how you can miss an experience you have never had.

A young epileptic girl returns to her home in New York while on spring break. She stays with her mother and her best friend Al, whose room is now being rented out by his parents. While there she loses touch with her college boyfriend and reevaluates how she feels about her friend Al.

The Plot: The Order, disappointingly, turned out to be not much more than a Heath Ledger vehicle, apparently targeted at Goth teenage girls with vaguely Euro pretensions. Without letting out any spoilers, trust me when I say that you’ll be disappointed if you expect anything like what the trailer portrays. The trailer says implies that the Vatican is “using a killer with supernatural powers to absolute control of an empire” and paints the movie as a fast-paced action/thriller church conspiracy film – which it isn’t. What is it? Part drama, part horror, very “moody,” totally boring.

Written by Diane Tillis

Raging Phoenix is a film of particular tastes and appeal. As someone who has very little experience with martial arts films, I may be the wrong person to comment on the quality of the fighting sequences or how it compares to other martial arts films. I will leave those comments to the people who are devoted fans and love these films. I can comment on the quality of the DVD so that those who are looking for a great addition to their martial arts film collection will know what to expect.

Written by Diane Tillis

If I had to pick two words to describe Ondine, I would pick hauntingly beautiful. Neil Jordon, the popular Irish director and writer, comes up with an unusual modern fairy tale. Ondine is a film about people from different worlds hoping that dreams really can come true. It is a film about redemption and hope, harsh reality versus fantasy. Ondine is a journey of self discovery to be experienced from the darkness back into the light. It reminds us that enchantment and darkness are a part of every story.

This might be a newsflash to some, but I can’t dance. I can’t groove, shimmy or even lay down some dope moves. As such, a whole generation of movies is probably lost on me. In it, young hip kids move around and perform moves that would have made Fred Astaire jealous. It is a showcase of talent on the most basic level. One such movie appeared on my review plate named Stomp the Yard: Homecoming. Hopefully with some fresh moves, we can get an interesting story to boot.