Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 16th, 2015
“People have short attention spans. And there’s always another murder.”
Barely a year after Gone Girl became a mid-range blockbuster, we're already getting our second big-screen adaptation of a Gillian Flynn novel. To be fair, both Gone Girl and Dark Places went into production around the same time in the fall of 2013. But that just means someone anticipated that a single shot of Flynn's twisted brand of Midwest murder/mystery mayhem wouldn't be enough to satisfy movie audiences.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 15th, 2015
It wasn’t until I settled in to watch Spike TV’s three-part/six-hour miniseries based on the (relatively short) life of King Tut that I realized we hadn’t really seen his story depicted on screen before. I mean, it’s probably a bad sign that the most famous on-screen portrayal of the ancient Egyptian monarch comes courtesy of…Steve Martin. Given the liberties this miniseries takes with casting and storytelling, I reckon some historians would’ve preferred Martin as the famous pharaoh here. However, I still found this to be a suitably entertaining and attractive (if somewhat overstuffed) melodrama.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on October 14th, 2015
“We'll get hit again...and it's going to be a bigger monster.”
The character who utters these words in San Andreas is referring to an impending earthquake that could literally rip California apart. But he could just as easily be talking about the summer movie season, when audiences who have just been rocked by a catastrophic quake have to deal with something called “Indominus Rex” a mere two weeks later. San Andreas almost certainly won't end up as the biggest bully on the Hollywood block, but it's a big, dumb, fun disaster flick the whole family can enjoy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 12th, 2015
I grew up on the horror comics of the 1970's. Eerie and Creepy were two of my favorites. My father would buy them and pass them down to me when he finished reading them. They were black and white so that they could take advantage of a loophole in the Comics Code and often featured lurid and gory stories of horror and depravity. Probably not the most appropriate reading for a young boy, but I ate them up. Before those comics there were the EC horror comics from Bill Gaines in the 1950's. Titles like Tales From The Crypt and The Vault Of Horror called out to readers with gory and hideous covers. But it didn't really start there.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on October 12th, 2015
“It is upon us now...an old and faceless foe.”
In the second season of Reign, that foreboding statement refers to the plague and ensuing famine that lay siege to the court of King Francis II, Mary Queen of Scots, and their subjects. But in real-life terms, the most dangerous “old and faceless foe” for a promising series entering its second season is the “sophomore slump.” That's why I'm pleased to report the CW's sumptuous period drama was able to maintain the shamelessly soapy momentum from its guilty pleasure first season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 8th, 2015
“They’re hee-eere”
That instantly-iconic horror movie line — delivered in a cheery, chilling, sing-songy voice by the late Heather O’Rourke — signaled the arrival of malevolent spirits in 1982’s Poltergeist. In 2015, “they’re hee-eere” could just as easily refer to the latest glut of horror remakes. (Thankfully, there’s still at least one *sacred* cow.) That list now includes a new version of Poltergeist, which features some solid thrills and (for better and for worse) sticks pretty closely to the original.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 8th, 2015
"Listen, my friend. This is going to be very hard to comprehend, but none of what you are seeing is real."
Of course it's not real. It's not really that hard to comprehend at all. This is an animated show, after all. And the figures look like cut-out pieces of construction paper. Of course, we're talking about South Park. What is hard to comprehend, however, is that we're talking about the 18th season of South Park. Few television shows last this long, and only The Simpsons has been around longer when it comes to scripted animated shows running today. That's rare air, indeed
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on October 8th, 2015
At one point or another, every kid dreams of being a superhero. For me, those flights of fancy took place at age 6 or 7, when I'd put on my Batman pajamas — the ones with the detachable velcro cape — and leap off the staircase inside our home. (When I really wanted to give my mom agita, I'd jump off the third step from the bottom.) Miles Scott — a California boy whose evil nemesis is leukemia — got to live out his superhero fantasy on the grandest scale at age 5. Batkid Begins isn't a great documentary by any means, but it's a cheerful, good-hearted (if saccharine) look at the making of a dream.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 7th, 2015
The last decade hasn’t been too kind to Al Pacino. The man is only one of our greatest living actors, but he’s mostly been stuck appearing in forgettable tripe (88 Minutes) or out-and-out atrocities (Jack and Jill) for the last 10 years. So it’s easy to overlook the fact that Pacino is quietly doing really good work again. I say “quietly” because the actor has recently eschewed the “hoo-ah!” tics that turned him into a caricature. This affecting, engaged, and more subdued version of Pacino can be seen in Danny Collins, and he is also front-and-center in Manglehorn, a whimsical, uneven drama that is grounded by its star’s strong work.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 7th, 2015
“Man, they killed my brother…you think I’m gonna let that slide?”
Even if you haven’t sat through a ton of revenge-minded pulp, you won't be surprised to hear the answer to the above question is a resounding, “No!” The good(ish) news is that Chain of Command manages to stand out from a pretty crowded straight-to-DVD action pack. The disastrous news is that this laughably bad, shoddily-made debacle is likely to stick in your memory for all the wrong reasons.
