Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 24th, 2014
“I used to be thin when I was 6.”
Jim Gaffigan has long been fixated on food. Need proof? The comedian’s 2013 memoir is called “Dad Is Fat”, and his most famous routine is about Hot Pockets. So it wasn’t exactly a shocker to find that Gaffigan spends most of Obsessed — his fourth Comedy Central stand-up special — talking about his dietary likes and dislikes. (Hint: kale is not on his list of favorites.) This is astoundingly straightforward and inoffensive material that nonetheless had me consistently laughing out loud.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 21st, 2014
“Have you done anything noteworthy or mentionable?”
It’s the sort of question that can easily apply to either your workday or your life as a whole. It’s also the question actor/producer/director Ben Stiller chose as the basis of his inspirational adaptation of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The original short story by James Thurber is less than five pages long, so a filmmaker has the option of going to any number of fascinating places in bringing Thurber’s tale to the big screen. Stiller, in essence, decided to take the scenic route.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on April 21st, 2014
“Bad things happen in the woods, especially to pretty girls like you.”
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a smallish group of friends head to a remote location for what they think will be a sex-and-booze-fueled romp. Instead, they find themselves getting picked off by a mysterious killer. If you’ve ever seen a slasher movie, you’re painfully familiar with this scenario. Thankfully, it seems like the people who made the low-budget Death Do Us Part are also well-acquainted with the way this sort of movie is supposed to work. And they’ve decided to have some fun with it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 17th, 2014
“I’d have loved to be a spy, but it’s a dangerous game and it pays s---.”
For a lot of moviegoers, the word “spy” evokes tuxedos, gadgets, and exotic accents. Möbius — a French/Russian production from French filmmaker Eric Rochant — only employs the last of those tropes while falling in line with more low-key espionage adventures like Three Days of the Condor and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. So I shouldn’t have been surprised that this film gets up to some subterfuge of its own; Möbius is a love story posing as a spy thriller.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 16th, 2014
“You show up late reeking of booze, handcuffed to a stripper, and you expect me to trust your judgment?”
Even though we’re more than three years removed from his tiger blood heyday, it’s still impossible to separate Charlie Sheen’s bad off-screen behavior from the sitcom work he (somehow) cranks out every week. The latest example comes courtesy of Anger Management: Volume Three, which includes the departure of co-star Selma Blair after she reportedly complained that Sheen was a “menace” to work with. Not surprisingly, this batch of episodes also sees the “fictional” version of Charlie embrace his dark side.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on April 14th, 2014
When it comes to the very worst movies I’ve ever seen, I admit that I grade on a curve. Filmmakers working with extremely limited resources get more of a pass from me. This certainly appears to be the case with Sheriff of Contention, a low-budget Western/serial killer mystery. Unfortunately, there’s only so much amateurish acting and technical mishaps I can overlook. Everyone knows that if you can’t say something nice, you’re not supposed to say anything at all. In a related story, this might end up being one of my shorter reviews.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 10th, 2014
Today, Miami is considered one of the most glamorous cities in the world. But long before it became the place where some of the biggest stars in sports and entertainment took their talents, Miami was dubbed the drug, murder, and cash capital of the United States. (Resulting in a drastically different “Big 3” than what locals are accustomed to these days.) Cocaine Cowboys already chronicled this shockingly violent stretch of the city’s history and featured recollections from some of the people who helped Miami achieve its dubious status. Now an extended version of Billy Corben’s 2006 documentary arrives on Blu-ray.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 8th, 2014
"There are dark spirits, old and full of hate...The world is in great danger."
A trilogy is a hard animal to pull off. Even when you have a popular franchise, it is extremely difficult. All of the pieces have to work just right, or you could have a disaster on your hands. It is even harder when you've already beaten the odds once and delivered a trilogy that is both loved and a huge box office success. You run into an almost insurmountable mountain of expectations. Your pieces must somehow fit together so that they can be viewed as one whole product.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 8th, 2014
You know exactly what's going on here. It's Rocky Balboa vs. Jake La Motta, and they're not exactly in their prime. For reasons of property rights, of course, this really isn't Rocky or La Motta, but you and I know it is. The film takes great pains to remind us of each of these iconic characters. Sly's character tries to take a shot at some hanging meat after drinking a glass of raw eggs. De Niro's character is found telling boxing jokes in his own club, just as the real-life La Motta did after his fighting days were over. Both of these actors played iconic fighters in their day.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on April 7th, 2014
The majority of murders committed on television are presented from the perspective of the people trying to solve them. It's a smart, gratifying strategy because it allows us viewers to play detective from the safety of our couches one hour at a time. Far fewer shows are interested in doing the more difficult/less glamorous work of dramatizing the way a death can shatter a family, along with an entire community. Broadchurch is one of the most outstanding cop dramas I've seen in a long time because it's willing to do that difficult work while also delivering the goods as a satisfying whodunnit.
