Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on April 8th, 2010
Coach Al Collins sets out to not only assemble a high school basketball team, but to rebuild their gym lost in hurricane Katrina, salvage his home, help each player find hope in their lives as family and property is lost in the storm, and turn them into a championship winning squad. Had this story been fiction, it would seem outrageous, but Hurricane Season is based on an actual man and his real life journey from complete decimation thanks to Katrina, to Coach of champions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on April 7th, 2010
A young criminal (I assume he's a criminal of some sort) owes a major debt to a Columbian kingpin and he enlists his brother, K, for help. K bumps up a planned armoured car heist by a month in order to help, and the adventure starts there as we see a rag-tag gang pull of said heist and then plan their final moves in a rented warehouse.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2010
"We're back..."
The Chipmunks began life oddly enough as a singing group, of sorts. They were the brainchild of struggling songwriter Ross Bagdasarian and were named after the three chief executives at Liberty records. His own alter ego David Seville’s name came from his World War II Army station in Spain. The Chipmunks first appeared in a 1958 record called The Witch Doctor, but wouldn’t officially become The Chipmunks until later that year when The Chipmunks Christmas Song was released. It is for that Christmas music that I most remember the group. They first appeared as puppets on The Ed Sullivan Show. Alvin and the boys got their own television show in 1961. When Ross died in 1972, the Chipmunks would continue on under the guidance of his son. In 1983 The Chipmunks had yet another popular cartoon show and had appeared in countless specials and films. Today they are pretty much a hallmark at the holidays, and a Christmas song collection just wouldn’t be complete without them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2010
Warner nearly singlehandedly invented the cartoon medium as we know it today with the advent of their various Bugs Bunny and associates cartoons. Ever since the early 1930’s these characters have become an indelible part of the American pop culture. Their images became an important part of the World War II effort and even helped to put a face on the issues of the Great Depression. They represent one of the richest histories in animation, second only to Walt Disney. There are some, I’m sure, that would argue they might even belong in front of Uncle Walt. When I was growing up in the 1970’s, I had no idea I was enjoying cartoons and characters that were already 40 years old. The truth is that my grandfather had been a fan of these same cartoons when he was a kid. Today the Warner cycle of Loony Tunes cartoons is over 70 years young. Things might have changed with the passing of Mel Blanc, who provided most of those familiar voices for much of that time, but Bugs and the gang are still out there and going strong.
Which brings us to Bugs Easter Funnies.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2010
"Right there in that very house is where our story begins. The story of the first Easter Rabbit. And, you know we came within a hair's breadth, if you'll excuse the pun, of never having an Easter Rabbit at all."
Rankin & Bass brought us some of the most memorable holiday specials ever made. Most of us grew up watching these cartoons and stop motion shorts no matter what age we grew up in. You see, this stuff has been on television non-stop for 50 years. There are so many classics. There's Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman, and so many others that we could fill the page with our own memories. For the most part, just putting the Rankin & Bass name to a special pretty much guaranteed an entertaining and enduring tale. Unfortunately, The First Easter Rabbit just isn't one of those.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 7th, 2010
A spaceship crashes. From it emerge a monstrous creature called the Moorwen, and a man, Kainan (Jim Caviezel in Buff Action Mode), who is determined to hunt it down. However, he is promptly captured by vikings and taken to their village, at which point he must convince them of the terrible danger they are in. As it turns out, they don't take much convincing, once the Moorwen attacks.
Analyzing the zeitgeist is always a tricky business. How, for instance, to explain the fact that over the last several years there have been numerous film versions of Beowulf, almost all of the revisionist variety: Eaters of the Dead, Beowulf and Grendel, and now Outlander, to name but three. The newest take has fun with its mix of vikings and SF, and the monster action is good fun. Is anything here groundbreaking? No. But the film keeps its focus on providing the viewer with an exciting ride.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2010
When you first look at the title for this entry in After Dark's 4th annual 8 Films To Die For, you probably have summed up images of a dank and foreboding cemetery where unspeakable horrors rise from their resting places to torment the, albeit temporarily, living. This is definitely a little bit of a case of false advertising and the misleading use of a title. These Graves are sisters, Megan (Grant) and Abby (Murray), to be exact. They're the kind of sisters that do everything together. You know the type. They almost speak in a secret language and appear to be soul mates. But Megan is a bit more outgoing and has gotten herself a job in New York, far away from the sisters' home in Arizona. Abby is a bit more introverted and is having a hard time dealing with the inevitable loss of her sister. So the two decide to have one more blast together. It's time for a road trip to visit the world's largest thermometer. Oh boy. Any horror fan worth his remote knows that the girls are likely not going to make it to see the big thermometer, and they'd be correct. They get sidetracked in a small town called Unity where they are encouraged to visit the abandoned gold mine called Skull City Mine.
Something very strange lives at the mine, and the town's folk have been feeding it tourists. The creature or entity is a dirt cloud that devours the hapless victim's soul. Unfortunately, the creature isn't capable of killing its prey, so the townsfolk have to pitch in and commit a little murder in order to satiate the beast. The Graves sisters are lambs being led to the slaughter. Of course, these two girls just wouldn't be enough slaughter fodder for the full running time of a respectable movie, so the filmmakers have populated the mine with other lovely co-eds to provide a bevy of interesting kills to amp up the movie's gore meter. Fortunately for the girls, the creature is willing to eat anybody, even its own followers if they should happen to find themselves dead. And the Graves sisters are all too happy to help some of them find their way to that cooperative condition.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on April 7th, 2010
A young migrant farmworker raises money for his mother's medicine by prize fighting illegally in an old auto shop. As tensions mount on the farm where he works, he finds himself as a major chess piece in the battle between some Texas fat cats and the Mexican workers on both sides of the border.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2010
"There are no multiple choices."
It's about time that someone did a good job of making a horror movie version of Revenge Of The Nerds. This is the first movie for director Joey Stewart. He's done a lot of second unit stuff, mostly for television in the past. It's like the third effort for writer Jason Kabolati, but together I think they just might be on to something here. The Final plays on both our desire for a good blood and guts horror movie and our satisfaction of seeing those picked-on socially awkward kids get the upper hand on their bullies. If you've been waiting for that kind of a combination, then this is the movie for you.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2010
Maybe the problem is that I just don't get British. I'd like to think I'm just as hip as the rest of you out there, but I'm just not so sure. I mean, I love Monty Python to death, but just could never get Benny Hill. I'm a huge Doctor Who fan from a long time ago, but some of the British science fiction movies and mini-series I've seen of late mostly just leave me scratching my head. It's like everyone in the world is in on this great funny joke and I'm the only one who doesn't get it. I hate feeling that way, but that's exactly what The Reeds left me feeling before it was all over.
A group of 6 friends are on holiday. They're driving some time away from home to enjoy a weekend on a rented boat together. When they get to the Marina, they find out that the boat they reserved is damaged, and there just aren't any others available to let. Well ... that's not exactly true. If the group is willing to drive to another location and pick up a boat left there, they can use it for the weekend. They quickly agree and get directions to the boat. They find the Corsair Star sitting in a marsh with a group of zombie-like stoic kids aboard. They chase them away and commence to start their cruise weekend. They decide to leave the open water and attempt to navigate a narrow passage through a vast plain of reeds. That's when the strange things start to happen. They spot the odd kids again and hotshot aggressive Chris (Mellor) jumps ship to give them a what for. They scatter, leaving a charred dog corpse behind them. Then they get snagged on a metal object that pierces the hull, not to mention Chris. It all goes downhill from there. The group begin to have odd visions, and more and more strange things keep occurring about them.
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