Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 13th, 2016
“Everything they've built will fall! And from the ashes of their world, we'll build a better one!”
Since Disney has taken over The Bullpen at Marvel, they have had an unprecedented run of successful comic book superhero films. During that same time DC/Warner has had trouble finding a direction for their cinematic universe. But the Marvel titles still in the hands of other studios haven’t shared in that run of good fortune. Sony finally had to relinquish control of Spider-Man, and Fox has followed disaster with disaster with The Fantastic Four. The single exception to that rule has been the Fox handling of The X-Men universe.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 13th, 2016
When you have a title like Satanic, it’s kind of hard to not start to build up expectations right out of the gate. I like a horror film that isn’t afraid to go dark and play with the subject matter of the occult, because honestly it’s the only topic that can manage to get under my skin. The Exorcist in my opinion is hands down the best horror film of all time and manages to haunt me after a viewing simply because the boy I once was who went to Catholic mass every Sunday knew that it could happen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 12th, 2016
"...And then all light will end, and the world will live in darkness. The very air will be pestilence to mankind. And our brethren, the night creatures, will emerge and feed."
We could be talking about the end of the world. We could also be talking about the untimely demise of Penny Dreadful with just its third season at Showtime. It came with a suddenness, and not without controversy. John Logan originally planned for the series to go 6-7 years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by John Delia on October 12th, 2016
If you are looking for action and adventure, then you will not want to miss X-Men: First Class, a top-notch production that thrills. The storyline under the able direction of Matthew Vaughn contains all the explosiveness you would expect from a prequel to Marvel Comics’ famous X-Men. It’s the beginning of the saga, and we find Magneto (Michael Fassbender) being haunted by the death of someone close him. Escaping the clutches of the evil Nazi war criminal Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), Magneto meets Charles Xavier (James McAvoy).
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on October 10th, 2016
“There can only be one queen.”
After navigating treachery at every turn in French court and having to cope with a deadly plague throughout the first two seasons of Reign — the CW's campy, compulsively watchable adaptation of the Mary, Queen of Scots saga — season 3 was meant to introduce Mary's most formidable foe yet. Queen Elizabeth I of England becomes a regular character on the show and Mary's chief rival from afar. But in telling the story of two warring queens (while trying to service the series' many established characters) the show stretches itself too thin and loses some of the fizz that made it a guilty pleasure.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 9th, 2016
This movie is more likely to make you laugh than it is to scare you, so its place among the 31 Nights of Terror is borderline. However, with a title like OMG.....We're in a Horror Movie, it goes without saying where it belongs. Six friends while indulging in their weekly board game ritual (I didn't even know that was a real thing) find themselves inexplicably transported in the plot of a horror movie. Realizing that they have been relegated to the stereotypical roles of such horror movie characters as the token black guy who dies
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 8th, 2016
After the release of The Editor on Blu-ray last year and with the remake of Susperia in the works, it would seem that there is a slow revival of the Giallo film. For those unaware of the term or style, it’s basically a horror/ mystery film that tended to have slasher elements that emerged out of Italy. These were beautiful and stylish films that directors like Dario Argento, Mario Bava, and Lucio Fulci were the ambassadors of. While The Editor was more of a spoof of the genre, though well done, it is Masks that has really gotten my attention. Though it comes out of Germany, the love and attention to detail in adding so many of the familiar hallmarks of the Giallo film makes Masks more than just a simple homage, but it’s so well executed I could have believed this was a lost Dario Argento film.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on October 7th, 2016
The continent of Australia has seen a small renaissance of horror films over the last fifteen years. Considering the continent’s rich history with suspenseful cinema, the frequency of these films is indeed exciting. Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith are two movies that have stuck with me over the years, considering I only watched each title once. I remember the suspense and terror created in the atmosphere of Picnic, through a combination of a simple plot of a missing child and an ominous score. Jimmy Blacksmith’s climax is one of the most psychologically tormenting experiences I have had watching a film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 7th, 2016
"Did I miss anything while I was gone?"
Did you ever. Banshee came to an end with this, the fourth season, and it did not go quietly, to be sure. But it's not how it ends, but how this final season begins that's a bit of a mystery. There is a time jump of a little over 18 months that will cause you to feel like you might have missed something. If that doesn't confuse you, the season's constant tripping around in time will turn this season into a show very different from the Banshee we've come to know and love.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 7th, 2016
"Over 68 million Americans leave the safety of our borders every year. If danger strikes, the FBI's International Response Team (IRT) is called into action."
In these days of international terrorism, I'm not sure that anyone feels particularly safe here or abroad. If recent events have taught us anything at all, it's that evil knows no country and that no quarter is completely safe. You would also get the idea that terrorism is one of the biggest issues this IRT deals with. The first 13 episodes of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders don't really deal with that kind of danger with the single exception one episode.
