Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on March 9th, 2016
“They are hard to get...”
Naturally, Elizabeth and Philip Jennings — the Soviet spies next door at the center of FX’s The Americans — have proven to be exceedingly elusive. Over the course of three seasons and 39 episodes, they’ve dodged numerous close calls from the federal government, enemy agents, and from within their own household. But while various parties have tried to catch the main characters in the act, the thing that makes The Americans one of the very best shows on TV is that it’s actually incredibly easy to “get” Elizabeth and Philip; their efforts to keep their (unconventional) family together are universal.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on March 8th, 2016
Out of the Inferno is one of the most recent films written and directed by Danny and Oxide Pang. I must admit that I am a fan of the prolific duo, ever since I watched the original Bangkok Dangerous. Whether it be their intense dramatic thrillers such as The Detective or The Eye franchises, or their nightmarish dreamscapes in Sleepwalker or Re-Cycle (my personal favorite from the Pang Brothers). Unfortunately, Out of the Inferno did not come close to surpassing the “bar” of expectations when it comes to my enjoyment of a film from the Pang Brothers. The narrative involves two firefighter brothers who are dedicated to their line of work.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on March 7th, 2016
Eric Jonrosh has written many weighty tomes full of lust and passion and desire and wanton abandon. Perhaps the greatest of these heavy and important contributions to literature is The Spoils of Babylon. He directed a 22-hour film himself that he hoped would reveal the real heart and soul and dark insides of the book. No one was ready for such an intense and unbridled examination of the human experience, so Jonrosh allowed the footage to be bastardized and submitted to television as a miniseries. Jonrosh himself introduces the multi-episode presentation, which now clocks in at two hours and 18 minutes. Jonrosh drinks freely of wine at his favorite restaurant as he is filmed and erratically rambles about the origins of his work and his copious experiences creating masterpieces.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 7th, 2016
Who would have believed that you could do a situation comedy based on Nazi Germany and a group of POW’s in World War II? It wasn’t an easy sell. When Albert S. Ruddy first came up with the idea, it was a contemporary story about a group of guys in a normal U.S. prison. There were a lot of problems, mostly with the idea of making your main characters criminals. Of course, that’s not so much the problem today. But this was the 1960’s, and those kinds of “heroes” were not quite as accepted. Eventually the concept developed to put the characters in a prisoner of war camp in Nazi Germany during the World War II. Remember that we were only 20 years removed from the end of the war and the discovery of the concentration camps and all of the horrid images these things evoked in people.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 7th, 2016
Despite how the History Channel continues to churn out more reality shows, the upside of this is that the shows they put out happen to be pretty entertaining. When I first heard about Mountain Men, the first thing that came to mind was how dangerous was this show really going to get? Sure, you can have people hunting in the snow, but would the producers of the show really allow their crew to sit back and record the “cast” as they continue to face dangerous and deadly situations over and over? Well, the answer is yes, and the danger comes in various forms as the men of the show face off against Mother Nature in a blistering struggle for survival.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 4th, 2016
"One last mission."
That’s exactly what we’re talking about here. It’s the last mission for our brave Section 20 team. Strike Back follows the exploits that elite and secret British military team called Section 20. On paper they do not exist, but they've got all the best new high-tech toys, and they're going to need every one of them. But after this season they will no longer exist. This is the fourth and final season of Strike Back. It’s time to say goodbye, but there’s a farewell party planned, and this release is it. Let me assure you that Strike Back is going out with a bang… literally.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 4th, 2016
Weaponized can't seem to make up its mind about what kind of action flick it wants to be. It appears to be the story of a grief-stricken military contractor who obsessively pursues a dangerous experimental program, but instead the film focuses on a brawny, brooding homicide detective. On top of that, the Blu-ray's cover art prominently features an imposing robot that doesn't even factor into the plot until about 10 minutes before the credits roll. Most importantly, the movie totally ignores the schlockiness of its botched, cliche-ridden plot and plays everything distressingly straight, which makes Weaponized a pretty joyless trip to the near future.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 2nd, 2016
The last time we checked in on Rocky Balboa was 2006. It was a bittersweet coda to a franchise that provided 30 years and six films of the life and times of Rocky Balboa. Some were truly great films. I'd count the first and last as in that category. Some were near misses like the third and fourth films, while the fifth was pretty much a total disaster. In those years and films we watched Rocky go from a hungry Philadelphia wannabe boxer to the champion several times over. Like the franchise, the character had his own highs and lows. There's no question that the Rocky franchise has gone the distance. And while it might have been a split decision, the Rocky films still stand as the champion of the film genre.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 2nd, 2016
When certain stories become public domain, you just have to expect that there will be a lot of people creating their own “unique” versions of the same tale all in the name of making a few bucks. When it comes to adaptations of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, I think we can all agree every attempt to tell the story has not been in the name of preserving the art. What I do find surprising: despite all the attempts to bring the story to the screen, there still isn’t a version that I can say is a perfect retelling of the tale, though each may have its pros, for the most part it just never seems to translate well.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on March 1st, 2016
“I fought for the sport of it, never to kick someone’s ass. It started in the ring and ended in the ring. Fighting should be a last resort, not a first.”
Before this quote, I must I was mildly concerned about the message this film was sending to the public. I wholeheartedly agree with the statement; however, before the words were uttered, I was mildly confused by the behavior of some of the characters in Fight to the Finish. Fortunately, the confusion did not last long, as I was quickly brought up to speed about the characters’ actions.
