Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2016
There have been nine Jesse Stone movies starring Tom Selleck. They come from a series of books written by Robert B. Parker. Parker is also famous for the Spencer For Hire series, which was a television show starring Robert Urich from 1985 to 1988. Parker also created a popular Sunny Randall series that was originally meant as a vehicle for Helen Hunt. Many modern writers such as Harlan Coben, Robert Crais and Dennis Lehane credit Parker for revitalizing and reinventing the detective genre. It has been a tried and true genre for over a hundred years. It is a beloved formula. The Hallmark Channel has been behind this series of movies with Selleck, who has had a career resurgence with the CBS series Blue Bloods. He is well remembered for the Magnum P.I. show that ran from 1980 to 1988. Just to bring you up to date on the Jesse Stone movies which started airing in 2005, here are some of the titles in case you want to get the whole collection. The movies are all in chronological order: Stone Cold, Night Passage, Death In Paradise, Sea Change, Thin Ice, No Remorse, Innocents Lost, Benefit Of The Doubt, and Lost In Paradise. Another one is on the way in 2016. Selleck has become increasingly involved with the writing of the movies as well. Recurring characters from previous movies that show up in Jesse Stone: Lost In Paradise are Thelma Gleffey (Gloria Reuben), Gino Fish (William Sadler), Dr. Dix (William Sadler), Officer Luther “Suitcase” Simpson (Kohl Sudduth), Sister Mary John (Kerri Smith), and Lt. Sydney Greenstreet (Leslie Hope). (By the way, anyone who has seen The Maltese Falcon will get a chuckle out of the name Sidney Greenstreet.) The last time a Jesse Stone movie was broadcast on CBS was back in 2013 with Benefit of The Doubt and garnered over 13 million viewers. That was back in the good old days but was shifted over to Hallmark because it attracted too many older viewers. I can see why, because Jesse Stone is an unapologetic dinosaur who carries a flip phone and doesn’t respond to texts even if it’s an emergency.
Stone is based out of a town called Paradise, Massachusetts but heads down to Boston to pick up some cold cases from Lt. Greenstreet, because he needs to keep busy. Stone is doing his best to keep off the booze and has nothing but work to keep his mind off things. He also winds up helping a teenage truant girl whose mother is also an alcoholic. The main case this time is trying to find the murder of a prostitute. Stone visits Richard Steele (Luke Perry), who is in prison for the murder of three prostitutes. Steele believes prostitutes are a poison in society and has proudly confessed to the three murders. He specifically says he did not murder this new woman despite a similar M.O. (Modus Operandi). Strangely, this new murder is the wife of a wealthy man.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on January 28th, 2016
My first exposure to Bo Derek was Michael Anderson’s horror film Orca. While she may have had a minor part in the film, she had a rather unique beauty about her that was hard to ignore. After Orca, she dropped off my radar for the better part of five years, until her familiar face came to me in Shout Factory’s Bolero/Ghosts Can’t Do It combo pack. Once again I was graced with her unique beauty, but with a new understanding of her acting career: mainly how it was influenced by her relationship with her late husband John Derek. The two films in this Blu-ray set are towards the end of the pair’s collaborative projects, but I believe it is an accurate portrayal of their contribution (or lack thereof) to cinema as a whole.
For those who don’t know, the Dereks’ relationship was not something you would call conventional. She was seventeen and in high school, and he was married and in his forties. In order to maintain their relationship legally, John divorced his wife and eloped with his young lover to Germany, where they remained for three years before returning to the States to marry. While this fact might be quite disturbing to some, it is necessary to mention, because the Dereks produced their first collaborative film project while abroad for those three years. The independent production, Fantasies, was shot in Greece in 1973, with unknown Greek actors and actresses and Bo Derek (then unknown) as the lead. The film was not released until 1981 due to the controversy surrounding the film: a seventeen-year-old girl exploring her sexual fantasies involving an older man, complete with nudity. Following Fantasies, John Derek wrote and directed three more films exploiting Bo’s beauty before ending his career as a director: Tarzan, The Ape Man, Bolero, and Ghosts Can’t Do It.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on January 27th, 2016
“Being a woman's hard work.”
Femininity — the quality and essence of being a woman — is at the forefront of The New Girlfriend, a gender-bending and genre-bending offering from French director Francois Ozon. The film is a curious mix of farce, rom-com hijinks, frank sexuality, and serious drama about loss. The formula isn't always cohesive, but it makes for an intriguing twist on the old “boy meets girl” story.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 26th, 2016
"The way of life depicted in this program dates back 300 years. Hunting, especially alligator hunting, lies at its core. Some images may be disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised."
And they're not kidding. Gator hunting is a bloody business, and this show gets you right up close and in the action. The hunters set hooks with bait, and once a gator is hooked they must reel it in and shoot it in a very small vulnerable spot in the back of the head. Let me warn you that animals were indeed harmed in the making of this film, and you're going to witness that harm. If you're an animal activist, I suggest turning to the Disney Channel for this particular hour. The rest of you will get a front-row seat to a truly thrilling non-stop alligator hunt.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 23rd, 2016
I have to admit that I'm not much of a Keanu Reeves fan. However, I'm a huge fan of Keanu Reeves movies. Let's face it, Keanu can be quite wooden with as much screen presence as a test pattern. OK, I'm showing my age with that line. But one thing he knows how to do well is pick great films to star in. From The Matrix and the recent very hit John Wick to the underrated The Devil's Advocate, Reeves can sure pick 'em. The worse case scenario here would be Keanu in an uninteresting movie. Well...Knock Knock. Who's there? An uninteresting Keanu Reeves film.
Knock Knock finds Reeves playing Evan Weber. He's an architect with a pretty much idyllic life. His wife is a renowned artist, and he has two great kids. But Evan is feeling a bit neglected on Father's Day. His wife has just gotten a shipment of catalogues from her recent exhibit, and she's not exactly paying him a lot of attention right now. To make things worse, wife and kids are off to spend Father's Day weekend at the beach, while Evan has to remain home to finish a project.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on January 21st, 2016
Have you ever stumbled across someone’s diary? At first glance it may look innocent enough, but for the person with dreams, fears and confessions, it is that friend and confidant that will listen to its author as they bare their soul and not be faced with judgement. In The Diary of a Teenage Girl, not only do we get a peek into the secret life of Minnie Goetze (Bel Powley), but we are taken on a journey of experiencing first love and sex through the eyes of a 15 year-old girl. It’s sweet, it’s tragic, but where this film’s strength comes at its audience the strongest is with its honesty, which for some may be a bit too sobering of a reminder of what life is like as a teenager.
“I had sex today…”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on January 21st, 2016
Here comes another in the long line of movies featuring a WWE superstar. Boy, I tell you, the floodgates open after The Rock (although now he goes by Dwayne Johnson) proved it was possible to move from wrestling stardom to silver screen stardom. That said, none them have really made the leap successfully since him; however, that is not from a lack of trying. This time around, Randy "The Viper" Orton looks to try his luck in the sequel to a WWE sponsored film in The Condemned 2.
After a botched operation to capture the leader of a gambling ring that ended in tragedy, bounty hunter Will Tanner (Orton) walks away from the bail enforcement life. Having his entire world rocked, Will resigns himself to a quiet life; however, just because he is done with his past doesn't necessarily mean that his past is done with him. He suddenly finds himself fighting for his life in a deadly game brought forth by an old enemy. To make matters worse, not only is he forced to do battle, he is forced to do battle against his very own team, the same men who accompanied him for years, men who he was willing to put his life in their hands in the past. Now he must stay one step of ahead of the men who know him best, all the while trying to make his way to the man behind the curtain.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 21st, 2016
"Did you ever have a dream but didn't know where it started?"
Some dreams did indeed start with the box office flop Nomads. It was the first starring role in a feature film for future James Bond Pierce Brosnan. It was also the first film directed by John McTiernan and his only screenwriting credit to date. Both would go on to have quite flourishing careers, and I suspect neither spends much time looking back at Nomads, and with good enough reason. And those careers did not take long. For McTiernan his next three films would be, in order: Predator, Die Hard, and The Hunt For Red October. The film also sports a score by legendary Bill Conti, the man who started his feature film career with Rocky and ended up with a Best Music Oscar for The Right Stuff. Conti teamed up with Ted Nugent, and they improvised most of the Nomads score with Nugent making coffee runs packing his trademark extra protection. With a dream team like this you might expect Nomads to be a pretty solid film. You'd be wrong.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on January 20th, 2016
1969 was a very eventful year for the United States of America. While I will not name all of the events that transpired over that year, I will remind you of two of the most recognized: In July, Apollo 11 lands on the moon, and in August, Woodstock takes place in upstate New York. However, the events that take place in Stonewall are not as publicized as the space race or the culminating concert of the hippie movement. In fact, I had never heard of the Stonewall riots until my final year of college. To those who are not familiar with the riots, allow me to set the scene: During the early hours of a Saturday morning in late June, an unexpected police raid befalls Stonewall Inn. The club is a popular nightspot for homosexuals in New York’s Greenwich Village, but due to the lack of homosexual rights during this time, is constantly under close watch from the police due to its patrons’ illicit activities. The aforementioned night in June was the final straw for many young men, who began to vandalize the property upon being kicked out.
Like many other dramatizations, Stonewall maintains important characters while building entertaining drama around them. The narrative brings focus to Danny (Jeremy Irvine), a boy from Kansas who has moved to New York in an effort escape the strict upbringing of his parents. Once in the city, he begins to associate with two people who have taken different approaches to fighting for gay rights in New York City. The first is Ray (Johnny Beauchamp), a flamboyant young man who takes to working the streets to support himself. The other is Trevor (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a refined young man who believes the best way to eliminate the issue is through politics. As Danny builds relationships within the homosexual community of Greenwich Village, he quickly becomes acquainted with the shady owner of Stonewall, Ed Murphy (Ron Perlman) and his tumultuous relationship with the police, lead by Deputy Seymour Pine (Matt Craven).
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2016
Broad City is about two 20-something ladies who don’t give a whoop whoop. They care so little that they don’t know they don’t care. On top of that, there is a motley collection of odd oddballs. That’s a problem, because these people have nothing but problems. Not that any of them care. And these ladies are like dudes so much that they say “dude” to each other. Our two ladies (I say ladies because I don’t want to say girls or women or other less complimentary appellations) are named Ilana Wexler and Abbi Abrams, played by Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson. Glazer and Jacobson are creators, co-writers, and performers, and their involvement goes back to a web series they created before it was picked up by Comedy Central. Amy Poehler is one of the executive producers. The episodes are peppered with guest stars such as Seth Rogan (Glazer makes an appearance in Rogan’s The Night Before), Kelly Ripa (Live with Kelly and Michael), Hannibal Buress, Susie Essman (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Bob Balaban (Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Amy Ryan (Bridge of Spies), Janeane Garafalo, Patricia Clarkson, Alia Shakwat (Arrested Development) among many others. A lot of people are supporting these relative unknowns. They must see something.
Glazer and Jacobson have created something smart and fresh at the same time that it is silly, gross, and vulgar. Their point of view is underrepresented on television. It is about 20-somethings who have very few rules. Maybe they don’t know what they are doing, and maybe they are breaking other people’s rules, but they seem to be well-intentioned and cavalier. They are polyamorous and multicultural in their interests. They try not to judge but judge all the time. They are hypercritical but try to be respectful. They don’t tolerate people who bore them, but they are constantly looking for love. In other words, they are typical 20-somethings. Or are they? That’s a question that is hard to answer for anyone, but I suspect their unique perspectives are indeed unique. They might be so weird as to definitely not be role models but are portrayed with such unflinching honesty as to be somewhat representative of all of us. It is absurdist and ridiculous, but always in the context of what seems like real-life situations. Broad City is merciless satire that is directed at everyone including themselves and feels like it comes from a very real place. These women are on the cutting edge of something, and they don’t care who knows it. At times they seem to come from a privileged background and other times seem barely able to take care of themselves. Sometimes the humor is infantile, yet they almost always come off as charming. There are deleted scenes on the DVD that are as good, if not better than, the broadcast content. All in all, they are full of contradictions.
