Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 20th, 2015
From the moment Son of a Gun opens up taking you behind bars as JR (Brenton Thwaites) is being processed into an Australian prison, it is the start of a journey that throws everything at its audience till the final credits roll. I have a hard time figuring out just how to classify Son of a Gun; it is everything from being a film about self-discovery, a guys-behind-bars film, to being a heist film and so much more. The title refers to JR as he goes about serving his time behind bars and captures the attention of an infamous thief Brendan (Ewan McGregor).
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on March 20th, 2015
“Do you want to be a banker or a gangster? Why can’t I be both?”
I really kind of dug the concept of the film, definitely. Two guys try to bring down a crooked CEO from within the company. I like that it was done as a comedy instead of a drama; that distinction allows for a more enjoyable experience as a whole. Though the idea could have worked as a drama as well, I think most people would agree that it is always better to laugh.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 19th, 2015
Anyone who has ever played an instrument or sung understands the therapeutic powers of music. In England they have been using that idea to help physically disadvantaged children with music at the Nordoff-RobbinsMusicCenter in London's KentishTown. The institute was founded by American composer Paul Nordoff and British teacher Clive Robbins. They have thousands of success stories. We're talking children who had closed themselves off from the world around them, many who had stopped speaking or communicating at all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 18th, 2015
What if there was a place where you can act out your wildest fantasy, whether it be murder, theft, or sex, and at the end of the day you could go home as though nothing happened? That is the tease Vice offers its audience in a sci-fi action film that blends bits of Blade Runner, Stange Days and Westworld into one tight little package. For fans of the sci-fi genre, the movies I reference are staples in the genre, but let me be clear; at no time does Vice measure up to these films. When we meet Kelly (newcomer Ambyr Childers), she is an android leading a life behind the walls of VICE where she is programmed to live the same day over day after day.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 18th, 2015
"Space...The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before!"
I wish I could say that this new 2-DVD set of Star Trek episodes had gone where none had gone before.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on March 18th, 2015
It’s been about a decade since Hollywood first tried to make a movie out of Halo, the blockbuster Xbox videogame series. The closest fans came to seeing Master Chief on the big screen was a 2006 adaptation with Peter Jackson serving as executive producer and his then-protégé Neill Blomkamp directing. Unfortunately, development costs started to skyrocket and the duo opted to make District 9 instead. Meanwhile, Halo remained a potentially-lucrative multimedia property. So Microsoft, which owns Xbox, finally decided that if they wanted a Halo movie done, they had to do it themselves.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 16th, 2015
Most films start with a screenplay. Certainly the true genesis is usually an idea or concept, but the film starts to take shape around a screenplay. Never has that been more true then with 3 Holes And A Smoking Gun. In fact, you could say it has a killer script. I'm not actually talking about the one written by Scott Fivelson for the movie. And, when I say killer, I'm not being at all figurative. This is a script that people will literally kill for, hence the smoking gun in the title. That's not to say that Fivelson's work isn't pretty good here. It's quite clever, but it's not the dominating aspect of this particular movie. That comes later.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 16th, 2015
Here it is, Brittany Murphy’s swan song performance before her untimely death. Though I may not have been her biggest fan, I could still appreciate growing up and watching her from films like Clueless and Girl, Interrupted, but for many she will always be the girl who said “I’ll never tell” in Don’t Say A Word. The DVD promo art on the cover is banking on those loyal fans, and it does seem like an insensitive cash grab by the studio, especially since Murphy isn’t even the star. Instead she does nothing more than fill in a co-starring role in an unfortunate, forgettable performance. So if you were looking for something more, I want to warn you from the start this is not her movie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 16th, 2015
For your safety you should keep him away from the booze and doughnuts.”
Wolf Cop wasn’t a film haphazardly thrown together; instead its path to being made was epic in its own right as the filmmakers entered their concept into a Canadian online competition where people voted week after week on what potential film would be lucky enough to get made. Wolf Cop slayed the competition, and as they say, the rest is history.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on March 16th, 2015
“2,000 years ago, the Bible prophesied the return of Christ...but only after God inflicts seven years of torment on the world to test the faith of mankind.”
It's not quite seven years long, but this two-part, three-hour TV movie — History's latest foray into original filmmaking — is likely to test the faith (and patience) of anyone who watches it. Revelation: The End of Days is intentionally less glossy than previous network offerings like Bonnie & Clyde and Houdini because it takes a ground-level look at the apocalypse. But in scaling back to achieve that aesthetic, the result is both frustrating and amateurish.
