Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by John Delia on October 30th, 2014
Well-acted and directed, a surprisingly good action flick Plastic has hit the home video market on DVD. The movie offers its own interpretation of a several million dollar diamond heist that actually took place by a group of men in 1997. The original robbery spanned from Manchester, England to Los Angeles, CA and involving the prestigious Bejon Jewelers on Rodeo Drive. This film’s story adds a little comedy with their creative crime caper and that’s a good thing because if not, it would have been just be another heist movie.
The film opens with a group of college students, Sam (Ed Speleers), Fordy (Poulter), Yates (Alfie Allen) and Rafa (Sebastian De Souza), running a scam by duplicating credit cards using a special reader at a gas station. Using the cards to pay off their debt and live the high life, the guys start to branch out in other schemes. Unfortunately they inadvertently scam Marcel (Thomas Kretschmann) a very brutal mobster by stealing money from his accountant during an extortion caper. Confronting the boys with the theft of his money, Marcel gives them an out; replace all the money they took plus interest of $2 million dollars per month.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on October 30th, 2014
“Everyone in this story is guilty of something.”
With the exception of bland do-gooder/ dream girl Nina Pennington (Selena Gomez), all of the characters in Behaving Badly seem desperate to live up to — or rather down to — the movie’s title. The plot revolves around strippers, nuns, dead Latin teachers, and Lithuanian mobsters, so it’s clear the filmmakers were going for mindless raunch. But instead of a gleefully debauched 97 minutes, we get “comedy” that lacks wit and laughs that feel totally uninspired.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 29th, 2014
As the spookiest holiday of the year draws closer, we're all probably a little more sensitive to anything that goes bump in the night. Almost every creature associated with Halloween is meant to terrify us, but what if some of those horrific-looking monsters were actually tasked with watching over us? In the Japanese animated drama A Letter to Momo, a young girl encounters a trio of mischievous spirits that only she can see and hear. The monster shenanigans, however, were merely one aspect in what turned out to be one of the more affecting family films I've seen this year.
Momo (voice of Karen Miyama) is a grief-stricken girl who recently lost her father. Her mother Ikuko (Yuka) decides to uproot Momo from their Tokyo home and move to the island of Shio, the sleepy seaside community where Ikuko grew up. In addition to the grief Momo feels over losing her father, she is also overwhelmed by guilt; Momo had been cruel to her father prior to his unexpected death. As a result, Momo clings tightly the last memento her father left behind: an unfinished letter that started with the words, “Dear Momo.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 29th, 2014
"It was the gang that ran amok. You have people who were being extorted, who talked of having a shotgun barrel stuck in their mouths or machine guns pointed at their groin. Body bags were shown by Bulger as he shakes them down. It was absolute terror."
It amazes me that I really had very little idea who James J. Bulger was before I watched this film by director Joe Berlinger. How could I have missed this guy? On the run for over 16 years, Bulger was once #2 on the FBI's most wanted list. Who was #1? That was Osama Bin Laden. So who was this man that came in second only to the world's most infamous terrorist? That's what I set out to discover, and Whitey: The United States of America vs. James J. Bulger filled in all of those blanks. When the film is finally over you'll be asking yourself, "How is it possible I didn't know this stuff?" One possible reason and the focus of this documentary lies in the fact that the FBI might not have wanted you to know much about this case. Joe Berlinger corrects that oversight with one of the more compelling documentary films I've seen in years. In the end, it asks as many questions as it answers. But those questions are powerful ones indeed.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 29th, 2014
For a while now it has been accepted that cartoons are no longer for kids, and it can be argued that most of the popular animated shows now are more geared towards adults rather than kids these days. I’ve grown up with The Simpsons, and I’ve enjoyed the run that Family Guy has had, but really these have been the only animated shows I’d consider myself loyal to. Upon seeing some ads promoting Rick and Morty as well as hearing my friends talk about the show, I couldn’t help but think perhaps this could possibly be a new animated series I could get excited about.
At first glance Rick and Morty seems like the perfected animated blend of Family Guy and The Simpsons, and for the other-worldly locations even Futurama. The comparisons are hard to look past; after all, the family dynamic is just about the same, and the shows both are filled with their pop-culture references throughout, so what is that makes Rick and Morty stand out from the other shows?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 28th, 2014
“That man brings hell with him wherever he goes.”
The “man” is supposed to be Paul Brennan (Jason Patric), a retired mob enforcer-turned-unassuming auto mechanic who reluctantly returns to his violent ways after his daughter goes missing. But the real culprit might be director Brian A. Miller. With The Prince and this year’s The Outsider, the director has made two consecutive sub-Taken crime dramas that lack the cohesion, refinement or energy to work even as satisfyingly junky action movies.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on October 26th, 2014
“Inspired by the actual accounts of an NYPD sergeant.”
Deliver Us From Evil comes attached with what may be the most flowery variation yet of the “Based on a True Story” tag I'm always wary of. The deliberately-worded phrase is designed to lend an air of verisimilitude to the inherently supernatural demonic possession genre. (Not unlike what The Conjuring did with its real-life paranormal investigators on its way to becoming a smash.) While Deliver Us From Evil has a few decent jolts, it doesn't come close to capitalizing on the promise of its unique source material.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2014
The Mentalist was once the highest rated drama on television. There was a lot to like here, as I'll discuss throughout this review. But I think most of us had gotten a little sick and tired of the Red John story. The show milked the single case for over five years, and the fan base had dissolved to the point that the once #1 show has been on the bubble for the last two seasons. Next year it will return, but only as a January mid-season replacement, a place many shows begin their lives. Fans' patience has worn thin, but at long last the show's producers discovered what we've known since the second season. It's time to get Red John gone and move the show in another direction. If the show was going to survive, it was now or never. What you likely didn't see coming was a two-year jump in time and a retooling in the middle of an ongoing series. More on that later. Let's get you up to date first, shall we?
Simon Baker stars as Patrick Jane, a psychic who was riding high bilking folks out of their hard-earned money by playing on their desires to contact their deceased loved ones. He justified his con as providing closure for his marks and never looked back. That is, until one day he makes a fatal mistake. He never fooled himself into believing any of it was real. He wasn’t psychic. He just paid close attention. While working with the police to solve a serial killer case, he arrogantly demeans the murderer, known as Red John, on a television show. It was all chuckles until he gets home and finds that he made Red John so angry that he killed his wife and young daughter. Driven by guilt and a desire to avenge his family’s death, he abandoned his con game and decided to use the observational skills that allowed him to play a psychic to assist the California Bureau of Investigation, a sort of state-based FBI, to solve murders. He’s not a cop, but consulted with a tough-crimes division that answers directly to the state’s Attorney General. As he put it, “No gun. No badge. They don’t even give me dental.” While he’s shed his psychic persona, Jane is still incredibly full of himself. Jane is also deeply disturbed, although he hides it well. He still sleeps in the bedroom where his wife and daughter were killed. He never covered the red smiley face Red John drew at his crime scenes to taunt him in the victims’ own blood. A little Helter Skelter meets Barney.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on October 24th, 2014
by John Delia
Here’s a young adult targeted DVD that’s based on a graphic novel called The Scribbler. Perfect for those who want to cozy up on Halloween night, this science fiction thriller has a wicked tone and some ghoulish ghastly scenes. Actually, it’s very well acted for a low-budget indie, and the special effects are also a treat. The story gets kinda funky and way off the wall, but that’s what science fiction’s all about.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 23rd, 2014
Imagine if you had a second chance to tell that loved one you lost how much you loved them, or were able to do the things you wished you had done the first time, but you hesitated because you didn’t take into account the fragility of life. Life After Beth shows us the joys that can come with when getting that second chance while at the same time revealing the dark consequences that may come with this new opportunity. There are numerous zombie films and series out in the market, but Life After Beth may be the most unique take on the genre in some time.
Zach (Dane DeHaan) is a grief-stricken young man who is suffering from the tragic loss of his girlfriend Beth (Aubrey Plaza). All he can think about is how the two had last talked and it had been on bad terms and how losing her only seems to have made it clear how much he truly loved her. Her parents (played by John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon) as you’d expect are taking the tragedy badly. The parents take Zach in; after all, he seems to be the only one who can seem to understand the kind of pain they are going through. Back home Zach’s family couldn’t be more opposite and border on insensitive; besides, to Zach no one can seem to understand the pain, loss and guilt that he is feeling. But all this changes when by some miracle Beth returns from the grave.
