Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 11th, 2013
When it comes to martial artists out of Thailand, the big go-to name people seem to know is Tony Jaa (Ong-Bak). But Thailand has another martial arts star, and after finishing This Girl is Badass I’m convinced Jeeja Yanin is going to be the bigger star. Most may recognize Jeeja from the 2008 film Chocolate; after the last thirty minutes of that film I was ready to see her in more action. Though she’s had other titles released since Chocolate, This Girl is Badass gets to be the follow-up film since her 2008 release.
Now, I don’t know how many of you remember the bike messenger flick Premium Rush, but the plot for that runs very closely to the plot for This Girl is Badass. Jeeja plays a bike messenger, Jukkalan, who also delivers packages for two rivaling crime bosses to make some extra cash. Once she gets found out, she gets caught in the middle of this smuggling war. What I wasn’t ready for was for this to be a comedy that reminded me of the old Zucker brothers and Mel Brooks’s films (only not nearly as good). The crime bosses are good and hard to take seriously, one being an obese man with a very effeminate voice, the other an older man with a foot fetish.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 10th, 2013
I don’t like remakes for probably the same reasons you don’t like them — they’re lazy and creatively bankrupt — but I’m also not completely against the idea of revisiting an older film. When the older film isn’t a beloved classic that shouldn’t be touched or when a story can be more effectively presented using technology that simply didn’t exist when the original movie was made, remakes aren’t such a bad idea. By those standards, 1984’s The Philadelphia Experiment is actually an excellent choice to receive the remake treatment. And that’s why I’m so disappointed to see it go so wrong.
Both incarnations of The Philadelphia Experiment get their names from a hush-hush World War II military experiment — also known as “Project Rainbow” — carried out by the U.S. Navy at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1943 that is almost definitely a hoax. (Unless it’s not.) The experiment involved using a cloaking device to render the Navy destroyer USS Eldridge invisible. In the 1984 film starring Michael Paré and Nancy Allen, two WWII-era sailors were transported 40 years into the future through a vortex created by the ship’s generator.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 9th, 2013
For 8 long seasons Rawhide followed the adventures of a cattle drive. Season 6 was separated into two releases. Here we shall look at what Part Two has to offer. Feel free to browse previous releases covered by Gino on this same site: https://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=rawhide
Clint Eastwood got his first major role playing foreman Rowdy Yates for the entire run of this series. By the sixth season, Eastwood seems to be a far more comfortable and confident actor than what we saw in earlier seasons. A real white hat, Yates is often the voice of reason when his Trail boss (played by Eric Fleming) has his doubts. Although sometimes he needs a boost as well, and that comes in the form of support from their ever-lovin' cook Wishbone (played by Paul Brineger).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 9th, 2013
For 8 long seasons Rawhide followed the adventures of a cattle drive. Season 6 was separated into two releases. Here we shall look at what Part One has to offer. Feel free to browse previous releases covered by Gino on this same site: https://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=rawhide
Clint Eastwood got his first major role playing foreman Rowdy Yates for the entire run of this series. By the sixth season, Eastwood seems to be a far more comfortable and confident actor than what we saw in earlier seasons. A real white hat, Yates is often the voice of reason when his Trail boss (played by Eric Fleming) has his doubts. Although sometimes he needs a boost as well, and that comes in the form of support from their ever-lovin' cook Wishbone (played by Paul Brineger).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 7th, 2013
For nine seasons and several TV-movies afterwards, Raymond Burr was Los Angeles based defense attorney Perry Mason. This character's verbal gymnasitcs and uncanny hounding for evidence makes his famous winning streaks seem not just plausible but rather entertaining to behold. His adventures have been well-reviewed by myself and my reviewing compadre Gino on this very site (https://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=perry+mason).
The formula (for lack of a better term) of each episode maintains in this first half of the final season. The primary suspect is profiled, caught and examined in the first half of each story. When things do to trial, the true guilty party is found out, often on the witness stand, as Perry’s uncanny winning streak gets the best of those who try to hide the truth from him. Said winning streak might spoil one’s enjoyment of the show since the outcomes can be predicted during the opening titles screen, but the crimes (most often murders) are elaborate enough to maintain interest for the most part. At the same time, I feel it should be noted that the pacing of the show can often be slow. Think of it being a closer relation to Matlock than the sexier modern Legal dramas like The Practice. Not to say that it is better to have attorneys with chiseled jaws or short skirts versus methodical investigation and character development, but you had better prepare yourself for a lot of men in suits standing in one spot speaking their thoughts aloud.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 7th, 2013
"What is reality?"
Television has been around for about 75 years now. In that time we've seen just about every kind of show you might like. Fads and trends come and go along with stars and characters. Crime dramas have been among the most popular throughout those 75 years, and there have been so many "cop/detective" shows that we've also seen just about every kind of crime and investigation possible. With few exceptions there isn't much that can surprise us in the cop procedural drama.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 7th, 2013
With most of my teen years spent during the 90’s it’s no surprise that still many of the bands I grew up with manage to remain on my playlist. Garbage is a band of the 90’s you couldn’t help but take notice of because though the airwaves were saturated with alternative music, Garbage was doing it with a female vocalist. Shirley Manson wasn’t just a pretty face; she had the vocals and stage presence that was hard to resist at the time. “I’m only happy when it rains” as well as “Stupid Girl” have been tracks that any time I catch them on the radio I can’t help but crank the radio a little louder and get a little nostalgic to the way things were in my teens.
Though Manson and the band managed to reach the status of performing the opening theme song for the Bond film The World is Not Enough, the band seemed to gracefully step out of the spotlight. With the chance to check out this Blu-ray I was more than happy to take this and indulge myself a bit. Now that I’ve had the chance to see it, well, my only regret is that I didn’t have the chance to see them in their prime.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 7th, 2013
Ever notice when an actor is having a good year, suddenly a film that they made years before their success makes an appearance? I refer to this movie as “the bandwagon film.” It is film that is shelved and does not have a prayer of being released. It happens too often for it to be coincidence and usually features said actor center stage on the cover art with the mention of the popular film that the actor took part in. Take Christian Bale for example: not long after the release of Batman Begins, a low-level film by the name of Harsh Times came to theaters. In the case of Dead Mine, that actor would be Joe Taslim. Taslim is having a good year with a starring role in the action packed The Raid: Redemption and scoring a bad guy role in Fast & Furious 6; the movie had promise in the beginning, but as the film progressed it launched into complete insanity and will likely be an anchor holding Taslim down.
Legend tells of an abandoned Japanese World War II bunker hidden in the Indonesian jungle that stores a vast fortune of Yamashita gold. After an excavation turns up the bunker’s location, rich boy Warren Price (Les Loveday, Sweeney Todd), Rie (Miki Mizuno, The Flying Publicist), a wide-eyed researcher, and Stanley (Sam Hazeldine, The Raven), an engineer from his father’s company. Given the uneasy and dangerous circumstance of the area, the group is appointed a security team led by Captain Tino Prawa (Ario Bayu, Java Heat).
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 6th, 2013
I wasn’t all too familiar with Al Madrigal’s work before receiving his album to review. After looking up his web site I had realized it was The Daily Show with Jon Stewart that I had recognized him from, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was a fan. With comedians, though, going into their act knowing very little about them, most often the experience seems to be more enjoyable; after all, with no expectations it’s hard to come away disappointed.
Six months ago I’m not sure how much I would have been able to relate to Madrigal's set, a set that has a very distinct storytelling style, and his stories for the most part consist of him being a father. Sure, not everyone has to be a parent to find his set funny, but had I not recently had a child come into my life in the past few months I don’t believe I’d connect with as much of his set as I did. Whether Madrigal is discussing how he disciplines his children when they talk back or talking about hiding from the kids just to embrace a little alone time, he maintains a narrative that everyone in the audience can appreciate.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 5th, 2013
“Each director was given a letter of the alphabet and asked to choose a word. They then created a short tale of death that related to their chosen word. They had complete artistic freedom regarding the content of their segments.”
It’s easy to see why 26 talented filmmakers from across the world leapt at the chance to show audiences 26 different ways to die. Obviously, you can’t exactly be squeamish when you sit down to watch an anthology called The ABCs of Death. But I still wish fewer directors had interpreted “complete artistic freedom” as “make the most ridiculous and disgusting movie you possibly can.”
