Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 17th, 2013
“You think football builds character? It does not; football reveals character.”
The open secret about sports movies is that they’re not really about sports. Most of the great ones use the games people play as a dynamic arena to tell universal stories about struggle, underdogs overcoming impossible odds, greatness and redemption. You don’t have to know a nose guard from a mouth guard to enjoy a football movie. By that same token, Undefeated may chronicle a grueling real-life high school football season, but I wasn’t surprised to see it play out like a lot of fictional sports flicks.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jonathan Foster on February 16th, 2013
“When lives are on the line, it’s hero time!”
What would you do if you had a gadget that allowed you to transform into different alien creatures? Think about it. If a good and virtuous person found it, they would use it to help others and protect the planet. If it fell into evil hands, they would use it to gain power and cause havoc. Everything comes down to the question of how that power is used. Unfortunately for Earth, Ben Tennyson found the alien gadget in question.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on February 15th, 2013
“What’s the matter? Don’t you like role-playing?”
I was on the verge of writing this film off as another zombie flick hoping to capture on the popularity brought about by the AMC series The Walking Dead, but then….BAM! It brought forth a plot twist that veered it away from all other zombie movies and grabbed my attention. It was no longer a zombie film; it was much more interesting.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 15th, 2013
I remember watching Heavenly Creatures and believing Melanie Lynskey would break out and become a star. I never would have guessed her co-star Kate Winslet would be the one to emerge from the film and be the A-list actress she has become. After all, when you watch Heavenly Creatures, it’s hard to believe this was the first role Lynskey had in front of a camera; I would have imagined she was destined to play some great roles through her career. Unfortunately that’s not the case, but I’m glad to see at the very least she has a career up on the screen.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 13th, 2013
When this DVD found its way into my hands, I felt this could go one of two ways; either this is going to be awful, or this is going to be fun as hell. I have to admit I had a little more concern when I saw that the show aired on Cinemax and had never even heard of the show. Despite my concern, the idea of an anthology series inspired by pulp novels and film noir revolving around badass chicks simply sounded too good to resist. The result is a late-night trashy blend between The Twilight Zone and The Red Shoe Diaries.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2013
Three-time widower Ben Cartwright (Greene) runs his famous Ponderosa Ranch with the aid of his three grown sons from three different mothers. There’s Little Joe (Landon), Adam (Roberts) and Hoss (Blocker). Set some time in the mid 1800’s, this long-running series followed the family’s many exploits. In the late 1950’s westerns accounted for six of the top ten programs on TV. Only Gunsmoke had a longer run than Bonanza. From 1959 to 1973, Ben Cartwright and his boys rode across the small screen.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2013
The setting for Gunsmoke was the by-now-famous Dodge City, circa 1870’s. Phrases like “get out of Dodge” would enter the popular lexicon as a result of this resilient series. Marshall Dillon (Arness) was charged with keeping the peace in Dodge City. The only other character to see the entire 20-year run was kindly Doc Adams (Stone). Star Trek’s own Doc, Leonard McCoy, took many of his traits from Doc Adams. He was the humanitarian of the city, always looking to help someone. Like McCoy, he had a taste for bourbon and a soft heart underneath a rather gruff exterior and was always ready with free advice.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jonathan Foster on February 13th, 2013
Slugterra reminds me of the cartoons from my childhood — like G.I. Joe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — where the good guys are always extolling the virtues of friendship, hard work and fair play. The show also seems to be a cross between Pokemon and Transformers, featuring competitors dueling with little creatures called “slugs” that transform into powerful beasts once they hit 100 mph.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 12th, 2013
The image of what a bully looks and sounds like has changed drastically in recent years. When you and I were growing up, a “bully” was probably someone who looked like this and demanded your lunch money. Mean Girls came out less than 10 years ago; but if Tina Fey were trying to get the exact same movie made today, she’d probably have to deal with notes from a nervous studio exec worried that the Burn Book would drive one of the characters to suicide.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 9th, 2013
I didn’t know what to make of this Pig/1334 double bill when I took it on as my latest assignment. All I had to go on were the aggressively grotesque images on the Blu-ray case. I wasn’t yet familiar with the work of Dutch filmmaker Nico B. or former Christian Death frontman Rozz Williams. I did a bit of research, mostly because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being handed a real-life version of the videotape from The Ring. (Surely, there would be a less drastic way of informing me my services were no longer required on this site.) What I uncovered instead was an intriguing and haunting back story.
