Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 12th, 2012
Less than 100 years ago, the Mexican government declared war on the Catholic Church. This movie tells the story of the ensuing conflict known as Cristiada (also called the Cristero War), which took place between 1926 and 1929. In showing us all the different ways war can affect a country and all the different ways rebels can contribute to a cause, the movie sort of forgot to tell us why the Mexican government declared war on the church in the first place.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 12th, 2012
Of the standup comedians that are working the circuits and bringing new material to the stage with every tour, my favorite guy without too much hesitation is Jim Gaffigan. His deadpan delivery of observational humor hits me just right. Whether he’s making comments about Hot Pockets, bacon, or just being lazy, he manages to pull humor from some of the most mundane things and make it relate to his entire audience.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 12th, 2012
It would be fair to say Lewis Black is not for everyone. When in the mood for comedy, few people would decide on watching an old man rant and rave on a stage to the point you expect him to simply keel over from a self induced heart attack. You won’t find any puppets or redneck humor when watching one of Black’s routines. In fact what you can expect is at some point to maybe get a little upset if not outright offended. But that’s okay. He knows his routine is not for everyone, so much so in fact he even opens this show with a note of warning about what to expect from his show. And then the anger-fueled rants continue from there.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 12th, 2012
There is a long line of adaptations of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and here we have a modern re-telling of the classic horror tale. Like the original, Dr. Jekyll is experimenting on a wild potion, but while experimenting on himself a malevolent alter-ego named Mr. Hyde emerges from within him to go on killing sprees.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 10th, 2012
Geared towards pre-schoolers, and their fascination with dinosaurs, this show teaches us about dinosaurs, one at a time, in 10-minute episodes. A group of young dinosaurs, eager to learn, travel on a magical train through time to meet the dinosaur highlighted in their episode.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 10th, 2012
Remember when I mentioned the difficulty of reviewing a season in the middle of the show’s run? This week, I shall attempt to review two different HBO shows at the end of their respective run. Yes, I will be piecing together a show that is in its last season with very little (or no knowledge) of the seasons before. This should be a fun ride and our last entry is the third season of the HBO Comedy: Hung.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 10th, 2012
If you have a low tolerance for quirky indie comedies, just listening to the premise of Goats might be enough to make you gag. The film follows Ellis, a responsible 15-year-old Tucson boy who decides to attend a prestigious East Coast prep school. Left behind are his flaky, New Age-y mother and Goat Man, a pool man/weed grower who is also Ellis’s primary father figure. In case you’re already rolling your eyes, let me assure you there’s slightly more going on here than quirk for quirk’s sake.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 9th, 2012
One of my strongest assets is my ability to compute numbers. It has helped me to excel at my paying position in the workforce as well as stay ahead when it comes to my finances. However, to date I have never really been placed in a position where my mastery of numbers would determine life or death. However, our movie today, Safe does involve a girl named Mei whose very life indeed could end on the basis of whether or not she can properly remember her numbers.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on September 7th, 2012
James Caan and Paul Sorvino are prominently featured on the DVD cover of this true life gangster tale. (The cover also features a bloated Edward Furlong of Terminator 2 fame, but the trio only has a combined 20-25 minutes of screen time.) It’s almost as if the filmmakers figured that, by having supporting actors from The Godfather and Goodfellas, some of the greatness from two of the best crime films of all time would somehow rub off on their modest venture. As you can probably tell from the tone of this opening paragraph, it didn’t exactly work.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 7th, 2012
The considerable talents of Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass are probably best known for their Christmas classic Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. It's been an annual holiday classic since the 1960's. There have been quite a few other television classics over the years. But the team did not restrict themselves to just doing television specials. Not at all. With the enormous success of Rudolph they looked toward the feature film business. At that time Disney pretty much had a monopoly on the animated feature, and Rankin & Bass decided to give the Mouse House a run for their money.
