Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on November 9th, 2011
“Things never go well before first going wrong and then getting worse; which is one of the many lessons our silent drifter has been hearing for as long as he can remember.”
Bunaku is the name of a 400-year-old form of Japanese puppet theater. These elaborately staged productions star intricately-detailed puppets operated by puppeteers dressed head to toe in black, who almost blend into the background, but never really do, making their puppeteering as hypnotic as the puppets and sets themselves. Although Bunraku’s genre movie mishmash doesn’t use puppets, with the exception of the opening title sequence, it does rely on many of the same lavish and surreal esthetics.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 9th, 2011
"All things are intrinsically connected, no matter how different they may appear. Hi. You know me -- Robert Axle. As a fabricator, I bring existing, often different, items together, maximizing their atomic and molecular potential. Making ordinary inventions infinitely more prolific."
Kevin Spacey has been quite prolific himself in the last couple of years. It seems no matter where I go these days, I see him in another movie I'm reviewing. In just the last 6 months I've seen him in Horrible Bosses, Margin Call, Casino Jack and now Father Of Invention. In fact just since 2009 he's appeared in 10 films. One might expect the energy to be a bit sapped in that much production. But he continues to provide wonderful performances. At times he carries the entire burden on his own shoulders and makes a moderately average film just a little bit better. And while there is a pretty good supporting cast here, that's exactly what happens in Father Of Invention.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 8th, 2011
"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force: You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking." - General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces."
World War II was a turning point in American history unlike any other in the 20th century. America went from being an industrial power to becoming a world superpower. It came at great sacrifice, and we lost almost half a million people in the effort. The war to end all wars didn't quite live up to its promise, but the sacrifices of the men and women who served shaped the world for the decades that would follow. There have been many films about the war. They run from the patriotic to the bravado. Steven Spielberg perhaps gave us the closest thing to actual combat with Saving Private Ryan. It shouldn't come as any surprise that he would team up with his Ryan star and develop what is perhaps the most important mini-series in television history ... twice.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 8th, 2011
"We skipped the light fandango, turned cartwheels 'cross the floor. I was feeling kinda seasick but the crowd called out for more. The room was humming harder as the ceiling flew away. When we called out for another drink the waiter brought a tray."
The lyrics are about as familiar as any that have been written in the last 60 years of rock music. Whiter Shade Of Pale is one of the most covered songs in history. From The Box Tops to Joe Cocker. The list includes such bands as ASA, The Dells, Willie Nelson and reggae artist Marlene Webber. But the lyrics belong to Keith Reid, and the original version belongs to the band Procol Harum.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 8th, 2011
Greg (Ryan Scott Self) lost his fiancée when he couldn’t match her religious faith. Now he’s written a script based on the relationship, and is going to direct the movie. But the path of indie filmmaking is paved with thorns, as he is plagued by demands from the backers for inappropriate casting, more sex, edgier language, and so on. His ex isn’t too happy about the movie being made in the first place, too.
The film takes the form of a mockumentary. We are supposedly watching the behind-the-scenes doc shot by a camera crew following Greg around as he struggles to get his vision up on the screen. There doesn’t seem to have been a compelling need to adopt this fiction in this case, and the stylistic attempts at realism wind up underlining the improbabilities of the story. An indie film director worrying about landing a PG-13 rating? A scene with a hack script doctor is amusing, but would make more sense if the unfortunate Greg were working on a mainstream release. Furthermore, the plot is too meandering and pedestrian. That the movie industry is a difficult place is hardly a revelation, and so Cinema Salvation is ultimate a very nice, but also rather anodyne, film. Still, Self is a pleasant screen presence, one who engages the audience’s sympathy. We root for him, even if the material fails fully to engage us.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 8th, 2011
This is the DVD release of the film whose Blu-ray incarnation was reviewed by Gino, so I’m going to let him take it away for the review of the film itself. I’ll check back in for the specs.
"It’s back to the 1950?s with its telltale alien invasion science fiction matinees. There’s Doo Wop coming out of the radio. The cars have tail fins and plenty of color and chrome. That’s right. This is 1950?s Americana. Well … almost. You see, the alien invaders are humaniacs. They turn the helpless population into mind-controlled zombies, and they eat brains for breakfast. Those sure are the classic cars, all right. But they’re rounded, and instead of wheels they ride on a cushion of air. And then there’s the “people”. They’re green. They have tentacles for hair. And they have only 4 fingers and toes on each hand or foot. Can anyone say, “Give me a high four”?
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by David Annandale on November 8th, 2011
Two private investigators (Dany Gehshan and Vanessa Broze) are hired to look into the disappearance of a young woman. There search leads them to the small town of Kennyville. They have barely arrived before Gehshan is beaten bloody and Broze is kidnapped. Gehshan’s only ally in his search is a local (Michael Scratch) who wants nothing more to do with the town-wide conspiracy of silence. It seems Kennyville is home to a brainwashing outfit that transforms attractive young women into lethal, programmed assassins, and that is exactly the process that Broze is undergoing.
This is an odd little piece. It takes plot elements from The Manchurian Candidate and (especially) On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and marries them to a rustic, grimy aesthetic that owes more to recent torture porn efforts. (Why are the evil experiments conducted in squalid farm buildings? Because it’s creepier that way.) In this manner, Kennyville does its best to make a virtue out of its budgetary necessities. Though it deserves props for trying something different, it remains a prisoner of its tiny budget. Gehshan and Broze are too young to be convincing as experienced PIs, and villain Doran Damon Okkema is too familiar a suave Dr. Evil type (complete with pronounced eye tick). The rural setting, too, just doesn’t work for this kind of a conspiracy tale. Furthermore, it appears, from press material, that the film is actually a metaphor about bi-polar disorder, but this is an idea that doesn’t come across in the execution. Ambitious, then, but its reach exceeds its grasp.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on November 7th, 2011
“The mind is like a labyrinth in which anyone can get lost.”
The debut film from Mexican director Fernando Barredo Luna, Atrocious is yet another entry into the “found footage” genre. This is a niche where you either enjoy the handheld bouncy ride or you don’t (or if you have motion sickness, you can’t). I, for one, quite like this style of horror. With video cameras in our phones, tablets, computers, cars, and appliances as well as security cameras recording our every move 24 hours a day; the media sources for these stories are endless. The “found footage” genre really captures the YouTube viral zeitgeist. If done right, these films can easily suspend your disbelief, tricking your brain into believing what it is seeing is real and the horror we witness feels more real and immediate.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on November 7th, 2011
"For the first time in the history of the world, man has sent a rocket 1500 miles into space. You can't expect such an experiment to be perfect."
There's this home video of my sister as a strawberry blonde toddler at a family picnic. Sticky watermelon caresses her cherubic face as she sings the phrase she captured that day, “And again? And again and again, and again?” Yes, chipmunk-voiced Bela: again and again. That's how often I'd watch Quatermass Xperiment. It's so rich in storytelling and layered delivery that I'll watch it more than once to fully appreciate it, and discover something new every time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 6th, 2011
Somewhere between Iron Maiden and Pink Floyd lies Queensryche's concept albums Operation Mindcrime parts one and two. Part One was released in 1988 and has since been heralded by many as one of the finest heavy metal albums (concept or otherwise) of all time. The sequel arrived in 2006. This concert film is from the subsequent tour that featured the band playing both albums in their entirety, back to back, with actors, animations, and an elaborate stage setup to perform this rock opera.
The plot follows a man who has been coerced into become an assassin of political figures. The sequel is a revenge story after he is jailed for his actions. A small team of actors fill in the roles that lead singer Geoff Tate does not.
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![Father of Invention [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/father-of-invention-blu-ray-large.jpg)
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![Procol Harum: Live at the Union Chapel [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/procol-harum-live-at-the-union-cha-large.jpg)
![Queensrÿche: Mindcrime at the Moore [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/queensrche-mindcrime-at-the-moor-large.jpg)
