Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 27th, 2011
Ever wonder what the kids of South Park might be like if they ever made it to adulthood? While I’ve not seen that many episodes of the FX series It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, that was the first observation that came to mind. These are the South Park kids all grown up. They’re crude, raunchy, mean, and most importantly, they are as politically incorrect as ever. If you need an example, I can offer one right from one episode. The guys have a Christmas tradition that dates back to their childhood of throwing rocks at moving trains. An episode I caught a while back had two of the guys going to an abortion rally because they suspected that pro-choice chicks gotta be easy. Sound like anyone we know? If you love irreverent humor that’s not afraid to cross over the line, this F/X series has everything you’re looking for, and without those silly construction paper animation limitations. These are real dudes.
The best way to introduce you to the world here is through the characters. The Philadelphia setting and all of the other trappings really don’t matter. You could put these characters any place, doing almost any jobs, and the series would pretty much be the same. The actors and some cleverly written dialog really make the show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 27th, 2011
“There’s always a story. You just have to find it.”
What happens when you’re a popular murder-mystery writer and someone starts to use your stories and ideas to kill people in the real world? At first you become the prime suspect, particularly if you’re found to be completely self-centered and annoyingly arrogant. That’s where a pretty good alibi might come in handy. Is playing poker with the Mayor and the Chief of Police good enough? So, you’re no longer a suspect. Now what do you do? You sign on as a consultant for the special crimes squad of the police department, and you help catch the real killer. Only instead of looking for him O.J. style on golf courses and in steakhouses, you team up with the cops and nab that good-for-nothing plagiarist. The problem with that is you might just find that you like it. Even worse, it might end up curing that writer’s block you got after killing off your lead character and proverbial golden goose, much to the chagrin of your publisher who also happens to be your ex-wife. Follow any of that? If you did, you now have the setup for one of the better premiere series from last season, Castle.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 26th, 2011
The Durr household often enjoys a good vampire flic to warm the candlelight around the old HDTV (hey, shouldn't I be writing this for the 31 days of October delight?). The taste of blood, the price of your soul, nothing can prepare you for the demons that are right outside your door. Sure, they can promise you sexual pleasure and immortality but that blood is really hard to get out of your clothes. This evening we explore the title We Are the Night featuring four ghoulish women on the cover. Will they sate our palette for blood or perhaps share with us grooming tips? Let's find out.
We open up to a plane on auto-pilot that is witness to a horrifying display of murder and blood letting. Three girls, Louise, Charlotte, and Nora (played by Nina Hoss, Jennifer Ulrich, and Anna Fischer respectively) survey the damage. Unfortunately, none of them really know how to fly a plane, but that's what they get for killing the pilot. They get ready for their departure but Louise hears one more voice from the back of the cabin. She finds a stewardess and looks deep into her eyes before snapping her neck. The three women soon depart for the ground below.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 26th, 2011
"Through the snow, and sleet, and hail / Through the blizzard, through the gale / Through the wind and through the rain / Over mountain, over plain / Through the blinding lightning flash / And the mighty thunder crash / Ever faithful, ever true / Nothing stops him, he'll get through."
When Walt Disney's big gamble with Snow White paid off an entire studio was created and financed. The man and his merry little band were on top of the world. But then Walt decided to try and sophisticate his audience somewhat, and the result was box office disaster. Both Pinocchio and Fantasia did miserable business, and the grand new studio was on the ropes. It's hard to believe that either of these movies failed on their original release. Walt's confidence in them has since been amply rewarded. Both are considered beloved classics today, but they appeared to be heralding the death of the studio when they were released. The studio needed a hit, and they needed one badly. It's a bit ironic that with all of the groundbreaking technological advances and innovations the studio had already made that it would be one of their simplest and least expensive efforts of the era that would lift the studio back on to solid ground. That movie was Dumbo.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on September 26th, 2011
“There's something I've been dying to ask you. What's in the basket?”
If you are not familiar with Writer/Director Frank Henenlotter’s earliest full length feature, Basket Case, you’ve missed a grindhouse style, exploitation cult classic. It was shot on a shoestring budget, features non-professional actors, cheap special effects, and a script straight out of the fever dreams of a madman. In short, it is brilliant.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 26th, 2011
Romantic comedies are the bane of most male's movie watching lives. Imagine everything that turns your stomach into sour grapes. A handsome leading guy, a wining leading lady and more holes in the plot than that one pair of underwear that you just can't get rid of. Well, despite the court restraining orders, despite the risk of self-mutilation, I review a harrowing title today named simply Love, Wedding, Marriage. May the gods help us through this one.
Love, it is a many splendid thing that causes men to act like complete idiots. Enter, Charlie (played by Kellan Lutz) who is on camera and trips over his tongue a bunch to proclaim his love to the woman of his life. Who is this woman you ask, well that would be Ava (played by Mandy Moore). We are soon treated to the wedding where Ava's father Bradley (played by James Brolin) leads her down the aisle while Bradley's wife, Betty (played by Jane Seymour) looks on.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on September 25th, 2011
“...and now the killer video that kills you seven days after you watched it, we're the only station that has it and we are showing it all night.”
Gone are the Wayan Brothers and in their place, David Zucker (Airplane, Naked Gun), one of the pioneers of the spoof movie, takes the helm. In some ways this is an improvement, in some it loses some of the naughty punch the Wayans brought to their films Scary Movie and Scary Movie 2. Gone are Shorty and Ray (and most of the sex and drug jokes with them) and in their place we have a not-yet-insane Charlie Sheen, the great Leslie Nielsen and a very funny Simon Rex. The spoofs are not quite as wide ranging, focusing primarily on The Ring and Signs, but they still manage to slam 8 Mile (not funny) The Others (still not funny) and The Matrix Reloaded (should have been funnier). The wisest thing Zucker did was center the movie around the star really carrying this franchise, Anna Faris.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on September 24th, 2011
“Cindy, this is a skeleton, this is bones! Would you run from Calista Flockhart?
The quote above is from one of my favorite scenes in Scary Movie 2. A reanimated skeleton stalks Cindy (Anna Faris) through the halls. She runs into Brenda (Regina Hall) and begs her to help. Brenda looks down the hall and sees it is just a skeleton. She kicks its ass and rearranges the bones to humiliate it. The problem is the Calista Flockhart reference. She might have been a cultural icon in the late 90s, but she’s been off the map for over a decade. The shelf life of pop culture parodies like Scary Movie 2 is very short.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 23rd, 2011
It all started as an internet show. Amanda Tapping was fresh from her stints as Samantha Carter in the Stargate franchise, and the SyFy Channel saw some worth in keeping her around for something else. The show was unique in more ways than just its origins. There are few sets on the series. Most of the show is shot in huge green screen rooms where even ordinary environments are computer generated. It's an evolution of the film Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow. I guess it was my complete disenchantment with that film and a shrinking regard for the more recent projects at SyFy that led me to pass on this show when it made the jump from web series to full television show. This was my first exposure to the world of Sanctuary and I was, at least somewhat impressed with what I saw.
Dr. Helen Magnus (Tapping) has been around for a little over 150 years now. She was part of a group of five Oxford students who conducted experiments with vampire blood among other things. It was somewhat of a wild group that included Jack The Ripper (Heyerdahl), Nikola Tesla (Young) and Nigel Griffin (Gale), also known as The Invisible Man. A sixth man Adam Worth (Tracey) wanted in and was the inspiration for Stevenson's Jekyll & Hyde. Now Dr. Magnus heads a place where "abnormal" creatures can be protected. The place is called Sanctuary, and it's part of a global network begun by her father.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 22nd, 2011
"It's the summer of 1863, more than two years into our nation's devastating Civil War, and the stakes have never been higher. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led by Robert E. Lee, crosses into Pennsylvania. Trailed by the Union's Army of the Potomac, Lee's 75,000-strong army heads toward Harrisburg, but the forces meet instead near Gettysburg, a quiet farm town that would become synonymous with the epic battle that all but decided the outcome of the American Civil War."
The Civil War is still the bloodiest war that Americans have ever experienced. The battle at Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of that war. While the war raged on for two more years, there is little doubt that the turning point came here at this place and time. It's not really a surprise to find that History put together a riveting documentary about the pivotal battle. It's a bit surprising that they pulled out all of the stops and created quite an epic documentary produced by the famous Scott Brothers Ridley and Tony.
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