Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 2nd, 2011
"Blue for us. Red for them. It's that simple."
What's not so simple is this John Frankenheimer cold war sleeper from 1990. You say you've never heard of it? That's not very surprising. The film couldn't even break $2 million at the box office and was pulled after just two weeks of release. It's hard to imagine a film from such a bright director as Frankenheimer and staring the likes of Roy Scheider would tank so badly. Tank it did, and quite frankly, any fans of the movie should be thanking MGM for releasing it now, even in its Limited Edition Collection DVD-R format.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 1st, 2011
Two of my favorite films of all time are Bloodsport and Mortal Kombat. Before you start groaning, let me explain why. They both act as the total testosterone injection for all of the macho men out there. These movies have tournament style martial arts and MMA mayhem where the only code is to beat your opponent until he/she is defeated. Then they move on to the next fight. Usually, there are theatrics thrown in there too, like to save the world or restore honor. Enter my next review movie: Tekken.
Sometime in the future, the world is plunged into chaos. Eight different corporations take over the world and divide the countries between them. They establish a yearly tournament called Iron Fst which is supposed to determine the greatest fighter of the world. The US territory is controlled by Tekken and headed by one, Heihachi Mishima (played by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) with his son, Kazuya (played by Ian Anthony Dale) in charge of security.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 1st, 2011
Warner's Japan unit had decided that it wanted to turn one of its shows into an anime production for the Japanese audience. I guess it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that Supernatural would be the perfect fit. Let's face it. While the production values on the live-action series have always been high, there are certain limitations that exist. With animation you have the ability to go far beyond what you can do with characters played ultimately by human actors. The highly stylized format of anime blends well with the horror aspects of the original show. You don't have to be particularly fond of anime to enjoy this. Honestly, I'm not into the style at all. But as a fan of Supernatural, I found this to be quite fun to watch.
If you are a fan of the original Kolchak: The Night Stalker, you were more than likely disappointed in the remake a couple of years ago on ABC. Your hope is now once again restored. Supernatural is the closest thing I’ve ever seen to The Night Stalker. Like Kolchak, the Winchester brothers are faced with weekly incarnations of evil. They’re forced to research these legends and figure out a way to stop them. As Kolchak discovered, it’s a thankless job. Sure, Supernatural is populated with all sorts of beasties and nasties, but it also manages to hold on to a sense of humor that rounds out these adventures to make this one of the most entertaining shows around.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 1st, 2011
Back in 1981 we all got a little lost between the moon and New York City as Dudley Moore played the spoiled and perpetually drunk title character in the surprise hit Arthur. He was in love with Liza Minnelli, but his rich family had plans for the socialite played by Jill Eikenberry. Arthur's only real friend was the guy who was paid to be there for him, but nevertheless had a soft spot for him. That was butler Hobson, played by Sir John Gielgud. It was a quirky little romantic comedy that turned out to have legs. Moore would reprise the role in the sequel Arthur 2: On The Rocks which was as much a flop as the original was a success. Moore died nearly a decade ago, and most of us had pretty much forgotten the classic and moved on to other things.
Now along comes Russell Brand, who knows more than a little bit about being an out-of-control drunk. His successful attempt to turn his own life around before it careened off a cliff might have made him the perfect fit to play the character in this 2011 remake. Of course, that's not really what makes him such a wonderful choice. Brand infused enough of his wit and clever improvisation to make this a far funnier version. Moore might have certainly been a more believable and charming drunk. But Brand is a much more entertaining one. And that wasn't the only clever casting to be found here. More on that later.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 1st, 2011
Three children are born at the moment of a total solar eclipse. On the even of their tenth birthday party, we discover that these kids, for astrological reasons, are complete sociopaths, and are having a merry time offing anyone in the community who even vaguely annoys them. The only ones who even gradually suspect that something is going on are high school senior Joyce (Lori Lethen) and her little brother Timmy (K. C. Martel). They soon become the target of the psycho kids’ wrath.
As slasher films flooded the screens in the early eighties, every conceivable minor variation was tried, while the rigid narrative formula was religiously observed. So if the variation wasn’t in the date (Halloween, Friday the 13th, New Year’s Evil, My Bloody Valentine, etc., etc., etc.), the change-up was in the the killer. And so here we have kids, though the elements remain otherwise familiar: prologue opening, young couples get naked and die, the Good Girl is the Final Girl, and so on. Though there is a bit of a nasty little punch in having the kids be murderous, this was hardly new in 1981 (The Bad Seed anyone?). The world of the film is a very difficult one to buy: the rash of murders has very little effect on the community, the junkyard features gassed-up and fully functional cars, astrology is apparently a for-credit subject at the high school, and everyone is very, very, very stupid. And while there is a certain demented pleasure in seeing tiny, WTF turns by the likes of Jose Ferrer (on-screen for maybe 30 seconds) and Susan Strasberg, this is a film that, in the final analysis, is nowhere as sick as it should be, unable to follow through on its own premise, as demonstrated by the singularly anti-climactic finale. Had this been an Italian or Spanish movie from the same era, I venture to think things would be a bit different.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 30th, 2011
Ann Gentry (Anjanette Comer) is a social worker with a new case, one that she specifically sought. She has been assigned to the Wadsworth family. It consists of a terrifying matriarch (Ruth Roman), sexpot daughters Germaine (Marianna Hill) and Alba (Suzanne Zenor), and Baby (David Mooney, credited as David Manzy), a grown man with, apparently, the mental development of an infant. But Ann suspects Baby is capable of more, and that there is something fundamentally wrong going on at the Wadsworth residence. The Wadsworths, meanwhile, do not take kindly to Ann’s prying, and will stop at nothing to preserve their way of life.
Viewers lured by the promise of the film’s poster (Baby in crib, hatchet in hand) will no doubt be disappointed. This is not a body-count film, and there is very little that is overtly horrific for most of the movie. But make no mistake: this is a horror film. The horror is primarily conceptual, and the more we see of Baby’s life, the more we squirm. The performances are universally strong, and we buy into the characters, no matter how grotesque they are, and believe me, they are grotesque. The climax is exquisitely sick, as only the denouement of a movie made in 1972 can be, and is meticulously set up by everything that came before. This is a screwed-up movie, and I mean that as a term of extremely high praise. Absolutely not to be missed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on July 29th, 2011
In 2007, writer-directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza created [REC], a truly frightening horror film. Considering their subject matter is so familiar to audiences it proved a major challenge not to fall into clichés. Somehow, against all odds, [REC] remained fresh by blending the elements so well… nasty contagion and fast zombies ala 28 Days Later captured in documentary-syle videography made famous by The Blair Witch Project. Add likable lead characters, natural dialog, horrific gore and scream-at-the-screen suspense; sprinkle in clues of a disturbing spiritual origin to the mysterious virus and you end up with one of the scariest and most effective additions to both the zombie and “found footage” horror sub-genres.
To appreciate the sequel, [REC]2, one should take the time to watch the first film, but if you haven’t, here is a brief spoiler filled synopsis of [REC]. A local Spanish TV journalist and her cameraman are embedded with a group of firefighters for the night as part of a human interest segment on their magazine news show. A routine call to an old apartment building on the outskirts of Madrid immediately leads to the team being sealed inside by a government quarantine trying to contain the origin of a ferocious viral pandemic. The news team chronicles the firefighters’ efforts to battle the frenzied, ravenous infected and escape the building, avoiding viral contamination or getting shot by government snipers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 28th, 2011
The third BloodRayne film (and second with Nastassia Malthe in the title role) sees the titular dhampir slicing up Nazis, and so the chronology of the third film rejoins that of the first game. During a raid on a death camp train, Rayne accidentally infects a Commandant Michael Paré. Becoming a dhampir himself (a human/vampire hybrid), he and Mengele-figure Clint Howard (because who else are you going to cast as a Nazi scientist other than Clint Howard?) plan to use Rayne’s blood to grant Hitler immortality.
Vampires and Nazis notwithstanding, the important thing here is that this is yet another Uwe Boll film. So what exactly does that mean for you, the discriminating viewer? As regular visitors to this site might know, I have, in the past, actually praised some of Boll’s more recent efforts. I may well have destroyed whatever critical credibility I could lay claim to by being so impressed by Tunnel Rats, but damn it, it was good. Here, though, is yet more evidence that the Indefatigable One is not at his best when dealing with video game material. Also World War II. Opening an action movie about vampires with shots of Auschwitz-bound prisoners is not, methinks, in the best of taste. Furthermore, Boll’s decision to go with a washed-out, gritty feel does a disservice to his heroine. The world of the BloodRayne video games is a fantastic, exaggerated one, Gothic in every sense. It is a world of decadent costume balls, and villains headquartered in castles, and it is the cartoonish, occult-obsessed, iconographically berserk side of the Nazis that lends itself to the kind of stories we fine in the games, not to mention the look of the character. Rayne’s revealing costume, hardly practical, looks even sillier when placed in a context of grime, washed-out colours and snow.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 27th, 2011
A mockumentary is a piece of satirical entertainment that is shot like a documentary except it is fictitious and never really happened. Like my first marriage, HEYOOOO! (okay, not really) They can be funny or serious but they are often shot to be of the former. Sometimes, they can be pretty interesting or funny but more often than not, they tend to be just like most documentaries. Boring, pointless and liable to cure insomnia. We shall proceed to investigate Brother’s Justice which mocks movie making.
Dax Shepard has an idea. He calls one of his best friends, Nate Tuck who is a producer and tells him to come right over with a camera. Nate says he will need a couple of hours to get things together, Dax asks if he can make it a half hour, the producer says I will try to be there in forty five minutes. At this point, I am already wishing for Nate to slam down the phone and walk away.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 27th, 2011
I’ve seen some dysfunctional families on television over the years. Haven’t we all? It’s fun to laugh at someone else’s flaws. Along comes Showtime, and it’s rather hard to classify the series The United States Of Tara. This one takes dysfunction to a whole new level. Tara (Collette) suffers from multiple-personality disorder. Laughing yet? She has managed to control the problem by using medications and attending frequent therapy sessions. But the medication is sapping her creative ability. You see, Tara was once a gifted artist. She painted murals and was somewhat critically acclaimed. The meds put an end to all of that. With the blessings of her family, Tara goes off the meds, and the family grows by the multitude. Yes, there are multiple “alters” as she calls them inside of Tara’s body. Now they are all coming out to play.
The first thing you have to understand about this show is who the alters happen to be. We learn over time that they were constructed by Tara’s mind to protect her from a traumatic moment in her life. Tara can’t remember the event, but from time to time, the alters offer up little clues to what might have taken place. She is totally aware of the alters and their personalities. The family has developed some protection techniques of their own. Husband Max (Corbett) is not allowed to have sex with the alters. They’ve decided that would be cheating. How about just f***ed up? The kids are to treat the alters as they are, not as Mom. I’ll introduce you to the “real” people later. Here are Tara’s alters:
![Supernatural: The Anime Series [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/supernatural-the-anime-series-blu-large.jpg)
![[Rec] 2 dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/rec-2-large.jpg)
![Brother's Justice (Bluray + DVD Combo) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/brothers-justice-bluray-dvd-com-large.jpg)
