Disc Reviews

Tibet has been under Chinese oppression for more than fifty years. Recently, a wave of self-immolation has become a disturbing form of protest among Tibetan monks, with approximately 138 incidents since 2011. This alarming number of self-immolations is essentially the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for the filmmaker, as that is a theme that is brought up quite a few times in the peaceful protests depicted in this documentary. However, what earned this film a four-star rating is the nuances of a man’s journey to understand himself within the entirety of the Tibetan conflict.
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Dustin P. Anderson

Our story follows Davide, a scientist who is trying to exorcise aliens out of the bodies of people who have been abducted. One day Davide is visited by a strange girl who says that she is possessed by an alien. Davide and his team look into it and are startled when they find out that this girl is royalty, and possessed by a leader among the aliens. I would love to give you more explanation, but after sitting through this movie twice, I still cannot make heads or tails of what is going on. I have never been so confused while watching a movie. The small bits and pieces I could understand were that there is a guy who is trying to use the human soul to force out aliens who have taken control of a host body.
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“Seriously, how cliché is this?”

Misunderstood loner: check. Bullies: check. Isolated “camp”: check. Vengeful spirit: check. Looks like we got ourselves a horror movie! Every fan of horror has seen at least some combination of those themes in a film at least once. Now here they are, wrapped up an impressively cohesive package.  Although this film thrived on its use of clichés, it made conscious efforts to incorporate a lot of original ideas. Between the clichés that I am tired of and the original ideas that just didn’t work very well (for me), the film finds a balance that makes it enjoyable.
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Dustin P. Anderson

Our story follows Kitch, one of only a few survivors from a deadly outbreak that has devastated much of the world. Kitch makes his living by taking down drones and stripping them for parts. The most valued part is Arcanum pellets, which have taken over as currency in this bleak future. One day, after trying to sell some Arcanum pellets to reclaim a camera that was stolen from him, he meets a drone marked with DR1 . Kitch thinks that this drone will lead him to his father, who was last seen trying to find a cure for the plague that ravaged the world. On his travels to find his father, he is joined by the niece of a gangster who is hunting them. The two search for Kitch’s dad together while trying to avoid her uncle and protecting DR1.
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“Sometimes it’s better not to touch your dreams, take it from someone who knows.”

In the first season of Showtime’s Californication, we were introduced to David Duchovny’s character, bitter yet upbeat writer Hank Moody. Hank, after moving to Los Angeles on the heels of his first novel – a critical darling entitled “God Hates Us All” – has recently lost his long-time love and, by extension, his daughter, to a straight-arrow bore who makes his girlfriend Karen (Natascha McElhone) feel safe.
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How much can you accomplish in less than ten minutes? In the case of Noel Clarke, you can prevent a global domination plot. OK, to be fair to the rest of civilization, it wasn’t just one ten-minute period, but a series of ten-minute periods. All things being equal, still extremely impressive, no? Noel Clarke is Ryan Dunn, a former soldier who finds that his consciousness is taken over by another, and he only regains control during a system reboot, as it were. In these brief moments of control, he learns of the plot that his operator (as it were) is putting into motion and does what he can to prevent it. However, this brings us back to the original question: how much can one really accomplish in a ten-minute period?
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The Horror Network Vol. 1 is an anthology of five short horror films, compiled by Douglas Conner and Brian Dorton. I absolutely love short films: I have created a few of my own, and I have been part of the selection committee for a short film festival. This anthology is fantastic in that it combines my love of short films and my love of the genre of horror. Although most films in this anthology could most certainly be cut for time (as is the case with most independent short films), they do a fantastic job capturing the elements of horror that make your hair stand on end.
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Dustin P. Anderson

As far as a synopsis for this movie goes, there isn’t too much to it. We are given a brief look inside the mind of a real-life serial killer. A psychopath has been given a conditional release from jail and is only interested in satiating his lust for killing. After some failed murder attempts, the killer finds an empty house and waits for the occupants to come home.  This movie has a lot to say, while being easy to summarize. The story is basic, but there is so much more to it than just the events that take place. It does a great job at making the killer seem more human when we see how clumsy he is at killing people. During the killer’s beginning inner monologue, he states, “this time he won’t get caught,” which, I thought meant he had some grand scheme in place to kill a bunch of people and never see the inside of a jail cell again.
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“Looks like the crazy is starting.”

Actually, it started three seasons ago. The creator of Dawson’s Creek and The Vampire Diaries, Kevin Williams, delivers a thriller that is a bold new entry in the crime drama for television. The Following was 15 episodes of nail-biting bliss that kept the viewer guessing and riveted long after its gut-wrenching cliffhanger season after season. For a while I was beginning to wonder if Williamson had lost his touch with the Scream series, but what you’ll discover here is that Williamson may just be the king of creating and penning one of the darkest serial killers on the small screen. 
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Does anyone remember The Facts of Life? The show ran from 1979 to 1988, but then there was syndication and some reunion movies. So it had a long life and was consistently popular for its predominantly female cast. Where are they now? Blair (Lisa Whelchel) did very well on the 2012 season of Survivor, for one. They were all very young when the show started but were beginning to consider college and apartments in the final years, leaving behind the safe confines that Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae) had provided. But over the years various cast members came and went. There is a young wise guy in this season who later became a big star.
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