Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 6th, 2011
"I guess if this is the first you're hearing about it, I know how this must all sound."
Unless you've been in a coma like the lead character of The Walking Dead, you've been hearing a lot about this AMC television series of late. It's no wonder. I'm amazed that it's taken so long to see a zombie television series. The show has incredible visuals. There's a courtyard scene at the beginning of the pilot that is as impressive as anything you've seen in a movie. And when a character has to shoot a 6-year-old girl in the head, you understand instantly that this is going to be something unique.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on August 26th, 2011
“The windows around here are not big enough for you?”
Writer/Director Keith Bearden’s debut film, Meet Monica Velour, seduces you like raunchy 70s porn star, but finishes you off with a happy ending like a cheap masseuse in a roadside massage parlor. Not that this is a sex comedy, nor are the stars particularly sexy (except for Jamie Tisdale who plays young Monica Velour who is very, very hot), but the theme is about sexual illusions. Illusions from a time long past, when pornos tried to be movies instead of a series of masturbation loops and there was an ironic air of innocence to the whole smutty affair.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 15th, 2011
Animation is traditionally geared towards kids. From Bugs Bunny to Monsters, Inc, cartoons have been a staple of kid’s viewing experience for decades. However, as time wore on, more and more adults have craved for animated experiences that not only are kid friendly but have adult nods so that the older audience can enjoy it. Shrek is probably the most famous of these types of pictures. Perhaps the sequel to Hoodwinked! can provide an equal passion to please both audiences.
Boingo the Bunny is locked up in the pen and the Happily Forever After agency is up and ready for business. The team is comprised of Red Riding Hood (or “Red” for short), Granny (Red’s grandma), Wolf W. Wolf, and Twitchy the Squirrel. They are overseen by Nicky Flippers, a very tall frog. At the time of the opening scene, Red is busy training with the Sisters of the Hood, a clan of Kung Fu Bakers. But the other three members of the group are more than ready to take on the evils of this fairy kingdom.
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 July 20th, 2011
They say that when an alligator grabs hold of something tasty to eat, the reptile won't let go for anything. I guess the same thing could be said for Roger Corman. He's earned the title as King of the B Movie and has held reign for nearly 60 years. So we shouldn't be surprised that his relationship with SyFy and their monster mash-up series of original films would feature a few entries from Corman. Dinocroc came in 2004, followed by Supergator in 2007. Both found fitting places in the series from SyFy. Now Corman and the network have pitted the two against each other in the latest joint venture: Dinocroc vs. Supergator.
Two genetically-altered crocodilians have been developed in secret by the laboratories owned by Jason Drake (Carradine). The lab was funded by the government to create super-versions of food plants to solve the world's hunger problems. But these guys got greedy and decided to use the technology to develop a weapon out of an alligator and a crocodile. The result is two giant predators that soon break out of containment and threaten a Hawaiian island. There's plenty of the expected mayhem and chaos as the two creatures make their way through the population.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 6th, 2011
Happythankyoumoreplease is centered on a group of twenty something New Yorkers at various levels of transition: love, career, and growing up. The film is written, directed, and also stars Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother). Radnor’s directorial debut showcases a colorful side of New York and a variety of colorful characters. The group of young actors all put together solid performances which is essential for an ensemble cast. This is another festival friendly film with a solid group of actors that is definitely worth a look.
All too frequently independent films are stymied by previous failures and clichés. It’s refreshing when a film utilizes prior missteps to shape its story. The multiple narrative is difficult to pull off if the characters are flat. The integral part is that the characters need to be interesting. I found myself drawn to Sam Wexler (Josh Radnor) he’s an aspiring writer that finds himself taking care of a foster child. Sam is the lead of the ensemble cast as well as the character experiences the most development. Radnor’s performance is more than just a guffaw or two. He actually demonstrates some range with his ability to show compassion as well as have some comedic timing. He is undeniably charismatic and had some chemistry with Mississippi (Kate Mara). I found Annie (Malin Akerman) to be the weakest of the cast. Throughout the film, I found myself having to get through her scenes to the more interesting storylines. Most people would chalk that disinterest up to writing. However, I feel like good actors will command the viewer’s attention whenever they are on camera and she just does not do it. As an up and coming actress, she just needs to be better.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 20th, 2011
"In America we give our lives to our jobs. It's time to take them back."
It was only a matter of time before the current economic situation made its way into our theaters and finally our homes with a movie like The Company Men. Certainly the economy has influenced many films in the last five years. There have even been other movies to explore many of the current issues. But it's this film that makes those issues, particularly corporate raiding and downsizing, its sole reason for being.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 8th, 2011
Somewhere in my family’s history, I have a couple of odd branches. One of them leads to a former Pope (17th century I believe) and the other is even more curious, the mob. Specifically, it leads to the most popular gangster of them, Al Capone. It is pretty far down the branch, but interesting nevertheless. This leads us to our movie review for today: Kill the Irishman which deals with the real life story of Danny Greene, a man who escaped death countless times and took down the mob.
The period in time is Cleveland, Ohio circa 1975. Danny Greene (played by Ray Stevenson) is driving along and listening to his 8-track player. All of the sudden, his player starts to fizzle and then sparks fly. Danny realizes that the car is about to explode and gets out. He narrowly escapes death. He shouts, “It will take more than a few firecrackers to kill me.” Indeed it would.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Bob Ross on May 31st, 2011
Imagine that ‘40s tough-guy detective Philip Marlowe tangled with a billionaire mad scientist, along with the usual quota of thugs, strippers and sarcastic cops. Now suppose that writer Erik Jendresen and director Tony Krantz decided – perhaps over a meal of magic mushrooms and moonshine – to hire a fancy-pants cinematographer, rewrite author Raymond Chandler, and offer up what they obviously hoped would make them film-noir Fellinis for the new century. That would be the apparent cultural intent of The Big Bang, a vividly photographed but otherwise inarticulate effort that offers in-jokes and stylistic novelties that might entertain trivia nuts seeking obscure references, but will otherwise addle anyone seeking coherence or consistency.
Let’s start with the obvious nods to author Chandler. The title reminds us of The Big Sleep, a Marlowe favorite. And the plot kicks off with a direct swipe from another Marlowe mystery, Farewell, My Lovely (also made under the title Murder, My Sweet). In each instance, a hulking goon barges in on our unsuspecting hero – played here by Antonio Banderas as a relatively prim gumshoe named Ned Cruz. The lovelorn lug needs to find his long-lost girlfriend, who promised to stay faithful while he was in prison.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Bob Ross on May 19th, 2011
Precocious teenage girls are movie mainstays for a few reasons. They tend to be cute, for starters. They give young audiences someone to identify with and perhaps envy, because the movie girls get to say and do things that would get their real-life admirers grounded at best, imprisoned at worst. We have our favorites, of course, going all the back to The Bad Seed, The Children’s Hour and the original Lolita. More recently, we’ve been perversely charmed by sexually manipulative antiheroines such as Christina Ricci in The Opposite of Sex, Maggie Gyllenhaal in Happy Endings, Mina Suvari in American Beauty and Ellen Page in Juno. These characters have little in common except that they were captivating on screen and well treated by their screenplays.
As often as not, the genre requires the young woman to be a fish out of water, perhaps relocated from a big town she likes to a small one she despises. Her story, like that of male counterparts in similar youth-market efforts, is designed to put the “coming” in “coming of age.” You know the bit: Sexual awakening is an awkward, confusing process fraught with physical and emotional peril. But there’s a fine line between useful familiarity and plain old cliché. Unfortunately, Daydream Nation can’t decide whether it wants to be radical, routine or ridiculous.
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