Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on January 8th, 2020
When it comes to B action films, there is a threshold for what your expectations should be for the film. In the grindhouse era there were some pretty good quality action films, but as the sub-genre stretched into the 80’s and 90’s, the quality just got worse, though they’d always find some star whose celebrity was on the verge of fading. Dolph Lundgren has managed to hang in there and continue to get roles even though it’s been more than a couple decades since he last had the top billing for a Hollywood blockbuster. Personally I’ve always liked the guy; he can still be a charming badass or also play the heavy when need be for a film. Sure, he’s aged, but I can still believe he’d have no trouble kicking some onscreen ass. The one thing that the filmmakers of Acceleration got right was to cast Lundgren in their film where we get to see him play the good guy as well as the bad guy. As for the rest of the film, well, they had a good idea and a nice lineup of B-movie action stars as well as former UFC fighters, but the result falls well short of its potential.
One of the biggest mistakes this film makes is having an opening that makes little to no sense to the viewer as we are seeing Vladik (Lundgren) and Rhona (Natalie Burn) gearing up to kick some ass. The film then backpedals eight hours to where Rhona is having to go on these five mini-missions while Vladik is watches her from the privacy of a room filled with monitors; to watch Rhona, he has a camera in her car. Basically this film has no concept of three-act structure and has decided viewers don’t need to have characters set up or plot set up; they just throw us into the action. It takes a while till we learn Rhona’s son has been kidnapped, and the only way to get him back alive is to complete these five tasks in the span of eight hours. Then there is the side plot of Kane (Sean Patrick Flanery), who is the big crime boss who is trying to figure out who has stolen from him. The threads connecting all this together are thin, and despite how hard they try to make Kane seem like a menacing threat, it’s just hard to take him seriously because of his actions. An example of his menacing actions … sexual innuendo involving pie at a café where he randomly runs into Rhona … then there is a terrible scene that seems to want to recreate the tension of the Russian roulette game in The Deer Hunter. I don’t blame Flanery for this, because his performance is one of the things that saves this character, but it’s the situations the character is put into where I could never believe he was a successful crime boss.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 7th, 2018
“I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
The infamous line from the classic The Wizard of Oz is what kicks off this film, and this is simply as close as it gets to ever achieving the greatness of the original film. Over the years we have had several remakes and sequels to the story we love that takes us on a journey through the magical world of Oz, so when a steam-punk version of the material came along, it was something I got a little excited for. Unfortunately the version of the film we get this time around seems to be full of fun ideas but nothing that actually delivers to the screen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 7th, 2018
Up until roughly 3 to 4 weeks ago, I had only heard of RWBY. I watched a lot of Red vs Blue, even owned their ten year blu-ray box set and their season 11-13 steelbook. I was fully aware that RWBY was a product of Rooster Teeth, I just had largely ignored it because what 42 year old guy watches an anime show with four teenage girls as the leads? Then the head honcho of this site told me we had this blu-ray set available for review. I thought about it a couple of minutes, and went for it. Then in the next 2-3 weeks leading up to the review, I proceeded to binge watch the entire run of RWBY from Amazon Prime, VUDU (Free Movies on Us) and even YouTube, the primary vehicle to watch the show on. In a word, I was hooked.
Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren and Ruby Rose (unofficially known as Team JNRR or RNJR depending on your interpretation) arrive with Qrow Branwen (now fully healed from his previous brush with death) in the city of Mistral. They recount their adventures from the last season and bask in the grandness of the marketplace and environment around them. However, they have important business and make their way to Haven Academy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 31st, 2017
"Sometimes it takes a good man to stop bad people."
And sometimes you can have good actors and a rich genre to draw upon with classic characters and still not get the job done. Sadly, that's the big story for Hickok. This one arrived with some rather high expectations. It was being released in 4K, which appeared to signal some confidence from Cinedigm, who are just entering the UHD fray. The cast is also a good sign. Luke Hemsworth plays the titular character with a supporting cast that includes legend Bruce Dern, Trace Adkins, and Kris Kristofferson. You have the built-in interest of a real western frontier icon in Wild Bill Hickok. Everyone knows who he is. His legend is recalled to ever poker player who's holding aces and eights in their hand. But none of that legend is really explored or exploited here. It's merely the name that carries the weight, and poorly at that.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 23rd, 2016
“There's a man comin', and he aims to bury you.”
That sort of threat — especially when it's made within the trigger-happy Western genre — usually refers to a wronged hero looking to rain vengeance upon some dastardly villain who wronged him in an extremely personal way. The only most interesting thing about Stagecoach: The Texas Jack Story is that our presumed hero is the one being hunted...and the “bad guy” has a legitimate gripe.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 11th, 2016
“The story of the American Frontier is a tale of conquest, but also one of survival, persistence, and the grit of the people.”
And the story of the American Western is a tale of quick draw competitions, fights aboard speeding trains, and other assorted horseplay. Each of those elements can be found in Traded, which inelegantly grafts the plot of Taken onto an Old West setting. The problem is that nothing here is executed particularly well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 4th, 2016
Weaponized can't seem to make up its mind about what kind of action flick it wants to be. It appears to be the story of a grief-stricken military contractor who obsessively pursues a dangerous experimental program, but instead the film focuses on a brawny, brooding homicide detective. On top of that, the Blu-ray's cover art prominently features an imposing robot that doesn't even factor into the plot until about 10 minutes before the credits roll. Most importantly, the movie totally ignores the schlockiness of its botched, cliche-ridden plot and plays everything distressingly straight, which makes Weaponized a pretty joyless trip to the near future.
The film opens on July 4, 2017 with proud papa private military contractor Kyle Norris (Tom Sizemore) on the phone with his son. The connection at the other end of the phone is abruptly cut off after Norris's son is killed during a terrorist attack on the Pentagon. Norris vows to eliminate the terrorist cell that wiped out his son, and the action jumps forward to 2018. Detective Mitch Walker (Johnny Messner) is called in to investigate when a young war veteran Jack Simon (Timothy Woodward Jr., also the film's director) shoots up a hotel for no apparent reason, killing multiple people. One moment, Simon has no recollection of doing the shootings, the next he's robotically confessing to Det. Walker before gruesomely killing himself.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 4th, 2016
Edgar Allen Poe is on a short list of writers that has long been deceased that just about everyone has heard of. At some point in school we all had are chance to read about the taunting of The Raven or a number of Poe’s other famous works. With Extraordinary Tales we get an animated treat in the form of 5 animated tales written by the master of the macabre. This is more than just a simple animated retelling of the stories as each tale is given its own unique narration and animated style. Is it worth the time to sit back and watch these classic tales or did they belong on the shelf to collect dust? Come along with me and I’ll tell you about my journey if you dare.
Whether you’re a fan of Poe or simply only vaguely recall the name from those Classical Literature courses you’re trying to forget, there is something on this release I’m sure will connect with each viewer. Using 5 of Poe’s more popular works isn’t the only bait the film makers have decided to use to entice viewers; after all there have been numerous adaptations of his work in the past. The appeal is that every story, though told in narration is animated with its own unique style, ranging from 50’s comic book style to oil paintings that have come alive. The styles are so drastic from one another that in ways it’s hard to even compare the works without tipping your hat so to speak on your own artistic preference. After all ones taste in art varies from one person to the next. I say this because this is a piece that is hard to show objectivity without personal preferences nudging their way in.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on January 8th, 2016
“I just have this sick feeling that something awful is going to happen.”
I pride myself on being able to keep a reasonably open mind when I pick up a new title to review. But sometimes I can’t help but judge a crappy movie book by its cover. That was actually the case with Kill Game, featuring an androgynous Michael Myers-lookalike brandishing a bloody knife on its cover. I was fully prepared to roll my eyes through this movie, which also nods to Saw, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and The Big Chill (a little). Much to my surprise, I found myself kinda-sorta getting into this twisty, nasty, low-budget slasher.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 10th, 2015
“In a war, there's really only two things that are gonna ruin your day...officers and orders.”
The concept of duty — particularly giving and following orders that will almost certainly result in death — is at the forefront of War Pigs, a straight-to-DVD actioner that doesn't actually have that much action in it. For a movie with the likes of Dolph Lundgren and Chuck Lidell gracing its Blu-ray cover, scaling back on the butt-kicking seems like a death sentence. However, I was surprised to find the action sequences were actually the weak link in this limited but reasonably entertaining World War II yarn.
