Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on October 7th, 2014
By the time the innovative opening credits for Sons of Liberty wrap up, the movie has outlined an expansive backstory that mixes historical fact (the real-life Sons of Liberty form in Boston in 1765) and fiction (Allister Salinger, the head of the mysterious Ordo Mundi, designs the first successful human clone in 1974). It’s surprisingly dense stuff, especially for a jumbled, straight-to-DVD action/thriller that mostly plays out like a particularly violent episode of NCIS.
To be fair, part of my confusion early on in the film probably stemmed from the fact that I didn’t realize I was watching the third movie in a series of low-budget action films from director Drew Hall. Sons of Liberty follows Skyhook and The Phoenix Rises, both of which came out in 2012. Each of the films follows a group of scientists and operatives who work to thwart various terrorist groups. At least that seems to describe these last two movies; from what I gather, Skyhook mostly has characters standing around and talking. (Even worse, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is nowhere to be found.)
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on October 6th, 2014
So you want to make a zombie flick, but you realize everyone and their (undead) brother seems to have beat you to the bite punch. The question becomes, “how am I going to make my monster movie standout?” Even if you mess around with time, place, and genre, it’s hard to stake out new territory. The micro-budgeted/straight-to-DVD Dead and the Damned — also released as Cowboys & Zombies in 2011 — tried to play with all three. This new sequel takes a more typical approach to zombie horror; in fact, the biggest departures are a curiously-armored hero, a disabled heroine, and an amusing undercurrent of horniness.
The Dead and the Damned II — you can tell this is a serious sequel because they went with a roman numeral — opens with Lt. Col. Sawyer (Robert Tweten) solemnly incinerating the pile of goo that used to be his family and putting the ashes in a thermos. (Sadly, there wasn’t a Folgers tin can readily available.) Sawyer proceeds to dispatch a bunch of zombies and embarks on a mission to scatter his wife and daughter’s ashes in the Pacific.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on October 6th, 2014
My mom's worn-out VHS tape was simply labeled “Motown 25.” I can very vividly remember it sitting in the entertainment center of our living room in Puerto Rico when I was little. It even migrated over to St. Petersburg with the rest of our family almost 20 years ago. As time passed and we adopted DVDs, a lot of our VHS tapes got pushed to the background (or the scrap heap). But not “Motown 25.” I suppose I never realized the historic, star-studded concert celebrating Motown's 25th anniversary had never been available on DVD. Well thanks to StarVista Entertainment/Time Life Entertainment, that's no longer the case.
“Some of the things you're gonna see this evening are gonna blow your mind.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 5th, 2014
In 1996 it was a brave new world for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. Tarantino was still riding the wave of Pulp Fiction’s fame, while Rodriguez was going strong with his follow up to El Mariachi, Desperado (which went on to be a bigger hit). The two had crossed paths at various film festivals, and through the course of their meetings they discussed various projects they could possibly do together. The project that brought these two together would be horror/ crime genre mixer, From Dusk Till Dawn. It was a movie that would not only go on to be a cult hit but also be the film that launched George Clooney into movie stardom (because really, who remembers The Peacemaker?)
Almost twenty years later Rodriguez has established himself as a cinematic rebel who works outside of the Hollywood system. One would think that it would be career suicide, but instead he’s become one of the most prolific filmmakers with a catalog of films to his credit that are uniquely his and untouched by studio heads. Now Rodriguez has a new ambitious project to tackle: his own television network, the El Ray Network, which specializes in old grindhouse films and a new slate of genre-themed programming. The first of its original programming is a television reboot of the 1996 film, From Dusk Till Dawn.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on October 2nd, 2014
Despite its found-footage conceit and similar-sounding title, The Paranormal Diaries: Clophill is somewhat of a different demon animal than a certain recent horror franchise. Given that found-footage fatigue seems to be setting in among critics and audiences, any sort of deviation from the norm should be welcome. The problem is this film ultimately doesn’t deviate far enough and hedges its bets with a climax that seems transplanted in from a handful of other movies. More importantly, viewers will probably be too bored to even care by the time movie gets around to being scary.
The Paranormal Diaries: Clophill, like many of its horror brethren, is “based on true events.” (I cannot emphasize those quotation marks strongly enough.) What does help the film stand apart is its real-life spooky setting. In 2010, a group of filmmakers sets out to explore and document the haunted history of St. Mary’s Church in Clophill, a quaint English village. That history includes rumors of Satanic rituals and ghostly apparitions. As a result, Clophill and its church have become a popular attraction for grave robbers and people interested in the macabre.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 30th, 2014
It’s been quite some time since The Chappelle Show went off the air, and it would appear Comedy Central has finally found its replacement. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the show is on the same par, but what Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele bring to the small screen is something that has piqued my interest and shows some potential. Both Key and Peele got their big break from working on the sketch comedy show MADtv, and it would seem they are taking their talents and what they learned to bring us something that is a little familiar but still fresh and keeps its audience laughing.
The biracial pair takes chances with their show which is a hybrid of live bits in front of an audience and filmed sketches. Whether they are poking fun at Django Unchained, racial stereotypes or Latino gangsters, Key and Peele manage to keep it entertaining.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 29th, 2014
"Prisoners of the ARC, hear me now. You've been given a second chance, and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable."
It's 97 years ago and nuclear holocaust has made life on Earth unlivable... at least that's what most people believed. Fortunately, for humanity, several countries had space stations in orbit. These various stations eventually came together to pool resources hoping for a better chance at survival. The ragtag collection eventually became the ARC. Now, nearly a century later they have created a civilization ruled by the dire necessity of their situation.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on September 29th, 2014
“Politics, backstabbing, murder...just another day at French court.”
The creators of Reign — the CW's campy, compulsively-watchable adaptation of the Mary, Queen of Scots saga — seem to be perfectly aware of their audience. I don't think I'm talking out of school when I say no one turns to the CW — home of DC heroes, vampires, and other Supernatural beings — for gritty realism or historical accuracy. So it really shouldn't be a surprise to find the monarch's life has been turned into a handsome, soapy, frequently ridiculous drama that will nevertheless make European History teachers around the world facepalm in unison.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 26th, 2014
"And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, "Come and see." Then, behold, a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him."
No, this is not a Johnny Cash song or a bible study post. Believe it or not, we're talking Ichabod Crane from Washington Irving's famous story The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. Fans of the tale will recall that Ichabod came to encounter the headless horseman in one of the first American horror tales ever written. Irving was a contemporary of our founding fathers, including another Washington who happened to play a big part in a little skirmish with the Brits that came to be known as the American Revolution here and the Great Colonial Rebellion over there. Thanks to the new series Sleepy Hollow, we discover that the British weren't the only ones we were fighting. It's a story of independence we hadn't heard before. It's a fresh take on an old idea that dates back to Kolchak: The Night Stalker. It's out on Blu-ray now, and I recommend you check it out. Just don't mix it up with that American history text. We history teachers frown on that kind of thing, you know.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 25th, 2014
"There is a town in Maine where every storybook character you've ever known is trapped between two worlds, victims of a powerful curse. Only one knows the truth, and only one can break her spell."
ABC has had a very important asset going for it for years. It's one that the network has seldom taken any advantage of. That asset is its parent company. You see, ABC is part of the Walt Disney family. With the rich history of stories the studio has in its arsenal going back to the 1920's, it was only a matter of time before some clever people decided to find a way to use that rich history into a television series. That time has arrived, and the result is Once Upon A Time. It's the most clever and original series to hit the tube in a long time.
