Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 12th, 2010
"If you can control the sky, you can control the world."
With the current remake of Ray Harryhausen's Clash Of The Titans, is it any real surprise that there might be a resurgence of interest in the gods and goddesses of Mt. Olympus in Greek mythology? The Greeks created an entire family of deities to explain the various natural elements and phenomena around them. There were gods of the sea and of the underworld. There were even gods of wine and music. It was believed that these supernatural beings sat high on the highest point of the Greek island nation, interfering in the affairs of men to settle their own petty squabbles and arguments. Being all-powerful was somewhat boring, and so these beings, with very human qualities of greed, jealousy, and spite, played an endless game with the lives of the mere humans for their own entertainment and amusement.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 12th, 2010
Think of it as The Odd Couple Private Investigation Agency. These guys might be brothers, but they have only one thing in common, and that’s their skills as private investigators. Otherwise they are as far apart as night and day. A.J.’s (Parker) the clean cut, nearly anal member of the sibling pair. He sees the detective game more in the mainstream world and tries to play things straight and by the book. Rick (McRaney), on the other hand, is a slob of a guy. He’s the kick back let life come to him sort of chap. He doesn’t pick up very much after himself. He lives a Bohemian lifestyle complete with houseboat and Sanford and Son beat up pick ‘em up truck. Neither of them are pulling in very much money and have to deal with Mom’s (Carver) disapproval of their chosen profession. The two treat everything like a competition and take sibling rivalry to new heights. They were also in heated competition with the detective agency on the same block, run by crotchety old Myron Fowler (Barth) and his daughter Janet (Wilson). Janet eventually becomes a district attorney and really gets under the brothers’ skin. Unfortunately she’s absent on all but a couple of the third season’s cases. The pair worked with rather off-the-wall detective Downtown Brown played by WKRP’s own Venus Flytrap, Tim Reid. He was one of those “end justifies the means” kind of a guy.
The cases were always just a little over their heads and often led them into various traps, gunfights, and car chases. The real charm of the show was watching the brothers working together. They would fight and argue about pretty much everything. Still, when the chips were down, they could always each depend on the other to have his back. They weren’t the brightest of detectives and fell into as many clues by dumb luck as through good investigation technique. It was most definitely a lighter show than most of the detective shows of the 80’s. Miami Vice this was not. The pair went against the mold in almost every aspect. They were not very good with the ladies. They didn’t drive hot fast cars. They were almost always out of money. And they carried themselves as immature frat boys most of the time. The appeal was their Joe Public image. It must have worked, because the show ran for nearly a decade.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 12th, 2010
One of my soft-spots in films (puns aside) are erotic thrillers. This genre includes some of my favorite movies of all time include the likes of Basic Instinct, Sliver & Fatal Attraction. As it turns out, Basic Instinct & Sliver’s screenplay was written by one Joe Eszterhas. Then I get a copy of Jade to review on Blu-Ray which just also happens to feature Joe on screenplay credits. Color me interested.
Kyle Medford has been murdered at his own lavish estate. He was found with a fertility mask on his head and the murder weapon was a hatchet that looks to be from the middle ages. On the scene is David Corelli (played by David Caruso), an assistant D.A. with political aspirations who is there to investigate the case. The place is thoroughly searched and one of the most interesting things they find on the premises appears to be an assortment of metal tins that contain pubic hair.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 9th, 2010
Growing up in life came a little later for me than most people. Most people seem to hit maturity right around their later teen years and early twenties. Honestly, I didn’t really grow up until I hit my mid twenties. But what would happen if one was forced to grow up sooner, say around their seventeenth birthday? Well then, you might be like Jenny Mellor from An Education who had to grow up a lot sooner than she probably expected to.
It’s 1961 in England. Jenny Mellor (played by Carey Mulligan) is 16 and entering her last year of school. She studies literature, plays the cello and is certain to ace her A-levels and be accepted to Oxford University. Her weakness is currently Latin but she promises to bring up that grade as soon as possible. Or else her father, Jack (played by Alfred Molina) says that she won’t make Oxford.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on April 8th, 2010
Coach Al Collins sets out to not only assemble a high school basketball team, but to rebuild their gym lost in hurricane Katrina, salvage his home, help each player find hope in their lives as family and property is lost in the storm, and turn them into a championship winning squad. Had this story been fiction, it would seem outrageous, but Hurricane Season is based on an actual man and his real life journey from complete decimation thanks to Katrina, to Coach of champions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2010
"We're back..."
The Chipmunks began life oddly enough as a singing group, of sorts. They were the brainchild of struggling songwriter Ross Bagdasarian and were named after the three chief executives at Liberty records. His own alter ego David Seville’s name came from his World War II Army station in Spain. The Chipmunks first appeared in a 1958 record called The Witch Doctor, but wouldn’t officially become The Chipmunks until later that year when The Chipmunks Christmas Song was released. It is for that Christmas music that I most remember the group. They first appeared as puppets on The Ed Sullivan Show. Alvin and the boys got their own television show in 1961. When Ross died in 1972, the Chipmunks would continue on under the guidance of his son. In 1983 The Chipmunks had yet another popular cartoon show and had appeared in countless specials and films. Today they are pretty much a hallmark at the holidays, and a Christmas song collection just wouldn’t be complete without them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2010
Warner nearly singlehandedly invented the cartoon medium as we know it today with the advent of their various Bugs Bunny and associates cartoons. Ever since the early 1930’s these characters have become an indelible part of the American pop culture. Their images became an important part of the World War II effort and even helped to put a face on the issues of the Great Depression. They represent one of the richest histories in animation, second only to Walt Disney. There are some, I’m sure, that would argue they might even belong in front of Uncle Walt. When I was growing up in the 1970’s, I had no idea I was enjoying cartoons and characters that were already 40 years old. The truth is that my grandfather had been a fan of these same cartoons when he was a kid. Today the Warner cycle of Loony Tunes cartoons is over 70 years young. Things might have changed with the passing of Mel Blanc, who provided most of those familiar voices for much of that time, but Bugs and the gang are still out there and going strong.
Which brings us to Bugs Easter Funnies.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2010
"Right there in that very house is where our story begins. The story of the first Easter Rabbit. And, you know we came within a hair's breadth, if you'll excuse the pun, of never having an Easter Rabbit at all."
Rankin & Bass brought us some of the most memorable holiday specials ever made. Most of us grew up watching these cartoons and stop motion shorts no matter what age we grew up in. You see, this stuff has been on television non-stop for 50 years. There are so many classics. There's Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman, and so many others that we could fill the page with our own memories. For the most part, just putting the Rankin & Bass name to a special pretty much guaranteed an entertaining and enduring tale. Unfortunately, The First Easter Rabbit just isn't one of those.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 7th, 2010
A spaceship crashes. From it emerge a monstrous creature called the Moorwen, and a man, Kainan (Jim Caviezel in Buff Action Mode), who is determined to hunt it down. However, he is promptly captured by vikings and taken to their village, at which point he must convince them of the terrible danger they are in. As it turns out, they don't take much convincing, once the Moorwen attacks.
Analyzing the zeitgeist is always a tricky business. How, for instance, to explain the fact that over the last several years there have been numerous film versions of Beowulf, almost all of the revisionist variety: Eaters of the Dead, Beowulf and Grendel, and now Outlander, to name but three. The newest take has fun with its mix of vikings and SF, and the monster action is good fun. Is anything here groundbreaking? No. But the film keeps its focus on providing the viewer with an exciting ride.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2010
When you first look at the title for this entry in After Dark's 4th annual 8 Films To Die For, you probably have summed up images of a dank and foreboding cemetery where unspeakable horrors rise from their resting places to torment the, albeit temporarily, living. This is definitely a little bit of a case of false advertising and the misleading use of a title. These Graves are sisters, Megan (Grant) and Abby (Murray), to be exact. They're the kind of sisters that do everything together. You know the type. They almost speak in a secret language and appear to be soul mates. But Megan is a bit more outgoing and has gotten herself a job in New York, far away from the sisters' home in Arizona. Abby is a bit more introverted and is having a hard time dealing with the inevitable loss of her sister. So the two decide to have one more blast together. It's time for a road trip to visit the world's largest thermometer. Oh boy. Any horror fan worth his remote knows that the girls are likely not going to make it to see the big thermometer, and they'd be correct. They get sidetracked in a small town called Unity where they are encouraged to visit the abandoned gold mine called Skull City Mine.
Something very strange lives at the mine, and the town's folk have been feeding it tourists. The creature or entity is a dirt cloud that devours the hapless victim's soul. Unfortunately, the creature isn't capable of killing its prey, so the townsfolk have to pitch in and commit a little murder in order to satiate the beast. The Graves sisters are lambs being led to the slaughter. Of course, these two girls just wouldn't be enough slaughter fodder for the full running time of a respectable movie, so the filmmakers have populated the mine with other lovely co-eds to provide a bevy of interesting kills to amp up the movie's gore meter. Fortunately for the girls, the creature is willing to eat anybody, even its own followers if they should happen to find themselves dead. And the Graves sisters are all too happy to help some of them find their way to that cooperative condition.
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