Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 22nd, 2014
"Welcome to the SyFy Channel."
OK, not really. Revolution aired on sister network NBC, both part of the Universal family. Usually the sibling resemblances are not very visible. Revolution, however has all the elements of a typical SyFy Channel series. These shows almost always start with strong source material or a crazy but clever idea. Most of the time the idea gets lost in bad acting, cheap computer-generated images and very low production values. None of those are a problem for Revolution. The acting is pretty solid. The effects are innovative and impressive (except for the really bad guys-on-fire images). The production values could stand against any series on the air. The creative team is overrun by talented people with proven track records. So how did Revolution go so far off the rails and end up in a pretty much deserved cancellation after just two years? Let me count the ways.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 21st, 2014
Horror doesn’t necessarily need to be about the supernatural or have an axe-wielding maniac to be terrifying. Jump scares and gore effects are also some nice devices directors rely on to scare their audiences. But for me, what really gets beneath my skin is the possibility of what I see projected up on the screen can become a reality in my day to day life. The Sacrament attempts to show how quickly faith and love can quickly be turned and used as a weapon that can lead to the demise of the fragile and the faithful.
Eden Parrish stands in as the substitute to commune that many remember as Jonestown in 1978. This may not be a direct remake of the events that took place in Guyana, but it’s impossible to ignore the many similarities. Just as there was a documentary crew that investigated Jonestown, a documentary crew comes to Eden Parish, only the crew is hoping to find Caroline (Amy Seimetz), the sister to photographer Patrick (Kentucker Audley). When Patrick arrives with the Vice magazine team led by Sam (AJ Bowen) and cameraman Jake (Joe Swanberg), the commune turns out to be nothing like they expected.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 20th, 2014
Under the revamped Hammer production company, The Quiet Ones is the new release from the legendary UK company that was known throughout the 50-70’s for its Gothic horror. In this new resurgence of Hammer, no longer do we have Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee to look forward to gracing the screen, but what we do seem to be getting is a respect for what horror can be. Horror seems to have bottomed out as of late. Where horror seems to be delving into cheaper budgets and going the direction of found footage, which isn’t so much a bad thing, but as we all know the market is just saturated with this style of filmmaking. We can blame The Blair Witch Project and the Paranormal Activity films for the glut of copycats trying to cash in, but thankfully there are still filmmakers who have the ability to bring something new to the table. And that is just what The Quiet Ones does.
When we meet Professor Joseph Coupland (Jared Harris), he is lecturing a class at the University of Oxford about the supernatural. His theory that he presents to the class is that the notion of ghosts is mistaken for something that exists in our own subconscious. It’s this belief that Coupland has that prompts him to conduct an experiment where he plans to document that supernatural activity is nothing more than something that can be created with our minds and explained away by science. It’s Brian (Sam Claflin) who is hired on to document the experiment and is unfortunately dragged into something that is far worse than he could have imagined.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 19th, 2014
It’s kind of astounding that it took this long for somebody to revisit Rosemary’s Baby. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not suggesting Roman Polanski’s indelible 1968 adaptation of Ira Levin’s 1967 novel was crying out for a remake. It’s just that at this point you’d be hard pressed to find any horror classic — or any horror film, period — that hasn’t been re-done. (Stay strong, Exorcist!) And you probably wouldn’t expect said horror classic to be re-imagined as a bloody network TV miniseries.
I say "bloody" because NBC's two-part/four-hour modernization of Rosemary's Baby is actually more graphic than Polanski's theatrical chiller. (Then again, I still can't believe the network gets away with showing half the inspired, disturbingly brilliant stuff they do on Hannibal, so maybe this shouldn't come as a big surprise.) Unfortunately, this stylish new version lacks subtlety and — more importantly — a fundamental understanding of what makes the story scary in the first place.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 14th, 2014
The television landscape has been flooded with shows about the supernatural. Vampires have been particularly hot topics in recent years, but werewolves are starting to get their own sub-genre going. MTV's Teen Wolf manages to pull the theme off quite well. It's no surprise that pretty much every network out there wants to throw their own hats into the supernatural ring. It's getting quite crowded, but the popularity appears to have no end. Of course, with such a crowded field you have to find a way to stand out from the rest. That's what I was hoping to find when I started to dig into the Blu-ray release of Bitten. Unfortunately, the results aren't as impressive as I had hoped.
Bitten tells the story of Elena, played by Smallville's standout actress Laura Vandervoort. Elena is a werewolf who has left her pack behind to try to live a normal life in Toronto. She gets a job as a photojournalist and even manages to find time for a more artistic approach to her photography. She has just moved in with boyfriend Philip (Greene) who is unaware of her supernatural alter-ego. Just as she's trying to build that relationship, she gets a call from her pack alpha Jeremy, played by Greg Bryk. That call is going to throw a bit of a monkey wrench into that normal life she was hoping for.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 14th, 2014
At this point in his alternately mocked and celebrated career, Nicolas Cage starring in a movie called Rage seems redundant. (Especially since “Rage” would be a much more eloquent title for this classic YouTube video.) Yet here he is starring in what looks like a Taken ripoff…until you realize he already starred in a Taken ripoff two years earlier. To its credit, Rage does appear to want to say some interesting things about the way secrets refuse to stay buried and the perils of resorting to violence. Unfortunately, the film often takes the most misguided and clichéd avenues to get there.
Cage stars as Paul Maguire, a criminal-turned-successful businessman with a pretty younger wife named Vanessa (Rachel Nichols) and a daughter named Caitlin (Aubrey Peeples) who is about to turn 16. While Paul and Vanessa are out to dinner one night, they get unsettling news: a group of masked men broke into the couple’s house and assaulted Caitlin and her two friends (Max Fowler and Jack Falahee). The bruised boys inform Paul that Caitlin has been abducted.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 12th, 2014
"Space... the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before."
The sixth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation is arguable one of the best seasons in the history of the franchise. There are likely many reasons for this. I think the most likely has to do with Rick Berman. He had moved his attention over to Deep Space 9 and had left the day-to-day running of Next Generation to others. Most notable of the others was Jerri Taylor, who moved up to take control of both the writer's room and casting choices. Both showed remarkable improvement under her leadership. She's credited with the "graying" of Starfleet, insisting that there be more guest stars over 30. She also insisted that stories stop using some of the same gimmicks. As a result, this is the only year in Star Trek history where a starship malfunction did not lead to the crises of the week. She would hold brainstorming sessions at her home on Sundays and was more open to tie-ins with the original series. This, of course, led to Relics, in which James Doohan returns as Scotty, and it became the third highest rated episode of Star Trek in franchise history. The season was so successful in the ratings that it beat that year's World Series, which led to a two-page spread in the trades from Paramount with the tag line: "Baseball's World Series lost to our worlds series". The truth was Trek didn't just beat it. It was a blowout. Trek brought in 23% more viewers during that time period than the games. Trek was at an all-time high in popularity. The merchandising had just crossed the $2 billion mark, and the sky was literally the limit.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 12th, 2014
Experimental film can mean lots of different things. Usually it means chaos and disorientation as we are plunged into worlds we have never seen before, but experimental can merely mean doing something that has never really been done before. In this case, it is taking a simple idea and seeing if you can make it work. Can you make something interesting that seems too simple and too basic? Anything can work if you apply discipline and intelligence to a project. In this particular case, that is what happened. A simple premise has been executed brilliantly due to a number of factors. The first factor would be the actor Thomas Hardy.
Tom Hardy is Locke in the hyperbole of old movies but also because Tom Hardy is the single driving force of the movie Locke. It also helps that Tom Hardy is destined for superstardom. It hasn't happened yet, but those in the know, know it will. People don't know Hardy from The Dark Knight Rises, and I say don't know because you only saw his face briefly, and his voice was a maddening concoction. Hardy was Bane in that movie, and his face was covered by a mechanical breathing device which obscured an effete, elitist and taunting voice. His incredible power as an actor is demonstrated time and time and time again when he steals scene after scene in Inception, This Means War, Lawless, Warrior and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Upcoming roles for Hardy are as Elton John in Rocketman, Mad Max in Mad Max: Fury Road and the lead role in Kathryn Bigelow's True American. He has the burning intensity of a British Brando and the quiet sensitivity and range to do just about anything including bulking up with muscles if necessary. I'm sure he could un-bulk or get fat if needed as well. He's done it before. Tom Hardy's performance in Locke is a tour-de-force.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 11th, 2014
"Hi, little guys."
There was a time, decades ago when Walt Disney Studios was doing quality documentaries on a pretty regular schedule. Many of them appeared on the television show The Wonderful World Of Disney, and more than a few were released as feature films. And while that tradition has continued somewhat, it's been a while since I was truly impressed by a Disney documentary. That all changes with the release of Bears.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 11th, 2014
Need for Speed is based on a video game. It caters to people who love the experience of speed. There is a huge audience for this sort of thing. To their credit, the writer and director makes every effort to create an actual story and real characters in this presentation. It is easy to compare it to Fast and Furious, but why bother. That gives these sorts of films too much credit. Fast and Furious and Need for Speed are designed to give people a thrill. If anything, Need for Speed takes things more seriously than the Fast and Furious series. It also focuses more on beautiful and very expensive cars. Some of the cars featured include Koenigseggs, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches, McLarens, and Jaguars, but Ford Mustangs and Torinos get some of the most lavish praise. It could be a commercial for these cars. In fact, the film could be a commercial for the video game and the car culture, in general. One of the plot points is that the millions of invested in these cars is motivation to overlook past hostilities. The other reason for making this film is to give a star vehicle to Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad).
Tobey Mitchell (Aaron Paul) has a high-performance car shop in Mount Kisco. There are some fun street racing scenes right at the start. It should be stated that, at every point in this film, there is zero concern for the safety of innocent bystanders. The driving is always reckless and insane. He connects with his old girlfriend Anita (Dakota Johnson) who was stolen away by an old friend. That ex-friend Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper) is now a big shot in the racing world. Tobey is behind on the mortgage on the shop. Dino offers him $500,000 to fix up a $3,000,000 car. Tobey has no choice but to set their differences aside. All his coworkers and best buddies are totally against it including Anita's brother Pete (Harrison Gilbertson). Pete is also a bit of a psychic and seer, predicting that Tobey will win a great race that ends at a lighthouse. I'm not going to go on about the plot too much, because it's predictable and done just to make sure no one just thinks it's a cheap video game rip-off. Aaron Paul does give full commitment to his role and is actually very good. I don't think he's leading man material, but he is able to convey all levels of intensity. This movie would be better off with a Steve McQueen type, but those are nearly nonexistent (although I think Tom Hardy has potential, but he's not in this movie).
