Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 30th, 2013
“I’m often asked, ‘What do I do for a living?’ And I answer: ‘I do what I want.”
For the better part of the last 20 years, CeeLo Green has ferociously defied musical expectations by zigging when you expect him to zag. (If you thought the former frontman of hip-hop collective Goodie Mob would eventually become one of the judges on TV’s #1 singing competition, then go buy a lotto ticket immediately because you have a gift.) I happened to be in Las Vegas earlier this year when I saw a poster for CeeLo’s Sin City Loberace show. And for the first time I can remember in regards to CeeLoo’s career, I thought, “Hey that actually makes sense.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 30th, 2013
When Vikings Season 1 first arrived, I have to admit I was pretty excited. I was particularly eager to see footage from their very first game. Fran Tarkenton came off the bench, and the Vikings went on to become the first expansion team ever to win their very first game. OK, as Baby, our Shepherd/Chow mix dog film reviewer would say: I made that last part up. You'd have to have been living under a pretty isolated rock to have missed all of the buzz over The History Channel's epic new drama series Vikings.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 29th, 2013
The boys are back, and I only have one question. What the heck took so long? I have a lot of respect for Pixar and the groundbreaking films they've created over the last couple of decades, but I have to question someone's marketing good sense when they get a sequel to Cars out before anyone bothered to look towards what is arguably the studio’s best creation to date. For me it's all about Monsters, Inc. I hadn't fallen so hard for an animated film since The Lion King, and so I was thrilled when I got the invitation to graduate early from Monsters University.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 26th, 2013
Welcome kids to another 31 Nights of Terror spectacular. This time, the legendary (in his own mind) Michael Durr has descended from the rafters to bring you another cult classic blu-ray presentation. This time we explore 1982 Wes Craven adaption of Swamp Thing. Shout Factory has produced an excellent blu-ray for us to watch. As with most of the Scream Factory work that Shout does, this should be quite the treat. Let us continue and go forth with one wicked green monster.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 25th, 2013
Hugh Laurie is not the first — and he certainly won’t be the last — actor who decided he wanted a career in music too. The move might come as a surprise to people who primarily know Laurie from his sterling eight-year run as the misanthropic title character on House M.D. (Though not if you watched the show carefully.) In the past, Laurie has rocked out with some of his small-screen comrades for charity. But it turns out that after eight years of playing one of the crankiest characters in television history, Laurie was ready to sing the blues.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 23rd, 2013
Hollywood (rightfully) gets a lot of flack these days for being creatively bankrupt. But you can’t throw a rock down Broadway without hitting the marquee for a musical that’s based on an existing film. It’s not exactly a new phenomenon — and it doesn’t always work — but some of the most successful and beloved musicals feature stories you already know and fell in love with on the big screen. The trend seems to have really picked up at the turn of the century, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. So adapting a massive hit like Shrek for the stage must’ve been a no-brainer.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 18th, 2013
"46,000 people died here. Do you think it's haunted?"
It would have been so much better for me if I had seen the first season of American Horror Story. Of course, it isn't necessary. This has to be one of the most clever television ideas I've encountered. You don't have to have seen the first season because, while the actors are pretty much the same, they play completely different parts in a completely different story in the second season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 17th, 2013
My knowledge of Heavy Metal and Heavy Metal bands can be counted on one hand with a couple fingers to spare. So as you can probably imagine, when this discs found its way to me, my enthusiasm or my confidence in it was not high. So when I say that Black Label Society: Unblackened was not what I expected, it is not an indictment; quite the opposite, in fact. The concert started right as I hit play, I expected to see the band come out, pick up their instruments, and possibly do a little introduction (that came towards the end of the concert)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 16th, 2013
Direct-to-video sequels of successful animated films are tricky at best. The video release is usually a sign that either the studio is trying to cash in quickly on the franchise or they are just not confident enough in the sequel to put it up on the big screen, usually with good reason. Smaller budgets mean less impressive animation and a lack of A-list voice actors. Every studio has been guilty of one or the other and more often both.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 15th, 2013
Embrace of the Vampire is a remake of the 1995 erotic bloodsucker thriller of the same name. The original’s only greatest claim to fame is that it starred Who’s the Boss? cutie Alyssa Milano in her first, ahem, “grown up” role. In other words, the bar wasn’t exactly sky high for the remake. (This is not Gus Van Sant doing a shot-for-shot remake of Psycho.) The well-made newer film certainly “embraces” the erotic thriller DNA of the original. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem overly concerned with the "vampire."
