Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2011
"The die was cast. If I just said City Hall the story would end here. But I didn't, and Betsy and I took our fateful trip to Vegas."
Everyone remembers the 1993 provocative film Indecent Proposal with Robert Redford as the rich playboy who offers Woody Harrelson a million bucks to spend a night with his wife, played by Demi Moore. The movie created quite a stir, and more than a little water cooler conversation about what you might do in that situation. What most people overlook, however, is that same kind of situation appeared a year earlier with a more romantic-comedy take in Andrew Bergman's Honeymoon in Vegas. It wasn't one of Bergman's best and certainly not one of his most remembered films. Who can’t argue that The Freshman, The In-Laws (writer), and even Fletch (writer) were better movies? But you can't escape the fact that Bergman was the first to offer up the conundrum that faced Moore and Harrelson a year later. But you probably don't remember Honeymoon In Vegas. Not many folks do if the box office numbers are any indication. Now you have a second chance with this latest wave of catalog titles from MGM now out on Blu-ray.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on August 2nd, 2011
“Zippedy Doo-Dah. Zippedy Yay. My, oh my, I got a wonderful slave.”
I’ve never really been a big fan of director Gary Marshall’s films. I prefer his work as a producer of classic sitcoms, like The Odd Couple and Happy Days. Marshall’s most popular film, Pretty Woman, plays off the Cinderella cliché a little too much for my taste, with a man ultimately finding and saving a woman by redefining her. Three years before Pretty Woman, Marshall explored these same themes in Overboard, but instead of slick fantasy salvation at the hands of a wealthy Richard Gere, the redemption comes from a misogynistic and cruel Kurt Russell.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 1st, 2011
Back in 1981 we all got a little lost between the moon and New York City as Dudley Moore played the spoiled and perpetually drunk title character in the surprise hit Arthur. He was in love with Liza Minnelli, but his rich family had plans for the socialite played by Jill Eikenberry. Arthur's only real friend was the guy who was paid to be there for him, but nevertheless had a soft spot for him. That was butler Hobson, played by Sir John Gielgud. It was a quirky little romantic comedy that turned out to have legs. Moore would reprise the role in the sequel Arthur 2: On The Rocks which was as much a flop as the original was a success. Moore died nearly a decade ago, and most of us had pretty much forgotten the classic and moved on to other things.
Now along comes Russell Brand, who knows more than a little bit about being an out-of-control drunk. His successful attempt to turn his own life around before it careened off a cliff might have made him the perfect fit to play the character in this 2011 remake. Of course, that's not really what makes him such a wonderful choice. Brand infused enough of his wit and clever improvisation to make this a far funnier version. Moore might have certainly been a more believable and charming drunk. But Brand is a much more entertaining one. And that wasn't the only clever casting to be found here. More on that later.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on July 29th, 2011
In 2007, writer-directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza created [REC], a truly frightening horror film. Considering their subject matter is so familiar to audiences it proved a major challenge not to fall into clichés. Somehow, against all odds, [REC] remained fresh by blending the elements so well… nasty contagion and fast zombies ala 28 Days Later captured in documentary-syle videography made famous by The Blair Witch Project. Add likable lead characters, natural dialog, horrific gore and scream-at-the-screen suspense; sprinkle in clues of a disturbing spiritual origin to the mysterious virus and you end up with one of the scariest and most effective additions to both the zombie and “found footage” horror sub-genres.
To appreciate the sequel, [REC]2, one should take the time to watch the first film, but if you haven’t, here is a brief spoiler filled synopsis of [REC]. A local Spanish TV journalist and her cameraman are embedded with a group of firefighters for the night as part of a human interest segment on their magazine news show. A routine call to an old apartment building on the outskirts of Madrid immediately leads to the team being sealed inside by a government quarantine trying to contain the origin of a ferocious viral pandemic. The news team chronicles the firefighters’ efforts to battle the frenzied, ravenous infected and escape the building, avoiding viral contamination or getting shot by government snipers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2011
I’ve got to admit that for a long time, Four Weddings and a Funeral was in a category of movies that I had no intention or curiosity to see because of the title, the cast and the story. Hugh Grant was a significant step down towards the emasculation of man, where we start wearing large sweaters, hang out in pseudo-Starbucks coffee shops and talk about what happened on American Idol or some lame thing along those lines.
Well here I am, years later, apologizing for some of the things I thought about that film. I’d seen it before a couple of times through the years, but in putting my error out there for the world to read, I opened myself up for the scorn that comes with it. But at the end of the day, throwing away Hugh Grant (it was the role that launched him upon American audiences, but still) and Andie MacDowell (who I like to call Mrs. John Elway), the film’s story, written by Richard Curtis (most recently of Love, Actually) was a refreshing breath of air into a fairly dead (subconscious pun unintended) romantic comedy genre. With Mike Newell’s direction (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), the film is funny, with some moments of poignancy and emotion.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2011
I’ve got to admit that for a long time, Four Weddings and a Funeral was in a category of movies that I had no intention or curiosity to see because of the title, the cast and the story. Hugh Grant was a significant step down towards the emasculation of man, where we start wearing large sweaters, hang out in pseudo-Starbucks coffee shops and talk about what happened on American Idol or some lame thing along those lines.
Well here I am, years later, apologizing for some of the things I thought about that film. I’d seen it before a couple of times through the years, but in putting my error out there for the world to read, I opened myself up for the scorn that comes with it. But at the end of the day, throwing away Hugh Grant (it was the role that launched him upon American audiences, but still) and Andie MacDowell (who I like to call Mrs. John Elway), the film’s story, written by Richard Curtis (most recently of Love, Actually) was a refreshing breath of air into a fairly dead (subconscious pun unintended) romantic comedy genre. With Mike Newell’s direction (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), the film is funny, with some moments of poignancy and emotion.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on July 25th, 2011
“Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair, shining gleaming steaming flaxen waxen. Give me it down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer, here, baby, there, mamma, everywhere, daddy, daddy hair! Flow it, show it, long as God can grow it, my hair!”
Born in the late 50s, I was a child of 60s and a teen in the 70s. I believed in the revolution. The Beatles and The Stones would lead the charge against the establishment. I grew my hair to mid back, stayed perpetually high, experimented sexually and washed infrequently. I used my selective service draft card to clean the seeds out of my pot. I was hippy and Hair was our manifesto. Now, I speak of the cult Broadway musical, Hair. The songs were prophecy of the future when the flower power movement finally conquered the squares. The lockstep Nixon youth, Wall Street plutocrats and pickled religious zealots would fall under the spell of free thinking and free love. Jupiter aligned with Mars. Peace would guide the planet and love would steer the stars. It was the dawning Age of Aquarius, man.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 21st, 2011
Mr. Skin and Panik House Entertainment have teamed up to provide us with what can only be described as a schlock-o-rama of 1980's exploitation cinema. After the run of blacksploitation and grindhouse films of the 1970's, we found ourselves in a cycle where the subject shifted to women behind bars. You could still find the same level of low-budget movie making here but with the added "bonus" of watching hot chicks, for the most part, used and abused while being usually unfairly incarcerated. This three-pack of movies includes the first uncut release of Chained Heat in North America. Now, I'm not really familiar enough with the movie to tell you what might have been added back into the mix, but I'll bet we can all guess, can't we?
Chained Heat (1983)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 20th, 2011
They say that when an alligator grabs hold of something tasty to eat, the reptile won't let go for anything. I guess the same thing could be said for Roger Corman. He's earned the title as King of the B Movie and has held reign for nearly 60 years. So we shouldn't be surprised that his relationship with SyFy and their monster mash-up series of original films would feature a few entries from Corman. Dinocroc came in 2004, followed by Supergator in 2007. Both found fitting places in the series from SyFy. Now Corman and the network have pitted the two against each other in the latest joint venture: Dinocroc vs. Supergator.
Two genetically-altered crocodilians have been developed in secret by the laboratories owned by Jason Drake (Carradine). The lab was funded by the government to create super-versions of food plants to solve the world's hunger problems. But these guys got greedy and decided to use the technology to develop a weapon out of an alligator and a crocodile. The result is two giant predators that soon break out of containment and threaten a Hawaiian island. There's plenty of the expected mayhem and chaos as the two creatures make their way through the population.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 14th, 2011
The story of Jesse James has been told many times over the years. There isn't a medium in the world that hasn't seen its share of tales concerning the infamous outlaw. You could find radio dramas, plays, television shows, films and even songs that recount his exploits. Some of these have been honest and brutal depictions of a lawless man and his gang of thugs who terrorized the West by robbing trains and banks, leaving corpses in their wake. Then there's the romantic telling that picks up on the folk heroes that Jesse and his boys have become over the years. Even in his day he became somewhat of a hero to a generation of those who read about his daring deeds in the papers and pulps. Of course, they likely didn't include those unlucky enough to have stared down the barrel of Jesse's six-shooter. The Long Riders fits into that later category of romantic folk stories.
The film depicts the final days of the gang. It begins with a bank holdup gone wrong and the excommunication of Ed Miller from the gang for starting a shootout and killing a cooperative teller. The Pinkertons get hot on the James/Younger Gang trail, and a lot of innocent folks get killed in the crossfire. The film finally concludes with the shooting of Jesse by Robert Ford.
![Honeymoon in Vegas [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/honeymoon-in-vegas-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Overboard [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/overboard-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![[Rec] 2 dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/rec-2-large.jpg)
![Four Weddings & A Funeral [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/four-weddings-a-funeral-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Hair [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/hair-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Dinocroc vs. Supergator [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/dinocroc-vs-supergator-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Long Riders [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/long-riders-blu-ray-large.jpg)
