Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 8th, 2012
"Every insect lives for just one purpose: Survival of its own kind."
In 1997 Guillermo del Toro made his first English-language film. Mimic was based on a rather creepy short story by Donald A. Wollheim. Unfortunately, for del Toro and film fans everywhere, the director had more than his fair share of struggles with the studio powers that be, and he never really had the chance to make the movie he really hoped to make. The result is certainly an atmospheric and interesting film, but one wonders what the movie might have been like if del Toro had had his chance to make his own movie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 3rd, 2012
In terms of major conflicts involving the United States, the Korean War has sort of gotten the short end of the cinematic stick with American audiences. Most people can easily rattle off their favorite movies dealing with World War II, the Vietnam War or the U.S. Civil War, but when it comes to the Korean War the options are comparatively more limited. Off the top of my head, there's M*A*S*H, the original Manchurian Candidate, and Don Draper suffering one of the most famous cases of identity theft. (I realize Mad Men is a TV show, so forgive me for reaching.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 25th, 2012
"One must never let the public behind the scenes for they are easily disillusioned, and then they're angry with you for it is the illusion they love."
Sure, this quote is spoken by a very minor character and awkwardly shoehorned into the story, but it still makes its point. I realize it's almost impossible to imagine now, but there was a time we didn't have to capitalize the words "Real Housewives" and people were actually ashamed if they came off badly in front of a camera. HBO's Cinema Verite tells the behind-the-scenes story of the creation of An American Family, the PBS documentary widely considered to be the first reality television show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 24th, 2012
At the very least, London River deserves credit for exposing audiences to a different side of English life beyond "upstairs, downstairs" period drama (Gosford Park, Downton Abbey), twee stories in a small-town setting (Waking Ned Devine, Calendar Girls) or the rich white people problems of Woody Allen's contemporary London (Match Point, Scoop).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on April 23rd, 2012
“Here in Tresock, I believe the old religion of the Celts fits our needs at this time. Isn’t that all you can ask of a religion?”
In 1973 Director Robin Hardy captured lightning in a bottle with the classic The Wicker Man. Based on David Pinner's 1967 novel Ritual and loosely adapted into Anthony Shaffer’s sharp screenplay. Shaffer painstakingly researched paganism giving the film an undeniable authenticity, The Wicker Man became a genre of its own known as Folk Horror. The beauty of the film was the war of counter-religions, Christianity vs. Celtic Paganism.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 21st, 2012
The fourth Mission: Impossible entry exchanges digits for a subtitle, and brings in Brad Bird to direct his first live-action feature. So the man whose The Incredibles made fun of the sort of thing that is the bread-and-butter of the M:I franchise is brought in to revitalize said franchise. Result? Job done.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 19th, 2012
"This is how it starts..."
You know, it's getting awfully hard to make an original alien invasion film. Most filmmakers have accepted the obvious and go for mind-blowing f/x and never mind the story. Still others go the trendy found-footage route. I was pleasantly surprised that The Darkest Hour appears to prove that there just might be more than just fumes in the creative tank after all. I'm not going to try to convince you that the film doesn't rely on much of the tried and true standby material.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on April 17th, 2012
“Won't bow, don't know how.”
More than any other show, Treme captures the very soul of the city it is set in. Where The Wire may have presented the city of Baltimore as one of the supporting players in the series, Treme is New Orleans. The haunting percussion and brass of the musicians, the lyrical shorthand of its citizens, the quiet desperation of pride after destruction, rampant political corruption and unchecked crime mix together to form an eclectic jazz tempo that makes up the heartbeat of the Crescent City.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 17th, 2012
As a nation, the United States is pretty evenly divided on most of the larger issues of the day. Nowhere is that more evident than the opinions on capital punishment. If you took a poll today, you'd likely still find a slim majority of Americans continue to support the death penalty. Unless, of course, you were to take that poll in Texas. The Lone Star State has pretty much led the way in dealing out death sentences since the practice was resumed in the 1970's. For a time in the 80's and 90's
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 15th, 2012
I was flipping through the latest issue of Sad Trombone magazine the other day, and it contained an article revealing — through entirely unscientific research — that the general consensus appears to be, "People suck." As a result, I was already in the proper mindset when I sat down to watch The Divide, probably the most pessimistic movie of the past year.
