Posted in: Disc Reviews by John Delia on February 26th, 2020
by John Delia, Jr.
"There's a point at 7,000 RPM... where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless. Just disappears. And all that's left is a body moving through space and time. 7,000 RPM. That's where you meet it. You feel it coming. It creeps up on you, close in your ear. Asks you a question. The only question that matters. Who are you?"
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 25th, 2020
You can argue that the teen slasher genre is mostly a cautionary tale about premarital sex and using drugs and alcohol. After all, a majority of the time the “final” girl was typically the “good girl”. In a lot of ways, the horror genre is basically a cautionary tale for the viewers, though many of us fans of the genre seem to take delight in seeing the bad decisions people make and the consequences that follow. Teeth and It Follows are a pair of my favorite cautionary-tale horror films that deal with sex and the consequences in a fun and unique way. Snatchers I was hoping would follow and be a welcome addition to these modern cult favorites, but for me, it didn’t quite stick the landing. Sara (Mary Nepi) is doing what she can to keep up with her popular friends in high school, which means she’s willing to do what she can to hold onto her jock boyfriend, Skyler (Austin Fryberger), even if it means losing her virginity with him. Unfortunately the consequences arrive swiftly as she discovers she is pregnant. Things only get worse when two days later Sara wakes up with a bulging pregnant belly and no one to turn to. Feeling as though she has no other option and no one to talk to, she reaches out to her former best friend, Haley (Gabrielle Elyse). The chemistry between Nepi and Elyse is a big factor as to why this film works, and this chemistry is what will keep many viewers engaged when normally they would have given up on the film.
I like campy, and I enjoy a bit of gore in my horror, so it’s no surprise that Snatchers was able to hold my interest. When Sara goes to have her pregnancy terminated and what follows is one of the more over-the-top alien reveals, I found myself hooked into this film. This subtle injection of social/moral commentary, whether intentional or not, does give the film a little more depth than expected, but unfortunately for me this is where the film peaks. Where it becomes more frustrating is when it makes the attempt to make sense of all that is happening. Is Skyler an alien? What happened on his trip to Mexico? These are questions that are certainly warranted, but rather than give us a detailed account, it simply would have sufficed that less of an answer would have been more. By the time the girls attempt to get answers, we’ve already seen the alien cause havoc in two locations, and when they do finally get answers, if anything it stalls the momentum the film has had building.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2020
Jack London’s 1903 novel The Call Of The Wild has become a great American classic that hasn’t been out of print ever in over 100 years. There have currently been over 1000 editions in every major language of the world. One of the aspects of its endurance is that it has such wild appeal. I read the book first when I was around 10 years old, and the imagery has remained throughout my entire life. I still consider it one of the best novels I have ever read. The novel also has great appeal among older readers because of the story’s engaging adventure elements, and, of course, the story is about a dog. London managed to bring the canine character alive with wonderfully visceral accounts of the dog, Buck’s life of adventure that includes both tragedy and triumph. The story has been to the screen both large and small several times to date including a classic 1935 film staring Hollywood legend Clark Gable. Every generation before and since (there was an earlier 1923 version) has witnessed at least one new version of the film. The most recent was a 2009 3D release that made it a kid film with Christopher Lloyd and Timothy Bottoms. Now The Call Of The Wild returns to the big screen as the first Disney release under the newly acquired Fox purchase to sport the entity’s new name, which drops the Fox name and is now merely 20th Century Studios. It’s somewhat the perfect film to bridge the old Fox with Disney, as this is very much a family film.
Buck is a family dog from a Southern plantation run by Judge Miller, played by West Wing star Bradley Whitford. Buck has a pretty good life but manages to get himself in a little trouble when he takes down the Thanksgiving feast that included multiple turkeys. That earns him a night outside instead of snuggling with a family member inside the mansion. It was an unfortunate time to leave the family pet outside for an evening. A gold rush in the Yukon area of the Canadian frontier creates a shortage of sled dogs, leading to huge prices paid for them. Buck is kidnapped and transported from his comfortable Southern life to the frigid wasteland of the Yukon Territory. Unfortunately for Buck, he learns that there are cruel people in the world who force him to submit from the body of a club. Along the way he helps an old man who dropped a harmonica and is treated, if for a moment, kindly again. Buck ends up with a couple who run a postal route and count on the dog sled team to get the mail out on time. But Buck has to learn that even among dogs there is cruelty, as the Siberian husky asserts his dominance over Buck and the rest of the pack. Buck fights against the leader and ends up becoming a new, more benevolent leader of the pack, and he soon adapts to the life of a postal sled dog. That is until the route is cancelled and Buck finds himself once again having to adjust to a new master, this time another who rules by the club. But loner John Thornton, played by Harrison Ford, is the harmonica man, and he remembers Buck and rescues him from the abuse, and the two bond as they follow an old map to a legendary gold claim where the settle into a wonderful summer of companionship. But Buck soon learns he requires a kind of companionship that Thornton can’t provide. And Thornton certainly understands why Buck is spending more and more time away from the cabin. He’s met a wolf pack and a beautiful white female wolf who can fulfill Buck’s newly discovered needs.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 21st, 2020
"This is a mental institution, Marshal. For the criminally insane. Usual isn't a big part of our day."
When I first saw Shutter Island ten years ago, I thought it was a good movie. I didn't think it was a great movie. Like many Martin Scorsese fans out there, I have developed certain expectations from his films. It isn't at all fair, but as I've said here many times, expectations are killers. I bathed too often in Scorsese's modern mob mythology that I think it took seeing The Irishman and being royally disappointed and then getting to see Shutter Island again thanks to this wonderful new steelbook 10th anniversary release on UHD Blu-ray in 4K. I also never thought Shutter Island could ever improve with age. It's got a wicked twist that occupies the final 40 minutes of the film, and no matter how good the performances might be, how could it possibly get better when you know what's coming? But again, I recall it being a good movie, so I welcomed the opportunity to revisit it after 10 years in 4K. Why not, right? I'm glad I did, and no matter how good you thought it was the first time, it's better the second time through. And I was absolutely wrong in my first evaluation. Shutter Island is not a good movie at all. It actually is a great film, and it's a shame that it's been relatively overlooked among Scorsese's films. And spoiler alert!!!!!!! The twist is even better when you know it's coming. (You thought I was going to spill some beans?)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on February 20th, 2020
“We got twenty-one bridges in and out of Manhattan. Shut them down. Three rivers. Close them. Four tunnels. Block them. Stop every train and loop the subways. Then, we flood the island with blue.”
Chadwick Boseman looks to be trying to bring back the days of Dirty Harry in this film as a cop known to kill cop killers. 21 Bridges is an action-packed film where nothing is really what it seems. Also featuring Sienna Miller, Taylor Kitsch, J.K. Simmons, and Keith David, I have to admit that some of these cast members’ appearances were more like cameos, as the action primarily focused on Boseman as he attempted to hunt down his target by any means necessary. Sorry, I just always wanted to say that, but for the context of this movie it rings true, as from the quote above, you can see the extent he was willing to go to.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 20th, 2020
"You're traveling through another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of the mind. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition. And it lies between the pit of one's fears and the summit of one's knowledge. You are now traveling through a dimension of imagination. You've just crossed over into The Twilight Zone."
It would be very hard, indeed, to argue against the impact that The Twilight Zone has had on television. To say that the series was a milestone in that medium would be an understatement of the worst kind. When Rod Serling brought his landmark series to CBS in October of 1959, television was still very new. No one was quite sure what the future held for that magical box. But that box was part of an invasion. The television set would change the face of the world. It would become the social center of our homes. It would influence who we choose as our leaders. In 1959 those fortunate enough to already have television sets in their homes would become the first to see that future. They were given a glimpse of what life might or would be. It was a gift that has continued giving 50 years later. The franchise has been tackled often since Rod Serling's original. There was the ill-fated anthology film where different directors delivered takes on different stories that was overshadowed by a tragic helicopter crash that killed two Vietnamese actors and veteran actor Vic Morrow. Two years later the series returned to television with a surprisingly solid two years. In 2002 there was yet another very brief television effort. Now the show returns in the world of streaming from CBS's All Access network. Unfortunately, it might just be the least of the franchise's incarnations.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 19th, 2020
It only took Warner Brothers five days to pull the plug on this series after it debuted the first episode on their streaming service. This was crushing news for fans who had been looking forward to the series that had seemed to be a promising adaptation of the comic material and bringing it to life. I was one of those fans. I’m a fan of Swamp Thing, even the cheesy Wes Craven film from back in the early 80’s to the short lived series in the early 90’s. It’s a character that has struggled to find life and longevity over the years, mostly because the finances and the technology were never really there to make it as good as it could be, but when James Wan came along with his lofty idea to bring this series to life and keep it true to the comics and keep it geared to adults, well, I had hope. Already the Warner Brothers/ DC Universe streaming service has delivered with their iterations of Titans and Doom Patrol, and if Swamp Thing was to follow in their footsteps, then this was going to be a show to get excited about. Now that I’ve seen Season 1 and all the plot threads that had been set up to extend the series for future seasons, all I can think is that the cancellation of this series is an undeserved gut punch to fans of the comic and those that will watch this first season, because it builds something that could have been so great but will not be brought to fruition.
Was the first episode “bad”? Could it be the reason for the shows swift demise? Not at all; in fact, when it comes to first episodes, this is an awesome fun ride that is helmed by Len Wiseman (Underworld). One of the first things that stood out about the show is how striking it looked, not in the sense of being bright and filled with color, but instead it’s with the muddy, foggy look of the swamp that instantly visually sets a tone for the show. The show was uniquely shot in Cinemascope (basically that means its width is about twice as wide as its height), so this helps in creating a sense of atmosphere and depth to the locations and just allows for this world to seem almost bigger than life. The opening sequence has us witness a trio of men on a boat suffer a vicious attack from what appears to be the plant life of the swamp that has come to life. My only slight complaint is that the blood looks too CGI, but with the exception of that gripe, I dug what the show had to offer right out the gate.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 18th, 2020
Getting thrown into the middle of a film or television series is a daunting task, especially when you can't just reach out and grab the source material. For example, today's review are three films that are set after a manga book collection as well as a 13-episode television series that is available on Blu-ray, but by another production house and would cost me thirty bucks. Hardly an ideal situation, but one I wasn't going to back down from. Donten: Laughing Under the Clouds - Gaiden is our review today and tries to tell us in nearly three hours what happens after the Yamainu take down the Orochi and the struggle to lead normal lives in the wake of such a cataclysmic event.
Film One: One Year After the Battle -
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2020
I'm always cautious when I approach a low-budget independent film. It's not that I don't expect them to be good. I have found countless gems over the years that not only exceeded my expectations but have been placed on a must-watch-again list. The thing I'm most cautious about is the level of ambition a limited experience director might shoot for. Obviously there has to be a great amount of drive and ambition to even try to make a movie. I know many filmmakers think reviewers are frustrated and failed filmmakers. I'm not one of them. I have a great deal of respect for anyone who puts together a story and a crew and often risks their own resources to make a film. I'm talking about the ambition in the film itself. As I was watching Cicada Song for the first time, I started to worry about just that. This is a very ambitious film that tries to tackle a lot of things at one time. Yet writer/director managed to pull it off and deliver a film far more compelling than I was expecting.
The idea appears simple on the surface, but it is not. Karen is played by Lyndsey Lantz. She's had to hold her head up because she has several strikes against her in this rural setting. She's gay and appears Hispanic and suffers the barbs from both designations. She manages a farm operation for a couple who aren't necessarily what they appear to be. If I'm being vague here, it's because there is so much nuance to this story that telling you too much will risk ruining what the film works so hard to accomplish. Karen first hears that a young girl has gone missing. She starts to ask questions and discovers the missing child might be related to one a year ago. Before long, her lover Annabelle (Mesa) has also gone missing. She ends up asking the wrong questions and eventually left for dead in the middle of a wood, where she shows incredible strength and determination to survive. Without revealing too much, I can tell you that you shouldn't be too quick to figure out the good guys from the bad guys. Things aren't always what they seem. Lyndsey Lantz does a fine job as Karen and has to carry a lot of the weight of the story both in the "present" and flash-forward scenes. Other standouts in the cast are Kim Reed as the owner of the farm Karen manages and Jenny Mesa, who plays Annabelle.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2020
"It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood. A beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?"
Anyone who was a kid from the 1960's to the 1990's and beyond recognizes Mr. Rogers and his neighbor song. The man defined children’s programming for television, and he did so from a small studio tucked away in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania for almost 40 years. There aren't many people living in this country who don't at least know who Fred Rogers was. It would be a complete waste of my space and your time to tell you very much about the man in these lines. Truthfully, you'll make the kinds of discoveries into the nature of who he was by spending a short 90 minutes watching the documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor that appeared last year. It will be time well spent no matter how little or much you think you know about him. But now hot on the heels of that incredible documentary comes a film staring Tom Hanks as the lovable neighbor we all used to wish we had. Recently Ancestry.com confirmed that Tom Hanks and Fred Rogers are related. Of course you have to go back the pre-revolutionary days of 1734 to find this elusive relative. But you won't have to time travel to spend a magical time with Mr. Rogers and Tom Hanks. In 2019, they happen to be the same man.
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