Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 26th, 2019
Bakugan was originally a toy first envisioned by an inventor named Aldric Saucier, who thought he could fit a small action figure inside a marble. He then presented the idea to Spin Masters, who accepted it eagerly, as they were in search of a marble for the 21st century. Ultimately they sent the idea to Sega Toys in Japan, who came up with the concept to turn it into a game complete with cards and miniatures. From there it was only a matter of time before Bakugan became a cartoon show as well. Today, we are reviewing Bakugan: Battle Planet, the newest series to feature these bio-mechanical creations in their animated form.
There are strange events going on on Earth. A Bakugan battle is about to start, and it could change the fate of the world. Dan, of the Awesome Ones, has been challenged by the dastardly Magnus, who has unveiled his Bakugan, a two headed dragon named Nillious. It's now or never, and will Dan and his Dragonoid stand up to the threat?
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on October 26th, 2019
This will be our last giveaway for 31 Nights Of Terror. We’re giving away Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein on Blu-ray. Bela Lugosi returned to the role of Dracula for the 2nd and last time for this farce. It was also the final appearance of Lon Chaney, Jr. as The Wolf Man. It marked the end of an era and it’s going out to one lucky winner.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 25th, 2019
"I was really hoping the whole "maze" thing was just a metaphor."
Following Superman’s most recent run of animated movies, the DC Animated Universe (DCAU) is turning to Wonder Woman for its next installment, which acts as an origin story for the Amazon princess. In Bloodlines, Princess Diana (Rosario Dawson) leaves Themyscira to become a guardian of peace in what is coequally called man’s world. Joined by Air Force Captain Steve Trevor (Jeffrey Donovan of Burn Notice fame), Diana faces enemies both superhuman as well as mythical in this welcomed addition to the DCAU. In my humble opinion, the animated realm is the main place that DC is having success over Marvel, as they maintain a steady stream of content. This is not a jab against the original series dominating the CW network, which are also good (some better than others. Arrow < The Flash). Though it does take a second to pick up in the beginning, once it does, Wonder Woman: Bloodlines delivers an engaging and action-packed story, which will undoubtedly help further DC animated universe.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on October 25th, 2019
When it comes to writer/director Robert Eggers, despite only directing The Witch, he’s currently one of the most divisive directors working today. Personally I loved The Witch and feel it’s one of the best horror films in the past decade, while others openly loathe the film and consider it a snooze-fest. Eggers has a style that really isn’t for everyone, but for those who are fans (myself included), he’s a breath of fresh air to the horror genre, though his style is very much a throwback to the times before computer graphics and his films rely heavily on atmosphere, where his stories take time to develop as he wants us to be like a fly on the wall as we watch his characters fall apart. The Lighthouse is very much a claustrophobic character piece that will once again divide audiences, but one thing I believe we can all agree on: the performances of Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson are phenomenal and deserve all the recognition that will be coming their way.
When we meet Thomas (Dafoe) and Ephraim (Pattinson), they are being taken out to the lonely island where they will be serving their time tending to the lighthouse until their replacements arrive. The beautiful black and white cinematography sets the tone for this film and gives it a timeless feel. This is one of the factors that makes this film work, because it could easily take place in the late 1800’s or even today (though obviously there would be better equipment if it were more modern). Thomas makes it clear right from the start he is the only one who will be tending to the light, while Ephraim is expected to tend to the rest of the duties. For a good portion of the film, we are with the men as they go about their grueling day-to-day routine, and we get to see the resentment grow in Ephraim towards Thomas. Sure, there is the push and shove of masculinity as we see Thomas overtly trying to maintain his dominance while we’re seeing Ephraim slowly break down, and it’s in this where we see the film shift as it exploits Ephraim’s mental decline.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2019
It was 1962, and Ursula Andress emerged from the tropical island surf sporting a provocative swimsuit, and a tradition was born. The seductive scene would become the first iconic image in a line that has lasted a half a century and counting. Fifty years; 23 movies makes it the longest running film franchise in motion picture history. He had many faces over those 50 years: Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, George Lazenby, and even David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Woody Allen in a 1967 spoof. For the last three films, he's been played by Daniel Craig. They all had somewhat different styles. They all had a line of beautiful women. They all faced different challenges and foes. But they all shared the same name: Bond...James Bond.
James Bond first appeared in the pages of Ian Fleming’s novel, Casino Royale. Fleming was himself a former British Intelligence Officer and had been engaged in what he liked to call “shenanigans” in that role. He admits that many of Bond’s tastes are lifted from his own preferences. It can be safe to say that Ian Fleming was as much James Bond as any of the men who have played him. The books were written one a year during his two-month vacation as a news writer. He would escape to his vacation home in Jamaica during those 6-8 weeks and in short order produce a Bond adventure. It’s likely not a small coincidence that the first Bond film would feature the island location predominately as its setting. For most of the 1960's and into the 1970's, the films were taken directly from his Bond novels. Eventually the film series surpassed the novels and has been operating as original scripts for most of the last 30+ years. In those days the end credits always revealed the name of the next Bond film. Now we merely get a blanket statement that James Bond will return.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2019
"In May 1980, Fidel Castro opened the harbor at Mariel, Cuba with the apparent intention of letting some of his people join their relatives in the United States. Within seventy-two hours, 3,000 U.S. boats were headed for Cuba. It soon became evident that Castro was forcing the boat owners to carry back with them not only their relatives, but the dregs of his jails. Of the 125,000 refugees that landed in Florida, an estimated 25,000 had criminal records."
One of those refugees was Tony Montana.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 23rd, 2019
If presented with the choice whether to see Ready or Not versus Satanic Panic, see Ready or Not. Their premises are relatively similar: a young woman at risk of being sacrificed by a satanic cult. However, their executions are vastly different, as the former has a better story and better comedic timing. Satanic Panic is a dark comedy that failed to get a chuckle out of me due to its stale execution, which was a pity, as I was expecting far more with familiar faces like Jerry O’Connell and Rebecca Romijn. The film delivers in the gore department, which makes it great candidate for 31 Nights of Terror, but is lackluster in the department of a horror comedy.
Sam’s first day as a pizza delivery driver is off to a bad start. She is harassed by a coworker who helped her get the job, conned into helping a frat boy move a couch into his apartment, and propositioned by what I can only assume is a prostitute. Needless to say, that any of those things are bad enough, but what takes the cake is that on all of those, not a single tip. Desperate to make money, she takes a call out to a ritzy part of town, only to find herself targeted for ritualistic sacrifice by a satanic cult. Sam might want to start looking for a new job.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 23rd, 2019
When it comes to gritty detective films, Seven and Zodiac are two that help define the genre. It seems like there are so many films that are attempting to piggyback off the style, but so many films fail because they are trying so hard to copycat the films, or they simply pull their punches with the material. Night Hunter is the newest film to make an attempt but sadly just falls apart. There is a lot of potential in this film, with Henry Cavill (Man of Steel) taking the top billing; then there are Ben Kingsley, Stanley Tucci, and Nathan Fillion filling out the cast. The cast and the storyline give this the potential to be a great thriller, but unfortunately the delivery ends up being something just a little better than an episode of Law and Order.
After a woman manages to escape from her kidnapper, exhausted and barely clothed in the cold, she chooses to take a leap from a bridge rather than go back into the hands of her attacker. The leap ends up killing her as she lands on the back of a logging truck, and this is where Marshall (Cavill) comes in, as he’s tasked with investigating what happened to the woman. On a more entertaining side, there is Cooper (Kingsley), a former judge. With the aid of his young ward they lure out pedophiles, and after the would-be sex offender has succumbed, they castrate the men. Yeah, this film starts off dark and sets us up for what we hope can be a gritty vigilante tale, but instead this goes a much more safe and generic route. Really, what are the odds that the same attacker involved with Marshall’s case would just so happen to kidnap the girl working with Cooper? It’s a bit of a stretch, but this film takes so many leaps in logic that it becomes borderline absurd.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on October 22nd, 2019
31 Nights Of Terror is still going strong, and our friends over at Shout Factory have given us something that's really going to whet your chops. It's The Universal Horror Collection Volume 2 on Blu-ray. You get four fantastic hidden gems from the Universal library. Three of the films feature Lionel Atwill, one of the underrated stars of that era's atmospheric horror films. You get Murders In The Zoo, which is an old favorite of mine and features some of the creepiest scenes you can imagine. Some of this stuff could never be done today. The Mad Doctor Of Market Street, The Strange Case Of Doctor Rx and George Zucco in The Mad Ghoul. These are pristine masters, and each film gets its own disc.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 22nd, 2019
"Come and see. Come and see. The death of humanity upon a shore of corpses, broken heads, spilled guts, scorched flesh. Come and see the young tearing each other's throats out. Rivers of poison will flow through the halls. Oath breakers. Philanderers. Murders will wade through those rivers. Come and see. Come and see."
When Vikings started five years ago, I found it to be quite an ambitious task for a network that usually featured documentaries and reality shows about odd jobs. I approached this one with some caution. Now I've thrown caution to the wind for these compelling characters. I was particularly drawn into the lead. Travis Fimmel was outstanding as the Viking leader Ragnor Lothbrook. When his character was killed off after three years, I suspected things would be winding down for this experiment. I could not have been more wrong. Alex Hogh Andersen plays Ivar, his crippled son, who rises to be more powerful and more brutal that Ragnor ever was. The actor shares many of Fimmel's characteristics, both in his physical look and the way he carries himself. It's one of the most perfect father-and-son casting pairs I've ever encountered. Because of Andersen, the show has been reborn, and there's still a lot of life in this series. The release of the first half of Season 5 is another strong contribution to your home entertainment library.
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