Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2015
31 Nights Of Terror means horror reviews and lots of free stuff for you guys. How about an unrated copy of Girls Gone Dead on DVD? When these gals do Spring Break it’s killer.
To win just follow these instructions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 27th, 2015
Between Judgment Day, zombie apocalypses, and various other doomsday scenarios, we've gotten a pretty good look at what the end of the world is supposed to look like. One of the most striking things about Z for Zachariah — an otherwise straightforward and deliberate drama that takes its story from a 1974 novel of the same name by Robert C. O'Brien — is that, for the most part, the end of the world looks an awful lot like paradise.
In fact, the biggest visual clues that this is even a post-apocalyptic story occur within the first 10 minutes or so. That's when we're introduced to a slight, shapeless figure in a makeshift decontamination suit pushing a cart through a barren, abandoned town. We eventually find out her name is Ann Burden (Margot Robbie), and she is presumably the only survivor of an unspecified disaster that has wiped out most of civilization. Ann survives on her family's farmland, which is uniquely (and miraculously) located in a place that shields her from radiation. She also has plenty of fresh water at her disposal. One day, Ann is shocked to find another survivor in a radiation suit.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on October 26th, 2015
31 Nights Of Terror can also be educational. Scholastic Storybook Treasures brings you The Halloween Stories Collection. It’s a 3 DVD set that includes 14 Halloween stories for early and pre-readers. It’s completely family safe. It also encourages creativity and music appreciation. You can win the set for your little ghoul thanks to Scholastic Storybook Treasures and Upcomingdiscs.
To win just follow these instructions.
Contest is now closed Winner is Ashley Turilik
Posted in: Random Fun by Archive Authors on October 25th, 2015
The Black Knight satellite is one of many tantalizing so-called true tales that are circulating on YouTube and various cable outlets like the History Channel. I say so-called true tales because many believe stories about aliens are total nonsense. But not everyone believes so. A National Geographic survey says 77 percent of all Americans believe there are signs that aliens have visited Earth. A Harris poll says 68 percent of all Americans believe that Jesus is the son of God. A HuffPost/YouGov poll shows that 45 percent believe in ghosts and 64 percent believe in life after death. A 2009 CBS poll said 78 percent believe in the afterlife. I could go on, but it is all in the same general range.
Thousand of movies of all kinds have played with our imagination on these subjects. Steven Spielberg is one of the most famous filmmakers to deal with these subjects both as a director and a producer. Here is a list of some of the movies and TV shows that Spielberg has been involved with: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, all of the Indiana Jones movies, Poltergeist, Young Sherlock Holmes, All the Transformer movies, Extant, Falling Skies, all the Men in Black movies, Terra Nova, Cowboys and Aliens, Super 8, Hereafter, The Lovely Bones, Monster House, Taken, Casper, Always, batteries not included, Amazing Stories, War of the Worlds and Night Gallery. That's just one person's output on ghosts and aliens. It is a topic that is endlessly dealt with. And with the current climate of internet blogging, there is an endless amount of material that was not easily available before, like the Black Knight satellite. That's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. So many movies are dealing with this information. Transformers is a perfect example, with depictions of robot bases on the moon and alien robots precipitating the mass extinction event of most species on Earth 68,000 years ago. The last Superman movie, Man of Steel, showed an ancient rocket ship buried in the North Pole. This stuff isn't new. H.P. Lovecraft wrote a story called In the Mountains of Madness nearly a hundred years ago that led to stories like The Thing, which has been made into a movie three times so far (although a recent faithful big-budget adaption stalled because of giant ego clashes).
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on October 24th, 2015
Dustin P. Anderson
As far as a synopsis for this movie goes, there isn’t too much to it. We are given a brief look inside the mind of a real-life serial killer. A psychopath has been given a conditional release from jail and is only interested in satiating his lust for killing. After some failed murder attempts, the killer finds an empty house and waits for the occupants to come home. This movie has a lot to say, while being easy to summarize. The story is basic, but there is so much more to it than just the events that take place. It does a great job at making the killer seem more human when we see how clumsy he is at killing people. During the killer’s beginning inner monologue, he states, “this time he won’t get caught,” which, I thought meant he had some grand scheme in place to kill a bunch of people and never see the inside of a jail cell again. The killer actually has no plan; he gets caught up in his passion for murder and bumbles almost every one of his attempts; for instance, when he is caught untying his shoelace the shoelace is in the condemning position used for strangling someone. I also like that the inner monologue of our killer matches the person he is killing; it makes it seem like he is offering an explanation of why he is killing this certain person. When he kills a man in a wheelchair, he starts speaking of his father/stepfather; when he is tying up a young girl he is talking about his sister, etc. This movie is the closest thing to describing to the general public why certain killers do the things that they do, and it is the most disturbing thing I have seen in a while, which makes it an amazing horror movie.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on October 24th, 2015
“It's like five minutes before every launch, everyone goes to a bar, gets drunk, and tells me what they really think of me.”
During the final act of Steve Jobs — which is less of a biopic and more of a three-act performance piece inspired by the visionary Apple co-founder — the movie winks at its own gimmicky premise. The cheeky reference to the film's rigid, laser-focused structure is appropriate given that Jobs obsessively measured the design his own products down to the millimeter. The result is a movie that wonderfully mirrors its protagonist: Steve Jobs is enthralling, endlessly imaginative, and kind of exhausting.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on October 23rd, 2015
"Looks like the crazy is starting."
Actually, it started three seasons ago. The creator of Dawson’s Creek and The Vampire Diaries, Kevin Williams, delivers a thriller that is a bold new entry in the crime drama for television. The Following was 15 episodes of nail-biting bliss that kept the viewer guessing and riveted long after its gut-wrenching cliffhanger season after season. For a while I was beginning to wonder if Williamson had lost his touch with the Scream series, but what you’ll discover here is that Williamson may just be the king of creating and penning one of the darkest serial killers on the small screen.
Posted in: The Reel World by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2015
That's Rock the Kasbah with a K. It was probably decided to do that spelling so as not to be confused with the hit song “Rock the Casbah” by the Clash when googling. The movie is about a down-on-his luck music manager who goes to Afghanistan on a U.S.O. Tour. There is a great scene early on when the aforementioned manager visits his daughter by sitting outside her window as she lectures him that there are no casbahs in Afghanistan. It's a perfect metaphor for a character who has obviously screwed up his life so much that he can't even go into his ex-wife's house. The music manager, Richie Lanz, is played by Bill Murray and may be his best comedy performance in years. Murray is famous for not having a manager, publicist, or agent, so it's funny seeing him playing a low-rent version of all three. The film was written by Mitch Glazer (Magic City) who had a big hit years earlier with Murray called Scrooged. It is directed by Barry Levinson, who had a long string of big hits in 80's and 90's like Diner, Good Morning Vietnam, Rain Man, Bugsy, Sleepers, and Wag the Dog and has gone on to producing a lot of television. Levinson's more recent films have been a bit bizarre. The Humbling (2014) with Al Pacino, What Just Happened (2008) with Robert DiNiro, Bruce Willis and Sean Penn, Man of the Year (2006) with Robin Williams, and Envy (2004) with Jack Black and Ben Stiller are all examples of ambitious projects that had tilted, offbeat sensibilities which had trouble connecting with audiences. Rock the Kasbah might seem like that kind of project as well, but it turns out that a crazy combination of elements has mixed together surprisingly well.
I say that this is Murray's best comedy performance in years, but it also might be one of his most nuanced and fully-developed as well. Murray's screen appearance have been erratic and full of variety, as if he's busy living life and movies are something that he just squeezes into his schedule. There have been a variety of types of roles from clearly dramatic like his portrayal of F.D.R. in Hyde Park on Hudson and Olive Kitteridge (for which Murray just won an Emmy) to roles in just about anything that Wes Anderson or Jim Jarmusch put out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 22nd, 2015
I really hope that Tyson is getting a hefty sum for this series. It is the only justification I can come up with for him being part of a series that does not cast his intelligence in the best light. A cross between Scooby and Family Guy in my opinion, Tyson leads a cast that includes his adopted Asian daughter, a ghost (and that’s not the weirdest member), and a talking pigeon as he travels around the world solving mysteries. Yes, you read correctly, mysteries. When it comes to needing a mystery solved, Tyson is not the first name to come to mind, but I suppose that was the point.
Based on what I gathered from the first episode, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson (voiced by the champ himself) forsakes the boxing gloves after being approached by a ghost who advises him to give up violence and dedicate himself to helping those in need. I cannot make this up. Tyson receives messages via carrier pigeons from citizens that need help solving mysteries. With the help of his adopted Asian daughter, the ghost, and an alcoholic pigeon who used to be a man but was cursed after cheating on his ex-wife who was also a witch, Tyson attempts (and I stress...he attempts) to help everyday citizens. I will allow a moment of silence to allow you to absorb everything I have just imparted to you.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Dan Holland on October 22nd, 2015
There is something to be said about cult celebrities: if you are a fan, you will watch any movie in which they have a role. In the case of 4Got10, you get Danny Trejo and Dolph Lundgren. In addition to these cult giants, you have the prolific Johnny Messner (Tears of the Sun, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid) delivering a strong performance in the lead role. If you are a fan of action thrillers, this film is already off to a great start. A man named Brian (Messner) wakes up in the middle of the desert with no recollection of how he arrived there. Soon there after, he finds himself in a web of lies and vengeance involving a ruthless drug lord (Trejo) and a tenacious DEA agent (Lundgren). As the film progresses, Brian slowly regains his memory, revealing that things may not be as they seem.
4Got10’s strengths are in acting and the complexity of its story. Trejo playing the part of a Mexican drug lord is not uncommon, but I’d like to talk a little bit about Lundgren’s portrayal of a DEA agent. At first, I was a little skeptical of this role. Lundgren, to me, has always been the fully-armed hero of cheesy 80’s action films. To see him as a refined and collected older man was a little off-putting at first, but his demeanor eventually won me over. Johnny Messner’s portrayal of an amnesiac was quite believable, and more importantly, identifiable.
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