Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on August 5th, 2015
Blackbird follows high school senior Randy Rousseau (Julian Walker) as he comes to terms with his sexuality growing up in a small, conservative, Southern Baptist town. To make matters worse, his mother, Claire (Mo’Nique), never quite recovered from the kidnapping of her daughter six years prior; causing her husband (Isaiah Washington) to leave the family. In an effort to make a rather loaded story accessible in a brief synopsis, several other dramas unfold within Randy’s circle of friends: Randy experiments with his sexuality, his secret crush is dating the town pastor’s daughter, and he joins a group of college filmmakers in an effort to find comfort in his true sexuality.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 4th, 2015
I Love Lucy changed the fledgling television industry in the 1950’s. This was a time when network television was less than a decade old. Most folks had never heard of television just 15 years earlier. I Love Lucy defined the concept of a sitcom. The show was driven by the very strong personalities of the cast. Desi Arnaz was considered a charismatic Latin lover by American women. Lucy played the perfect foil and found a mountain of gold to mine in strong physical comedy. So many modern shows owe their roots to this classic that it would be impossible to mention them all here. Now CBS and Paramount are bringing the show back in brand-new high-definition restored image that will delight even the pickiest fans of the show.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 4th, 2015
"In New York City on a street in the East Forties there is an ordinary tailor shop. Or is it ordinary? We enter through the agents' entrance, and we are now in U.N.C.L.E. headquarters. U.N.C.L.E. is an international organization consisting of agents of all nationalities. It's involved in maintaining political and legal order anywhere in the world."
Say Uncle. That’s U.N.C.L.E., otherwise known as the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. Starting in 1964, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was one of a flurry of shows to take advantage of the new James Bond craze. It featured many of the same elements as the super-spy films.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 4th, 2015
“Who would ever suspect a kid?”
When I glanced at the Blu-ray cover for Barely Lethal — with its groan-worthy pun of a title, girl power, and generous splashes of hot pink — I didn’t really expect it to be my thing. (Ok, fine…groan-worthy puns are *totally* my thing.) So while I may not be the intended audience for this independent action/comedy, I have to admit its charms snuck up on me the same way one of the film’s disarming young killers might catch a target by surprise.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 4th, 2015
Feel like your girlfriend can be a little clingy? You've got nothing on Max, the slacker at the center of Burying the Ex. The movie operates in a genre — mixing broad comedy and horror — that has been largely (and sadly) missing from the big screen for the better part of two decades. That's why I was delighted to see that the man at the helm here is none other than Joe Dante (1978's Piranha, Gremlins 1 and 2), who has made some of the best horror comedies of all time. Burying the Ex isn't near that level, but it's still a fun and welcome diversion.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2015
Howdy partners. Gino here again. Johnny's still workin' down at that bunkhouse. Hey, you don't suppose he's down there sleeping ... Nah, couldn't be. We have a huge week of titles stampeding their way into your local video stores this week. We're going to cover most of them, so I'm going to stick with those this week.
Look for reviews of the following throughout the coming week. Shout Factory asks When Calls The Heart and reminisces with The Phil Silvers Show Season 3. CBS/Paramount declares I Love Lucy with Season 2 on Blu-ray. They are also engaged in The Affair Season 1. RLJ Entertainment scores a doubleheader with Appetites and Blackbird. You can win a copy of Blackbird by checking out our contest page. HBO faces front with The Comeback and Strike Back Season 3. Image is Burying The Ex while Lionsgate delivers Child 44 and Barely Lethal. Arc Entertainment gets into the spirit with Phantom Halo. Warner Brothers wants to get you in the mood for their upcoming Man From U.N.C.L.E. film with the original show's 29-episode First Season. Of course, Warner Brothers has already opened up the week here with The Casual Vacancy.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2015
Our buddies over at RLJ Entertainment want you to know about their new DVD release: Blackbird. Julian Walker stars as young Randy who must find himself during a time of personal loss with others who depend on him. It's a tale about being true to who you are. We've got 2 copies to give away. Dan will be giving us his thoughts later. For now you can enter to have a copy sent to you for free.
To win a copy, just follow these simple instructions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 3rd, 2015
How do you follow up the biggest publishing phenomenon of the last 20 years? Well, if you're J.K. Rowling, you excise all talk of horcruxes and Hogwarts and supplant it with warring parish council members and the idyllic village of Pagford. That's the setting for The Casual Vacancy, Rowling's 2012 follow-up to the Harry Potter series. The book has been adapted by BBC and HBO into a three-part miniseries. With its small-town setting and 23(!) main characters, the series simultaneously feels quaint and sprawling. It also made me wish I was able to spend more than three hours with these people.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on August 2nd, 2015
Loosely based on Melissa de la Cruz’s book, Witches of East End was renewed for a second season in July 2014, opening with over 1 million viewers scrambling to the TV set to see what would happen now that the portal of Asgard was opened and Joanna was struggling to overcome Argentium poisoning. Featuring Julia Ormond as the matriarch Joanna Beauchamp, she is parked in the middle of lofty tales of the supernatural ,which are commonplace to this unusual family. If you’ve been following the trials and tribulations of the Beauchamp brood, you already know these aren’t the wart-nosed witches of your childhood storybooks.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on August 2nd, 2015
The DVD release of In The Dream Machine makes a number of promises. It promises to show rare footage of William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Leonardo DiCaprio. It does, but only in the broadest interpretation of that concept. It has a blurb from famed avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger which says, “More interesting than most documentaries in that it is presented in the way Burroughs writes”. I flat out disagree with that. It does show Burroughs extensively, but mostly in incoherent or unflattering segments. The film is incompetently edited and put together with a slapdash of offbeat and unintelligible segments.
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