Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on July 2nd, 2015
“Anybody can jump a motorcycle. The trouble begins when you try to land it.”
There's a segment in I Am Evel Knievel that features some of Knievel's contemporaries — along with a few of the younger extreme sports athletes he inspired — breaking down just how difficult it is to jump a motorcycle across vast distances. (Especially when you're using relatively primitive equipment the way Knievel was.) Long story short, the crucial components are guts and a mental makeup that doesn't allow you to overthink or dwell on the insanity of what you're about to do. This entertaining documentary succeeds in illustrating how Knievel had both of those qualities in spades.
Posted in: The Reel World by Archive Authors on July 1st, 2015
Me, Earl and the Dying Girl is not the perfect movie by any means, but it is pretty darn good. Sometime it is too clever for its own good, and sometimes its cleverness is what makes it good. It is a movie about a precocious high school teenager much in the tradition of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It has an offbeat and anarchic take on the high school experience, because the titular Me is giving his point of view. As with many narrators in the tradition of literature, his opinions can be unreliable. Me shall be known from now on as Greg (played by Thomas Mann) (no relation to the famous German novelist) (which I mention because German film maker Werner Herzog is all over this film).
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 1st, 2015
What young 1970’s pup, learning to play a guitar for the first time, didn’t, at one time or another, attempt to imitate Pete Townsend’s windmill power chord strum? I count myself in that group. While I was not a very dedicated Who fan, I had an appreciation for the musicianship. There were still songs like Pinball Wizard and Behind Blue Eyes that I would embrace as if they were my own anthems in those days. It would be hard to deny that The Who is one of the most successful rock bands in history. Part of the original British Invasion of the 1960’s, there are few such acts that are even still around, let alone able to fill the huge stadiums and halls of Rock’s yesteryears.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on July 1st, 2015
Interpretation, that’s pretty much all a true crime story is. The thing about interpretation is it does not guarantee an accurate account of the facts, just one person’s perspective of transpired events, meaning what you see could either be true, partially true, or a complete fabrication. When it comes to We are Monsters, what you believe will be entirely up to you, because it definitely doesn’t pull any punches whatsoever. Told from the perspective of the killer, the story shows his decline into madness as well as a multitude of flashbacks that simply left me questioning how this guy wasn’t locked away sooner and why the key wasn’t encased in a concrete slab.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on July 1st, 2015
It is always a privilege to watch an Official Selection of the Sundance Film Festival. I have had the pleasure to screen a few films from Sundance 2013, and I have not been disappointed. Soldate Jeanette (‘Soldier Jane’ translated to English) is not the most captivating I have seen from Sundance, but with its digital camera aesthetics and visually striking images, it definitely carries a certain charm. Director Daniel Hoesl’s first feature-length film focuses on Fanni, an aging woman who is faced with eviction from her apartment. Fanni considers rent an unnecessary expense after twenty long years of living in her home, so she has refused to pay rent for the last three.
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on June 30th, 2015
Robert Davi has been around for a long time. He was a Bond villain against Timothy Dalton's Bond in License To Kill. He went toe to toe with Sly Stallone in The Expendables 3. He told off Bruce Willis in Die Hard. Most of you remember him as Agent Malone on The Profiler. So what does he do for an encore? He sings Sinatra songs, what else? I'll tell you what else. He stars in Awaken the new film out from Arc Entertainment. I had a great time talking to the man recently. We talked about Italy and music. Of course, we talked about Awaken. The man's a force to be reckoned with. Just ask Sly, Bond or Bruce. It was even his birthday. Bang it here to listen to my conversation with Robert Davi. You should also check out his music site Here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 29th, 2015
"There's always a consequence for breaking the rules."
Maybe that's why the crew from The Lazarus Effect decided to use all of the rules and conventions in the book without daring to really break any new ground of its own. By the time I was finished with the film, I felt like I had watched several horror movies at the same time. It's most intentionally Frankenstein meets Flatliners meets insert-your-favorite-ghost/possession-movie meets every-Stephen-King-film-ever-made. With all of that at its fingertips and a pretty bright cast, all The Lazarus Effect could do was raise itself to mediocrity.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 29th, 2015
It honestly took me a while to get over the opening shot of The Forger. The shot itself is rather unremarkable: it's a simple close-up of star John Travolta sitting in a small room by himself and staring straight ahead. But between his ridiculously obvious wig and the waxy texture of his face — the actor now looks like he's wearing a Michael Myers-style “John Travolta” mask — I knew it was going to be pretty difficult to take him seriously, no matter who or what was playing. It's a shame because there's actually a pretty decent family drama to be found within The Forger.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on June 27th, 2015
“Are you a believer in order?”
The natural order of things during the summer movie season is to be pummeled by one would-be blockbuster after another, each aiming to be louder and more extravagant than the last. So debuting A Little Chaos — a 2014 British period drama about a seemingly esoteric chapter of French faux-history — amidst all this noise is a curious decision. While the film certainly nails the “extravagant” part and largely adheres to costume drama conventions, there's just enough here to make it a thoroughly pleasing alternative to the typical multiplex fare.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on June 26th, 2015
The original Ted movie gave us the answer to what would happen if a beloved toy came to life. I know what you are thinking; Toy Story provided us with the same answer, except Ted went a step further and revealed what happens when the little boy and the beloved toy grow up. Ted was a hard-drinking and drug-taking movie that was beloved by many. When it came to that movie I was thoroughly satisfied, and I did not believe that it could be improved upon, so when I heard the announcement of the sequel, I had reservations. In my opinion, the sequel was clear money grab that was going to ruin all that the original accomplished. I told you that to tell you this: I stand corrected. As it turns out, there was more story to tell, and I am glad that I got to experience it.
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