"He's dangerous, amoral, he pathologically flaunts authority. He's reckless to the point of suicidal. But all of this... everything we've done. None of it would have been possible if it weren't for him."

Him, of course is James Spader as the enigmatic Raymond "Red" Reddington. The show is NBC's break-out hit The Blacklist created by first-time show-runner Jon Bokenkamp. Bokenkamp is truly a newcomer to the business. He has literally only a couple of very minor writing credits to his name. Perhaps that's why The Blacklist is able to contain quite a few of the cliché elements running through television today and still feel like one of the freshest shows in a long while. Or maybe it's really Spader.

Vampires have been popular since Bram Stoker and Sheridan Le Fanu started writing about them nearly 200 years ago, but vampires have been around much longer than that. That seems to be how the story goes. That's part of the problem. In Only Lovers Left Alive, it's difficult for a vampire to overcome his boredom and disappointment with “zombies”, as he calls the human mortals. These vampires try to subsist on blood banks. Not only is it more humane, but that way they know the blood is tested. They don't like blood-borne pathogens. Jim Jarmusch makes his own kind of movies that no one else makes. He is one of the last directors working in Hollywood who hasn't sold out, partly because he never has worked in Hollywood. He's too cool to sell out. That's why he's made a vampire movie no one else could have made. It has a great cast, because all the cool actors would love to be in a Jim Jarmusch film. Tilda Swinton played the angel Gabriel in Constantine. Tom Hiddleston is Loki in the Marvel universe in movies like Thor I, Thor II and The Avengers. Anton Yelchin is Chekov in Star Trek and was fighting vampires recently in Fright Night. Mia Wasikowska was Alice in Wonderland, and that movie literally and truthfully made over a billion dollars. Jeffery Wright and John Hurt are two of best actors alive, so look that up. Bill Murray and Johnny Depp have starred in Jim Jarmusch movies for no other reason than that he asked them. If you haven't seen a Jim Jarmusch film by now, you're probably not ready to see one. Go spend a few years in the East Village to prepare yourself.

All that said, Only Lovers Left Alive is a luxurious and enjoyable experience. Our main vampire, Adam (Hiddleston) is a reclusive rock star who lives in a ramshackle mansion in a deserted Detroit neighborhood. He rarely leaves the house, and his needs are mostly tended to by a spacy groupie, Ian (Yelchin). He labors over music with equipment he has cobbled together over the years. His electricity is furnished by generators based on the principles of Nikola Tesla. He gave away some music to Hayden many, many, many years ago. He shows up at a hospital blood bank unannounced to buy from Dr. Watson (Wright). That is basically his life. He recently got Ian to procure a bullet made out of one of the densest woods imaginable. Just one bullet.

One look at the DVD cover art for this film and I somewhat had an idea of what to expect.  A science fiction B movie that would have made Roger Corman smile with delight, and surprise surprise, that is exactly what we get with Agency of Vengeance: Dark Rising.  This is actually the sequel to an earlier film Dark Rising: Bring Your Battle Axe. It isn’t necessary to watch the previous film to enjoy Agency of Vengeance. The film jumps into the action as we see a group of Rising Dark agents pursuing a large sandworm that is tearing up the streets of a suburban neighborhood.  Leading the group is Jason (Landy Cannon), who never seems to stop with the wisecracks from the moment he first opens his mouth to the final credits of the film.  The pursuit of the sandworm takes them straight to a park where it just so happens Jason’s ex-girlfriend is getting married.  As for Jason’s ex, well, she’s far from the damsel in distress; in fact Summer (Brigitte Kingsley) is also an agent with the Rising Dark agency.

When we get a reveal of the giant sandworm that interrupts the wedding, we get the reveal of the CGI monster that unfortunately looks too cartoonish to ever appear threatening.

by Normandy D. Piccolo

When I first saw the title, Ja’mie: Private School Girl, I thought, “Cue the bow chicka wow wow music.” Did I have it wrong. What came to mind after looking at the DVD cover instead was more, “Dude Looks Like A Lady.”  To some Ja’mie may be the hottest, funniest chick to prance across the screen since Divine or Candy Darling. To others, she may be an unbearable, annoying train wreck to watch.  Ja’mie: Private School Girl is a spinoff show based on a character created by popular Australian comedian, Chris Lilley. Ja’mie was featured in Mr. Lilley’s other two shows, We Can Be Heroes and Summer Heights High. Not only does Chris Lilley play the lead role, Ja’mie, but he also wrote this documentary spoof. Seems any time someone writes and stars in a production, it’s nothing short of a narcissistic disaster. Ja’mie: Private School Girl, in my opinion, is no exception.

"I wonder if you could spare me a little of your time?"

Erle Stanley Gardner wrote crime fiction, and while many of his 100 or so works are unknown to most of us, he created a character who has become as identified with criminal lawyers as any other in fiction. It was in these crime novels that Perry Mason first faced a courtroom. He developed a style where he would investigate these terrible crimes his clients were on trial for. He would find the real killer, and in what has become a Hollywood cliché, reveal his findings in a crucial moment during the trial While we may not remember the novels, we all remember the man in the persona of Raymond Burr.  Burr had a commanding presence on our screens and enjoyed a well-deserved 11-year run as the clever lawyer. What makes this run so amazing is that the show followed pretty much the same pattern the entire time. We always know what’s going to happen, but we wait eagerly for that gotcha moment when Perry faces the witness on the stand. We know when he’s got the guy squarely in his sights, and we can’t sit still waiting for him to pull the trigger. OK, so maybe that’s a little over the top, but so was Perry Mason. From the moment you heard that distinctive theme, the stage was set. To say that Perry Mason defined the lawyer show for decades would be an understatement. Folks like Matlock and shows like The Practice are strikingly similar to Perry Mason.

I’m a sucker for a good urban legend.  Growing up, friends and I would dare one another to lock ourselves in the bathroom with candles and perform the “Bloody Mary” chant, and other times we’d pull out the Ouija board and attempt to communicate with the otherworldly spirits that seem to only want to talk during the midnight hour.  Well, now there is a new game that you and your friends can get together and play into the late night hours, that is if you’re willing to risk losing your life in the process. The Midnight Game has managed to go viral with numerous posts online as well as videos of those willing to play the game and risk a confrontation with the Midnight Man.

When Kaitlan’s (Renee Olstead) family leaves her alone for the weekend, she seizes the moment to have her best girlfriends; Rose (Shelby Young) and Jenna (Valentina de Angelis) come over to keep her company.  Even though her mom insists on no boys coming over, everyone knows that this is a rule that inevitably will be broken.  It doesn’t take long for the boys to arrive; they turn out to be your generic jocks Shane (Guy Wilson) and Jeff (Spencer Daniels).  Thankfully, not a lot of time is wasted setting up these characters, and the filmmakers were smart to simply allow the characters develop over the course of the film, but the absolute best decision was to have the characters simply discuss their fears with one another.  So much is expressed about these characters in this reveal; even the things not said by the characters say enough to get us to understand them.