Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2014
"It's called compartmentalization. No one spills the secrets because no one knows them all."
I was lucky enough to grow up during Marvel's wonderful rebirth of the 1960's and 1970's. Of all of the comics they produced during that time, I was always least impressed with Captain America. I don't think I ever read an issue of any of his mags with the notable exception of The Avengers. So how can it be possible that after dozens of Marvel films, and I'm including the Fox and other-studio-produced stuff, that Captain America: The Winter Soldier can end up being my favorite?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 9th, 2014
“Drag racing is for fast cars. Road racing...that's for fast drivers.”
I imagine that distinction — along with one character scolding another for pulling a “Vin Diesel stunt” — is meant to set this straight-to-DVD racing drama apart from the Fast & Furious franchise. That separation is an interesting choice for a couple of reasons. On one hand, I assume it's been easier to finance any car-centric flick ever since a certain high-octane film series proved there's an audience for the genre. Then again, the increasingly staggering success of the Fast movies seems to be directly proportional to how ludicrous they've become.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 9th, 2014
Love can have a strange effect on people and cause them to do things that range from the spectacular to the deranged. The loss of a loved one can not only break a person’s spirit but send them to the depths of depression and despair from which they will never be able to recover, though most people tend to avoid the melodrama and just wallow in their heartbreak with a couple of beers or a pint of their favorite ice cream. But what is one supposed to do when the one that they love and cherish is taken from them and they become the number one suspect in the murder of the one they love?
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2014
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.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on September 8th, 2014
Arc Entertainment is on a roll, and our followers are cashing in. The gifts just keep on coming, and it's not even Christmas yet. This time they've given us 3 copies of the DVD Louder Than Words. The X-Files' own Agent Mulder, David Duchovny stars in this inspiring drama. A couple deals with the death of their young daughter. Their tragic loss becomes hope for other children when they create a special hospital in their daughter's memory. The film also stars Timothy Hutton and Hope Davis. It' a heartwarming story based on real life.
To win just follow these instructions.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 8th, 2014
Shout Factory has yet another Transformers animated series to unleash upon the legions of fans who must not be able to get enough of their robots in disguise. Beast Machines takes place on Cybertron after the Beast Wars. Beast Wars is yet another series about the Transformers that somehow has gotten past me while reviewing the other series. The fact that Beast Wars precedes the events in Beast Machines caused a brief moment of confusion. Thankfully with the target audience being under the age of ten, catching up wasn’t all too difficult.
Posted in: Tribute by J C on September 5th, 2014
“I’ve gone up, I’ve gone down. I’ve been bankrupt, I’ve been broke. But you do it — and you do it because we love it more than anything else. You want a real job, honey? There are a million things you can do, but what we do is not a job. What we do is a calling; we make people happy.”
Joan Rivers never took herself very seriously, as evidenced by the fact that seemed to have a never-ending reservoir of jokes about her own advanced age and propensity for plastic surgery. But the trailblazing entertainer — who died Thursday after going into cardiac arrest during a throat procedure late last month — was always serious about her comedy. The above quote is from a 2011 episode of Louie, and it helps explain why the tireless comic never stopped working up until her death at age 81. For Rivers, comedy was never a job; it was simply what she was meant to do.
Rivers’ most recent high-profile gig was as the host/star of E’s Fashion Police, which debuted in 2010. (This is the part where I pretend I only watched the show because of my girlfriend, but it was actually an ideal vehicle for Rivers’ brand of humor.) Rather than starring alongside celebrities, Rivers was best known for standing on stage — or on a red carpet — and lobbing caustic barbs at them. That being said, Rivers made several memorable screen appearances — and an absorbing, revelatory documentary — during her monumental career. Click below for a quick survey of her work on the UpcomingDiscs archives.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 5th, 2014
What would you do if you had access to a computer that was capable of giving you information that could prevent a crime from happening? One step further, what if this machine could locate any person with only a few keystrokes? This “God” like machine is the basis for what Person of Interest revolves around. For two seasons we’ve watched as Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) and ex-CIA agent John Reese (Jim Caviezel) used the machine to protect those whom the machine feels are in danger.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on September 5th, 2014
There are movies that can be described as slow burns, and then there's Night Moves. Director Kelly Reichardt frames much of her 112-minute thriller in a way that invites you to pay an inordinate amount of attention to the lush greenery, winding trails, and tranquil water the film's three protagonists go to dangerous lengths to preserve. The extended, quiet sequences and exceedingly simple plot also encourage viewers to fill in spaces in the story that seem to have been intentionally left blank. This deliberate approach will undoubtedly infuriate and bore some people, but I personally found it absorbing enough to recommend as an unconventionally tense drama.
Posted in: The Reel World by Archive Authors on September 4th, 2014
Martin McDonagh is an extremely important and respected playwright. He is also a pretty good filmmaker. His films are In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths. His plays have won too many awards to mention, but some of the titles are The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Lonesome West, The Pillowman, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Skull of Connemara and others. His brother is John Michael McDonagh, the writer/director of The Guard and Calvary. All of these works are very good. Calvary might be my favorite.
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