Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 1st, 2014
In 1998 following the release of Roland Emmerich’s version of Godzilla, the story would continue following some of the characters that we met in the film as well as a host of other characters and monsters. With a 40-episode run coming out to about 14 hours of television, the DVD release of the series comes out at just the right time for those who need a temporary fix before seeing their favorite big green lizard splash across the big screen once again.
I love just about any story that involves giant robots or monsters fighting. Even the ‘98 film version of Godzilla had its moments of charm. What the series brings to viewers (though its target audience is younger than most of the adult fans) is the possibility of what Godzilla could be had the story simply continued on. The series picks up not long after the events in New York, when Nick Tatopoulos (voiced by Ian Ziering) discovers an adolescent Godzilla that forms an attachment to Nick. This attachment allows Nick control over the giant lizard and it also becomes Nick’s protector whenever he finds himself in trouble and in need of aid (which is at least forty times going by the episode count).
Posted in: Random Fun, Release Announcements by Gino Sassani on April 30th, 2014
Hill Street Blues is finally out on DVD, and we're celebrating all week long. Yesterday we shared the various awards that the show has earned in its seven years on television. We've also shared a couple of character profiles starting with the Captain and Detective Belker. This time out we're going to talk about two characters who were patrol officer partners for the entire run of the series. What makes them special is that they were killed off in the pilot. What the heck is that about? Read on, my friend.
When the pilot episode ended, Officers Andy Renko (Charles Haid) and Bobby Hill (Michael Warren) were gunned down in a tenement building and left for dead. In the original cut of the episode, dead is exactly what they were. However Charles Haid, who was expecting to have another pilot picked up, was suddenly without a job and came calling to Hill Street Blues asking to report for duty. The Hill character was never completely decided upon, and Michael Warren was up for a return. The pilot was swiftly rewritten with a few minutes of footage reshot, and the rest is history.
Posted in: News and Opinions, Release Announcements by Gino Sassani on April 29th, 2014
Today Shout Factory releases the entire 7-season run of Hill Street Blues. We will be celebrating all week with more character profiles and our full review on Friday.
Until that time, let's look at some of the awards the series won in its 7 years.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 29th, 2014
Martial arts films are just about as done to death as the slasher film. Just about every angle and direction that you can take with these films has been explored by now. When it comes to the martial arts genre, seeing a student or son avenge their father or master is just about the motivation in most of these films, but audiences accept this because what we are sitting down for is the action. Seriously, how many people remember the plots of the old Jackie Chan or Jet Li films? But go back even further to the core classics like The 36th Chamber of Shaolin or Five Deadly Venoms; these films are all rooted in the spirit of revenge.
As for where Warrior Assassin falls, well, it is far from a classic, though it tries so hard to follow in the footsteps of the great films of the past but instead simply comes off looking like someone doing a Shaw Brother cos-play with their VHS camera.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 29th, 2014
There have been complaints that there are not enough films that have decent lead roles for women. There are those that say that Hollywood does not make enough movies for women. Then when they do, critics tend to dismiss them as “Lifetime” movies (a term that is dismissive because of the cable channel that churns out generic movies for women). It seems far easier to accept excessive violence or male-oriented films with sexual content. If a movie tries to legitimately capture real situations from a woman's point of view, it can be patronizingly categorized as pap and schmaltz. 
I see an awful lot of movies, and what disappoints me most about many of them is the insincerity of the experience. We get to see a lot of violent movies and a lot of funny movies, and if they seem halfhearted, I shrug it off as the norm. If I see romantic comedies that seem like weak rip-offs of movies made years ago, I assume they just don't know how to make them anymore, but an even rarer commodity is a serious romantic movie that works. Today that usually means it has to be laced with cynicism and anger.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 28th, 2014
It’s movies like Big Bad Wolves that keep me excited about cinema. After all, who would guess that Israel would produce this savagely dark fairy tale revenge film that is also one of the darkest comedies I’ve seen in some time with a visual aesthetic you’d expect from a Coen brothers film, but the violence and humor you’d expect from a film by Tarantino. My first time viewing this film was via On Demand a few months ago; more and more I feel the cable companies are onto something by acquiring these little films and releasing them pay-per-view so that those not in New York and Los Angeles can experience these films before having to wait months longer for their DVD or Blu-ray release. Now I get the chance to revisit a film that upon my first viewing was a punch to the gut; does it hold its own on its second viewing? You bet it does.
The film starts up with a group of kids playing a game in the middle of the woods. While the kids search the property for one of their friends, all they discover is one lone shoe. Jumping ahead, we meet Micki (Lior Ashkenazi) with a group of fellow vigilantes dragging Dror (Rotem Keinan) into an abandoned building to beat a confession out of him. Little does anyone know, someone is in the building with them and is filming the brutal interrogation. Is Dror responsible for the missing girl? At this point who knows, and anyone could be a suspect. But when the video hits the internet, opinions are formed, and Dror becomes the focus of scrutiny by his students as well as their families. After all, this is the time of social media, and we all know it spreads faster than the time it takes for an investigation to be completed.
Posted in: The Reel World by Archive Authors on April 28th, 2014
They don't make good romantic comedies anymore. The Other Woman is not a romantic comedy. It is a comedy...about three women having a romance with the same man. But the three women find out about each other and bond together in a “Sismance”. That's not a word, and it doesn't sound as good as bromance, but there you have it. Part of the problem is they don't make enough movies just for women, and that's what this is. It's a charming trifle along the lines of The First Wife's Club. There is always a creepy guy at the center, so creepy guys beware. It's a revenge comedy part of the time.
Cameron Diaz (Carly Whitten) is a high-powered lawyer who thinks she's found good boyfriend material in Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Mark King). He's a rich business developer who blows off a date because he's juggling too many women. Diaz's father, played by Don Johnson, suggests she fix King's pipes herself in Connecticut (since that was the boyfriend's excuse). Diaz finds Leslie Mann (Kate King) as the unsuspecting wife. Diaz didn't know and isn't happy, but she's over it. Leslie is not over it. She freaks out when she finds out her husband is cheating on her. She is floundering and out of control. Leslie doesn't know what to do. Then Cameron and Leslie find out there is mistress number three, Kate Upton (Amber).
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on April 25th, 2014
Being the last film completed by Paul Walker before his passing, fans are getting the chance to see their star up on the big screen before he takes his final bow in Fast & Furious 7. The only Paul Walker film that managed to get me excited was Running Scared. It was dark and gritty, and I feel director Wayne Kramer pulled a great performance out of Walker. Looking to Brick Mansions, a remake of the parkour French hit District B-13, it seemed like Walker could possibly have another teeth-cutting performance. But that’s not the case.
The Brick Mansions is an area of Detroit that was given its name after a spike in crime. It was decided this rundown area of Detroit should be walled in, keeping its violent criminals and drug dealers in and its law-abiding citizens out. Even in the land of the lawless there has to be a leader, and within the Brick Mansions that leader is Tremaine (RZA). He's the perfect leader within these walls since he’s a drug dealer who has convinced himself he’s both a businessman and a leader.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 24th, 2014
“I used to be thin when I was 6.”
Jim Gaffigan has long been fixated on food. Need proof? The comedian’s 2013 memoir is called “Dad Is Fat”, and his most famous routine is about Hot Pockets. So it wasn’t exactly a shocker to find that Gaffigan spends most of Obsessed — his fourth Comedy Central stand-up special — talking about his dietary likes and dislikes. (Hint: kale is not on his list of favorites.) This is astoundingly straightforward and inoffensive material that nonetheless had me consistently laughing out loud.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 23rd, 2014
With all the zombie media out there have you ever thought what you would do if you found yourself in the middle of the zombie apocalypse? It’s fun to discuss your plans for survival and clever weapons you may devise to battle the hordes of the undead. But what would you do if a loved one was infected and became one of the undead? Would you be able to simply put them down so easily? Or would you tend to them with the hope that somehow they could return and not be the flesh-eating monstrosity they’ve come to be? About A Zombie takes a faux-documentary approach and captures a family that has been struck with the dilemma and has decided to take in and nurture their zombiefied kin despite all the dangers that come along with it.
An American documentary film crew gets word about a Dublin family whose son Billy is infected during a zombie outbreak taking place in Ireland. The film crew rushes over and begins filming as the situation seems only to escalate. The people of the town seem to all be in agreement, that Billy should be killed right along with all the other zombies.
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