Posted in: Random Fun, Release Announcements by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2014
"Would you like to sit down or would you prefer internal bleeding?"
Next on our list is Detective Mick Belker, played by Bruce Weitz. Weitz did such a phenomenal job in the role that he found himself typecast for years after Hill Street ended. On the pilot commentary Bochco tells us that when Weitz went in for auditions he was often asked to growl for them. In a way it's a shame, but can you blame them?
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2014
Star Vista and Time Life have put together another six-disc collection of hits from The Carol Burnett Show. It's called Carol's Crack-Ups, and it's another funny selection of episodes from the long-running variety show. While it seems a little like they're rationing these shows out in small sets, it's almost impossible to do it otherwise. After 11 seasons there are just hundreds of shows out there. With these sets, fans can look forward to seeing them again much like they did during the years the show ran.
It's hard to believe that CBS didn't want The Carol Burnett Show. Not only didn't they want it, but they fought hard to keep it from ever happening. It was the result of a five-year contract the actress had with the network. She had been a popular member of The Gary Moore Show, and they wanted to hold on to her services. So they made her an offer she just couldn't refuse. They gave her a not-so-standard five-year contract that gave her the right to activate a special clause at any time in the five years. The clause gave her the right to produce her own variety show, and the network would be obligated to air at least 31 episodes of the show. Carol activated the clause with just one week remaining to do so.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 16th, 2014
“You show up late reeking of booze, handcuffed to a stripper, and you expect me to trust your judgment?”
Even though we’re more than three years removed from his tiger blood heyday, it’s still impossible to separate Charlie Sheen’s bad off-screen behavior from the sitcom work he (somehow) cranks out every week. The latest example comes courtesy of Anger Management: Volume Three, which includes the departure of co-star Selma Blair after she reportedly complained that Sheen was a “menace” to work with. Not surprisingly, this batch of episodes also sees the “fictional” version of Charlie embrace his dark side.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 15th, 2014
The summer camp horror genre seems to have been on the back burner for a while in my opinion. Sleepaway Camp, Friday the 13th, and The Burning are some of the classics I used to watch over and over when I was younger. Camp Dread looks to revisit this old-school sub-genre and reboot it with a new twist; this time it’s using a backdrop of a reality show to get these unsuspecting campers together. It’s not the most original approach to the genre, but what is most surprising is that Camp Dread actually holds up with the previous films and franchises I mentioned and could easily be seen as an unofficial sequel to any of them.
Julian Barrett (Eric Roberts) is looking to make a comeback. It’s been years since he’s directed his hit summer camp horror trilogy, but now that the right investors have come along he plans to reboot the once successful franchise as well as his career, only this time he plans the film to work in a reality TV format. To factor in another twist in the film, instead of using actors or people just looking to be famous, he instead casts a group of young adults who believe they are on their way to a camp for rehab in order to avoid jail time or being locked away in mental facility. Is the plan exploitive? Of course, but Barrett promises that the cast member who plays by the rules and is the last survivor standing is the winner of a million dollars.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 15th, 2014
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. But television wasn't all that changed. The famous couple had a very public split, and Lucy continued to offer somewhat different versions of the wacky redhead she invented for I Love Lucy.
The first series was The Lucy Show. It was here that she would first team up with Gale Gordon in a series, and the two would share an almost instant chemistry. Lucy played a widowed mother who worked for Gordon's Mr. Mooney at the bank. After six years Desilu had been sold to Paramount, and Lucy found herself no longer owning the series she was in. The answer was simple. End The Lucy Show and slide directly into production on Here's Lucy.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on April 14th, 2014
When it comes to the very worst movies I’ve ever seen, I admit that I grade on a curve. Filmmakers working with extremely limited resources get more of a pass from me. This certainly appears to be the case with Sheriff of Contention, a low-budget Western/serial killer mystery. Unfortunately, there’s only so much amateurish acting and technical mishaps I can overlook. Everyone knows that if you can’t say something nice, you’re not supposed to say anything at all. In a related story, this might end up being one of my shorter reviews.
Tom Peavy (Angelo Ortega) is the sheriff of Contention City, a real-life historical mining town in Arizona. The only thing I liked about this movie was its cool title, but the filmmakers squandered the story’s potentially-interesting backdrop. Instead, Sheriff Peavy and the trigger-happy Deputy Conley (Miguel Corona) try to catch an unknown killer who is targeting the women of Contention City. That includes Melissa (Wendy Wiltsey), the local gal who is very obviously sweet on Sheriff Peavy. There’s also the matter of the city’s shifty mayor (Nick Bonacker) encouraging the more aggressive Deputy Conley to assume the role of sheriff, despite the fact that the position is currently occupied.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on April 12th, 2014
When I saw the trailer for this film a while back, I was intrigued by what I saw. Sure, we’ve seen the haunted mirror film before, but that doesn’t bother me; I actually enjoy the notion of haunted mirrors and the notion that what we see in the reflection may not necessarily be real. With Oculus they take the idea of altered perception and play with us the viewer, and I have to admit I liked everything that this film had to offer; unfortunately what the film actually delivers is something entirely different.
When we first meet Tim (Garrett Ryan) and Kaylie (Annalise Basso) they are simply little kids hiding and scared of something in their home. Peeking out through the safety of their room, they see a man walking around with a gun. These are only glimpses to the story that will later unfold for us. With a jump to present day we meet an older Tim (Brenton Thwaites) who is finally being released from a mental facility; after all these years of therapy, he’s come to terms with these terrible event from his past and simply needs to accept there are no monsters or ghosts. Unfortunately for Tim his sister (now played by Karen Gillan), who has led what appears to be a privileged life yet obsessed over the past, believes that a mirror that once hung in their home is evil, and it’s her mission to reveal the truth and kill it.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on April 12th, 2014
When I first experienced The Raid it was a film that simply put my jaw to the floor in awe of the action spectacle. The Raid was everything I could have wanted in an action film, fun gun play and intense bare-knuckle martial arts brutality just about from start to finish. This is the kind of film that after you see it you simply have to tell your friends about it and simply gush over simply how awesome and cool this movie is. So when I first heard about a sequel in the works, already I was excited. And when the first trailer dropped for the sequel, it teased us with visuals that promised not just an escalation of action but a film that was on a much larger scale. And just what has director delivered us? A film that not only exceeds in scope, but this time he brings us a story about family, honor, and revenge. It’s a tale so cleverly told and through the eyes of a director who seems to challenge himself from one film to the next, where if you were to compare Gareth Evens to Sergio Leone, The Raid would be his Fistful of Dollars and The Raid 2 could stand right up there with The Good The Bad and The Ugly.
The Raid 2 opens up just hours following the events that occurred in the first film. Rama (Iko Uwais) wants to take down his Captain but instead finds himself caught up in an undercover investigation that puts him in position to take down more dirty cops, only to get Rama where he needs to be he is given a new identity and is thrust into the prison world where he needs to forge a connection with Uco, the son of a crime boss. Making matters worse, Rama discovers his brother has been killed, but there is no time for revenge since the man responsible for killing his brother also happens to be connected to Uco. This thirst for revenge is what drives Rama. His time behind bars isn’t easy as we see him singlehandedly taken on a horde of prisoners kicking and pounding on his bathroom stall. But in these films I don’t really see him as a simple man; he’s a force of nature who takes on all comers and leaves them broken and bloody.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on April 11th, 2014
“There’s no such thing as a sure thing.”
That’s the mantra used by the people tasked with evaluating “can’t-miss” college prospects each year. But there’s no surer thing in sports right now than this: if the NFL puts something on TV, people are going to watch it. Regular season games on Thursday night? Sign us up! College prospects running and jumping? Tune in to the NFL Scouting Combine! Even the friggin’ Pro Bowl gets massive ratings, which proves the product doesn’t necessarily have to be worth watching to draw eyeballs. And that brings us to Draft Day.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on April 11th, 2014
“Who cares about a bunch of birds?”
Well, judging by the fact that the original Rio grossed $484 million worldwide, it seems more than a few people are invested. The avian adventure from Blue Sky Studios may not have soared as high as Disney/Pixar or DreamWorks Animation’s best efforts — or even Blue Sky’s own Ice Age juggernaut — but it proved to be a dazzling, lucrative diversion in the spring of 2011. This charming sequel, which arrives almost three years to the day later, retains the disposable, toe-tapping charm of its predecessor.
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