Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on January 16th, 2014
Meeting your significant other’s family for the first time can be a terrifying experience. Then again, being introduced to your son/daughter/brother/sister’s new boyfriend or girlfriend can be equally dicey for the family, since we’re talking about a total stranger being thrown into the mix. The best thing about You’re Next is how it takes this sort of recognizable family drama and gleefully twists it into a brutally violent — and brutally funny — horror film.
The unfortunate family at the center of this genre mash-up is the Davisons, who have convened for the first time in a long time to celebrate Aubrey (Barbara Crampton) and Paul’s (Rob Moran) 35-year anniversary. Their four grown children — Crispian (AJ Bowen), Drake (Joe Swanberg), Aimee (Amy Seimetz) and Felix (Nicholas Tucci) — along with their respective significant others — Erin (Sharni Vinson), Kelly (Margaret Laney), Tariq (Ti West) and Zee (Wendy Glenn) — all gather at the family’s remote, picturesque home in the middle of the woods.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on January 16th, 2014
“This song of the Man and his Wife is of no place; you might hear it anywhere at any time.”
The aching simplicity of the story in Sunrise is the reason the silent film remains thoroughly watchable almost 90 years after its release. It’s also why the movie will remain thoroughly watchable another 90 years from now. Then again, the reason F.W. Murnau’s 1927 effort goes beyond simply remaining watchable — and enters masterpiece territory — has less to do with what the story is and much more to do with how it’s told.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on January 16th, 2014
I’m just going to start off by saying, growing up I was never a fan of the Power Rangers. It’s odd considering I love live action robots and I was a fan of TOHO films, but the TV series was never something that could hold my interest, though I did always crush on the Pink Ranger (Amy Jo Johnson). Since the series appeared in 1993 it has spawned many spinoffs in the process, which brings me to the new release of Power Rangers Mega Force: The Mysterious Robo Knight. The DVD release is comprised of four episodes of the series following the Mega Force team as they use their Power Ranger skills to protect Earth from numerous alien invaders. You also get a small action figure.
United We Stand is the first of the four episodes and focuses most of its time on the female Power Rangers Emma and Gia. The two are best friends, but all that is disrupted when an alien queen Beezara turns the two against each other while also placing the male rangers under her control as slaves. For those coming into the show without knowing a thing about it, everything is nicely set up where you don’t need massive amounts of back story, and you can still appreciate the intended drama, having the two girls pitted against one another. Does everything get resolved in a nice little package before the end credits? I’ll let you scratch your noggin and leave that up for you to discover. As the starter episode I wasn’t disappointed.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on January 16th, 2014
It’s been an immeasurable amount of time since I’ve come across a standup comedy routine that I have enjoyed wholeheartedly. I mean the type of comedy that makes you laugh so hard that the muscles of your stomach begin to ache due to the constant laughter. There are few comedians that have elicited that type of response from me, years since I’ve felt the sensation. Despite the lapse of time I remain optimistic, continuing to remain hopeful that the feeling will return with a new comedian. So it was with that attitude that I endured Kathleen Madigan: Again. Let’s just say that my wait for that sensation to return, continues.
Kathleen Madigan is by no means a new comedian; though before this disc crossed my desk I had never heard the name, I was aware of that fact from the very beginning. There was a set rhythm to her routine that can only come from experience. Despite her experience, her set still left me hungry. She clearly has perfected her craft, and the audience, which I suspect was filled with loyal fans of hers that have been watching her for years, appeared to enjoy her spiel; I was not among those who laughed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 15th, 2014
“It’s been a long time getting from there to here.”
Thirty-five years to be exact. Enterprise is the fourth spinoff from the original 1960’s hopeful series. The Earth is finally ready to send its first starship to explore the vast galaxy. This first starship Enterprise is smaller than the ships we’ve become used to. There are no shields or photon torpedoes. The transporter has only been cleared for inanimate objects. Not that this stands in the way of its occasional “emergency” use. The ship is very much like the cramped spaces of today's submarines. It adds an even greater sense of reality to the show. The crew is composed of Captain Jonathan Archer (Bakula), First Officer and Vulcan High Command liaison, T’Pol (Blalock), Chief Engineer Charles (Trip) Tucker (Trinneer), Tactical Officer Malcolm Reed (Keating), Denobulan Dr. Phlox (Billingsly), Pilot Travis Mayweather (Montgomery) and Linguist/Communications Officer Hoshi Sato (Park).
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on January 14th, 2014
Let’s face it, there are a lot of disaster films out there, and not very many of them are good. This is one of those Hollywood ideas I can’t quite understand why they continue to go to this well, because for those most part for it to be any good you need to throw a lot of money into the film and nearly 9 times out of 10 what results is a laughable mess. The 90’s were full of disaster films, whether they were natural disasters or disasters caused by aliens of another world. Independence Day, Twister, Volcano, Dante’s Peak, Armageddon, Deep Impact…these were the movies that were the tent pole fodder for maximum popcorn consumption, but none of these are films that you sit back and feel you saw something that held any substance. It’s a genre that has accepted its place as nothing more than a genre of guilty pleasure overindulgence, where convoluted plots and cardboard characters are to be accepted. Personally Hard Rain, the heist film set during a flood, is my favorite guilty pleasure disaster film.
But what happened to the disaster films with teeth, the films with intense action and drama filled with characters we all gave a damn about? The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, these were and still are the films that hold up, and they didn’t have the technology that we do now. What made these films great were the performances that were spread throughout. Now, instead of a film filled with intelligent, interesting characters thrust into situations where their lives are in peril, we get 12 Disasters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on January 13th, 2014
“Getting what you want comes with a price.”
Much has changed in the world of Being Human this season. However, let’s recap for a moment just to make sure everyone is on the same page. Sally (Meaghan Rath), after shredding her own spirit to get to limbo so she can rescue Scottie and Nick, has bitten off more than she can chew as she finds herself stranded in limbo with the very people she sent to limbo. Aidan (Sam Witwer), after losing his lover Suren and his failed attempt to assassinate her murderer, the vampire matriarch known as “Mother”, is buried alive for his transgression. As for Josh (Sam Huntington), after deciding to kill his maker Ray before the full moon in order to free him and Nora (Kristen Hager) from the curse inflicted on the both of them, finds himself in a standoff that includes Ray, Nora, and himself.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2014
"If you were a spider, where would you be?"
Unfortunately, I happen to know the answer to that question: here at my house. When director Mike Mendez was looking for locations to shoot his SyFy-styled Big Ass Spider! he could have looked no farther than the spider-friendly environs of Tampa, Florida. In fact, he could have set up his equipment in my living room and gotten himself a Big Ass Spider, to be sure. They're called huntsmen. I call them Rambo Spiders. In any case, or name, they grow big enough to move the furniture and cart off small children (up to about 16 years old). I could have given some spider-hunting lessons to star Greg Grunberg and company. And they could have had it for much less than they paid to create Big Ass Spider!.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on January 13th, 2014
Within the first few minutes of We Are What We Are, the Parker family suffers an immense loss. The death doesn't exactly come as a shock because the film opens with a series of arresting and foreboding images doused by a torrential rain that fails to wash away the family's worries (or incriminating evidence). This atmospheric, thoroughly creepy horror movie winds up going to a number of grisly places, but, in a lot of ways, it's really just the story of how the reclusive clan deals with that loss.
We Are What We Are is technically a remake of the 2010 Mexican film Somos Lo Que Hay. I say “technically” because the new film — directed stylishly and confidently by Jim Mickle (Stake Land) — is more of a companion piece to the original. The two films share a basic premise about families who experience a sudden death and struggle to carry on their gruesome traditions, but Mickle and writer/actor/frequent collaborator Nick Damici have transplanted the action from inner-city Mexico to upstate New York.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on January 10th, 2014
“There is a storm inside of us. I’ve heard many team guys speak of this. A burning. A river. A drive. An unrelenting desire to push yourself harder and further than anyone could think possible.”
To understand the significance of this movie, I feel that it is important to give a little background about the true events that this movie covers. Now there is no doubt in mind that every American has heard something or other about 19 brave souls lost and the one survivor. (Of course I am ashamed to admit that the first time I heard anything about this was with the announcement of Lt. Murphy being award the Medal of Honor, sometime after the event of things). During 2005, the United States Navy took part in covert mission codenamed Operation Red Wings. Red Wings was a mission to travel behind enemy lines into Kunar Province and eliminate a Taliban leader, Ahmad Shah. A four-man team was chosen to carry out this mission: Lt. Michael Murphy, SO2 Marcus Luttrell, SO2 Curtis Axelson, and SO2 Danny Dietz. Of the original four men sent to carry out this mission, Luttrell was the only one to return; this is the story of what happened.
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