Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on August 1st, 2013
“Treading through the dreadful darkness of the land, I dipped the pith of a rush into the tallow, and soon the rushlights guided me down the somberness, the gloomy flames unveiling this unfamiliar soil.”
B.J. Smith 1714-1775
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 1st, 2013
This is the third stab at making an animated series about these radical reptiles. This lone DVD acts as a sampler of seven episodes taken from the middle of its first season, instead of the complete season set. (A common move from Nickelodeon.) These episodes introduce the characters well enough that it will make you curious to see more of what this series has to offer.
This is the first series presented as a 3D computer animation. The graphics are nicely rendered, but are sometimes hard to see since the movements, especially during fight scenes, are incredibly frantic. I certainly hope the fact that I find the pacing too fast isn't a sign of old age arriving. The animators have clearly gone through a lot of trouble choreographing a fight that can sometimes have at least a couple dozen characters interacting (a very difficult thing to manage) and I'd appreciate it more if the speed didn't make me feel like I need to feed the DVD Ritalin.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on July 31st, 2013
For most modern moviegoers, Marilyn Monroe is probably more “famous for being famous” than she is for her cinematic body of work. (Of course, she’s also infinitely better known for an entirely different “body of work.”) That’s not totally fair because Monroe has at least one bona fide classic (Some Like It Hot) and a handful of indisputably indelible images among her movie credits. Those of you interested in exploring her filmography are in luck: Fox has just released two titles from her mid-1950s superstar peak on Blu-ray, including her turn as an ambitious showgirl in Bus Stop.
The film quickly introduces us to Beauregard “Bo” Decker (Don Murray), a naïve and socially tone deaf cowboy. For the first time in his life, Bo is venturing out of the Montana ranch where he was raised to compete in a rodeo in Phoenix. Bo’s friend and father figure Virgil (Arthur O’Connell) tries to encourage the 21-year-old man-child to find a nice girl to settle down with, but Bo is only interested in finding his one perfect “angel.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 31st, 2013
"Space... the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before."
The fourth Season of Star Trek: The Next Generation erased any doubts that the show could stand on its own. The series had developed its own characters and situations that allowed the show to somewhat separate itself from the confines of the original series. The Best Of Both Worlds cliffhanger and fourth season resolution would become one of the top-ranked episode of all of Star Trek, and with a shot across the bow from the Borg, Star Trek: The Next Generation had truly arrived.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 31st, 2013
In the 1950's and 1960's Hammer picked up where Universal had left off. They became the studio for the very best in horror films. With names like Lugosi, Karloff and Chaney finally reaching the end of their reign, Hammer offered up the likes of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. They resurrected all of the famous Universal monsters in their own image. Now we had a new cycle of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man and The Mummy. While the films were somewhat low-budget and released mostly through the drive-in circuit, these films made a bloody splash with horror fans all over the world. But by the time the 1970's had begun, the studio was falling behind in the horror genre. Anthony Hinds had left the studio, and with him went some of the passion for the horror films that made Hammer famous. The studio heads became more interested in other kinds of films, and the horror department languished for a time.
While the studio was still bringing back the monsters that had made it famous, there was a decided effort to return to their own roots with the psychological thriller, and one of the best turned out to be Hands Of The Ripper. Hammer was certainly in decline, but Hands Of The Ripper had the advantage of being shot at England's famous Pinewood Studios where other more illustrious films were also in production at the time. Sets were utilized from The Private Lives Of Sherlock Holmes and more notably James Bond. M's office would be completely recognizable here, complete with the padded door. These sets and production advantages allowed Hands Of The Ripper to go beyond the cost-cutting measures in place at Hammer during this time. It ends up being one of the studio's richest and most atmospheric films.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 31st, 2013
The Cinemax anthology series continues to be my guilty pleasure that when it’s over I simply want just a little bit more. The show takes sleaze and debauchery to a whole new level, and I mean that in the best way possible. At first glance and even if catching an episode out of context, for some the show may resemble some B-grade skin flick, but for those who sit back and give it a chance, you’ll discover it is so much more. But for those who may find beautiful women randomly discarding their clothes mixed with random acts of violence offensive, well, here is your chance to run away and never look back, because this show takes pleasure in pushing the limits of decency and good taste. And that is what makes it fun.
With season two we get 12 new tales about women and the trouble they manage to get themselves into. After watching the entire season the biggest issue that jumps out at me is the lack of diversity throughout the season. The first season managed to deliver a new flavor and style with every episode but kept the focus on the beautiful femme fatales throughout. This season they all seemed to fit into the same mold of modern noir pieces with the exception of Bad Science, Hell Hath No Furies, and Libra. It’s no big surprise that these turned out to be some of the more fun installments of the season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on July 30th, 2013
For most modern moviegoers, Marilyn Monroe is probably more “famous for being famous” than she is for her cinematic body of work. (Of course, she’s also infinitely better known for an entirely different “body of work.”) That’s not totally fair because Monroe has at least one bona fide classic (Some Like It Hot) and a handful of indisputably indelible images among her movie credits. Those of you interested in exploring her filmography are in luck: Fox has just released two titles from her mid-1950s superstar peak on Blu-ray, including her femme fatale turn in Niagara.
Monroe stars as Rose Loomis, who is visiting Niagara Falls with her older, jealous, volatile husband George (Joseph Cotten). When the film opens, Rose and George are staying in a cabin reserved by Polly and Ray Cutler (Jean Peters and Casey Adams), but the Cutlers agree to take another room and give the seemingly troubled couple some space. Turns out George has good reason to be jealous: during a tour of the Falls, Polly spots Rose making out with another man. Eventually, we learn Rose and her lover plan to kill George and run away together.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on July 30th, 2013
Has anyone ever wondered what The Breakfast Club would have been like if it had zombies? I know I haven’t. Well, despite no desire to see such a thing, Detention of the Dead is here to showcase just that. Take a cast full of the supporting cast members from popular television series and movies from the 2010 generation such as Glee, Twilight, and Greek, give them a script litter with made up words designed to be funny (and failing miserably in the attempt), and you have a project that makes you feel like you are trapped in detention.
So here’s how it plays out;, there’s no real buildup; somehow people start to become infected with some type of contagion that reduces them to mindless, flesh-eating zombies, and the audience has no clue how it happened or who is to blame. Somehow this infection finds its way to a local high school where detention is about to commence. The class consists of Eddie (Jacob Zachar, Greek), a nerdy first time offender who is desperately in love with another offender, a stuck up cheerleader Janet (Christa B. Allen, Revenge) who earned a sentence after being caught in the bathroom with her boyfriend Brad (Jayson Blair, The New Normal), the high school bully who makes Eddie’s life miserable.
Posted in: Super Round Up by Archive Authors on July 30th, 2013
Summer blockbusters of bloat and bombast always rule because their budgets blast anything and everything out of their way. This summer was very messy and bloody as many big films limped, staggered and crashed. White House Down, The Lone Ranger, Pacific Rim, The Hangover 3, R.I.P.D., and Turbo are just some of the expensive films that flopped. You can debate the quality of these films, but one element that was most obvious was the lack of believable characters. Just like bad CGI can irk the subconscious, bad writing and silly acting gets tiresome as well.
The genre that has come to the rescue this year is the coming of age film. The problem is coming of age films have been unbearable garbage, in general, for quite a while. Two films being released at this late date are The Spectacular Now and The To Do List, but they remind me of three other great movies that came out in the last few months; Mud, The Way, Way Back and The Kings of Summer. All of these films are among the best of the year.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on July 29th, 2013
Hey Guys, Another month of contests has passed. Thank you to everyone who entered. You can find the winners at each contest. But, here's the complete list of July winners:
Saving Lincoln - Sheree
On The Web
Sponsors
