Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 1st, 2012
Say goodbye to the Darling family. While the name might imply an endearing group of wonderful folks, nothing could be further from the truth. They are a wealthy and powerful family. The patriarch Tripp (Sutherland) is a ruthless and conniving man very used to getting his way. His wife Letitia (Clayburgh) appears to want to be a nicer person but gets drawn into the incredible scandal and corruption of her family, while Tripp tries to shelter her from it. They have 5 kids. Brian (Fitzgerald) is a priest, but his actions are anything but priestly .He’s even hiding an illegitimate child. Patrick (Baldwin) is a politician who is running for Governor. He’s married to Ellen (Young) but also has a mistress, Carmelita (Cayne) who is a transsexual, played by an actress who is also transsexual. One of the more humorous scenes was one in which Ellen and Carmelita negotiate what days/times she can see Patrick. Karen (Zea) is the big sister who is getting married; that makes husband number 4. Juliet (Armstrong) and Jeremy (Gabel) are twins. Juliet thinks she has some supernatural “twin connection”. Jeremy is a lazy kid who is trying to break out of his non-ambitious life and find out who he is, even if it means giving up the wealth of the Darling lifestyle. Enter Nick (Krause) into the Darling life. Nick’s father was the family lawyer and catered to the family’s every whim, ignoring his own family most of the time. Now he’s dead, and Tripp wants Nick to step into his father’s place. Nick hates everything the Darlings represent. He’s a lawyer who actually wants to help people. Still, the Darlings are used to getting what they want, so Tripp offers him an extra $5 million a year to do charity work with over and above a generous salary to work for the family. It’s an offer Nick can’t refuse, and against his better judgment, he accepts. It’s a deal with the devil, and it is here that the show’s conflict and strength derive from.
The cast and characters of the show are a mixed blessing. Sutherland and Krause are great and quickly develop a strong dynamic. The problem is that the show very soon turns into a who is sleeping with who drama, and therein lies its weakness. When the show concentrates on Nick and the family scandals and dealings, it is one of the most powerful dramas on television. It’s often cleverly written and always well acted. But the writers continually bow to the pressure of the lowest common denominator and spend entirely too much time in bed. I will admit to being amused by the Patrick affair just because of the novelty of the whole thing. Ellen ends up shooting him at one point. There is also an uneven underline plot that just doesn’t work for some reason. Nick suspects that his father’s death wasn’t an accident and that one of the Darlings may have killed him because he “knew too much”. It’s a clever idea and certainly gives Nick more motivation for working for the Darlings, but they can’t seem to decide the truth as writers, so it’s a very awkward thread.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by M. W. Phillips on April 30th, 2012
“What does it say about me that I find it much easier to believe in the Devil than I do in God?”
Coming off the Saw franchise, Director Darren Lynn Bousman brings us 11-11-11, a lame attempt at an atmospheric thriller in the vein of The Omen, Rosemary’s Baby and The Devil’s Rain. I can only think the film was rushed into production to cash in on a once-in-a-lifetime date phenomenon. It certainly shows in the stiff acting and lo-fi production values.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 29th, 2012
In my comic travels, I usually do not read the really popular heroes. Sure I have read Spider-Man, SuperMan or Batman but if you had to ask me my favorites, it would not be among these three. My favorites include the likes of Daredevil, Robin (any of them pretty much) along with Conan and others. It just so happens that this three pack before me today includes another couple of favorites of mine. The Incredible Hulk and Dr. Strange. That and it also includes yet another origin story on Iron Man. Let us see how it looks.
(*Note: some of this material is re-used from not only my Planet Hulk on Blu-Ray review but also the Avengers 3-pack I reviewed earlier this week. These are the same discs previously provided by Lionsgate just in an amazing value 3-disc package. Yes, Planet Hulk did lose its digital copy, you will live*)
Posted in: The Reel World by M. W. Phillips on April 27th, 2012
“What cannot be disputed is your imagination is the inspiration of a horrendous crime.”
The Raven may not be a turkey, but it doesn’t really soar either. Director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) attempts to fashion a historical fiction around the mysterious final five days of Edgar Allen Poe’s life. A notorious drunk and opium addict, Poe (John Cusack) careens through 19th century Baltimore dead broke, bitter from years of writers block, and harassed by the locals for being a blustering has-been. Due to a distinct lack of social sympathy, he can’t even borrow money for a single drink, which forces him into an involuntary sobriety. At the same time, a rash of murders inspired from the pages of his darkest fiction terrorize the city, and he is called in by Detective Fields (Luke Evans) to assist in the investigation.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 27th, 2012
Can someone please explain to me what happened to Val Kilmer? I can remember the days when he was an A-list celebrity and in some of the highest grossing films of the 90s. He was the Iceman in Top Gun, Doc Holiday in Tombstone, and he even put on the cape and cowl for Batman Forever. My point is that at one time the name Val Kilmer actually meant something to a film, but any more it seems he has disappeared into obscurity, and that bothers me. Sure, the famous can’t rule the top forever, but Kilmer still has the acting chops and deserves a career revival; his part in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang goes down as one of my favorite P.I. roles on the big screen. Sure people have every right to disagree with me, but I’m certain that everyone can agree he deserves better than being in 7 Below.
The film kicks off in a home in the middle of nowhere. A mother is trying to get her children settled for bed when her foster child ends up slaughtering her and the rest of the family. It’s not a bad start, but this is nothing the average horror fan hasn’t seen before. The film jumps ahead a hundred years to present day where five strangers are stuffed in a shuttle bus on vacation. Following a stop at the gas station the shuttle bus is back on the road where everything is fine till a lady in a white dress appears in the middle of the road causing the bus to swerve off the road and into a tree. With one dead driver and a nasty storm on the way our strangers are rescued by Jack (Ving Rhames) who kindly offers to bring them home so they can use his phone and get out of the storm. But we know something just isn’t right about Jack or the ominous storm lurking in the distance.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 26th, 2012
"Contestants are experienced marksmen operating on a closed course. Do not attempt this at home."
So just in case you have access to all kinds of firearms and a few spare acres to set up a range, you might want to think twice before trying to reproduce the challenges you'll find in History's latest reality show Top Shot. It's part Survivor and part Big Brother with the added dimension of marksmanship. And, honestly, it's quite a bit more compelling than either of those shows.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 25th, 2012
For over twenty years Patton Oswalt has been working the comedy stand-up circuit, and with his fourth full length album being released on DVD he shows no signs of stopping. Over the years I’ve found myself becoming a fan of Oswalt’s work. Most fans may know him from King of Queens and as the voice of Remy in the Pixar film Ratatouille.
Though his tour was under the title Finest Hour, I don’t believe this to be his best act, but it is still filled with its fair share of laughs. With bits covering the super powers Jesus has, gay stereotypes in romantic comedies, and man’s greatest creation being sweat pants, the hour long special covers a lot of territory with not too many low points. For me this act, though amusing, just didn’t have the belly laughs I expected considering after all I have watched and rewatched his acts before and knew what to expect.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 25th, 2012
"One must never let the public behind the scenes for they are easily disillusioned, and then they're angry with you for it is the illusion they love."
Sure, this quote is spoken by a very minor character and awkwardly shoehorned into the story, but it still makes its point. I realize it's almost impossible to imagine now, but there was a time we didn't have to capitalize the words "Real Housewives" and people were actually ashamed if they came off badly in front of a camera. HBO's Cinema Verite tells the behind-the-scenes story of the creation of An American Family, the PBS documentary widely considered to be the first reality television show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 24th, 2012
Most of us are aware (well movie and comic book fans anyway) that on May 4th, the Avengers movie will be released to the public. For years now we have watched the Iron Mans, Thor, Captain America and even a Hulk movie or two in anticipation of something greater. With that day coming closer all the time, I received a very nice 3 movie set of Avengers, animated style. Avengers might be the best movie of the summer (sorry Dark Knight), but this might be the best animated blu-ray value of the spring.
Ultimate Avengers
World War II among many other things brought us a great hero, Captain America. Steve Rogers with the help of a Super Solider serum became the mighty hero and was very successful in fighting the Nazis. However, after a missile explosion, Rogers crashes into the North Atlantic and is frozen for decades. Years later, Nick Fury and a SHIELD team would find his frozen form and revive him back to full health.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 24th, 2012
At the very least, London River deserves credit for exposing audiences to a different side of English life beyond "upstairs, downstairs" period drama (Gosford Park, Downton Abbey), twee stories in a small-town setting (Waking Ned Devine, Calendar Girls) or the rich white people problems of Woody Allen's contemporary London (Match Point, Scoop).
Set against the backdrop of the 7/7 terrorist bombings that rocked London in 2005, London River follows the parallel stories of Elisabeth (Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn) and Ousmane (the late Sotigui Kouyate) as they travel to the English capital and search for their respective children in the wake of the attacks. The two parents eventually meet and try to put aside their cultural differences and prejudices — though one of them clearly had more prejudices to put aside — so they can support each other in their journey.
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