Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 13th, 2022
Into the Deep is one of those films that offers so much promise with its setup that it is a bit frustrating when you watch the final product and it has managed to fall short in every way imaginable. When I first read the synopsis, I couldn’t help but think about the 1989 film Dead Calm. It’s one of those underrated psychological thrillers that I always felt was fun. While Into the Deep does share some parallels, unfortunately this film just goes off the rails because of its absurd plot twists and, well, let’s face it; no one in this cast is on par with Sam Neill, Billy Zane, or Nicole Kidman. Into the Deep is a film that pretty much hopes that its audience isn’t thinking about logic, because the moment you apply any sort of critical thinking, this film just falls apart. Jess (Ella-Rae Smith) is still struggling with the loss of her mother as the anniversary of her death is approaching. As a distraction she allows herself to get swept off her feet in a romance with Ben (Matthew Daddario), who whisks her away on a romantic evening on his boat. Everything seems great until she wakes up the next morning and they are in the middle of the ocean. Honestly, this is the first of many red flags that come up with this charming suitor that Jess seems to happily ignore. This should have been played up more to give this film a tone of dread, but it seems the filmmakers were dead set on just making Ben seems like a quirky romantic, when the audience just isn’t going to fall for it. This is one of my biggest criticisms of the film: that it doesn’t trust the audience has seen through Ben’s motives. Seriousl,y when the film finally decides to let Ben be the bad guy, so much time has passed that every opportunity the film could have had to have fun with this dynamic is ruined.
A twist is introduced with Jess and Ben finding a lone jet skier passed out in the middle of nowhere. Lexie (Jessica Alexander) as it turns out isn’t what she seems and has pulled off her ruse to confront Ben and get him to reveal what he did to her, though she herself doesn’t remember what he did to her. This gets so absurd. I mean, how did she even know how to find him in the middle of nowhere if she barely remembers what may or may not of happened when she was on his boat. Seriously, this movie creates so many plot holes it is treading water for its last half and just continues to make it difficult to care, much less continue watching.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Michael Durr on November 10th, 2022
I certainly do not want to get political here, but cops as a rule have a certain extent of power that we as common folk typically do not enjoy. It is often a plot point in many thriller movies that we sit and watch the officer harasses suspects or perhaps uses some shady tactics in order to get their man (or woman). It's common, heck it's probably in film school 101 and some might even see it as a bit cliché. Today's film is Unidentified, a Romanian film where a detective enters a very grey area in order to catch the perpetrator. It's also the first film in a trilogy. Yes, you read that right but more on that later. Let's take a look.
We see the sprawling countryside of Romania. It shifts to trees and then to lots of houses and businesses. We arrive at the city, time is 2:45 PM and Florin Iespas (played by Bogdan Farcas) is looking at some grisly photographs of burn victims along with a picture of a suspect. At the bosses office, he talks to Comisar Sef (played by Vasile Muraru) about the case which actually doesn't belong to him. The case belongs to another cop named Radu who happens to be away on a vacation.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 5th, 2022
Many people will agree to disagree on the existence of ghosts. It is probably easier to agree on the point that if those ghosts do exist, they were wronged in some fashion, or there is something left to their story that is unsolved. That mystery is what makes the concept of ghosts so fascinating. Today, we have another GKids anime production, this time by the genius loundraw. It's called Summer Ghost. Let's take a trip into the paranormal.
A light burns. Three friends who haven't seen each other have gathered in this special place. Summer is here again.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 4th, 2022
It has been about 36 years since the release of the first Top Gun. This is one of my earliest memories as a kid, seeing the movie on the big screen with my parents at the old Main Street 6 Cinemas. I was a bit obsessed with this movie growing up. I had a copy of the film that I had recorded off of Showtime, and over the years I’d imagine I’ve seen Top Gun at least 100 times. I was obsessed with the movie and its soundtrack. Kenny Loggins and “Danger Zone” lived rent free in my head throughout my childhood. I know I’m not alone on this when saying just how much Top Gun is a movie I just love. It’s not perfect, but I just can’t find anything I dislike about it. Even in my forties, I look at this film as comfort food. It doesn’t matter the time of day; if it’s on, I can’t help but sit down and watch it. I’m putting this out there because yeah, when I heard about the talks of them first doing a sequel I was excited, but I wasn’t too optimistic. Then when Tony Scott died in 2012, I thought for sure that was the nail in the coffin for any potential new Top Gun film. Ten years later, after over two years of delays, Top Gun: Maverick is finally hitting the big screen. After all these years and all the hype, is it worth the wait?
In case you haven’t realized it, Hollywood has been riding the wave of nostalgia for a while now. Just this week alone, Disney Plus is debuting the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, Netflix is releasing the new season of Stranger Things (that alone is borderline 80s nostalgia porn at its best), and then we have Top Gun: Maverick. This week is simply old school pop-culture on steroids week and a reminder why it’s a good time to be alive as a cinephile. It’s important to keep all this in mind, because when you go in to the theaters to see Top Gun: Maverick, you are not just simply getting to see a new movie, but it’s also a nostalgic trip back to the first film that will leave you excited and at times maybe a little misty-eyed reuniting with these characters we first met so many years ago.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 1st, 2022
"It's a different world out there."
Ray Donovan: The Complete Series is out from CBS Home Entertainment, and it includes all 82 episodes and the television movie that was released to make up for the sudden cancelation without a proper sendoff for the Donovan clan. You get 29 DVD's, and the set includes all of the extras from the individual season releases. You do have to deal with those large overlapped spindles, so I suggest you create another environment to store them.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 1st, 2022
Next year we hope to return to our usual 31 Nights Of Terror. This year we are going to offer you some Halloween Spotlight titles that would be a great idea to pick up for the scary season. So... we're still your October Night Mayor and here's a great idea for Halloween from our friends at Film Detective.
"That's just the wind banging the door, pay no attention to it. Listen to this."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 1st, 2022
This film gives you two separate options for your viewing pleasure. Firstly, you can view the watch the 98-minute international cut (originally known as (Maciste alla corte del Gran Khan) or the -minute U.S. cut, which is more formally known as Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World. It’s nice to have options. If I were you, I’d opt for the shorter version, because if I’m being honest, even with a shorter run time, the film seemed to drag on. On the other hand, with an additional 22 minutes to play, it is difficult to imagine that greater context was not provided. I will say the international cut has the original score, for which a significant portion was retained for the U.S. version. I think fans of the original film will be better with how the film was originally intended.
I went into the film expecting it to be an adventure with the titular character either witnessing 7 miracles or achieving 7 miracles; something like a Hercules and his 12 labors, or maybe like Val Kilmer with the three miracles he had to achieve in The Saint. Instead, I got a story about a strong man who finds himself embroiled in a war between a horde of sadistic Mongol invaders and Chinese natives that the Mongols are attempting to enslave. Samson is an outsider who intervenes to help protect the indigenous population from the invaders, turning the tide in the conflict with his tremendous strength. It is not a bad premise, and at moments, usually when he displaying his strength, I am even intrigued. However, the story felt too long and too slow paced to hold my attention beyond those moments of adventure.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 28th, 2022
So whenever I am reviewing a movie, I try to identify positive things about the film. Even if I end up not liking the movie overall, I at least try to make sure to point out aspects that I think the film did well, a performance that was particularly strong, or a piece of dialog that resonated with me. It’s part of my process to ensure that I am delivering a balanced review. Even if the film isn’t my favorite, it still has the potential to provide some positive ray of light into my experience. However, I’m not so sure that I will be able to do that this time around, as Guardians of Time was a film that I just couldn’t wait for it to be over. Now in the interest of fairness, it is abundantly clear that I am not the target audience for this film; that demographic appears to be steered towards the early elementary school crowd. I’d say no higher than second or third grade. Any higher and the production quality is not likely to hold up with them. Then again with this generation, given the technology that they have at their fingertips, it may not hold up with them now.
From the cover art, I’d initially hoped for a high fantasy film that I could share with my family on our next family night. Unfortunately, my daughter, who is the closest in age to the intended audience, barely made it thirty minutes in before she asked to be excused. Now this kind of request is not without precedent, as my daughter claims to have a very high standard in the things that she watches. However, any time I observe her viewing pleasures, they normally consist of her YouTube videos of other people eating. Back on point, normally when my daughter makes this request, I tell her to give the film a little more time and see if she starts to like it. This time around, I couldn’t bring myself to compel her to keep watching. Needless to say, the film clearly did not get the Nalyce stamp of approval.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2022
Next year we hope to return to our usual 31 Nights Of Terror. This year we are going to offer you some Halloween Spotlight titles that would be a great idea to pick up for the scary season. So... we're still your October Night Mayor and here's a great idea for Halloween from our friends at Paramount/CBS/Showtime.
“Tonight’s the night, and it’s going to happen again and again. It has to happen …”
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2022
Next year we hope to return to our usual 31 Nights Of Terror. This year we are going to offer you some Halloween Spotlight titles that would be a great idea to pick up for the scary season. So... we're still your October Night Mayor and here's a great idea for Halloween from our friends at Paramount/CBS/Showtime.
"You're traveling through another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of the mind. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition. And it lies between the pit of one's fears and the summit of one's knowledge. You are now traveling through a dimension of imagination. You've just crossed over into The Twilight Zone."
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