Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 20th, 2008
To me, the Power Rangers phenomenon was always a hard one to figure. Here we have a kids’ show featuring heroes and villains that look like they’ve escaped from a Ninja S&M Bar. Much like Ninja movies I have reviewed in the past – see my review for Ninja Collection Volume One: 10 Feature Film Set – these six episodes of Power Rangers Jungle Fury: Way of the Master share identical plotlines with subtle variations thrown in here and there for good measure. Looking back, I can’t really register this as a complaint, taking in to consideration the audience it’s in mind for, and the fact that He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was my favorite show as a kid. And honestly, how many of those plots were any different from one another? One dominating villain up to all kinds of vicious G-Rated evil – whatever that involves.
Instead of Skeletor, however, we have the Dai Shi forces and the Five Fingers of Poison. Caught in the midst of it all are the three main Power Rangers – we’ll call them Red, Yellow, and Blue – who answer to some creepy older animal-rights dude. There is also a clumsy friend, who helps out around the Jungle Karma Pizza restaurant, where the all-powerful Rangers work to make ends meet.
Posted in: Brain Blasters by David Annandale on December 19th, 2008
It hardly needs to be pointed out that the DVD revolution has been a boon for fans of European horror. Where once we had to make do with grainy bootleg VHS copies of the works of Argento, Fulci and Bava, now we can pick up beautifully transferred copies of pristine prints of uncut versions. Life is good. What has also followed is a massive increase in the availability of films by the less commercially successful, more niche-oriented directors – I’m thinking particularly of Jess Franco here. Franco, through sheer volume of work alone, retains the crown of king of erotic horror. But he does have a serious competitor, whose films are finally becoming easily available on disc. I refer here to Jean Rollin.
Like Franco, Rollin operates on a shoestring budget, and has moved back and forth between relatively mainstream exploitation (to coin an oxymoron) and outright porn. There are even instances where who directed what film can be confusing (as in Virgin Among the Living Dead, where Franco’s original film was reworked later with zombie footage shot by Rollin). The peak of Rollin’s creativity was the 1970s, which saw the release of his erotic vampire films (Lèvres de sang, La vampire nue, Requiem pour un vampire and so on). His films are characterized by striking pictorial beauty, economical but nonetheless effective surrealism, and rather perfunctory (at times, it would seem, improvised) plots and dialogue. One of his best, 1979's Fascination, was released by Redemption at the end of October.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 18th, 2008
What ever happened to Shawn Mullins?
I often mull over this question whenever I hear him sing, “Ev-e-ry thing’s gonna be all right… Rockabye! Rockabye!” on the radio. The dude lands in the late nineties with this song that has maybe the most unimaginative chorus in the history of pop music, and then he bolts on us, leaving that small remnant to get stuck in our collective heads for the rest of our humdrum lives.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 18th, 2008
The Longshots is one of those sports films that in many ways you see coming from miles away. It certainly feeds upon that against all odds sports cliché that you’ve likely seen a hundred times if you’ve seen it once. But in so many other ways, this is a story with more than a champion’s heart and courage. In many ways it’s about family and redemption. While the film is based loosely on the story of Jasmine Plummer, it is just as much the story of her uncle Curtis, who was saving himself as he was trying to help his niece. I’m not a huge Ice Cube fan. Honestly, I find most of his characters to be an extension of the punk attitude he garnered as a rapper. But this role is significantly better than anything I’ve seen him do before. The part doesn’t necessarily call for a lot of chops to play, but Ice Cube does add a certain amount of sincerity to the role, without having to extend himself all that far. It almost looks effortless, like he’s sleepwalking through the part, but it leads to rather inspirational results when taken as a whole.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 18th, 2008
<>An-a-mor-pho-sis n. pl. An image distorted so that it can only be viewed without distortion from a certain angle or using specific instrumentation.
In the case of this direct to video thriller, our serial killer is using the aforementioned technique in his murders. He dismembers bodies and reassembles them so that they appear differently depending on how you view them. Obviously the killer considers himself a kind or artist. He justifies killing by remarking that the sacrifice of a single human life to bring such a work of art to humanity is a reasonable trade-off In this case, however, our killer is targeting an audience of one.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 18th, 2008
This is the second half of the third season of Rawhide. Among the better episodes found in this collection are: Incident On The Road Back. Favor is accused of horse rustling. That means hangin’ in those days. In Incident Of The Boomerang, some cattle are off to the Land Down Under, but one of the men may not be who he says he is. Rowdy is arrested for murder… again. This time he’s accused of killing a deputy who was on his way to warn of an attack in Incident Of The Running
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 18th, 2008
The setting for Gunsmoke was the by now famous
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on December 18th, 2008
Every now and then, the good folks at Upcoming Discs think it’s time I receive a little culture in my dreary, work-a-day life. There was the time they thought I could use some sensitivity training, so I ended up with Old Yeller, a film I had avoided for years because of the painful memories of Tommy Kirk gunning down his beloved pet. Sure wasn’t easy. (Bastards.)
I also admit that until I was assigned Gallipoli, most of my understanding of Australian culture had been siphoned from the first two Crocodile Dundee films. Luckily, that one turned out better for me. And then, of course, there was the time they tried to turn me gay by showing the dreamy-eyed Harry Hamlin, in his younger days, playing the wedge between a married woman and her homosexual husband – (hello, Liza Minelli) – in the forgotten Making Love.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 18th, 2008
Comedy movies can often bring together two or more separate groups of people. This can be groups among the races, culture, and even nations that have been feuding for years. It brings these groups a chance to laugh together, a chance to perhaps look over stereotypes and realize that people aren’t so different at all. You Don’t Mess With the Zohan while not meant to be taken seriously does bring together Israelis and Arabs into one picture. A picture where they can have a good time and hopefully everybody regardless of their race or creed can laugh right along with them.
Zohan Dvir (played by Adam Sandler) is loved in his nation of Israel. He is on vacation in Tel Aviv and is the attraction of every man and woman whether he is showing his Hacky Sack poweress or his bulging biceps. However, Zohan has a very important job, he is the top Mossad agent. His vacation is cut short when Israeli helicopters arrive and whisk away Zohan back to the base.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on December 17th, 2008
Crying in Games, Need for Speed headed for the scrap heap & the Used Games debate - Welcome to the column that can be bought new, used or in a junkyard underneath the blue cowboy boots that your mom gave you known as Dare to Play the Game.
My 120gb hard drive for my 360 has been working quite well. I had the opportunity to test it on Fable 2 quite a bit over the past week. The Xbox no longer sounds like a tractor train ready to explode at any moment. As reported, loading is much faster. Any of the major areas in Fable load much faster giving me more actual playtime. So far, the investment seems worth it which was something I was quite worried about at one point.
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