*DVD Review* Skin In The 70s
Review posted at Film Fanaddict.com
Once the Sexual Revolution sprouted its unshaven wings and started to fly around the Western World in the ‘60s, sex in motion pictures took an entirely new direction. It began with actual onscreen nudity in mainstream Hollywood films. By the time the 1970s rolled around, low-budget hardcore pornographic films were readily available for any of-age individual to enjoy in specialty stores — and, more specific to the point at hand, in adult theaters from one end of 42nd Street to the other. Here we are, several decades later, with amateur porn from all over the world being easily accessible for any under-age student via the Internet. Yes, the times have certainly changed…but the now-retro world of cinematic sex has not been forgotten entirely… (Read the rest at Film Fanaddict.com)
*DVD Review* Midsomer Murders: Set 14
DVD Review: Midsomer Murders: Set 14
To the uninitiated, Midsomer Murders is a popular British television program that, as of 2010, is in its 13th Series. Based on the works of Caroline Graham, the show follows the cases of Tom Barnaby (John Nettles), Detective Chief Inspector of Midsomer County. As the title may lead you to guess, this isn’t your average rural county. The quaint little villages and towns are lovely — as is the scenery — but there do seem to be an awful lot of murders around here. In fact, after thirteen years on the air, one of the popular running jokes for frequent Midsomer Murders is “How is it there are still people living there?”
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*Blu-ray Review* Ninja
Some of you may remember a particular action movie subgenre from the ‘80s: the ninja movie craze. The B-Movie producing team of Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus brought us many an unbelievably silly film, wherein the story’s protagonist (usually portrayed by a white guy so American audiences would watch it) would wind up going toe to toe with the deadly antagonist (usually Japanese) in the film’s finale. Sure, many people have tried since the ‘80s to forget having ever taken part in the craze, but none can ever forget the immortal words of actor Shô Kosugi in Revenge Of The Ninja: “Only a ninja can stop a ninja!”
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*PS3 Review* Star Ocean: The Last Hope – International
PS3 Review: Star Ocean: The Last Hope – International
Originally posted at blogcritics.org
Having grown up in the era of the Atari 5200, ColecoVision, and Nintendo 8-bit systems, the only RPG that ever crossed my path was the original Zelda game. Since then, there have been many games that have caused boys and men alike to sit in front of their television sets for weeks on end and challenge every aspect of their personal and business lives. Sweethearts get ignored, caffeinated beverages and junk foods are consumed en masse, and nerd points are accumulated as one video game geek after another calls in sick to their workplace in order to beat the game.
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*Blu-ray Review* Zombieland
Prior to George A. Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead, zombies were vegetarians. As a matter of fact, the living dead on film used to do nothing more than stumble about Hollywood’s back-lots and obey their masters’ orders (see: I Walked With A Zombie, or White Zombie for further clarification). Following Romero’s reinvention of the animated corpses however, zombies became dangerous, flesh-eating monsters. You have to admit, they are a bit more terrifying when they’re after your brains.
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*Blu-ray Review* Revanche (2008)
Blu-ray Review: Revanche (2008)
We’re told that the best laid plans are of mice and men. Many times, however, said plans do not go according to plan — and any creature (be it a man, a mouse, or otherwise) can easily attest to having experienced a case of unforeseeable failure at some point in time. As a result, we’re often told that life simply isn’t fair. And yet, despite the fact that most (or perhaps even all) of us grow up knowing full well that our plans in life may go awry — no matter how honest our intentions may be — we still tend to get upset when the shit hits the fan anyway.
Take the poor saps in Revanche (2008), for example.
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*Blu-ray Review* Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant
Blu-ray Review: Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant
My expectations were low. I had never heard of Darren Shan’s series books (a twelve-book franchise that began in 2000) that this film was based off of, and I was confused and on the verge of crying over the casting of John C. Reilly as a vampire. Worse still, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant had this sleazy sense of studio greed oozing about it. Some jokers at an indie studio managed to make a mint by adapting Stephanie Meyer’s nauseating teen-fave novel, Twilight (which came out in 2005), into an equally nauseating teen-fave movie. Nevermind the fact that said jokers (including Meyer) effectively managed to ruin the how vampires were portrayed in both literature and motion pictures in the process — they still made some mad money, dammit! And so, the big studios were on the lookout for something that they could make some mad money off of.
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*DVD Review* Cinematic Titanic Live: The Alien Factor
DVD Review: Cinematic Titanic Live: The Alien Factor
The lights in the auditorium fade. A large, boxy white dot — the product of primitive late 1970’s video technology — appears on screen, prompting J. Elvis Weinstein to quip, “In the beginning, there was Pong.” And thus begins the second Cinematic Titanic Live, the latest release in Joel Hodgson’s MST3k riffing offshoot. The main course at this roast is The Alien Factor, an extremely amateurish 1978 science fiction movie from Baltimore’s famed Do-It-Yourself filmmaker, Don Dohler.
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*Blu-ray Review* Couples Retreat
Blu-ray Review: Couples Retreat
Most modern comedies are like a trendy and overpriced tourist trap. They suck you in, promising the time of your life, and instead leave you with the feeling that you’ve wasted too much money on said time. Couples Retreat however, actually delivered what it promised: a few laughs, beautiful scenery, and a good time all around — without that hollow “I just wasted two hours of my existence” feeling afterward. Star Vince Vaughn also produced and co-wrote the film, and heads off a suitably-cast combination of talented comedians including Jon Favreau (another co-writer), and Jason Bateman.
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*Blu-ray Review* Black Dynamite
Blu-ray Review: Black Dynamite
After a good twenty years of being subjected to unfunny spoofs (usually bearing a Wayans brother in the cast or crew) that specifically target modern mainstream movies that will be forgotten in another two decades, it’s nice to see filmmakers revisiting an older genre that has survived the test of time. Case in point: Black Dynamite, a wild send-up to the classic blaxploitation films of the ‘70s, co-written and starring Michael Jai White.
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