Posts Tagged ‘bad’

Surf Party (1964) DVD Review: How NOT to Throw a Beach Party

Posted: 20 May, 2013 in Movies/TV, Music
Tags: , , , ,
0
alt=

Order Now!


Surf Party (1964) DVD Review: How NOT to Throw a Beach Party

Though the concept of a moving picture story set on the beach depicting the everyday lives of youngsters skilled in the fine arts of surfing, singing, dancing, and G-Rated fornication with one another had been done once or twice before AIP invited us all to the very first Beach Party in 1963, it wasn’t until that frolicking festivity with Frankie and Annette that America (and possibly even part of the Lesser Antilles as well) embraced the actual subgenre of such filmmaking. Sadly, this meant that the usual school of low-budget competitors were sure to surface from the murky depths below like those monsters with the zippers clearly visible running down their backs in those equally expensive horror flicks being produced down the beach a ways. Read the rest of this entry »

Texas Chainsaw 3D Blu-ray Review: Wither Heatherface?

Posted: 13 May, 2013 in Movies/TV
Tags: , , , ,
0
alt=

Order Now!

Texas Chainsaw 3D Blu-ray Review: Wither Heatherface?

While I was never a “huge” fan of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre series (the ones that started with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in ’74), I must confess that one of my favorite LPs in my record collection is that of the soundtrack from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 from 1986. Of course, any motion picture soundtrack that contains Concrete Blonde, Oingo Boingo, Timbuk3, and The Cramps simply demands to be taken seriously – and there’s even an offering from The Lords of the New Church (a group that, interestingly has a new singer named Adam Becvare) entitled “Good to Be Bad” – which was inspired from a line of dialogue from the film, and recorded solely for the album. Read the rest of this entry »

Carnival in Costa Rica DVD Review: An Endless Unfunny Rom-Com Musical

Posted: 5 May, 2013 in Movies/TV
Tags: , , , , ,
0
alt=

Order Now!

Carnival in Costa Rica DVD Review: An Endless Unfunny Rom-Com Musical

In case it has slipped past both your central and peripheral paths of vision in recent years, the residents of the United States of America don’t really care for its neighbors beneath it. Apparently, they feel they’re, well – beneath them. Canadians? Kosher – so long as they don’t talk politics or health care. Mexicans? Never. Not in a million years. Who cares if they do all of the menial tasks most of the USA’s own citizens feel are a tad too tedious: they still don’t like them. And that goes doubly so for those lazy, happy-go-lucky Costa Ricans – who are something of the subject of the awful 1947 Twentieth Century Fox Technicolor romantic comedy musical, Carnival in Costa Rica. Note how I say they are “something of the subject” – this is because there’s nary an actual Costa Rican in the entire dreadful picture. Read the rest of this entry »

Blu-ray Review: A Haunted House (2013) – A Hate Crime Against Humor

Posted: 21 April, 2013 in Movies/TV
Tags: , , , , ,
0
alt=

Order Now!

Blu-ray Review: A Haunted House (2013) – A Hate Crime Against Humor

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: A Haunted House (2013) – A Hate Crime Against Humor on Blogcritics.

Even in today’s age of using-all-things-digital-like, there is still a heavy usage of a once-everyday item that continues to be employed by the writers working within the film and television medias: the 3×5 index card. The reason for utilizing such a thing is simple: it assists those who have been handed the often-unenviable responsibility of coming up with something creative in assembling what they feel is the perfect story with the ideal elements. Where does Bob go after he walks out of the lounge at midnight? A quick toss of the dart onto the wall lands on the 3×5 card reading “Zimbabwe” — and so it is written. Well, it could be written that way; needless to say, it takes at least an iota of talent or the slightest inkling of discernable taste in order to achieve this method of storytelling. (more…)

The Marriage-Go-Round DVD Review: James Mason, ’60s Swinger at Large!

Posted: 14 April, 2013 in Movies/TV
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0
alt=

Order Now!

The Marriage-Go-Round DVD Review: James Mason, ’60s Swinger at Large!

Adapting a work from one form of entertainment to another is not an easy task. Imagine, if you will, what might happen were one to add a Descriptive Video Service audio track to a film like Koyaanisqatsi. Or if Cannibal Holocaust were turned into a bloodless Broadway musical. Something would inevitably get lost in translation, making way for that age old adage about capturing lightning in a bottle. But what happens if you hand that magical glass container over to someone – say a complete and total dumbass – and they go and punch holes in the lid so that the poor lightning can breathe? Well, if you’re looking for a good example, The Marriage-Go-Round should more than suffice. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh, Men! Oh, Women! DVD Review: Oh, Brother!

Posted: 14 April, 2013 in Movies/TV
Tags: , , , , ,
0
alt=

Order Now!

Oh, Men! Oh, Women! DVD Review: Oh, Brother!

If someone were to voluntarily stroll up to me and willingly make it a point to talk to me about the classic War of the Sexes genre of romantic comedies that highlighted many a headliner at cinemas of yore, chances are they would invoke the holiness of those oh-so-dated-yet-timeless Doris Day/Rock Hudson vehicles. Were such a conversation with a complete stranger to occur, however, my first thought would not stray towards the appeal of either aforementioned lead performer. Instead, I would grin with delight over the very thought of the quintessential War of the Sexes co-star, Tony Randall – one of the few male comedic performers in history to be able to make me laugh without having to do anything – and who is preceded in my book of greatness only by Avery Schreiber. Read the rest of this entry »

Pier Paolo Pasolni’s Trilogy of Life: Criterion Collection DVD Review: Make Mine Bunuel

Posted: 2 April, 2013 in Movies/TV
Tags: , , , , ,
0
alt=

Order Now!

Pier Paolo Pasolni’s Trilogy of Life: Criterion Collection DVD Review: Make Mine Bunuel

As one of those individuals that became the slightly pretentious artsy-fartsy feller during his teenage years whilst growing up in a small town, I frequently made trips to video stores (or at least ordered random titles from grey market mail-in video distributors) in search of something that I surely thought would add a little culture to my mundane, tormented existence. It was through these actions that I transitioned from one phase to another – discovering and subsequently learning to appreciate the work of oft-renowned filmmakers such as French New Wave pioneer Jean-Luc Godard, the stylish bullet ballet work of Hong Kong’s John Woo, and the gory Italian splatter flicks of one Lucio Fulci. Read the rest of this entry »

Raiders from Beneath the Sea DVD Review: “As Far As I’m Concerned, You Stink of Trouble!”

Posted: 2 April, 2013 in Movies/TV
Tags: , , , ,
0
alt=

Order Now!

Raiders from Beneath the Sea DVD Review: “As Far As I’m Concerned, You Stink of Trouble!”

When I received my copy of Raiders from Beneath the Sea in the mail, I knew I by the artwork alone I was in for a real exercise in tedium. As soon as I popped the disc into my player late one evening after having consumed not nearly enough Guinness, the words “Lippert Incorporated Presents” appeared onscreen – giving me an even graver indication that I was about to slide into an obscure B-Movie Hell. I was right, of course: chock full of wooden acting, production values that seem even lower than that of a rushed Del Tenney feature, and featuring some truly funny rip-off music to boot, Raiders from Beneath the Sea is a laughably bad scuba heist drama from a group of clueless, underfunded filmmakers that undoubtedly never heard the expression “sink or swim.” Read the rest of this entry »

Parental Guidance (2012) Blu-ray Review: Usually, Jokes are Funny – But Hey, Why Kill Time Laughing?

Posted: 30 March, 2013 in Movies/TV
Tags: , , , ,
0
alt=

Order Now!

Parental Guidance (2012) Blu-ray Review: Usually, Jokes are Funny – But Hey, Why Kill Time Laughing?

In an early episode of Scrubs, Neil Flynn’s Janitor character sprayed Zach Braff’s fictional persona of J.D. in the crotch with a mist of water. Several times, in fact. And such a juvenile prank worked then and there because the writers knew it wasn’t funny – which, in turn, made it funny. The dynamic WGA-approved talents of the rarely-employed duo Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse – two of the seven people to have received credit for the already-forgotten animated kiddie film Surf’s Up – on the other hand, completely failed to realize that such a cheap joke seldom causes so much as a chuckle. Ironically, their recent collaboration, Parental Guidance, contains the line “It’s interesting because, usually, jokes are funny. But hey, why kill time laughing?”. Read the rest of this entry »

Blu-ray Review: Guns, Girls and Gambling – Been There, Done That

Posted: 8 March, 2013 in Movies/TV
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0
alt=

Order Now!

Blu-ray Review: Guns, Girls and Gambling – Been There, Done That

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Guns, Girls and Gambling – Been There, Done That on Blogcritics.

In the mid ’90s, mainstream cinema and the direct-to-video market alike both experienced a significant change in their product — due largely in part to the worldwide success of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, a movie that dared to toss out the traditional formula of ABC filmmaking in favor of a more nonlinear style of storytelling. Granted, any well-read (or well-viewed) disciple of film knows that Tarantino did not solely create the genre of hip features. There were numerous avant-garde artists before him — most of whom did it far better than he could have ever hoped to, but whose methods of moviemaking did not become as hugely popular in the fact that they simply weren’t as popular. (more…)

Older Entries