Posts Tagged ‘blogcritics’

Blu-ray Review: Stand Up Guys – A Real Sit Down Kind of Flick

Posted: 2 June, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: Stand Up Guys – A Real Sit Down Kind of Flick

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Stand Up Guys – A Real Sit Down Kind of Flick on Blogcritics.

Even the best idea can be doomed to fail if the right people aren’t involved. Take the time they hired Roseanne Barr to sing the National Anthem at the 1990 San Diego Padres game. Or when Australian farmers requested military assistance to rid their lands of the ever-hungry and not at all timid emus (the humans lost). The vast universe of moving pictures making also has a considerable roster of disappointments that spiraled into the ground like a balsa wood skyscraper from an Irwin Allen film. Take that remake of The Pink Panther, for example. While it wasn’t completely necessary to make at all, they really dropped the ball. And let’s not forget that epic Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez disaster, Gigli — which, thanks to the popularity of its two stars, was completely reedited into a bombastic comedy. (more…)

Blu-ray Review: Sansho the Bailiff – The Criterion Collection

Posted: 29 May, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: Sansho the Bailiff – The Criterion Collection

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Sansho the Bailiff – The Criterion Collection on Blogcritics.

While many of the more praiseworthy movies from Japan’s period dramas (or Jidaigeki, as they are called) manufactured in the ’50s have been well-known staples to any foreign film snob since the advent of digital media, there is one title in particular that didn’t see the light of day with English speaking folk until The Criterion Collection unleashed it in 2007. Though known by its original Japanese-language moniker in most of the world, Sanshô Dayû is usually referred to as Sansho the Bailiff in the United States. Re-released by Criterion once more, Sansho is now available on Blu-ray for you really serious foreign film snobs. (more…)

Blu-ray Review: Panic in the Streets – “Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ”

Posted: 10 May, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: Panic in the Streets – “Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ”

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Panic in the Streets – “Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ” on Blogcritics.

Every actor needs to start somewhere. In the case of the late great Jack Palance, he started out doing what he will always be remembered for: playing the part of a very bad man. When offered the part of the heavy in the 1950 film noir, Panic in the Streets, stage actor Walter Jack Palance (as he was known by then) flew to New Orleans for his very first film role. And while the rest of his career may be simply summed up with the ever-annoying line “And the rest is history,” Elia Kazan’s memorable Panic in the Streets is certainly worth noting for due to much more than introducing the filmgoing world to the man who would both frighten and entice grown-up and adults alike for generations to come. (more…)

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

Posted: 21 April, 2013 in Movies/TV
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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…)

DVD Review: Archer – The Complete Season Three

Posted: 16 April, 2013 in Movies/TV, TV
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DVD Review: Archer – The Complete Season Three

Article first published as DVD Review: Archer – The Complete Season Three on Blogcritics.

If I said it once, I said it at least three times over: “There’s nothing new under the sun.” Originality sailed off into the wild blue yonder a long, long time ago. And there is no better example of a current FX animated series called Archer. Check this out, kids: in 1975, actor Brian Keith found himself miscast in a short-lived series called Archer. A good thirty-five years later, FX debuted their own series called Archer. And the comparisons between the two are downright frightening — since they both center on a guy named Archer. I know, right? This is major conspiracy theory fodder, people! (more…)

Blu-ray Review: The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel) – The Criterion Collection

Posted: 9 April, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel) – The Criterion Collection

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel) – The Criterion Collection on Blogcritics.

It is quite often said by most science teachers in the English-speaking world that “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” While it tends not to be muttered as often as another expression that frequently finds itself inserted into the occasional conversation — “When one door closes, another door opens” — both sayings tend to apply in almost every aspect of reality as well as fiction. Take, for example, when somebody makes a powerful artistic motion picture that succeeds in captivating the minds of its viewers worldwide. It is both an action as well as the closing of a door; signifying that nobody can quite compete to this marvel of achievement. (more…)

PlayStation 3 Review: MLB 13: The Show – What Do You Mean I Can’t Play as The Baseball Furies?!

Posted: 20 March, 2013 in Game
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PlayStation 3 Review: MLB 13: The Show – What Do You Mean I Can’t Play as The Baseball Furies?!

Article first published as PlayStation 3 Review: MLB 13: The Show – What Do You Mean I Can’t Play as The Baseball Furies?! on Blogcritics.

Every year, Sony releases another installment in their MLB: The Show series. Now, in case you’re like me and know next to nothing regarding anything even remotely athletic or sports-like in nature to begin with, even that may surprise you. Since its inception in 2006, the franchise has become a very popular, hot-selling item — and I think that such a factor is due to the fact that this PlayStation legacy has remained virtually unchanged since Day One. Now, my unfamiliarity with anything more advanced than playing darts after I’ve had a few drinks at the bar might leave you to inquire “Do you have even the remotest of ideas as to what you’re talking about?” of me — which I would reply with a simple-but-staunch “Of course not.” (more…)

DVD Review: Purple Noon – The Criterion Collection

Posted: 19 March, 2013 in Movies/TV
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DVD Review: Purple Noon – The Criterion Collection

Article first published as DVD Review: Purple Noon – The Criterion Collection on Blogcritics.

Those of you who have only ever seen Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley may not be entirely aware of this, but Patricia Highsmith’s titular character, Tom Ripley, has been portrayed on several other occasions throughout the years by completely different (not to mention different looking) actors. Well, some of them have been actors. Apart from Damon, there were three other contestants in this unofficial race — including Dennis Hopper, John Malkovich, and, uh, Barry Pepper. Now, while each performer possessed his own unique grasp of the fictional fellow (well, two of ‘em, perhaps), the possibility of an intense argument has the potential to exist between several really drunk and heavy non-science fiction/fantasy/horror movie geeks as to which one of the aforementioned four were the least talented Mr. Ripley. (more…)

DVD Review: Ministry of Fear – The Criterion Collection

Posted: 18 March, 2013 in Movies/TV
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DVD Review: Ministry of Fear – The Criterion Collection

Article first published as DVD Review: Ministry of Fear – The Criterion Collection on Blogcritics.

When the decade most cultures refer to as the 1940s came around on good ol’ Planet Earth, the entire world had been affected by World War II. Trust wasn’t as easily granted unto others as it might have been only a few years before — especially to those with peculiar accents or whose methods seemed somewhat shifty in nature. It was during this dark period in history that filmmakers in Hollywood began to experiment with what would become a classic, much-revered genre in cinema: the film noir. Interestingly enough, most of the elements instilled into these shadowy thrillers were borrowed from the German Expressionist Cinema movement from several decades prior; specifically, the work of Austrian-born German filmmaker, Fritz Lang. (more…)

DVD Review: The Qatsi Trilogy – The Criterion Collection

Posted: 17 March, 2013 in Movies/TV
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DVD Review: The Qatsi Trilogy – The Criterion Collection

Article first published as DVD Review: The Qatsi Trilogy – The Criterion Collection on Blogcritics.

Since the demise of the Silent Film in the final year of the 1920s, few filmmakers have dared to make a feature-length movie sans the element of sound. Sure, there have been numerable short subjects manufactured by up-and-coming students and/or individuals experimenting with the whole $film as art” process. There have even been homages to the Silent Era in both dramatic (such as Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist) and comical aspects (Mel Brooks’ Silent Movie comes instantly to mind), but most of those entries into the annals of cinema rarely remove themselves from doing little more than showing their respect for the long-gone era prior to those darned “talkies.” (more…)

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