Posts Tagged ‘crime’

Get the Gringo [aka How I Spent My Summer Vacation] DVD Review: Mel Gibson is Back in Action

Posted: 2 August, 2012 in Movies/TV
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Get the Gringo [aka How I Spent My Summer Vacation] DVD Review: Mel Gibson is Back in Action

Of all the fallen Mels out there eager to make a comeback (Mel B., Mel C., Mel Sharples) with the whole world, perhaps none struggles as much as Mel Gibson. More than half a decade after his initial fall from the limelight, everything he has ever said and done since then has been highly publicized and scrutinized alike — everything except the movies he has made, that is. Get the Gringo finds Mel returning to the tough, imperfect type of character we all used to love him so much for. Sadly, the film received next to no theatrical distribution in the US whatsoever, receiving its mostly unobserved release via the inexcusable Video-On-Demand format.

[Read the rest at Cinema Sentries.]

*DVD Review* The Killing: The Complete First Season

Posted: 21 March, 2012 in Movies/TV, TV
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DVD Review: The Killing – The Complete First Season

Article first published as DVD Review: The Killing – The Complete First Season on Blogcritics.

In this day and age, police procedural television shows are a dime a dozen, and guest stars are only hired for the sole purpose of being the latest murder victims. Every week, there are at least fifty-gazillion different detectives, forensic specialists, doctors, athletes, Nobel Prize winners, and even a few members of the clergy seeking to unravel a murder. Surprisingly, 99% of them accomplish their tasks — sometimes even going so far as to solve several completely different and non-related slayings, just to keep the entertainment quota up. Of course, it gets downright silly at times — prompting your average viewer to pray for a series wherein the entire season is devoted to just one crime. (more…)

*Blu-ray Review* CSI: Grave Danger

Posted: 21 March, 2012 in Movies/TV, TV
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Blu-ray Review: CSI – Grave Danger

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: CSI – Grave Danger on Blogcritics.

At one point in the mid ‘00s, the still-sorta-new television series CSI was on top of the world. Likewise, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino was a hot commodity with movie going audiences In 2005, Tarantino — who had just concluded the second installment of his Kill Bill story the year before — took a detour from his usual routine to direct a special feature-length episode of CSI: the Season Five finale, “Grave Danger.” It was a dream come true for many sofa spectators — an amalgamation of cult film and fresh television that drew in a whopping 35.15 million viewers around the US alone. (more…)

*DVD Review* You Can’t Get Away with Murder

Posted: 27 February, 2012 in Movies/TV
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DVD Review: You Can’t Get Away with Murder

Article first published as DVD Review: You Can’t Get Away with Murder on Blogcritics.

No, it’s not a lost George and Ira Gershwin musical set within the confines of a penitentiary, although the latter is true. Well, sort of. 1939’s “B” crime drama You Can’t Get Away with Murder reunites two of the leads from 1937’s smash hit Dead End: Humphrey Bogart, still making his way up the hill of stardom, and young Billy Halop, the leader of both the Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys. Bogie stars as a two-bit gangster named Frank Wilson, who takes a young, misguided lad named Johnny Stone (Halop) under his wing. (more…)

*Blu-ray Review* London Boulevard

Posted: 20 February, 2012 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: London Boulevard

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: London Boulevard on Blogcritics.

Colin Farrell must not be as hot with American audiences as he used to be. At least, that’s the only reason I can see for London Boulevard not receiving a proper theatrical release in the United States. Picked up almost a year after it was released in its native Great Britain, the movie shuffled its way through theaters during one of those dreaded “limited engagement” sort of things, only to receive a low-key debut on home video three months later. Now, when you stop to compare it with many of the other feature films from the UK — mostly starring English export Jason Statham — it’s easy to see why this one didn’t fare well with the public: it’s decent. (more…)

*Blu-ray Review* The Borgias: The First Season

Posted: 13 February, 2012 in Movies/TV, TV
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Blu-ray Review: The Borgias – The First Season

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: The Borgias – The First Season on Blogcritics.

Of all the infamous families ever to proudly stroll across the mountains and plains of Europe during the Renaissance, perhaps none are as notorious as the Borgias. Driven by almost every kind of lust imaginable, the family has become synonymous with corruption and crime — an aspect that makes for a smashing Showtime series, don’t you think? Well, Neil Jordon, the director of The Crying Game and Interview with the Vampire certainly thought so, as he is the force behind the creation of this series starring Jeremy Irons, François Arnaud, Holliday Grainger, and Colm Feore. (more…)

*DVD Review* CSI: NY – The Seventh Season

Posted: 12 December, 2011 in Movies/TV, TV
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DVD Review: CSI – NY, The Seventh Season

Article first published as DVD Review: CSI – NY, The Seventh Season on Blogcritics.

While CSI: NY may have been the last of Jerry Bruckheimer’s famous forensic trio to hit the airwaves, it has always had greater appeal to me than the OK-but-somewhat-full-of-itself-and-unsure-what-to-do-with-its-lead-actor-spot forerunner, CSI, and CSI: Miami, the other sibling in the franchise that sports a bastard red-headed stepchild of a star.  Perhaps its the fact that CSI: NY has a more believable, 9/11 widower occupying its top tier.  Sure, this series takes just as many liberties with its level of plausibility as its fellows, but — in all honesty — Gary Sinise makes this Eastern outing worth repeating every week.
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The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) Blu-ray Review – “Gesundeidt.”

Posted: 20 November, 2011 in Movies/TV
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The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) Blu-ray Review – “Gesundeidt.”

When you look at the cinematic contributions Walter Matthau left behind upon his death in 2000, one tends to commonly think of his roles alongside Jack Lemmon — particularly their comedies like The Odd Couple and Grumpy Old Men. And, while those timeless tales of two men constantly bickering back and forth are remembered for good reason, there’s a whole other serious side of acting that Matthau put forth over the years as well. One look at a classic like Charley Varrick should give you an inkling of what Walter was capable of when he didn’t clown around — to say nothing of the finale of Charade. [Read the rest at Cinema Sentries.]

The Stool Pigeon (2010) Blu-ray Review: Contemporary Hong Kong Action at its Finest

Posted: 18 November, 2011 in Movies/TV
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The Stool Pigeon (2010) Blu-ray Review: Contemporary Hong Kong Action at its Finest

It’s rare that a movie can employ that timeless-yet-tired ol’ Yuletide tune, “White Christmas,” and actually not make you want to throw up. It’s also unusual to see a film by Hong Kong filmmaker Dante Lam — the man responsible for such classics as Beast Cops, The Twins Effect (also known as Vampire Effect), and Beast Stalker — to take a step back from his usual motif of infusing his own moving pictures with that certain amount of weird beastliness he typically tends to use. Nevertheless Dante goes on the Lam here from all that horror/fantasy stuff in order to bring us a more traditional action flick. [Read the rest at Cinema Sentries.]

*Blu-ray Review* A Better Tomorrow (2010)

Posted: 16 November, 2011 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: A Better Tomorrow (2010)

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: A Better Tomorrow (2010) on Blogcritics.

It seems like just yesterday for me that I first heard of a hot new sensation from Hong Kong by the name of John Woo. From the mid ‘80s to the early ‘90s, filmmaker Woo expertly erected several crime drama masterpieces (usually starring Chow Yun-fat); films that would ultimately grow to earn genre nicknames as “bullet ballet,” or “gun fu,” if you will. As word of Woo’s wizardry reached to the US, American studio execs talked the Hong Kong action auteur into traveling to the States to direct a few films there; movies that — with one or two exceptions — were outrageously awful.
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