Posts Tagged ‘Drama’

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…)

Teenage Rebel DVD Review: Without a Clue (or Widescreen)

Posted: 29 May, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Teenage Rebel DVD Review: Without a Clue (or Widescreen)

In the 1950s, a life-threatening menace began to rear its ugly head to all good, God-fearing, red-blooded Americans who valued their freedom. No, I’m not referring to the alleged peril Communism was supposedly trying to destroy us with – I’m talking about something far worse: teenagers. More specifically, the teenaged crowd who were busy bopping about in hula-hoops and poodle skirts at the drive-ins after drag racing in hotrods and downing numerous chocolate malts with their hamburger sandwiches, all the while greasing their hair back to the sound of that dreaded negro jazz beatnik music on the jukebox. Or something like that: the fact remains that the adults of the time were incredibly worried and annoyed by the fact that those damn kids were having fun without them. Read the rest of this entry »

Jubal [Criterion Collection] Blu-ray Review: Shakespeare in the Wild West

Posted: 29 May, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Jubal [Criterion Collection] Blu-ray Review: Shakespeare in the Wild West

While traditional and contemporary adaptations of William Shakespeare’s works have been coming and going since someone figured out how to record moving images way back in the late 1800s, there’s something about the more off-the-wall incarnations of the famous author’s works that happen to appeal to those of us who don’t like to shuffle through the Middle English language we just heard and attempt to translate it into Modern English (I melt with you, by the way) in our heads while still trying to listen to the next line. As such, we have been blessed with films like Forbidden Planet (a variation of The Tempest), West Side Story (as inspired by Romeo and Juliet), and the cult favorite Strange Brew (which was based on Hamlet - seriously). Read the rest of this entry »

The Oranges Blu-ray Review: A Conventional Tale of Unconventional Romance

Posted: 22 May, 2013 in Movies/TV
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The Oranges Blu-ray Review: A Conventional Tale of Unconventional Romance

During the middle of the previous decade, my girlfriend at the time and I were hooked on three specific television series: House M.D., Arrested Development, and The OC. Well, the latter was more to appease her than anything. I can’t stress that enough, folks. Honestly. In fact, the only thing that enabled me to survive the yuppie haven that particular drama served up on a regular basis was Adam Brody’s character of Seth Cohen – who appealed to me since he was an awkward nerd. I can relate. Unsurprisingly enough to anyone who has ever met me, I also identify quite well with introverted outcasts who rub everyone the wrong way such as House M.D. – as played by the great Hugh Laurie – and the unequivocal “Screw you guys, I’m going home” attitude of a fictional personas like Maeby Fünke, who was brought to life in Arrested Development by actress Alia Shawkat. Read the rest of this entry »

The Moon Is Down DVD Review: Suicidal Norwegians vs. the Nazi Menace

Posted: 21 May, 2013 in Movies/TV
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The Moon Is Down DVD Review: Suicidal Norwegians vs. the Nazi Menace

Based on the 1942 novel by John Steinbeck by the same name, 20th Century Fox’s 1943 ode to freedom The Moon Is Down centers on the Nazi invasion of a small costal Norwegian town during the very midst of World War II. While the book was a bit vague on the identities of the invading force, the movie – written by The Dirty Dozen screenwriter Nunnally Johnson – is as blatant as can be as to who the villains are. We begin with an extended shot of a typically angry Führer (or rather, his overly-expressive hands) shouting in his native tongue that Germany must occupy Norway. And, immediately after the credits have rolled, a large division of Nazis troops parachute in just in time to slaughter the local (tiny) military unit that’s away on a routine training mission – making way for the baddies to simply walk into town and declare it theirs. Read the rest of this entry »

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…)

The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe DVD Review: For Curiosity Seekers Only

Posted: 4 May, 2013 in Movies/TV
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The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe DVD Review: For Curiosity Seekers Only

While he was one of the authors who appealed to me during those days of darkness that dominated both my fashion sense and overly-artistic mind in the not-too-distant past, I must confess the notion of a motion picture based on the romantic side of Edgar Allan Poe seems like a real head-scratcher in my opinion. Ironically, outside of something in the vein of a BBC miniseries, Poe’s tragic existence would perhaps be best-fitted for fiction – whether it be Hollywood’s overly sensationalized 2012 film The Raven with John Cusack, or as an illusory cameo who sets up the entire plot of a ’60s Italian horror flick like Castle of Blood (or its ’70s remake, Web of the Spider, wherein Poe was brought to life by – of all people – Klaus Kinski). Read the rest of this entry »

George A. Romero’s Knightriders (1981) Blu-ray Review: The Most Sincere, Underrated Drama About Adult Outcasts Ever Made

Posted: 23 April, 2013 in Movies/TV
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George A. Romero’s Knightriders (1981) Blu-ray Review: The Most Sincere, Underrated Drama About Adult Outcasts Ever Made

The setting is a quiet forested area, with a gentle, calming body of water nearby. A king awakens completely nude on the ground – his slumber distributed by a vision of a black bird – with his just-as-bare queen lying next to him. He goes about his ritualistic afternoon: bathing in the water, lightly lashing himself in the back with a small, flexible branch, only to then don his tunic, his sword, his armor and helmet, and then – as if a moment had been pulled straight out of the pages of a forgotten Monty Python screenplay, the king and queen mount a motorcycle and head down the road in contemporary early ’80s America. What’s wrong with this picture? Absolutely nothing. Read the rest of this entry »

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…)

Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence DVD Review: Or, Before They Were Stars: The Movie

Posted: 3 April, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence DVD Review: Or, Before They Were Stars: The Movie

Everyone remembers the late great actor Glenn Ford for a different reason, whether it be his roles as Pa Kent, Mr. Eddie’s Father, Dr. Faraday, or – on perhaps a more famous note – as the lead of many a fine cowboy or film noir protagonist. But what of his films before he became a big star? Well, thanks to the Fox Cinema Archives, we can at long last view Glenn’s very first major role – as a feller named Joe Riley in the 1939 film Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence - without having to scour hundreds of television listings and trying to figure out how to program our modern-day recording devices in advance. Read the rest of this entry »

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