Posts Tagged ‘family’

The Adventures of the Wilderness Family DVD Review: The Defining Moment of an All But Dead Subgenre

Posted: 30 November, 2012 in Movies/TV
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The Adventures of the Wilderness Family DVD Review: The Defining Moment of an All But Dead Subgenre

Following the events of a seemingly-endless war in Vietnam and the horrid realization that mankind was emitting excessive waste into the air within the heavily-populated areas of the world, it was inevitable that someone somewhere in the already hygienically-questionable ’70s would pack up their daily struggle with life in the city and move out into the country to get away from it all. Today, we call them dirty stinkin’ hippies. Back then, however, they were something of heroic figures to those who secretly envied the ability to stop working for a living and adjourn to the mountains. Well, they were in the movies, at least. Read the rest of this entry »

*Blu-ray Review* Glee: The Complete Third Season

Posted: 16 October, 2012 in Movies/TV, TV
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Blu-ray Review: Glee – The Complete Third Season

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Glee – The Complete Third Season on Blogcritics.

OK, confession time, kids: despite the fact that I am a good thirty-five to forty percent gay and have a strong passion for vintage musicals and singing in general, I never actually took the time to sit back and watch a single episode of Glee until the Third Season showed up on my doorstep one day. Granted, 90% of it was due to the fact that I do not — nor probably ever will — have any cable or satellite service at my home. In any case, within minutes of opening up Glee: The Complete Third Season on Blu-ray, I quickly realized what a mistake I had made in not seeing the show any sooner. (more…)

*Blu-ray Review* Big Miracle

Posted: 26 July, 2012 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: Big Miracle

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Big Miracle on Blogcritics.

Ah, the ’80s: a time when we only had but a few television stations in the US (unless you were rich enough to have one of those fancy, huge satellite dish thingies), and the nightly news was viewed in almost every home across the nation. Of course, we had to watch it. After all, what if the Russians launched nuclear missiles at us, thus turning our Cold War into World War III? Fortunately, news broadcasters occasionally took a weight off our minds, such as when they brought us day-to-day accounts of three whales trapped within the ice of Alaska. If you were there, you might remember the incident. If you weren’t, good news: somebody made a movie about it. (more…)

*Blu-ray Review* Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Posted: 3 June, 2012 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: Journey 2 – The Mysterious Island

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Journey 2 – The Mysterious Island on Blogcritics.

Jules Verne’s timeless literary classics have been the target for many an impractical film adaptation over the years, so I think it goes without saying that it’s high time we had a faithful motion picture rendering of one of his works. Sadly, the Walden Media-produced family adventure pic Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is not the film we’ve been waiting for. In fact, it’s nowhere near authentic. Or credible. Actually, truth be told: this is one of the worst damn family-friendly adventure movies I’ve seen in at least a week — an abomination of Hollywood hopelessness that should have Jules Verne come back to life to sue all of those involved with the making of it. (more…)

Flicka: Country Pride Blu-ray Review: Talk About Beating a Dead Horse

Posted: 4 May, 2012 in Movies/TV
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Flicka: Country Pride Blu-ray Review: Talk About Beating a Dead Horse

It’s rare you see a movie these days that bears an honest-to-goodness G rating. I figured the MPAA just up and quit assigning them altogether. Of course, when you get right down to the heart of the matter, the possibility of a G-rated movie even being any good is about as likely as meeting an interesting Walmart greeter. Speaking of Walmart, their latest direct-to-video exclusive, a G-rated something that is labeled as Flicka: Country Pride in the advertising, but which bears the actual onscreen title of Flicka 3 — something that immediately begs the question “Wait, there was a Flicka 2?”

[Read the rest at Cinema Sentries.]

*Blu-ray Review* Born to Be Wild 3D (2011)

Posted: 17 April, 2012 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: Born to Be Wild 3D (2011)

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Born to Be Wild 3D (2011) on Blogcritics.

It’s getting so that you can’t make a documentary about animals these days without hiring Morgan Freeman to narrate. Not that I’m complaining, mind you: Mr. Freeman’s awesome voice is a welcomed addition to just about any project. Why, he could even provide his power of speech to an outlandish exploitation schlockumentary title about UFOs and extraterrestrial life like his predecessor Orson Welles did and still make it sound believable. Fortunately, the nature of the IMAX presentation Born to Be Wild 3D is about just that: nature. As such, it stands to reason we can actually take Morgan’s word for everything as gospel. (more…)

*PlayStation 3 Review* Order Up!!

Posted: 15 April, 2012 in Game
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PlayStation 3 Review: Order Up!!

Article first published as PlayStation 3 Review: Order Up!! on Blogcritics.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from eating at one greasy spoon diner after another, it’s that not all chefs are created equal — and that’s something anyone who dives into SuperVillain’s Order Up!! are bound to learn. The popular 2008 Wii title has been broadened to audiences worldwide via a PlayStation 3 (and Nintendo 3DS) release, and has given me the opportunity to experience this cooking simulation game for myself in High-Definition resolution. And I have to say, I have found this menu item to be more than suitable to my particularly picky palate. (more…)

*Blu-ray Review* Buck Privates

Posted: 9 April, 2012 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: Buck Privates

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Buck Privates on Blogcritics.

It’s hard to believe in today’s age of gritty, fact-based war tales, but there used to be a time in history wherein Hollywood actually encouraged Americans to join the Armed Forces. Movies full of glitzy song-and-dance routines delighted families across the nation, paining a pretty picture of life in the service, and — while we may look at such items in a highly cynical fashion today — they were the perfect way to alleviate the fears audiences had about war in a time of uncertainty. (more…)

*Classic Cliffhanger Serials* Batman (1943) – A Politically Incorrect Romp

Posted: 9 April, 2012 in Movies/TV
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Classic Cliffhanger Serials: Batman (1943) – A Politically Incorrect Romp

Article first published as Classic Cliffhanger Serials: Batman (1943) – A Politically Incorrect Romp on Blogcritics.

One only need view a single chapter from any serial to determine that their parental studios and filmmakers were not trying to create award-winning material (the Oscars didn’t even exist when serials originally hit the screens). They were making this Saturday Matinee fodder solely for the sake of the kiddies. It’s probably a safe bet to say that some parents probably had absolutely no idea what their kids were watching every weekend; although I imagine parents of the Serial Era probably had no qualms over their children watching these moving pictures, either. (more…)

*Blu-ray Review* Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Posted: 8 April, 2012 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close on Blogcritics.

Adapting a literary drama into an emotional motion picture experience can be a challenging effort. In the case of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Stephen Daldry — the feller who made Billy Elliot — has taken the 2005 novel of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer and turned it into a brazen, near-exploitive tale of a young lad attempting to deal with the loss of his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. You don’t really expect to see exploitation filmmaking in mainstream cinema these days. Nevertheless, Daldry delivers a finished product that bears little more than a slight passing to its source material, having resorted to Academy Award winning screenwriter Eric Roth — who penned Forrest Gump, Ali, and several other overrated “masterpieces.” (more…)

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