tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47721749569104204092024-03-19T01:48:30.016-07:00HK AND CULT FILM NEWSIKFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07879526511831397996noreply@blogger.comBlogger5716125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-1051593508041738002024-03-18T11:23:00.000-07:002024-03-18T11:23:13.267-07:00HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN -- DVD Review by Porfle <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3YpkMzpQY_mQaeLl58gMpFsMT0y3DBohSEt5xWVqTlP2JG580YesYFQg1GFJaYEtLjuyNG6UKakD_G5IU7JiKkjIxmfg3oU0qP1S5kraW4c8wTlJjW31HBCdONKq7v04WzOfvm9rwcno/s1600/box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3YpkMzpQY_mQaeLl58gMpFsMT0y3DBohSEt5xWVqTlP2JG580YesYFQg1GFJaYEtLjuyNG6UKakD_G5IU7JiKkjIxmfg3oU0qP1S5kraW4c8wTlJjW31HBCdONKq7v04WzOfvm9rwcno/s1600/box.jpg" /></a></div><p><i><br /><b>Originally posted on 6/29/11</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>There are two kinds of post-grindhouse flicks. (There may be more, but my brain can only handle two at a time.) One is the homage, which mimics the look of the old ragged film prints seen in grindhouses and drive-ins back in the old days while displaying a spoofy, self-consciously retro sensibility. (I just made that up.) <br />
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The other kind, like <b>HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN</b> (2011), is simply a contemporary version of the kind of exploitation flicks that came out in the 70s and 80s, without the deliberate self-awareness or cosmetic similarities. In other words (not mine, in fact), the filmmakers "just made the f***in' movie." <br />
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This is what first-time feature director Jason Eisener did after winning the faux-trailer contest associated with the Tarantino-Rodriguez epic GRINDHOUSE, fleshing out his two-minute masterpiece into a gory, action-packed, ultra-violent, and really weird comedy-thriller that wantonly hurls itself over the top and just keeps on going. <br />
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Although the title, concept, and wonderfully retro poster art promised a film that would be right up my alley, I must admit that upon first viewing I wasn't all that crazy about it. In fact, it seemed pretty slapdash and stupid, and not at all the full-blooded grindhouse experience that my bizarre appetites had been whetted for. I guess I was expecting something more along the lines of PLANET TERROR, instead of a garish Technicolor cartoon with supporting performances and surrealistic situations that seemed like something out of a demented Pee-Wee Herman movie.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fMnYppR7TeyOgaGYCmMtZlYg7RLthqktQMkGTIW87FGgLb9aOWS2Qo95wJD9jvnEkAgjYj4T08wd38oIThGbppfuwteq12v6z5rWZdPc3r4WhflWKyg0j4JMcaYNRKec4sPKCV_vDhc/s1600/pic1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fMnYppR7TeyOgaGYCmMtZlYg7RLthqktQMkGTIW87FGgLb9aOWS2Qo95wJD9jvnEkAgjYj4T08wd38oIThGbppfuwteq12v6z5rWZdPc3r4WhflWKyg0j4JMcaYNRKec4sPKCV_vDhc/s1600/pic1.jpg" /></a><br />
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Watching HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN again, however (and I've seen it at least four times so far), I'm beginning to better appreciate the skill and effort that these novice filmmakers have put into it. With old pro Rutger Hauer filling out the title role with his usual skill and creating a realistic character out of what could have been a one-dimensional joke, director and co-writer Eisener displays a fair amount of imagination and directorial finesse in depicting the bloody adventures of a hobo who comes to town with the dream of earning enough money to buy a lawnmower but ends up wielding a shotgun in a one-man crusade to rid the streets of rampant crime.<br />
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As in ROBOCOP, this city is the ultimate urban cesspool run by a powerful, supremely arrogant criminal kingpin. Nattily-dressed scumball Drake (Brian Downey) and his psychotic sons Slick (Gregory Smith) and Ivan (Nick Bateman) rule the cowering citizens through terror, which includes gruesome public executions and mass murders with the cooperation of a totally bent police force. When the Hobo stops Slick from mauling a young prostitute (Molly Dunsworth as "Abby") and later trades his lawnmower for a shotgun to stop a deadly pawn shop robbery, his course is set. With Molly as his faithful ally, the Hobo takes a bite out of crime shotgun-style until his inevitable showdown with the Drakes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9v3tIDdLVk8-F5RlTFqbfe07nTs13Qoc-Cgr3gNXE2HaH9IVt38LNroIihoDUmXpb69m5UONpqeJ4nnbsmUb6nES234D3_C_TANDB-Q__HG_LQ7FVSa0_VwDmcSrdQrJsFgYA9N9BEg/s1600/pic3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9v3tIDdLVk8-F5RlTFqbfe07nTs13Qoc-Cgr3gNXE2HaH9IVt38LNroIihoDUmXpb69m5UONpqeJ4nnbsmUb6nES234D3_C_TANDB-Q__HG_LQ7FVSa0_VwDmcSrdQrJsFgYA9N9BEg/s1600/pic3.jpg" /></a><br />
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Fluorescent colors and frenetic camerawork form the dizzying visual style of the film (inspired, according to Eisener, by such movies as SUSPIRIA and SAVAGE STREETS) while gushing gouts of gore and body parts galore splatter every inch of the screen. The bad guys are so incredibly vile, and so richly deserve to die horribly, that we get a satisfying charge every time the Hobo blasts them to bits. But the innocent suffer just as gruesomely--there's no shortage of exploding heads, broken bones, shredded flesh, and disembowelings. Even a school bus full of little kids gets incinerated to the tune of "Disco Inferno." <br />
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While Eisener doesn't quite stoop to the old "so intentionally bad, it's good" schtick, he is trying so hard to create an instant cult flick that the constant barrage of cartoonish cacophony becomes tiresome at times. Drake throws himself into the loudmouthed ringmaster routine once too often, while some of the other characters (such as Jeremy Akerman as the crooked police chief) seem to exist only for the purpose of screaming into the camera. <br />
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Profanity-packed overacting is an end unto itself throughout the film, redeemed only by the fact that some of the actors doing it are pretty good. Nick Bateman is intermittently amusing as Drake's number-two son Ivan, brightly declaiming some of the film's most willfully dumb lines ("It's a beautiful day for a SKATE RAPE!"), while ultimate bad-guy duo The Plague--robotic armor-plated enigmas who mercilessly get medieval on their victims in horribly imaginative ways--come off at first like a silly-looking WWE tag team but end up being pretty cool. Other players distinguish themselves here and there, such as a frantic emergency-room doc (Juanita Peters) who struggles to revive an injured Molly while screaming, "Live! Live, you f***ing whore!"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCp9Dp7IHlcH5EUFY3V8fuN5hNGRMJm4mKJT9153brd_AF-wjl0rTtMUrdcdwbz-16CWSvjoxhcCnlvUqELRtC1dUfRlNl9Rs71Kjn6rY8_wlj1wZwFz3MJVuS1z08al5zdlWtag0IWE/s1600/pic2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCp9Dp7IHlcH5EUFY3V8fuN5hNGRMJm4mKJT9153brd_AF-wjl0rTtMUrdcdwbz-16CWSvjoxhcCnlvUqELRtC1dUfRlNl9Rs71Kjn6rY8_wlj1wZwFz3MJVuS1z08al5zdlWtag0IWE/s1600/pic2.jpg" /></a><br />
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Needless to say, the consummately professional Hauer carries the film whenever it begins to sag. He has some pretty classic moments that transcend everything else around him, including his stirring speech to a maternity ward full of newborns (which may rank right up there with BLADE RUNNER's "I've seen things" soliloquy). The film's second-best performance is by the very cute Molly Dunsworth as kindhearted hooker Abby, whose scenes with the Hobo manage to be genuinely moving. She really gives her all to the part, especially when she transforms herself into a makeshift superheroine with a lawnmower-blade shield and takes on the Plague in the film's blood-drenched finale. <br />
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The 2-disc Collector's Edition DVD from Magnolia Home Entertainment's Magnet label is in 2.40:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Subtitles are in Spanish, with English closed-captions. Disc one contains the movie along with two commentary tracks, one with Eisener and Hauer, the other with Eisener, writer John Davies, producer Rob Cotterill, and David Brunt (the GRINDHOUSE trailer's original "Hobo.") There's also an interactive "Shotgun Mode" with behind-the-scenes clips. <br />
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Disc two features "More Blood, More Heart: The Making of 'Hobo With a Shotgun'", deleted scenes, an alternate ending, video blogs, a camera test reel, Fangoria interviews with Eisener and Hauer, an HDnet featurette, the GRINDHOUSE trailer, faux-trailer contest winner "Van Gore", the redband U.S. theatrical trailer, and Canadian TV spots. The DVD case also contains info on how to acquire your digital copy of the film online.<br />
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A free-for-all of unrelieved carnage and perversely lighthearted depravity, HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN definitely won't appeal to some viewers in any way, shape, or form. And even some of the people to whom it's squarely aimed probably won't think it's all that great. I was even lumping it into the same pile of devastatingly disappointing duds as HOWARD THE DUCK before it began to grow on me after subsequent viewings. Now I see it for what it is--a modestly audacious burst of youthful creativity that lives up to its promising title by shocking and titillating us on an unabashedly juvenile level. Hey, I can live with that.<br />
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<br /></p>Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-15058307977087265262024-03-17T17:04:00.000-07:002024-03-17T17:04:39.905-07:00COLD FISH -- DVD Review by Porfle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKRAyFPet8WoGJfiTBzGJpD3x-qmRMFm6Jl8SnyyIVA8ei2iuppcpi1NdtD1xnoUjrPiMR_90vZT2TF6Kx7EEMdHsLnyOetxwbTQk92kqcgL5tMRTrZ8rQnf8tBL9h_iL7HNqLzkAxKiI/s1600/box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKRAyFPet8WoGJfiTBzGJpD3x-qmRMFm6Jl8SnyyIVA8ei2iuppcpi1NdtD1xnoUjrPiMR_90vZT2TF6Kx7EEMdHsLnyOetxwbTQk92kqcgL5tMRTrZ8rQnf8tBL9h_iL7HNqLzkAxKiI/s1600/box.jpg" /></a></div><p><i><b> </b></i></p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 9/22/11</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>The horrifically graphic gore and extreme perversion of <b>COLD FISH</b> (2010) is presented in such an offhand, matter-of-fact way that it's interesting to see what the next outrage will be and how the main character, a timid milquetoast named Mr. Shamoto, will react to it. My own reaction was to gaze intently for almost two-and-a-half hours and marvel at what a delightfully whacked-out movie I was looking at. <br />
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Nobuyuki Shamoto is a humble fish store owner with an unhappy wife, Taeko (Megumi Kagurazaka), and a violently bratty daughter, Mitsuko (Hikari Kajiwara), who despises both him and her stepmother. He yearns for the ordered tranquility to be found at the local planetarium, but instead is cast into a living hell when he meets the charming and wildly gregarious Mr. Murata, owner of a vastly superior fish store. Murata rescues Nobuyuki's daughter from a shoplifting charge and puts her to work in his own fish store, offering Nobuyuki a lucrative partnership as well. But the gratitude Nobuyuki initially feels turns to horror when he discovers what kind of man Murata really is. <br />
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Murata and his sexually voracious wife Aiko turn out to be a gleefully sociopathic pair of serial killers who bilk people out of money, murder them, and make them "invisible" by disassembling their bodies in a mountaintop shack. Shamoto gets sucked into all of this as a lackey and "apprentice", with Murata threatening to kill his family if he doesn't comply. The "invisibility" process boasts some of the most graphic gore I've ever seen in a movie, but the two giggling psychos perform this grisly task with such lighthearted enthusiasm that the effect is strangely comedic.<br />
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Mitsuru Fukikoshi does a great job portraying Shamoto's growing fear and mortification as his association with Murata spirals ever downward. As Aiko, Asuka Kurosawa deftly switches between playful sex kitten and intimidating killer and is the ideal companion in crime for Murata. But it's (the singularly-named) Denden as Mr. Murata whose energetic, inventive, and wholly fascinating performance makes COLD FISH such a riveting film. At times almost a fatherly mentor to Shamoto, Murata is also dangerously unstable and unpredictable, and we never know what the hell he's going to do, or who he's going to kill, next. <br />
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Japanese director Shion Sono (LOVE EXPOSURE, SUICIDE CLUB) shows his sense of humor in the opening sequence by shooting, editing, and scoring Taeko's disinterested shopping and microwave dinner preparation as though it were a suspense scene, then jarringly cutting to the family eating in joyless silence and ignoring each other. When Murata's initially clownish behavior turns to shocking acts of violence and debauchery, his utter brazenness has a comic edge to it. And his tutoring of a nervous Shamoto on how to lie to some gangsters who come looking for a missing family member also elicits giddy laughs despite our sympathy for the terrified Shamoto. <br />
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The story rushes headlong into a whirlwind of scary and over-the-top incidents until Shamoto finally reaches his breaking point, with Mitsuru Fukikoshi's performance taking on an unnervingly realistic tone even as Shamoto's actions become more wildly deranged. While many viewers will have become numbed to the violence and gore by this point, some of the blood-soaked final encounters between the main characters are simply mindboggling. Shion Sono catches it all with a fluid handheld camera, with some impressive long takes that allow the actors to play out certain scenes to the hilt.<br />
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The DVD from Vivendi and Bloody Disgusting is in 1.85:1 widescreen with 5.1 Japanese stereo and English subtitles. The sole extra is a brief interview with director Shion Sono. <br />
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A frenetic, exhilarating experience for those in search of something completely different, COLD FISH is both realistic and just plain balls-out nuts. It claims to be based on true events, and, while that doesn't mean much these days, I pity anyone who ever experienced anything even remotely resembling what happens in this movie.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZKKKW4/?tag=hfn-20">Buy it at Amazon.com</a>Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-54983070319711910662024-03-16T11:53:00.000-07:002024-03-16T11:53:26.972-07:00ATROCIOUS -- DVD Review by Porfle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPUxMeLOxwfWRddFdhEiz5MBsqGVBKM7Y7sx7mBjkeaf7__UT7hTWWR-Bh6ISMnqMC4A8u9EQtWvzLdrlmGdcGhTh-KpD0TrWeMABaQoB5OExt4N41MdmO8eJ3_F8_-LqdNrTssTQCEE/s1600/Atrocious+box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPUxMeLOxwfWRddFdhEiz5MBsqGVBKM7Y7sx7mBjkeaf7__UT7hTWWR-Bh6ISMnqMC4A8u9EQtWvzLdrlmGdcGhTh-KpD0TrWeMABaQoB5OExt4N41MdmO8eJ3_F8_-LqdNrTssTQCEE/s1600/Atrocious+box.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 10/9/11</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>Ever since THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT terrified some and left others wondering what the fuss was all about, filmmakers have been cranking up their camcorders and trying their hand at making the next really scary horror mockumentary. Some, like the recent <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2011/06/evil-things-dvd-review-by-porfle.html">EVIL THINGS</a>, come close to recapturing that old spooky vibe, while others are about as exciting as watching somebody's home videos. And then there's <b>ATROCIOUS </b>(2010), which left me feeling just about as creeped out as any movie has in a long time.<br />
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Cristian Quintanilla (Cristian Valencia) and his sister July (Clara Moraleda) are amateur documentarians whose specialty is investigating paranormal urban legends. When the family takes an Easter vacaion in their secluded villa in Spain, they find that the old house comes with its own legend of a young girl named Melinda who disappeared in the surrounding woods long ago and is now said to be haunting them. Camcorders at the ready, Cristian and July discover an overgrown hedge labyrinth next to the house, surrounded by a deep, dark forest. Melinda's forest.<br />
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ATROCIOUS follows the usual pattern of spending a whole lot of time with everyday happy-type stuff to lull us into a false sense of security before things start to get scary. We get to know Mom and Dad, little brother Jose, and family friend Carlos before bro and sis make a thorough exploration of the hedge maze during sunny daylight hours, goodnaturedly needling each other as siblings do. Even then, they easily get lost, and we start to wonder what it'll be like out there in the dark when they're running in blind terror, which we know is pretty much inevitable.<br />
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That big old house is spooky enough with its winding stairways and dank basement filled with junk, including a vintage TV/VCR combo that will figure into the story later on. From their attic bedroom the three siblings keep watch on the rusty gate leading into the labyrinth, and are filled with apprehension when strange sounds can be heard eminating from it. When their dog disappears, their search turns up a grisly discovery that foretells the dire events in store for the family. <br />
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Although the film is barely 75 minutes long, some viewers will probably find all this preliminary stuff interminable. Somehow, though, a well-done mockumentary of this sort tends to hold me in fairly rapt attention as I tensely await, and dread, the onset of the bad things. Besides, a movie like this has to be allowed to build if it's going to deliver more than simple visceral shocks.<br />
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Here, it's the disappearance of little Jose while searching for their family dog that drives the rest of the family to rush frantically into that pitch black hedge maze at night. Using the night vision on their camcorders (thus giving them a logical reason to still be carrying the damn things), Cristian and July find themselves stumbling through a nightmare world filled with ominous shapes and strange sounds, until they finally encounter what they've been looking for all along. And that's just when ATROCIOUS really starts getting scary.<br />
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You have to hand it to writer-director Fernando Barredo Luna for managing to squeeze maximum chills out of such minimal filmmaking. His cast of very natural actors get a lot of the credit, too, not only for making their characters so believable but for actually doing much of the camerawork themselves. Adding to the spontaneity of their performances is the fact that the story's final reveal was kept hidden from them until filming.<br />
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The DVD from Vivendi and Bloody Disgusting is in widescreen with 5.1 sound. You can listen to either the original Spanish soundtrack with English subtitles or the English dub. Extras consist of a 15-minute "making of" featurette and the film's trailer. <br />
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The final sequence, a combination of home video, police video and crime-scene photographs, and other disturbing footage, pays off in a way that is lacking in the more open-ended examples of the genre, and left me with the queasy realization that I'd just been truly frightened. Of course, you have to use your own imagination to fully appreciate what ATROCIOUS doesn't show--suggestion can still be scarier than the most graphic visuals if you're properly tuned in to what the film is trying to do. If you want to be scared, try tuning into this nifty little chiller.<br />
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<br />Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-76006228084083938252024-03-15T11:32:00.000-07:002024-03-15T11:32:26.912-07:00DOCTOR ZHIVAGO -- DVD Review by Porfle<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUhbgJ7LrxQ7lHj7SC2Vg7a99BUXKZ0Xl9mEvEnanmBGtbxii9nY3nFI5xRFZJ-ot00T2ClTzQvfy6whJIS_j8-zLB06fA2nqD8N3HJr8eb_rK_8LZfadP8FNLGOgOzuporhRlW6qiWM/s1600/box.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466194967476069442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUhbgJ7LrxQ7lHj7SC2Vg7a99BUXKZ0Xl9mEvEnanmBGtbxii9nY3nFI5xRFZJ-ot00T2ClTzQvfy6whJIS_j8-zLB06fA2nqD8N3HJr8eb_rK_8LZfadP8FNLGOgOzuporhRlW6qiWM/s400/box.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 218px;" /></a> </p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 5/11/10</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>This is one of those timeless classics that I've somehow managed to miss seeing up until now. It's nice to still have films such as <span style="font-weight: bold;">DOCTOR ZHIVAGO</span> (1965) to experience for the first time at various points in my life, with different perspectives. Who knows how I would've reacted to it at age fifteen? Twenty? Thirty? (Okay, you get the picture.) I didn't even like CASABLANCA or THE MALTESE FALCON until a few years ago. But seeing this particular movie at my present age and frame of mind left me with decidedly mixed feelings which, aside from the positive, include both disappointment and apathy.<br /><br />Master director David Lean (BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA) and crew went to Spain and built an incredible recreation of downtown Moscow that dominates much of the early part of the film, which is based on Nobel Prize-winning Russian author Boris Pasternak's semi-autobiographical novel. Here, we meet Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif), a young doctor and poet who, after being orphaned as a child, was raised by his mother's wealthy friends Anna and Alexander (Siobhan McKenna, Ralph Richardson).<br /><br />He falls in love with their daughter Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin, looking amazingly like her father, Charlie) and plans to marry her, but becomes fascinated with a beautiful woman named Lara (Julie Christie) whom he observes from time to time. The naive Lara is drawn into a relationship with her mother's lover, an opportunistic bon vivant named Komarovsky (Rod Steiger, giving the film's best performance), who becomes obsessed with her. After he rapes her in a fit of frustrated passion, the distraught Lara tries to kill him at a party attended by Yuri.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiO3wYTBb15jSVZWYiBjqyJ56cJoY-YX7ljO4lGjyq2MF8ww_4z10iE9h0rqOl5XZlquaIBOzrcz-9aCG_xNN_mdMCOJhBDL9kB8-KwKAMUfMQcff5z1V56LZ7FHFuT83DNATQHf6rykw/s1600/yuri+and+tonya.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466196809422194146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiO3wYTBb15jSVZWYiBjqyJ56cJoY-YX7ljO4lGjyq2MF8ww_4z10iE9h0rqOl5XZlquaIBOzrcz-9aCG_xNN_mdMCOJhBDL9kB8-KwKAMUfMQcff5z1V56LZ7FHFuT83DNATQHf6rykw/s400/yuri+and+tonya.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 220px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 399px;" /></a><br />Meanwhile, civil unrest comes to a boil in Russia with Lara's fiance, Pasha (Tom Courtenay) becoming a staunch revolutionary against the decadent ruling class. When he goes MIA during World War I (he'll turn up very unexpectedly later on), Lara becomes a nurse and encounters Yuri in the field as they tend the wounded, where they fall in love. Yuri returns home to find his family displaced by the new order and himself under suspicion as a free-thinking artist. They flee to the country and, after an arduous train journey in a packed freight car, move into the ruins of their old estate, where Yuri discovers Lara living in a nearby town. As the conflicted Yuri moves between his two loves, Lara and Tonya, the horrors of war catch up to them yet again and threaten their very lives until a surprise figure from their past becomes their last hope for survival.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdj0JK9AmZHtCQA5qJL19tLb89ZD0BB1Z5lYzf1oY1g3zcwxJnMwuuP5H_qVaajD7udp6Yw39pHIW_mwk49KVoYM960wdtbcktIAlJMp5jGLRiofJNMdbNoMrYwlqUVsVNWwJBvA-dCco/s1600/steiger+and+christie.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466196796246869890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdj0JK9AmZHtCQA5qJL19tLb89ZD0BB1Z5lYzf1oY1g3zcwxJnMwuuP5H_qVaajD7udp6Yw39pHIW_mwk49KVoYM960wdtbcktIAlJMp5jGLRiofJNMdbNoMrYwlqUVsVNWwJBvA-dCco/s400/steiger+and+christie.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 229px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />DOCTOR ZHIVAGO has all the grandeur of an epic, yet director Lean keeps pulling it back to a personal level. Characters are often dominated by vast landscapes of ice and snow, or huge crowds of swarming extras, to emphasize their relative insignificance amidst the turmoil around them, yet this is never more than a backdrop for the human story. The oppressiveness of the new regime with its constant (and well-founded) paranoia and danger of being deemed an enemy of the state is well-conveyed by Yuri's clashes with political zealots who find his peaceful poetic soul subversive. We observe through him the terror and inhumanity that have taken over his beloved country as, first by choice and later by force, he must render medical aid in the midst of horrible violence while remaining a suspect. This isn't a history of the Russian revolution but the story of how Zhivago reacts to it and how it effects him and those around him.<br /><br />Lean's visual storytelling is impeccable. Whether depicting the first bloody demonstrations in the streets of Moscow or Yuri's childlike wonder at a window glittering with prisms of frost, the film is a dazzling series of memorable impressions. Old-style use of symbolism is in evidence at every turn--a trolley car crackles with electricity as Yuri and Lara touch for the first time, a vase of sunflowers sheds its petals as though weeping at their first parting, a colorful balalaika left to Yuri by his mother reappears throughout as a reminder of the happiness and joy that are being repressed by the new government.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXm5r0WtbWCiFNOFP9IzqoD5F6sOkBQ-9DA0GinqC1xAnVU61OlXC_010RYibyZzV7RKxfWknW3HimGVSuxgGW2-3cFeJaGArN16NK-O7ugk2751joi_9WF3pt66qOrm067EI1Ze2EdRo/s1600/ice+house.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466196792555581906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXm5r0WtbWCiFNOFP9IzqoD5F6sOkBQ-9DA0GinqC1xAnVU61OlXC_010RYibyZzV7RKxfWknW3HimGVSuxgGW2-3cFeJaGArN16NK-O7ugk2751joi_9WF3pt66qOrm067EI1Ze2EdRo/s400/ice+house.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 193px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />Lean's brilliant use of sound and image to tell the story is never more impressive than when Lara and Pasha are seen quarreling through a window, their words drowned out by church bells as a candle slowly melts away the frost on the panes, or when Komarovsky discovers that Lara's mother has attempted suicide and races frantically through the house as the camera follows his progress from window to window. The opening sequence with Yuri as a child attending his mother's funeral is a wonderfully bleak, moody, almost gothic nightmare of emotional devastation. A pre-dawn shift change at a Russian power plant looks like something out of METROPOLIS. And few images are as powerful as that of a mother running desperately alongside the train carrying Yuri and his family as it speeds past a burned-out village, trying to escape while unaware that the child she's carrying is already dead. Throughout the film, we learn much more of the story by watching than by listening to the dialogue, as good as it is.<br /><br />With all of this going for it, the main gist of DOCTOR ZHIVAGO is its romantic entanglements, and that's where it pretty much left me cold. Yuri and Lara's love story hits all the right notes and is very pretty, and there's a real warmth between them that illuminates their dreary surroundings, but no real fire. Yuri himself often seems as blank as the paper on which he writes his fanciful poems, with little or none of the inner conflict or guilt one would expect from a man who leaves his devoted, pregnant wife and their son to jump into bed with his mistress as though he were stepping out to walk the dog. He's like a drug addict jonesing for his next Lara fix no matter who gets hurt, and--screw romance--I just couldn't respect him for that.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOeBE3yww1pcvQOM27ZyexfqtRYmA4xnRxF0a1r6MPTGWeetHsL3E1HgY6bH2tJoQYx_Djjy_b-gUYABOaqqQ9tVa5iA6q915zbhAxt_CtCjgHfr116zeC26VxqI19Q355RakxND5BUic/s1600/yuri+and+lara.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466196801810109810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOeBE3yww1pcvQOM27ZyexfqtRYmA4xnRxF0a1r6MPTGWeetHsL3E1HgY6bH2tJoQYx_Djjy_b-gUYABOaqqQ9tVa5iA6q915zbhAxt_CtCjgHfr116zeC26VxqI19Q355RakxND5BUic/s400/yuri+and+lara.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 215px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />After awhile, it began to seem less like a tragic love story and more like the story of an irresponsible flake who just can't make up his mind. Maurice Jarre's celebrated love theme doesn't help, popping up way too often and sounding (to me, anyway) tinny and cloying. A bookend sequence involving Yuri's half-brother Yevgraf (Alec Guinness), a high-ranking policeman searching for Yuri and Lara's illegitimate daughter, adds a nice though slightly saccharine final touch, but on the whole I found the film emotionally uninvolving.<br /><br />The 2-disc 45th anniversary edition from Warner Brothers is in widescreen with English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and Spanish Surround stereo. Captions are in English, French, and Spanish. The movie is contained on disc one, which, unfortunately, is a flipper--hard to keep those pesky fingerprints off no matter how hard you try--along with a two-part documentary featuring comments from several well-known directors and film historians. A commentary track by Omar Sharif, Sandra Lean, and Rod Steiger is pleasant, though filled with long stretches of silence. Disc two is replete with featurettes, press interviews, a general release theatrical trailer, Geraldine Chaplin's screen test, various promotional shorts from 1965, and an hour-long documentary entitled "Doctor Zhivago: The Making of a Russian Epic."<br /><br />Regardless of whatever reservations I may have had toward this film--and I'm sure its legions of fans would think me a dog-kicking cad for having them--I still found DOCTOR ZHIVAGO to be a marvelously compelling and pictorially splendid experience. I can't wait to seek out more of David Lean's films and watch further examples of a master filmmaker at work. But as far as Dr. Yuri Zhivago goes, I have only one thing to say: stop acting like a lovesick puppy and man up, dude! Your family needs you!<br /><br /><br /><br /></p>Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-46820571662120889472024-03-14T11:49:00.000-07:002024-03-14T11:49:41.347-07:00FRANK SINATRA: 5-FILM COLLECTION -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle (ANCHORS AWEIGH/ ON THE TOWN/ GUYS AND DOLLS/ OCEAN'S 11/ ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS)<br />
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<b><br /><i> Originally posted on 4/29/15</i></b><span lang=""></span></p><p><span lang=""> </span></p><p><span lang="">Frank Sinatra the singer. Frank Sinatra the actor. One gained undisputed acclaim as a master of his craft, while the other's talents seem to have always been in the eye of the beholder. But when given a good role--be it either comedic or dramatic--"Ol' Blue Eyes" came through, and often his acting skills were nothing less than superb.<br />
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In the 5-disc Blu-ray set <b>FRANK SINATRA: 5-FILM COLLECTION</b> from Warner Home Entertainment (which also contains a 32-page hardbound photo book), we see some of the best of his lighter screen moments. Whether showing off those rich vocal stylings, keeping up with Gene Kelly on the dance floor, or displaying a well-honed comedy timing, Frank Sinatra left behind a legacy of entertainment which continues to endure as we celebrate his 100th birthday.<br />
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Contained herein are five of his most popular films: ANCHORS AWEIGH, ON THE TOWN, GUYS AND DOLLS, OCEAN'S ELEVEN, and ROBIN AND THE SEVEN HOODS. Let's take a closer look at them...<br />
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<b>ANCHORS AWEIGH (1945)</b><br />
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</span><span lang="">In 1945, the King of the Crooners joined forces with the King of the Hoofers (not counting Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, that is) to give us <b>ANCHORS AWEIGH</b>. This frothy Technicolor romp from director George Sidney (VIVA LAS VEGAS, BYE BYE BIRDIE, several MGM "Our Gang" shorts) tells the story of Clarence and Joe (Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly), two recently decorated sailors on a glorious 4-day leave in Hollywood. <br />
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Playing against type, Frank's character is a shy nerd who can't score with the ladies so he decides to tag along after notorious wolf Joe to see how he does it. This seriously cramps Joe's style and he's constantly thwarted in his attempts to get together with dream date "Lola", especially when the two swabbies get saddled with a young orphan named Donald (a cherubic Dean Stockwell) who wants to run away from his Aunt Susie and join the Navy. <br />
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Aunt Susie turns out to be the lovely Kathryn Grayson (<a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2015/02/blu-ray-musicals-collection-blu-ray.html" target="_blank">KISS ME KATE</a>), an aspiring singer with whom Clarence is immediately infatuated. The script then takes us down a twisted path when wolfish Joe ends up falling for prim Susie while Clarence falls for a waitress from Brooklyn but is afraid to hurt Susie's feelings by dumping her, which is just what Joe wants except he doesn't want to hurt Clarence and Susie because he thinks they're in love, unaware that Susie is actually in love with him.<br />
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With all this tedious "love" stuff going on, ANCHORS AWEIGH benefits from the sparkling personalities of its stars and really takes off when they stop to sing and dance. With Gene Kelly at the helm during the musical numbers, this film yields several of the beloved sequences we often see in retrospectives like THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT, including Gene's celebrated fantasy duet with Jerry the Mouse (MGM originally wanted Mickey but Disney said "no way") and another dream sequence in which he plays a Latin bandit serenading lovely senorita Kathryn in a dance filled with amazing acrobatic stunts. <br />
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Frank, of course, gets to croon a few numbers as well as show off his own dancing skills as he hustles to keep up with Kelly. Kathryn Grayson sings in her shrill operatic style (she sounds like Snow White) and the great José Iturbi, as "himself", displays his dazzling virtuosity on the piano keyboard in several instances. A charming interlude with Gene and a little beggar girl (Sharon McManus) seems a bit shoehorned in, but in a musical such as this it hardly matters.<br />
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A rich supporting cast includes Grady Sutton (IT'S A GIFT, THE BANK DICK) as a would-be suitor for Aunt Susie, familiar screen comics Billy Gilbert and Edgar Kennedy, Leon Ames, Rags Ragland, and Pamela Britton as the waitress from Brooklyn. <br />
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Not quite the constant delight from start to finish that <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2015/02/blu-ray-musicals-collection-blu-ray.html" target="_blank">SINGIN' IN THE RAIN</a> would be (all musicals that came before seem to be leading up to it), ANCHORS AWEIGH is still the sort of colorful confection musical lovers crave. And it served as proof that Frank Sinatra wasn't just some skinny singing idol, but a bonafide multi-talented movie star.<br />
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Blu-ray Special Features:</i></b><br />
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· Hanna & Barbera on the Making of ‘The Worry Song’ from MGM "When the Lion Roars"<br />
</span><span style="font-size: small;">· 1945 MGM Short "Football Thrills of 1944" </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">– New to Home Entertainment</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">· 1945 MGM Short "Jerky Turkey" </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">– New to Home Entertainment</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">· Theatrical Trailer<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>ON THE TOWN (1949)</b><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;">Sinatra and Kelly took their sailor act into their next collaboration with 1949's <b>ON THE TOWN</b>, an exhilarating screen adaptation of the Broadway hit. This time it's three gobs on leave--Jules Munchin adds his cartoonish comical talents to the mix--while Vera Ellen, Betty Garrett, and the incredible Ann Miller play their delightful love interests. <br />
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Frank is once again the reserved, bookish type who wants to see all the tourist sites in New York, while Gene and Jules are ready for action. Gene falls for Vera-Ellen when he sees her on a subway poster as "Miss Turnstiles", and his friends are forced to join him in his desperate search for her. Along the way they pick up aggressively amorous cab driver Betty Garrett, who has eyes for Frankie, while anthropologist Ann Miller spots Jules in a museum and is instantly attracted to his caveman cranium. <br />
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This time the story is not only fun, but it serves as a springboard for a breathless succession of breezy, eye-pleasing, and downright irresistible song-and-dance numbers, some of which are performed against a backdrop of real New York locations. Frankie doesn't get any solo numbers this time, but the ensemble stuff is riotous fun as are his two duets with Betty Garrett, "Come Up to My Place" and "You're Awful." <br />
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Gene Kelly, who co-directed with Stanley Donen as he would later on SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, saves a large chunk of the latter half for one of his extended dance fantasies containing a steamy, sultry interlude with Vera-Ellen, set to Leonard Bernstein's evocative score, that is surprisingly erotic. <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
But my favorite numbers are the museum piece "Prehistoric Man"--which manages to achieve Tex Avery-level silliness while showcasing what an utterly astounding performer Ann Miller was--and the joyous "On the Town." The latter sequence, which takes place on the roof of the Empire State Building before spilling out onto the street, builds to such a rapturous conclusion that it literally brought me to tears. <br />
<br />
The supporting cast also features Alice Pearce (later to become famous as Mrs. Kravitz on "Bewitched") in an endearing performance as Betty Garrett's homely roommate, who at one point becomes a blind date for Gene in place of "Miss Turnstiles." Alice joins the others for the breezy number "You Can Count On Me" and is a delight as she blunders into a romantic apartment interlude between Frank and Betty, sneezing with a head cold. Keep a lookout also for Bea Benaderet and Dick Wessel.<br />
<br />
I first saw ON THE TOWN back in the mid-70s when it was shown on the fondly-remembered "CBS Late Movie", and it immediately struck me as one of the most enjoyable musicals I had ever seen. Watching it again many years later, I'm happy to say that it has lost none of its happy-go-lucky appeal and has, in fact, become a strong contender with SINGIN' IN THE RAIN as my favorite musical of all time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<br />
<b><i>Blu-ray Special Features:</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: small;">· 1949 MGM Short "Mr. Whitney Had a Notion" </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">– New to Home Entertainment</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· 1949 MGM Cartoon "Doggone Tired" </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">– New to Home Entertainment</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· Theatrical Trailer</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<b>GUYS AND DOLLS (1955)</b><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">That singing sensation, Marlon Brando, possessed the star power in 1955 to bump Frank Sinatra out of the lead role in <b>GUYS AND DOLLS</b>, director Joseph L. Mankiewicz' film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical based on the stories of Damon Runyon. <br />
<br />
As slick gambler Sky Masterson, Brando's soft but earnest singing style benefits from a strong acting foundation while Frank, in the lesser role of illegal crap game promoter Nathan Detroit, skillfully invests his own Frank Loesser-penned songs with more heart and depth than that character has ever shown before. <br />
<br />
Mankiewicz explores the colorfully stagey Times Square settings with a cinematic zest that is eye-filling and constantly appealing, while the cast bring all the denizens of the streets to vivid life. Small-time hustlers such as Stubby Kaye's "Nicely-Nicely", Sheldon Leonard's "Harry the Horse", and B.S. Pully's "Big Jule" all get their moments to shine (Kaye's "Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat" is a joy as is the opening number, "Fugue For Tinhorns") as con men work the bustling crowds and sewers host shady criminal activities.<br />
<br />
The story gives equal emphasis to its two love stories, one of which involves Nathan Detroit and the lead burlesque dancer at the Hot Box club, Miss Adelaide (a terrific Vivian Blaine). They've been engaged for fourteen years and heartsick Adelaide is pressing Nathan to quit his floating crap game business and settle down with her or else. He wants to host one final big game first, but can't find a location for it with local cop Lt. Brannigan (Robert Keith) breathing down his neck. <br />
<br />
Meanwhile, Sky Masterson is starting to fall for rigidly straitlaced "Save-A-Soul" missionary Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons) after betting Nathan that he can persuade her to accompany him to Havana. This he does by promising to deliver at least twelve sinners to her next prayer meeting, but while they're away (during which he gets her sloppy drunk), a crap game is held in her mission. Sarah accuses Sky of setting the whole thing up on purpose, creating a rift between them. <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
With a meatier, more offbeat, and somewhat seamier story than many musicals, GUYS AND DOLLS is solid adult-oriented fun that keeps its pace up despite being somewhat overlong. There's a fascination to watching Brando broadening his acting horizons this way, giving it his all while not quite coming across as a bonafide singing star. His big song, the show-stopper "Luck Be a Lady Tonight", suffers from our knowledge of how much better Sinatra would've sung it (and indeed often did). <br />
<br />
Be that as it may, Frank makes the most of his character and his charming scenes with Vivian Blaine, who gives the film's best performance as Adelaide. Lovely Jean Simmons also gives her all as Sarah Brown, with her own distinctive singing style. (None of the leads were dubbed.) And as a splendid example of how to transform a popular stage musical into top-notch screen entertainment, GUYS AND DOLLS stands the test of time with flying colors.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<br />
<b><i>Blu-ray Special Features:</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
· "A Broadway Fable: From Stage to Screen, Guys & Dolls: The Goldwyn Touch"<br />
<br />
· "A Broadway Fable: From Stage to Screen, Guys & Dolls: From Stage to Screen"<br />
<br />
· "More Guys & Dolls Stories"<br />
o "Adelaide"<br />
o "Brando Dance Lesson"<br />
o "Goldwyn’s Career"<br />
o "On the Set"<br />
o "Rehearsing Adelaide"<br />
<br />
· "Musical Performances"<br />
o "Fugue for Tinhorns"<br />
o "I’ll Know"<br />
o "Guys & Dolls"<br />
o "Adelaide"<br />
o "Luck Be a Lady"<br />
o "Sue Me"<br />
<br />
· Theatrical Trailer<br />
</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>OCEAN'S 11 (1960)</b><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">The skinny, earnest kid of ANCHORS AWEIGH and ON THE TOWN had already grown into a more worldly and somewhat cynical character by the time of GUYS AND DOLLS, but by 1960's <b>OCEAN'S 11</b> we find a Frank Sinatra who has matured into the icy cool, cosmopolitan, and slightly shady Las Vegas megastar persona that would define the rest of his life. <br />
<br />
The quintessential "Rat Pack" movie, OCEAN'S 11 reunites Frank's former WWII paratrooper sergeant Danny Ocean with his old Airborne buddies played by Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Joey Bishop, in one of those scathingly brilliant heist schemes to relieve five major Vegas casinos of several million dollars at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. <br />
<br />
I didn't care much for this slow-moving, bland-looking heist tale with production values that sometimes resemble those of a Quinn Martin cop series from the 60s. At least, not the first time I watched it. <br />
<br />
A second viewing, however--without the burden of my previous expectations blinding me to its modest charms, and with the advantage of Frank Sinatra, Jr.'s knowing commentary--revealed it to be a fun "hang-out" movie in which you get to spend some quality leisure time just palling around with Frankie, Dean, Sammy, and their cool friends. And before it's over, that simple robbery plot which seems so pedestrian at first delivers a couple of nifty, nasty twists that are pretty neat. <br />
<br />
We watch as Danny (Sinatra) and Jimmy Foster (Lawford) get the old gang together one at a time for the caper, which takes up pretty much the whole first half of the movie. (One thing's for sure, this flick isn't in any hurry to get anywhere.) There are a few detours, as we see Danny dealing with his neglected but faithful wife Beatrice (Angie Dickinson) and a hostile spurned lover played by Patrice Wymore. <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Jimmy, meanwhile, must endure the presence of his wealthy mother's new husband Duke (Caesar "Butch" Romero, who would soon play The Joker to Adam West's Batman) in order to hit her up for his usual "allowance." Sammy, as usual, brings his own boundless energy and cool-cat appeal to his role of a garbage truck driver whose job is to collect the stolen cash from each casino. <br />
<br />
Not even counting some welcome cameos and bit parts by the likes of Red Skelton, Shirley McLaine, and George Raft, the cast is impressive. Filling out the "eleven" are Richard Conte (Don Barzini in THE GODFATHER), Jerry Lester (of Jerry Lewis' <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-nutty-professor-50th-anniversary.html" target="_blank">THE NUTTY PROFESSOR</a> and THE LADIES' MAN), cult superstar Henry Silva (of Lewis' <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-nutty-professor-50th-anniversary.html" target="_blank">CINDERFELLA</a>), Norman "Mr. Roper" Fell, Akim Tamiroff, and other worthy character actors. <br />
<br />
The main stars, of course, are just fun to watch, especially Dean Martin in total "don't give a f***" mode and Frank effortlessly holding it all together without even singing a note. (Dean croons "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" two or three times, while Sammy performs the theme song "Ee-Oh-Eleven.")<br />
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Directed by Lewis Milestone (ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, OF MICE AND MEN), OCEAN'S 11 has a relaxed, informal air and never takes itself too seriously, but it isn't a slapdash affair. While some of the acting and direction may seem flat at times, this is one movie that just doesn't feel like breaking a sweat if it doesn't have to. And that awesome ending shot is just the kind of thing Quentin Tarantino makes a mental note to copy later.<br />
<br />
It kinda struck me as A HARD DAY'S NIGHT for the pre-Beatles generation--a day in the lives of our favorite hipster bad boys in their natural habitat, just being their narrow-tie-wearing, scotch-swilling, chauvinistic selves. <br />
<br />
It does get serious at times, though--as when Richard Conte's character Bergdorf, recently released from prison and estranged from wife Jean Willes, visits his little boy in military school for what may be the last time. Or when his doctor gives him the bad news about his heart, leading to this pricelessly arch bit of dialogue: "Listen Doc, give it to me straight...is it the big casino?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<br />
<b><i>Blu-ray Special Features:</i></b><br />
<br />
· Commentary by Frank Sinatra Jr. and Angie Dickinson<br />
<br />
· Las Vegas Then and Now Vignettes<br />
<br />
· Theatrical trailers<br />
</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS (1964)</b><br />
<br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;">Since 1960's OCEAN'S 11 had been such a lark for the Rat Pack, some of them got together again four years later with director Gordon Douglas for the lighthearted crime spoof <b>ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS</b>. But as we learn from Frank Sinatra, Jr.'s commentary--which, once again, serves as an absolutely invaluable first-hand account--this breezy musical about rival gangs in Prohibition-era Chicago was overshadowed not only by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who was Frank Sinatra's personal friend, but also by the five-day kidnapping of Frank, Jr. himself in Lake Tahoe, California.<br />
<br />
While much of the movie is breezy fun, it's apparent in several scenes that Papa Frank's heart just isn't in it. Still, he musters what he can as "good guy" crime kingpin Robbo, the lone holdout when rival boss Guy Gisborne (Peter Falk) rubs out the current big cheese Big Jim (Edward G. Robinson in a brief cameo) and demands all the other bosses line up behind him. Robbo's refusal results in the opposing bosses hitting each other's speakeasies in a frenzy of mutual destruction.<br />
<br />
Enter Big Jim's daughter Marian, played by a gorgeous Barbara Rush, who offers Robbo a hefty sum to eliminate the man who killed her father. Robbo instead donates the cash to an orphanage, thus gaining a citywide reputation as the new "Robin Hood." This new image suits him so he starts giving a cut of all his proceeds to charity, while Marian, whose intentions go beyond mere revenge, seeks the aid of any man who'll respond to her seductive advances to make a power grab. Meanwhile, Guy Gisborne continues in his efforts to bring down Robbo both violently and by trying to get him sent up the river on trumped-up counterfeiting charges.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
As an old-style gangster comedy, ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS is about on the same level as BUGSY MALONE or the "A Piece of the Action" episode of "Star Trek", only with better production values. Some of the transitions into the song-and-dance numbers are awkward, to say the least, with Falk's number coming off as particularly ear-bending despite his giving it the old college try (fortunately, the rest of his comic performance is a delight). <br />
<br />
Dino, who plays Robbo's partner Little John, fares better with his jaunty pool-hustling tune "Any Man Who Loves His Mother", and Sammy's energetic shoot-em-up number "Bang! Bang!" is a real blast. Frank, in his best moment in the film, seems to forget his troubles for a bit when he gets to croon his classic ode to Chicago, "My Kind of Town." <br />
<br />
Another plus for the production is the presence of the venerable Bing Crosby as Allen A. Dale, an overaged "orphan" who joins Robbo's crew in order to help coordinate his charitable activities. Bing does a wonderful soft-shoe number with the boys back at the orphanage entitled "Don't Be a Do Badder!" (the lyrics are cringeworthy but Bing manages to sell them), then joins in another fun song-and-dance sequence with Frank and Dean, "You've Either Got or You Haven't Got Style", which is unique for having all three of these major singing stars together at one time.<br />
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
A gaggle of wonderfully rough-looking character actors fill the supporting roles as well as some familiar names such as Victor Buono, Hans Conried, Robert Foulk, Richard Bakalyan, Billy Curtis, and Sig Ruman. A chorus line of flappers performing the number "Charlotte Couldn't Charleston" is led by none other than legendary singer-dancer-choreographer Toni Basil of "Mickey" fame, who would co-star in <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2009/10/village-of-giants-movie-review-by.html" target="_blank">VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS</a> a year later and go on to appear in the counterculture classic EASY RIDER in '69. <br />
<br />
While the story tends to drag a bit here and there, and the songs aren't always top-notch, ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS is still an enjoyable enough gangster spoof and one of the last of the old wave of Hollywood musicals. It's a shame that the conditions under which it was made so dampened the spirits of those involved, especially its star, Frank Sinatra, resulting in a movie whose lightheartedness comes off as noticeably strained. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<br />
<b><i>Blu-ray Special Features:</i></b><br />
<br />
· Commentary by Frank Sinatra Jr.<br />
<br />
· Vintage featurette "What They Did to Robin Hood"<br />
</span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· 1939 WB Cartoon "Robin Hood Makes Good" </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">– New to Home Entertainment</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· 1949 WB Cartoon "Rabbit Hood"<br />
<br />
· 1958 WB Cartoon "Robin Hood Daffy"<br />
<br />
· Theatrical trailer<br />
<br />
----------------------<br />
<br />
(Pictures shown are not stills from the actual discs.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wbshop.com/product/frank+sinatra+collection+%28bd%29+blu-ray+1000530534.do?sortby=ourPicks&refType=&from=Search" target="_blank">Buy it at the offical WB Shop</a><br />
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Street date: May 5, 2015</span><br />
<br />Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-55531407861138361072024-03-13T12:20:00.000-07:002024-03-13T12:20:27.843-07:00DAHMER VS. GACY -- DVD Review by Porfle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYvnEioftzcknC7mLe_BIpFJqsvbKHqv75IjenZhaiB5Iz21unBScYsTySATWP1nUI0x6p46Hlpr-nMJufK8Pl-lGzg2VDCqm7SvS4QnkIp0aiqOujQVbmVjIyoe7fBFWEEUQrjzOAiY/s1600/Dahmer+vs.+Gacy+poster.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYvnEioftzcknC7mLe_BIpFJqsvbKHqv75IjenZhaiB5Iz21unBScYsTySATWP1nUI0x6p46Hlpr-nMJufK8Pl-lGzg2VDCqm7SvS4QnkIp0aiqOujQVbmVjIyoe7fBFWEEUQrjzOAiY/s1600/Dahmer+vs.+Gacy+poster.jpg" /></a></div><p><i><br /><b> </b></i></p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 5/2/11</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>When I first saw the DVD cover for<b> DAHMER VS. GACY</b> (2011), it seemed as though watching a bloody FREDDY VS. JASON-type horror flick featuring the two notorious serial killers going at it would, at best, go beyond "guilty pleasure" into actual hate-myself guilt. What I didn't suspect is that it would turn out to be an all-out screwball comedy, and that I'd end up wishing it actually was the relatively straight, though somewhat tongue-in-cheek horror flick I'd envisioned in the first place.<br />
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The main reason for this, to put it simply, is that the movie isn't all that funny. Not that cinematic jack-of-all-trades Ford Austin isn't trying--not only does he play two of the lead roles, but he also directs with the manic hyperactivity of a deranged Tex Avery, wielding the screenplay like a blunt instrument and trying to beat the funny into our skulls. Unfortunately, most of what passes for humor here consists of wacky caricatures endlessly screaming incredibly graphic profanity at each other and engaging in grotesque slapstick atrocities that would make John Waters reach for the Tums. <br />
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Austin plays Jeffrey Dahmer, or actually his clone, created during a secret government project designed to bring the worst serial killers back from the dead as super soldiers for the military. Naturally, Dahmer escapes along with John Wayne Gacy (Randal Malone, playing the role like a watered-down version of Divine) and the two maniacs start murdering their way across the country until they finally run into each other and battle it out for serial-killer supremacy. Also getting into the act is a drunken redneck named Ringo (also played by Austin) who's haunted by the voice of God (Harland Williams) talking to him through his household appliances and ordering him to go after the killers himself.<br />
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Sight gags and random comedy sketches come flying at us like confetti out of a wind tunnel and some of them can't help but be amusing now and then, especially when a local news show interrupts the action with updates featuring gorgeous serial-killer groupies and zoned-out eyewitnesses (including SLEEPAWAY CAMP's Felissa Rose). The film opens promisingly as an author being interviewed by the news anchor gets murdered on air while ridiculous entertainment-news items scroll along the bottom of the screen. Familiar character actor Art LaFleur then makes a welcome but all-too-brief appearance as a scientist drafted into the ill-fated cloning project before it goes haywire.<br />
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Bonnie Aarons tries her best to dredge the funny out of her role as vulture-like, cigar-chomping General Arbogast, who coordinates the search for the killers. As project leader Dr. Stravinski, Peter Zhmutski is a retake or two away from a decent performance. Austin himself is hit-and-miss as Ringo, earning a few chuckles during his battle with some ninjas (don't ask) and a frantic phone call to a prayer hotline for advice (Colby Veil is funny as the laconic operator). But aside from a few bright spots, this character gets tiresome pretty fast. <br />
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Former Munchkin Jerry Maren turns up in a vignette in which Gacy, in full clown regalia, harasses a midget street mime before killing him. Maren sets the general tone of the dialogue here by spewing extreme profanities meant to shock us into laughter. Dahmer is then shown luring a shaggy-haired barfly into a basement with drugs, forcing him to perform fellatio on him, and then gleefully raping his corpse while drilling blood-spewing holes in his head with a power drill. <br />
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This doesn't even sound funny in print, so it's hard to imagine who the heck thought it would translate into giggles and yucks onscreen. As with an earlier scene in which a bum fishes a live rat out of a dumpster and chows down on it in extreme closeup, it's the cinematic equivalent of someone taking an unusual-looking dump and then summoning his friends into the bathroom to see it.<br />
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Things come to a head when Dahmer, Gacy, and Ringo end up in the same room and the film goes into cartoon-chaos overdrive with all the fast-motion, zippy editing, and violent slapstick buffoonery that director Austin can throw at us. What it all amounts to mainly is a bunch of blood-splattered mugging and mindless action punctuated by moments of graphic gore as the titans of terror alternately wrestle (Gacy sits on Dahmer's face, Dahmer bites him in the ass) and threaten each other with insults that are outlandishly vile enough to get them tossed out of a Tourette's convention. In the midst of all this, X-13, a super-super serial killer clone designed to defeat them (Ethan Phillips of "Star Trek: Voyager") shows up and throws his two cents into the mix. With all this stuff going on, the best bit is when a gay neighbor shows up with some housewarming tarts.<br />
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The DVD from Virgil Films & Entertainment is in 16:9 widescreen with Dolby 5.1 and 2.0 sound. There are no extras. <br />
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While fleeting flashes of funny bubble up from this dense, desperate epileptic seizure of a film, most of DAHMER VS. GACY comes off like a bad improv comedy troup on speed performing an autopsy on a fat guy while screaming insults at his mom. Even if you enjoyed the outrageous antics of Divine and her disgusting brood in John Waters' PINK FLAMINGOS, this may be enough to make you feel like hosing off your DVD player after watching it. Then again, if it sounds like your kind of movie--go for it!<br />
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<br /></p>Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-75496144619317856472024-03-12T11:06:00.000-07:002024-03-12T11:06:00.478-07:00THE SECRET LIFE: JEFFREY DAHMER -- DVD Review by Porfle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLz0UN7cf8MPqLHlyDHss_jBmmjuzjN9ou8TLX5_dZ2KZONno0PaLrl9NtFniIg8YraGovmP5YRDjz-HA57I3rp_eeIMf64OiegRwm4OgH0ujhc9iQvekd80GBH8D41q0C4R30j4LGFuE/s1600/box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLz0UN7cf8MPqLHlyDHss_jBmmjuzjN9ou8TLX5_dZ2KZONno0PaLrl9NtFniIg8YraGovmP5YRDjz-HA57I3rp_eeIMf64OiegRwm4OgH0ujhc9iQvekd80GBH8D41q0C4R30j4LGFuE/s1600/box.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /><i><b> Originally posted on 7/9/11</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>Out of all the low-budget serial killer biopics I've seen, <b>THE SECRET LIFE: JEFFREY DAHMER</b> (1993) may be the most interesting to watch as a film. Mainly because (a) it's well made, and (b) it doesn't use a sensationalistic real-life story simply as an easy excuse to churn out yet another gory horror film. <br />
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Screenwriter Carl Crew claims to have done his research, and, based on my limited knowledge of the case, the film seems to bear this out. The familiar bases are covered--Jeffrey Dahmer's unhappy family life, his childhood fascination with dead animals, and his eventual transformation into a coldblooded predator who murdered up to seventeen young men. <br />
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The fact that Dahmer got away with it for so long is accurately portrayed here as a combination of cunning, insane luck, and police incompetence. We follow the story of his crimes from his first kill (as a teen, he murdered a hitchhiker at his family home), through a series of murders while living with his grandmother, and, after moving into his own apartment, his final rampage in which he was luring victims into his clutches at the rate of one per week.<br />
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The pattern of seducing men by offering to pay them to pose for photographs and then drugging them as a prelude to murder becomes somewhat monotonous at times, yet each individual victim adds his own unique elements to the story. Some even escape, although their stories are dismissed by the police. The most tragic of these incidents involves an underage boy who gets away and then, incredibly, is delivered right back into Dahmer's hands. <br />
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As Dahmer, Crew's acting isn't always polished but he's intense and convincing, and the fact that he bears little resemblance to the actual person becomes less of a factor as one gets used to his portrayal. Initially, Dahmer is shown as less of a maniac than an introspective loser who fears being left alone so much that he's compelled to kill those he feels attracted to and keep parts of their bodies as souvenirs. (You almost sympathize with him as he lovingly cradles a severed head for companionship.) As the attacks escalate, so does his sadistic streak as the murder sequences become more horrific and brutally graphic.<br />
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One of the more disturbing scenes finds Dahmer attempting to turn a hapless captive into a zombie by drilling holes in his head and filling them with chemicals. Another is lowered into a barrel of acid and fastened inside while still alive. Perhaps the most elaborate sequence involves some deft directorial touches, a well-crafted build-up with Dahmer displaying some wry behavorial quirks, and an extremely realistic fake head.<br />
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Still, the film isn't as exploitative as it could have been, and these powerful scenes of violence and gore are done with an understated, nonsensational style that makes them even eerier while sometimes evoking a sense of melancholy. Originally hired to score the film before being promoted to director, David R. Bowen's subtle stylistic touches add to the mood while the lighting and cinematography give everything the look of a high-end 70s or 80s exploitation flick.<br />
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Adding to the effect is the drive-in quality print used for this DVD release, with its jagged edits and often gritty look that almost make it seem like a rough cut at times. Despite these factors (and if you liked GRINDHOUSE, they should be a plus), the film looks good for a low-budget 35mm feature and is made with care. Bowen states in the commentary track that he was aiming for a theatrical release--hindered in part by the controversy of the subject--and this is borne out by the obvious effort put into making it more than just the average exploitation flick.<br />
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The DVD from Intervision is in full-screen with Dolby 2.0 sound. No subtitles. Extras include a commentary track with director Bowen and writer/star Crew, plus trailers for this and other Intervision releases.<br />
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Outstanding performances by most of the actors playing Dahmer's victims help sell the film's realism. Other castmembers, particularly a couple of Jeffrey's neighbor ladies who complain vehemently about the stench eminating from his apartment, are also fine, as is the beautiful Lisa Marks as Dahmer's probation officer. But it's Crew who carries the film, both as writer and star, and he makes THE SECRET LIFE: JEFFREY DAHMER a portrait of a serial killer that's worth looking at even though you probably won't like what you see. And it's all the more disturbing because, in this case, the monster is real.<br />
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<br /></p>Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-48424591633893756382024-03-11T10:05:00.000-07:002024-03-11T10:05:30.662-07:00DARK HARVEST -- DVD Review by Porfle<br />
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<br /> </p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 5/16/17</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>The tagline reads "Death Reaps What You Sow." Shouldn't that be "You Reap What Death Sows"? And while we're at it, why a duck? <br />
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But any way you put it, the result of all this reaping is a <b>DARK HARVEST</b> (1992), and I don't mean corn. Sure, it's corny, but not that kind of corn. More like "so bad it's good" corn. <br />
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A nifty pre-titles sequence gets things off to a shivery start when a bickering young couple lost in the desert in their car have a gross encounter of the worst kind with what appears to be a horrible walking scarecrow in a Don Post shock mask.<br />
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Then we join a group of young people in a big white van who, like the unfortunate group of young people in a big white van in THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, are on their way to some fun thing that we're pretty sure they're never going to get to. As Chuck Heston tells us in ARMAGEDDON: "It happened before. It WILL happen again."<br />
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There's an oversexed couple, a bickering couple, some devoted roommates, and the usual loner or two. Some are upbeat and looking forward to their upcoming horseback and hiking vacation, some are spoiled city brats who want to go back home, some are bright, some are dumb, and at least one will turn out to be the most craven sort of coward, giving me at least one character to identify with.<br />
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Alex (Cooper Anderson) is the horny lothario who's supposed to be their guide but got them all stranded in the desert when his stupid van broke down (and this was AFTER the hick back at the last-chance gas station warned them NOT to go that way) so he deserves to die right there at the start.<br />
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With everyone hiking through the desert on their way to some hypothetical horse ranch in the middle of nowhere, interpersonal relationships start to erode and the chances of them actually making it to where they're going get slimmer by the minute.<br />
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Especially after they split up--never a good thing to do--and start
encountering hostile local hicks with guns who seem to have an aversion
to city folk.<br />
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But even these inbred goons are preferable to the scarecrows. In this cursed neck of the desert, it seems, the scarecrows are alive, and they aren't just content with actually scaring crows. The film's title, in fact, could easily have been THE HILLS HAVE SCARECROWS.<br />
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There are scarecrows with pitchforks, scarecrows that fling acid, scarecrows in cars ("Going my way?"), gay scarecrows, wisecracking scarecrows, and even a scarecrow who--don't ask me how or why--sits around in his own military helicopter waiting to punk lost travelers looking for help. (Director James I. Nicholson, we learn from one of the bonus interviews, worked anything they happened to encounter into the story.)<br />
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Before everyone starts getting killed, Alex tells a spooky campfire story that turns out to be the most entertaining thing in the whole movie. After that, it loses what tenuous grasp on logic it may have had with these doofuses running around the desert like chickens with their heads cut off until the story finally runs out of gas and pulls over to the side of the road. <br />
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While DARK HARVEST starts out okay for a no-budget shot-on-video feature, by the final scenes it looks as though the whole project has been passed off to someone's kid brother to finish. Which is great if you're into bad movies, as I am, but others may find it about as exciting as watching a real scarecrow scare crows. <br />
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The second, bonus movie on this disc is the 1986 made-for-TV anthology film <b>ESCAPES</b>, which benefits from the presence of venerable horror superstar Vincent Price as its host.<br />
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Price also cameos as a mailman who delivers a mysterious package to young Matt (Todd Fulton) containing a VHS tape of a movie called "Escapes", hosted by Price, which Matt didn't order but seems to be in since we're watching him. (His unwilling participation will become even more uncomfortably first-hand later on.)<br />
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There's a nice nostalgic aspect to this segment since getting a new videotape in the mail is still sufficient cause for Matt to call a friend and invite him over to watch it. Matt also has a vintage toploader VCR like the one I bought in '81, the kind that you couldn't wreck with a hammer and never had tracking problems.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix2TcPCMmyc6X0LBaVMjdNCiDHd7Irt-xjLWipKYcNvUMKqUmjDQeuMbQp90qguIEEHj1RYW3SjUoUad-eyuNR9v_qxqTIy165cS8GetGw-vr0x5wkbVGPniQDOpouTLhWWwwyYXL8hyphenhyphen5n/s1600/dark+harvest+pic6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix2TcPCMmyc6X0LBaVMjdNCiDHd7Irt-xjLWipKYcNvUMKqUmjDQeuMbQp90qguIEEHj1RYW3SjUoUad-eyuNR9v_qxqTIy165cS8GetGw-vr0x5wkbVGPniQDOpouTLhWWwwyYXL8hyphenhyphen5n/s1600/dark+harvest+pic6.jpg" /></a><br />
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The rest of ESCAPE is basically the usual grab-bag anthology with some longer and more involved stories mixed with a couple of shorter blackout vignettes with a punchline like "Night Gallery" used to do sometimes ("A Little Fishy", "Who's There?").<br />
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"Coffee Break" is a rural tale in which an old codger (Robert Mitchum's brother John) teaches a young upstart from the city not to be in such an all-fired hurry all the time. In "Jonah's Dream" an old woman carries on her late husband's dream of striking gold on their mountain. <br />
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"Think Twice" cautions us not to use a benevolent gift from the beyond for evil, selfish purposes. And finally, "Hall of Faces" brings back Vincent Price to wrap up Matthew's story.<br />
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An added tale not in the original version, "Hobgoblin Bridge", is the highlight of the collection and showcases just what a talented director David Steensland was despite ESCAPES being his one and only IMDb credit. <br />
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This story of a little boy who must cross a covered bridge on his bicycle despite the local legend of its being inhabited by a malevolent hobgoblin is a real virtuoso piece of direction and editing that depends almost entirely on visuals for its impact. <br />
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These short tales were often used as filler on The Sci-Fi Channel and others during the 80s and, while not especially remarkable, are well-made and fairly absorbing. The bookend segments with Vincent Price wrap things up nicely and, overall, ESCAPES is a modest but satisfying effort.<br />
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The double-feature DVD from Intervision offers these nice bonuses: some goodnatured recent interviews with Patti Negri and Dan Weiss of DARK HARVEST, and distributor Tom Naygrow's recollections of ESCAPES writer/director David Steensland. <br />
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<b>Tech Specs: DARK HARVEST</b><br />
Runtime 1 hr 29 min (89 min) (USA) <br />
Sound Dolby Digital Mono<br />
Aspect Ratio 1.33 : 1<br />
Shot-on-video<br />
English subtitles<br />
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<b>Tech Specs: ESCAPES</b><br />
Runtime 1 hr 12 min (72 min)<br />
Sound Dolby Digital Mono<br />
Aspect Ratio 1.33 : 1<br />
35 mm<br />
English subtitles<br />
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Street date: May 30, 2017<br />
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<a href="https://severin-films.com/shop/dark-harvest-escapes-dvd/">Buy it from Severin Films</a><br />
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<br />Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-32258883592462745192024-03-10T14:35:00.000-07:002024-03-10T14:35:16.247-07:00PHOBE: THE XENOPHOBIC EXPERIMENTS -- DVD Review by Porfle<br />
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<br /> </p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 9/27/16</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>In the latter part of the 20th century there was a brief but wonderful phenomenon in which people took their camcorders, which were designed for Mom, Dad, and the kids to shoot their own crappy-looking home videos, and started making crappy-looking "movies" with them. <br /><br />As the technology progressed, the homegrown charm of these crude do-it-yourself productions began to fade, leaving us with a precious few memorable examples of the camcorder genre which are noteworthy for being either surprisingly watchable (as is David A. Prior's <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2011/04/sledgehammer-dvd-review-by-porfle.html">SLEDGEHAMMER</a>, the first shot-on-video horror movie) or just jaw-droppingly awful (and thus, perversely, still just as watchable, as in the case of Barry J. Gillis' mindboggling <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2011/07/things-dvd-review-by-porfle.html">THINGS</a>).<br /><br />The 1995 sci-fi opus <b>PHOBE: THE XENOPHOBIC EXPERIMENTS</b> (Intervision, DVD) falls into the former category thanks to the competent direction of Erica Benedikty (also a co-writer, among other things) which, amazingly enough, even includes a crane shot or two (!). <br />
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Originally conceived as a horror-themed feature film to be shot on 16mm and blown up to 35mm, its projected half-million dollar budget was later reduced to around a few hundred bucks--which, as you might expect, resulted in a considerably less lavish finished product, shot with a Betacam Sp, which made its debut on a Canadian community cable TV station. <br /><br />The script involves a cop from the planet Mondora who's been tasked to track down an escaped cyborg creature known as a "Phobe." The Phobes (short for "Xenophobe") were originally created as super-warriors in an interplanetary war but are now on the loose. <br /><br />When one of them steals a spaceship and hightails it to Earth, Sgt. Gregory Dapp (John Rubick) is ordered to bring it back alive. This he attempts to do with the help of a high school cheerleader named Jennifer (Tina Dumoulin) after she is inadvertently drawn into the whole potentially bloody mess while walking home from school through the woods. <br />
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The less-than-svelte Rubick is supposed to be playing a cool supercop but he looks more like that guy in high school you dread showing up at your house because he eats all your snacks and drinks all your beer. As a cheerleader, the cute Tina Dumoulin is a bit on the plus side but that just somehow seems to make her even cuter. <br /><br />While both are rather lacking in acting skills, if they'd actually been good I would have been severely disappointed. Besides, the dialogue is so amusingly banal and unsophisticated that their unpolished acting style fits it perfectly.<br /><br />The Phobe itself is like a shaggy cross between the Terminator and Swamp Thing, the costume being not too bad at all when photographed right. Sgt. Dapp seems to alternate between actively tracking the beast and being tracked down by it so that the film can emulate various scenes from THE TERMINATOR, PREDATOR, and other similar sci-fi/action films. <br /><br />Naturally, it's pretty much irrelevent in this case to notice things like bad acting, gaping plot holes, inept production values, bad sound, or, in short, bad anything. These are to be fully expected and, as such, are as normal and natural as whiskers on a kitten. You like kittens, don't you? Sure you do.<br />
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The filmmakers do pull off some nice touches here and there (such as the aforementioned crane shots that pretty much had me agog). The few outer space/spaceship shots that we see are pretty basic computer graphics but in this context they're quite passable. A later spaceship landing benefits from some clever forced perspective. Ray gun FX are well done, and in one fight scene between Dapp and the Phobe we even get a couple of honest-to-goodness lightsabers! <br /><br />The DVD from Intervision is in 1.33:1 full frame with Dolby 2.0 sound, remastered and greatly improved from its original form. No subtitles. In addition to a pleasant director's commentary plus Benedikty's first feature-length movie, the supernatural adventure BACK IN BLACK, we get a lengthy behind-the-scenes featurette entitled "The Making of PHOBE", a recent cast and crew Q & A which followed the remastered film's first actual theatrical screening, a comparison of FX shots between the original TV broadcast and the new improved version, outtakes, and a rendition of the film's catchy theme music by the group Gribble Hell. <br /><br />When talking about camcorder films, the two most basic questions are: (1) does it vaguely resemble an actual movie?, and (2) is it watchable? With PHOBE: THE XENOPHOBIC EXPERIMENTS, the answer to both questions is a cheerful "yes." While it didn't exactly blow me away or anything, the fact that it's effortlessly charming and just plain fun to watch in its own amateurish way is enough for me to recommend it. Unless, of course, you simply insist on being a camcorder-phobe. <br /><br /><br />
<br />Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-74463332164859328752024-03-09T12:21:00.000-08:002024-03-09T12:21:13.591-08:00MADE ME DO IT -- DVD Review by Porfle<br />
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<br /> </p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 11/27/18</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>A quick, down and dirty shoot (as described by the filmmakers) on a very low budget sometimes yields surprisingly good results, as it has in the case of the horror-thriller <b>MADE ME DO IT</b> (Indican Pictures, 2017).<br />
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What director and co-writer (with Matthew John Koppin) Benjamin Ironside Koppin set out to do was to get some talented people together and "Frankenstein" (his word) a movie together taking the old FRIDAY THE 13TH and <a href="https://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2013/09/halloween-35th-anniversary-edition-blu.html">HALLOWEEN</a> slasher templates and doing an homage with a few curves and angles thrown in.<br />
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The main victims aren't the usual rowdy, party-hardy bunch--just pensive college student Ali Hooper (Anna B. Shaffer), her younger brother Nick (Jason Gregory London), and her boyfriend Jason (Liston Spence). <br />
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Ali's home for the weekend (no keg party or summer camp in the woods this time) but her estranged parents are gone, leaving just her and the guys having a quiet, unpleasantly introspective time of things. <br />
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It's just the right situation to be crashed by the standard masked serial killer, but this time he's a stringy, weepy nerd named Thomas (Kyle Van Vonderen) who spends most of his time banished to his bedroom by a sadistic, abusive aunt and living in a fantasy world of funny drawings that come to life and masks that he makes out of paper plates. <br />
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Thomas is a "special needs" sort of kid who couldn't hurt a fly--that is, until he puts on his "Barbara" mask, because "Barbara" is just the take-charge, take-no-prisoners sort of person Thomas could never be. And "Barbara" is angry at the world. Very angry.<br />
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That's the set-up, and from there MADE ME DO IT takes us into a scary campfire tale where Thomas silently stalks the night in his creepy mask and wields his bloody axe, leaving a trail of bodies all the way to Ali and Nick's house. <br />
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Much of the subsequent action is similar to what happens in <a href="https://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2008/10/strangers-dvd-review-by-porfle.html">THE STRANGERS</a>, in which masked killers home-invaded a young couple and terrorized them for no apparent reason. <br />
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Here, we get just the same spooky ambience with the inhabitants of the dark, shadowy house (the electricity, alas, has gone off) cowering in fear as they try to elude the unknown stalker, who keeps popping up where they least expect him. <br />
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The director builds the suspense well for most of the film, although some scenes tend to meander a bit as Ali gets contemplative about the whole thing. The film spends a lot of time pondering Thomas' psychological state and how he got that way, and our interest in this runs hot and cold.<br />
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Meanwhile, Thomas goes off on several freaky mind-trips involving his dead parents, his imaginary animal friends, his horrible aunt, "Barbara" (of course), and other images that come flying at us via various media such as 35mm, 16mm, and 8mm film, scratchy VHS tape, and crude animations--all of which are quite well-done and fun to look at. (These are explored in more detail in one of several making-of featurettes included on the DVD.)<br />
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With a rousing final confrontation and a pretty keen twist right at the fadeout, MADE ME DO IT stacks up as one of the more interesting modestly-mounted slasher flicks of recent years, and is way better than watching the usual teen campers getting sliced and diced in the woods by some Jason wannabe. <br />
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<br />Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-90308799870790087862024-03-08T10:47:00.000-08:002024-03-08T10:47:20.479-08:00The Jekyll-to-Hyde Transformations (Barrymore, March, Tracy) (video)<br />
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<b>The Jekyll-to-Hyde Transformations (Barrymore, March, Tracy)</b><br />
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"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (John Barrymore, 1920)<br />"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (Fredric March, 1932)<br />"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (Spencer Tracy, 1941)<br />
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<i>I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!</i><br />
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<i><br /></i>Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-62325422700603588952024-03-07T11:08:00.000-08:002024-03-07T11:08:23.414-08:00DANIKA -- Movie Review by Porfle<br />
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<b> </b></p><p><b><i>(This review originally appeared online in 2006 at Bumscorner.com. Contains spoilers.)</i></b></p><p><b> </b><br />
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<b>DANIKA</b> (2006) is one of those wickedly suspenseful "Twilight Zone"-type psychological thrillers that you know is going to have a twist ending, so all you can do is hope that you're not going to be disappointed with it. In this case, the ending doesn't make you do a mental doubletake like THE SIXTH SENSE or FIGHT CLUB, but it does tie up all the loose ends in a satisfying way and make you feel as though it was worth sitting through all the build-up.<br />
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Marisa Tomei gives a very effective performance as Danika Merrick, a devoted mother of three who is happily married to Randy (Craig Bierko, THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT), but whose constant fear that the evils of the world are closing in on her and her family is causing her to have vivid paranoid delusions that are gradually destroying her life. This isn't helped by the fact that every time she looks at a TV, she sees news bulletins about school buses exploding or children being abducted. <br />
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To make matters worse, a little girl she encounters on the sidewalk one day with a man she assumes is the father turns up in a news report about the discovery of a missing child's body, and Danika's guilt over not being able to help her results in her being haunted by frightening visions of the dead girl. <br />
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On the home front, Danika fears she's losing control of her own children as well. Her daughter Lauren (Nicki Prian) shocks her one evening by asking her what the "C" word (rhymes with Allen Funt) means, claiming she read it in a book assigned by her English teacher, Mrs. Zachary--and then shocks her again by saying, "I wish she would die a horrible death." <br />
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Danika storms off to the school for a parent-teacher meeting and faints dead away when Mrs. Zachary turns out to be the owner of a head Danika saw in one of her grotesque delusions (which is one of the really good "gotcha" scares of the movie). Later, the teacher assures her she wouldn't dream of assigning such a book to her students. Moments later, Danika imagines seeing the same teacher's violent death after a sheet of plate glass falls on her from above and slices her throat. <br />
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Meanwhile, her oldest son Kurt (Kyle Gallner) is spending more and more time "studying in his room" with Myra (Danay Garcia), a really (really) hot Spanish exchange student, whom Danika later catches giving Kurt a biology lesson that isn't in the textbook and throws her out. Myra shows up again later on in her skimpies, lying beside Danika in bed and shooting up heroin before flinging off her bra and heading off to Kurt's room to "study" some more. So, while Danika's delusions grow increasingly disturbing to her, they are often quite entertaining for us in various ways. <br />
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Needless to say, Danika feels compelled to seek psychiatric help. But Evelyn (Regina Hall) strikes her as too young and inexperienced to relate to her problems, and the sessions eventually end up serving little purpose besides giving Danika a chance to describe to us some of the stuff that's going on in her head. In one of these episodes, Danika goes into a store to buy a videogame for her youngest son and then, after viewing another horrifying news bulletin on a bank of display TVs, she turns around and suddenly finds herself seemingly the only person left in the world. <br />
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This is especially reminiscent of "The Twilight Zone", or the 1962 low-budget classic CARNIVAL OF SOULS, another film about a woman who is steadily losing her grip on reality and descending into a nightmare world. But although Evelyn may be ineffectual as a psychiatrist, she will return in a very unexpected way. <br />
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During all this I found myself wondering if Danika was simply losing her marbles, or if there was going to be some supernatural explanation--either of which would have been fine with me if handled properly. What I definitely didn't want (and was afraid I was going to get) was to find out that the whole thing was a plot to drive her crazy, concocted by her husband and his mistress in order to get rid of her (especially when we discover that Danika's husband once had an affair with their children's nanny). <br />
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Movies with this storyline usually end up going too far, with the plot to drive the husband/wife insane having to be unbelievably and often impossibly complex to explain all the various things that are made to happen in order to drive him/her nuts. (HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL comes to mind, although I forgive that movie its logical lapses because it's just so much fun.) Plus, that sort of plot twist is just way too predictable these days because we've seen it so many times before. <br />
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Thankfully, DANIKA doesn't go that route. She's definitely either going insane or suffering from something malevolently supernatural. I'll let you find out which, and hopefully you'll enjoy getting there as much as I did. By the end, when everything started falling into place, it was like the feeling you get when you fit the last piece into a jigsaw puzzle and finally get to see the whole picture, and it seems as though doing so was time well-spent. Unfortunately for Danika, though, it isn't a very happy picture.<br />
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<br />Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-11734592022636835562024-03-06T10:46:00.000-08:002024-03-06T10:46:02.712-08:00THE AMICUS COLLECTION -- Four Blu-ray Reviews by Porfle<br />
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<a href="https://severin-films.com/shop/amicus-collection-blu-ray/"><br /></a><br /></p><p><b><i>(Originally posted on 10/25/22)</i></b><br /></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b><a href="https://severin-films.com/shop/amicus-collection-blu-ray/">"THE AMICUS COLLECTION"</a> is a Blu-ray box set from Severin Films which contains the following titles: <i>And Now the Screaming Starts/Asylum/The Beast Must Die!/The Vault of Amicus.</i> Here are our collected reviews of each separate title.</b><br />
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<b>ASYLUM (1973)</b><br />
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I missed out on most of the cool-looking Amicus productions covered in "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine when I was a kid. Except TALES FROM THE CRYPT, which I did get to see at the drive-in when it came out and was duly impressed and entertained. <br />
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Which is exactly my reaction to finally getting to see another quintessential Amicus anthology feature, <b>ASYLUM</b> (Severin Films, 1973), surely just as aptly representative of the small but hard-working studio that seemed to rival Hammer in its own modest way, but with a personality all its own, back in the 60s and 70s.<br />
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With super-efficient producing partners Max Rosenberg and Milt Subotsky handling the business end of things while hiring the best artistic and technical people for the actual filmmaking duties, ASYLUM ranks as one of their finer efforts thanks to a tight script by Robert Bloch ("Psycho") and what amounts to a pretty impressive all-star cast.<br />
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Robert Powell, best known by me from such films as TOMMY, <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-survivor-blu-ray-review-by-porfle.html">THE SURVIVOR</a>, and the TV mini-series "Jesus of Nazareth" (in the title role, no less), is Dr. Martin, a psychiatrist applying for a position in an asylum for the criminally insane. (I especially enjoyed the robust rendition of Mussorgsky's "A Night On Bald Mountain" that accompanied his country drive to the secluded location.)<br />
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The institute's eccentric boss, Dr. Rutherford (Patrick Magee, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE), informs him that his predecessor, Dr. Starr, recently went violently mad himself and is now a patient with an entirely different personality. Rutherford tells Martin that he has the job if he can interview the patients and ascertain which of them is actually Dr. Starr.<br />
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Thus hangs the anthology aspect of the film as Martin visits each patient in turn and listens to their stories, which we see in flashback. They amount to a potent mix of spine-chilling horror tales, each boasting a kind of slow, deliberate storytelling that I find quite satisfying as well as an atmospheric British ambience with that pleasing 70s vibe. <br />
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Things start out with a bang when patient Bonnie (Barbara Parkins, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS) tells the story of "Frozen Fear", the most lurid and visceral tale in the collection. In it, she and her lover Walter (Richard Todd, THE LONGEST DAY) plan to do away with his wife Ruth (Sylvia Syms) via dismemberment. <br />
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Ruth, however, has been dabbling in voodoo and, even in death, turns out to be more than just the sum of her...parts. It's the liveliest and most grotesque entry, and my favorite. (The film's spoileriffic trailer dwells particularly upon this segment.)<br />
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The next story, "The Weird Tailor", has the debt-ridden title character (Barry Morse of "The Fugitive" and "Space: 1999") accepting a lucrative commission for a very strange suit of clothes by a mysterious stranger (played by the great Peter Cushing). The purpose of the odd suit of clothes turns out to be quite a shock for the old man, and for us when the supernatural tale reaches its violent end.<br />
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"Lucy Comes To Stay" offers a two-fer of great leading ladies with Charlotte Rampling (THE NIGHT PORTER, "The Avengers") and Britt Eklund (THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN) in a story of overbearing husband George (James Villiers, REPULSION) plotting against his mentally-unstable wife while her friend Lucy stops at nothing, including murder, to protect her. It's the most low-key entry with a predictable twist, yet I found it involving enough, especially with such an appealing cast.<br />
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The fourth tale, "Mannikins of Horror", takes place right there in the asylum with Herbert Lom as patient Dr. Byron, a man whose hobby is fashioning doll likenesses of his friends and colleagues. He claims that he can project his soul into his own miniature self, animate it, and use it as a weapon of vengeance against his most hated enemy, who happens to be one of the asylum's inhabitants. Which, in a delightfully staged sequence, is exactly what he does.<br />
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The individual flashback tales are involving to various degrees, while the framing story inside that big, Gothic asylum ultimately delivers the goods for a twisty, satisfying finish. <br />
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Direction by Roy Ward Baker (A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH, AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS) is solid and thoroughly professional as are all other aspects of the production, and, while not really gory, it's still strong stuff for its time. <br />
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The Blu-ray from Severin contains their usual lavish bonus menu beginning with "Two's A Company", a 70s-produced BBC report on the making of the film which, in addition to cast and crew interviews, features fascinating thoughts on filmmaking from Amicus co-producer Milt Subotsky himself. Recent interviews of David J. Schow (regarding his friend Robert Bloch) and Fiona Subotsky (about her husband Milt) yield much information and insight. <br />
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The featurette "Inside the Fear Factory" offers directors Roy Ward Baker and Freddie Francis and producer Max J. Rosenberg talking about Amicus. There's also an informative commentary track with Baker and camera operator Neil Binney, reversible cover art, and two trailers.<br />
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ASYLUM is solidly made, nicely atmospheric, and just plain fun genre filmmaking that this horror fan considers time very well spent. <br />
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<b>AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS (1973)</b><br />
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The title of the original novel by David Case was "Fengriffen", with Roger Marshall's screenplay similarly dubbed "The Bride of Fengriffen." To the actors' dismay and my delight, the title of this 1973 Amicus production ultimately became <b>AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS</b> (Severin Films). <br />
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I find this not only more interesting-sounding but quite apt, as leading lady Stephanie Beacham (DRACULA A.D. 1972, "The Colbys") and various of her co-stars emit piercing, full-bodied screams every five minutes or so in reaction to some unbearable horror visited upon them by the script.<br />
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It all starts when 18th-century British nobleman Charles Fengriffen (genre stalwart Ian Ogilvy) brings his new bride Catherine (Beacham) home to the rustic but extravagantly elegant family estate in the country. (Perennial film location Oakley Court provides the lavish exteriors, with equally elaborate interiors constructed and shot at Shepperton Studios.)<br />
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What Catherine doesn't realize--and which both Charles and everyone else take pains to hide from her--is that due to the heinous crimes of Charles' grandfather Henry against his woodsman Silas (Geoffrey Whitehead), there's a terrible curse on the house of Fengriffen that's to be visited upon the first virginal bride to reside there. (For which she, to her grave misfortune, qualifies.)<br />
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This offers director Roy Ward Baker a chance to punctuate the formal, richly Gothic atmosphere with shocking flashes of lurid imagery as the horrified Catherine is subjected to ghostly visions such as a bloody hand plunging through Henry's portrait and glimpses of the disembodied but ambulatory hand making its way around inside the house while a spectral Silas appears intermittently at the window with gory holes for eyes. <br />
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We're led to wonder if such visions are real or merely figments of her heated imagination--that is, until various household staff and others connected with the Fengriffens begin to die off in violent ways. Catherine herself needs no more convincing after a spectral presence seems to force itself upon her sexually on her very wedding night, setting into motion what will become the eventual ghastly fruition of the curse.<br />
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Baker's surehanded directorial experience on such classics as A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, ASYLUM, and FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH comes into play as he moves the camera fluidly within the spacious indoor sets. Lighting, costumes, and other production details also contribute to give this film a look beyond its relatively modest budget.<br />
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This look is similar to that of the earlier Gothic-tinged Hammer films, and indeed seems to be trying to fill the gap left by Hammer's move at the time toward a more modern image. Yet it somehow retains what I think of as the distinctive, perhaps indefinable visual ambience of an Amicus production.<br />
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Even with its R-rating, gore is kept to a minimum although that severed hand stays quite busy and Silas' bloody axe gets its chance to swing as well. A couple of implied rape scenes (one featuring second-billed Herbert Lom in a revelatory flashback as the evil Henry Fengriffen) and some brief nudity add to the adult content.<br />
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The closing minutes also contain a scene in which a grave is desecrated in such a violent way that it comes off as shockingly morbid, and almost makes everything that came before seem sedate in comparison. The final twist is no less effective for its predictability--the fact that what we expected all along finally comes to pass is, in fact, somewhat satisfying.<br />
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Performances are fine, with the always-reliable Ogilvy and the wonderfully expressive Beacham aided by supporting castmembers such as Patrick Magee (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, ASYLUM) as a family doctor all too familiar with the curse, and the aforementioned Lom in his brief but effective flashback scenes. <br />
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Distinguished genre legend Peter Cushing doesn't make his appearance until around the halfway mark or later, but he makes the most of his role as a psychiatrist who tries to make scientific sense of what's happening to Catherine and those around her. Even in those moments when the film's stately pace begins to lag, he and the other leads are always interesting to watch.<br />
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The Blu-ray from Severin Films offers a lovely remastered print with only the occasional rough patch. The bonus menu is nicely stocked as usual, with a lengthy, clip-filled featurette about Oakley Court hosted by horror authors Allan Bryce and David Flint, an audio interview with Peter Cushing (with accompanying photo montage), a review of the film by horror author Denis Meikle, plus a trailer and radio spot. Two seperate commentary tracks are available, one with Roy Ward Baker and Stephanie Beacham, the other with Ian Ogilvie, and both are marvelous fun to listen to.<br />
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AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS is one of those simmering Gothic tales that might've been a bit slow for me in my younger days, but now it's just the thing for me to settle into and enjoy like a good book. Only turn the pages in this book and you never know when a bloody hand or an eyeless woodsman with an axe are going to jump out at you. <br />
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<b>THE BEAST MUST DIE! (1974)</b><br />
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One of the most hard-and-fast rules of cinema is that any movie is worth watching if it has a "Werewolf Break." <br />
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Okay, I made that up, but I do find it to be true in the case of the 1974 Amicus werewolf thriller <b>THE BEAST MUST DIE!</b> (Severin Films), which not only does have a "Werewolf Break" but happens to be the only film I can think of to boast such a distinction.<br />
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It opens with a lively title sequence featuring eccentric millionaire Tom Newcliffe (American actor Calvin Lockhart, COTTON COMES TO HARLEM, UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT) being hunted by his own ex-military security staff in order to test their capabilities. This is in preparation for an antipated guest--namely, a werewolf. <br />
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Newcliffe, in fact, has invited a varied array of men and women to his secluded estate for the weekend, believing one of them to be a werewolf and looking forward to the opportunity of hunting it down to satisfy his sadistic lusts for sport and blood, as he does every other kind of wild beast he comes in contact with.<br />
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Thus, we already get a strong THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME vibe, especially when Newcliffe makes it clear that none of the guests--that is, werewolf suspects--is free to leave the grounds until one of them has been exposed and terminated. <br />
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There's also sort of a low-rent Agatha Christie flavor a la "And Then There Were None" and "Ten Little Indians", including even the traditional gathering of the suspects and surprise reveal at the end. (The script is actually adapted from a short story by James Blish, author of the very first Star Trek novel "Spock Must Die!")<br />
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What makes this variation on the old saw so much fun--besides, of course, the werewolf angle, which will have the attention of old-school monster fans from frame one--is the pure, undiluted 70s-era cheesiness of the whole thing. <br />
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While capable enough, the direction by Paul Annett, as well as cinematography, editing, and some rather broad acting, give the film the look and feel of a quickie TV-movie of the era. <br />
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The original score by Douglas Gamley is perfectly fine and even somewhat reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann until he tries for a 70s funk-rock effect, which recalls the old thwacka-wacka 70s porn-movie backing tracks.<br />
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This, however, by no means hampers one's enjoyment of the film. Rather, it increases it for viewers with a taste for fine cheese who revel in seeing such a cast, including Peter Cushing, Anton Diffring, Michael Gambon, and Charles Gray, taking part in such goings on. <br />
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Calvin Lockhart himself overacts his role with such magnificent abandon that I kept wishing he could skip the werewolf and go up against Rod Steiger in a ham-actor cage match. <br />
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With three successive nights of full moons, THE BEAST MUST DIE! gives us plenty of furious action (although the murky day-for-night photography sometimes makes it hard to see just what's going on) as well as lots of ensemble drama pitting the hot-blooded hunter against his own reluctant guests as he tries to trick each into revealing his or her hidden lycanthropy. This includes even his wife, Caroline (Marlene Clark, who also tends to emote rather robustly).<br />
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When we see the werewolf itself, it's rather disappointingly played by an actual canine rather than a person in werewolf makeup (which I, being a lifelong fan of such films as THE WOLF MAN and CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, would much prefer). <br />
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I got used to this, however, and was primed when the film finally paused for its delightfully hokey "Werewolf Break", a gimmick harkening back to the days of William Castle in which we're given thirty seconds to weigh the clues and decide the true identity of the werewolf. (I was wrong, and you probably will be, too.)<br />
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The Blu-ray from Severin Films looks good despite occasional imperfections in the source material. Personally, I prefer my vintage monster flicks with a hint of the old grindhouse look since that's the way they used to look running through a theater projector for the thousandth time back in the good old days. So to my eyes, the film looks just fine.<br />
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Special features include an audio essay by horror historian Troy Howarth, an informative commentary track with director Paul Arnett, the featurette "Directing the Beast" with Arnett again, and the theatrical trailer. These extras, like the film itself, are exclusive only to the Severin 4-volume set "The Amicus Collection", which also includes "Asylum", "And Now the Screaming Starts", and "The Vault of Amicus." Both English and Spanish soundtracks are available, with English subtitles.<br />
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There are those, of course, who will find this practically unwatchable if they require their horror films to be more costly, refined, and sophisticated. That's fine for them, but I'm one of many who can watch a movie like THE BEAST MUST DIE! and relish it every bit as much as those other ones--and, occasionally, even more. <br />
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<b>THE VAULT OF AMICUS (2017)</b><br />
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So you like Amicus Pictures, and you also like trailer compilations, eh? Well then, Severin Films has just the thing for you--namely, their new Blu-ray collection entitled <b>THE VAULT OF AMICUS</b> (B&W/color, 63 min.), which gathers 30 or so Amicus trailers from 1960-81 together into one nice, watchable batch and also adds a commentary track and a couple of lengthy interviews with the company's founders, Max Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky, for good measure.<br />
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It's exclusive to Severin's new 4-volume boxed set, THE AMICUS COLLECTION, which also contains Amicus classics ASYLUM, AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS, and THE BEAST MUST DIE! The trailers for these show up later, of course, but the disc begins with Rosenberg and Subotsky's pioneer foray into film, a pre-Beatles teen music show called "Ring-a-Ding Rhythm" which is delightfully out of touch with where pop music was headed at the time. <br />
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What follows is an account of how the producing partners followed trends, tried new things, learned their craft through trial and error, and ended up putting out a widely-varied body of work which happened to concentrate mainly upon horror and science-fiction, the two most lucrative genres for the independent filmmakers. <br />
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Some of the more familiar titles in the latter category are "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors", "Dr. Who and the Daleks", "The Skull", "Daleks Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.", Robert Bloch's "The Psychopath", "The Terrornauts", "They Came From Beyond Space", "The Mind of Dr. Soames", "Torture Garden", and one of their least successful efforts, "The Deadly Bees." <br />
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A departure for them was the spy thriller "Danger Route" with Richard Johnson. Forays into more high-brow and/or experimental territory would come with such films as "The Birthday Party" with a young Robert Shaw (who would later play Quint in "Jaws"), "What Became of Jack and Jill" (a psychological thriller), and "Thank You All Very Much" with Sandy Dennis.<br />
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But it's the good stuff (as far as I'm concerned, anyway) that Rosenberg and Subotsky kept coming back to. As the commentary points out, experience taught them what worked and what didn't, so they just kept doing what worked as well as they could. <br />
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This resulted in a string of classics and near-classics that gave Hammer Studios a run for their money in the 60s and 70s, with such titles as "The House That Dripped Blood", "Scream and Scream Again", "I, Monster" (Christopher Lee doing Jekyll and Hyde), "Asylum", "And Now the Screaming Starts", "The Beast Must Die!", "From Beyond the Grave", "Madhouse", and that beloved duo of EC Comics adaptations, "Tales From the Crypt" and "The Vault of Horror."<br />
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Later, Amicus would venture into Edgar Rice Burroughs fantasy-adventure romps with "The Land That Time Forgot", "At the Earth's Core", and "The People That Time Forgot." Rosenberg and Subotsky's partnership would conclude with "The Uncanny" and "The Monster Club."<br />
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This is the stuff I read about in "Famous Monsters" magazine as a kid and was occasionally lucky enough to see on the big screen. I particularly recall seeing "Dr. Who and the Daleks" as the second half of a double bill with "Night of the Living Dead." The colorful and relatively cheerful "Daleks" came as quite a relief for a kid who just endured Romero's grueling nightmare of terror for the first time.<br />
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The trailers, as usual for a collection such as this, are a mixed bag with some more interesting than others, but all in all it's a splendidly entertaining set. Casting was an Amicus strong point, so many of them are jam-packed with familiar faces such as Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, Jack Palance, Burgess Meredith, Patrick Magee, Caroline Munro, Ingrid Pitt, Diana Dors, Harry Andrews, Carol Lynley, Robert Vaughn, Nigel Davenport, Patrick Wymark, Doug McClure, Robert Powell, Terence Stamp, and many others.<br />
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The commentary track by horror authors Kim Newman and David Flint is knowledgeable and fun, with nary a dead spot. The bonus menu consists of very lengthy, in-depth interviews and remembrances by Rosenberg and Subotsky themselves (with accompanying pictures) which should prove absolutely invaluable to any interested parties. <br />
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The trailers themselves have that wonderful grindhouse look that fills me with nostalgia--most of them look like they've been around the block a few times. (Look for the really cool Easter Egg for some fun TV spots.) <br />
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THE VAULT OF AMICUS, like any good trailer compilation, is a treasure trove of juicy clips from lots of great movies, in this case the best of a legendary production duo whose solid genre output kept us horror and sci-fi fans going back in the days before such things became mainstream and plentiful. It's the kind of nostalgia that you just want to settle into and wallow around in for awhile. <br />
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<a href="https://severin-films.com/shop/amicus-collection-blu-ray/"><b>Order THE AMICUS COLLECTION (Blu-ray 4-volume box set) from Severin Films</b></a><br />
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<span style="color: #000032;"><b><a href="https://severin-films.com/shop/asylum-blu-ray/">Asylum</a> and <a href="https://severin-films.com/shop/and-now-the-screaming-starts-bluray/">And Now The Screaming Starts</a> can be ordered separately.</b></span><br />
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<b></b><br />Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-9340614645953935522024-03-05T10:26:00.000-08:002024-03-05T10:26:40.634-08:00SPARTACUS: THE COMPLETE SERIES -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle<br />
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<i><b> </b></i></div><p><i><b> </b></i><span lang=""><i><b>Originally posted on 9/14/2014</b></i><br /></span></p><p><span lang=""> </span></p><p><span lang="">"This show is what you get when you cross a riveting, exquisitely-produced story with a meat grinder." That's how I described the first season DVD set (<a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2010/09/spartacus-blood-and-sand-complete-first.html" target="_blank">"Blood and Sand"</a>) of the shockingly graphic, richly dramatic, and blazingly entertaining Starz series "Spartacus", with subsequent sets (<a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2011/08/spartacus-gods-of-arena-dvd-review-by.html" target="_blank">"Gods of the Arena"</a>, <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2012/08/spartacus-vengeance-complete-second.html" target="_blank">"Vengeance"</a>, and "War of the Damned") matching if not surpassing it with each hypnotically watchable episode. <br />
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If you're new to the series, or have missed parts of it along the way, fear not. Anchor Bay and Starz have collected the entire sweeping saga in the 13-disc box set <b>SPARTACUS: THE COMPLETE SERIES</b> (available in either DVD or Blu-ray+Digital HD with Ultraviolet™) containing all 39 episodes and original bonus features plus an extra all-new bonus disc. And if you're like me, this just might become your brand new stranded-on-a-desert-island pick of the week, month--maybe even year.<br />
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<span lang="">Those with even a passing knowledge of the historical account and/or the Stanley Kubrick film will be familiar with the story of Spartacus, a free man cast into slavery by the Romans circa 73 B.C. and forced to fight in the gladiatorial arena until at last he led a slave revolt whose growing legions, for a short while anyway, threatened to conquer Rome itself.<br />
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While hailed by the arena's bloodthirsty spectators as its greatest and most heroic gladiator of all, Spartacus' growing horror at the mistreatment and oppression of his fellow slaves, coupled with an overwhelming lust to avenge his beloved wife's death at Roman hands, finally drives him and his followers into all-out war at the mind-boggling climax of "Blood and Sand." <br />
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But first we get to see our hero's constant struggle to survive one harrowing fight for life after another against a never-ending procession of the deadliest foes ever to wield swords and shields. And the clashes continue even in the gladiators' off-time as well, as Spartacus must coexist not only with brave allies like Varro (Jai Courtney) and harsh but noble trainer Doctore (Peter Mensah, 300), but with such bitter rivals as super-warrior Crixus (Manu Bennett)--whose aid he'll desperately court when the time comes to revolt--and various others who wish his downfall either through fair competition or more devious means. <br />
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When it comes to deviousness, however, none can match that of the spoiled, entitled Roman elite who enjoy lives of leisure and idle intrigue while using their slaves as either beasts of burden or objects of sexual and sadistic gratification. Of these, most entertaining are John Hannah (THE MUMMY) as gladiator master Batiatus and his scheming wife Lucretia, played to perfection by "Xena: Warrior Princess" herself, Lucy Lawless. <br />
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Joining them in the delightfully dark and sinister goings-on of the Roman upper class is Viva Bianca (<a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2014/02/scorned-dvd-review-by-porfle.html" target="_blank">SCORNED</a>) as vain, condescending Ilithyia, wife of super soldier Gaius Claudius Glaber (Craig Parker), who will one day be charged with defeating Spartacus in battle. Ilithyia proves a vile young seductress who feigns friendship while forever plotting against Lucretia and Batiatus to improve her social status. <br />
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At times, the lengths to which these characters will go (perhaps "stoop" would be a better word) to outwit each other are dazzlingly perverse, as are many of their diversions. "Spartacus" is rife with more steamy softcore sex than a whole month's worth of "Cinemax After Dark", and whether you fancy the male or female form in all its unfettered glory, you're sure to get more than an eyeful with each episode. Careful, though--several of these sexual couplings have not-so-happy endings.<br />
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What impresses most about this series, however, are the battle scenes--perhaps the goriest and most graphically violent ever filmed, and without a doubt some of the most exciting. No horror film ever boasted this level of carnage--heads roll, limbs are severed, blood fills the air--all done with a combination of practical and computer effects that match the semi-unreal green-screen ambience of the series as a whole (which I find appealing in its own way). <br />
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Both arena and battlefield fights are a blend of styles from such films as 300, THE MATRIX, and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, using lots of bullet-time shots and super-slo-mo tableaux that resemble splash pages from exquisitely-drawn comic books. All of which is of feature-film quality and keeps us entertained on a purely visceral level while also moving the plot relentlessly forward.<br />
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With star Andy Whitfield sidelined by illness (which, to every fan's great sorrow, the likable and talented actor would not survive), the producers chose the prequel path as a follow-up to season one. "Gods of the Arena" concentrates on the gladiator business with John Hannah and Lucy Lawless coming to the fore to enact some of their characters' most outlandish dealings in both the gladiatorial and social arenas. <br />
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Again, arena action dominates all else as we get to see not only the origin of Crixus, but the introduction of a new gladiator hero known as Gannicus (Dustin Clare), a devil-may-care fighter with the insouciant air of a rock star. At first superficial, Gannicus will eventually reveal a depth that makes him and his story both fascinating and moving. Getting to know Crixus better also enriches his backstory, enhancing his later relationships with Spartacus and others. The "Star Wars" saga's own "Jango Fett", Temuera Morrison, appears as Batiatus' head gladiator-trainer. <br />
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In elevating his status in Roman society, John Hannah's Batiatus proves so cunning, willful, and prone to sudden bursts of extreme violence that his plotlines often have the feel of a Mario Puzo underworld thriller from an earlier time. Lucy Lawless' Lucretia, of course, is involved in equally calculating pursuits of her own. Both will be taken aback when Batiatus' domineering father returns from exile to take over the family gladiator business from his errant son. As in season one, the storylines all come together to end in jarring fashion that will leave viewers breathless.<br />
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The third series, "Vengeance" (officially referred to as "season two", with "Gods of the Arena" being considered a separate miniseries), introduces Liam McIntyre in place of the late Andy Whitfield as Spartacus. The change is jarring at first, to be sure, but give him time--eventually McIntyre will make the role his own. We finally get to rejoin the slave revolt already in progress, with Spartacus' army increasing in number with each Roman household they lay waste to and each group of slaves that they liberate. <br />
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Cynthia Addai-Robinson replaces Lesley-Ann Brandt as Naevia, former "body slave" to Lucretia who is now the love of Crixus' life. In time, Naevia will become a fierce warrior herself and fight alongside Crixus and the others as Addai-Robinson, like McIntyre, grows into the character.<br />
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Ilithyia returns in a surprising new storyline, as does her husband Gaius Claudius Glaber, who leads the Roman forces against Spartacus and finds the slave army and its leader--who is fast becoming a living legend to both slave and Roman alike--more formidable than he dared imagine.<br />
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It all leads up to the final season, "War of the Damned", in which the series reaches a level of visual spectacle and dramatic intensity that serves as a fitting climax to the saga. Battlefield action rivals that of RETURN OF THE KING, with each blood-drenched clash topping the last in a fury of blunt and bladed weapons thudding and slicing their way through oceans of writhing combatants. <br />
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The title character now fully belongs to Liam McIntyre, who plays the role with a conviction and depth much improved over the previous season. Manu Bennett's Crixus and Dustin Clare's Gannicus are also far more rounded characters who add to the series' dramatic tension as well as continuing to provide some of its most thrilling battle action.<br />
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One ambitious plotline involves the conquering of an entire city as a home for Spartacus' forces, which will prove as hard to hold as it is to manage when a brash young Gaius Julius Caesar (Todd Lasance, who recalls Brad Pitt in TROY) infiltrates their ranks and leads a devastating attack from within. <br />
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But Spartacus has an even greater new foe, perhaps his most fearsome of all, in the brilliant military leader Crassus (an outstanding Simon Merrells, THE WOLFMAN), a vastly wealthy man who, after being implored by a beleaguered Roman senate, purchases an army of 10,000 men with his own money and leads them into battle against the rebels. <br />
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While ruthless and unyielding, Crassus proves a more interesting antagonist than the usual "boo-hiss" villain in that he respects Spartacus as both man and warrior, and displays emotional depth in his dealings with an ambitious but incompetent son, Tiberius (Christian Antidormi), and a beautiful slave woman, Kore (Jenna Lind), whom he loves over his own wife.<br />
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The usual liberal doses of softcore porn are depicted with the same matter-of-fact frankness as the battle scenes. The latter are, as always, rendered with the utmost imagination and visual creativity. Often an impeccably choreographed moment is staged and frozen in time as to resemble a Barry Smith painting or Jim Steranko gatefold brought to life. <br />
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As usual, there's more blood and gore here than in just about any horror film you can imagine. Nothing is held back in the depiction of extreme, graphic violence that shows in hyper-realistic detail just what carnage would reign during one of these vicious hand-to-hand battles with thousands of men and women ferociously flailing and hacking away at each other in close quarters.<br />
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With the slave revolt an ever-growing threat to Rome's way of life, Spartacus and Crassus continue to match strategy and armed might in a battle of wits that has heartrending repercussions for both sides. In this, the final season, beloved characters fall and the unthinkable happens time and again. <br />
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Because the characters are, by this time, so familiar and well-drawn, the dramatic passages carry an impact just as riveting if not more so than the action scenes, especially since history already tells us that this story, at least in some key aspects, won't have a happy ending. But as far as that goes, the writers still have a number of ways to keep things from being too downbeat and predictable as we near the inevitable conclusion. <br />
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The Blu-ray and DVD box sets from Anchor Bay/Starz are in 1.78:1 widescreen with English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish mono sound. Subtitles are in English and Spanish. Runtime is 2173 minutes for Blu-ray and 2136 minutes for DVD. (A complete list of bonus features follows this review.)<br />
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All in all, SPARTACUS: THE COMPLETE SERIES is one of the most solidly and consistently compelling series I've ever seen. With endlessly impressive battle scenes filled to the brim with action and excitement, and dramatic storylines that are shocking, suspenseful, and scintillating, it belongs on any hardy cinephile's bucket list of must-see entertainment.<br />
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Buy it at Amazon.com:<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L6AW1D2/?tag=hfn-20">Blu-ray</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L5R0DKO/?tag=hfn-20">Limited Edition Blu-ray</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L6AW1PA/?tag=hfn-20">DVD</a><br />
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<b>1st season ("Blood and Sand") bonus features:</b><br />
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DVD and Blu-ray™ bonus features:</div>
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Featurettes:<br />
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">•Gladiator Camp<br />
•History Rewritten<br />
•Make-up Effects<br />
•The Hole<br />
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And more!<br />
•Audio Commentaries<br />
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•Episodes with Enhanced Digital Effects</div>
•Behind-The-Scenes Footage<br />
•Bloopers<br />
•Trailers<br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Exclusive Blu-ray</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">™ bonus feature: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">•Four "Directors’ Cut Extended Episodes" personally selected by Executive Producer Rob Tapert</span></span></div>
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Prequel season ("Gods of the Arena") bonus features:</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Blu-ray and DVD bonus features include: </span></span></div>
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•Starz Studios: Gods of the Arena <br />
•Weapons Of Mass Disruption <br />
•Battle Royale: Anatomy Of A Scene <br />
•On Set With Lucy Lawless <br />
•10 Easy Steps To Dismemberment <br />
•Post Production: The Final Execution <br />
•Enter The Arena: Production Design <br />
•Dressed To Kill <br />
•Convention Panel <br />
•Arena Bloopers<br />
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Exclusive Blu-ray bonus features include: <br />
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•3D "Ring Of Fire" Battle Sequence <br />
•Extended Episodes <br />
•Audio Commentaries On All Episodes (including: Writer/Creator/Executive Producer Steven S. DeKnight, Executive Producer Rob Tapert and actors John Hannah, Lucy Lawless, Dustin Clare, Jaime Murray, Peter Mensah – and more<br />
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<b>2nd season ("Vengeance") bonus features:</b><br />
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•Starz Studios: Spartacus: Vengeance <br />
•The Making of Spartacus: Vengeance <br />
•Behind the Camera: Directing the Rebellion<br />
•On Set with Liam McIntyre<br />
•The Legend of Spartacus<br />
•Famous Last Words<br />
•Bloopers<br />
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•BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE – 9 Extended Episodes and Audio Commentaries!<br />
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<b>3rd season ("War of the Damned") bonus features:</b><br />
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•SPARTACUS: The Legend Retold <br />
•The Price Of Being A Gladiator <br />
•A Bloody Farewell <br />
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•The Spoils Of War Revealed: Visual Effects</div>
•Adorning The Damned<br />
•The Mind Behind SPARTACUS</span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">•BLU-RAY</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">™ EXCLUSIVES </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">– Extended Episodes and Audio Commentaries! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><b>New Bonus-Disc Features:</b> </span></span></div>
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•SPARTACUS Fan Favorites With Liam McIntyre <br />
•Scoring A Hit: Composer Joseph LoDuca <br />
•An Eye Full: Roger Murray <br />
•SPARTACUS: Paul Grinder <br />
•The Last Word: John Hannah <br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"><a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2010/09/spartacus-blood-and-sand-complete-first.html" target="_blank">1st season ("Blood and Sand") review</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2011/08/spartacus-gods-of-arena-dvd-review-by.html" target="_blank">Prequel season ("Gods of the Arena") review</a></div>
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<a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2012/08/spartacus-vengeance-complete-second.html" target="_blank">2nd season ("Vengeance") review</a></div>
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Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-22857364133293752022024-03-04T11:03:00.000-08:002024-03-04T11:03:41.200-08:00SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE--THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON -- DVD Review by Porfle<p><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51gXKNaXGKL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /><br />
<br /> </p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 8/25/12</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>When we last saw him at the end of season one, Spartacus had just ignited a bloody slave revolt against the house of Batiatus, supplier of gladiators to the arenas in Rome. Now, with Anchor Bay's 3-disc DVD set <b>SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE--THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON</b>, we join the slave rebellion already in progress as Spartacus struggles to unite his disparate followers in a common purpose over the span of ten incredibly action-packed episodes. <br />
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The biggest change since <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2010/09/spartacus-blood-and-sand-complete-first.html">SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND--THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON</a>, of course, is the absence of the late, lamented Andy Whitfield in the title role. Newcomer Liam McIntyre takes some getting used to but eventually suffices as a replacement, even though watching him in the role is a little like watching George Lazenby in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE and wishing it were Sean Connery instead. Also taking some getting used to is Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Naevia, awkwardly replacing Lesley-Ann Brandt as the love of Crixus' life. <br />
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Manu Bennett as arena champion Crixus and Peter Mensah as former gladiator trainer Oenomaus resume their roles with all the usual soulful intensity. There's an exciting subplot involving Crixus' attempt to free Naevia from the mines to which she's been banished, and a series of flashbacks shows us a young Oenomaus being discovered and groomed as a gladiator by the elder Batiatus, after which we see him in his current fugitive state, fighting incognito in the horrific arena known as "the pit." <br />
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Craig Parker returns as Spartacus' arch-enemy Glaber, now a Praetor sent by Rome to quell the rebellion. His expectant wife Ilithyia, once again played to perfection by Viva Bianca, is in her usual fine form as the ultimate scheming status-seeker who will do anything to advance herself. Reluctantly taking up residence in the abandoned house of Batiatus, they're shocked to find his wife Lucretia (the always awesome Lucy Lawless), thought dead after the slave revolt, still alive and haunting the place like a ghost. <br />
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Now seemingly out of her mind, Lucretia becomes Ilythyia's closest friend and conspirator even as her eyes flicker with their own ominous secret intent. The two actresses play their roles like virtuosos, reveling in a heady concoction of sexually decadent melodrama and two-faced political intrigue. These are soap opera machinations on a gut-wrenching level, often with a visceral intensity that makes "The Sopranos" look relatively tame.<br />
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Things get really interesting when Ilithyia plans to dump hubby Glaber for the up-and-coming Praetor Varinius (Brett Tucker), forcing Glaber to take drastic action. His reaction to Ilithyia's later kidnapping by Spartacus' forces is to take beautiful young Seppia (Hanna Mangan Lawrence) into his bed after murdering her brother, with whom she had incestuous relations. And lurking in the background all the while is the traitorous Ashur (Nick Tarabay), now more monstrous than ever as he schemes to take revenge against his former gladiator brothers and acquire both Batiatus' house and his wife Lucretia as rewards for service to Glaber.<br />
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Meanwhile, Spartacus and his followers continue to cut a swath of violence across the countryside in a series of battles which, more than anything, give the show its distinctive look and appeal. Filmed in highly impressionistic, almost fetishitic style, these incredibly entertaining action scenes are often slowed almost to a halt in order to highlight certain violent tableaux as though they were ornately-rendered comic book panels drawn by the likes of Jim Steranko or Barry Smith.<br />
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Blood is the main motif here, and it would be an understatement to say that there's buckets of it. Even optical-wipe transitions between scenes are often composed of splashes of blood. Gorehounds will be in seventh heaven as the screen is filled with more blood 'n' guts than most horror movies, including one sword slash by Spartacus that ends an altercation with a rowdy German ex-slave in jaw-droppingly decisive fashion, and another incident in which Naevia proves that it is indeed difficult to remove a man's head with a single sword thrust. Crucifixions, eviscerations, and other atrocities abound, many committed by the Roman upper class for their own amusement or as an example to others. <br />
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Of these ten episodes, two stand out as especially thrilling. The first is episode five, "Libertus", in which captives Crixus and Oenomaus are to be executed in the arena while Spartacus sets a plan into motion not only to rescue them but also to bring calamity on a scale that will shock both the Romans in attendance and the viewers watching it all on TV. When a group led by Spartacus' current love interest, the warrior woman Mira (Katrina Law), sets fire to the bowels of the arena, it starts a chain reaction of destruction that gives the show's SPFX team a real workout. "Libertus" also heralds the return of Dustin Clare as Gannicus, the most memorable character from the prequel mini-series <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2011/08/spartacus-gods-of-arena-dvd-review-by.html">SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA</a>.<br />
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The other episode is, naturally, the season finale, "The Wrath of the Gods", which features not only the epic confrontation between the forces of Spartacus and Glaber but also the startling resolution to the whole Ilithyia-Lucretia business that's had us guessing throughout the previous episodes. Other subplots are resolved in highly dramatic fashion as well, as the season is drawn to a satisfying close. <br />
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The 3-disc DVD from Anchor Bay is in 1.78:1 widescreen with Dolby 5.1 English sound and Spanish mono. Subtitles are in English and Spanish. Extras include seven behind-the-scenes featurettes, a blooper reel, a teaser for season three's SPARTACUS: WAR OF THE DAMNED, and a DVD-ROM extra, chapter one of "Spartacus: Swords and Ashes." The Blu-Ray also has nine extended episodes plus audio commentaries.<br />
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With its fierce, furious battles between gladiators, soldiers, and slaves, SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE--THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON is intoxicatingly action-packed--that's a given. But it also overflows with giddily decadent drama that had me rooting for one human monster over another and celebrating the utter deviousness of whoever manages to outwit their equally monstrous opponent. Some developments--such as Ilithyia's surprisingly pointed handling of a romantic rival--go beyond shocking into being downright flabbergasting. This is just the kind of thing I want from a show like this and it really delivers.<br />
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<br /></p>Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-45664535631874075822024-03-03T13:57:00.000-08:002024-03-03T13:57:42.699-08:00SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND--THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON -- DVD Review by Porfle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGv2oprjwFfu3UsC-uBwJzOnR4tIgBaSfSCSxG3TRBjT2VFzRUGpI6a_TJTwcIDy4NWWYdVmD8UKRAK2kVpvzAZ0Ygx-4QZ5n6luEDoQsugpulYJ0VRmjf5NIjyYK5peamiDqzCFbLKjk/s1600/box+reg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGv2oprjwFfu3UsC-uBwJzOnR4tIgBaSfSCSxG3TRBjT2VFzRUGpI6a_TJTwcIDy4NWWYdVmD8UKRAK2kVpvzAZ0Ygx-4QZ5n6luEDoQsugpulYJ0VRmjf5NIjyYK5peamiDqzCFbLKjk/s320/box+reg.jpg" /></a></div><p><i><b> </b></i></p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 9/14/10</b></i><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Starz original series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" is a heady mix of extremely violent action, gore, nudity and softcore sex, riveting drama, and even romance. There's something for everybody here, but especially for people who love movies like 300 and GLADIATOR. <b>SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND--THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON</b> (2010) contains thirteen powerful episodes on four discs, and, if you're like me, you'll devour the whole heady concoction as fast as you can.<br />
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It's 73 B.C., and Rome has just asked the men of Thrace for help in their war against the Greeks. Of course, Thracian warrior Spartacus (a perfectly-cast Andy Whitfield) and his men get screwed over by the snide young Roman commander Claudius Glaber (Craig Parker), who decides to pursue glory elsewhere while Thracian villages are pillaged. After a bloody confrontation with the Romans, the surviving Thracians find themselves sentenced to fight and die in the arena for the entertainment of jaded Roman citizens. But Spartacus manages to defeat all six of his burly, sword-slinging executioners and becomes a hero.<br />
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Batiatus (John Hannah, THE MUMMY) and his wife, Lucretia (Lucy Lawless, "Xena: Warrior Princess"), who are in the business of training gladiators for sport, see their new prize Spartacus as a means of gaining political power and social advancement. But as devious and underhanded as they are, there are always others, such as Glaber's venomous wife Ilithyia (Viva Bianca) and Batiatus' backstabbing competitor Solonius (Craig Walsh Wrightson), whose own unscrupulous schemes threaten to destroy them. Meanwhile, Spartacus endures grueling gladiator training under the whip of the invincible Doctore (Peter Mensah, 300) while reigning arena champion Crixus (Manu Bennett) becomes his bitter enemy.<br />
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</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGCF5pd7JB0yfG-cPs_GPJalMOE1U1qPgCCFCaFSWuATM0aKxgjBrx6T65req08Mfa4Szes1YOMdElxZM9pwkZxajrjEijTkmJlicmOG-nX8FM-aMKJNsMgGd8c2_dVk-dQ6lGee3Lxw/s1600/pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGCF5pd7JB0yfG-cPs_GPJalMOE1U1qPgCCFCaFSWuATM0aKxgjBrx6T65req08Mfa4Szes1YOMdElxZM9pwkZxajrjEijTkmJlicmOG-nX8FM-aMKJNsMgGd8c2_dVk-dQ6lGee3Lxw/s400/pic.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I've barely scratched the surface of all the various subplots and machinations that crackle throughout this show's first season. Spartacus' one goal is to make himself so valuable to Batiatus as a gladiator that he may someday win freedom for his beloved wife Sura (BITCH SLAP's Erin Cummings), who was sold into slavery by Glaber. Batiatus and Lucretia are so supremely vain, selfish, and cruel that their unending villainy becomes fascinating, especially with Hannah and Lawless playing the roles with such reptilian relish. In his own way, Batiatus is as ruthless as Don Corleone or Tony Montana during his "come-up", and his story sometimes has a GODFATHER B.C. feel to it. Viva Bianca's spoiled, condescending Ilithyia is equally vile. <br />
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The plight of their hapless slaves is the heart of the story--even our hero's bitter rival Crixus, who might have been depicted as a standard bad guy, gains our sympathy with his desperate love for Lucretia's servant girl Naevia (Lesley-Ann Brandt), which is complicated by the fact that Lucretia has chosen him as her virile sexual slave. Spartacus' friend Varro (Jai Courtney) fights in the arena to repay his debts so that he can rejoin his wife and son, but fate conspires to keep them apart. Spartacus himself will endure a series of tragic betrayals which will reveal to him the true monstrous nature of his Roman captors and eventually force him to contemplate a dangerous and deadly slave revolt.<br />
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While the slaves eke out their meager existence, the Romans wallow in decadence and perversion. There's enough nudity (much of it full-frontal) and simulated sex in these episodes to equal a month's worth of Skinemax. Some couples go at it in artistically-lensed romantic fashion, as in the case of Spartacus and Sura or Crixus and Naevia, while the Romans crudely indulge every aspect of their carnal lust with unwilling slaves. Naturally, the occasional full-blown orgy pops up now and then. There are some great-looking women in this cast--"Xena" fans will particularly enjoy the frequent views of naked Lucy Lawless. For those who fancy the male physique, there's tons of bulging beefcake on display wherever you look.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkh5OrJ-fmCAzLbQvIu3WSpLGpF5bDhU8q4UHMdzthi9cSiIASKCRZpq4OYZHOcHdbi5qOZkCvbbE-nR3uAjjQzFfZD_zA1KY4lU7DkSicZoYjKORe8To7WV_iZ_x9O2WiY599t1DXteM/s1600/pic2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkh5OrJ-fmCAzLbQvIu3WSpLGpF5bDhU8q4UHMdzthi9cSiIASKCRZpq4OYZHOcHdbi5qOZkCvbbE-nR3uAjjQzFfZD_zA1KY4lU7DkSicZoYjKORe8To7WV_iZ_x9O2WiY599t1DXteM/s400/pic2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
With its sumptuous cinematography and imaginative direction, the show is like a graphic novel come to life. (I was often reminded of Barry Smith's classic "Conan" comics from the 70s.) Frequent use of green screen also lends a storybook quality. Much of the battle action is visually stylized and accentuated by sudden moments of extreme slow-motion that look like extravagantly-rendered comic panels. As for the violence itself, it is extremely graphic as heads, limbs, and entrails go flying and the frame is often awash in great crimson splashes of blood. The staging of the numerous fights is outstanding, the action gritty, hard-hitting, and realistic. <br />
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Even out of the arena, the shocking violence continues with a combination crucifixion-castration and an unexpected murder scene in which one woman impulsively bashes another woman's head to an unrecognizable pulp against a stone floor. The season comes to a blood-drenched climax in a deadly frenzy of killing that is titled, fittingly enough, "Kill Them All."<br />
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The four-disc DVD set from Anchor Bay is 1.78:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and English and Spanish subtitles. Several episodes feature cast and crew commentary tracks. There are nine behind-the-scenes featurettes exploring various aspects of the production. The discs are encased in lavishly-illustrated book form, the only drawback being that it's a bit difficult sliding them in and out of their page slots without getting fingerprints on them. <br />
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Often the curse of watching a single season of a great television serial is that you're left hanging at the end. With SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND--THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON, we may not get the full story of how he eventually leads a massive slave rebellion against the Romans and the tragic fate that awaits him at the end of his quest, but what we do get ends, satisfyingly enough, with a big, bloody bang. This show is what you get when you cross a riveting, exquisitely-produced story with a meat grinder.<br />
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<br /><br />Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-5912115371752133582024-03-02T10:59:00.000-08:002024-03-02T10:59:04.220-08:00SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA -- DVD Review by Porfle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuEodNV1rC-CLCYCQpWjH6sUbroCfJT5GEfWOW705_keqqZqYnb_5mjx7PXNjaAxJjsinGSjtG9xLZ_j_gbRz5IqswSz-w97W710syTtTqfQDh__PX_poyVt9m8muPsLnGl_lviBMdLnA/s1600/Spartacus+box_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuEodNV1rC-CLCYCQpWjH6sUbroCfJT5GEfWOW705_keqqZqYnb_5mjx7PXNjaAxJjsinGSjtG9xLZ_j_gbRz5IqswSz-w97W710syTtTqfQDh__PX_poyVt9m8muPsLnGl_lviBMdLnA/s1600/Spartacus+box_.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /><i><b>Originally posted on 8/26/11</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>With the bloody slave revolt and slaughter of their Roman masters which ended <a href="https://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2010/09/spartacus-blood-and-sand-complete-first.html" target="_blank">SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND</a> with such a resounding bang, it was hard to imagine that a prequel about earlier events not even involving the title hero would amount to much. <b>SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA</b> (2011), however, proves a worthy follow-up that almost matches its predecessor.<br />
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Not only do we already know that Batiatus (John Hannah), who runs a gladiator-training school (or "ludus"), and his equally scheming and ambitious wife Lucretia (Lucy Lawless), are dead, but we're shown how it happened in a brief recap of the earlier season finale. Next thing we know, it's years earlier, and Batiatus has just begun his quest to become top dog in his chosen field amidst a host of more powerful and influential men (including Jeffrey Thomas as his own domineering father, Titus, who will make a highly unwelcome return from exile to take over).<br />
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Hannah and Lawless delight in playing this scheming couple united in their lust for power and social status, and we find ourselves rooting for them since they're often the lesser of many evils. These include Tullius (Stephen Lovatt) and his young toady Vettius (a wonderfully supercilious Gareth Williams), vile competitors who pull the city's strings and run their business like an ancient version of the Mafia. In fact, much of the brutal retribution, terror tactics, and ruthless strategies that result from Batiatus' rivalry with them are reminiscent of THE GODFATHER and GOODFELLAS, and often result in the unexpected and violent deaths of major characters.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdH0wnH_vfNCfVAAGGChtwTsk9tHqA_q5guE0hyNtNQhVyvzxxo80ptVdmma8MizJbaKqpJct5j5quD1cxF_a5FoASZmKET8AFxQmJioF1CLRUtta2tE8VDIAOK1tj4Kz8tCjems7DbVQ/s1600/Spartacus+pic1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdH0wnH_vfNCfVAAGGChtwTsk9tHqA_q5guE0hyNtNQhVyvzxxo80ptVdmma8MizJbaKqpJct5j5quD1cxF_a5FoASZmKET8AFxQmJioF1CLRUtta2tE8VDIAOK1tj4Kz8tCjems7DbVQ/s1600/Spartacus+pic1.jpg" /></a><br />
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As in "Upstairs, Downstairs", the activities of the privileged class are contrasted with the trials of their indentured inferiors--in this case, the gladiators and other household slaves. Chief among these is Gannicus (Dustin Clare), greatest of all gladiators despite his cavalier attitude. Much of the series involves a tug-o-war over him by Batiatus and Tullius, each of whom want him as their prized gladiator in the grand new arena that's under construction. A somewhat superficial character at first, Gannicus soon reveals a depth that makes his story the most compelling one of all and leads to the season's emotional climax.<br />
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Back from last season is Peter Mensah as Oenomaus, not yet the ludus' Doctore (head trainer) as the position is filled by an almost unrecognizable Temuera "Jango Fett" Morrison. His beautiful wife Melitta (Marisa Ramirez) is Lucretia's personal slave and struggles against a doomed mutual attraction to Gannicus. Barca (Antonio Te Maioha) returns along with the cowardly Ashur (Nick Tarabay), who demonstrates why he was so reviled in the previous series. Of particular interest is the origin of Crixus (Manu Bennett), who will one day be champion but is now seen as a lowly recruit fighting to stay alive and gain stature in the eyes of his peers.<br />
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With all of this going on, there's never a dull moment in SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA. Batiatus and Lucretia's devious machinations are an endless source of amusement, with Lucretia's recently-widowed friend Gaia (Jaime Murray) aiding their cause in hopes of landing a man with a fat purse while renewing lustful intentions toward Lucretia herself. This leads to some of the show's many softcore sex scenes, which erupt with such eye-popping regularity that it's like a month's worth of "Cinemax After Dark" crammed into each episode. <br />
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While the gladiators enjoy their post-arena "rewards", jaded, repellent Romans indulge in perverse sexual scenarios with hapless slaves. Lucy Lawless fans are apt to freak out during Lucretia's frenzied lesbian couplings with Gaia, with an enthusiastic Batiata squeezing in for the occasional threesome.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2qDfZXYkcQ1Hu9XUc1liW2mBTRJHnQ7sRFy85McxyshFHPH0GnAhyphenhyphenCXc-V2_LAy6yQba77GGKR1RdwXSxs3GFEw6IbsOi2sx4OGDRI7Ulj5phA4uom8Z1_66misWv9q2R7oH48nhkUI/s1600/Spartacus+pic2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2qDfZXYkcQ1Hu9XUc1liW2mBTRJHnQ7sRFy85McxyshFHPH0GnAhyphenhyphenCXc-V2_LAy6yQba77GGKR1RdwXSxs3GFEw6IbsOi2sx4OGDRI7Ulj5phA4uom8Z1_66misWv9q2R7oH48nhkUI/s1600/Spartacus+pic2.jpg" /></a><br />
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Aside from the carnal aspects of the series, however, the main attraction is what goes on in the arena. Amidst frenzied crowd reactions (people either cheer like they're at a rock concert, flash their boobs at the gladiators, fight amongst themselves, get splattered with blood, or screw), each bone-crushing battle between these bloodthirsty behemoths is a heady concoction of wildly stylized visuals, eye-pleasing SPFX, and imaginative staging. Slow-motion is used very well to accentuate and prolong particular moments that would normally pass too quickly to be fully savored. <br />
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A street brawl between one of Vettius' men and a blindfolded Gannicus (the result of a poorly-worded challenge taken literally) is an early highlight. The older, smaller fight venue provides a more intimate setting for most of the clashes seen here, with spectators being liberally doused with errant gore or even finding themselves minus a few fingers. The inaugural games of the massive new arena end the final episode with a spectacular free-for-all pitting all of Batiatus' men against those of his two-faced friend Solonius (Craig Walsh Wrightson) in a battle royale. <br />
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Here, as in every other episode, the gore factor is sky-high--H.G. Lewis himself never imagined the graphic carnage on display thanks to skillful use of both practical effects and CGI. The screen is splattered with geysers of blood, severed limbs, and jaw-dropping (in one case, literally) acts of bodily harm. Gorehounds will be in hemoglobin heaven. <br />
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The look of the show is a non-stop wallow in lush visuals with so much detail that I often had to rewind to catch dialogue I'd missed while taking it all in. Speaking of dialogue, these characters are such serious potty mouths--every other sentence contains the word "cock" and/or crude references to various bodily functions--that listening to them talk is consistently amusing. In one scene, a drunken Gannicus favors us with the song "My Cock Rages On", while elsewhere the prospect of having sex with him prompts Gaia to remark, "One moistens at the very thought." All our other favorite four-letter words are generously and creatively featured as well.<br />
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The 2-disc, six-episode set from Anchor Bay and Starz is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish. Extras consist of ten featurettes focusing on behind-the-scenes, weapons, costumes, SPFX, post-production, production design, and other aspects of the show. Also included is a ComicCon panel session, "On Set With Lucy Lawless", and bloopers.<br />
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A must for anyone who enjoyed the earlier saga, SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA is like crack for fans of sex, violence, and gore done with impeccable production values and no-holds-barred storytelling. Now if only Andy Whitfield can return from his unfortunate illness so we can resume the story of Spartacus himself. <br />
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<br /><br /></p>Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-66522829289217046692024-03-01T09:56:00.000-08:002024-03-01T09:56:38.416-08:00CAMELOT: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON -- DVD Review by Porfle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii09mALpyRzooejaw9xCtdPdpbB_Wxbw0BnJinOSoRw4zOJL56X5wWUNISiQjJwS6RxxgcJ-5z_lSclZIZuSlnGT9svtc9XqTD9DAGjhcBktYKlq_Yq1DGJH5Hgw66w5OQ9adnj9mtM4s/s1600/Camelot+box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii09mALpyRzooejaw9xCtdPdpbB_Wxbw0BnJinOSoRw4zOJL56X5wWUNISiQjJwS6RxxgcJ-5z_lSclZIZuSlnGT9svtc9XqTD9DAGjhcBktYKlq_Yq1DGJH5Hgw66w5OQ9adnj9mtM4s/s1600/Camelot+box.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /><i><b>Originally posted on 8/27/11</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>One of these days I'm going to sit down and read the original legend of King Arthur just so I'll be able to sort out all the differing cinematic versions of the tale. It certainly inspires filmmakers to come up with their own interpretations, as we've seen in everything from John Boorman's stunning EXCALIBUR (still my favorite King Arthur movie) to the recent TV series "Merlin." I guess the good thing about this is that instead of getting the same old rehash every time, with all the elements dutifully falling into place as expected, we're treated to some surprising retellings each with its own unique spin. "Camelot", a Starz original series, is one of the latest and most interesting of these.<br />
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During the ten-episode saga of the DVD set <b>CAMELOT: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON</b> (2011) we see an origin story stripped of much of the usual pomp and wizardry, grounded in the grimy, oppressive atmopshere of a Dark Ages-era England struggling to climb out of destitution and disarray. The murder of King Uther Pendragon prompts the wizard Merlin (Joseph Fiennes, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) to reveal the existence of Uther's bastard son, Arthur, who has been raised by foster parents since being taken from his mother Queen Igraine (Claire Forlani) at birth. Now barely out of his teens, Arthur (Jamie Campbell Bower of the "Twilight" and "Harry Potter" films) is suddenly informed that his destiny is to rule England as heir to the Pendragon throne, with Merlin as his manipulative mentor.<br />
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Complicating things is Arthur's half-sister Morgan Pendragon, who believes herself the rightful heir to the crown and will stop at nothing to get it. With her piercing eyes and haughty, intimidating presence, CASINO ROYALE's Eva Green steals the show as Morgan and is without a doubt its most watchable asset. She plays the role with such intensity and obvious relish that we almost sympathize with the evil Morgan as she plots against Arthur within the walls of Pendragon castle and conspires to turn his subjects against him.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMKLnVZhDAyLf2BaTspZhOc9woeq5eSCkmtDIThLazn70DV7ZJLcIhodpWsxy1Z6yga31kZGURw1bUtRw6GDhc0lLUTGCu8LXT_pvI0JO20vM3OJGvYayInRq-MZvYuiktC09SbKJLXoM/s1600/Camelot+pic1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMKLnVZhDAyLf2BaTspZhOc9woeq5eSCkmtDIThLazn70DV7ZJLcIhodpWsxy1Z6yga31kZGURw1bUtRw6GDhc0lLUTGCu8LXT_pvI0JO20vM3OJGvYayInRq-MZvYuiktC09SbKJLXoM/s1600/Camelot+pic1.jpg" /></a><br />
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No gleaming fortress of silver and gold, the Camelot in which Arthur and his men take up residence is a crumbling, overgrown ruin overlooking the sea. Everything we take for granted in an Arthurian film is developed from the ground up here, including Arthur himself. As played by Bower, he initially has more in common with Jeff Spicoli than a royal personage and comes off as the sort of arrogant horndog that you might have hated in high school. It's a long, tough character arc for this callow Arthur before he begins to gain our respect (roughly around the last couple of episodes), especially when he can't keep his hands, among other things, off the bride-to-be of his most gallant warrior, Leontes (Philip Winchester). The lady in question, of course, is Guinevere (Tamsin Egerton), burdened by guilt after a wedding-day roll on the beach with Arthur.<br />
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Playing the role of Merlin even more offbeat than EXCALIBUR's Nicole Williamson, a bald and beardless Joseph Fiennes surprises by being smaller-than-life and eschewing sorcery. The dark arts, we find, are both addictive and hazardous to one's health, forcing Merlin to rely on his wits more than we're used to. Fiennes' interpretation of the character takes some getting used to but he began to grow on me after a few episodes. His counterpart in sorcery, the scheming Morgan, uses her powers with much less restraint and, while suffering the consequences, manages to create a good deal of havoc in Camelot. <br />
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"Camelot" is in no hurry to plunk all the pieces of the story as we know it into place or to reveal them in ways we expect. Rather than portraying a legend, it depicts gritty, realistic events that will become legend in the retelling. This is particularly true when we see how the tales of the sword in the stone and the lady of the lake are handled, with Merlin often twisting the facts and making up future history as he goes along. <br />
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With verdant Irish locations, plus great sets and production design, the series looks fantastic. It does, however, resemble the sort of semi-juvenile television fare seen so often in recent years, yet with occasional attempts at a more adult sensibility that are often jarring. While most of the episodes would be suitable viewing for kids, there are several softcore sex scenes which seem out of place, especially when, during their romantic beach rendezvous, Arthur drops his pants and starts humping Guinevere like a dog. And while I must admit finding it quite nice to finally get a look at Eva Green's outstanding assets, it really isn't necessary for "Camelot" to try and come off as adult-oriented entertainment along the lines of the recent "Spartacus" series and indeed sacrifices some of its sense of wonder because of this.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU7r_eqIhDElDMVEtkEMOdGJ_cKkCIWomBln8qqyx6Ke4jD5ThR187TW5yOeTvzbkLGp5CStKUkQjuYe-vGPWPRcUfHpdLVwz-2ng1PWkonqTGuUY8QC8SLDAuDA5JLuCGFI2eDKPsmVw/s1600/Camelot+pic2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU7r_eqIhDElDMVEtkEMOdGJ_cKkCIWomBln8qqyx6Ke4jD5ThR187TW5yOeTvzbkLGp5CStKUkQjuYe-vGPWPRcUfHpdLVwz-2ng1PWkonqTGuUY8QC8SLDAuDA5JLuCGFI2eDKPsmVw/s1600/Camelot+pic2.jpg" /></a><br />
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A definite plus is the lack of moronic comedy relief or bad-CGI monsters, with the supernatural elements kept to a more believable minimum and no hinky-looking dragons popping up to pad out the scripts. Dialogue is modern-sounding but rarely overly so. The stories are a bit episodic but the overall story arc is enough to bind them together. <br />
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Supporting characters are finely cast, with Sinéad Cusack a standout as Morgan's devious cohort, Sybil, an evil nun riding the aspiring Queen's coattails to the throne, and Claire Forlani as Arthur's true mother, Igraine. Forlani has a field day in the episode in which Morgan takes on Igraine's physical appearance to cause unrest in Camelot. Guest stars include Sean Pertwee as Arthur's foster father Ector and James Purefoy as one of Morgan's early allies against Arthur.<br />
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While there isn't an abundance of action, "Camelot" does have a number of exciting sword battles that are well-executed. The season finale, "Reckoning", features a vastly outnumbered Arthur and his men desperately fighting off Morgan's soldiers even as, back in Camelot, she is on the verge of ascending the throne. Major characters die, and there are enticing hints of what's to come including a foreshadowing of the imminent appearance of Lancelot (who, as we already know, will give Arthur a taste of his own medicine in the heartbreak department). <br />
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There are few nagging cliffhangers as such (I hate season cliffhangers), but one of the most intriguing events in the Arthurian saga is wonderfully and surprisingly depicted in the last scene, setting us up for season two with keen anticipation. We're also left with the initial core of Arthur's brave knights along with the first wedge of the fabled round table.<br />
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The three-disc set from Anchor Bay and Starz is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish. Extras consist of eight featurettes including behind-the-scenes, character profiles, scene breakdowns, and bloopers. <br />
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As an addition to the host of King Arthur movies and TV series, CAMELOT: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON holds its own while not quite slashing its way to the front of the pack. Fans of the legend will definitely want to give it a look.<br />
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<br /></p>Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-88631330373787239772024-02-29T10:19:00.000-08:002024-02-29T10:19:10.461-08:00MERLIN AND THE BOOK OF BEASTS -- DVD Review by Porfle<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9BhROmx_NQbrOBcO0lATGBzZSYZqx2qlHJzHtzaK69oHDK53Jk_Vgv_HUfc3sYQEwLw-wP0Y8OvXzVPXW9rdjjCNvO2qYEleniy4mVSyTWBj8LDhU3Ss413_Q8gRLYEs3J533AYx-kQ/s1600-h/Merlin.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361152861709171538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9BhROmx_NQbrOBcO0lATGBzZSYZqx2qlHJzHtzaK69oHDK53Jk_Vgv_HUfc3sYQEwLw-wP0Y8OvXzVPXW9rdjjCNvO2qYEleniy4mVSyTWBj8LDhU3Ss413_Q8gRLYEs3J533AYx-kQ/s320/Merlin.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 227px;" /></a> </p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 7/21/09</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>One of the most enjoyable of the Sci-Fi (I refuse to say "SyFy") Channel movies that I've seen, <b>MERLIN AND THE BOOK OF BEASTS</b> (2009) is a modest but well-crafted continuation of the Arthurian legend that knows its limitations and uses a modest budget to its fullest potential.<br /><br />After the deaths of King Arthur and his knights, and the rise to power of an evil sorcerer named The Arkadian (Jim Thorburn), darkness has once again descended upon Camelot and the rest of England. All that's left to fight the good fight are an aging Sir Galahad (Donald Adams), his young apprentice Lysanor (Jesse Moss), and the brawny Tristan (Patrick Sabongui), son of Tristan and Isolde. Most importantly, there's the beautiful blonde warrior princess Avlynn Pendragon (Laura Harris), who just happens to be the daughter of Arthur and Guineviere. <br /><br />After securing the help of an initially reluctant Merlin (James Callis), the brave band makes its way into a ruined Camelot to confront The Arkadian. But he has a terrible weapon at his disposal--a magic book which contains the captured spirits of evil creatures whom he can release from its pages at will to do his bidding. He also has a terrible secret, which King Arthur fans will probably guess pretty darn quick.<br /><br />The script is fairly good for this type of film. Scriptwriter Brook Durham keeps a pretty even tone most of the time and goes easy on the lowbrow humor. With some awesome Canadian locations to work with, director Warren P. Sonoda is able to manage a hint of big-budget gravitas in some of the sweeping outdoor shots, especially during the pivotal scene in which Avlynn wades into a lake to retrieve Excalibur from a protruding rock and hoist it aloft. <br /><br />Production values remain modest but decent enough otherwise, although the most the filmmakers manage in the way of interiors are a few rooms in the Arkadian's palace and some tunnels. A small courtyard set with a couple dozen extras is all we see of Camelot's inhabitants. Overall, the production design and cinematography are good and the film, while sparsely populated, has an attractive look.<br /><br />Callis, better known as Baltar in "Battlestar Galactica", does an okay job as a gruff, growly-voiced, and supremely world-weary Merlin, although his strangely Jamaican-tinged accent had me wondering at times. His quirky interpretation of the character has its ups and downs, one advantage being a very dry sense of humor. Here's an exchange that takes place between a captive Merlin and The Arkadian:<br /><br /><i>"Where is the sword--the sword in the lake?"</i><br /><i>"You'll never find it. I hid it, see?"</i><br /><i>"You hid the sword?"</i><br /><i>"No, I hid the lake."</i><br /><br />The rest of the cast is capable if not quite outstanding. I liked the Avlynn character most of all--it's intriguing to see a female Pendragon fighting to regain her father's throne. Thankfully, Harris doesn't play her as an unrealistic superwoman, but simply as someone who finds herself in a desperate situation in which she must act heroically. <br /><br />The "beasts" of the title include, strangely enough, a CGI-generated flock of deadly butterflies (well, it's original, anyway), some "Dragon Soldiers" with really ugly makeup jobs, giant "Death Hawks" that capture the good guys and whisk them away to the bad guy's lair (which reminded me of a similar scene with the flying monkeys in "The Wizard of Oz"), and, best of all, the ever-popular Gorgon sisters. Some of the liveliest moments involve these snake-haired beauties, led by the malevolent Medusa (Maja Stace-Smith), against whom our steadfast heroes must do battle with their eyes closed lest they be turned to stone. The fist and sword fights with more human foes are serviceable although the choreography is a bit on the flabby side. <br /><br />The DVD from Anchor Bay is anamorphic widescreen with 5.1 Dolby Surround sound. There's an eleven-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, and English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired.<br /><br />MERLIN AND THE BOOK OF BEASTS is no epic, to be sure, but simply an entertaining B-movie that manages to rise a bit above the mediocrity of the usual Sci-Fi Channel fare. As a big fan of John Boorman's classic "Excalibur" I found it interesting to watch this fun and fairly involving small-scale continuation of the story, and consider it a worthy effort of its kind.<br /><br /> </p><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Merlin-Book-Beasts-James-Callis/dp/B002AT4JOW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1248240235&sr=1-1"> </a></p>Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-43642686994833953912024-02-28T08:55:00.000-08:002024-02-28T08:55:56.521-08:00All The 50-Foot Woman Scenes From "Attack Of The 50-Foot Woman" (1958) (video)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ln0J9Mp5aVQ/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ln0J9Mp5aVQ?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<b>Nancy Archer (Allison Hayes) grows to a height of 50 feet...</b><br />
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...due to radiation from an otherworldly spacecraft.<br />
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She escapes, and goes searching for her unfaithful husband, Harry (William Hudson) and his mistress Honey (Yvette Vickers)…<br />
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...wreaking havoc and destruction along the way.<br />
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<b>(spoilers)</b><br />
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<i>I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!</i><br />
<br />Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-65512623600357909532024-02-27T11:34:00.000-08:002024-02-27T11:34:13.657-08:00ANOTHER EARTH -- DVD Review by Porfle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQPNRBNkpm8cVFD6xbecEqHZMDIKVpOe_hbO-mcK-j9lpxP1Ar5Y4bPq_0-CHHnlZ6Sd09Ft-pRtfk1qjpoj4f_2oE4z4bBLDmVMlpcfAQZih0VSv2vDjnRb1twc2bTFffFGOdPRKPee7W/s1600/box.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQPNRBNkpm8cVFD6xbecEqHZMDIKVpOe_hbO-mcK-j9lpxP1Ar5Y4bPq_0-CHHnlZ6Sd09Ft-pRtfk1qjpoj4f_2oE4z4bBLDmVMlpcfAQZih0VSv2vDjnRb1twc2bTFffFGOdPRKPee7W/s1600/box.jpg" /></a></div><p> </p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 11/2/11</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>Scintillating sci-fi elements serve as a backdrop for heartfelt human drama in <b>ANOTHER EARTH </b>(2011), which asks the question: what if there were another you?<br />
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Astronomy is the passion of young Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling), who is headed for MIT until a drunken drive home from a party lands her a four-year prison stretch for vehicular manslaughter. Noted classical musician John Burroughs (William Mapother, THE GRUDGE, <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2008/04/moola-dvd-review-by-porfle.html">MOOLA</a>) ends up in a coma, his pregnant wife and five-year-old son dead. Four years later Rhoda is released on parole, John wakes up, and the mysterious duplicate Earth which appeared in our solar system shortly before their collision is beginning to make contact with us.<br />
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The consequences of one reckless moment are portrayed with aching melancholy as Rhoda meanders through her new life as a high school janitor, feeling isolated from her family and former friends, constantly haunted by a paralyzing sadness and guilt. The only thing that gives her hope is the idea that perhaps on that mirror Earth hanging in the sky she has a twin whose life took a different turn. <br />
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Rhoda then does two things that will change her life. First, she enters an essay contest in hopes of winning a ticket on a privately-funded spacecraft bound for the other Earth. Then, posing as a housecleaner, she enters John Burroughs' life and tries to help the devastated, reclusive man any way she can. While it's no surprise that the two lost souls eventually fall in love, the mutually healing relationship is portrayed with realism and sensitivity and we dread the eventual revelation which will likely destroy it. <br />
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As Rhoda and John's odd romance deepens, the enigma of the mirror Earth takes on added significance when, in a very nicely-handled sequence, the head of SETI makes radio contact with her own duplicate on live television. Here, ANOTHER EARTH becomes pure science-fiction which is so intriguing that I found myself wishing this aspect could've been developed further rather than merely serving as a metaphorical counterpoint to the main story. Still, it's enough to keep a constant sci-fi vibe buzzing around in the background, especially with the growing likelihood of Rhoda's impending space flight. <br />
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That such a mind-expanding premise is shown strictly from Rhoda's point of view--we share her sense of wonder as she gazes up at the other world and imagines her mirror self leading a different life--is, in fact, part of what makes the film so uniquely appealing on an emotional level. We can't help sympathizing with her as she strives to make amends, not just to John but to anyone she can, until a final selfless act offers her the chance for a certain measure of redemption. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWR7N9em41zf2S4LgnKtc6zpR-wOrkgJAeZeCQqWK5BYf3JCP6VIGJQz54YaAJXbKrEkI58xrsN7MWUNMQ-cfNTo3yn6mRE1OSbVyG1YAACK_07KJE0mqRKoymH8SaeFMVv1Qgj9NpiDT/s1600/pic2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiWR7N9em41zf2S4LgnKtc6zpR-wOrkgJAeZeCQqWK5BYf3JCP6VIGJQz54YaAJXbKrEkI58xrsN7MWUNMQ-cfNTo3yn6mRE1OSbVyG1YAACK_07KJE0mqRKoymH8SaeFMVv1Qgj9NpiDT/s1600/pic2.jpg" /></a><br />
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Marling and Mapother give restrained, spot-on performances, handling even the "big" emotional moments with sensitivity and restraint. Director Mike Cahill avoids melodrama with a naturalistic, non-sensational approach, giving the film a dreamlike stream-of-consciousness quality that flows smoothly from one scene to the next. Deft use of documentary-style camerawork keeps us in intimate contact with the characters, save for the more formal shots in which we observe them from a distance. <br />
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The Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack from 20-Century Fox Home Entertainment is in 16:9 widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. There are no extras on the DVD. Blu-Ray bonus features include deleted scenes, a music video, "The Science Behind Another Earth", "Creating Another Earth", and three Fox Movie Channel presentations featuring Cahill, Marling, and Mapother. <br />
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For a drama dripping with tragedy, despair, doomed love, and hopeless yearning, ANOTHER EARTH is both profound and remarkably subtle. As science-fiction, it's an irresistible exploration of concepts that should stimulate anyone's imagination. And in the end, the two intertwine in a way that I found deeply moving.<br />
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<br /></p>Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-15652980324492655532024-02-26T12:23:00.000-08:002024-02-26T12:23:14.061-08:00PARADISE CLUB -- Movie Review by Porfle<br />
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<br /> </p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 5/17/17</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>They say if you remember the 60s, you weren't there. But Carolyn Cavallero was there, and she remembered it well enough to write and direct the incense-scented, psychedelia-laced paean to the era, <b>PARADISE CLUB</b> (2016). <br /><br />Probably not coincidentally, much of this cinematic recollection looks and plays as though related by someone who experienced it through a haze of drugs, confusion, and/or naiveté.<br /><br />This describes Cavallero's fictional surrogate, young Catherine (Elizabeth Rice, ODD GIRL OUT, "Mad Men"), a nude dancer in San Francisco's Paradise Club in 1968. Catherine yearns to join her generation's search for freedom and enlightenment, although this consists mainly of expressing herself by dancing naked for strangers and contemplating beat poetry and free-thought prose (her narration sounds as though she's solemnly reciting pages from her diary).<br />
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<br />Her two fellow dancers are Tabitha (Tonya Kay, <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2012/12/creep-van-dvd-review-by-porfle.html">CREEP VAN</a>), a tough chick with a good head on her shoulders, and the wispy Tulsa (Nicole Fox), a gullible waif blown about by any ill wind that comes along. <br /><br />They work at the Paradise Club, one of those movie-fantasy nudie clubs where men regularly come to gaze longingly and reverently at their favorite girls as they perform languid interpretive dances to current songs. <br /><br />Here, they live their lives in the womb-like environment of the club, acting out their micro-dramas and personal traumas while the outside world rages on around them. Unsurprisingly, the sight of two soldiers in the club sets off the sensitive Tulsa, who has an anti-war freak-out onstage and tearfully flashes peace signs at them.<br />
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All of this occurs under the wing of paternal club owner Earl Wild (Eric Roberts), who loves his club because he also finds it a haven against the world. Although for him, "the world" consists of a money-grabbing ex-wife and an even more demanding coke dealer whom he's into for tens of thousands. <br /><br />Eventually, the fate of the Paradise Club and those who inhabit it will mirror that of the era itself as it heads toward harsh reality and self-destruction. Accordingly, various characters degrade themselves sexually, seek solace in hard drugs, or betray one another. Not everyone makes it out alive. <br /><br />Much of this is conveyed visually, in long, sometimes surreal montages set to contemporary music (It's A Beautiful Day's "White Dove" is especially well-used). <br /><br />Naturally, there's a lot of drawn-out nude dancing sequences intended to express the characters' inner feelings. Sometimes this works, sometimes it seems just a little too free-form and indulgent (albeit not unlike actual films of the time such as <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-trip-dvd-review-by-porfle.html">THE TRIP</a>). Needless to say, fans of nude girls will have no complaints.<br />
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<br />Performances are good, particularly the endlessly wonderful Eric Roberts (<a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2008/12/dark-knight-dvd-review-by-porfle.html">THE DARK KNIGHT</a>, <a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2011/03/sharktopus-dvd-review-by-porfle.html">SHARKTOPUS</a>) as Earl. Evan Williams is suitably bland and spaced-out as Ben, the arrogant pretty-boy rocker who threatens to sweep starstruck Catherine out of Earl's life. <br /><br />Production values are good, and, for better or worse, the film does have something of an authentic late-60s feel similar to the works of Roger Corman or Dennis Hopper.<br /><br />PARADISE CLUB isn't an all-encompassing statement about the 60s, but it doesn't try to be. Cavallero is simply telling tales about her own experiences, perceptions, and emotions, and what life was like in her own small corner of a turbulent world. <br /><br /><a href="http://paradiseclubmovie.com/">Official website</a><br /><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aHlZgIlDjNk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aHlZgIlDjNk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe>Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-65385462282427338312024-02-25T12:44:00.000-08:002024-02-25T12:44:08.736-08:00CURSE OF THE MAYANS -- DVD Review by Porfle<br />
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<i><br /><b>Originally posted on 2/28/l8</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>In the tradition of such tales as THE LOST WORLD and CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, there's 2017's <b>CURSE OF THE MAYANS</b>, the story of yet another ill-fated group of explorers venturing into a land that time has forgotten to hunt something that ends up hunting them.<br />
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This time it's Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, and the team is headed by fiercely dedicated and somewhat arrogant scientist Dr. Alan Green (Steve Wilcox) who yearns to delve farther and deeper than ever before into the mysteries of the ancient Mayans. <br />
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Since this will involve unexplored underwater caverns in the cold, dark earth beneath age-old pyramids, Green enlists the aid of gorgeous scuba expert Danielle Noble (Carla Ortiz) to assemble and lead a crack dive team. <br />
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Unfortunately, this team will include Danielle's flaky ex-husband, his current weed-head girlfriend, and the latest lovesick loverboy to be trapped in her spell. They all hate Dr. Green, and they're all superstitious about the legends of evil reptilian space monsters trapped by the Mayans and just itching to break free in order to enslave and possess the human race.<br />
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Sounds like nothing could possibly go wrong, right? Well, if it didn't, this wouldn't be much of a movie, and for most of its running time CURSE OF THE MAYANS is a pretty good one. <br />
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The best part for me is the journey into the jungle and subsequent exploration of the crumbling Mayan ruins. The interpersonal relationships are just entertaining enough, with some smart, realistic dialogue and more than adequate acting (Ortiz and Wilcox are first-rate), and the scene in which the party encounters some really hardcore Mexican bad guys intent on raping and pillaging is even more tense than the monster stuff later on.<br />
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Director and co-writer (with Alberto Haggar) Joaquin Rodriguez has crafted a film consisting mainly of handheld camera that manages to avoid the sloppy, slapdash look we see so often, while also delivering some of the most stunningly beautiful shots of jungles and caverns that I've seen. The underwater photography in particular is often breathtaking.<br />
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Once we get to that point, the film takes on a really claustrophobic, past-the-point-of-no-return feeling with the team blundering about in spooky underground tunnels and diving in dark scary waters. Things of a possibly supernatural origin begin to plague the expedition as they get closer to the terrible secret the Mayans went to so much trouble to bury in the first place.<br />
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The final act gets a bit confusing--I wasn't always able to keep up with what was happening to whom, and much of it is murky and dark--but this actually helps to keep the viewer off-balance. <br />
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Monster sightings are mostly limited to brief, shadowy flashes, which keeps us from seeing the seams and zippers, so to speak. I was reminded of THE DESCENT during this sequence--I enjoyed the first half of that movie more than the rest as well. <br />
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After a furious flurry of monster attacks and screaming, which I can't really go into without spoiling the story, the ending sets us up for a sequel that may or may not have you quivering in anticipation.<br />
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As for me, this one installment was enough. But as Mattie Ross says in TRUE GRIT, "enough is as good as a feast", and CURSE OF THE MAYANS is a visual feast that also feeds my inner Monster Kid enough to tide him over till the dinner bell rings again. <br />
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<b> WATCH THE TRAILER:</b><br />
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<b><a href="http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2018/02/some-treasures-should-never-be.html">Read our original coverage</a><br /><br />Format: DVD (Single) / Digital HD<br />Running Time: 88 mins. <br />Genre: Sci-fi / Thriller<br />Audio: Dolby 5.1<br />Aspect Ratio: 16x9 (1.78:1)</b><br />
<b>Release date: March 6, 2018</b>
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<br />Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-65242830883054425992024-02-24T10:47:00.000-08:002024-02-24T10:47:22.557-08:00FARINELLI -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle<br />
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<br /> </p><p><i><b>Originally posted on 4/18/19</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>The very notion of the "castrato" has always been utterly grotesque to me, so I didn't know what I was getting into with <b>FARINELLI</b> (1994), the biography of real-life 18th-century Italian castrato Carlo "Farinelli" Broschi. And the last thing I expected was for it to be so moving, so engaging, so lavishly produced, and, ultimately, so much fun.<br />
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Not a comedic sort of fun--there are few actual lighthearted moments--but the fun of delving into something purely enjoyable and being dazzled by it. The story is a richly dramatic one that's well-acted and impeccably rendered, with fine costumes and locations including some of the grandest opera houses in Europe.<br />
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But the main appeal here is the journey of our main character, Carlo (Stefano Dionisi), who becomes a castrato (thus preserving his exquisite pre-pubescent singing voice) against his will having already witnessed another boy's suicide after suffering the same fate.<br />
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His musician father makes him vow to never deny his voice to his older brother Riccardo (Enrico Lo Verso), an aspiring composer who uses Carlo as a vocal instrument to increase the appeal of his own pedestrian music. Later, when Carlo's fame elevates him to rock-star status, this brotherly partnership will extend to Carlo's sexual conquests, which Riccardo also shares in tag-team fashion.<br />
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The early part of the film reminded me a bit of Ken Russell's <a href="https://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2015/10/lisztomania-movie-review-by-porfle.html">LISZTOMANIA</a>--sans the over-the-top ridiculousness--with women, nobility included, throwing themselves at Carlo and sometimes even reaching sexual climax during some of his more impressive vocal gymnastics. <br />
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Riccardo seems to enjoy this aspect of his brother's fame the most, though, as Carlo is clearly unfulfilled and searching for something more. That something, we discover, is to sing music with genuine passion, as opposed to the ornate but empty passages penned by his brother.<br />
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At one point, the great composer Handel (Jeroen Krabbé, THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS), who previously rejected the brothers and ridiculed Carlo as a freak, has a change of heart after Carlo's rise to fame and wishes for him to perform his music. This will create a rift between Carlo and the increasingly jealous Riccardo that will grow wider with time, especially when a terrible secret from the past is revealed. <br />
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Meanwhile, Carlo's sensitive side emerges when he meets Margareth Hunter (Caroline Cellier) and her disabled young son Benedict, with whom he forms a deep mutual affection. He also falls in love with Benedict's nurse Alexandra (Elsa Zylberstein) and they form a close relationship that will, as usual, include Riccardo.<br />
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Most of this, as I found after a bit of online research, is made up of whole cloth and bears little resemblance to the life of the real Farinelli (Carlo Brochi's stage name). But I didn't mind, because it's such a gorgeous, sumptuous fiction that I found myself captivated by it from tumultuous start to emotional finish.<br />
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Not the least of its charms are its performance scenes, during which Farinelli's incredibly rich and nimble soprano voice is simulated by the painstaking combination of real-life male and female opera singers after much experimentation. <br />
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Stefano Dionisi himself underwent extensive training to learn how to convincingly lip-synch the songs amidst all the pomp and splendor the production designers could muster.<br />
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Director Gérard Corbiau brings it all together with a surehanded, straighforward style and a keenly artistic eye. FARINELLI is both a visual and aural confection and a dramatic delight that one can indulge in like a rich dessert. And like any sumptuous treat, I didn't want it to end.<br />
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<b><br /><a href="https://www.filmmovement.com/product/farinelli">Buy it at Film Movement </a></b><br />
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<b>BONUS FEATURES:<br /><i>Making-Of Featurette<br />Behind-The-Scenes Interviews<br />Illustrated Booklet With Essay<br />Trailer</i><i> </i><br /><br />TECH SPECS:<br /><i>Format: NTSC, Subtitled<br />Number of discs: 1<br />Studio: Film Movement Classics<br />New 2K Digital Restoration<br />1.85:1 Widescreen, 2.0 Stereo<br />Language: French and Italian, English Subtitles<br />DVD Release Date: April 23, 2019<br />Run Time: 111 minutes</i></b><br />
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<br />Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4772174956910420409.post-55768660454470294552024-02-23T12:09:00.000-08:002024-02-23T12:09:02.012-08:00MARQUISE -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle<br />
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<br /><i><b>Originally posted on 5/11/19</b></i><br /></p><p> </p><p>The 17-century French comedy-drama <b>MARQUISE</b> (Film Movement Classics, 1997) looks like it's going to be one of those daunting costume affairs that bore us and then make us feel stupid and unsophisticated for being bored. <br /><br />But then the first thing it does is to set such concerns at ease by engaging in about ten minutes of crude, delightfully unsophisticated humor--including bathroom humor--in which a group of actresses passing through a bustling French town set off looking for a place to "go" and the playwright Molière (Bernard Giraudeau) and his partner Gros-Rene (Patrick Timsit) meet a gorgeous peasant girl named Marquise (Sophie Marceau) who is both a dancer and a whore. <br /><br />Gros-Rene, smitten by love at first sight, barges into her hovel while she's servicing an elderly client and invites her to come to Paris to dance before their plays, and she, an aspiring actress, accepts. (Later she will accept his proposal of marriage and remain a loving wife to him even despite a succession of affairs.)<br />
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<br />Thus beginning as sort of an upper-crust "Porky's", the story reveals other facets as well when we're immersed in a superbly-rendered world of old French theater attended by upper-class sophisticates who are in reality just as crude and lowbrow as the risque' sex farces Molière writes for them. <br /><br />But while stricken at first by crippling stage fright, it isn't long before the beautiful Marquise becomes the toast of the theater world and sought after by such royal figures as an oddly-eccentric King Louis XIV (Thierry Lhermitte) while captivating the lower classes as well. <br /><br />All of which is brought to the screen with the most sumptuous of production values (costumes, cinematography, and Italian locations are all stunningly lavish) and a directorial style by Véra Belmont (MALENA, RED KISS, PRISONERS OF MAO) that's effortlessly inviting. <br />
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<br />Performances are uniformly fine and well-suited to the time period. Lambert Wilson (The "Merovingian" from the MATRIX sequels) enters the picture as playwright Racine, who competes with Molière for the King's attentions artistically while ardently pursuing Marquise's affections. <br /><br />Sophie Marceau, to whom I've always been rather indifferent, soon proves herself an irresistible presence as Marquise as she conveys the character's naivete, ambition, determination, insecurities, desperate desires, and equal amounts of loyalty and duplicity in her dealings with both men and women. <br /><br />The story grows deeper and more dramatic as Marquise's social and romantic entanglements become ever more complicated and lead to tragedy. Deftly combining sophisticated story with an ever-present wry humor (which, as mentioned before, isn't afraid to revel in the lowbrow) and ample opportunities for Sophie Marceau to charm us with her beauty and mystique, MARQUISE is like a rum-soaked confection that's both sweet and intoxicating. <br /><br /><br /><b><a href="https://www.filmmovement.com/product/marquise">Buy the Blu-ray or DVD from Film Movement Classics</a><br /><br />Also available on Fandango, iTunes<br /><br /><i>New 2K Digital Restoration<br />1.85:1 Widescreen<br />2.0 Stereo<br />French w/ English Subtitles<br />Bonus: Interview with director Véra Belmont, trailer, <br /> illustrated booklet with essay by Laurence Marie</i></b><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w_gEAfaQ0TQ/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w_gEAfaQ0TQ?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br />
<br />Porfle Popneckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560493738748753912noreply@blogger.com0