// Category Archive for: Movie Reviews

Blu-Ray Review: The Wolverine

By Less Lee Moore

Although Batman, Superman, and even Spider-Man get a lot of attention, it’s worth noting that Hugh Jackman has now portrayed Wolverine six times on the big screen. Unlike Supes and Spidey, Logan didn’t ask for his powers and unlike Bruce Wayne, he doesn’t necessarily want to vanquish the bad guys. This makes Wolverine one of the more compelling and consistent characters in cinematic superhero history. The Wolverine explores why.

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Blu-Ray Review: Paradise

By Brad Henderson

Diablo Cody hit it big a few years ago with Juno and everyone and their mother flocked over to her fan club. I watched Juno and admit I enjoyed it, but it was so filled with pop culture one-liners that it became boring. People said it was fresh and new but to me it was someone just trying way too hard. After that, Cody wrote Jennifer’s Body, which I was a fan of because of the silliness and how the film actually presented itself. Of course, people didn’t like this one and it was easily dismissed by critics. Cody wrote another “hit” called Young Adult which was just OK by me and many others.

Recently a new film called Paradise has surfaced that Cody wrote and directed. This is actually her directorial debut and the project she decided to helm first. First off, let me say this film feels like a total passion project for Diablo Cody. I could be wrong, of course, but Paradise falls flat and is so boring it doesn’t feel right.

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Blu-Ray Review: Bounty Killer

By Brad Henderson

Exploitation is a term that isn’t used with newer films, although every so often we get a film that looks like it’s from today but has the throwback feel. Bounty Killer is one of those films. However, Bounty Killer never claims that to be a throwback and that’s what I really enjoyed about it. If you are mainly inspired by older films and want to really hit hard with the audience who loves that type of thing, do not call your film a throwback. It ruins everything.

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Blu-Ray Review: Body Bags (Collector’s Edition)

By Brad Henderson

John Carpenter has blessed us with many great flicks and inspired a limitless amount of people. He continues to do so even today. Still, Carpenter has a few underrated flicks and Body Bags is one of them. The whole film wasn’t directed by The Horror Master himself, but he directed a segment and more importantly, he nailed it as the host of this anthology. Body Bags might not be the best thing ever but it is a blast. (Don’t take me too seriously when I say it may not be the best thing ever; I mean that in a very positive way, actually.) Now, Scream Factory has given us a pristine looking Blu-Ray.

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DVD Review: Passion

By Less Lee Moore

Oh, Brian De Palma. You broke my heart but I keep coming back. First, it was Mission To Mars, one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen (and this from a diehard MST3K fan). Then it was the dreadful adaptation of James Ellroy’s The Black Dahlia. Still, I was excited about Passion. Noomi Rapace and Rachel Adams in an erotic thriller with lesbian undertones? Who could resist? Not me.

The critics weren’t kind at Passion‘s TIFF premiere in 2012. But Noomi Rapace! Rachel McAdams! Erotic thriller! Plus a score from the great Pino Donaggio. My desire to see the film did not wane.

Well, I’ve now seen Passion. And I have a lot of thoughts, and most of them good. It’s vintage De Palma, that is for certain: heightened emotion masking flatness of emotion, weird artificiality bleeding through lush production design, over-the-top music, exquisite framing, and outlandish narrative. I haven’t seen Alain Corneau’s 2011 inspiration Crime d’amour, so I can’t speak to it, but I now understand why so many hated Passion. It’s not a straightforward movie; it’s a straight-up giallo. Forget Hitchcock. It’s all Italian. There’s even a police investigation, a hallmark of the genre.

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DVD Review: I Am ZoZo

By Brad Henderson

The name ZoZo probably won’t ring a bell with normal folk, but if you know me, you should know I’m not normal. I’ve always been fascinated with stories about ZoZo and loved to read people’s testimonies of their encounters with this so-called demon. If you are clueless about who or what ZoZo is, you can find everything you need to know about him online. There is a small community that believes this is real and many have encountered this demon of sorts through the well-known Ouija board.

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DVD Review: Shiver

By Brad Henderson

When the name Danielle Harris appears in a movie, millions of fanboys cry out in joy. However, Shiver is a film that will just make you cry. Shiver isn’t terrible and has a decent plot, but the film suffers from a lack of cleverness.

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Blu-Ray Review: Fernando Di Leo: The Italian Crime Collection, Volume 2

By Brad Henderson

Many people either don’t know the name Fernando Di Leo or have never seen any of his films. Aside from filmmakers and cinephiles, his name doesn’t come up too often, but I’m here to change that. Raro Film has recently released a second volume of their Fernando Di Leo Italian Crime Collection. Aside from being a balls-out release, the transfers are outstanding.

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Blu-Ray Review: Jug Face

By Brad Henderson

Every so often we get a horror film that is completely original and stands out from the rest. Jug Face is a film unlike anything you will see this year (or even the upcoming years) in the horror genre.

The Pit Wants What It Wants.

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Movie Review: Short Term 12

By Less Lee Moore

Short Term 12 opens and closes with a group of counselors relaxing outside the at-risk youth foster care facility where they work. Mason (John Gallagher, Jr.) shares a humorous story while Grace (Brie Larson), one of the female counselors, seems skeptical of Mason’s ability to convey the story accurately and without embellishments. They are soon interrupted by Sammy, a resident trying to run away as fast as he can. These bookends hold a lot of emotional wreckage between them, but also indicate that despite all the suffering, life can and does go on and in some cases, does get better.

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