July « 2010 « FRED Entertainment

July 31, 2010

BIG BROTHER Blog Report: Day 52

Filed under: Articles,TV News — Tags: big brother uk, blog — Aaron @ 10:15 am

Day 52

Well, lots to talk about but let’s start with the obvious:

Ben is gone.

ben-leaving

He was a bitch, he was a lover, he was a child, he was a mother, he was a sinner, he was a saint (remind me I owe Meredith Brooks a cheque) but damn it he was good television. I said before that Ben was a people pleaser but more so than anything else he was a self pleaser and I’m not just talking about what he does in the mirror. Ben was lazy at the tasks because to exert effort would mean he cares and he just couldn’t care less. Sweat wasn’t something on his radar because he led a privileged life and didn’t really have to work hard to get anything, so why start now? All he really worried about was whether or not people thought he was a good person because if he was soon positively he could do what he wanted.

Ironically for someone who wanted to be liked by everyone so much Ben got evicted by the public because of his bitchy remarks about the people around him. Ben liked to think that he wasn’t bitchy but honest. The problem with his theory is that it’s only honesty if you say it to the person you’re talking about. When you say it behind their backs, that’s when you are perceived as devious. One particularly bad comment he made this week, which it appears was the last straw, was directed towards Josie. Ben made the very bad judgement of making this comment in the presence on Josie’s reluctant lover John James. Essentially, Ben said “She has been dressing up in more revealing clothes and I don’t think she can get away with that with her figure”. Ouch.

Good bye good sir. I’m sure we’ll see you pop up in the written media somehow. You can’t keep a good dog down, especially when he’s a purebred.

In other news, Dave is a moron

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He’s been winding me up more and more as the weeks go by. He thinks he’s hilarious. He thinks he a genius. He thinks a lot of things. He’s wrong all the time. So, here are a few things I would like to say to him to set him straight.

– If you’re doing a task where you have to ignore the distractions in the house, RUNNING UP TO THE DISTRACTIONS AND LOOKING DIRECTLY AT THEM is failing the task.
– Telling Josie she needs to lose weight because she isn’t as skinny as yout wife isn’t a nice thing to say.
– When you’re told to ignore a new housemate in order to pass a task, saying I WONDER IF WE’LL GET A NEW HOUSEMATE IN is neither big nor clever. Shut up.
– You’re a minister? So is it very holy to look up your wife’s skirt on national television? Do you think that’s respectful?
– I don’t care how full your belly is with love, it’s mostly fat so you’ll have to run a hell of a lot faster in the garden to work that shit off.
– Fuck off home now, please.

Walk The Line

omg

Shabby walked.
Caoimhe walked.
Keeley was carried.
John James walked. But walked back in.
Laura walked.

We’ve almost had as many housemates leave as we have had evicted. It’s all getting a little pathetic. I’m all for people removing themselves from bad situations but this year it’s all been whiney, moany, prissy little problems that has everyone leaving.

Shabby couldn’t handle the fact that there was someone in the house she fancied. Caoimhe couldn’t handle the fact that her boyfriend might think she was a bit of a slut. Keeley couldn’t handle the fact that she twisted her ankle (ouch). John James couldn’t handle the fact that he fancied Josie. Laura couldn’t handle the fact that she was still sad after her boyfriend cheated on her (ouch).

Real feelings and body injuries aside, can people not deal with their emotions anymore? It’s been noted that this year the housemates are extremely tactile and cuddly. Hugs are often associated with people needing affirmation and assurance. Are they all so fragile? Is this a magnifying glass on modern society as a whole? It’s hard to tell. Maybe I’m being heartless, but god damn it people, get over it!

– Aaron Poole
Follow Aaron on Twitter – @AaronFever

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Review: BLACK NARCISSUS and THE RED SHOES

Filed under: Articles,Reviews — Tags: black narcissus, emeric pressburger, michael powell, the red shoes — Aaron @ 7:48 am

Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes

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The Films

You have to feel sorry for Britain’s film community. Directors don’t get recognized until they make it to Hollywood, at which point they become absorbed into the American system. Hitchcock and Chaplin were not only English by birth but by nature, predisposed to dry comedy and, certainly in Hitch’s case, dark irony. Yet they’re among the purest examples of Hollywood filmmakers, two of the five most influential directors funded by the American system, and they’re but early examples of America’s way of denying England its own cinematic glory.

As such, the relative obscurity into which Michael Powell and his frequent collaborator, Emeric Pressburger, have fallen is at once tragic and completely foreseeable. In their heyday, the British director and the Hungarian ex-pat screenwriter, operating under the moniker The Archers, could easily have secured work in Hollywood, but Powell never elected to move, perhaps aware that he was just too British. Fortunately for the British, there may be no director in the history of the medium more cinematic, save perhaps Nicholas Ray: both were first-class Expressionists, masters of color, shadow and the freedom of cinematic editing.

Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes comprise the second half of the most impressive four-year period of any director, each year marked by its own masterpiece. Starting with 1945’s I Know Where I’m Going! and continuing with A Matter of Life and Death (also called Stairwayx to Heaven, Powell and Pressburger’s gold run by no means makes up their only great films (to the edge of both bookends are masterpieces like The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and The Tales of Hoffmann) but condenses everything the pair had to offer into four capital-R Romantic melodramas that will tear your soul to tatters.

Black Narcissus, timed with the independence of India in the same year, uses classical melodramatic technique to demonstrate why British occupation failed in the first place. A formalist triumph, the film contains arguably the greatest use of color in cinematic history (the only contender that comes to mind is Johnny Guitar). Not a single frame was shot in India, a jarring notion when faced with matte paintings, miniatures and studio sets so seamlessly combined that they look too real for a film made in the 1940s. Frankly, I cannot think of another film that uses miniatures so convincingly until I arrive at Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy over a half century later.

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Yet the falsity of the film’s construction aids Powell on thematic and aesthetic grounds: this is a movie about what happens when people attempt to remake the world into their own image, and its chief atmosphere comes from the total control Powell and cinematographer Jack Cardiff exerted on color and lighting, control they enjoyed precisely because it was all staged. A group of nuns take residence in a palace — a former harem, no less, much to my amusement — where they seek to start a school for girls and a hospital.

Soon, however, the splendor of their surroundings begins to affect the sisters in strange ways. Juxtaposing the plain, oatmeal-colored habits with the bright dyes of the locals clothing, Powell stresses how alien the British women are, perched as they are on the face of a cliff 9,000 feet above the ground in their whitewashed, palatial whorehouse.

Rather than use the exoticism to lure the women away from their vows, Powell stresses how the environment simply unlocks latent memories and desires in foreign agents, removed from their own surroundings and more capable of seeing what’s left behind. Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr), the young and condescending leader of the group, starts to daydream of a past romance that drove her to the order when it failed, while another nun becomes so absent-minded and focused on something deep in her mind that she plants flowers in the vegetable patches.

Then there’s Sister Ruth, played by Kathleen Byron. Where Clodagh sours in her repression, Ruth has become a bundle of nerves, crackling buried desire with every look. Bryon’s performance is one of the great performances of madness in the cinema: you can see it when she runs into a room early in the film covered in the blood of a local patient, looking oddly pleased with herself, and the mounting of her lust for Dean (Jack Farrar), the shorts-sporting government agent and symbol of arrogant imperialism, begins to twist her physically as Byron’s mouth twists into feral grins and makeup gives her flesh the pale green/purple hue of Sleeping Beauty‘s Maleficent. Combined with Powell’s masterful pacing and artistic staging, the simple act of putting on lipstick can be more horrific than any violent action.

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Films about lost faith and buried sexuality are somber affairs, the realm of Ingmar Bergman and Carl Dreyer. But Black Narcissus is a movie of passion, sensuality popping off the screen in every shot as the tightly structured plot takes unperceived twists and turns until it winds up a full-blown opera. Powell’s approach lifts the feature out of any single message, blending in its critical study of imperialism and its suggestions concerning the effect of religious piety on the mind and body into a sumptuous feast of color and emotion, making for what may be Powell’s most gripping adventure.

But if Black Narcissus combined eroticism with politics, the Archers’ masterpiece, The Red Shoes, filters sensuality through its purest form: art. The climactic sequence of Powell’s previous film choreographed the action to the score, preparing him nicely for a film about ballet. But just as Black Narcissus quickly broke free of its social message to spiral off into far grander territory, so too does The Red Shoes use ballet as a springboard for a larger commentary on all art.

Lermontov, the strict ballet impresario played by Anton Walbrook, is modeled after the great leader of the Ballets Russes, Sergei Diaghilev. Diaghliev was a demanding taskmaster, but he also revolutionized the art form of ballet by seeking out the newest and most innovative talent – it was Diaghliev, after all, who introduced the world to Stravinsky and supported him even when the composer’s work sparked riots among the intelligentsia.

Lermontov is no less unforgiving, but Powell digs into the character, explaining such cruelties as firing the lead ballerina for getting engaged not as the whims of an artistic tyrant but the side-effects of a dedication to art. He tells an upper-class art patron that ballet is a religion to him, and when he finally acquiesces to her wishes to audition her niece, Vicky (Moira Shearer), he asks her a test question first. “Why do you want to dance” he asks with a hint of danger, but he soon learns that Vicky isn’t just some feckless relative relying on her aunt to get famous. “Why do you want to live?” she responds immediately. “Well, I don’t know exactly why, but … I must.” “That’s my answer, too.”

Powell & Pressburger frame the central conflict of the film around this idea, making an odd love triangle with Vicky at the center. On one hand is Lermontov, representative of art; on the other, Craster (Marius Goring), the young composer who falls for the dancer. Thus, the choice the dancer must make is between physical love and love of the abstract, love of artistic expression. When Lermontov expresses jealousy toward Craster, it is not out of sexual competition but a desire to see the greatest conduit for dance he’s ever seen dedicate herself fully to the arts.

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Not that sex and dance are ever separated in the course of the film’s 135 minutes. Craster, already a wunderkind, finds writing even easier with Vicky as a muse. For his part, Lermontov clearly receives his physical and emotional gratification from watching ballet, and the reason he pushes his dancers, composers and designers further than anyone else may be that he must see bolder and bolder art to continue satisfying unaddressed biological needs.

This unorthodox approach to sensuality makes the naked repression of the nuns in Black Narcissus look quaint by comparison. Despite the setbacks of social norms, The Red Shoes contains the most flagrantly sexual moment in the cinema, and it’s a sequence that has no overt connection to sex. The film’s centerpiece is an epic dance number than breaks the rules of physics, much less ballet, to communicate how Vicky views art. Earlier in the film, Powell wryly touched upon the social nature of box seats in theaters, designed to allow the higher-ups to view each other rather than watch the show, yet Vicky never took her eyes of the stage. Once she finally appears with the group, the screen explodes into Expressionistic, libidinous freedom. Vicky’s dance partners vanish into costumed outlines that exist only because Vicky must acknowledge at least that she’s interacting with an object, and at one point her chief partner morphs into both Lermontov and Craster. This is what it looks like to see a genius attuned to the craft, and Powell stresses that Vicky doesn’t care an ounce for fame when he imposes a shot of waves crashing on a rocky beach in place of the applauding audience: the crowd is just background noise behind what really matters.

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Brilliantly, Powell allows the audience to truly ponder the question of choosing romance over art. Vicky, confined by gender roles of the day, should not have even been given the option of following her career at the expense of a relationship, but the director understands genius. Had Mozart not died at 35 but instead given up music to appease a lover, would we look upon that act as a romantic gesture, or the denial of a world-class talent to appease the whims of one lovesick individual? As Powell gave his nuns the freedom to have physical desires in Black Narcissus, he also gives Vicky the option of making a choice between two equally viable options. Whatever choice she makes will be tragic, and the film is made even more heartbreaking through Powell’s effortless control of empathy, an emotional counterbalance to the cold tricks of the other British master, Hitchcock.

If you’re still on the fence about these films, I can only point to Powell’s biggest fan to try to sell you: if you like Martin Scorsese, I can personally guarantee you will love these movies. Marty includes something of Powell into all of his films — the shadowed boxing crowds in Raging Bull reflect the subjectivity of a master focused solely on the craft and not who’s enjoying it, and Shutter Island contains open homages to both Black Narcissus (looking down the cliff) and The Red Shoes (the spiral staircase Leo climbs at the end). Scorsese even befriended Powell after the Brit found himself out of work after the better-than-Psycho psychosexual thriller Peeping Tom and his editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, married Powell. If I ever met Scorsese, we might end up mutually gushing over the Archers more than Marty’s own work, but that’s the effect Powell has on you: less cynical than Nick Ray, Powell belongs in the pantheon of directors with a pure grasp on emotion along with Griffith, Kurosawa and other rarefied names. I cannot promise that you will like these two films but — arrogant as this may be — I can say that, if you don’t, the problem doesn’t lie with Powell.

Blu-Ray specs

The restorations for both Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes were joint efforts on behalf of Janus Films (Criterion’s parent company) and the British ITV, who put out their own Blu-Rays a year ago. I’d been wondering when Criterion would finally get around to releasing copies Stateside. The wait was worth it. ITV’s single-layer discs are, judging from screenshot comparisons, perfectly suitable transfers of the restoration. The Criterion discs, however, use dual-layer BDs and take up nearly all the bitrate. The result is a crisper image, not to the point that those in Region B need to seethe but noticeable enough in places, especially on Black Narcissus. Either way, these images are breathtaking, restoring the impeccable color of Jack Cardiff’s cinematography fully. I’m happy that Criterion brought their old method of restoration demonstrations out of the box after a few studios complained in the past to show just how completely ITV and Janus cleaned up the film.

Both films were stunning even in their damaged versions, but now the imagery achieves maximum effect. The blue sky that catches Clodagh’s attention while praying in the drab chapel is even more arresting in its new clarity, as is the close-up of Vicky’s made-up face while dancing. Criterion’s restorations are often revelatory, and the work they did earlier this year with Nicholas Ray’s masterpiece, Bigger Than Life, demonstrated clearly what they could achieve with old Technicolor movies, but these are vital upgrades to two of the most beautiful films ever made, looking better even than Ray’s visual tour-de-force.

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The audio is strong to boot, communicating the boisterous scores of classical filmmaking and leaving the dialogue crisp. But it’s the imagery that will suck you in time and again, eradicating the many issues of fading, scratches and blurring that plagued the weak transfer of the three-strip Technicolor when Criterion first put these on DVD.

Extras

Most of the two films’ extras come from the original DVDs, but they were among Criterion’s best supplements. A commentary track for Black Narcissus featuring the director and Martin Scorsese in particular is one of the greatest DVD extras of all time, and the discs have been fleshed out with updated pieces on the restorative efforts that went into cleaning up the film, all of which are worth a look to those who respect what specialty companies like Criterion and ITV do for classic films. There’s some inevitable overlap between making-of features and individual interviews, but overall the extras pad out the most impressive one-two punch Criterion has released this year.

Final Thoughts

Both of these films are true masterpieces, and I count The Red Shoes among my 10 favorite films of all time. I tried to keep my reviews short this time, finally remembering that my usual style is meant for those who have seen the movie, not those thinking of buying it. But I also held back because it’s all too easy to lose oneself in superlatives when discussing Powell & Pressburger. People tend to view classic films in a vacuum, as if standing behind a velvet rope in a museum, and even when people say, “They don’t make ’em like they used to,” they slip in an undercurrent of relief beneath the perfunctory regret. But Powell is one of those old filmmakers who, like Ray, could slip under your skin and break boundaries so completely that you didn’t even realize just how many risks they’d taken until you reach the end. The vibrancy of these two films, made clearer through the nearly perfect restorations, is arresting in the way that few modern films are, not because people don’t try as hard or because somehow things are only good when they’ve aged or other nonsense, but because Powell & Pressburger were as attuned to their art form as Vicky Page was to the ballet. Cinema was in their blood, and not the tragedy of Powell’s eventual artistic exile can undercut the majesty of their work. Regardless of what Powell film I watch, even ones not written by his Hungarian friend, I think of a conversation the two shared in preparation for I Know Where I’m Going!: Pressburger wanted to make a movie about a woman on an island, and the director wanted to know how she got there. Without missing a beat, Emeric replied, “Let’s make the film and find out.”

– Jake Cole is a journalism student at Auburn University, where he regularly avoids people in favor of writing about film, television and music on his blog, Not Just Movies. He aspires to be a critic, partially out of his love for film but mainly because he’s always dreamed of living a life of extreme poverty.

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July 30, 2010

Weekend Shopping Guide 7/30/10: BILKO!!!!

Filed under: Shopping Guides — Tags: Batman, Cobra Commander, forest whitaker, jude law, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, LEGO, Phil Silvers, rambo, starbuck, Stephen Fry — UncaScroogeMcD @ 3:58 am

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)

After teasing fans with a best-of collection a few years back, the complete, digitally remastered first season of Sgt. Bilko (aka The Phil Silvers Show) (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) is now available – and if you’ve never seen the show and consider yourself a fan of comedy, you must rectify the oversight immediately. Not only is the writing sterling, but Phil Silvers is a brilliant comic performer, elevating the material and making his role as a con-happy army sergeant iconic. The 5-disc set contains all 34 episodes, plus audio commentaries, the original network opening, original cast commercials, the lost audition show, and Phil Silver’s guest-starring episode of The Lucy Show.

I love bubbles. My nephews love bubbles. Who doesn’t love bubbles? Well, perhaps people who hate Lawrence Welk. Still – most people love bubbles. How about really big bubbles? Surely big bubbles equal big fun. And it’s true – big bubbles equal big fun. How can you make big bubbles easily? Why, with The Big Bubble Thing ($11.99), with which you can make ginormous bubbles up to 50-feet long.

If you’ve yet to see the brilliant Stephen Fry’s equally brilliant journey across the United States in the 6-part documentary Stephen Fry In America (BFS, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), please rectify that grievous oversight at your earliest available moment. Accompany Fry as he visits all 50 states, encountering stereotypes and people, places & events that undermine established stereotypes. A Blu-Ray edition ($39.99 SRP) is also available (and looks pretty darn good).

I never thought that I’d eventually get to watch a high definition version of GI JOE: The Movie (Shout Factory, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$26.97 SRP), restored to its intended theatrical ratio. Yes, remember that it was supposed to be a theatrical feature, but when the big screen outing of Transformers tanked, GI JOE: The Movie was consigned to a direct-to-video release. Granted, the print still looks like a TV cartoon from the 80’s, but it is cleaner than it’s ever been, and the sound has been cleaned up significantly. Bonus materials include an audio commentary and those good ol’ PSAs we know and love so much. Also, for fans, the bonus standard DVD includes contains the flick in full frame, as we all remember it.

Leave it to Warner Bros. to take an incredible legacy and talent base for their animated DC properties and continue to spin out neither here nor there direct-to-DVD features that recast already brilliant actors for the sake of gimmicky stunt casting. So it goes with Batman: Under The Red Hood (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), which finds yet another voice for Batman & The Joker, leaving behind the iconic Kevin Conroy & Mark Hamill, in a blah story about the Gotham arrival of a vigilante with no ethics, Red Hood. Bonus materials include featurettes, a quartet of Batman: The Animated Series episodes presented by Bruce Timm, and a Jonah Hex animated short.

The one thing I can say about the otherwise flat, lifeless, and sadly boring remake of Clash Of The Titans (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) is that, stripped of its horrid 3-D conversion for home viewing, it’s a least a brighter affair. Bonus materials include an alternate ending and a featurette on Sam Worthington.

Long available in the complete series set, high definition enthusiasts can now pick up the penultimate 3rd season of Battlestar Galactica (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$88.98 SRP). The 5-disc set contains audio commentaries, video blogs, deleted scenes, featurettes, and webisodes.

As Stallone’s big action flick The Expendables is right around the corner, it’s no surprise that there’d be a tie-in release of Rambo: The Complete Collector’s Set (Lionsgate, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$54.99 SRP), which contains all 4 Rambo films in high definition (though the most recent, Rambo, is just Disc 1 of the original 2-disc set). Bonus materials are the same as the last special edition.

I suppose it must be a sign of soft sales at retail that the 3rd season of The New Adventures of Old Christine (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$24.95) has been demoted to Warners On-Demand service. But I suppose fans should just be happy they can get the 10 episodes that comprise this season anywhere.

Just in time for the healthcare debate but ignored in theaters, Repo Men (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP) stars Jude Law and Forest Whitaker as Remy & Jake, a pair of near future repossession men who reclaim organ transplants when their recipients fail to make their payments. But after Remy gets a new heart after an on-the-job accident and falls behind in his own payments, Jake comes after him. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, fake ads, and a visual effects featurette.

Largely depressing but endlessly fascinating, Life After People: The Complete Season 2 (History Channel, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.95 SRP) presents another 10 episodes packed with post-apocalyptic degeneration. Like I said – irresistibly depressing.

After 7 seasons and years of releases, the DVD journey of Sabrina The Teenage Witch (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) comes to an end with the final season. The 3-disc set contains all 21 episodes, plus the TV movie Sabrina Goes To Rome.

Besides barreling through introducing him to a load of classic films, I’ve been looking for activities that my 6-year-old nephew will enjoy while the summer heat gets a bit too hot to make outside activities viable. And what I’ve found is that the movie-watching activity can be combined with major construction projects. Those major construction projects, you won’t be terribly surprised to find out, are LEGO-based.

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This week, we tackled the immense Star Wars: Venator Class Republic Attack Cruiser ($199.99), thanks to our good friends at ThinkGeek.

This is the largest LEGO project we’ve tackled, coming in at 1,170 pieces… A good deal of them very, very tiny. Once the box was opened and the bags set out, the enormity of the task was a bit daunting.

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Of course, I spent far too much time wondering why Grand Chancellor Palpatine looked so much like Christopher Walken.

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And finally – after three whole movies – we came to the end, and my nephew was eager to explore all of the nooks and crannies, including Palpatine’s office (with a small box holding Death Star plans hidden away in the bow).

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Next week, we’ll be tackling another project, but for now, here’s a look the finished Attack Cruiser…

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So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…

-Ken Plume

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Trailer Park: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED Giveaway, THE DUNGEON MASTERS, THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS: 1985 WORLD SERIES COLLECTOR’S EDITIONon

Filed under: Trailer Park — Tags: Add new tag, Aladin, Amitabh Bachchan, Dungeon Masters, Keven McAlester, Riteish Deshmukh, Sanjay Dutt, Sujoy Ghosh — admin @ 1:45 am

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

Check out my other column,Â This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me onÂ TWITTER under the name: Stipp

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED- Giveaway

disappearancealicecreed Forget about Clash of the Titans, don’t bother with Prince of Persia, and by all means take a pass on Quantum of Solace. The one film that showcases the wicked power of actress Gemma Arterton is The Disappearance of Alice Creed.

While I don’t know what I can or can’t say before the film opens next week, August 6th, I don’t think anyone will have a problem with me saying that you ought to seek this film out and watch a movie that is the perfect answer for a time of the year when you get nothing but ho-hum releases. Truly, a movie that delivers on being both exciting and thrilling, it’s a feature that keeps you guessing what is coming next.

To help get the word out on The Disappearance Of Alice Creed Anchor Bay Films want to give one of you lucky readers a chance to win a DVD prize pack. The grand prize includes: Brooklyn’s Finest, The Crazies, Pandorum, Righteous Kill and Traitor DVDs. All you have to do is shoot me a note at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com and I’ll get you entered.

While you wait to see if you’re the one who will be anointed with these goodies go on and find Alice Creed on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/whereisalicecreed

For additional information please visit: http://www.whereisalicecreed.com

Become a fan: http://www.facebook.com/whereisalicecreed

As well, watch the first 5 minutes of the thriller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhPNzoI__28

Good Luck!

About The Film:

Two men – one in his twenties, the other nearer forty, both intensely focused on the task at hand – line the inside of a transit van with plastic. Shopping, they buy a drill, a mattress and other supplies. In a small flat they assemble a bed for the mattress and staple foam insulation and board to the walls and windows of a bedroom. Then, their meticulous preparations complete, they kidnap a young woman. They drag her from the street into the back of the van and, with a bag over her head and ball gag in her mouth, take her back to the flat, tying her to the bed in the room they have converted into a prison cell.

The kidnappers are Danny (Martin Compston) and Vic (Eddie Marsan), two ex-cons planning to make a mint on the ransom for the young woman.Â The younger, nervier of the two, Danny defers to the more experienced Vic, who acts with a steely conviction.Â Their hostage is Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton), daughter of a rich businessman, chosen by Vic and Danny as their passport to a better life. Terrified and immobile at first, it soon becomes clear that Alice isn ‘ t about to let her captors use her as capital without a fight. As determined to escape as Vic and Danny are to succeed, Alice enters into a battle of wills which strains the already fractious relationship between the two men. As the deadline for the exchange draws nearer, all three are brought close to breaking point, with Vic and Danny ‘ s foolproof plan descending into a desperate struggle for survival.

A taut, emotionally intense thriller, the debut feature from writer-director J Blakeson eschews genre convention, generating tension from the sexual and psychological ties that bind captive to captors.

Produced by Adrian Sturges (The Escapist), the film stars Gemma Arterton (Prince of Persia, Tamara Drewe, Quantum of Solace), Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky, Sherlock Holmes) and Martin Compston (Sweet Sixteen, Red Road)

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED will be in theaters August 6th from Anchor Bay .

THE DUNGEON MASTERS – DVD Review

dungeon_masters I love this movie.

Much like Trekkies, this DVD explores the nuances of those who play Dungeons & Dragons. Of course the movie doesn’t work if you just took a look at some well meaning nerd who loved to roll the dice with his buddies on a Friday night, imbibing root beer and throwing back some Funyuns. No, the movie works because we see those at the fringe, the one you would be scared to be sitting next to on a long plane flight should they get it in them to explain the difference between an elf and a troll.

But, you know what? These are harmless fanatics. I would rather someone be as obsessive about the three lovers of all things Dungeon than someone who has a habit that could lead to more serious problems. Director Keven McAlester deserves a lot of credit for thinking long and hard about what would make for an interesting documentary, eschewing a finger pointing laugh fest and instead opting for a serious mediation on what it means to these people.

I, for one, am in awe of these people as I really didn’t understand it growing up, this movie also made me accept that I was a geek as opposed to a nerd because of its intricate rules and application of math which really was like garlic to a arithmetic-phobe like myself, but gained an appreciation for it by watching this. It’s really not an intricate treatise on the nature of life but, again, that’s where McAlester deserves some kudos. He makes a movie that shows them to be sensitive human beings who simply love to play this game and incorporate it deeply into their lives. Like Trekkies, we see them at first to be outcasts who are a little weird around the edges but, by the end, you really do end up feeling an affinity for what some of these people have gone through in order to keep playing a game they love.

Any movie that can put into context any marginalized group which has been seen as on the fringe and misunderstood gets a vote in my book and it was a delight to finally see what these nerds were all uppity about in the first place. I get it now.

About The Movie:

Some board games are merely played. Others are lived. Among the latter, none is more obsessed over than Dungeons & Dragons, the enduringly popular fantasy role-playing board game in which a roll of the oddly angled dice can alter a character’s life. But for some dedicated players, the game has altered their actual lives. Three such fanatics are profiled in THE DUNGEON MASTERS, an eye-opening film from the critically acclaimed director, Keven McAllester (You’re Gonna Miss Me) coming to DVD from FilmBuff and MPI Media Group on August 3, 2010, with an SRP of $19.98.

What the hit comedy feature Role Models did for live-action role-playing game enthusiasts, THE DUNGEON MASTERS does for devoted table-top players. Dungeons & Dragons is no mere game to Richard, Scott and Elizabeth, the people at the center of this entertaining and ultimately moving documentary. Against the backdrop of crumbling middle-class America, these three struggling adults devote their lives to Dungeons & Dragons, the storied role-playing game introduced in 1974. One player is a sanitation worker who lures friends into a “Sphere of Annihilation.” Another is an evil “drow-elf” displaced by Hurricane Katrina. And one is a failed supervillain who starts a cable access show involving ninjas, puppets and a cooking segment.

But the baroque fantasies of these three clash with their mundane real lives, and they gradually come to realize that the game’s imaginary triumphs can’t completely mask the very real disappointments of life. The beauty of Keven McAlester’s film is in revealing his subjects’ real-life heroism: summoning the courage to face hardships head on. Along the way, THE DUNGEON MASTERS reimagines the themes of classic heroic cinema, creating an intimate portrait of struggles and triumphs.

The Austin Chronicle’s Richard Whittaker said of THE DUNGEON MASTERS: “McAlester’s film cuts with sensitivity through the nerdy facade to the dedication its subjects show to their hobby in the toughest of times.” Kevin Kelly of Indiewire called it “a well-crafted film that “¦ gives you an unflinching look at three people who have made gaming one of their creative outlets.”

Since its debut in the 1970s, the role-playing board game Dungeons and Dragons has sold more than 20 million copies. It has spawned two feature films and dozens of books; all told, sales of the game and related books, DVDs and equipment have surpassed $1 billion.

THE DUNGEON MASTERS was an Official Selection at the Toronto International Film Festival and the South by Southwest Film Festival.

THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS: 1985 WORLD SERIES COLLECTORS EDITION – DVD Review

kansas-city-1985-ws I was there. Game 7. I was 10 at the time and there was no such thing, in 1985, as DVR’ing the thing so I could see whether I showed up on the screen.

The thing about the series at the time, because it dealt with two teams that literally only had to roll a little further down the highway in order to get to each others’ stadiums, was how insular it felt. I still remember feeling like this was a series that no one else cared about because the teams were so close together but I wasn’t too far off in my assessment that life wouldn’t get much better than it did for the Royals as it did for this World Series.

The wonderful thing about this box set which collects all 7 games is how, if you’re a fan of the game, you can see how much things haven’t really changed. Like football games that are replayed on ESPN Classic there is a certain timelessness to watching these little slices of sports history. Not only was it something to witness, how the Royals shut down the Cardinals in Game 7 with a shutout to win it all, but seeing how DVD now affords us the opportunity how 2 blown calls in Game 6 essentially allowed the Royals the opportunity that they might not have had if the umps were doing what they should have been. It’s as clear as day and it almost feels like revisiting a crime scene where the call just went to the wrong team and perhaps allowed them the one edge they needed.

It’s hard to quantify why buying this set is such a bargain but not only are these complete games enough to make any baseball fan salivate as you can see, like I did, the drama unfold as the series wore on it is also the inclusion of some priceless bonus features that should more than enough seal the deal. From a retrospective on the moment looking back 25 years to a highlight reel that puts the Royals’ success in proper context with showcasing who they beat out in the ALCS it is also worth checking out because this win might as well be seen as significant as the Chicago Cubs winning it all. The Royals’ odds to win it all once again might be as absurd as the whole team winning the lottery and being struck with lightning but, honestly, this box set captures the moment when lightning did strike at just the right moment. It’s like Major League had the Cleveland Indians went on to win it all. Honestly, after watching this, you would be hard pressed not to be inspired by a team that was good enough to put the St. Louis Cardinals away and win the World Series.

And if you see some goofy kid in the upper deck wearing a blue clown wig? That’s me, rooting on the Royals.

About The Movie:

In 1985, under the even keeled guidance of manager Dick Howser, and the one-field excellence of the their veteran stars including George Brett and Frank White and precocious pitcher Bret Saberhagen the Kansas City Royals established a championship resilience.Â The club overcame a late season deficit to win the American League West division, then overcame a 3 games to 1 deficit to stun the Toronto Blue JaysÂ and win the American League. With a come-from-behind pattern squarely in place Kansas City completed its improbably run by then storming back from a similar 3 games to 1 deficit to capture the World Series crown.

This July, A&E Home Entertainment and Major League Baseball Productions invite sports fans everywhere to relive the Royals’ history-making World Series in a spectacular 7-disc set ““ THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS 1985 WORLD SERIES COLLECTOR’S EDITION.Â Priced to add to every sports lovers home entertainment collection at $69.95srp, the DVD, timed to the 25th anniversary of Kansas City’s heart-stopping championship run, also features memorable moments from the Royals ’85 season, rare interviews, archival footage and much more!

Released from the Major League Baseball Film and Video archives for the first time ever, each disc features the actual television broadcasts of this historic Fall Classic.Â The seven games in this remarkable DVD collection showcase the rollercoaster of intra-state emotions as the Cardinals flew out to grab three quick wins in the first four games, only to have the Royals capture the final three games in oh-so-dramatic fashion.Â These vintage games capture the beauty of mid-1980s Royals Stadium, a roster of all-time Royals stars, and a battle of players, managers, and intra-state cities that enthralled the region and delighted a nation.

DVD bonuses on the set include the 1985 Kansas City Royals season Highlight Film, segment on George Brett Hometown Hero, Bret Saberhagen Cy Young Award Winner, and classic segments including: ALCS Highlights; Royals Clubhouse Celebration,Â “Royals Looking Back”Â and “How The Royals Met the Cardinals”.

ALADIN – DVD Review

This is my first Bollywood experience.

Truly, I didn’t know what I was getting into but thankfully this movie was one that I was able to thoroughly enjoy with the kind of interest I usually reserve for films where the bar is set unbelievably low. It’s not a knock on the film but when you realize you’re the outsider, I would assume that productions like this have their own set of rules and parameters around which other people who consume them regularly are able to judge their quality, so it’s really incumbent on me as a guest to the form to experience the movie in its totality.

Split into two distinct kinds of films, Aladin tells the tale of Aladin Chatterjee (Riteish Deshmukh) who comes from the hardscrabble life we’ve come to know of the westernized ideal of who Aladdin really is and comes into owning a magical lamp not by finding it in the pit of a sand lion’s stomach but as a gift. The real delight comes as the dueling genies I did recognize from my many Disney viewings of the animated classic take on a supernatural, and very corporal, form.

The bad and good genies posses normal features and actually adds a more interesting twist to a film that impresses with its special effects and toe tapping musical numbers which give any viewer of this movie a delightful spectacle of song and dance along with its more dramatic elements. With the parts of the clever genie (Amitabh Bachchan) and the one who would like to see the power taken away from the young upstart (Sanjay Dutt) played by a couple of heavyweights on the Bollywood scene it is not hard to see why this movie looks as polished as it does.

Director Sujoy Ghosh deserves credit for obviously trying to bridge a narrative gap between the fantastic and the dramatic but it also deserves kudos from me for making the movie accessible to someone who may not understand the structure of a film like this. Yes, at times the song and dance numbers seem a bit jarring and out of place but they’re wonderfully choreographed and the effects aren’t that bad. They are sure better than let’s say a film that airs on the Disney Channel on any given Saturday night but the cumulative effect of all of this is a movie that I would heartily recommend to anyone looking to enjoy a true spectacle of song, dance, and excitement. While some of the dialogue truly falls flat, be it delivery or in its simplicity, that shouldn’t deter anyone from seeking this out and enjoying a delightful, earnest story.

About The Movie:

This new Hindi movie, stars the latest heart throb chocolate-boy, Ritesh Deshmukh and the newcomer and oh-so-pretty Barbie Doll, Jacqueline. To add up to the spice is Amitabh, the genie who is at his best with the character of Genius and to create tension, tossed in the middle of this perfect love story is the villian, Sanjay Dutt.

From the land of myths and legends – India – comes a fantasy adventure for the entire family. Directed by Sujoy Ghosh, ‘Aladin’ is a modern re-imagining of the classic tale of ‘Aladin and The Magic Lamp’.

Aladin Chatterjee (Riteish Deshmukh) lives in the city of Khwaish, an orphan who has been bullied since childhood by Kasim and his gang. But his life changes when Jasmine (Jacqueline Fernandez) gives him a magic lamp as a Birthday gift – because it lets loose the genie, Genius (Amitabh Bachchan).

Desperate to grant him 3 wishes and seek the end of his contract with the Magic Lamp and get retirement, the rock-star Genius makes Aladin’s life difficult until the real threat looms on the horizon : the ex-genie, Ringmaster (Sanjay Dutt).

Why does Ringmaster want to kill Aladin? What is the dark secret about Aladin’s past that Genius is carrying? And what is Aladin’s destiny? Find out more in this swashbuckling fantasy adventure film.

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July 29, 2010

FREDagator: 2010-07-29

Filed under: FREDagator — UncaScroogeMcD @ 8:52 pm

Carrie Fisher on Craig Ferguson? So much fun…

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Contest Round-Up: 2010-07-29

Filed under: Articles — Tags: blu-ray, contest, disney, dvd, giveaway, james and the giant peach, kick ass, win — UncaScroogeMcD @ 5:05 am

Welcome to our weekly round-up of featured giveaways here at FRED. Every week, we’ll present a new clutch of DVDs, books, and other cool stuff you can take a shot at winning. All you have to do is click on the graphics below to be taken to their respective contest pages. And good luck!

In conjunction with Disney Home Video, we’re giving away a copy of JAMES & THE GIANT PEACH on Blu-RayDVD.

In conjunction with Lionsgate Home Video, we’re giving away a copy of KICK ASS on Blu-Ray/DVD.

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Win KICK ASS on Blu-Ray!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: contest, dvd, giveaway, kick ass, win — UncaScroogeMcD @ 5:03 am

In conjunction with Lionsgate Home Video, we’re giving away a copy of KICK ASS on Blu-Ray/DVD.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, August 11th.

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.

No Purchase necessary to win.

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

One entry per day, per person.

All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, August 11th.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

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Win JAMES & THE GIANT PEACH on Blu-Ray/DVD!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: blu-ray, contest, disney, dvd, giveaway, james and the giant peach, win — UncaScroogeMcD @ 4:51 am

In conjunction with Disney Home Video, we’re giving away a copy of JAMES & THE GIANT PEACH on Blu-RayDVD.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, August 11th.

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.

No Purchase necessary to win.

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

One entry per day, per person.

All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, August 11th.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

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Cabin Fever 99: Shock and Awe

Filed under: Cabin Fever — Tags: aaron poole, brian fitzpatrick, Cabin Fever, comedy, irish, Podcast — UncaScroogeMcD @ 2:36 am

Oh no! Just when you thought it was safe to hang out at the FRED…

Cabin Fever (hosted by the twisted souls Brian Fitzpatrick and Aaron Poole) is the result of having too much time on your hands and access to your local community radio station.

Over the course of an hour, they manage to trawl the depths of good taste, plus throw some music in. How much more could you want from a podcast?… Quality? Oh… we didn’t think of that.

Enjoy! And we hope our cross Atlantic friends can understand the Irish accent 😉

Hugs and Kisses,
Aaron P. + Rev. Fitzy

CABIN FEVER #99: Shock and Awe – Aaron and Brian try to catch up on some things they’ve been meaning to do for the last 99 podcasts, movies and comics are discussed (big shocker there), and Aaron makes an announcement. Music is provided by Cutting Shapes.

[CONTENT WARNING]: Explicit contents! We say every naughty word you can think of. You have been warned!

DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
Episode #99 (MP3 format)

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SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes

Got something to say? E-mail Aaron & Brian at the Cabin Fever mailbag.

CLICK HERE FOR THE CABIN FEVER ARCHIVES

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Bagged & Boarded 63: I Have A Dog Beard

Filed under: Bagged & Boarded — Tags: Bagged & Boarded, comedy, jesse rivers, matt cohen, Podcast — UncaScroogeMcD @ 2:13 am

What happens when two young men let their love of movies, comic books, and all things “geek” take over their lives? They run away from their families, bringing only the most essential DVDs and comics to their secret, highly fortified underground bunker in sunny Southern California, where they start recording podcasts that will change the world.

Are they heroes?

No.

Are they geniuses?

Far from it.

Are they the future of this planet?

I sure hope not.

Simply put… Matt Cohen and Jesse Rivers are “Bagged and Boarded”.

BAGGED & BOARDED #63: I Have A Dog Beard – In which Matt and Jesse ramble on – sometimes coherently – about INCEPTION, Comic-Con, Yogi Bear, and the upcoming Bagged and Boarded Live shows at the SModCastle. It’s more fun then a barrel of syphilis! (At least marginally)

[CONTENT WARNING]: This podcast may contain some foul language and horribly off-color jokes. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
Episode #63 (MP3 format)

[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/baggedboarded/bagged_boarded-63.mp3]

SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes

Got something to say? E-mail Matt & Jesse at the B & B mailbag.

CLICK HERE FOR THE BAGGED & BOARDED ARCHIVES

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July 27, 2010

FREDagator: 2010-07-27

Filed under: FREDagator — UncaScroogeMcD @ 2:31 pm

We can’t seem to get a live action Justice League movie, but at least we’ll have this…

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TV Or Not TV: 7/26 – 8/1

Filed under: TV Or Not TV — Tags: Doctor Who, tv listings — admin @ 4:17 am

If there are those of yout hat have been waiting for a time where I sit down to write this column and finally stop talking about DOCTOR WHO than I’ve got some really good news for you: next week will finally be that column. This week, however, I’m still bubbling over having re-lived THE BIG BANG and just dying to speak about it in full now that it has finally aired in here in the US of A.

Unlike season finale’s of the past this whacky bit of timey-whimey goodness did something that I wasn’t expecting at all in becoming a fairy tale by the episode’s end. It kicked off rather fast paced from the moment that young AMELIA gets up from praying to Santa and doesn’t really stop until we finally learn how the DOCTOR plans on un-doing the event that caused all of reality to cease to exist.

The structure of the episode was executed in a near perfect fashion by ensuring that it provided payoff to it’s core audience first. After the initial set up where we learn that the Earth is still there and the sky has no stars the timey-whimey bit kicks in with secret messages left for AMELIA POND that lead to the big reveal that inside the PANDORICA is none other than her older self. Then we see RORY cradling the recently killed AMY for a few ticks before the DOCTOR pops in, wielding a broom in one hand and a fez on his head, giving RORY his sonic screwdriver to free him from the PANDORICA. See? Time travel goodness handed off in a bit of mind-bending sci-fi for the audience to revel in. This bit is very important because what happens next is nothing but pure romance.

There were two moments last week where I wrote that the performance of ARTHUR DARVILL as RORY really endeared me to the character. The first is when the now self-aware Nestene duplicate RORY decides not to join the DOCTOR in his jump to the future to stay behind and guard the Pandorica to ensure AMY will be kept safe. He does so knowing that any damage to himself will be permanent, he will never sleep the whole time and he’s got 2000 years to act as her protector. The impact of this is then revealed as AMY watches the museum description of the iconic soldier that guarded the Pandorica through the ages, the ultimate act of love. This moment is only overshadowed by the reunion of the two minutes later when it’s revealed RORY is now a guard at the museum housing the Pandorica. Both of these moments are greater than any the actor was asked to do before on the show and he did so with believable emotion and dedication.

The near perfect structure once again turns back when we finally see the other side of all the time jumping bits from the beginning from the other perspective. This amusing bit plays out very well but comes with it a very heavy hand when after all is said and done the DOCTOR from 12 minutes in the future comes back to deliver a message to himself prior to appearing to die. On they go to disover the sun for this Earth is actually the burning and exploding TARDIS, that also has RIVER SONG trapped in a safety time loop. The DOCTOR pops in to save her and after she, with AMY’s help, destroys the fez we see how the DOCTOR becomes injured before popping back in time 12 minutes. Solid sci-fi, right?

After ALEX KINGSTON as RIVER SONG faces down a DALEK (and fanboys around the world squee in delight) we begin to move into the hands down two best performances that MATT SMITH has given all season. The first is as he’s seated in the PANDORICA, preparing to fly it into the exploding TARDIS to save all of reality (again). This wounded and weary DOCTOR asks to speak to AMY prior to take off and MATT SMITH, for such a young actor, taps into something ancient and wise beyond his years. He suddenly transforms himself into a grandfather like character in tone and he really sells it.

After his plan to save reality works we see the DOCTOR going backwards on his own time line as his existence is being undone. He quickly discovers that AMY, having grown up by one of these cracks, has the ability to hear him but not see him. This leads to that moment I wrote wondering about weeks ago from FLESH AND STONE where he is once again in his jacket when he should be jacket-less and he tells AMY the importance of remembering what he told her when she was seven. The very next scene leads us to what it was he told her, which is a wonderful tale of a man who seems to be accepting his fate and he speaks of himself and the life he’s lived to a sleeping AMELIA POND before he walks into the crack and saves everything (again).

The moment the DOCTOR started going back on his timeline the story quietly transitioned to that fairy tale I was talking about. The wonderful speaches lead to AMY waking up to a world where
her entire family and life was restored in ways we hadn’t even know it was fractured by the crack’s in time/space. As we see her wedding day events transpire and we slowly discover that the DOCTOR wasn’t being reflective at all on his life but he was in fact planting himself into AMY’s mind to try to bring himself back. “Nothing’s ever forgotten, not really,” the DOCTOR had said before and once remembered it can be brought back. The DOCTOR chose his words carefully so that the TARDIS becomes the “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blew” for AMY and her memory and belief in the DOCTOR, much like the clapping for Tinkerbell, brings him back. This revelation could have potentially been one of the hokier scenes of the show however KAREN GILLAN as AMY delivers her lines with such conviction and emotion that belief, for me, gets completely suspended and a near eye-watering moment occurs.

As I also wrote about last week there were hints of what is to come next season. RIVER tells the DOCTOR that very soon he will know who she is and she’s sorry because that’s when everything changes. That’s a pretty good indicator that she’ll be back next season. The DOCTOR himself even mentions how the SILENCE or whatever it was that took control of the TARDIS is still out there. Could this be what next year’s arc story will be (and will we find out why the voice that said “SILENCE WILL FALL” sounded so much like DAVROS)? All really good questions that we won’d find out for another nine or 10 month’s I’m sure but we do at least have a Christmas special to look forward too!

Now that we’ve gotten down to my final WHAT on WHO let’s find out what what I’ll say to watch this week, shall we?

MONDAY

ABC – 8:00 PM: A bunch of guys clearly don’t know the man code as they talk all about how they were rejected on THE BACHELORETTE: THE MEN TELL ALL.

NBC – 9:00 PM: With less finalists on tonight’s LAST COMIC STANDING maybe the laugh-to-minute ratio will be back on track tonight.

HBO – 9:00 PM: Considering how much I was destroyed by what I saw in THE BLIND SIDE the harsh reality depicted in the documentaryÂ HOMELESS: MOTEL KIDS OF ORANGE COUNTY.

ABC – 10:00 PM: What, two hours of whining dudes not enough for you? Go behind the scenes of all the BACHELOR/ETTE stuff in tonight’s 20/20 SPECIAL: BEHIND THE ROSE.

TUESDAY

NBC – 8:00 PM: Having seen not a single frame yet I have to wonder how much of BREAKTHROUGH WITH TONY ROBBINS will be life changing and how much will ask me to buy his life changing program (again).

DISC – 9:00 PM: While still coping with the loss of CAPTAIN PHIL the DEADLIEST CATCH crew has to deal with a stormy and difficult Bergin Sea in tonight’s season finale.

FOX – 9:00 PM: CHEF GORDON RAMSAY continues his televised take-over with tonight’s premiere of his new show MASTER CHEF.

A&E – 10:00 PM: Hoping for some FAMILY JEWELS magic A&E follows the family of former TWISTED SISTER front man DEE SNIDER in GROWING UP TWISTED. Will we like it or are we not going to take it?

DISC – 10:00 PM: There’s reality TV and then there’s REALITY TV when it comes to THE COLONY. It’s dirty, gritty, and there’s no creature comforts at all. I love it.

WEDNESDAY

THE CW – 9:00 PM: The CW premieres their make-over/dating help show titled PLAIN JANE.

ANIMAL PLANET – 9:00 PM: You know there really is a building hoarding problem in America when a show like ANIMAL HOARDERS is even possible. Tonight’s episode features a husband finally putting his foot down with his wife’s 87 dogs. Yeah, 87.

THURSDAY

ABC – 11:00 AM: I don’t watch THE VIEW but I’d love to tune in today to see ELISABETH HASSELBECK getting violently ill when PRESIDENT OBAMA is life in the studio.

CBS – 8:00 PM: Will it be KATHY or ANDREW making the walk of shame out of the BIG BROTHER house tonight? Hopefully, after this, we’re one exit away from them trying to put someone previously booted back in the house.

MTV – 10:00 PM: That sound you are hearing are theÂ embarrassedÂ groans of millions of NEW JERSEY natives as by tonight’s return of JERSEY SHORE.

FRIDAY

TLC – 8:00 PM: A three episode mini-marathon of SAY YES TO THE DRESS leads up to the 9:30 premiere of the newest annex SAY YES TO THE DRESS:ATLANTA.

ABC – 8:00 PM: Seems WIFE SWAP is really scraping the bottom of the barrel as one wife is dedicated to helping her son’s hip-hop career where as the other is a neglectful step-mom that would rather hunt the elusive Swamp Ape in Florida. Yes, you read that right.

SATURDAY

ABC FAMILY – 12:30 PM: First there’s all three BACK TO THE FUTURE movies and they’re followed up by GREASE and GREASE 2? Oh man, if the channel didn’t have commercials I’d have no reason to move.

USA – 1:00 PM: OK, so DOC BROWN isn’t up your alley? How about all three PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies?

FX – 2:00 PM: WOW! This Saturday is MARATHON-TASTIC! How about five hours of the FOX summer show THE GOOD GUYS?

NBC – 8:00 PM: This week’s winner of the “I stopped giving a crap” award goes to PERSONS UNKNOWN.

SYFY – 9:00 PM: This week’s most obvious rip-off of an INDIANA JONES movie award goes to JACK HUNTER: THE LOST TREASURE OF UGARIT.

SUNDAY

FOX – 7:00 PM: I enjoyed the pilot but the swiftness that FOX ushered TYLER LABINE‘s show SONS OF TUCSON off the air made me miss most of the rest of the run. Tonight they limply air the series finale.

AMC – 8:00 PM: I’ve heard so much about RUBICON that I have to tune in even if I don’t want to.

CBS – 8:00 PM: It’s that time of the week again where we find out who the new HoH puts up on the chopping block on BIG BROTHER. Hopefully it will be RACHEL because I just can’t stand people that yell talk at the camera.

AMC – 10:00 PM: With the new agency landing a big client it’s time for a party on MAD MEN.

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July 26, 2010

Hands Down #10

Filed under: Comic Strips,Hands Down — Tags: aaron poole, comic, Hands Down, john merker, webcomic — Aaron @ 3:24 am

Welcome to Hands Down, FRED’s own look into the world of the folks that frequent this sordid world of geekery. Follow Aaron, Brian and Colin (and a menagerie on the way) as they traverse the light fantastic or some such nonsense… What? It’s an online fortnightly comic strip, what kind of description did you expect?

Enter The HANDS DOWN Competition

handsdown-ten-charnita

VISIT THE HANDS DOWN ARCHIVES

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July 23, 2010

Party Favors: News Harsh

Filed under: Joe Corey's Party Favors — UncaScroogeMcD @ 3:31 am

HAMSTERDAM, MD – News at 4:20. As part of the celebration for the upcoming season of Weeds, Glick University polled over 4,000 Americans about what TV News personalities they wanted to see get high during a broadcast.

Naturally there were ground rules including the disqualifications of news organizations that contain notorious on air potheads. This meant no votes were collected for the cast of The Daily Show, Colbert Report and Fox and Friends. You think Steve Doocey is sober? Hard to think that any of those folks have eyes that aren’t pied 24-7.

10, Bill O’Reilly (Fox News) had a lot of folks who reacted that it’d be like, “Dude, I’m getting high with dad.” Of course this initial elation is cut down with the horrifying fact of “Dude, I’m getting high with dad and it’s just not someone I need to party with.”

Rick Sanchez (CNN) had plenty of folks wanting to know what it’d be like to get him smoked up and then zap him with a taser.

Larry King (CNN) had many of the ladies want to use his suspenders as roach clips.

Dylan Ratigan (MSNBC) got a lot of pity votes from people who think he needs to calm down with a little smoke. Dylan better plan letting his bong get a cap and trade agreement.

6 Maria Bartiromo (CNBC) since everything goes smooth with the Money Honey.

Anderson Cooper (CNN) messing up his hair was the big preoccupation. Plus they figure he could use his reporter vest as a stash.

George Stephanopoulos (ABC) hit it big with numerous people wanting him to get so wasted that he can’t even pronounce his last name.

3. Katie Couric (CBS) want to see if she can make a bong out of Edward R. Murrow’s old microphone.

2 Rachel Maddow (MSNBC) just to get her blushing.

Glenn Beck cornered the market on votes. People wanted to see him go all freaky conspiracy theory with each toke. “Have you ever see the back of a Constitution… on WEED?” Most of his voters also believed after he gets a buzz, Beck will call every connection he had during his morning Zoo days and make it a blizzard in July.

Season Six of Weeds starts off August 16 on Showtime.

CLEVELAND ROCKED

For all those people in Cleveland whining about LeBron James leaving, shut up. You lost your true cultural genius when Harvey Pekar died. The only thing going for your city is Iron Chef Michael Symon. If he takes his pork plates to a bigger city, you might as well set the river on fire and walk away. Pekar’s American Splendor comic books made me like okra.

MEL’S COMEBACK

Party Favors Pictures is proud to announce we’ve just signed Mel Gibson to star in The Burning Bed 2: His Side of the Flames. This is going to be gold. He’s already agreed to sponsor a line of Mel Gibson Valentine’s Day cards. Mel knows what women want to hear.

ENOUGH

What cable channel in their right mind wants to make a reality show out of Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston? Do we really need to promote these famewhores who have turned their illegitimate baby into a cottage industry? Is this what really needs to be promoted in today’s culture? What’s the message of this show? That we want to make a “marriage” work for the sake of our TV careers? Can’t these people get jobs at Wal-Mart or Bob’s Salmon canning factory like their classmates? Must all their earning possibilities be tied directly to their tabloid induced profile?

MTV has already corned the market on high school sweethearts with babies. The only reason Levi got attention was his ability to trash talk Sarah Palin. Now he’s Grizzly Mom’s bitch boy. Who cares? After Bristol’s craptacular acting debut, she’s really not ready to perform on a “reality” show. She’s no Tori Spelling.

We’ve pretty much gotten rid of Heidi and Spencer with the cancellation of The Hills. Let’s keep these Alaskan Dimwits off the Boob Tube.

BLU-RAY HEAVEN

Yo Joe! G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero: The Movie kicks off with a massive battle between Cobra and the Joes around the Statue of Liberty. With all the bullets and lasers, how exactly did the landmark not end up looking like Lindsay Lohan? All the major characters and action figures get screen time. Don Johnson (Miami Vice) voices the new guy who needs to be whipped into shape. There’s only one man who can do that: pro wrestler Sgt. Slaughter. Cobra-La makes its presence known with it’s leader voiced by Burgess Meredith (Batman‘s The Penguin). The Blu-ray transfer cleans up the artwork. It’s like they’re flipping the cells right on the screen. This is much better than last summer’s live action G.I. Joe movie. Writer Buzz Dixon provides the commentary track. He lets us know the evil stories about Cobra Commander slapping the craft service guy over a raisin bagel. The best bonus feature is eight “Knowing Is Half the Battle” PSAs. They also provide a DVD of the movie so you can watch it in the car.

DVD SHELF

The Bong Joon-jo Collection proves that the South Korean director of The Host isn’t a one genre guy. He can do more than a mysterious monster attacking the city. The boxset contains The Host, Mother and Barking Dogs Never Bite. Mother is a legal thriller about son getting busted for murder. His mother swears he’s innocent and only guilty because of a lame lawyer and evil cops. She does her own investigation and gets an eyeful of what her son was doing without her. It’s an intense family thriller that keeps up the tension. Barking Dogs Never Bite is Bong Joon-jo’s first feature. The film is a dark comedy about a grad student tired of the barking dogs owned by the neighbors. If you hate your neighbor’s yapping mutt, you’ll be rooting for the insanity. All three films can be bought separately as well as in the boxset. Boon Joon-jo is a cinematic chameleon going from big monsters to little dogs without losing a beat.

Hawaii Five-O: The Ninth Season opens with the return of evil Chinese agent Wo Fat (Khigh Dhiegh). He orchestrates the heist of dangerous toxins at the University of Hawaii. When Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) goes to Hong Kong in pursuit of Wo Fat, he loses his home court advantage. “Oldest Profession: Latest Price” has a pimp thinning out the hookers on the island. How is Ned Beatty involved? “Heads, You’re Dead” is based on the true crime of people who sign up as crew members on luxury yachts only to mutiny, kill the owners and resell the boats. The Five-O crew has to go undercover. “The Bells Toll at Noon” dares to let Rich Little impersonate a man out to kill all those responsible for a girl’s overdose. “Dealer’s Choice – Blackmail” brings us John Ritter (Three’s Company) as a gambler in a mess of problems and a cop sister. “Blood Money Is Hard to Wash” places Jo Anne Worley in a football team profit skimming scheme. Hawaii Five-O is still in it’s Island Justice groove. There’s only three seasons of the original left to be released.

Galaxy of Terror – Roger Corman Cult Classics is a mix of Alien and Love Boat. A crew is woken up for an emergency mission on a strange planet. They encounter their worst fear in the dark and shadowy settlement. Sound familiar? No need to look up since the spaceship is loaded with stars. Erin Moran (Happy Days), Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian), Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street), Sid Haig (Devil’s Rejects), Grace Zabriskie (Big Love) and Zalman King (Red Show Diaries) are the crew. What’s more astounding is the production designer was James Cameron with Bill Paxton doing set decorating. Think of all the talent on a Roger Corman set. The strange thought is how a few years after making this knock off movie, Cameron was in the director’s chair for Aliens. It’s almost a dress rehearsal for him. The bonus features including various cast and crew talking about working with Cameron. Other bonus features focus on how they made this low budget intergalactic hell in a lumberyard. There’s also a Blu-ray with all the goodies.

Forbidden World: Roger Corman’s Cult Classics should not be confused with Forbidden Planet. Although it could slightly be confused with Galaxy of Terror. Director Allan Holzman told Roger Corman he had a movie idea based on the sets of the previous film. Roger still had the camera package and sent the plucky editor off to prove himself with a marathon one day shoot. After the first seven minutes were shot, Allan was given the green light to make a feature film. A bounty hunter arrives at a remote science lab on a distant planet. They need his help with an experiment known as Subject 20. Before you get grossed out with the mutant carnage, prepare to enjoy the nearly naked Dawn Dunlap and June Chadwick who hate their lab coats. These ladies get sweaty while hunting down the monster so naturally they need to shower. Not to spoil the movie, but the ladies do find the soap. The major bonus feature is the original director’s cut. Corman didn’t like the humor and snipped a few minutes before the theatrical release. There are plenty of interviews with the cast and crew about the film. If you want the 1080p glory, pick up the Blu-ray. Here’s a trailer of the film when it was released as Mutant.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: XVIII presents another four movies enhances with the wisecrack of a space traveler and his robot pals. “Lost Continent” brings the savage glory of rock climbing. Even with a cast headed by Hugh Beaumont (Leave It to Beaver and Cesar Romero (Batman‘s Joker), the rock climbing is terminal. There are dinosaurs. Joel discovers Hugh Beaumont is the fourth rider of the apocalypse. “Crash of the Moons” is three episodes of the Rocky Jones series. The best casting is John Banner (Hogan’s Heroes‘ Sgt. Schlutz). Jack Frost is a Soviet fairytale with high production status and freaky plotlines. The Beast of Yucca Flats is Tor Johnson’s greatest cinema work outside of Ed Wood films. He’s a Soviet scientist that gets caught in an atomic blast. The bonus feature includes a documentary about how the film was made. The best on the DVD is the short “Progress Island, U.S.A.” about setting up a factory in Puerto Rico. Mike Nelson and the Bots make even Ricky Martin cry with their wisecracks.

Sgt. Bilko – The Phil Silvers Show: Season One finally gives the military insanity properly. A few years ago they put out a nice compilation set, but that merely made me hungry for all 4 seasons of the iconic series. Sgt. Bilko (Silvers) is the ultimate hustler on Fort Baxter. He’s got every racket covered with the help of Harvey Lembeck (Beach Party) and Allan Melvin (The Brady Bunch). Cards, dice, booze, dances and every form of vice is provided by this leader of the outlandish. That’s not to say he wins every battle of wits, but he gets more than he gives. If you’re a fan of Hogan’s Heroes and Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C., you must partake of the glory that is Sgt. Bilko. The 34 episodes are spread over 5 DVDs. The bonus features include original cast commercials, the audition footage and commentary tracks from Melvin and George Kennedy. They even toss in a Lucy Show episode with Phil Silvers as the guest star.

Matlock: The Fifth Season brings more of deep fried legal thrilling from Andy Griffith. He’s the down home lawyer in Atlanta that loves his banjo and hotdogs. The show is set up this season so we know the killer before Matlock gets the case. “The Mother” has a woman get upset when her boss decides she’s not cutting it as his mistress. The boss ends up dead and the girl’s mom takes the fall. Matlock represents the mom, but doesn’t want her to make the false confession. “Nowhere to Turn” has Matlock charged with killing a judge that slapped him with a contempt of court. “The Madam” has Matlock hanging out with hookers that kill. “The Brothers” makes us ponder if you can convict a man on eyewitness testimony if he has a twin brother. It’s almost a Nip/Tuck episode since the murder victim is a plastic surgeon. “The Critic” has a legit theater reviewer dead and the main suspect be a horrible playwright. Will the screenwriter allow his peer to be the real killer? The highlight of the show is when Don Knotts appears as Matlock’s pal. It’s a mini Andy Griffith Show reunion worth of a smile on Abe Simpson’s face.

The Lucy Show: The Official Second Season brings color and Mr. Mooney. While the series was still being broadcast in black and white on CBS, Lucy sprung for glorious Technicolor. Now you can enjoy the wacky red head with actual red in her hair. There were major changes for Lucille Ball’s follow up to I Love Lucy. Mr. Mooney (Gail Gordon) was in charge of her late husband’s trust fund. Many of the episodes dealt with her begging for an advance on the money. Vivian Vance (I Love Lucy‘s Ethel Mertz) is still her divorcee roommate. The two get in plenty of trouble. Their kids get less screen time. The bonus features include cast commercials which mainly feature the kids and Viv pushing soap. There’s an interview with Barry Livingston about his working with William Frawley and Vivian Vance during this time. The big extra is a special Lucy did with Bob Hope that spoofs her running Desilu studio. It’s a fine present for the Lucy fanatic in your life.

The Superhero Squad Show: Volume 1, Quest for the Infinity Sword is Muppet Babies for Marvel Superheroes. What happens when the world’s biggest superheroes are drawn as little kids? It’s backyard mayhem in Super Hero City. There’s mini versions of Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Falcon and Silver Surfer battling a mini-Dr. Doom and other tiny baddies. There’s a lot of humor in the scripts. It’s kinda like Tiny Toons in tone. The Cartoon Network series is aimed for the kids. Volume 1 covers the first seven episodes. This is a fun show to introduce the Marvel universe to a small child without overwhelming them with the adult mythology. The bonus feature is an interview with Stan Lee. He’s the geek version of Betty White.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Final Season wraps up the magical series that starred Nick Bakay as a talking cat. The show was bound to come to an end since star Melissa Joan Hart was in her late 20s and not really a teenager. She and Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster) move into the aunt’s old house. She wants to settle down. Bakay’s talking cat complicates things by getting her ex-crush to hit on her while she has eyes for a different guy. Not to spoil the action, but the finale involves a wedding. The big bonus is Sabrina Goes to Rome movie. Bakay went on to work on King of Queens.

Street Hawk: The Complete Series is the greatest TV show from the ’80s that you might have missed. Rex Smith (Solid Gold) rides around Los Angeles on a super motorcycle that can hit 300 mph and fire rockets to the tunes of Tangerine Dream. How did this only last 13 episodes? George Clooney gets his first big gig as Rex’s old pal who shows up in town around the same time a car theft ring goes into overdrive in “A Second Self.” Sybil Danning is on the run from mobsters in “Vegas Run.” She’s feisty even when she needs help from Street Hawk. The bonus features include an early cut of the pilot and a documentary that explains so much about the show.

The Job reminds us to be careful of temp agencies. Bubba (Patrick Flueger of 4400) is scrapping heard to get a gig. Ron Pearlman (Sons of Anarchy) tips him off to an employment agency run by Joe Pantoliano (Matrix). I’m not going to spoil Joe’s hair in this film. Turns out Joey Pant’s company isn’t merely looking for people to do minor jobs. Bubba takes the job since he’s got nothing else working for him. However the responsibilities of the position change. He really has to kill to impress his new boss. Director Shem Bitterman has done a fine twist on the genre. It’s a devilish nightmare about today’s unemployment issues. You can watch the trailer to get a sense of Joey Pants’ hair.

Acceptance touches upon the yearly crisis of picking the right college. Nowadays with the cost of tuition, you really should settle on the perfect school since you’ll be paying loans for the next 20 years. Taylor Rockefeller (Parenthood‘s Mae Whitman) can’t stand being pressured to apply to Yale by her mom (Joan Cusack). She wants a nice place. She also has a hobby that’s a felony. The movie also stars the guy who does those Fiber ads on TV. The movie gets to the sad truth that you need to find a place that won’t make you bitter about a massive student loan. Cusack adapts well to the mom role.

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Weekend Shopping Guide 7/23/10: Look Around You

Filed under: Shopping Guides — Tags: Batman, bruce willis, Dave Stevens, kevin smith, matlock, peter serafinowicz, robert popper, Roger Corman, Snooki, Superman, The Rocketeer, Tracy Morgan — UncaScroogeMcD @ 1:52 am

(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)

Children of the 70’s and 80’s remember well the overly-earnest, deadly-dry, unintentionally laughable educational films and programs that were a regular staple of the classroom. Well, the brilliant Peter Serafinowicz & Robert Popper have taken that fertile ground and crafted a magnificently bent parody in Look Around You (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), the first season of which makes its long-awaited Stateside DVD debut in a special edition that contains a bonus double-length episode, a pop video, a Little Mouse commentary, music, and more, but also newly recorded creators & guest star audio commentaries. Buy this now.

Time to upgrade your trusty old lunchbox? Why not go with the Mr. Bento Stainless Lunch Jar ($54.99), which features four high quality hot or cold bowls stacked within a stainless steel container. Heck, you even get a spork and a back to hold it all. How convenient is that?

If you’re only knowledge of the character is the equally underrated film, do yourself a favor and pick up the beautifully presented Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures (IDW, $29.99 SRP), which collects every bit of Dave Stevens thrilling, gorgeous comics about the high-flying hero, along with rare promotional art.

If you go into Cop Out (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) will an appreciation of the buddy cop flicks that littered the 80’s, then you know what the film paying homage to, and it’s a fun homage at that. Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan fill the buddy shoes this go round, in a flick where plot is not nearly as important as the vibe. The main bonus feature is the “Maximum Comedy Mode”, which drops picture-in-picture Kevin Smith into a guide tour of the film incorporating commentary, alternate/deleted footage, and even Seann William Scott.

The term “classic” gets thrown about with abandon nowadays, and I’d certainly question its application I the “Roger Corman’s Cult Classics” line of catalogue releases, but there’s no doubt that “cult” is more than applicable. The latest pair of additions to the line are Forbidden World, & Galaxy Of Terror (Shout Factory, Rated R, DVD-$19.93 SRP each), both of which are packed with bonus materials, including commentaries, featurettes, interviews, and more.

What do you get one a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost shack up together? The supernatural Three’s Company dramedy that is the BBC’s Being Human (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP), the first season of which is now available. The 2-disc set contains all 13 episodes, plus featurettes, deleted scenes, video diaries, and more.

It’s gut level humor and certainly not high-brow, but its base nature is probably why my nephews got such a kick out of Cats & Dogs (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$24.98 SRP), which pits the two eternal enemies against each other in a high tech battle beneath the oblivious noses of the human world. The new high definition edition contains an audio commentary, featurettes, storyboard comparisons, and concept sketches.

The residents of the Springfield Retirement Castle will be delighted at the release of Matlock: Season Five (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$49.99 SRP). Heck, this season even brings the down-home southern lawyer out to Hollywood, and gives him his first 2-hour “Matlock Movie Mystery”. The 6-disc set contains all 21 episodes.

You know, I kind of dug The Losers (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) – It’s a big, dumb, goofy, fun action film of the kind made popular in the 80’s, when big guns, big booms, and quips ruled the day. The plot is largely irrelevant – just imagine it as a little bit Magnificent Seven and a little bit A-Team. Bonus materials include featurettes and a deleted scene.

Get all goofy with Batman, Superman, and all the rest down at the Hall of Justice with the second volume of Super Friends!: Season One (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP), featuring another 8 episodes across 2 discs. Meanwhile, back at the… Well, you know…

Fear for the future of civilization after viewing even one minute of Jersey Shore: Season One (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP), and hope that the sheer stupidity on display will remove the cast from the gene pool in the near future. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and the reunion special.

So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…

-Ken Plume

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Trailer Park: CLASH OF THE TITANS, TERRIBLY HAPPY, RAMONA AND BEEZUS

Filed under: Reviews,Trailer Park — Tags: clash of the titans, ramona and beezus, terribly happy — admin @ 1:19 am

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

Check out my other column,Â This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me onÂ TWITTER under the name: Stipp

CLASH OF THE TITANS – Giveaway

clash-of-the-titans-dvd I didn’t a chance to see this movie when it came out theatrically months ago but I couldn’t be more eager to see what Louis LeterrierÂ concocted. I am an unabashed fan of both The Transporter and The Incredible Hulk so it’s only right to be at least interested in knowing how the man created a 450 million dollar box office juggernaut.

I may have to get my own Blu-ray, if you’re gonna see the Kracken you’ve got to see the Kracken in high def, but I have a copy of the DVD to give to 2 lucky readers.

All you need to do to enter is to shoot me a message at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com and give me at least one actor who played in the original film that started it all. And, as an aside, I know people knock the original for whatever reason but that movie was a touchstone in my youth as it was the first Ray Harryhausen film I came into contact with. It’s a great fantasy epic and I hope that this new version captures that same level of adventure.

Good luck!

About the DVD/Blu-ray:

Jump into a mythological world of epic action and adventure when “Clash of the Titans” arrives on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD on July 27th from Warner Home Video. Â “Clash of the Titans” propels audiences into the mythological realm of Perseus’ quest amidst a world where the gods are formidable and the creatures even more fearsome.

The Blu-ray disc includes an exciting never-before-seen alternate ending and the immersive Maximum Movie Mode, which includes walk-ons by Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and Director Louis Leterrier, focus points, Picture-in-Picture commentary, and BD-Live connectivity.

As a war rages between men and kings and kings and gods, the battle amongst the gods is the one that could ultimately destroy the world. Â Hope rests with one. Perseus, son of god, Zeus, yet raised a man, sets off on a hazardous journey deep into forbidden worlds to avenge the death of his family and defeat Hades, vengeful god of the underworld, before he can seize power from Zeus and unleash hell on earth. Â Leading the charge, Perseus battles unholy demons and fearsome beasts, but will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny.

From director, Louis Leterrier (“The Transporter”, “The Incredible Hulk”) “Clash of the Titans” stars Sam Worthington (“Avatar”, “Terminator Salvation”), Liam Neeson (upcoming “The A-Team”, “Batman Begins”, “Gangs of New York”), Ralph Fiennes (upcoming “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” Parts I & II, “The Hurt Locker”, The Constant Gardner”) and Gemma Arterton (upcoming “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”, “Quantum of Solace”).

On July 27, “Clash of the Titans” theatrical version will also be available ON DEMAND through Digital Cable, Satellite TV, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game consoles. The Unrated Cut and theatrical version can be downloaded for rental or purchase on iTunes and Amazon Video On Demand.

SYNOPSIS

In “Clash of the Titans,” the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods. But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world. Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth.

Perseus sets off on a perilous journey deep into forbidden worlds, leading a daring band of warriors, including Draco (Mads Mikkelsen), an experienced soldier who encourages the defiant Perseus to make use of his god-given abilities. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, they will only survive if Perseus can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny.

DVD ELEMENTS

The “Clash of the Titans” DVD Single Disc the following special features:

o Â Â Â Â Deleted Scenes

The “Clash of the Titans” Blu-ray Disc contains the following special features:

o Â Â Â Â Sam Worthington: An Action Hero for the Ages

o Â Â Â Â Deleted Scenes

o Â Â Â Â Alternate Ending

o Â Â Â Â Maximum Movie Mode: Join Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and Director Louis Leterrier on an incredible journey all while you watch the movie.

Featurette Focus Points

o Â Â Â Sam Worthington is Perseus

o Â Â Â Harnessing the Gods

o Â Â Â Zeus: Father of Gods and Men

o Â Â Â Enter the World of Hades

o Â Â Â Calibos: The Man Behind the Monster

o Â Â Â Tenerife: A Continent on an Island

o Â Â Â Scorpioch

o Â Â Â Actors and Their Stunts

o Â Â Â Wales : A Beautiful Scarred Landscape

o Â Â Â Bringing Medusa to Life

o Â Â Â Prepare for the Kraken!

o Â Â Â Â More than forty minutes of picture in picture (PiP) commentary

o Â Â Â Â BD-Live

o Â Â Â Clash of the Titans: International Special

o Â Â Â Â DVD Combo Disc

o Â Â Â Feature film in standard definition

o Â Â Â Digital Copy (Windows Media and iTunes)

RAMONA AND BEEZUS – Review

ramona-and-beezus-poster To review this film with the usual sets of criteria usually reserved for any other movie would be unfair.

The film, a sticky,Â saccharineÂ sweet yarn about a young girl’s journey though pre-tween issues isn’t very resonant. It’s not that director Elizabeth Allen’s last theatrical effort, 2006’s Aquamarine, made a bad movie but it’s just not very interesting if you’re not a girl between the ages of 5 and 12 or a woman who can identify with what it was like to be that age.

More suitable for the Disney Channel than it is a movie theater Ramona and Beezus is a movie made for the kind of parents who findÂ a PG rating too racy or scripted television too daring. The plotÂ does tempt with mature themes asÂ Ramona’s (Joey King) father, played by John Corbett, is laid off from work and the family is put into a tizzy as everyone tries to figure out how to move forward in a house that is on the verge of being sold, how to deal with Ramona’s increasingly troubled behavior, and a multitude of other minor troubles that are completely germane to films like this.

Never mind debating whether the movie is representative of any kind of progressive idea or is the springboard for a budding director who is showing great promise but save for a few animated moments within the film there is nothing terribly exciting or noteworthy for a completely forgettable piece of art. However forgettable it might be, though, the movie does manage to satisfy the needs for any female child looking for a film that has enough sterile slapstick and generic goofiness which will all but avoid any kind of editing once it does make it on television.

To see how Ramona evolves as a character isn’t very satisfying as we’re essentially right where we are when we began this movie, and the only evolution any of the other supporting players has is all but obvious at the outset, and I don’t think the point for this movie to exist isn’t to push the boundaries of any narrative storytelling. Yet, it exists solely to showcase characters from a book series that, itself, doesn’t dare to be anything else other than light reading. On that account alone it succeeds in being a syllogistic representation that faithfullyÂ adheres to the characters and situations of the novels. In other words,Â young girls will dig this.

TERRIBLY HAPPY – DVD Review

terribly_happy_poster You must, must check this film out. If you only make enough to buy 1 DVD, and Lord knows that is the least of your problems if you’re on that tight of a budget, make this one you get this month as this movie has still stayed with me months after seeing it. It’s available now from Oscilloscope Laboratories so do what you can to witness one of the brightest spots of the spring movie season.

Because I really am a fan of this film here is my theatrical review of the film and I hope at least one of you investigate a great movie you probably never heard of:

You have to look at a performance by Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds in order to fully comprehend why Jakob Cedergren, who plays town cop Robert Hansen in Terribly Happy, deserves his own spot on the world stage.

Cedergren takes a character, an urban police offer who is exiled into a rural, remote village town after having a nervous breakdown, and twists it into a complex individual who has no predictability, no hints about what he’s going to do next. He’s thrilling to watch on screen as he is tasked with what ought to be a simple enough assignment: watch over a sleepy hollow where no one seems to even want official law enforcement. The town has its own rule of law, its own way of handling things, and Cedergren disturbs the natural order with his presence. He’s a cop who seems to engender not an ounce of intimidation or respect from the townsfolk but he does find a kindred spirit in a local woman who isn’t from around here, either, a woman with her own secrets.

The pastoral themes abound in a town that wants to keep its close knit community closed off from interlopers looking to change things and Cedergren is absolutely dynamic in a role that showcases his range, not only in ability, but in the way his character vacillates throughout the film. When we meet him he’s Superman, a hero who is absolute in his convictions and black and white-ness, but, by the end of the movie, as the town’s secrets slowly give up its dead, it’s Batman that takes over. By the third act moral ambiguity becomes the predominant theme, the line between what’s right and what’s wrong blurs in ways that haven’t been seen in modern cinema in some time.

Sure, to those who wonder whether director Henrik Ruben Genz’s film that deals with such ambiguity smacks of Cohen or Lynch-ian type of filmmaking would be right in postulating as such but that would be a disservice to a filmmaker who demonstrates his ability to craft a noir tale that does not relent. More importantly, Genz’s film is its own creation, living and breathing within this hermetically sealed world where oddity is subjective. For example, when we meet who is ostensibly the femme fatale of this thriller, Ingerlise (played by Lene Maria Christensen), she leans on Cedergren to help her escape her abusive husband JÃ¸rgen (Kim Bodnia). The outcome of what will be a face off between these two men will not only surprise you in its originality but will satisfy any filmgoer’s expectation to be entertained along with being jolted. The dark comedy that simmers below this film’s bleak palette is there but it exists only insofar in its subtlety. It won’t smack you or be ostentatious in order for you to recognize it but that’s the draw with filmmakers of this type. It makes you work for it but there is a payoff in the form of the movie’s themes.

Such a theme, like subjugation, looms large when you consider the movie deals a lot with the idea of drowning a town’s dark secrets in its bogs. Literally. Bogs play a symbolic role but, again, its use is done with intelligence, not obviousness.

The movie transcends its linguistic cadence that does take some getting used to but, once you give into how it is telling its story, the story is enveloping to the point of amazement. Amazement that this movie has flown underneath so many people’s radars because it offers so much sustenance to those hungry for a good story about a man who has to trade in some of his altruistic character in order to maintain some sense of normalcy in a town where absolutely nothing is normal.

PERSONAL SHOUT OUT

jane-doe Not that many of you would care but after 9 months of gestation I am utterly delighted and tickled to introduce my newest daughterÂ Nina Elizabeth.

Weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs. 10 oz. this little cannonball isÂ the reason that I was not able to make it to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.Â Believe me, she’ll hear aboutÂ it for the rest of her natural born life but here’sÂ to hopingÂ it’s a long one…I’ve got a lot of guilt to sling her way.Â Â As Will Smith said in Independence Day: Welcome to Erf.

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Essential Sounds (2010/07/22)

Filed under: Columns,Reviews — Tags: best coast, cut copy, essential sounds, hesta prynn, j.cole, korn — Aaron @ 8:01 am

Here to help? I certainly am, banging on your ear drums this week we have five fine cuts of the freshest audio around ranging from summery shoe gazing to blazing brass sections. All your musical needs are covered for another seven days this is the soundtrack to your week this is Essential Sounds.

1. Boyfriend by Best Coast

This week we kick off with this lovely lo-fi fuzzy gem from US indie duo Best Coast. “Boyfriend” is a slice of understated magic with its soaring harmonies and sunshine swagger. The best thing about this track is its simplicity with an infectious vocal delivery, shuffling rhythm and surf rock guitars this is the best summer you ever had captured in two and half minutes, actor Bill Murray considers himself a fan and so do we

best_coast

2. Who Dat? by J.Cole

Hot off the heels from last years Warm Up mixtape and the first MC up to bat for Jay Z’s newly founded Roc Nation is J.Cole and alongside Jay Electronica he is hottest commodity in hip-hop right now. “Who Dat” is the first single from his forthcoming debut album Cole World and with so much pressure on his shoulders it shows that J.Cole really is living up to his expectations. A thumping rhythm propelled into orbit with its astonishing brass work proves that there is still a creative flare within the game. Part old school joint mixed with the gusto of a marching band “Who Dat” truly flies the flag for the up and comers in this industry.

j-cole

3. Where I’m Going by Cut Copy

Looking to build upoun the success of 2008’s “In Ghost Colours” the Australian electropop group have returned with new single “Where I’m Going”. Staying true to their musical roots but aiming a little more mainstream “Where I’m Going” shows shades of New Order’s latter work with a feel good chorus thrown in for good measure. This has a more sugary feel to it than previous material but thats not a bad thing in the slightest as it shows a real sense of fun within their work ethic. The final third of the track displays a more progressive side and has us wondering what the rest of the forthcoming album will sound like.

cut_copy

4. Can We Go Wrong by Hesta Prynn

Side stepping from her all girl New York rap troop Hesta Prynn has spread her wings and put forth this solo endeavour. The interesting thing about “Can We Go Wrong” is that like every good palette it has a little bit of everything. Fuzzy distorted bass lines and funky drumming is the core to its rhythm but over that we find almost chip tune like synth leads and a guitar riff that would make most garage bands green with envy. Hesta also drops the MC’ing for this to deliver a solid pop vocal performance. This is a brand new look for her and she seems to pull it off flawlessly.

hesta-prynn

5. Oildale (Leave Me Alone) by Korn

Digging themselves out from a pit of depression and the black hole of musical obscurity Johnathon Davis and his nu-metal pioneers really deliver with “Oildale”. It sounds like classic Korn but because that quality has been missing for sometime it also feels brand new again. Heavy percussion and rattling bass lines form a really solid background for Davis to balance delicate vocals with full on aggression an equilbrium that this group have truly mastered. If the rest of the forthcoming album Remember Me can match the quality of this then the once disgarded figures of rock could be back in buisness.

korn

– Mal Foster

July 31, 2010

July 30, 2010

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CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

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July 27, 2010

July 26, 2010

July 23, 2010

July 22, 2010

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Official Rules

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules