Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

It's a tremendous challenge to make a movie about an unlikable
character, especially one who commits to unsavory business despite
enjoying all the opportunity in the world to avoid trouble. It takes a
special directorial touch to pull off such a juggling act, making sure
the viewer doesn't completely turn on the person intended to act as the
emotional through line for the entire picture. "The Oranges" almost
achieves a surprising stability when it comes to the dirty business of
its lead character, displaying refreshing comfort with repugnant
behavior that openly trashes numerous lives. That "The Oranges" hopes to
tickle a few funny bones along the way is a bit of a stretch, yet
helmer Julian Farino manages to corral a decent comedy about domestic
disorder, working through clichéd bits of toxic suburban unrest with a
modicum of dignity, keeping the effort light and approachable despite
subplots that would register as chilling in real life. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff" is an uncomfortable viewing experience for
numerous reasons, though the secure melodramatic grip of the film is
undeniable, keeping attention on the screen as the screenplay details
some truly awful acts of sexual violence and psychological manipulation.
It goes without writing that this is a bizarre picture, adapted from a
1970 book and released in 1979, issued during a time of racial
sensitivity and bedroom liberation, yet utterly old-fashioned in its
design of conflict — think Douglas Sirk meets Melvin Van Peebles and
you're halfway there. "Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff" is an unusual feature
for unusual tastes, but the acting is brave and the darkness of the
material is routinely confronted without blinking, forcing the viewer to
work through this smorgasbord of Freudian probing and sexual awakening
as the movie escalates its illness, often in a most captivating manner. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's difficult to be truly offended by "Street Trash" because the
picture is designed to repulse. It's not a movie for the faint of heart
or the easily disturbed, spending 100 minutes running through all sorts
of grotesqueries, sticky incidents, and nasty behavior, forging a
subgenre known as "melt," which is exactly what the brand promises. The
film is vile and frenzied, but it's also shockingly well made, crafted
by a production team taking the challenge of a splatter film seriously,
generating an outstandingly designed and photographed effort that's
beguiling in its screen toxicity. Nobody's going to mistake "Street
Trash" for Shakespeare, but saddled with a low budget and a premise that
all but demands immediate dismissal, the endeavor somehow emerges
slickly crafted and darkly comic, only overstepping its authority
occasionally, perhaps just to make sure the viewer doesn't grow
complacent with this phantasmagoria of carnival-colored death. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Tomboy" is a bizarre teen comedy from the 1985, revealing a
surprisingly limited sense of humor while sending a confusing message of
female empowerment. It's not stellar cinema by any means, but for those
who have an affinity for a simpler time, when guys could get away with
being unrepentant cads and donuts were sold on pure sex appeal, might
take to the movie's moderate charms. At the very least, "Tomboy"
provides an amiably earnest performance from star Betsy Russell, a
bushy-haired actress who manages the screenplay's unsteady view toward
the objectification of women with grace, communicating a fleeting sense
of innocence and a more charged tone of exploitation as well. Russell's
fun to watch in this ephemeral feature, with her natural spunk going a
long way to even out directorial distraction from Herb Freed, who
displays more interest in photographing naked breasts than he does
massaging the heartfelt potential of the picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1969's "Naked Violence" doesn't waste any time digging to extremes of
violence and character. The picture uses its main title sequence to
detail a sexual assault and murder, taking time poring over the details
of lustful gazes and bodily harm. It's blunt and coarse, attempting to
establish unease in record time before the material chases more
investigative interests, and its effectiveness is questionable at best.
Despite a troubling opening, "Naked Violence" does manage to locate a
dramatic equilibrium, embarking on a satisfactory dissection of police
procedure and teenage indifference before it plunges back into the deep
end of exploitation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Massage Parlor Murders" opens with a scene that finds a lowly, frugal
john negotiating with a comely working girl for special clothes-removing
enhancements to his anticipated rubdown (scored to Tchaikovsky's "The
Nutcracker," natch). The scene has nothing to do with the rest of the
picture, yet it's an apt start to the feature, which continues down a
path of incoherence and slapdash filmmaking. Right from the start
there's sleaze, a general reluctance to spend money, and naked breasts,
which sums up the viewing event extraordinarily well. Exploitation
cinema with a side serving of New York City travelogue, "Massage Parlor
Murders" isn't much of a movie, but it's a heck of a viewing experience,
packing in enough violence, vague confrontations, and nudity to satisfy
those in the mood for gratuitous, no-budget entertainment. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The intimacy of "Into the White" is fascinating, helping to move a
routine tale about sworn enemies coming together in the face of certain
death along. It's based on a true tale of survival and unexpected
companionship at the outset of World War II, and the feature gets plenty
of mileage out of tense confrontations occurring in the freezing cold,
with a sharp, expressive collection of actors chosen to embody national
pride as it's tested in a most unforgiving environment during a time of
complete intolerance. Dramatically rewarding and geographically vivid,
"Into the White" generates a satisfactory amount of suspense and thawing
personality to achieve its limited goals, successfully spinning the
familiar with welcome attention to character. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A comedic farce doesn't have to make perfect sense, but there should be
something within the realm of logic fueling the insanity, grounding the
effort in plausibility as fits of madness swirl around. The
unfortunately titled "Frankie Go Boom" doesn't supply a single
believable moment, sprinting around a most nonsensical, contrived
offering of screenwriting. It's unbearable to sit through at times,
watching decent actors flounder with intentionally ridiculous material,
working themselves into a lather to serve writer/director Jordan
Roberts's clumsy sense of humor. It's utter nonsense, but not an
admirable type of tomfoolery that carries itself with an engaging
creative vision. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1985, Chuck Norris was in a peculiar place in his career. Having
fought to build his brand name on a history of martial arts training and
demonstration, Norris took on Hollywood with the same determination,
starring in a series of actioners that transformed him into an icon, but
one with questionable taste in screenplays and directors. By the
mid-1980s, the star was trapped in a Cannon Films bear trap, churning
out pictures such as "Missing in Action" and "Invasion U.S.A." However,
in the midst of this contractual flurry, Norris managed to slip "Code of
Silence" into the mix, toplining a gritty, low-wattage police thriller
that only relies on Norris's standard display of kick-happy skills of
defense in the final act, allowing the star to, gulp, act a little
between displays of disgust. An entertaining ride through the underbelly
of Chicago, "Code of Silence" manages to temporarily bring Norris to a
realm of reality, sticking a bearded force for justice in the midst of
mob warfare and a sickly sea of corrupt cops, gradually shaping his
character into a lone wolf instead of just assuming the position before
the opening titles have an opportunity to finish. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I wasn't familiar with the character of Inspector Morse when I reviewed
the pilot for the prequel series "Endeavour" a few months ago. Perhaps
this was for the best, as I didn't cling to any expectations when it
came time to understand how the detective should be played. After years
as a literary series (from author Colin Dexter) and a longstanding ITV
program, it makes sense to return a little youth to the dramatic
equation, allowing all idiosyncrasies and mysteries a cleansing reboot
with "Endeavour," a show that convincingly refreshes the franchise.
Playing nostalgic with its sixties setting and submitting powerful work
from stars Shaun Evans and Roger Allam, the effort is rich with mood and
stuffed with snappy whodunit attitude, sure to please those who've
invested plenty of time with the "Inspector Morse" universe. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The punk experience had it rough in the media during the 1980s. Think
old worrywart "Donahue" debates or the infamous "Battle of the Bands"
episode of "CHiPs." Marginalized and infantilized, the punk scene also
made for excellent antagonists — riling up audiences with heavily
painted exteriors and acidic attitudes. They're easily branded baddies
creating insta-tension with a mere twitch of their squinted eye. "Punk
Vacation" uses the music subculture in a predictable fashion, pitting
the misfits with switchblades against a rural community armed to the
teeth. It's exploitation cinema in its purest form, though the jubilant
nonsense of such an endeavor is often muted by the movie's absurd
construction, with the no-budget seams of the effort exposed in a most
severe manner. A ludicrous production that's stunningly earnest, "Punk
Vacation" is best appreciated as a bottom-shelf treasure with mistakes
galore, making it amusing on multiple levels of engagement, especially
those who prize examples of punk's influence on pop culture as it neared
its expiration date. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Most horror films are content to manufacture a single menace, concocting
a spirit, demon, or monster to terrorize innocents, using the run time
to expand on the motivation of the otherworldly antagonist. The
Malaysian fright fest "23:59" somehow settles on at least five different
directions of torment, allowing itself only 75 minutes to establish and
figure out the design of doom. It's a messy, unconvincing picture
emerging from a knowing place of experience, with monotonous barrack
life in military service the setting for Gilbert Chan's effort, pouring
his history with ghost stories and urban legends into a movie that
should really only take on a single evil entity at a time. Overwhelmed
and undercooked, "23:59" is earnestly acted, helping to ease obvious
directorial discomfort, but there's too much going in this small-scale
endeavor, which loses coherency the longer it engages in constant
gear-shifting when approaching the formation of an engrossing paranormal
villain. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Mental" is mental, living up to the potential of its title with a
wild, uninhibited display of psychological fractures and grotesque
comedy. The picture marks the return of writer/director P.J. Hogan to
the screen, who long ago helmed the cult hit "Muriel's Wedding" before
embarking on a deflating Hollywood career that included "My Best
Friend's Wedding," 2003's "Peter Pan," and "Confessions of a
Shopaholic." Revisiting his Australian roots, Hogan summons a tidal wave
of mischief and manic activity with "Mental," straddling a thin line
between insanity and compassion. Hilarious but a tonal bucking bronco,
the effort is perhaps best reserved for viewers in the mood for a
runaway mine cart viewing experience, willing to absorb all the chaos
Hogan happily provides. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

If "About Cherry" actually contained a story concerning the leading lady
known as Cherry, it would be a far more enlightening picture. Possibly
even great. Instead, the movie is a drippy, incomplete effort from
first-time director Stephen Elliot, who has a functional idea to drill
deep inside the scattered mind of an aspiring adult film actress
battling the desperate reality of her life, yet he lacks the
concentration required to shape these acidic experiences into a cohesive
tale of panty-dropping enlightenment. The feature is all over the
place, spending valuable screen time with vague, feeble characters and
implausible personal exchanges, resulting in a muddled, frustratingly
inconsequential journey of a surprisingly unsympathetic character and
her hazy ride to the slippery top of the porno food chain. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Although positioned as a blockbuster release in 1976, "Midway" is more
of a unique experiment in war film construction. While budget
considerations obviously factored into the decision, famed producer
Walter Mirisch decided to use archival footage and scenes from other
movies to help generate the necessary expanse to this World War II
effort, mixing the modern with the past, introducing the feature with
the proclamation: "This is the way it was." Well, technically, some of
it wasn't, but that doesn't stop "Midway" from rolling forward as a
movie primarily interested in naval stratagem, aiming for a balanced
portrait of intelligence and instinct as the U.S. and Japan moved their
animosity to the heart of the Pacific Ocean, treating the empty space as
a chess board, embarking on a pivotal moment in WWII history. To hedge
his bet, Mirisch hires an exceptional ensemble of famous faces who sink
their teeth into the opportunity to play historical dress-up, keeping
what's actually a very deliberate picture alert with well-oiled thespian
confidence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Dr. Richard Smith is a scientist craving an opportunity to share his
beloved home continent of Australia with the viewing audience. A
jubilant Aussie with profound knowledge of the natural world, Dr. Smith
isn't looking explore recent developments in the land, but desires to
whisk the audience back over four billion years to witness Australia's
birth and development into a land of fascinating creatures and
unimaginable beauty and wonder. And how does one travel back in time
these days? By a magical GPS device that guides Dr. Smith down a rocky
road of existence, watching the terrain transform right in front of his
eyes as he details changes encountered while his jeep rockets into the
past. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Perhaps experimental sex comedies were a dime a dozen in the early
1970s, but I fail to see a reason why anyone would get all worked up
over "The Telephone Book." About as arousing as a tax audit and funny as
jury duty, the picture is a surreal journey into random confessions and
pig-masked monologuing, imagining itself to be a wonderland of carnal
delights and cutting satire, wafting over its audience like a wave of
marijuana smoke. For the clean and impatient in 2013, "The Telephone
Book" emerges as an oddity from 1971, but not a particularly compelling
one. With its outlandishness napping and its sense of humor missing,
this X-rated relic is best served to fans of obscure exploitation
cinema, those brave souls able to somehow appreciate the feature's
idiosyncrasies and its Vietnam-era taboo-smashing tastes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Great Zebra Exodus" (an episode of the PBS program "Nature") sets out
to communicate the hardship of the titular animal as it strives to
survive in a harsh world of starvation and roving predators. We visit
Botswana, Africa to greet the zebras, who embark on a monumental
migration every year across the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, an area where
rain and food are scarce, forcing the zebras to march for over 2,500
miles on the hunt for sustenance. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Straight A's" has elements of emotion and meaning, yet it's nearly
impossible to understand exactly what screenwriter David Cole had in
mind originally for this baffling tale of soulful rehabilitation.
There's little here worth recommending to viewers, as director James Cox
(making a return to filmmaking after 2003's similarly mangled
"Wonderland") is lost in the details of craftsmanship, losing sight of
the dramatic power that's supposedly meant to fuel the picture to its
searing, poetic conclusion. "Straight A's" is messy and undernourished,
struggling to make sense of itself while issuing sizable moments of
confrontation and introspection, hanging limited actors out to dry as
the production spends more time perfecting the lighting than connecting
the players in this limp game of family dysfunction and temptation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

They are considered to be the most elegant, balletic horses around, yet
this grace doesn't come easily. The "Nature" episode "Legendary White
Stallions" explores the world of the Lipizzaners, the regal horses that
populate the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, where they are
born and bred to become champions of movement and personality, extending
a premium bloodline that's celebrated around the globe. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com