Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

Why certain movies become smash hits at the box office while others die a horrible, embarrassing death is a show business mystery that will never be solved. Some say relentless marketing efforts are required, while others reinforce the importance of a strong release date. In the case of "The Cannonball Run," it's obviously star power that urged hordes of ticket buyers into theaters during the summer of 1981. At least I hope it was star power. With all due respect to cult admirers of the picture, "The Cannonball Run" is a wearisome, nonsensical production rescued by its marquee value. It's difficult to grow upset with the feature when it's continuously shifting perspective, slapping a fresh face on the screen every two minutes to lead attention away from the substandard direction, questionable continuity, and general slack momentum of the piece. Take it as pure escapism executed by giddy performers, and it's passable entertainment. Otherwise, it's a rough cross-country ride of indulgence and automobile mayhem, perhaps best suited for a Saturday morning cartoon. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With the rise and fall of Tony Jaa and his knockoffs, there appears to be a feeling of stagnancy to the Thai film market these days, flooded with countless martial art actioners, most quite dismal and unthreatening. Director Panna Rittikrai ("Ong Bak 2" and "Ong Bak 3") looks to return some thunder to the stale genre with "BKO: Bangkok Knockout," a highly convincing tour of broken body parts and wild-eyed reactions. It's a berserk creation that's absolutely thrilling at times, though restrained somewhat by pesky details such as character development and logic. But who really cares about filmmaking fundamentals when the force of aggression registers off the charts, working countless fights and agreeable acts of heroism into a superbly entertaining blast of brutality. It seems there's still plenty of kick to the Thai way of screen defense. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I know absolutely nothing about the "Onechanbara" video game series, but title anything "Bikini Samurai Squad" and I'm all yours for 90 minutes. It's an enticing title, right? Imagine "The King's Speech: Bikini Samurai Squad" or "The Tree of Life: Bikini Samurai Squad." Now you have to see the movie. Well, it pains me to report that the raincoat crowd should stay miles away from this Japanese stinker, which fails to provide a satisfactory amount of swimsuited justice. Instead, it's an awful futuristic horror actioner slapped together with spare change, attempting to translate the martial art fluidity of a video game to the big screen, only to forget storytelling essentials. It's drab, amateurish, and hideously performed. Heck, even the titular bikini is a disappointing piece of fuzzy costuming unworthy of top billing. This could've been a blast. Instead, it's utterly incompetent. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Having visited the circus once as a child and raised outside of the influence of the painted man arts, I'm not one to list clowns as a phobia, curling up in terror when a white-faced person of professional tomfoolery skips near. Those who suffer from coulrophobia (heavens, there's actually a name for it) would be well advised to steer clear of the 1970 Federico Fellini effort, "The Clowns." For viewers with a larger appetite for top shelf high jinks, the picture is an extraordinary time capsule of circus feats, blurring the line between fantasy and reality as a master filmmaker delves into his most cherished subject, whisking viewers across Europe on a hunt for unforgettable clowns. It's a movie containing extensive performance footage, bizarre tales from the vocation, and rosy-cheeked sorrow for a dying art form. It's Fellini's childhood obsessions splashed across the screen, producing a pleasurably disorientating viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1971's "Big Doll House" is the first installment of what would later be recognized as the "Women in Cages" trilogy, a series distributed by Roger Corman focusing on the exploits of braless women struggling in humid, unforgiving prison systems. Shot on the cheap and spotlighting a cast of adventurous actresses, the pictures emerged as exploitation classics in the eyes of some, beloved for their gratuitous nudity and violence. "Big Doll House" kicked off the pervy merriment, with director Jack Hill setting an impressive tone for the run on the first outing — a rough and randy incarceration extravaganza that's stuffed with forbidden delights, peppy performances, and decidedly eager attitudes when it comes to manufacturing sweat-soaked grindhouse distractions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Vamp" is a difficult movie to explain, falling under the jurisdiction of various genres and cult fandom. It's a horndog teen comedy laced with horror and suspense, yet spends a large portion of its running time working out dramatic encounters between characters undeserving of the attention. What the effort does have is a few successful scenes of oddity, one charming supporting performance, and the sheer spectacle of performance artist/singer/actress Grace Jones, who provides the film with infinite weirdness, stirring up the feature without a single line of dialogue. Despite a premise loaded with potential for some delightfully unsavory business, "Vamp" has no bite, too encumbered by its limited budget and woefully misguided when it comes to imagining utter sexual supremacy. I'm all for Grace Jones pawing at herself in a metal bikini and kabuki make-up, but "Vamp" lacks stimulating screen energy, looking to get by with the bare minimum in terms of horror, comedy, and pole-twirling sin. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The official synopsis for the Japanese film "X Cross" details a vicious story where crazed pagan men chase around helpless young girls, attempting to sever their legs and offer the bloody prizes to their deity. Understandably, this rundown conjures images of dank cinematography, porno-level acting chops, and a diseased interest in the prolonged suffering of women — not exactly an inviting viewing event. To my great surprise (and deepest relief), "X Cross" is actually nothing sinister, passing on the tempting opportunity to make a low-budget commotion with repulsive ingredients. Instead, it's a spunky, darkly comic creation with a refreshingly limited amount of agony to share. A few legs are indeed violated, but the production is more interested in the peppy particulars of rural survival and sisterhood, creating a superbly entertaining comic thriller with a few well placed twists and turns. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

"Death of the Virgin" is a supremely cluttered horror picture with a few striking ingredients. It offers a bizarre concentration on nightmarish imagery founded in fine art and contemporary dance, yet it also desires to be a gross-out slasher film of sorts, along with mimicking several other terror subgenres of questionable repute. "Death of the Virgin" is a smear of ideas supported by a lackluster technical effort, raising a strident genre ruckus when more attention should've been paid to the fundamentals, supplying a more rigorous display of thespian confidence and cinematographic ability. Instead, a handful of lofty thematic concepts and inspirations are left to rot while director Joseph Tito gradually loses control of the picture, resorting to ugly acts of ultraviolence to make a hasty impression. I'm not suggesting the script ever held promise, but there's something interesting going on during this unpleasant mess that's never quite developed to its full potential. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

On the outside, 2003's "Latter Days" appears like an average sitcom, presenting a formulaic collision of sexuality and religion, opening itself up to hundreds of broadly executed comedic possibilities. Mercifully, writer/director C. Jay Cox isn't interested in the crude workings of a primetime satire, instilling a beating heart into this tale of opposites attracting, facing disapproval from friends, family, and scripture. It's a hot potato of a story, challenging dogma and the reaches of personal doubt, yet the movie is surprisingly sensitive and illuminating, taking a very real approach to these characters when the urge to turn the proceedings into a cartoon must've been extraordinary. Instead of mockery, "Latter Days" is a vulnerable effort, rich with compassion and patience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Filmmaking hero Monte Hellman hasn't made a feature in 21 years. The director of such cult hits as "Two-Lane Blacktop," "Cockfighter," and "China 9, Liberty 37" returns to the screen with "Road to Nowhere," a noir-flavored mystery about the puzzling creation of a complicated motion picture. In short, it's a movie about movies that's not really a movie. It seems fitting that this bewildering picture is the impetus for Hellman's return, as it appears the material is actually about him, dissecting the various jealousies and infatuations a driven director develops while in the midst of assembling a motion picture. Hellman is a true artist with a vision for disorientation that carries all the way through "Road to Nowhere," but the lasting impact of the film will be up to the individual viewer and their personal appetite for cinematic riddles. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1987’s “Hellraiser” dared to challenge the stagnant horror genre. Instead of slashings and stalkings, the picture submitted a low budget, but exhaustively unnerving depiction of sadomasochistic wonder smashed together with distorted monster movie mechanics. Expelled from the bottomless pit of despair known as Clive Barker’s imagination, the film was an absolute humdinger, submitting a bold, original vision that genuinely terrified, making chiller product from that year resemble a church picnic by comparison. Finding cult success at the box office, a sequel was quickly ordered up by the producers, looking to capitalize on the uneasy introduction of the Cenobite invasion, hoping to extend the moderately profitable nightmare for one more feature. So, where does one take “Hellraiser” for its second adventure? To Hell, naturally. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jack Cardiff is a certified filmmaking legend, yet a man perhaps few, outside of hardcore movie appreciation circles, have ever even heard of. His name may not be immediately recognizable but his visual touch is unforgettable, working as a cinematographer and director for over 60 years, with show business ties that trace all the way back to his adolescence. Although he passed away in 2009 at the age of 94, his glorious creative spirit lives on in numerous filmmaking efforts and a riveting documentary, “Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff,” a picture that celebrates the lifelong adventure of a man who worshipped color, utilizing his fascination with art to infuse the big screen with an enormity and vibrant passion few could rival. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A zombie movie just isn’t a zombie movie without endless close-ups of rotting flesh, idiot lead characters incapable of summoning even the most basic of survival skills, and a brief subplot involving incest. Well, at least this is the type of unusual viewing experience “Burial Ground: Nights of Terror” (originally released in 1981) offers to hungry genre fans. An undeniably sluggish though pleasingly wacky gore show, the film is ripe with peculiarities and amusing inconsistencies, almost enough to make up for the complete lack of suspense. Almost. Nothing cuts the boredom of a flaccid zombie stomp quite like a creepy young boy coming on to his bewildered, not yet entirely disapproving mother. It’s that type of insanity that makes a forgettable picture into something one wants to share with the world. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Actor and future Incredible Hulk Mark Ruffalo makes his directorial debut with “Sympathy for Delicious,” a sincere but fragmented feature that bites off way more than it can chew. Although rich with intention and authenticity, this tale of tainted miracles and crooked salvation just doesn’t contain the creative gas to power it through some dreadful melodramatic dead spots, while leaning too heavily on cliché to find a conclusion. After working with some impressive filmmakers throughout his career, learning from the best, Ruffalo’s effort is tremendously disappointing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Out of all the Muppet features produced since 1979, I would rank “Muppets from Space” as the least effective of the bunch. It’s not an easy decision, since the picture features numerous gut-busting one-liners and a general Muppet anarchy that’s satisfying. It’s a fine motion picture, yet in terms of Jim Henson-style wonderment and overall cleverness, “Muppets from Space” comes up short. It’s entertaining enough, but lacks the magic the Muppets are so skilled at summoning.

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In 2010, director Scott Stewart brought a dopey apocalyptic action film titled “Legion” to the big screen, which starred Paul Bettany as an agent of God caught in the middle of an unearthly war. For 2011, Stewart throws a curveball with “Priest,” a dopey apocalyptic action film that stars Paul Bettany as an agent of God caught in the middle of an unearthly war. And people say there’s no originality in Hollywood anymore. Well, instead of combative angels in a desert setting, the new feature offers a plague of vampires in a desert setting. Progress?

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“The Conspirator” is a sumptuously shot depiction of a lesser-known moment in history. Taking place after President Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, the picture seeks to recreate hysteria and shady political dealings during a time of nationwide turbulence. Unfortunately, instead of mounting a crushing procedural picture filled with facts and figures, director Robert Redford elects for a more melodramatic route, turning all the accusations and disgust into a wobbly drama of limited emotional impact.

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Extensive and unreal violent encounters are safely folded and shared in “The Bang Bang Club,” a potentially mesmerizing look at the work of combat photojournalists ruined by ham-fisted screenwriting and ill-equipped performances. A substantial discussion of mental strain and moral flexibility is thrown out of the nearest window to play with irksome television movie clichés, taking the sting out of an alarming vocation.

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“The Last Godfather” is “The Godfather” after eating a bucket of paint chips and huffing a can of gasoline. A slapstick send-up of mafia movies from the man who gave the world “Dragon Wars,” the picture is an unfunny, spectacularly tedious collection of dreadful ideas meant to pass as a wild good time. Instead of laughs, the feature will have viewers scrambling for the eject button and reconsidering the competency of the Korean film industry.

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“Stake Land” is ambitious, but only vaguely successful as a bleak horror concoction. Spare, mournful, and often inert, this vampire-flavored take on “The Road” is more admirable than fulfilling, expelling more effort with atmosphere than story, wasting time with stares when legitimate tension is desperately needed.

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