If there was ever any doubt before of the acting ability of Robert Redford in his long career as a film star, then “All is Lost” may change many minds. “All is Lost” is very much a film I was not prepared for. I’d heard rumblings that it was basically “Castaway” meets “The Grey,” but that’s a complete misunderstanding of what “All is Lost” is striving for. “All is Lost” has two lines of dialogue, and only one character in it. Even “Castaway” about a man stuck on an island for many years couldn’t help stuffing the film with a slew of performers.
The Fab Four & The Fab Foul
You can’t just put any band on a film and expect laughs. And chemistry and appeal. That’s what happened to “Spice World.”
The directors and creators behind it seemed to basically assume, “Hell, this band is popular, they’re a pop band, they have massive appeal with the male audience, they make catchy music, and they’re British, so they’ll be perfect equivalents to The Beatles.”
And… well… if you saw the movie, you’ll know that the logic behind that theory was slightly eschew.
Tura Satana
I’m assuming for Tura Satana fans at the time, this comic book based around Satana would have been a fun little treat from her. Satana’s self titled comic book doesn’t really re-invent the wheel, but I really do enjoy the notion of Satana basically roaming around the country saving people and helping lost souls. Except this isn’t so much Satana as it is Varla from “Faster Pussycat!” who seemingly awakens after death and has to help lost souls to redeem her own (?) in the process.
4 Movie Collection: Return of the Vampire/Revenge of Frankenstein/Mr. Sardonicus/Brotherhood of Satan (DVD)
Mill Creek offers up a cheapie four movie set for horror fans looking to save bucks while also collecting four interesting horror movies. The four movie set here garners three really notable horror movies, and one horror movie that’s simply there to take up a slot, I assume. There are no perfect movie sets, of course. Even ones for the cheap skate horror fans looking to rake in the volume for little money.
Our Top 5 Television Shows of 2013
Admittedly we’re not big TV watchers these days. We’re mostly fans of “Seinfeld” and “The Simpsons” re-runs, and whatever movie is playing on Syfy in America, but when we do watch, we’re very selective. Most popular shows these days just aren’t appealing to us. But out of the small portion of shows that we do watch, we decided to list five of the series in 2013 that kept us watching and wanting more.
Mischief Night (2013) (DVD)
Director Richard Shenkman’s “Mischief Night” isn’t exactly the most original horror films ever made. It garners elements of “Ils Them” and “The Strangers” with a dash of “Scream.” And let’s face it, we’ve seen a ton of movies about blind women being tormented by someone in their house, the best of which was “Wait Until Dark.” But what the director does with the film is entertaining and often times very compelling, and that’s mostly thanks to the very powerful performance by actress Noell Coet who lends the film’s heroine strength, wit, and a fierce independence that becomes her saving grace.
The Music Box (1932)
Made around the time of the Hal Roach collaborative period with the duo making nothing but shorts, “The Music Box” became the standard for complicated situation talkies that would show buffoons making a bad situation out of a predictably simplistic one. When we learn that yes, it could have all been so simple, we groan at their idiocy, and then realize: What fun would that have been if they took the easy way in their job?