This movie is a big step up for director Ti West whose debut film was like an immature fan boy’s homage to everything schlocky, while his sophomore film was nothing more than a terrible sequel to a rather terrible film. West matures considerably with what is basically a slow boil homage to the seventies that is obviously inspired by the classic “Rosemary’s Baby.” Everything from the marketing campaign to the posters works under the pretense that this is a time capsule of the seventies, an unexplored gem from that decade that many haven’t quite explored yet.
Planet Hulk (2010)
I, for one, have never been much of a fan of the Hulk. Even when I was highly invested in Marvel Comics collecting them and rushing to newsstands every week with sheer excitement I always opted for something other than the green behemoth. Hell, I chose to buy Darkhawk and Super Pro over an Incredible Hulk comic. Apparently I’m in the minority again because Marvel seems to love the big guy. Ever since his introduction the Hulk has been included in practically every animated series, animated movie, live action movie, and comic series in some form. He’s even guest starred on series’ centered on the X-Men and Fantastic Four and somehow always manages to steal the spotlight. So it’s no surprise the Hulk is given yet another chance at the center stage with “Planet Hulk.” I never read the graphic novel, but as always Marvel squeezes in the entirety of the tale in to a movie that barely makes it past eighty minutes.
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1985) (DVD)
Being a rather big fan of Charles Schulz’s “Charlie Brown” franchise, it was of most interest to me to watch the often talked about “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” a production that I’d often heard about in the past and yet could never quite watch. Finally it’s on Deluxe DVD and it’s a pretty darn good representation.
Triangle (2009)
My experience with Christopher Smith has been mixed over the years. I thought “Creep” was a good concept but pretty painful to sit through while “Severance” was an underrated horror comedy that suffered from comparisons to “Shaun of the Dead.” Surely though, Smith is a man whose genre outputs have been quite varied and he seems to be coming in to his own by directing films that benefit the horror genre rather than exploit it. Take “Triangle” a movie that by all accounts should have been given a theatrical release in the states. Sadly it’s basically just a direct-to-DVD release that will get lost in the shuffle. Which is a shame because while “Triangle” is a pretty atmospheric horror film, it’s so much more than that.
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)
It should serve as no surprise to the people who know me that I think “Cabin Fever” is without a doubt one of the worst horror movies ever made and one of the worst movies ever made. Seeing it in theaters was definitely one of the most excruciating and disappointing experiences I’ve ever had. This led me to form a pure hatred for Eli Roth and everything he stands for. Not to mention I did not enjoy Ti West’s film debut “The Roost,” so the chances of a sequel to Roth’s piece of junk entertaining me was utterly slim.
Massacrator (2010)
Watching “Massacrator” is frantic, jarring and violent, and in the end you feel very violated. I had every reason to love Pierre Ayote’s ode to Grindhouse silliness but instead I just couldn’t jibe with what was happening on-screen. Being a simultaneous ode to everything from Grindhouse to science fiction we meet Massacrator, a borg sent in to the present (or future?) to… kill a girl, I think. After decapitating a few poor suckers, he makes his way to a young woman who manages to get away just in time to avoid his super punch.
Dude, We're Re-Writing the Phantom Menace!
So as you all may know, we’re big, big fans of the “Star Wars” series. We’ve seen all the movies, all the re-edits and special editions, we (when we say we we mean me) bought all three covers of the TV Guide special edition celebrating “The Phantom Menace,” we’ve seen the animated series, the other animated series, that other animated series with those dumb teddy bears, the animated series with the gay robots, and the current animated series exploring Anakin’s life before he became all evil and melodramatic. Recently we rewatched the entire series on Spike TV here in America and realized that we didn’t enjoy the prequels as much as we remember. I mean I’m definitely in the minority when I say “Attack of the Clones” was watchable, and “Revenge of the Sith” almost (almost) gets in touch with what “Star Wars” is all about, but I sat watching “The Phantom Menace” and… um… yeah, it’s terrible. Terrible. Awful. I mean I still don’t know what the actual plot for that movie was. Seriously, tell me! I decrypted the plot to “2001: A Space Odyssey” faster than I did for this.
