Speaking as a hardcore fan of the Man of Steel it was a real thrill to sit down and watch the collection of animated shorts from the Fleischer’s from the period of the forties that gave way to the innovation of rotoscoping and telling genuinely entertaining stories where Superman takes on a new obstacle every time from mad scientists, mobsters, and giant monsters. The quality is fantastic this time around and you get to peruse the Superman animated episodes based around their dates released.
True Blood: The Complete First Season (DVD)
Maybe it’s because I’m just plain sick of vampires or maybe it’s just that I want them to go back to being feral vicious monsters but “True Blood” always bordered on “Twilight” for me to properly enjoy it and as hard as I wanted to enjoy it, I just couldn’t come around toward liking it as much as my family who found the show to be a breath of fresh air. Sure, the ad campaign was genius, but that’s just about where we end it.
Up (2009)
I hope you understand when I say that I’m utterly speechless, but it’s true. Pixar always manages to surprise with their imaginative adventures and character focus that they come dangerously close to Studio Ghibli territory at times. Take “Up” a movie very reliant on mid air travel and vivid landscapes and (sometimes literally) dog fights that are conducted in the open air. “Up” is a sweet and funny film about Carl Fredrickson, an old man whose spent most of his life selling balloons and devoting his love to his wife Ellie. After a somber note where Carl is left behind widowed, he decides to fulfill his life long dream of traveling to South America and he has a stowaway on board in the form of a chunky hero named Russell.
Friday the 13th: The Killer Cut (2009) (DVD)
Let’s face it, Platinum Dunes is a remake factory that’s managed to take some of the best horror films of all time and completely butcher them. Take “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” for one example, a bastardized MTV version of a damn good dose of indie filmmaking. But surprisingly, “Friday the 13th” isn’t a bad film and Marcus Nispel completely redeems himself. In fact it’s pretty damn good. I know I’ve become the small minority of movie viewers who see the film as a great reboot, but I just clicked with “Friday the 13th” and everything it pushed on audiences including the mean vicious SOB that is Jason Voorhees.
Everwood: The Complete Second Season (DVD)
I loved Everwood and I think it was a show that was a rare family outing that didn’t rely on the religious overtones “Seventh Heaven” did and didn’t sink down to teen sleaze like “The OC.” Instead it was a firmly balanced family dramedy that took the Midwest tundra and showed off a cast of character who, with the narration of Everwood’s kindly bus driver/observer, brought to us genuine emotions and dramatic momentum that stuck with the series until the very end. Take the opening of the long awaited “Everwood” Season Two DVD where our love interest Amy envisions an Everwood that’s picturesque and filled with simplistic complications that revolve around an outing with the core characters of the series celebrating a nice summer day.
Breaking Out of the Asylum: Interview with Director Leigh Scott
Whether or not you actually agree with Leigh Scott’s methods of filmmaking and business, whether or not you like Asylum, whether or not you’ve ever bothered to see a film from Asylum, you can’t argue that Leigh Scott is definitely ambitious and has an eye for detail. Though films like “Transmorphers” and “Pirates of Treasure Island” were considered busts and universally mocked, there’s a definite knack for detail and cinematography there that you can’t deny.
Leigh Scott went to work for Asylum pictures a long time ago becoming their most prominent director, a man who guaranteed to get their movies out there in time with a solid cast, and since then he’s branched out to make films on his terms and try to emulate the directors he’s come to admire as a film buff. The Milwaukee born filmmaker is still at it, and now has the chance to hit the scene in a big way with a revisiting of the L. Frank Baum tale “The Wizard of Oz” which is a modern take with a twist called “The Witches of Oz” about an adult Dorothy now being called on to save her own reality when the Wicked Witch of the West decides to conquer Earth.
Often a controversial filmmaker spawning many articles and questions of his practices, Scott has shown no signs of slowing down any time soon and continues to power on with this much talked about production expected to have a limited release soon. Though Leigh and I have a rather interesting, volatile, infamous (any other adjectives you can think of) history together, I thought it would be a good chance to interview Scott and see what he’s been up to and why he decided to twist the tale of “Wizard of Oz” for the modern age.
Star Wars Clone Wars (Season 1, Volume 1): A Galaxy Divided (DVD)
Sure its film counterpart got a lot of bad reviews at the movie theaters, but guess what kids. “The Clone Wars” does not suck. In fact as a series is a damn good dramatic science fiction opera that works its way through arcs instead of providing self contained stories, which kids shows usually consist of. “A Galaxy Divided” consists of four episodes of “The Clone Wars” and starts off strong. “Ambush” is a fine beginner to an already strong premise and probably the best of the foursome as Master Yoda takes to aggressive negotiations that bring him and three clone soldiers to the mercy of an endless army of robot drones and the empire’s worst warrior: Asaj Ventress.