Well it seems “After Dark” finally pulled it off. They’ve finally brought aboard a movie in to their film festival that may be their most controversial to date. Watching “The Final” made me cringe and feel utterly disgusted all the way through because it’s such a volatile revenge fantasy that’s all too realistic to be taken as just a simple horror film. If you were old enough to experience the horror that was “Columbine” (I still have the newspaper) and the resulting aftermath, you’ll know that we’ve reached a point in our society where the bullied simply can’t take it anymore. Regardless of the circumstances or the lives they may destroy, sometimes people find little to no options in fixing their bullying problems other than resorting to brute violence. Do I condone it? No way. Is it a reasonable solution? No. But when you’re tormented day in and day out without anyone to properly help you, what little choice do you have?
Bitch Slap (2009)
After watching “Bitch Slap” it’s pretty obvious that the only reason it received half the attention that it did was because of the energetic production and the gorgeous women who star in it. The women are absolutely stunning particularly Julia Voth who is just mind blowingly sexy and pulls off her airhead character Trixie quite well. She can bitch slap me any day of the week. But not really. It has its heart in the right place with homages to the likes of Russ Meyer and Quentin Tarantino but in the center of everything this is really nothing more than a soft core Cinemax porno painted to look like a grindhouse throwback.
Cop Out (2010)
In spite of hating almost everything Kevin Smith has ever done, I’ve always given him the benefit of the doubt because he seems like a cool guy. But at the end of the day being a cool guy doesn’t mean you’re going to make a good movie, and “Cop Out” is proof of that. Being just a goon for hire this time, Smith has released quite possibly his worst movie to date, and the very fact that he’s continued to defend it just astounds me. I mean I’ve heard of directors defending their work, but a lemon is a lemon. “Cop Out” is a movie that had the chips stacked against it from the get go. This is not an original Smith production, and it has some of the worst casting of all time.
One Love (2009)
I’ve had this title in the pile of movies we’re supposed to review for almost a year now and we finally decided to review it after being contacted by the producer, and we’re glad we did. “One Love” is, to put it quite simply: incredible. Based around the themes of loss and tragedy, director DJ Matrundola composes a truly compelling and horribly heartbreaking short film around vignettes involving parents to be.
She's Out of My League (2010)
I am a big fan of underdog films like “She’s Out of My League.” Films like “Tao of Steve” and “The 40 Year Old Virgin” are the types of romance comedies that somehow touch down on the realism of romance and what types of men often feel what life is handing them. This doesn’t exactly stereotype men like all other romance films do, it instead depicts them as affectionate helpful individuals who have a special relationship with one another and Jim Field Smith never devalues the influence men have on one another. “She’s Out of My League” is depicted in the trailers as something of a sex comedy, but in reality it’s a very touching and down to Earth romance comedy that digs deep and explores the inner most emotions of the average male, the man who doesn’t feel like he’s worth much, even when there’s a golden opportunity standing in front of him.
The First Easter Rabbit (1982) (DVD)
Rankin Bass are a humongous part of my childhood. Every single year during the holidays we were treated to their holiday specials on CBS and ABC here in America, and we’d tune in every single time. It was an event. Over the years Rankin Bass have shown that they’re really not the most original studio to have ever dabbled in animation. Stepping back to look over their specials, they’re all basically the same thing with an identical formula that is successful but kind of obvious. There’s the story of a holiday icon born out of coincidence, a supporting cast of children, the evil villain anxious to stop or tarnish the holiday, and of course most of the story is told by an older legendary film icon.
Bugs Bunny's Easter Special (1953) (DVD)
So Easter is coming up and Warner is looking to celebrate that by releasing a small grouping of Easter themed DVD’s. One is a compilation of Bugs Bunny cartoons set to the theme of Easter! Normally I’d call this a lame repackaging in an attempt to gauge money in the spirit of the holiday, but I hate Easter and I love Bugs Bunny so nuts to you. Oddly enough this is actually a movie about Bugs Bunny. For some reason Granny is friends with the Easter Bunny. Sadly he’s very sick and can not deliver eggs to children, so Granny seeks out Bugs to fill in. Bugs can’t because he’s in the studio filming his latest movie and the ever reluctant hero as he is, decides to fill in for the real deal.