You Have to See This! Barb Wire (1996)

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So this is where comic book movies were in 1996, kids.

You don’t know how good you have it. These days everyone has Iron Man, and Captain America, Oscar winning Spider-Man movies, and massive team movies from DC and Marvel. Aquaman is a friggin’ box office juggernaut. In 1996, though we had slim pickings, and, well the best we could get was a truly terrible, painfully dull cinematic adaptation of a pulpy Dark Horse comic that doubled as a remake for “Casablanca.” No seriously, this is as good as it got for us comic book fan boys.

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The Craft (1996): Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]

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Just in time for “Women in Horror Month,” Andrew Fleming’s “The Craft” is one of those movies that’s gained some heavy cult momentum over the years, and for good reason. Even with the nineties aesthetic, “The Craft” has aged quite well offering up a mature genre picture that begins as a coming of age supernatural drama and gradually transforms in to a horror film. There just aren’t films like “The Craft” anymore, and that’s a shame, since Andrew Fleming offers up a unique tale of good and evil, and power corrupting absolutely.

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Shorts Round Up of the Week – 2/25/19

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For the February 25th edition of “Shorts Round Up of the Week” there are reviews for a hilarious comedy, a zombie thriller, and a trio of foreign Supernatural chillers, two of which are becoming feature film productions.

If you’d like to submit your short film for review consideration, submissions are always opened to filmmakers and producers.

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Five Thoughts & Observations On “The Legend of Billie Jean”

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I first saw “The Legend of Billie Jean” on Television when I was nine years old on my favorite network WPIX Channel 11 in New York. This was a time when I had no cable, so my only movie entertainment were the edited for time, pan and scan films from the eighties that were also cut for adult content and language. In either case, “The Legend of Billie Jean” became an instant favorite and it’s remained one of my favorites for a very long time. Now with a Retro VHS re-release from Mill Creek, I thought I’d ponder on my favorite memories with what I consider a classic from 1985.

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An Hour to Kill (2018)

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I kind of see what Aaron K. Carter is going for with “An Hour to Kill.” What his film tries to be is a basic meshing of the gangster politics of “Pulp Fiction” with the horror tales of “Creepshow.” I don’t begrudge him for trying something completely different and unique, it’s just sad that “An Hour to Kill” never comes together as a coherent or even entertaining horror comedy anthology. Even taken as a silly horror comedy, it’s tough to find any real redeeming aspects here, as Carter seems to work hard in keeping his film together as it falls apart from minute one.

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The 1930s’ Female Comedy Teams

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During the early 1930s, producer Hal Roach created a series of two-reel comedies that teamed Thelma Todd with ZaSu Pitts, then Thelma Todd with Patsy Kelly, and then Patsy Kelly with Pert Kelton and Patsy Kelly with Lyda Roberti. These comedies were unavailable for years, but now they are on DVD and are the subject of “The Hal Roach Comedy Shorts of Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts and Patsy Kelly” by James L. Neibaur, who is our guest on this episode of “The Online Movie Show.”

The episode can be heard here.

2019 Oscar Nominated Shorts: Live Action

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It’s pretty disappointing that the Academy almost cut out the entire Live Action short category this year for the Oscars, as there are so many wonderful short films nominated. There are five pretty fantastic short films with strong messages about childhood and loss of innocence, and I hope now that they’re back in the broadcast, that audiences get a chance to watch and celebrate them.

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