One of the many legacies that Bruce Campbell will leave behind is that he is willing to take on roles that not a lot of actors would. Say what you want about “Bubba Ho Tep” but who else would play an aging Elvis stuck in an elderly home fighting an ancient mummy that shambles around in cowboy garb? And Campbell is willing to commit, too, which makes him one of the last of a dying breed of actor.
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]
I’m still not sure what to make of “Return of the Caped Crusaders” even hours after it’s ended. It wants to be both a love letter to Adam West’s “Batman,” and a spoof of it, so the movie sometimes celebrates the show’s inherent absurdities. The next moment it’s not just mocking the series’ idiocy, but also most of the Batman franchise. After “The Killing Joke” we definitely need a lighter Batman with some entertainment value, but “Return of the Caped Crusaders” is so confused about its intent I was never sure whether I was supposed to laugh with it or at it.
Trolls (2016)
“Trolls” certainly is a movie. It has a beginning, and an end, and it has merchandise potential, as well as franchise potential. It has a lot of really marketable broad characters, and ugly villains, and a pop soundtrack that can be sold in Wal-Mart and Itunes. One character poops cupcakes, another spews glitter so the action figures sell themselves. The cast is popular, the characters are lovable enough for birthday parties, and the plot is simple enough to where it audience only has to be required to remember the songs that are sung by each character. Plus the characters never stop talking, despite journeying through a vast and unusual fantasy land, because if they keep talking, it keeps the kids in the audience alert and out of their popcorn and bags of candy.
Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans (2015)
The 1971 feature Le Mans is mostly notable as the rare commercial flop during the height of Steve McQueen’s box office reign. Gabriel Clark and John McKenna’s documentary on the making of Le Mans offers an intriguing look at why the film failed, with most blame going on the star.
Prince Movie Collection: Purple Rain/Graffiti Bridge/Under the Cherry Moon [3 Disc Blu-Ray]
If you’re still reeling from the sudden death of music icon Prince at the age of 57, Warner has made three of his banner vanity films available for collectors. While the discs are compiled together in a very slim and deluxe boxed set, Warner also makes a lot of bells and whistles available to Prince fans, including a treasury of his music videos from “Purple Rain” and his other films. Even if you’re a Prince fan you have to admit that collecting his trio of films is purely approached from a fan standpoint. Critics and fans alike consider “Purple Rain” is absolute master work that fueled his popularity even more, while “Graffiti Bridge” and “Under the Cherry Moon” were critically derided flops that didn’t make an impact at all. Regardless you have to appreciate the inherent ambition behind Prince’s cinematic efforts.
The PC Thug: George Romero and The Blame Game
I should preface this rant by saying that I avoided making this article for a few days if only because I am a big Romero fan. I think Night, Dawn and Day of the Dead are brilliant masterpieces that should be analyzed by film students everywhere, while films like “Knight Riders” and “Creepshow” are pretty fantastic in their own right. Hell I’ve even ardently defended Romero at every turn, cheering on his efforts to make a “Resident Evil” movie, “Dead Reckoning,” and I’ve even defended “Land,” “Diary,” and “Survival of the Dead” despite being his lesser movies. But lately I’ve managed to come across an interview with George Romero who has decided to bring the whole house down with him despite someone who has offered films with diminishing returns. And what’s worse is some media outlets are pretty much enabling him.
The Fiancé (2016)
It’s rough around the edges here and there, but “The Fiancé” manages to be a unique idea that allows for some interesting moments of horror and drama altogether. I like how director Mark Allen Michaels turns transforming in to a monster in to something of a metaphor for how the relationship between our main characters is doomed to fail. Dallas Valdez plays Michael, a wealthy man who is on the verge of losing all of his money after criminal dealings with the Russian mafia. Convinced his beautiful wife Sara, as played by Carrie Keagan, will leave him, he invites her up to a cabin in the woods to propose to her. Meanwhile a Sasquatch is on the loose, murdering people and hunting down whoever gets in its way. We follow a documentary crew and a small group of hikers as they’re all injected in to the movie to transform the mythical beast in to a valid threat.