Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

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You have to appreciate the kind of world that “Wreck It Ralph” creates, paying homage to the vintage video games of the gamer culture, and building on that to introduce some very entertaining characters, with some complex issues about self worth, and what defines them. Though very derivative, “Wreck It Ralph” is a fun movie, especially for an ex-gamer like myself, and the director and writers really keep their target audience in view, while also giving some nods to the folks that grew up with the classics, offering endless Easter Eggs that help flesh out this rather unique tale of a bad guy seeking to show that he’s much more than a destructive force.

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Kill Zombie! (2012) (DVD)

Eventually the way film culture is progressing, every country, continent, and region in the world will have their own zombie film. The problem is that the great zombie movies are so few and far between that we’re left with a lot of really terrible wastes of potential. “Kill Zombie!” is the perfect example of great potential and no pay off. Granted, the concept is creative, and the surprise ending is ridiculously clever, but the movie is much too tedious and uneventful to really consider the aforementioned elements redeeming factors. “Kill Zombie!” is the Belgium set horror comedy about the zombie apocalypse that channels a lot of its favorite zombie movies.

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Martial Arts Movie Marathon (The Skyhawk, The Manchu Boxer, The Dragon Tamers & The Association) (DVD)

Shout! Factory has been very good about compiling films that are otherwise tough to find, tough to acquire, and or not usually on these compilations. These DVD assemblies aren’t anything remotely new to the format, but Shout! takes advantage by bringing together four really interesting old school kung fu movies. While they’re not masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination, they’re solid mid-70’s terrain from Golden Harvest Studios that should peak the attention of even Blu-Ray converts.

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Three O’Clock High (1987)

It’s surprising how “Three O’ Clock High” is about much more than a kid who gets himself in deep with a bully in high school. Deep down while it’s definitely a dark comedy about high school, it’s also about facing your problems. What “Three O’ Clock High” is ultimately about is that bad day that everyone has, and that horrific revelation that if something bad is going to happen to you, it’s going to happen to you, and most times you can really do nothing but try to get through the storm as neatly as possible.

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Gamera: Legacy Collection 1965-1999 (DVD)

While Mill Creek Entertainment’s “Legacy Collection” for the Gamera series doesn’t offer every title from the Gamera saga, it definitely bones up on the necessities while also offering up some of the most contemporary Gamera adventures. The “Legacy Collection” features the first in the Gamera adventures from 1965, in which the giant turtle is awoken during nuclear testing from the ice, and begins wreaking havoc. Only a little boy sees the goodness in the snaggle toothed turtle. The sequel “Gamera vs. Barugon” sees Gamera return from his imprisonment in space to save Earth from the wrath of Barugon. Barugon can freeze people, but that’s okay since Gamera can breathe fire, and fly with the help of a rocket power shell, and whatever other powers the writers can concoct.

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Poseidon Rex (2013) (DVD)

Director Mark Lester’s giant monster movie is a mix of rock bottom budgets and mediocre common sense. It’s a classic B monster movie about muscle bound pirates, busomy scientists, and a military battling a gigantic monster while operating out of a tool shed with only three people manning the helm. You also have to love how so much hoopla is raised about Poseidon Rex, with the military set to nuke the entire island that’s held Poseidon Rex, only for our busomy heroine to kill it single handedly with a missile launcher. How did no one think of that? What of its eggs in the bottom of the ocean? Also, how can divers talk while their lips are wrapped around air regulators?

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Poseidon Rex (2013) (DVD)

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Director Mark Lester’s giant monster movie is a mix of rock bottom budgets and mediocre common sense. It’s a classic B monster movie about muscle bound pirates, busomy scientists, and a military battling a gigantic monster while operating out of a tool shed with only three people manning the helm. You also have to love how so much hoopla is raised about Poseidon Rex, with the military set to nuke the entire island that’s held Poseidon Rex, only for our busomy heroine to kill it single handedly with a missile launcher. How did no one think of that? What of its eggs in the bottom of the ocean? Also, how can divers talk while their lips are wrapped around air regulators?

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