Tag Archives: Drama

The Andromeda Strain (2008) (DVD)

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They blew it up! Damn you! Damn you all to hell! Ah, Nuclear warheads, will we never learn? Shortly after “The Andromeda Strain” arrived to the A&E Networks last month, here we have the Special Edition DVD which is a shockingly great treatment for a television mini-series that just arrived. I know it’s not the first time a mini series gets a huge treatment, but you should see this. The casing is magnificent with a fold out front that allows you to read some of the content about it, and then there’s the DVD set which are two discs. I still don’t know why they split up the movie with two DVD’s bearing parts one and two, instead of just presenting the entire production as movie, I mean, that would make much more sense.

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Ms. 45 (1981)

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45If there’s anything that gets my goat more than apocalypse films, and superhero films, it’s revenge flicks. Revenge movies make up some of the best cinema I’ve ever seen, from Samurai epics, to Western tales, and Abel Ferrera’s “Ms. 45” is that revenge movie in the vein of “I Spite on your Grave” where a woman who has suffered the crime of rape, now strikes out against all men, instead of the men who hurt her. Anna is a meek mute girl who designs clothes during the day time. On the way home, she’s anally raped on the street, and then staggers home wounded to find that a man has broken into her home and, angered that she has no valuables, decides to rape her… again.

Anna can’t catch a break, as you can imagine.

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Hot Summer in the City (1976)

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One of the more humorous aspects of “Hot Summer in the City” is the presumption that it’s an actual movie because its book ended by “Summer in the City” by Lovin’ Spoonful. Not only does the song have nothing to do with the actual movie, but director Gail Palmer seems to just have bought the rights to play it at the beginning and end of her movie to add some sense of credibility trying to eagerly convince us that there’s a serious plot here, instead of just a hint of a narrative in between all of the rough sex and rape. In all honesty, it’s just a hardcore porno with dashes of story here and there and some wildly cartoonish Caucasian protagonists and African American villains. And there’s a lot of rape, too. Poor white chick gets raped by black dudes. That’s the plot.

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Shark Swarm (2008)

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shark-swarm-rlstvI would love to say that this is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, I really would, but when all is said and done, it’s really just a typically awful television movie with a three hour run time that is about as necessary as another killer shark movie. When I finished “Shark Swarm” I blamed myself for sitting through it, and I completely forgot about it once the credits rolled. Boring as piss, “Shark Swarm” is one of the most derivative of the killer animal movies with elements that don’t try to break the mold and instead just follow along with clichés incessantly bringing us through the motions until the finale. Sharks are traveling in swarms because well… we’re never given a real explanation.

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The Andromeda Strain (2008): Part One

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If anyone knows me properly, then they know that I absolutely love post-apocalyptic fiction and it’s a wonder why I’ve never read Michael Crichton’s novel before. I guess I just never crossed paths with it. Although a bit gaudy at times, this new television mini series is packed with heavyweights both behind the camera and in front of them, and not a single person goes without serving some sort of memorable moment in the spotlight. Everyone is here, even Andre Braugher, the character actor who hardly ever appears in an ensemble without biting it before everyone. “The Andromeda Strain” is a bit familiar, but then Crichton only serves to explore our fear of space travel and the potential repercussions of discovering something alien. And unstoppable. What if we discovered alien bacteria that ravaged Earth? Would we even be able to stop it?

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Ring of Death (2008)

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3duGjwI8DtlFJposHffHL9g6ZrX“Death Warrant,” “Undisputed,” and “Enter the Dragon.” If you’ve seen those films then there’s a good chance you won’t need to see the oddly titled “Ring of Death” which is a simultaneous nod and derivation of the aforementioned with none of the charm of either of them. “Ring of Death” is a movie with every such potential to be a fun guy’s action film, and fails to be nothing more than a sub-par television movie with the illusion of edge embedded into its rather predictable story. The writers never really provide us with the slightest bit of originality, opting instead to rely on our familiarity with the action genre.

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In Plain Sight

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ipsAh yes, it’s another show on cable about a super woman who is really just a regular person when she’s with her family, or in her personal life. She mothers everyone, talks back to her superiors, and even has a “Moonlighting” relationship with her hunky partner. And on the outside, she’s a professional risking her life as a Witness Protection Officer relocating witnesses who, well, witness something corroborating, and must be relocated. She’s a not so nice person though, and prefers to act on her gut instead of follow procedure (you know how the song goes!), and this gets her into trouble. But I wasn’t too down on “In Plain Sight,” because while it’s better suited for Lifetime, Mary McCormack finally gets a good vehicle that allows us to see what her supporting performances over the years, haven’t.

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