I can’t believe it’s actually been twenty five years since “Beauty and the Beast” actually came to theaters. It’s one of the many Disney films I went to see as a child, and loved it for its amazing animation and fantastic tale. Disney offered up their own twist on the fairy tale many read as children, and it’s a unique iteration that managed to be a huge hit in the 90’s. It is also the last animated movie to be a serious Oscar contender before the Oscars stuffed animation in to their own category away from live action fare. “Beauty and the Beast” thankfully still holds up as a moving and charming tale that takes a very epic tone toward the classic fairy tale.
Tag Archives: Romance
Little House on the Prairie: Legacy Movie Collection (DVD/Digital)
When I was a kid, “Little House on the Prairie” was one of my favorite shows and I saw it all the way through the end. It was the drama that always kept me interested and engrossed, as Michael Landon was a favorite of my household. For fans of the series, the “Legacy Movie Collection” comes to DVD with three movies that close the series and resolve the entire saga of the Ingalls once and for all. The famed TV show starring Michael Landon and Victor French, and loosely based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, followed the Ingall family as they dealt with the hardships of living in the late 1800’s America, and how they fared against various obstacles in their lives. The series was a compelling drama that ended in 1983, and gained another life among a new generation that followed the series when it went to syndication.
Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994)
Full Moon offers their take on “Innocent Blood” with the tale of a vigilante demon and her hapless doctor boyfriend who proceeds to fall in love with her despite her demonic underpinnings. Angela Featherstone is insanely sexy as Veronica, a young demon who hangs out in hell sorting out sinning souls with her father, a dutiful monster who wants her to step in line and follow his orders. Veronica is restless though, and seeks to visit the Earth realm to see what it looks like. After fighting with her father once more, she escapes with her loyal German Shepherd to the outer world. There, she discovers the world isn’t that different from hell, save for the fact that the sinners and pure evil are able to hide among the civilized, rather than be punished.
Mario Puzo’s The Godfather: The Complete Epic 1901-1959 (2016)
After presenting various cuts of “The Godfather” trilogy over the years presented on television, HBO has decided to offer up their own version of Mario Puzo’s “The Godfather” entitled “The Complete Epic.” Clocking in at a little over seven hours and presented in HD, the idea for “The Complete Epic” is that “The Godfather” and “The Godfather II” are spliced together telling the entire saga of the Corleones chronologically. They then injected a lot of deleted and or extended scenes for the purpose of exposition and further elaboration on plot points somewhat evaded and under explained in the aforementioned films. As well, what’s considered “The Complete Epic” does not include the often maligned “The Godfather III.”
Arrow: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-Ray/Digital]
This is the season that finally broke the fans, prompting the loyal fan base for “Arrow” on reddit to turn a group devoted to the series in to a group about “Daredevil.” The CW and Warner are at a really tough crossroads with “Arrow,” where they somewhat seem hell bent on sticking with what doesn’t work with the series, while pulling back on what does. Yes, they reward fans by bringing back John Constantine from the hell of cancelled television to resolve his television storyline, but he’s on for only two episodes. When Oliver Queen and company find themselves battling the evil Damian Darhk who is all powerful thanks to a supernatural relic, the answer invariably pops up: “Why isn’t Constantine helping them?”
Double Impact (1991)
In the long line of Van Damme action films, “Double Impact” has always been my favorite. Maybe it’s because of the fun premise, or the way the movie balances the green screen to almost be a convincing action movie about twins. I think it’s perhaps because Van Damme proves he can play vastly different characters.
Basket Case 2 (1990) [Blu-Ray]
Since the first “Basket Case” was screaming for a sequel (?), Frank Henenlotter graces us with a follow up to the first cult classic. This time around we follow up with the exploits of those wacky homicidal conjoined freaks known as Dave and Belial. Henenlotter is in on the joke, even recasting original star Kevin Van Hentenryck, who shockingly hasn’t aged since the first film. His acting skills haven’t improved, either, but that seems to be part of what makes these “Basket Case” movies so loony and deranged. In either case, after being torn apart, Duane begins to feel a little stir crazy, especially now that he and Belial have discovered a massive home filled with deformed and grotesque humans run by the eccentric Granny Ruth.