Heavy Nova (2013)

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I really enjoy the fact that director Peter Leon has access to these incredible special effects, and pretty much just stages a murder mystery aboard a space ship. This premise could have been set anywhere, and that’s why the movie is so fun and creative. The humor doesn’t always land, but when it does, it’s pretty good. The special effects for the most part are spectacular (including the green screen), and I enjoyed how the establishing shots in space put you in the atmosphere of this science fiction comedy.

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Butcher Boys (2013)

butcherboys“Butcher Boys” is one half “Judgment Night” and one half of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” but in an urban setting. With a rash of disappearances occurring all over the city, two groups of people find themselves lost in the ghettos of an urban neighborhood. After a prank goes awry, two young men get beaten and killed by three psychotic armed thugs. The group that inflicted the prank realize too late that they’ve come across a lethal and dangerous group of kidnappers, many of whom are taking tourists and locals hostage for nefarious purposes.

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The Moleman of Belmont Avenue (2013)

molemanI can appreciate what the director of “The Moleman…” is going for, but with his indie horror comedy, it often felt like a misfire in every sense. The DVD cover is quick to compare this to “Shaun of the Dead,” but while they were losers, they were at least likable. It’s really tough to empathize or root for two main characters who lure an old man to dinner to have him be eaten by the mole man, or are so stupid they leave a box of kittens in the trunk of their car and accidentally suffocate them all. I should be rooting for them, the script says, but in reality I just found them to be complete morons.

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Revolution: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray/DVD/Ultraviolet]

revolution-s1It still baffles me that a show about the end of the world doesn’t focus on the obvious suspects this would affect the most. The poor. I mean the impoverished and hungry were always impoverished and hungry. Wouldn’t they perhaps become better survivors, or masters of whole villages? Wouldn’t they rule legions of nomads? No, instead our main characters are a bunch of Caucasians, with the occasional minority. And they were all filthy stinking rich. Well, middle class anyway. The characters who first knew about the black out basically had a luxurious apartment with their toddler playing on Apple technology for fun. Then suddenly everything went black.

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Little Red (2012)

littleredThe tale of Little Red Riding Hood was always fraught with undertones that would be dissected and re-worked for decades. Director Tate Bunker takes the tale of Little Red Riding Hood and re-works it in to a wonderful and occasionally eerie coming of age road trip dramedy that works on many levels. It’s simple, but often times incredibly clever, realizing the symbolism of the story and integrating that in to the modern setting.

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Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986)

jasonlivesOddly enough out of the entire series in “Friday the 13th,” Part Six entitled “Jason Lives” is easily my favorite. It’s flawed, the production quality kind of sucks, and there are plot holes, but damn it, it’s fun! You have to love how the deputy drops a bunch of cartons of food without food in them. And Jason being re-animated like Frankenstein is on par with Freddy Krueger being re-animated by the urine of a stray dog. It’s just fun and creepy Jason Voorhees doing what he does best. And he even slays a credit card handling yuppy, to boot. Take that, mid-eighties America!

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Captain Battle: Legacy War (2013)

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Every time I think there isn’t a studio as shameless as The Asylum, someone inevitably steps forward and proves me completely wrong. “Captain Battle” is about a star spangled super soldier who fights the Nazis during the war adapted from a public domain character who is already a Captain America knock off. It’s not Captain America. Repeat. It’s not Captain America. From the makers of the cinematic masterpiece “The Amazing Bulk,” this complete and utter rip off of a certain star spangled superhero is so shameless, Marvel should sue only for how inept the movie is.

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