Archives for July, 2009
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Tom from Geeks of Doom joins us again this week to talk all things Comic-Con, deadly perfume, Tron, Avatar, and a ton more. This episode maxed out our recorder!
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In his most daring season of “Criss Angel Mindfreak” to date, Criss Angel ups the ante by attempting five of the most dangerous demonstrations in magic. Each week he will attempt to defy the natural laws of science in new and innovative ways and will be challenged with a way to live… or a way to die. Each one-hour episode will feature a variety of different illusions and culminate in one grand, never-before-seen demonstration that will blow viewers minds.
The season premiere will be “White Death,” on Wednesday, August 12 at 10 PM ET/PT and the five episodes include:
“White Death” – Criss takes the “Buried Alive” escape to an unprecedented level as he is shackled and placed in a transparent coffin that is buried in ice and snow. Will he escape or succumb to hypothermia, suffocation or the risk of the ground collapsing on top of him?
“Death Field” – Criss is challenged to safely traverse a field of live explosives in less than five minutes where the risk for serious injury, if not death, is extremely high.
“Terminal Velocity” – Criss attempts to teleport himself twice, first he drops an object from more than 250 feet above the Las Vegas strip and reach the bottom in time to catch it in one continuous camera shot. And in front of hundreds of spectators he attempts to vanish in mid-air and reappear in an impossible location.
“Death Crash” – In his most death-defying illusion to date, Criss will hide in one of five coffins and the spectators, unaware of which coffin he has chosen, will send a merciless driver to smash the coffins into splinters.
“Mass Levitation” – Criss takes levitation to new heights by levitating an entire Las Vegas crowd whose safety he is responsible for. This demonstration requires intense concentration, should he fail some will fall and face certain injury.
THE FIVE LIVES OF CRISS ANGEL MINDFREAK, premieres August 12 at 10:00PM ET/PT only on A&E Network.
Visit the official site for more information and to view exclusive content.
To celebrate season five of Criss Angel Mindfreak, you can enter to win a Criss Angel prize pack! The lucky winner will receive Criss Angel: The Most Dangerous Escapes DVD, Criss Angel Mindfreak: The Complete Season 4 DVD and an A&E t-shirt.
To enter just submit your name and mailing address and one random name will be drawn on August 15!
Submit
Contest Ends August 15th
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Starring: Raizo Ichikawa
“A samurai should always be prepared for death – whether his own or someone else’s”
Chambara (Sword Play) and Jidaigeki (Period Drama) film fans owe a debt of gratitude to the good folks at Animeigo for keeping us supplied with great films. The Sleepy Eyes of Death film series is legendary, albeit hard to locate. That is until Animeigo. They have recently released the first four films in this series in a box set and I happily gave it a try.
The Film Series
The Sleepy Eyes of Death film series follows the adventures of Nemuri Kyoshiro (Raizo Ichikawa), a masterless samurai who is known as ‘The Son of the Black Mass” and the master of the full moon cut. Sounds good: Count me in! …continue reading
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Starring Eddie Murphy
When Eddie Murphy’s classic “Delirious” stand up film came out it was easily one of the most bootlegged tapes of my youth. The film was one of the first ever HBO comedy films but I only ever heard audio of it until I got a bit older. I can’t even remember how I acquired the cassette tape of the film but I remember making tons of copies of the one I had for other friends. At that time Murphy’s comedy stylings were hilarious for adults and naughty fun for us kids. There’s no question that these bits were funny when the film came out. The question is are they still funny 25 years later? …continue reading
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Directed By Renny Harlin
Starring John Cena, Ashley Scott
The idea that the WWF or the WWE is producing movies is extremely frightening to me. I can enjoy a bad movie, if it’s bad enough, but most often these kinds of films are all kinds of bad in the wrong way. Cracking open this blu-ray wasn’t exactly a pleasure to say it lightly.
The Movie
Officer Danny Fisher is a beat cop in New Orleans with a girlfriend at home. On an average night at work he and his partner are roped into helping the FBI chase down a terrorist running amok in the city. Of course they find the guy and Fisher ends up chasing him on foot. Fisher holds the terrorist and his girlfriend at bay for a few seconds before the girlfriend bolts out in front of a speeding truck. The terrorist gets taken into custody saying simply that he’ll remember Fisher. A brief time later Fisher has become a police detective and one day on his way to work he receives a random phone call from the terrorist who has escaped prison. …continue reading
![Band Of Brothers [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Wb5TwvL1L._SL75_.jpg "Band Of Brothers [Blu-ray]")
Written by Dan Slott
Art by John Romita Jr.
The Story
Now this is an anniversary issue. All the stops are pulled out. Classic villain, large city-threatening plot, super-hero team ups and of course, a wedding. It’s definitely a story for fans to enjoy.
The wedding is between Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson Sr. (daddy to cheery ex-editor-in-chief/current mayor J. Jonah Jameson Jr.). Of course, no Parker event can ever go smoothly, especially for one whose nephew is Spider-Man and who almost married Doctor Octopus. …continue reading
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What do you think of the website? Got an opinion about one of our articles or reviews? Wanna check in on our other projects including our exclusive XBOX Live television series? Head on over to Twitter and tell us what you think! You’ll notice that the right sidebar of this site now features a Twitter widget that shows the most current Twitter post from us but it only shows one and we post many many (too many) times throughout the day. As a follower of us on Twitter you can post comments and direct message us. We’ll even be running some Twitter contests as we begin building this account up. To follow us head on over to:
http://www.twitter.com/culturesmash
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Directed by Jody Hill, David Gordon Green
Starring: Danny McBride, Katy Mixon, Will Ferrell, John Hawkes, Andrew Daly
If you are a fan of Danny Mc Bride from Hotrod, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder and other films, you are at least curious about Eastbound and Down, his new series on HBO, right? HBO Home Video recently released the first season on DVD and I gave it a whirl.
The Season
It seems the best years of Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) are behind him. Do you hear the refrains of Springsteen’s song Glory Days dial up in your head? It seems to have been written for Powers. …continue reading
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Directed By: Zack Snyder
Starring: Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Malin Ackerman
Reviewing Watchmen theatrically was one of the most challenging reviews I’ve ever done. I wanted to empart the emotional and dramatic feeling of the film and the complexity of it while not getting bogged down in plot description. The movie is the most challenging super hero film ever made, not just to review, but to simply watch. It’s extremely long, and now this director’s cut is nearly a half hour longer. We’re deep into Lord of the Rings territory here and in a really unusual twist coming from me, the added time makes Watchmen even more compelling.
Not long ago, I reviewed the original Friday the 13th on blu-ray. I commented that modern audiences would find this film clichéd. The film is clichéd today because it has been re-cooked and stolen from for 30 years. Modern audiences have seen the tropes created by that film over and over again and when they sit down to watch it now; they don’t stop to think they’re looking at the innovator of the genre that has become predictable today. In that way, Watchmen has something in common with Friday the 13th. After that seminal comic book series hit shelves back in 1986, countless comic book creators went to the Watchmen well over and over again. There wouldn’t be a Frank Miller without Watchmen. Sure, he was around early on, but his best work came after Watchmen. Comic book fans have seen the flawed hero plenty over the last 25 years, but this kind of hero has yet to get representation in film and it’s really a hard pill to swallow for mainstream movie fans, but that’s not the only problem they’ll have. The story told in those comics and on the screen here is what makes a film like The Dark Knight possible. …continue reading
![Super 8 (Single-Disc Blu-ray Edition) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JFt1LlPoL._SL75_.jpg "Super 8 (Single-Disc Blu-ray Edition) [Blu-ray]")
Starring: Aleta St. James, Tony Pratofiorito, Cynthia Pratofiorito, Juliana Pratofiorito, Kieron Ragoonath
Directed By Matthew Makar and Marc H. Simon
Did your preschool offer Mandarin lessons, tennis or swimming? Mine didn’t and I turned out fine. My preschool had toys, an alphabet poster and a cook that served up some yummy green beans and potatoes. However, I think the parents in this documentary released by Docurama want their kids to be doctors and lawyers and not like me: a filmmaker and film nerd. So, whose parents are right?
The Movie
In New York City, privileged families compete over placing their precious tots in prestigious preschools, believing the road to Ivy League schools begins just after potty training and teething rings. …continue reading
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Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Luke Ross
The Story
Welcome to part three of the six-issue Utopia miniseries, where the X-Men and the Dark Avengers clash in the X-Men home of San Francisco after a series of pro- and anti-mutant riots. This particular issue deals with Emma Frost trying to get a hold of the new Dark X-Men while Norman and Dark Beast (A “Dark” that actually has nothing to do with “Dark Reign”) conspire in the creation of a power-sapping machine.
The actual issue is decent. There is definitely more of a focus on the Dark X-Men side of things than the Dark Avengers, or even the X-Men proper for that matter. The actual Dark Avengers, aside from Norman and Daken, don’t get much time in the issue. This issue is definitely more focused on Norman’s conspiracy of the week with special guest co-conspirator Dark Beast, with a little bit of Emma Frost and the Dark X-Men on the side. …continue reading
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Created by Nick Park
Voices by Kate Harbour, John Sparkes, Jo Allen, Richard Webber
I have said it a million times before and I will say it again: I just love Nick Park and the feature films and short films that come out of Aardman Animation, based in Bristol. England. Our favorite little sheep is back with another collection of his adventures from Hit Entertainment.
The Series
In case you aren’t familiar, Shaun the Sheep was first introduced to audiences in the Wallace and Gromit (another fantastic Aardman Animation creation) short A Close Shave (1995). Fans has such a strong response to this character, Aardman has created several shorts that feature Sean and the other sheep, critters and humans that reside on his farm. …continue reading
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Directed By: Charles Winkler
Starring: Val Kilmer, Sharon Stone, Curtis Jackson
A tale of police corruption set in post Katrina New Orleans, starring Val Kilmer, Sharon Stone and Curtis Jackson. This sounds like it could be interesting.
The Movie
The movie opens just after the worst of the flooding is over. Bodies are floating and looters are looting. What cops that are still around are just barely able to keep a lid on things and protect their own. Enter Andy, played by a chubby Val Kilmer, he and his partner were separated during the worst of the flooding and Andy has just now found him in a place he shouldn’t be with a bullet in his head floating face down in three foot of water in a warehouse. They don’t call it the Big Easy for nothing. It’s just not Andy’s day because as he exits the building he steps into a tense situation between Stan, Curtis Jackson, a beat cop who had just transferred in from Chicago and a store security guard who has just shot a looter. Stan is trying to get the security guard to lower his rifle but he will not comply. Andy covers his fellow officer and talong with Stan tries to get the guard to lower his rifle. The security guard who evidently doesn’t understand basic arithmetic gets flustered and takes a shot at Andy. Of course Andy and Stan return fire and drop the security guard. …continue reading
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This week we talk Ultimatum, the Thor and Green Lantern films, Stephen King’s The Cell, Microsoft stores and a ton more!
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Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke
The Story
This issue serves as a prologue to the upcoming Blackest Night event, explaining the origin of the Green Lantern villain Black Hand. This issue also shows how Black Hand becomes the first Black Lantern and the vessel of the embodiment of the Black Lantern Corps, like Ion and Parallax for the Green and Sinestro Corps respectively.
You can go into this issue fresh, knowing nothing of Black Hand, and probably be adequately prepared for his role in Blackest Night. If you’re one of the people who picked up Blackest Night #0 for Free Comic Book Day and have been wondering for the past two months why Black Hand is a Black Lantern or even just who he is, this book is for you. …continue reading
