Archives for February, 2010
Ghost Hunters, one of the first and most successful Paranormal investigation TV series is back on the Syfy Channel and we have an early look at the premiere episode!
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Written by Jonathan Maberry
Art by Scot Eaton
The Story
Often when the big two have a large event going on, they’ll have a completely separate event for the appearance of variety. Civil War had Annihilation. Final Crisis had Sinestro Corps War. Doomwar is the counterpart to Siege, taking a bunch of characters who are otherwise standing on the sidelines in the battle of the Avengers. Sometimes, the back-up event may be just as enjoyable as or even more so than the highly-promoted one. Sometimes they’re not. This is starting to look like the latter.
T’Challa and Doom’s squabbles have finally come to a head after a radical group overthrows the Wakanda royal family. Of course, he goes to the X-Men for help, because if any particular team of superheroes is highly experienced in dealing with Doom and have a history with T’Challa, the X-Men top the list. …continue reading
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Directed By George Romero
Starring: Lynn Lowry, Richard France, Richard Liberty
George Romero, the man responsible for the classic zombie films Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead crafted some lesser known but just as fascinating films such as Martin and this film, The Crazies. The Crazies originally released in 1973 seems to be even more relevant today than when it was first released. Blue Underground previously released this film in a solid remastered DVD. Now just in time for the remake of the film to hit theaters they offer it up again on hi def blu-ray.
The Movie
In a small town in Pennsylvania an experimental germ weapon is accidentally released causing the military to rush in an attempt to quarantine the town. The weapon code named “Trixie” causes its victims to literally go crazy.
The film kicks in quick and with the exception of a few slow bits in the middle runs at a breakneck pace all the way to the end. Within ten minutes of the opening credits an elderly woman stabs a military officer several times with a sewing needle and a man kills his wife and kids. Further in to the film there is a very disturbing scene between an infected man and his daughter. The daughter, played by Lynn Lowry, is one of the more well played and freaky characters in the film. Lynn went on to play in several other cult films. …continue reading
![Band Of Brothers [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Wb5TwvL1L._SL75_.jpg "Band Of Brothers [Blu-ray]")
Starring Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbitt, Kevin Murphy, Frank Conniff, Trace Beaulieu
“I’m Rowsdower… Zap Rowsdower”
Bruce J Mitchell from The Final Sacrifice
I have been a “MSTie” (Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan) from way back. So, each time a new collection comes out, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. So, what is in the latest collection released by Shout Factory?
The Movies
This boxset is equally split amongst the two former stars of the show, Joel Hodgson and Mike Nelson. They each get two films in this 4 film boxset. So, let’s break them down, shall we?
The Crawling Eye or The Trollenberg Terror (1958)
Directed by Quentin Lawrence
Starring Forrest Tucker, Laurence Payne, Janet Munro
In this episode hosted by Joel Hodgson, A remote mountain resort in Switzerland is invaded by horrible alien creatures which inhabit a radioactive cloud at the peak of the Trollenberg mountain. …continue reading
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On this episode of the CineGeek Webcast we recap the Saturn Awards announcement, discuss Shutter Island, Kevin Smith’s next project after Cop Out, Avatar on DVD twice, and much more. Check it out below and and leave your thoughts here!
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Directed by: Shinji Aramaki, Hideki Futamura
Starring: David Wald
Anchor Bay has been releasing animated films that tie into videogames such as Dead Space and more recently Dante’s Inferno. Now the big guns are in play giving this cross pollination a shot with Microsoft, Bungie, and Warner Brothers coming together to release Halo Legends.
The Movie
Anytime a new gadget hits store shelves, whether it be a blu-ray player, a gaming console, or even a media device such as an iPod or the upcoming iPad the success of said device hinges on content. When the first XBOX came out Microsoft seemed like the underdog in the videogame battle. Then Microsoft bought a little company named Bungie that was crafting what would be one o the most influential games in videogaming history: Halo. Halo joined ranks with Castle Wildenstein, Doom, and even Duke Nukem’ as innovators in the world of videogames. Then came Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo Wars, and Halo 3: ODST all cementing the franchise as one of the biggest in the world and establishing the XBOX and the XBOX 360 as important gaming consoles. Before the release of the latest entry in the franchise, Halo Reach, hits store shelves this fall we’re getting some new Halo stores in the form of Halo Legacy. …continue reading
Directed by Ulrich Seidl
Starring Ekateryna Rak, Paul Hoffman, Michael Thomas, Maria Hofstätter
“Simplicity is indeed often the sign of truth and a criterion of beauty.”
Unknown
I read about this film when it played at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. The reaction was mixed: some absolutely loved it, some absolutely hated it. This, in my opinion, is a good sign. I hate it when a film causes a neutral reaction. So, when this DVD came to my doorstop from Palisades Tartan, I was intrigued.
The Movie
The film opens as Olga (Ekateryna Rak) trudges through a blisteringly cold frozen landscape, a cluster of nuclear reactors nearby look ominous. She is a nurse in the Ukraine and desperately wishes for more for her and her child. She moonlights as an exotic dancer on the internet to make ends meet. When she is offered a job in the west, she jumps at the opportunity. She leaves the baby with her mother and travels toward what she hopes is the beginning of a new life. But, she soon learns that things are not what they seem. …continue reading
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Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, Ryoki Kamitsubo
Featuring Voices by Kana Asumi, Kaori Mizuhashi, Ryoko Shintani and Yuko Goto
The Series
Hidamari Sketch is a slice-of-life tale of four high school girls living in the same apartment building and going to the same art school. It’s based off of a Japanese comic strip by Ume Aoki.
When I say slice of life, I mean it. There is hardly any plot or character development. No real central conflict. It’s not even in chronological order, not that it matters. It simply takes slices out of the lives of these four girls by showing random days throughout their school year.
So it’s a sitcom, right? Not quite. It’s got situations, but it falls short on the comedy and the situations are uneventful. …continue reading
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This week we discuss Kevin Smith Vs. Southwest Airlines, Escape from New York, Again, Batman and Superman movies, tons of comics and XBOX Live going dark for the old schoolers!
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(Du levande)
Directed by Roy Andersson
Starring: Jessika Lundberg, Elisabeth Helander, Eric Bäckman, Håkan Angser
“Be pleased then, you the living, in your delightfully warmed bed, before Lethe’s ice-cold wave will lick your escaping foot.”
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
When I saw You, the Living for the first time at the 2008 Nashville Film Festival, this film from Sweden absolutely shook my foundation. I had never seen anything like it, before or since. This is a slice of cinema you absolutely have to see to believe. It was recently released on DVD by Palisades Tartan.
The Movie
You, the Living is a series of 50 short, deadpan and surreal vignettes that explore the essential humanity of the characters. Andersson utilized non professional actors and most of the dialogue and situations are presented by having the actors perform monologues. Andersson shot the film in his own studio on sets, with only one rain scene at a bus stop being shot outside. …continue reading
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Written by Paul Cornell
Art by Leonard Kirk
The Story
X-Man is back and possessing the body of Norman Osborn. Things can only go up from here, right? Right? Mystique gathers the other Dark X-Men to find out how to exorcise X-Man from Osborn, because in some way, Nate Grey is worse than Norman Osborn. I just don’t know what way that is. Meanwhile, Nate and Norman have a literal battle of wits
This is a fun read. Makes me completely forget about how having a government-sponsored X-Men is kind of pointless when the president of the united mutants of the world, Scott Summers, very publically left the country with his motley crew of mutantdom. …continue reading
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The 100th episode of the CineGeek Webcast was a fairly epic event. If you haven’t checked it out yet you can grab it here. We wanted to provide a photo journal of the event for those who couldn’t be with us. The image above is of two members of the band The Manpower as they opened the webcast with one of their original tunes. Click on through to see more images! …continue reading
Directed by: F. Gary Grey
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Gerard butler, Michael Gambon, Viola Davis, Leslie Bibb
Overture Pictures is one of those companies that we’ve covered a great deal and honestly most of their films are just mediocre. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because the fact is that we don’t see many just flat out bad films from the company. There films are generally at least worth a rent. It just seems like they need that one great film to push the company forward in the world of entertainment. Is Law Abiding Citizen that film? Probably not. Should it be? Probably so. …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]")
Created by Steve Dildarian
Featuring Voices by Steve Dildarian, Nick Kroll, Mary Jane Otto, Peter Giles
When I saw this series originally air on HBO, it was right up my alley. I loved the sarcastic, dark, subversive and perpetually misguided main character of Tim and enjoyed his life and adventures. Now, revisiting it on DVD, does it live up to my memories?
The Series
The Life and Times of Tim introduces us to Tim (Steve Dildarian), an average twenty something man that lives in New York and works a soul crushing corporate cubicle job. …continue reading
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The gang’s all back for this special live on flash drive episode of the CineGeek Webcast! Previous hosts join us to tall all things pop culture, we give away a ton of prizes, and the band, The Manpower does some unplugged tunes!!
