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Viy: Limited Edition by Eric Cotenas (27th February 2021)
Viy: Vacation has come for the residents of a Russian seminary in the countryside and it's time for mischief. On their way home on foot, Khayalava the Theologian (Men and Beasts' Vadim Zakharchenko), Gorobets the Orator (Police Academy: Mission to Moscow's Vladimir Salnikov), and Khoma the Philosopher (Robinson Crusoe's Leonid Kuravlyov) get lost in the fog and beg shelter at a farm belonging to an old crone who insists that they sleep in three separate places on the farm. When she appears to Khoma in the barn, he at first believes that she is making advances to him but she jumps onto his back and rides him around the woods like a horse. When his feet leave the ground, he realizes that she is a witch and implores to God to free him. When they ... |
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A Holy Place (Sveto Mesto): Viy Limited Edition by Eric Cotenas (27th February 2021)
Viy: Vacation has come for the residents of a Russian seminary in the countryside and it's time for mischief. On their way home on foot, Khayalava the Theologian (Men and Beasts' Vadim Zakharchenko), Gorobets the Orator (Police Academy: Mission to Moscow's Vladimir Salnikov), and Khoma the Philosopher (Robinson Crusoe's Leonid Kuravlyov) get lost in the fog and beg shelter at a farm belonging to an old crone who insists that they sleep in three separate places on the farm. When she appears to Khoma in the barn, he at first believes that she is making advances to him but she jumps onto his back and rides him around the woods like a horse. When his feet leave the ground, he realizes that she is a witch and implores to God to free him. When they ... |
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Kinetta by Robert Segedy (27th February 2021)
"Kinetta" ("Κινέττα") (2005) Watching any new film is a challenge. Depending upon the director, the genre, the skills of all the people involved, watching an unfamiliar film is like stepping into a brave new world. Some directors tread familiar ground and stick within the boundaries of a well-established genre like the thriller or a suspense film. Movie goers see the coming attractions to a film, and they know what to expect: be it a romantic comedy or a horror film, those films usually are all too predictable and yet reassuringly familiar It’s like going to McDonald’s to eat. You know what to expect and how it will taste, and it does not matter what country it is in because you are paying for the comforts of familiarity. And yet, some films do not agree to play by the rules. They are misfits. Some films begin one way and then they swerve into a different territory. With this freshness comes room for surprise as well. The territory may look predictable, but we are not sure of where the turns lead. Kinetta is a seaside Greek town that is desolate resort town; it is also the name of this film. We may be familiar with the concept of what ... |
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Bordertown: Season 2 by Robert Segedy (26th February 2021)
"Bordertown" ("Sorjonen") Season 2 (2018) Upon receiving this disc in the mail, I remarked, Damn, Season Two; I better get busy watching Season One so that I know the lay of the land. So, I am happy that thanks to Netflix, I succeeded, and in the process was pulled into this Finnish saga about an investigator of the Serious Crimes Unit and his own issues with his family. My brief overview of Season One is an A. If you are interested in this series, now is the time to start binge watching and then you will be familiar with the characters and the storyline so far. Now in all fairness to the others, I am not going to supply you with a detailed description of what has already transpired, except that you do need to know that Season Two essentially picks up where the previous season had ended. In Season One, Detective Inspector Kari Sorjonen (Ville Virtanen) makes the decision to move his family back to his wife’s hometown of Lappeenranta, South Karelia, Finland to dedicate more time being with his family. Yes, I know, you can stop laughing now because being a homicide detective is a full-time job that borders on obsession... |
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Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea by Eric Cotenas (25th February 2021)
The remnants of the Third Reich are indeed hiding in South America; however, they have come up with a plan to win World War II all the way from the distance of 1994: by traveling back in time and presenting Hitler (The Key's Frantisek Vicena) with a hydrogen bomb heisted from a museum. Kept alive and relatively spry with the help of commercial cosmetic anti-aging pills, former General Klaus Abard (90 Degrees in the Shade's Jirí Sovák), engineer Bauer (The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians' Vlastimil Brodský), and junior party member Kraus (Straw Hat's Vladimír Mensík) have bribed playboy pilot Karel Bures (The Death of a Fly's |
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The Untold Story by Robert Segedy (25th February 2021)
"The Untold Story" (1993) Hold on to your hats, fans! Do I have a winner of a film here! Unearthed Films has been nice enough to send me a copy of their over the top crime drama, The Untold Story and even though I have seen the film previously, it was on a dupped VHS tape back in the 90’s. This time around the film is presented on Blu-ray from an unnamed source but the transfer is first class: AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.78.1 widescreen. Minus any types of flaws due to major compression and extraordinarily little print damage. If you plan on owning this one, then this is the version that you will want to have. A word of warning is necessary before we continue on: this film contains nudity, sexual overtones, rape, and cannibalism. It also features some harsh examples of on-screen child violence that may be hard to take. This film is based on a true crime: in 1978, in Hong Kong, a ghastly murder takes place. Eight years later, on a beach in Macao, some children discover the severed hands of a new victim. An investigation is launched, and restaurant owner Wong Chi Hang (Anthony Chau-Sang Wong)... |
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Vigilante by Robert Segedy (25th February 2021)
"Vigilante" (1982) See one man’s life torn apart; see the damage that is done by a gang of thugs in the lawless frontier of NYC! William Lustig (Maniac, 1980) always quick to exploit a situation, decided to make his own blue-collar version of Death Wish (Michael Winner, 1974). Essentially a similar film, but with Italian influences, the film was made on a tight low budget, but don’t count Lustig out as a mere copycat. As he previously demonstrated in his premiere film Maniac, Lustig took advantage of having gritty New York for his shooting locations and the script from Richard Vetere doesn’t hold back when it comes to action packed sequences. The plot focuses on an ordinary hard-working Eddie Marino (Robert Forster) whose family is victimized by a gang of thugs that are called The Headhunters. The film begins with exploitation star ... |
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Diary of a Mad Housewife by Eric Cotenas (24th February 2021)
Oscar (Best Actress in a Leading Role): Carrie Snodgress (nominee) - Academy Awards, 1971 Golden Globe (Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical): Carrie Snodgress (winner), Most Promising Newcomer - Female: Carrie Snodgress (winner), Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical (nominee), Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical: Richard Benjamin (nominee), and Most Promising Newcomer - Male: Frank Langella (nominee) - Golden Globes, 1971 Manhattan housewife Tina Balser (Rabitt, Run's Carrie Snodgress) has all but checked out of life. Her careerist lawyer husband Jonathan (Westworld's Richard Benjamin) rele... |
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Honest Thief by Robert Segedy (24th February 2021)
"Honest Thief" (2020) I know, yet another Liam Neeson starring in an old dude action flick; hey, I had to endure The Commuter (2018, as Michael MacCauley) previously, and thank goodness, that this film is easier for me to digest than that one was. So, I was contemplating this issue and I believe that it boils down to a matter of susceptibility. Can you simply accept the fact that the leading man is actually 68 years old and that he undoubtedly kick your ass as well? If that is not an issue for you, fine, however for us purists in attendance, that may be a sore point with the star’s credibility. Yes, Tom Dolan (Liam Neeson) was an ex-marine with bomb scene experience and yes, he is certainly in great shape, but don’t you crave a little vulnerability in your heroes? I mean, what stops this film from simply being a Marvel superhero cluster fest except that the script does seem to be a bit more well thought out and isn’t a string of quick edits. We can probably thank scriptwriters Steve Allrich and direc... |
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The Suspect by Robert Segedy (24th February 2021)
"The Suspect" (1944) I can hear it now: “But is it really a Noir?” The answer is kind of. Sure, there’s plenty of dark alleys and shadowy scenes, there’s two murders, a semi femme fatale, and there’s Charles Laughton. Also, there is the director: Robert Siodmak, a master of the genre: Phantom Lady (1944). The Spiral Staircase (1945), The Killers (1946), Cry of the City (1948), Criss Cross (1948). Here is a director that practically cut his teeth on the genre, helping define it’s characteristics: the doomed hero, the slinky femme fatale, the bleak shadowy world. My reason for not being one hundred percent is because my answer is ambivalent. At times, The Suspect feels like it has one foot in the noir universe, but it also ... |
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Street Fighter by James-Masaki Ryan (23rd February 2021)
"Street Fighter" (1994) In the southeast Asian country of Shadaloo, a group of Allied Nations relief workers have been kidnapped and held for ransom by the evil General M. Bison (played by Raul Julia), demanding $20 billion for their release. But he has no plans to do so, as his goal is to use an army of genetically modified super soldiers at his command to bring the world under his rule. Captain Guile (played by Jean-Claude Van Damme) leads the military operation of the Allied Nations, and has a personal vendetta against Bison as his best friend Charlie is one of the men captured. In addition, the journalist Chun Li (played by Ming-Na Wen) is appearing to be covering the happenings, but is secretly on a mission to take down Bison herself, as he was responsible for the death of her father. Meanwhile, con artists Ryu (played by Byron Mann) and Ken (played by Damian Chapa) try to swindle arms to Shadaloo mob boss Sagat (p... |
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Emma. by Robert Segedy (22nd February 2021)
"Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and a happy disposition... and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her." This is the sound of me screaming when I opened the mailing envelope and saw this film; it is a long and wretched howl of frustration and horror. Full disclosure - I despise films like this: adults dressed in period piece ensemble, smugly reciting some form of older English that may have been popular in the 1800’s, atrocious haircuts on the men and the women sporting ridiculous spiralled hair-do’s; this is a fairy tale for today’s audience and I am repulsed by it. This long-winded version of Jane Austen's 1815 novel is once again brought to the silver screen revived by Eleanor Catton who wrote the screenplay and directed by Autumn de Wilde with an eye for pomp and circumstance. Austen’s name should be more than familiar to filmgoers because she has yielded a fertile ground for directors, both past and present, with a slew of hit titles: from "Pride And Prejudice" (1813) to "Sense And Se... |
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First Snow by Robert Segedy (22nd February 2021)
Neo-Noir: according to the Free Dictionary online, "neo-noir" is defined as a film that is set in contemporary modern times, but showing characteristics of a film noir, in plot or style. As many reader’s know I am fairly nuts about film noir and yes, that includes hard boiled films, moody photography, existential dread, and anything where Raymond Burr is the heavy. So, what is it about noir that fascinates us so? Is it the overall mood of the film, the pervading feeling of a careless god that deals out acts of fate without regard? Is it the overall mise-en-scène with its shadowy streets, dark photography, sober soundtrack, and necessary femme fatale? Why is it that I will repeatedly watch Billy Wilder’s classic "Double Indemnity" (1944) over and over again? Yes, Barbara Stanwyck is partially the reason and sure, Edgar G. Robinson’s Barton Keyes speech about his “little man inside of him” always gives me a thrill, but there has to be more than just that? I think that it is the overall doomed feelings of Fred MacMurray’s heel character Walt... |
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Three Identical Strangers by James-Masaki Ryan (21st February 2021)
"Three Identical Strangers" (2018) There is the saying that somewhere out there in the vast world is a person who looks exactly like you. Lookalikes of famous people are always a big draw for television and the comedy market. But what if you had an identical twin that you never knew about, and suddenly ran into that person? What if it was not only a twin, but triplets? The story of Eddy Galland, David Kellman, and Bobby Shafran encountering each other is something that is so incredible that it seems too good to be true. But in fact, it happened. Bobby and Eddy first met in 1980 as college students when Bobby enrolled in the school that also Eddy went to. With local newspapers showing the story of the miraculous reunion, the story became even more incredible when David contacted the news to say he was the third brother. It wasn't long before the three reunited siblings were all over national talk shows, at press events, partying, and even landing cameos opposite Madonna in a scene from "Desperately Seeking Susan". The three boys were all raised in ... |
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Three Identical Strangers by James-Masaki Ryan (21st February 2021)
"Three Identical Strangers" (2018) There is the saying that somewhere out there in the vast world is a person who looks exactly like you. Lookalikes of famous people are always a big draw for television and the comedy market. But what if you had an identical twin that you never knew about, and suddenly ran into that person? What if it was not only a twin, but triplets? The story of Eddy Galland, David Kellman, and Bobby Shafran encountering each other is something that is so incredible that it seems too good to be true. But in fact, it happened. Bobby and Eddy first met in 1980 as college students when Bobby enrolled in the school that also Eddy went to. With local newspapers showing the story of the miraculous reunion, the story became even more incredible when David contacted the news to say he was the third brother. It wasn't long before the three reunited siblings were all over national talk shows, at press events, partying, and even landing cameos opposite Madonna in a scene from "Desperately Seeking Susan". The three boys were all raised in ... |
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George A. Romero's Land of the Dead by Charlie & Tex (17th February 2021)
"George A. Romero's Land of the Dead" (2005) “I’ll never get sick of zombies - I’ll just get sick of producers.” These were the words of George Romero in 1989, not long after the very public dissolution of his friendship with business-partner Richard P. Rubenstien, which saw Romero kick out of his own production of Pet Sematary and replaced by Mary Lambert. He added: “I have an idea now I’d really like to do…and if I can find out the sort of legal way to do it, I’ll do it - I’d love to do it!” But with his initial three zombie films creating a perfect trilogy, and few projects making it in front of the camera, it seemed that Romero had inadvertently delivered his last word on the genre, although some fans still clung to hope. It was 15 years, but the dead walked the earth once more when Land of the Dead exhumed the genre and put it back into the hands of the man whom created it, returning zombies to their shuffling state rather than having them under starter’s orders when going in for the kill. It certainly wasn’t an easy road. Initially titled "Dead Reckoning", Romero took the more expensive elements discarded from his original scrip... |
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King Kong by James-Masaki Ryan (7th February 2021)
"King Kong" (1976) Fred Wilson (played by Charles Grodin) of the Petrox Oil Company leads a secret mission with his crew to find a mysterious island that may lead to a new source for oil. Secretly joining the team is Jake Prescott (played by Jeff Bridges), a paleontologist looking to find more information about the island. Along their route, they encounter a lifeboat with a lone passenger - an American girl named Dwan (played by Jessica Lange) who was the only survivor of a yacht that exploded. Arriving at the mysterious island, the men find something bigger than expected, with Kong, a massive gorilla the size of a building that rules the land. Ever since the giant ape first appeared on screens in 1933's "King Kong", the world couldn't get enough of the fantastical character. The original film, depicting a movie maker taking an unsuspecting crew to a mysterious island featured jaw dropping special effects for its era with stop motion animation and... |
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Life After the Navigator by James-Masaki Ryan (31st January 2021)
"Life After the Navigator" (2020) On April 28, 2016, a disguised bank robber held up a Scotiabank branch in Sechelt, British Columbia. The robber was quickly identified by the authorities due to the his prior records and then recent run ins with the law. Joey Cramer was arrested for the crime and just after his 43rd birthday, sentenced to two years in a correctional facility and two years probation. His arrest came as a shock to film fans worldwide, as Cramer was a former child actor, best known for playing the lead role in the 1986 Disney co-production of "Flight of the Navigator". Though Cramer had an active life as a child star on commercials, television, and in movies, from the 1990s onward he disappeared from the spotlight. The arrest was surprising and disappointing for fans of his work, and the big question was what led to this happening? "Life of the Navigator" is a documentary following Cramer during his rehabilitation, reflecting on his life as well as an encompassing look at the film that became a cult favorite in the video era. The documentary divides time equally between Crame... |
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Marlene Dietrich at Universal 1941-1943 by James-Masaki Ryan (31st January 2021)
"Marlene Dietrich at Universal 1941-1943" By the latter half of the 1930s, screen icon Marlene Dietrich's box office successes were running dry. With her salary at Paramount being costly and her films ranking low commercially and critically, she was considered box office poison, and led to Paramount buying out the remainder of her contract with her final production at the studio in 1937. Taking a massive salary cut, she signed with Universal in 1939, and her first film there was a remake of the 1932 film "Destry Rides Again", starring alongside James Stewart. The western set production was quite different from what Dietrich was known for, but the production became a big hit for the studio and reestablished the star to the spotlight at the age of 38. Her time at Universal was quite short, with six features being made between 1939 and 1944 with one of them being just in a cameo appearance. Even though she was around 40 years of age and the German born actress was making films in a country that was fighting against her country of birth, she was sti... |
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Marlene Dietrich at Universal 1941-1943 by James-Masaki Ryan (31st January 2021)
"Marlene Dietrich at Universal 1941-1943" By the latter half of the 1930s, screen icon Marlene Dietrich's box office successes were running dry. With her salary at Paramount being costly and her films ranking low commercially and critically, she was considered box office poison, and led to Paramount buying out the remainder of her contract with her final production at the studio in 1937. Taking a massive salary cut, she signed with Universal in 1939, and her first film there was a remake of the 1932 film "Destry Rides Again", starring alongside James Stewart. The western set production was quite different from what Dietrich was known for, but the production became a big hit for the studio and reestablished the star to the spotlight at the age of 38. Her time at Universal was quite short, with six features being made between 1939 and 1944 with one of them being just in a cameo appearance. Even though she was around 40 years of age and the German born actress was making films in a country that was fighting against her country of birth, she was sti... |
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Marlene Dietrich at Universal 1941-1943 by James-Masaki Ryan (31st January 2021)
"Marlene Dietrich at Universal 1941-1943" By the latter half of the 1930s, screen icon Marlene Dietrich's box office successes were running dry. With her salary at Paramount being costly and her films ranking low commercially and critically, she was considered box office poison, and led to Paramount buying out the remainder of her contract with her final production at the studio in 1937. Taking a massive salary cut, she signed with Universal in 1939, and her first film there was a remake of the 1932 film "Destry Rides Again", starring alongside James Stewart. The western set production was quite different from what Dietrich was known for, but the production became a big hit for the studio and reestablished the star to the spotlight at the age of 38. Her time at Universal was quite short, with six features being made between 1939 and 1944 with one of them being just in a cameo appearance. Even though she was around 40 years of age and the German born actress was making films in a country that was fighting against her country of birth, she was sti... |
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Marlene Dietrich at Universal 1941-1943 by James-Masaki Ryan (31st January 2021)
"Marlene Dietrich at Universal 1941-1943" By the latter half of the 1930s, screen icon Marlene Dietrich's box office successes were running dry. With her salary at Paramount being costly and her films ranking low commercially and critically, she was considered box office poison, and led to Paramount buying out the remainder of her contract with her final production at the studio in 1937. Taking a massive salary cut, she signed with Universal in 1939, and her first film there was a remake of the 1932 film "Destry Rides Again", starring alongside James Stewart. The western set production was quite different from what Dietrich was known for, but the production became a big hit for the studio and reestablished the star to the spotlight at the age of 38. Her time at Universal was quite short, with six features being made between 1939 and 1944 with one of them being just in a cameo appearance. Even though she was around 40 years of age and the German born actress was making films in a country that was fighting against her country of birth, she was sti... |
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Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Film Series by Eric Cotenas (30th January 2021)
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Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Film Series by Eric Cotenas (30th January 2021)
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Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Film Series by Eric Cotenas (30th January 2021)
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Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Film Series by Eric Cotenas (30th January 2021)
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Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Film Series by Eric Cotenas (30th January 2021)
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Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Complete Film Series by Eric Cotenas (30th January 2021)
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Host: Limited Edition by Eric Cotenas (29th January 2021)
Socially-distanced for the better part of 2020, six friends – Haley (Angel Has Fallen's Haley Bishop), Jemma (Doom: Annihilation's Jemma Moore), Radina (Radina Drandova), Emma (Emma Louise Webb), Caroline (Caroline Ward), and Ted (The Rebels' Edward Linard) – have been keeping in touch regularly with the video conferencing app Zoom. One evening, Haley hits upon the idea for something more novel than movies or board games: holding a séance over the internet. Medium Seylan (Cleek's Seylan Baxter<... |
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Blue Sky by James-Masaki Ryan (24th January 2021)
"Blue Sky" (1994) Major Hank Marshall (played by Tommy Lee Jones) is a science officer in the US Army who is researching about nuclear testing. His latest transfer has his family move to Alabama in a poor rural area, which dismays his wife Carly (played by Jessica Lange"), who has an emotional breakdown on arrival to their new home. Daughters Alex (played by Amy Locane) and Becky (played by Anna Klemp) have seen the behavior before with their mother yelling uncontrollably while their father tries to calm her down, and seemingly this situation is no different from other past happenings. Hank is having issues at work as well, with Colonel Johnson (played by Powers Boothe) being not interested in bad test results, and willing to cover up any errors. For Carly, fitting in with the other military housewives proves fine at first, but certain incidents cause rifts in various relationships. As for their daughter Alex who is a yo... |
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