is a poorly made thriller that wants to be Misery but without the top-notch acting and well-written screenplay adapted from a Stephen King novel. I can’t say I hated this movie yet I have no issues saying it’s really bad, just not bad enough to get angry over. There’s no doubt this one will get lost in the fray of other terrible films, though the cover will probably garner some interest.
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy is one of the best documentaries made on a single franchise cutting through the typical back-slapping you tend to get with interviews and instead there was honesty about the flaws the movies had, difficulties filming and how the franchise ultimately built New Line Cinema.
“Crossing Lines” as a drama isn’t bad but it is a show carried by its characters which are mostly well done and finely acted led by William Fichtner and Marc Lavoine. The stories do seem culled from “Criminal Minds” but even so, they are compelling enough to make each episode entertaining.
The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box is a perfectly suitable family action-adventure though the ending has much to be desired with muddy editing and poor focus. The Blu-ray released by RLJ offers standard audio/video transfers while the solo featurette wasn’t bad. For what it is, it’s not a bad movie and probably worth renting.
Man in the Dark is not the best film noir or anything but it kept my attention for its 70-minute duration, though I’d hardly recommend it especially for fans of the genre.
Cat People is another weird and certainly unusual cult classic released through Shout’s Scream Factory line. The Blu-ray offers up adequate if not, at least to these eyes, over sharpened picture, and solid lossless audio tracks.
Zulu is an exhilarating war-drama with great performances and incredible cinematography by Stephen Dade.
Titus is most certainly an ambitious film and while I didn’t particularly enjoy it and doubtful I’ll ever revisit it, it’s not a complete waste of time, well worth seeing for Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange.
Carrie had the potential to be good with two fine leads in Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore but instead it proves to be yet another remake that wasn’t needed. Not helping matters is a cast that failed to make much of an impression and in the case of Moretz, had one particular scene which was silly.
The Following”: The Complete First Season had plenty of potential with fine performances, a decent enough story but it’s squandered with inept characters and frustrating subplots that are more filler and don’t go anywhere. Still, it’s not a complete waste of time and with only 15 episodes, is at least worth the time commitment.
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa was far better and a lot funnier than I had expected it to be especially considering the Jackass movies and show never was my cup of tea. However, most of the jokes land and there’s enough plot there to string the jokes and pranks together quite nicely.
Witchboard is another obscure little horror movie brought to you by Scream Factory and they have certainly put together a nice package with good audio/video transfers a decent amount of features that any fan will enjoy.
costing an astounding $36 million back in 1978/79 (equivalent of over $100 million today), Raise the Titanic is an obscure film that maybe found some form of an audience today but back then was one of the biggest box office flops of all time. And frankly, despite some OK underwater effects and model work, the movie is kind of dull and not terribly well acted.
Getting That Girl isn’t the greatest rom-com but the cast are all well cast, highlighted by Gia Mantegna, and work well with one another even if the script delves into high school cliché territory. The DVD release offers a solo BTS featurette and adequate if not average audio and video transfers.
Blind Date is a fun little romantic-comedy that, with the casting of Bruce Willis, tries to capture the rivalry/romance of “Moonlighting” which was into its second season when this was released in 1987.