Thursday 20 Jun
 
 
DVD reviews

Terror on a Train

Not to be confused with the ’80s slasher Terror Train — but, oh, how I wish it were! — 1952's Terror on a Train finds Glenn Ford (Superman: The Movie's Pa Kent) as Peter Lyncort, a bomb diffuser whose home life with his spouse (French actress Anne Vernon) is currently as explosive as his work life.
06/20/2013 | Comments 0

The Monk

For several years, I’ve intended to read Matthew G. Lewis' 1796 novel, The Monk. I even bought a snazzy trade-paperback edition with an introduction from Stephen King. Never got around to cracking it open.
06/20/2013 | Comments 0

The Last Exorcism Part II

Unlike many moviegoers, 17-year-old farm girl Nell Sweetzer (Ashley Bell, The Day) has no memory of the events of The Last Exorcism, a found-footage smash of three years prior. The Last Exorcism Part II finds her taking steps to build life anew, beginning in a boarding house for troubled girls, where the deeply devout Nell is exposed to such heretofore corrupting influences as lipstick and rock music and YouTube and cotton candy.
06/19/2013 | Comments 0

The ABCs of Death

Suspense novelist Jeffery Deaver once praised the short-story format, writing that the minimal time investment on the part of the reader allows the writer to get away with endings he or she cannot in the long form. In other words, the writer can be meaner, more devious. He's absolutely right, and the theory applies wholesale to The ABCs of Death, more or less a horror anthology depicting "26 ways to die."
06/19/2013 | Comments 0

Ninja III: The Domination

Don't ask why Ninja III: The Domination begins with a ninja assault on a municipal golf course. Just be grateful it does. You also may wonder why its sex scene employs a can of V8: Don't question it. Just lie back and enjoy it.
06/14/2013 | Comments 0

Toon-up


Presenting the R&R DVD Gift Guide, Part 6.

By Rod Lott December 16th, 2011

Cartoons are today’s gift suggestion. I’ve got three sets to recommend — one for kids, one for tweens, one for adults.

For kids, it’s “Spongebob Squarepants: The Complete Seventh Season.” If your house is anything like mine, your mind has absorbed this Nick character’s underwater adventures just by being within earshot. “7th Season,” available now for $26.99, contains all 50 episodes on a four-disc set, with bonus animated shorts.

For tweens, it’s “Conan the Adventurer: Season Two, Part 1.” Did you happen to catch our review for “Season One”? Well, this is a lot like that, right down to being 13 episodes on two DVDs. Sporting funny names in episode titles like “Curse of Axh’oon” and “The Vengeance of Jhebbel Sag,” it’s available now for the odd price of $19.93.

For adults, it’s “The Life & Times of Tim: The Complete Second Season,” the quite-funny chronicles of the 20-something Tim (creator Steve Dildarian). Concerned with the discomfort comedy that characterizes such shows as “The Office,” fellow HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and virtually everything Ricky Gervais ever has touched, Tim is often as solid as the show’s MVP guests, which, in these 10 episodes, include Aziz Ansari (TV’s “Parks and Recreation”), James Urbaniak (of Adult Swim’s genius “The Venture Bros.”) and alt-stand-up fave Paul F. Tompkins. The two-disc set is out now for $29.98.

 
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
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