The doc is a love letter to the moving image, using the National Film Registry as its diving board. Created by a literal act of Congress, its board has selected 25 films of cultural, historic and/or aesthetic significance annually for preservation since 1989. From a mix of “sprocket-worn classics” to “consciousness-expanding” works, these chosen few […]
DVD review
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Rio Sex Comedy
But, wait … aren’t Rio de Janeiro and Istanbul separated by some 6,300 miles? Yes, and that kind of lackadaisical looseness is what keeps the movie from building on initial strength. Continuing the year’s apparent trend of Brazilian settings, “Rio Sex Comedy” is less colorful than the animated “Rio” and less slick than “Fast Five,” […]
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Adventures in Pornoland
Wouldn’t you want to know that? Ethan (Brad Brough) and Jaime (Taryn O’Neil) move from Vancouver to Los Angeles for Ethan to chase his dream of being a movie director. He has this inkling to shoot a drama that would just happen to have some real sex in it, as opposed to a porno, which […]
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Elvira’s Haunted Hills
On her way to Paris to do her brand of burlesque, Elvira (Cassandra Peterson, who co-wrote) is stranded in the mountains of Romania, but finds welcome at the requisite spooky old castle. This isn’t so much a plot as a setup for joke after joke, all as flimsy as the elastic on Elvira’s signature costume. […]
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The Lost Future
But I’m referring to “Game of Thrones.” Sean Bean’s also at the center of a decent, indie film where the nearby land has been wiped out, and where a disease has rendered some villagers into monsters. But I’m referring to “Black Death.” Sean Bean’s again at the center of “The Lost Future,” which could fit […]
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Killer Party
Why? I don’t know, but my good graces were won over in an instant. As ’80s as ’80s can be — big ‘n’ frizzy hair, mismatched socks, paper clips as earrings — the movie centers on three girls pledging a sorority the same time a murderer stalks the campus. (Since when does Greek initiation take […]
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The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman
I’m not insulting you, dear readers — those are merely the three animals that figure prominently in the opening of Hong Kong’s action-comedy “The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman,” as broad as its continent’s schoolgirls are sexualized. Doug Liman (director of “Go,” “Swingers” and “The Bourne Identity”) serves as executive producer, which I take […]
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Born of Earth
This means he has to:• Spout supposedly dramatic and/or serious lines like “Eggs? They weren’t eggs, you son of a bitch. They were my family!”• Convince his estranged sister-in-law (Jennifer Kincer, “Trust”) to let him take her and her punky, rebellious daughter (Shannon Zeller, “Seraphim Falls”) to the county fair. • Eventually fight the flesh-eating […]
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Mimic: The Director’s Cut
That’s why del Toro has long bad-mouthed his American debut, 1997’s “Mimic,” because the studio wanted — and got — some changes. Now that he’s been allowed to present his original cut, you’d think he’d quit griping. But no. In his video prologue, he’s still fuming, and it makes him look disrespectful of the once-in-a-million […]
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Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Now that said original has been reissued, coattail-ridin’ style, by Warner Archive, I’d alter that response to, “I liked it OK, but I definitely still prefer the original.” With much fewer resources, the 1973 version is far more effective. The person being menaced by the trolls in the walls has always been Sally, but here, […]