To play the titular male stripper nicknamed Magic Mike, Channing Tatum drew upon his own pre-fame experiences as a exotic dancer, and it shows. To put it bluntly, the guy thrusts his pelvis like a pure professional, like a wave lapping the shore. No wonder female audiences ate this movie up. Too bad eye candy […]
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The Outlaw Brothers
Yes, it comes from the Dragon Dynasty line — release No. 57, to be precise — but it’s sillier than the bulk of Dragon Dynasty product, which largely skips this period in favor of old-school Shaw Brothers. But Frankie Chan’s The Outlaw Brothers? It’s as of-the-times as a 1990 flick can be, right down to […]
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Rudyard Kipling’s Mark of the Beast
Not only is the title superimposed over an image from the indie effort, but two clickable options, two URLs and four review blurbs, as if to convince you upfront that you are about to witness brilliance. To further complicate the eyesore, the blurbs are not presented in consistent typeface, color or size. In other words, […]
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The Ghostmaker
A little research reveals it was built by an inventor of torture devices — a man considered “an evil version of Leonardo da Vinci. They called him the Devil’s Craftsman.” The coffin is a “ghost machine” constructed to allow its users to safely experience the sensation of death without actually dying. One goldfish test later, […]
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The Right to Love: An American Family
Oklahoma-born, Christian director Cassie Jaye chronicles one gay couple’s struggle for such acceptance in The Right to Love: An American Family. The documentary follows two years in the life of the Leffew family: two professional parents raising two adopted children they love dearly, and who love them back. That the parents happen to be two […]
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Nitro Circus: The Movie
Sandwiched between a faux-stakes framing device of preparing for its first live show in Las Vegas, ringleader Travis Pasternak and his Nitro Circus crew perform X Games-friendly stunts that must have earned a nod of the helmet from Evel Knievel in heaven. The guys — and lone woman, Jolene Van Vugt — often defy gravity […]
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[REC] 3: Genesis
Despite the subtitle, it’s not really a prequel. Ingeniously presented as a cheesy wedding video, complete with menu and photo montage, the film documents the nuptials of Clara (Leticia Dolera) and Koldo (Diego Martín), and the subsequent country-club reception that gives new meaning to “blow-out.” At some point deep into the dance-party portion of the […]
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The Phynx
To review the movie, I need only tell you what it’s about. The dictator of communist Albania has swiped dozens of United States “world leaders,” including Butterfly McQueen, Johnny Weismuller, Maureen O’Sullivan, Dorothy Lamour, Xavier Cugat, Col. Sanders, Busby Berkeley, the Bowery Boys, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. (Mind you, all of them appear as […]
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House of Dark Shadows / Night of Dark Shadows
Both directed by Dark Shadows creator Dan Curtis (Dead of Night), the pair of flicks conveniently has arrived in long-overdue DVD and Blu-ray releases from Warner Home Video. Both also benefit in the production value inherent of theatrical releases, which the live, shot-on-video soap often severely lacked. It took me a while to realize this, […]
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The Campaign
After helming two fact-based political dramas for HBO in Recount and Game Change, director Jay Roach must have found the opportunity to poke fun at the circus irresistible. I’m glad he did. In North Carolina’s 14th congressional district, the four-time incumbent is Cam Brady (Will Ferrell, Casa de Mi Padre), a shoo-in for a fifth […]