In response, for this summer’s The Hangover Part III, director Todd Phillips and the gang did something totally different. Complained the multiplex populace, “It’s not enough like the first one!” America, you fickle, fickle bastard. What’s funny about the whole thing is that both sequels are, well, funny. Yet The Hangover Part III just can’t […]
NSFW
Posted inArts & Culture
Room 237
Only the first of these is true. Just don’t tell the unseen interviewees of Room 237, Rodney Ascher’s extraordinary documentary about all the crazy conspiracy theories surrounding Kubrick’s 1980 horror classic, The Shining. You’ve heard about The Shining, right? It’s the film that Kubrick loaded with subliminal messages and made synchronic when simultaneously played forward […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Amityville Horror Trilogy
Based on a supposedly true story, 1979’s The Amityville Horror pits newlyweds George and Kathleen Lutz (James Brolin and Margot Kidder, respectively) against a Long Island lakeside home that’s one mean sonofabitch. No sooner have they moved in with their towheaded tots when strange things start to happen: voices at night, a roomful of flies, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
House of Wax
I also recall loving the movie, which continues to this day, especially its famous scene of the paddle ball seemingly bursting through the screen and toward our faces. It’s a superb effect lost on previous home-video releases; absent of another theatrical re-release, Warner Bros.’ new Blu-ray of House of Wax is as close as you’re […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Kings of Summer
Socially awkward and undersized classmate Biaggio (Moises Arias, TV’s Hannah Montana) comes along just for something to do, but the machete he brings along sure does come in handy. Although he indulges in shots of super-slow-motion too often, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (TV’s Funny or Die Presents …) ably recaptures that feeling of when summer […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Prince of Darkness / Halloween: 35th Anniversary Edition
Well, in so many words. The important part is that the prof thinks that’s a swell idea. For the job, he selects Jameson Parker (TV’s Simon & Simon), Lisa Blount (An Officer and a Gentleman), Dennis Dun (also from Little China) and a host of random, more expendable character actors to monitor the evil force. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Psycho II / Psycho III / Bates Motel
However, that doesn’t mean one can’t make a satisfying picture that continues to tell the tale. While they’re sacrilege to some, the Psycho sequels get a bad rap, yet they’re actually pretty good, considering the awfully intimidating shadow in which they exist. The first two, 1983’s Psycho II and 1986’s Psycho III, have made their […]
Posted inArts & Culture
V/H/S/2
With one fewer segment than the original, this stack of mo’ lo-fi tales of taped terror opens with no credits — just the wraparound story of two private investigators searching for a college student missing for a week. Their gig takes them to his house, where in front of a bank of TVs, littered VHS […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Lady in a Cage
After her son (William Swan, The Parallax View) leaves for the weekend — wouldn’t ya know it? — the electricity goes out while Cornelia’s between floors! Ringing the alarm bell attracts only a hobo (Jeff Corey, True Grit) who screams “Repent!” and harbors a thirst for the bottles of wine he spots in Cornelia’s kitchen, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Scenic Route
The indie dramatic thriller casts Duhamel as Mitchell, a finance exec/family man on a road trip with Carter (Dan Fogler, Take Me Home Tonight), an old friend from whom he’s grown apart of late, due to the vastly different directions their lives have taken. Carter lacks everything that Mitchell has: a wife, a kid, a […]