Unlike its predecessors, Bad Grandpa attempts the franchise’s most daring stunt of all: telling a story. But only barely; while the narrative here serves its purpose — as a framework for a succession of Borat-style bad-taste bits — it is as minimal as allowed. That it also is the funniest film of the year (until […]
nudity
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Resolution
Resembling Wolfman Jack as a hobo, Chris refuses. With the help of a taser and handcuffs that attach to a pipe running along the exposed wall, Michael puts Chris on an involuntary, seven-day detox. As his friend experiences withdrawal, Michael comes across some tweakers and members of a religious fringe group, but these weird people […]
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Queerbait
Of all things, the VHS tape is in the midst of a nostalgic resurgence. Not only does the dead medium of the 1980s enjoy having a horror-anthology franchise named after it, but no fewer than three new documentaries celebrate its heyday, and a few indie labels have issued limited-edition releases on bulky cassettes rather than […]
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Pacific Rim
I realize this unpopular stance puts me at odds with fervid fanboys nationwide who all but wet their pants over the film this summer, but that’s OK — it’s hardly the first time. I, too, would have loved this movie at the age of 8 … unfortunately, a few decades have passed. A mere seven […]
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Maniac
That’s not to say this update isn’t gory — oh, boy, is it ever — but it has a style the first film sorely lacked. Admittedly, Lustig had little budget to work with back then, whereas P2 helmer Franck Khalfoun enjoyed a $6 million sandbox, now clumped with blood. Playing aggressively against his nice-guy rep, former […]
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Static
Marrieds Jonathan and Addie Dade (respectively, Kiss of the Damned‘s Milo Ventimiglia and Bullet to the Head‘s Sarah Shahi) know this, yet answer the door anyway. There stands a young woman in distress (Sara Paxton, The Innkeepers) who says her car broke down and now is being pursued by men in gas masks. It’s a whale […]
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Snuff
To make a long story short, in 1971, the notorious New York husband-and-wife team of Michael and Roberta Findlay (responsible for such underground cult items as the Touch of Her Flesh trilogy) made a movie titled The Slaughter in Argentina. It was deemed unreleasable until half a decade later, when some enterprising producer made it […]
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Ghost Team One
The film opens Friday in select theaters, as well as digitally and on demand. Using a cameraman hired through Craigslist, two best buds — virginal Sergio (Carlos Santos) and horn-dog chucklehead Brad (J.R. Villarreal, Akeelah and the Bee) — attempt to capture footage of the ghost they believe haunts the home they share. The specter, glimpsed as an Asian female, […]
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How to Seduce a Virgin
As played by Franco regular Alice Arno, Martine is one kinky countess. Moving back into her castle mansion after a stint in a mental institution, she gets off on luring young women there under the pretense of modeling, only to take them into her basement for “games.” Leering and only semi-lucid, How to Seduce […]
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Corruption
One of the first I added to my list was 1968’s Corruption, a mad, mod thriller starring Hammer horror icon — and later Star Wars‘ Grand Moff Tarkin — Peter Cushing. As luck would have it, Grindhouse Releasing has made my search nonexistent with a Blu-ray/DVD combo that marks its North American video debut. Another […]