With an unfortunate Burt Reynolds mustache, Josh Hartnett (“30 Days of Night”) plays a drifter — that’s literally his character’s name — who rolls into town, which looks like the Old West has been given a face-lift courtesy of “Moulin Rouge”’s Baz Luhrmann. His fists are supposedly as mean as his game of cards. Sporting more […]
Rod Lott
Posted inArts & Culture
Dark Angel
Oh, well. At least it’s finally available on DVD, so I can ditch my VHS. (Google it, kids.) Any Dolph Lundgren fan worth his weight in protein powder knows how welcome the MGM Limited Edition Collection release is. In a fun, sci-fi-tinged take on the buddy-cop formula, Lundgren (“The Expendables”) is the tough but easygoing […]
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Tenn. man
Will Mann’s first trip to Civic Center Music Hall was disastrous. As a University of North Texas opera student in Denton, he heard “Rent” was being staged at the downtown Oklahoma City venue. Having never seen it, he bought a ticket, looked up directions and made the drive … only to end up somewhere other […]
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The Cannonball Run
Now, decades later, the huge, huge box-office hit has hit Blu-ray — Blu-ray! — and although I hadn’t seen the action-comedy since junior high, it’s remarkable how much I remembered about it:• every line and note of Ray Stevens’ cornball theme song;• Burt Reynolds’ mugging at the fourth wall;• DeLuise’s Captain Chaos superhero garb; • […]
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Night School
Remembered all these years for introducing us to Aussie actress Rachel Ward (“Against All Odds”), the horror film is finally available on DVD, courtesy of Warner Archive. She’s one of many pretty people in danger of losing her head at the titular institution — not figuratively due to a punishing course load, but literally due […]
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Fringe: The Complete Third Season / Supernatural: The Complete Sixth Season / Nikita: The Complete First Season
And neither “Fringe,” “Supernatural” nor “Nikita” are household hits, despite being enjoyable TV. Perhaps Blu-ray and DVD releases of their last seasons will boost viewership in the new seasons. In the case of “Fringe,” being allowed to operate under-the-radar, as it were, has been to its creative benefit, altering and manipulating its own DNA, experimenting […]
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The Human Centipede II
Well, readers, welcome to the “much worse.” Turns out that when writer/ director Tom Six promoted his original film by saying the sequel would make it look like “My Little Pony“ by comparison, that wasn’t just a good sound bite. “The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)” makes its big brother look positively innocent. To Six’s […]
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13
So now, my fellow Americans, the unadventurous among you have the color, English-language, star-packed “13.” And not only is it written and directed by the same guy, Géla Babluani, but it’s also pretty good. I still think you should watch the original, too, although I know you won’t. Sam Riley (you saw him top-lining the […]
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A Little Help
She plays Laura, a dental hygienist who all but ignores her only child, Dennis (Daniel Yelsky, “Meet Monica Velour“), with her overworked hubby (Chris O’Donnell, TV’s “NCIS: Los Angeles”), with whom she argues who checked out of their marriage first. Doesn’t matter, because he dies of a heart attack while on the receiving end of […]
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7 Faces of Dr. Lao
Although Randall primarily stars as the Chinese circus owner Dr. Lao, he also appears as Medusa, The Abominable Snowman, a horned goat man, a blind fortune teller and — in one, don’t-blink scene — a stupefied circusgoer. Lao rolls into a Western town on the verge of collapse, thanks to a drought. His mysterious and […]