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. […]
Rod Lott
Posted inArts & Culture
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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The Trip
Condensed from the recent, six-episode BBC series of the same name, the improv comedy casts Steve Coogan (“The Other Guys”) and Rob Brydon (“Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”) as themselves, more or less. Steve’s tasked with taking a road trip to write about some fine dining spots along the English countryside, and because he’s […]
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How to Make It in America: The Complete First Season
That’s what the show’s about ostensibly, but really, it’s a look at how young New Yorkers live and love: sorta half-assed on both counts. Sad-sack Ben (Bryan Greenberg, “Friends with Benefits”) and street-smart Cam (Victor Rasuk, “Stop-Loss”) are two best buds seeking the next big thing after a venture in skateboard decks failed to take […]
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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 Hour
1. It’s about journalism, my chosen profession.2. It’s also an espionage thriller, a favorite genre.3. It’s set in the 1960s, visually the best decade in history.4. Perhaps most of all, it’s an hour-long, limited series on the BBC, who’ve rocked my world in the past year with “Sherlock,” “Luther” and “Zen,” all of which blew […]
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The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway
“On Broadway” is a mix of that and the Saturday-morning classic “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” staged on a near-exact re-creation of that series whacked-out set. Many characters return, both human (Miss Yvonne, The King of Cartoons) and not (Magic Screen, Globey). So do many of the elements, from a “Penny” claymation cartoon to the infamous “Lunchroom Manners” […]
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Shaft: The TV Movie Collection / The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: 8-Movie Collection
In other words, he’s still the black private dick, just no longer the sex machine to all the chicks. Still, in making the jump from the big screen to the boob tube for a short-lived series in 1973, Roundtree stayed put, and that has to count for something. It does, even if the show is […]
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The Phantom of Hollywood
Witness Brian De Palma’s cult classic “Phantom of the Paradise,” the ’80s straight-to-VHS slasher “Phantom of the Mall” and the somewhat obscure “The Phantom of Hollywood,” a 1974 CBS movie of the week now brought back to public consciousness via Warner Archive. Without me telling you, you can guess its basic story points: The fictional […]
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BKO: Bangkok Knockout
Despite the team’s intimidating name, the members of Fight Club are the good guys of this Thai actioner. The bad guy is the cigar-chomping gringo Mr. Snead (Speedy Arnold), who runs a high-stakes gambling operation where the minimum wager is $5,000. On what do his richie-rich clients bet? Quasi-gladitorial games between pairs of fighters in […]