Well, for one thing, the movies may reside at the B level, but they’re not trash. For another, Cultra has given ’em a good scrub-over that they’ve always deserved but have never had. If you’ve bought these before on budget DVD sets, dig them out and ditch. These new versions are spiffy, inexpensive and contain […]
video
Posted inArts & Culture
Jolene
See it because its lead actress, Jessica Chastain, delivers a knockout performance that earned her roles in several high-profile projects to come. There’s even early Oscar talk surrounding her work in Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life,” so the star-in-the-making must be the real deal (which she is). Based on a short story by E.L. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Street Kings 2: Motor City
It was “The New Centurions,” from 1972. I also watched an average one, the direct-to-DVD sequel “Street Kings 2: Motor City.” Is it required you’ve seen the 2008 original starring Keanu Reeves? Not at all, since this is an in-name-only affair, sharing neither actors nor characters. “Street Kings 2” even moves the setting from Los […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Jackson County Jail / Caged Heat
The former begins with an uncharacteristic, but appropriate meta touch, as a projectionist loads a reel of film to unspool an image onto a theater screen — it’s for a sanitary napkin commercial within the narrative, but it may as well be “Jackson County Jail” itself. The “Time Machine” starlet Yvette Mimieux portrays Dinah, a […]
Posted inMusic
We Meat again
Tesco Vee is both a punk historian and piece of punk history. He co-founded the Touch and Go zine (which later became the record label of the same name, signing artists like The Jesus Lizard and TV on the Radio) in 1979, chronicling hard-core bands like Black Flag and Minor Threat. Beginning a year later, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Oh, brother
Twinprov’s Clint and Buck Vrazel are used to audience members calling shenanigans on their freestyle rap-meets-improv comedy show. Theories abound that parts are written beforehand. But for improv performers, suspicion is the sincerest form of flattery. “The worst thing you can ever hear is, ‘I can do that,’” Clint Vrazel said. “But if you have […]
Posted inNews
Wheeeee!
So here are two news stories that showed up recently involving our proud Sen. Jim Mountain (yeah, that’s his middle name) Inhofe that we believe just might have had a cause/effect relationship other media outlets are just too sane to put together. First, Inhofe reportedly scares “the crap” out of people. Seriously. Back in October, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
The David Yates-directed “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” was released last November, and is now on Blu-ray, while the second half is slated for release in mid-July. Rather than making the last installment five-plus hours long, the seventh and final book has been split into two parts. This first portion has been […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd / Rio Rita
The only problem with it is the operative word “Universal,” meaning that films the legendary comedy duo made for other studios were not included. Two of them, “Africa Screams” and “Jack and the Beanstalk,” had fallen into the public domain and could be found on countless budget releases. On the other hand, “Abbott and Costello […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Mortal Kombat / Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson’s original — his first shot at the mainstream following his UK cult item, “Shopping,” and certainly where he got his sea legs for the “Resident Evil” pictures to come — was and is big, dumb fun. No one expected anything from the game adaptation, so its playful blend of sci-fi, martial […]