The American Hits its Target, but Misses Bull’s-Eye
September 2nd, 2010 by Aaron Neuwirth
Here’s a film that I can easily tell, without looking at comment sections in various areas, will be labeled by more average filmgoers as “boring,” “slow,” or “if it wasn’t for that naked girl, I would have walked out.” The majority of that credit can probably go to how the film has been marketed, with its fast cutting, bursts of action, and the setting up some of the dialogue as bad ass one-liners. Being familiar with the director involved and having some sense about what kind of film this is, I knew what I was getting into. Continue reading ‘The American Hits its Target, but Misses Bull’s-Eye’
“They f****d with the wrong Mexican!” You ain’t never lied! Chopped straight from the pages of Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror comes the tale of the man, the myth, the MACHETE! Featuring an all-star cast that include: Danny Trejo, Robert DeNiro, Jessica Alba, Jeff Fahey, Michelle Rodriguez, Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan, Steven Seagal, and Cheech Marin, the film continues the tradition (at least in 2010) of eclectic casting (The Expendables and RED come to mind). I was honored to have had a chance to screen the film before audiences and nearly had a stroke in doing so. Machete kicked my butt! 
One of Walt Disney’s biggest gambles has to be the much beloved Fantasia. At the time, Disney wanted to bring Mickey Mouse back in a big way as a comeback vehicle where the animation would be combined with classical music selections to tell a collection of different stories. Disney spared no expense to achieve the desired focus on quality and detail and even Mickey Mouse was redesigned to have a more modern and realistic look. Famed conductor 
So we’ve reached the end of 2010’s summer movie season, and although many are in agreement that this hasn’t been the best summer season, I still found enough films to make a solid list of what I would consider to be my favorite films of the summer. Unfortunately the summer movie season cut off just short of the release of Machete; however, there are still a few wild genre films that managed to make it in here. 
One of the most influential movies of the post-apocalyptic genre, Mad Max will arrive on Blu-ray on October 5. This is the movie that catapulted the career of an unknown Mel Gibson into a box-office draw. In this movie, Gibson stars as Max Rockatansky who is basically Dirty Harry of Australia. Set in a dystopian future, where the civilized world as we know it has ended and societal norms have degraded to the point that gangs openly terrorize what’s left of the populace. 
Prime Directive: Blu-ray. Robocop will blast his way onto Blu-ray in a Special Collectors set October 5th that will feature, for the first time, Robocop 2 and Robocop 3. The first Robocop film had already been previously released, but the sequels were nowhere to be found. While MGM is packaging all three films here together for the very first time, it’s unclear if they will be sold separately. Either way, this will be a trilogy that all fans of the films will want to pick up. Please check out the official press release from MGM below for all the details. 
Yes, the hills will be alive with the Sound of Music this November! This is one of my all time favorite musicals (a genre that doesn’t have that many movies that interest me) and I can’t wait for this to come out. Brilliantly directed by Robert Wise, with a stellar cast, great songs and choreography, and breathtaking panoramic visuals, this is the kind of movie that Blu-ray was created for. 
So this is less of a review and more of an extended note, with absolutely no spoilers, regarding the newly released Special Edition of James Cameron’s Avatar (maybe some of you have heard of it) playing exclusively on 3D and IMAX screens now. My actual review of the film can be found 
Some boys will be boys longer than others. The $208 million worldwide box-office smash, Grown Ups, starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider will arrive on Blu-ray Combo Pack and Single Disc Blu-ray on November 9th. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be packing the Blu-ray release full of multiple blooper reels, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, movieIQ and more! 
How’s this for doubling your pleasure? Our good friends over at Starz/Anchor Bay have given us a Blu-ray set of Evil Dead and Hatchet to give away to one lucky horror fan. It could be you! The giveaway contest is free and open to all our readers located in the continental U.S. See below for all the details and how to enter. In the meantime, check out our full Blu-ray reviews of both 
“Mr. Crowley (beat), what went down in your head? Mr. Crowley (beat), did you talk to the dead?” Um, so why do I have the sudden urge to belt the lyrics out to Ozzy Osbourne’s Blizzard of Oz masterpiece, “Mr. Crowley?” Oh, wait a minute! I know. It may just have something to do with the fact that I just watched Adam Green’s 2006 “Holy Grail of Slasher Films,” Hatchet and his legendary “icon of horror,” Victor Crowley. Move over Michael, Jason, Freddy and Thomas Brown Hewitt, there’s a new “monster in the house,” and his name is Victor Crowley. 
As the trailer for Takers first rolled some months back, I cringed at the spectacle. It appeared to be a movie of hipness and not functionality. It contained a bunch of good-looking guys who aren’t necessarily known for their acting abilities, but more for their chiseled features. The premise is nothing new. A crew of seemingly capable guys plan the ultimate heist and hit a snag of potentially jail-stay proportions along the way. What could this possibly offer that none of its bank-robbing predecessors have already delivered? 
I don’t have a problem with the “found footage” style of filmmaking. I think, when done well, it’s a fun way of telling a story. That being said, there are the other times when one just has to wonder why someone would still be filming, which tends break the tension of the situation. I had this problem during The Last Exorcism. There has to be a solid 40 minutes of movie here, but for the most part, the movie just didn’t deliver well enough, with both the problems I had with in the handling of the film style and the really terrible “rug-pull” ending. 
It’s seemingly tough to get a solid film about the war in the Middle East out there, but more and more are being made, and this is certainly one of the more successful ones. Stemming from an assignment for Vanity Fair, journalist and photographers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington’s spent a year dug in with the Second Platoon in one of Afghanistan’s most strategically crucial valleys. The footage captured reveals great insight into the surreal combination of backbreaking labor, deadly firefights and camaraderie as the soldiers work to push back the Taliban and keep the locals at bay. 
After Jonah Hex and The Last Airbender, I really thought my days of walking out of the theater pissed off this year were far behind me. And then there was last week’s press screening of The Last Exorcism. This is not how I usually start off my reviews, but I’m going to get this off my chest right now…I hated The Last Exorcism. If I had a choice, I think I would actually love to watch Bounty Hunter over this again. There I said it. I hated it. Damn! I feel better now! It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of me. 
“The hills are alive with the sound of music!” My number three movie of all-time will grace the Blu-ray format in all its high-definition beauty and vibrancy this fall. Yep, that’s right. Fox Home Entertainment has officially announced, dated and detailed Moulin Rouge for an October 19th Blu-ray release date. I’m so excited! And I just can’t hide it. Okay, it’s time for me to be serious now. Check out the full press release below for everything you can expect to find in the Moulin Rouge Blu-ray release. I can’t wait! 
Anyone else out there as excited about this title as I am? Well if you are, then you are in luck! Anchor Bay/Starz has announced a November 23rd Blu-ray release date for Gemma Arterton’s kidnapping thriller, The Disappearance of Alice Creed. This one NEVER made it to the theaters around by me and rather than ruin the experience of it by watching it on VOD, I’m going to wait and savor every moment of the November Blu-ray release. 
