A Good Old Fashioned Orgy is a fun little comedy movie with a great cast that somehow got lost in the shuffle of bigger, more high profile films. I guess what kept it from bringing in a bigger audience is the lack of huge-name stars, but those of you who follow movies and comedy pretty closely will recognize almost all of a cast that includes Jason Sudeikis, Tyler Labine, Leslie Bibb, Will Forte, Lucy Punch, Lake Bell, Nick Kroll, David Koechner, Lin Shaye, and a host of other “Hey, I know that guy/girl from somewhere” faces.
The film also manages to do that thing that so many other films claim to do but actually don’t, which is to have a heart in the middle of a bunch of raunchy comedy. While it’s obviously not a big-budget affair, a sharp script, funny performances, and great chemistry amongst the ensemble cast give this little movie a really nice level of enjoyment overall. And while I wasn’t laughing out loud throughout the film, I was chuckling inwardly a lot, and sometimes, that’s just as good. Overall, this one is definitely worth checking out, even if just as a rental.
Extra features include:
- Commentary with Co-Writers/Directors Alex Gregory & Peter Huyck and Jason Sudeikis
- Deleted Scenes
- Gag Reel
- How To Film An Orgy
There was a time when Robin Williams was an incredibly popular box office draw. While his career in recent years doesn’t reflect that, it’s not that long ago that a Robin Williams movie could easily gross over $100 million at the box office. Two of his most popular films, Good Morning Vietnam and Dead Poets Society, have just been released on Blu-ray by Disney.
Now, some people find these films a little too heavy handed, or maybe the nostalgia for Robin Williams in his heyday isn’t there for them, but I find that I still completely adore both of these movies. Good Morning Vietnam is a terrific comedy with some great drama in it, while Dead Poets Society is a moving drama with some great comedy in it. Both are outstanding films, and both feature Williams at his finest. Seriously, if you haven’t seen either of these films by now, you really do owe it to yourself to check them out. And now that they’re available on Blu-ray, you have no excuse not to.
Are they worth the upgrade? Well, there are no new extra features exclusive to Blu-ray, but you do get the standard Blu-ray upgrade in terms of picture and sound quality. Nothing looks so different that it will blow your mind, but cleaner lines, stronger colors, and more impactful soundtracks never hurt, right?
Extra features include:
Dead Poets Society -
- Dead Poets: A Look Back – Interviews with Director Peter Weir, Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard and Many Others
- Raw Takes
- Master Of Sound: Alan Splet – Interviews with David Lynch and Peter Weir
- Cinematography Master Class – An Intensive and Inspirational Lighting Workshop
- Audio Commentary – With Director Peter Weir, Cinematographer John Seal and Academy Award-Winning Screenwriter Tom Schulman
- Theatrical Trailer
Good Morning, Vietnam -
- How The Movie Came To Be
- Actor Improv
- Music Of The Movie
- Origin Of The Good Morning, Vietnam Sign-On
- Shooting In Thailand
- Overview Of The Film A Year Later
- Raw Monologues
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Original Theatrical Teaser Trailer
It’s about time some of the TV studios found the right way to market TV episodes that aren’t full-season sets. I’m a huge fan of full-season DVD collections, don’t get me wrong, but there are occasions where a different packaging option is preferred. Take CSI, for example. I’ve always enjoyed the show, but it’s not one I consider a must-have on DVD. However, a few years back, when Quentin Tarantino directed a two-hour episode that featured one of the CSI team members being buried alive, it was some of the best the show had to offer.
Now, CSI: Grave Danger presents that two-hour movie as a stand alone Blu-ray, and I couldn’t be happier. I love this episode, and I think it works incredibly well as its own feature. Even if you don’t watch the series, you can easily pop this disc in and follow along with the story from start to finish. If you’re a QT die-hard and want t have his complete film library in collection, now you can own this TV event without having to shell out for the entire season of CSI it was originally housed in. Plus, it’s on Blu-ray, which is awesome.
Extra features include:
- CSI and QT Featurette
- DVD Copy
The Dead is a zombie movie. I feel like I could just stop my review there, because that’s really all there is to it. Aside from the fact that it’s set in Africa, there is absolutely nothing whatsoever to differentiate this film from any of the other dozen or so zombie flicks that drop every single year. There’s hardly any dialogue, characters are paper thin, and the zombies just mill about and chew flesh from people who should be able to get out of their way much quicker than they do.
I mean honestly, I love zombie films. I like good zombie films and great zombie films, and I even like some bad zombie films. It’s not a genre that’s hard to do successfully. And while there’s nothing outright terrible about The Dead, it’s just dull, dull, dull. Dull. How do you make a zombie movie boring? I don’t know for sure, but the directors of The Dead did exactly that.
Extra features include:
- Commentary
- Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
- Deleted Scene
I love the cover art for The Double. Honestly, half the reason I decided to watch the film myself instead of passing it along to another reviewer is because I really like that cover art. I find that image of Topher Grace to be very striking (and no, I’m not being sarcastic, here.) The other half of the reason I decided to watch it was because of the cast. Richard Gere, Martin Sheen, Topher Grace, Stana Katic… add them to a movie about spies, and I figured you had the makings of a decent thriller.
And that’s exactly what The Double is… a decent thriller. It’s not a bad film by any means, but neither is it a great film. It is, instead, a rather by-the-numbers spy flick that plays it’s one big twist too early and then throws in another big twist for shock value that seems like it should have been more interesting than it is. The performances are fine, although Richard Gere does seem to sleepwalk through the film (as he tends to do), and the end result is a film that’s watchable but not particularly memorable.
Extra features include:
- Commentary
- Interviews
Nude Nuns With Big Guns is quite possibly the best movie title of all time. It is also, quite possibly, the worst movie of all time. Now, my expectations were not particularly high going into this film, other than the hopes that I would be in for a fun B-movie with a good dose of action and maybe some nudity. Well, this film has nudity, that’s for sure. I don’t think there’s a single female character in the film that doesn’t get naked. Unfortunately, that’s because, more often than not, those characters are being raped. When you actually lose count of how many characters get sexually assaulted in a 100-minute movie, there’s a really big problem, and it’s called depravity.
Nude Nuns With Big Guns is reprehensible filth. It sets out to be a grindhouse style film, and in that, I guess it succeeds, but it’s so morally offensive that there’s no enjoyment to be had from it. And if you do get enjoyment out of watching nuns get raped by big bad guys with guns and knives, then I think you have some issues of your own. Really, I can’t think of a single reason to watch this film… so DON’T.
Extra features include:
- Original Short Fllm
- Trailer
Simon Pegg, star of Shaun of the Dead. Andy Serkis, the man behind Gollum. Isla Fisher, hot and funny. John Landis, the man behind classic films such as An American Werewolf in London. You add all these together and you would think that, at the very least, you would get a pretty good movie, if not a downright work of genius.
Somehow, though, what you get is Burke & Hare, a jumbled mess of a film that is boring, unpleasant, and — worst of all — not even a little bit funny. I’m sure at some point making a supposed “comedy” about grave diggers and body snatching seemed like a good idea, but I have to wonder how far int ofilming the principals were before they all started to realize what a horrible mistake they made. This movie wuld be bad if anyone made it. With Pegg, Serkis, and Landis on board, though, the fact that this movie is so weak is nearly inexcusable. Were the paychecks THAT good?
The names on the marquee for Burke & Hare will no doubt attract a good number of genre fans, but I can guarantee you that almost every single one of them will be disappointed with this mess of a film.
Extra features include:
- Outtakes
- Behind The Scenes
- Deleted Scenes
- Interviews
- Trailer
Kojak: The Complete Movie Collection is the final DVD collection of the iconic TV series. Telly Savalas’s iconic Kojak returns to DVD in a spiffy new collection, and I’m sure fans couldn’t be happier. Savalas was a unique television personality, and it’s fun to go back and watch the lollipop-popping detective in his heyday. Like so many other television detectives, Kojak solves crimes using his unique charms and his investigatorial skills, all with that lollipop omnipresent. This collection is a break from the episodes offered up in the standard season sets, in that it collects the eight TV movies made over the course of thge series and beyond. It’s especially notable for including The Marcus-Nelson Murders, which is the telefilm that launched the series. Where it’s familiar is in the set-up of the stories: Kojak goes undercover, solves homicides, stops crime, and the like. It’s all in a day for the famous TV detective.
There are no extra features in this set, but with eight 90-minute movies, I doubt many fans will have much to complain about.
Jane Fonda in a romantic comedy isn’t a big stretch of the imagination. Jane Fonda in a romantic comedy where she’s wooing Anthony Perkins — he of Norman Bates/Psycho fame? Well, that’s a different story. In Tall Story, Jane Fonda makes her film debut opposite Perkins, as a college girl trying to land a basketball player as her husband.
The film is what you would describe as good, clean fun. It’s fairly tame and harmless, but it’s also light frothy fun. Fonda shines in her debut role, and it’s really nice to see Anthony Perkins in such a light role. He really was a very talented actor, and it’s a shame he got pigeonholed as Norman Bates.
Tall Story is available via The Warner Archive online at http://bit.ly/WAC_TS. As with most Warner Archive titles, this one comes with no extra features, but it is nice to see it on DVD regardless.
A hit show for The History Channel is Swamp People. This is a semi-interesting reality show about swamp hunters in the Louisiana bayous who have permission to hunt alligators for exactly 30 days out of every year. The show then takes on a Deadliest Catch vibe as we follow several crews of gator hunters as they set out to bag as many reptiles as they can in the 30-day period.
Now, the show has a certain car-wreck aesthetic to it; it’s mostly unpleasant, but it’s also hard to stop watching it once you’ve started. These are some truly hardcore people at work; not the kind of guys you’d want to get into a bar fight with, but some bigger than life personalities to boot. The show’s problem lies in the repetition. It’s the same problem I have with Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers, and Ax Men: after a while, watching these guys continually slaughter alligators becomes a bit boring. It’s a decent enough show to catch once in a while if it’s on, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch an entire season of it.
Extra features include:
- Additional Footage
Oh, boy, where do I start with The Moon In The Gutter? This is one of those French art house flicks that baffles people like me. The “story” (and yes, the quotes are intentional) is about a man who tries to track down the person who raped his sister. But that never seems to be what actually happens, as he spends more time wandering around, being angry, and hitting women before — and after — having sex with them. This is one of those movies that seems to think it has some kind of message, but is really just pretentious art house fare. Maybe Beineix is supposed to be a great filmmaker or something, but if that’s the case, I clearly don’t get why.
The film was released on DVD a couple of years ago and now makes its Blu-ray debut. Unfortunately, it looks and sounds pretty awful, with a jumpy picture, weak black levels, shoddy colors, and smeary reds. At least the print itself is relatively free of debris. The sound is presented in its original French 2.0 stereo, and it’s a bit on the muddy side. There’s really no reason to upgrade if you already have the DVD, sadly, except for one bonus feature.
Extra features include:
- Jean-Jacques Beineix Interview
- Short Film: Mr. Michel’s Dog
- Production Stills
