While the focus on solely letting its members speak without interruption or analysis from outside commentators debating the merits and downsides of the Unarius Academy of Science might seem unusual to those seeking a more opinionated documentary, Children of the Stars has an overall earnestness that works in its favor.
The 2012 documentary from director Bill Perrine (available on DVD through MVD Entertainment) isn’t perfect, but it’s perfect debate material for sure. Yes indeed, the spiritual group’s strange takes on science and history will seem bizarre to anyone not on their wavelength. But as home-brewed belief systems go it’s one of the more benign yet creative ones you’ll ever encounter. Continue reading →
It would seemeth as the “biblical” epic hath made a comeback over the last few years and while that’s a good thing for the true believers, the addition of modern CG effects actually take somethings away from those old familiar tales. Like realistic physics and properly working gravity for example. That and why the hell would Paramount remake Ben-Hur when both the silent 1925 version and 1959 remake (which some think is the “original” version!) are still holding up all these years since their initial releases? I just found out that there’s a 1907 film called Ben-Hur that’s only 15 minutes long and focuses on the chariot race, but I know some of you think I’m already nuts, so here’s proof that I am in fact, NOT.
Anyway, Take a gander at this scratchy old trailer for the 1925 version:
Yeah, yeah, I know some of you out there LIKE the fancy and expensive CG effects in that new trailer above. But the distinct lack of realism in the action there as opposed to the older films where it’s all practical effects, daring stuntmen and PAINFUL looking wrecks is a great deal more impressive than this new hybrid of Gladiator, Troy, 300, and any other hysterical “historical” or mythological big-dollar flick this century that got many butts in the seats. Being a former church-goer of a few denominations, I can also see some folks who follow noting the bigger story of a certain carpenter wrapping around Judah Ben-Hur’s seems to be pushed aside a bit much in that loud trailer. On the other hand, this is ONLY the first trailer and Paramount wants to get the action fiends in first and foremost for this fast and furious new version of an old classic.
As for Morgan Freeman in a dreadlock wig? My head hurts thinking about it, but I did laugh when I first saw him and thought of two jokes: God has been demoted and where the heck is that Predator 2 remake just so Freeman could play that voodoo priest who gets his head lopped off when he encounters that alien hunter. Hey, better to redo a film like that than one revered by many who see no need for a modern update that costs more but may be the lesser of three non-evils. Eh, we shall see… but I’m not expecting this to be nominated for 11 Oscars like the 1959 film was. FYI, the Academy Awards didn’t official exist until 1929 or else that 1925 flick wold have taken home a few key trophies, I bet.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Paramount makes its profit back on this new version, but I guess that’s up to the mob in question buying the tickets and whether the story goes where it needs to outside the action scenes and usual suspect paint-by-numbers plot points. We shall see, ladies and gents… we shall seeeeeeee.
While Crate Entertainment’s completed release version of its ARPG GRIM DAWN has been officially out on Steam since February 25, it’s just arrived on gog.com at a slight discount off the already low $24.99 price. The game has been in development for a while and while I’ve been tracking its progress from the shadows, I didn’t participate in the pre-release playable versions because I wanted to wait until the game was actually done and ready to buy. Some of the handful of folks on the dev team also worked on the great Titan Quest, so it was a no-brainer that GD would be flat out superb. Well, the problem now is if I buy it NOW, when the heck will I find time to PLAY it? My backlog is pretty massive as it is and I still need to pick up Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen for PC because I want to see how well it runs at 60fps and it was absolutely one of my favorite games of the previous console cycle.
Hmmm. Time for a coin toss, it seems. If it lands as it should, I may never see the light of day again. Well, for a few months at least.
When a game’s press info mentions classics The Legend of Zelda and Silent Hill as inspirations, it’s either going to be really great or really lousy. Fortunately, Baroque Decay’s excellent The Count Lucanor is not only really great, it’s one of those smartly designed “retro” games that does pretty much everything right. The game is funny, a bit frightening (and best played in the darkness) and definitely disturbing on a few fronts. While it’s not a lengthy experience at all, the about 5 hours it takes to play (which is your average 8 or 16-bit game length, not counting RPG or strategy titles) means it won’t wear out its welcome when all is said and done. Five different endings mean there’s replay value to be had if you want to see every possible outcome, but you can mildly abuse the save system if you don’t want to start from the beginning each time. Continue reading →
If you’re an Arrow Video collector here in the U.S., things are about to get even more interesting in your library thanks to the company’s SIX April releases through MVD Entertainment Group.
Only 3000 of this set will be made and as usual, Arrow is packing that LE box with both films and special features galore:
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
Limited Edition boxed-set (3000 copies) containing Death Walks on High Heels and Death Walks at Midnight
Brand new 2K restorations of the films from original film elements
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Original Italian and English soundtracks in mono audio
Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
Limited Edition 60-page booklet containing new writing on the films from authors Danny Shipka (Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France), Troy Howarth (So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films) and writer Leonard Jacobs
DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS
Audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas
Introduction to the film by screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
From Spain with Love – featurette comprising newly-edited archive footage of director Luciano Ercoli and actress Nieves Navarro, interviewed at their home in Barcelona
Master of Giallo – screenwriter Gastaldi on Death Walks on High Heels and how to write a successful giallo
Death Walks to the Beat – a career-spanning interview with High Heels composer Stelvio Cipriani
Original Italian and English trailers
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT
Audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas
Introduction to the film by screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
Extended TV version of the feature
Crime Does Pay – screenwriter Gastaldi reflects on his career in the crime film-writing business, including a look at Death Walks at Midnight
Desperately Seeking Susan – visual essay by Michael Mackenzie exploring the distinctive giallo collaborations between director Luciano Ercoli and star Nieves Navarro
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
And that’s only the first of six great genre films and film sets coming next month… Continue reading →
Well, it looks as if the console world (or at least the PlayStation 4) is getting its big VR headset at a surprisingly small price point of 399.00. Granted, many industry insiders (and thoughtful dopes like me) figured Sony wasn’t going to break gamer wallets too much. Let’s see now, A PS4 is about $280 or so depending on the model you buy, a PS Camera is $59.99 and with that PS VR headset, you still come in way under the price point of a gaming PC upgrade and one of the pricier VR solutions. Granted, PC gamers are scoffing at PS VR because they have scalable rigs thy can tweak to no end and most likely higher frame rates with overclocked systems burning holes into wherever they’re placed. Still, Sony promises a plug and play experience with frame rates up to 120fps, so we’ll see what’s what soon enough as the games roll out.
As for games, some 230 are in the works for PS4 from first and third party developers. My current favorite just so happens to be the return of a classic arcade and home game, this time coming from the folks at Rebellion:
Yes indeed, this one will be awesome even if it’s not running in VR (and yep, it’s playable without the headset, folks). Hokay, off to start saving those pennies.
Having seen my share of horror oddities on TV, in theaters an via assorted video formats since the 1970’s (okay, late 60’s if you count those Chiller Theater and Creature Feature reruns), I have to say Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood is way up there as one of the more bizarrely unfocused storytelling-wise but visually striking genre films I can recall. Thanks to Arrow Video, the film has been lovingly restored and presented as one of the three films in its must-own American Horror Project Volume 1.
Director Christoper Speeth‘s unusual flick is a loosely (VERY loosely) plotted tale of a family who’s invested in a run-down carnival that has some pretty grim secrets underneath its dilapidated thrill rides. Some viewers may note slight similarities to Carnival of Souls, Night of the Living Dead and certain silent films the movie itself spotlights at certain moments. While the film does suffer from a number of continuity issues no editor could fix thanks to many shots being done in a single take, the production design and overall tone here makes this one well worth watching. Trust me, if the bizarre found object set design doesn’t hook you in, it’ll be the general weirdness and downbeat tone you can feel from the outset that work their magic on your eyes and brain. Did I mention you also get to see singing ghouls and cannibalism by said ghouls here? Nope? Well, yes indeed you do. Continue reading →
Don’t go into this one expecting gallons of blood and guts all over the walls and floors, folks. The film is a more deliberately paced thriller with a somewhat complex “child in danger” plot that seems to have been rewritten over another idea for a competent family drama of the week TV movie. Continue reading →
15 years in the game development business is a long enough time to do a lot of different things and Two Tribes has indeed done just that and then some. The indie developer has decided to pack it (at least as far as making new games) in after a decade and a half of console and PC titles with what looks like a dangerously fun arcade-style romp called RIVE. The game has the look and feel of a classic Treasure game but with that even more notorious European difficulty scale that makes for a supremely challenging and highly replayable slice of nostalgia. If there’s a ‘Metal Wrecking, Robot Hacking Shooter’ sub-genre, my money is on RIVE being among the best of the best.
These guys at TT are going to be missed, but at least RIVE is coming out on multiple platforms so console and computer gamers who need their big meal bang-boom-boom fix can get in on the fun at a glorious 60fps soon-ish. PC/Mac/Linux (via Steam), PlayStation 4, Wii U and Xbox One are all supported here, but I’m betting Vita owners are hoping for some Cross Play action because this looks as if would be perfect on the road. Then again, the game also looks as if one would need to have at least one extra controller handy just in case one “accidentally” busted their main gamepad. Hard walls and game controllers are a poor mix. Padded walls on the other hand – those get the DAF seal of approval every single time.
Given that we’re merrily spinning into the abyss thanks to too many tech innovations getting out of hand once the wrong people get their paws on assorted digital keys to the kingdom, the robot apocalypse is rushing ahead full steam and right on schedule with the assistance of some humans who should know better. Still, it’s nice when one is rewarded for one’s curiosity about our future metal and plastic overlords.
Video call service Oovoo dropped off a few interesting robots around NYC a little while back as a test to see if people would react to them correctly and as you an see, only a few nailed the proper responses and were rewarded handsomely for their bravery. Nice. Be kind to that not so immobile human-shaped mechanical being and you get some nifty prizes. I kind of wish I was around Manhattan when this happened as I know the robot playbook to a T at this point and would have won something fun while realizing we’re one step closer to that technical takeover.
On the other hand, Boston Dynamics? You’re starting to scare me more than ever. BigDog was bad enough, but your new and improved Atlas robot is speeding up the nightmares of many on a few fronts. As you can see from this video, it can walk across uneven terrain with little trouble other than looking like a drunken sailor on leave which will fool and lure some fat cop right up to it in time for a disarming surprise. I bet it’s somewhat bullet resistant and has an unhealthy craving for a phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range.
I’m also betting it remembers stuff like some jerk knocking it around with a freakin’ hockey stick while it’s just trying to do the job of a soon to be out of work American (who’ll no doubt mistakenly blame Mexico for all this job-stealing technology hen they should blame who they work for for saving money by ending those jobs over the border). I’m also betting that jerk with the hockey stick sleeps in a home with quintuple locks on the doors and a laser fence around his property. You know how that abusing your workers stuff ends up, right?
Ah, Robots… you just kill me sometimes. Um, wait – that came out wrong. Eeep.
While the focus on solely letting its members speak without interruption or analysis from outside commentators debating the merits and downsides of the Unarius Academy of Science might seem unusual to those seeking a more opinionated documentary, Children of the Stars has an overall earnestness that works in its favor.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 