THE WHITE QUEEN Ascends to Blu-ray with Digital HD Ultraviolet and DVD February 4th From Anchor Bay Entertainment

“Lusty royal romp…” – Boston Globe

MEN GO TO BATTLE - WOMEN WAGE WAR

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES “THE WHITE QUEEN”
ON BLU-RAY™ WITH DIGITAL HD ULTRAVIOLET™AND DVD FEBRUARY 4th

Three-Disc Set Contains All 10 Episodes and Bonus Features!

Beverly Hills, CA – Get ready for a truly royal battle of wills. Anchor Bay Entertainment releases the acclaimed Starz Original mini-series “THE WHITE QUEEN” on a three-disc Blu-ray™ with Digital HD Ultraviolet™ and DVD set February 4, 2014 – allowing consumers to watch it anywhere, on any device, any time! Based on Philippa Gregory's series of best-selling novels, “THE WHITE QUEEN” is a vivid re-telling of the classic War of the Roses family feud (York vs. Lancaster) from the viewpoint of the women involved. The set contains all 10 gorgeous episodes of the drama, plus a bountiful supply of bonus features. SRP is $59.99 for the Blu-ray™ with Digital HD Ultraviolet™ and $49.98 for the DVD.  Pre-book is January 8th.

“THE WHITE QUEEN” is a riveting portrayal of one of the most dramatic and turbulent times in English history. A story of love and lust, seduction and deception, betrayal and murder, it is uniquely told through the perspective of three different, yet equally relentless women - Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort and Anne Neville. In their quest for power, they will scheme, manipulate and seduce their way onto the English throne.

The year is 1464, before the Tudor dynasty ruled the country, and war has been ravaging throughout England over who is the rightful King. It is a bitter dispute between two sides of the same family, The House of York and The House of Lancaster.

The House of York's young and handsome Edward IV is crowned King of England with the help of the master manipulator, Lord Warwick "The Kingmaker." But when Edward falls in love with a beautiful Lancastrian commoner, Elizabeth Woodville, Warwick's plan to control the throne comes crashing down. A violent, high-stakes struggle ensues between Elizabeth, her most fierce adversary, Lancastrian Margaret Beaufort, and Anne Neville, the pawn in her father's power game - each woman vying for the crown.

Bonus Features:

    The Making Of THE WHITE QUEEN                   
    Series Overview                   
    Book To Series                     
    The History Behind THE WHITE QUEEN            
    THE WHITE QUEEN: Set Tour                 
    Queen Elizabeth                   
    The King                  
    The Heir Apparent               
    Woman In A Man's World              
    Conjuring Up The Queen/Magic                  
    Dressing The Queen/Wardrobe                                 

“THE WHITE QUEEN” stars Rebecca Ferguson (A One Way to Antibes) as Elizabeth Woodville, Max Irons (The Host) as Edward IV, Golden Globe® winner and Academy Award® nominee Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) as Elizabeth’s mother Jacquetta Woodville, James Frain (“The Tudors”) as The Kingmaker and Amanda Hale (“The Crimson Petal and the White”) as mother to Henry Tudor, Margaret Beaufort.  The series also stars Faye Marsay as Anne Neville, David Oakes as George, Duke of Clarence, Eleanor Tomlinson as Isabel Neville, Aneurin Barnard as Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Ben Lamb as Anthony Rivers and Tom McKay as Jasper Tudor.

About Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading home entertainment company.  Anchor Bay acquires and distributes feature films, original television programming, including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, anime (Manga Entertainment), fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports, and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray™ formats.  The company has long term distribution agreements in place for select programming with AMC Networks, RADiUS, and The Weinstein Company. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

About Starz
Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) is a leading integrated global media and entertainment company with operating units that provide premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay television channels (Starz Networks), global content distribution (Starz Distribution) and animated television and movie production (Starz Animation), www.starz.com.

Starz Networks is a leading provider of premium subscription video programming through the flagship STARZ® and ENCORE® pay TV networks which showcase premium original programming and movies to U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications companies.  As of June 30, 2013, STARZ and ENCORE serve a combined 56.9 million subscribers, including 21.8 million at STARZ, and 35.1 million at ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the U.S.  STARZ® and ENCORE®, along with Starz Networks’ third network MOVIEPLEX®, air more than 1,000 movies monthly across 17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand and authenticated online offerings through STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY. Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires entertainment content, distributing it to consumers globally on DVD, digital formats and traditional television.  Starz Distribution’s home video, digital media and worldwide distribution business units distribute original programming content produced by Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third parties.  Starz Animation produces animated TV and movie content for studios, networks, distributors and audiences worldwide.

“THE WHITE QUEEN” Blu -ray™ with Digital HD Ultraviolet™
Street Date:                 February 4, 2014      
Pre-book:                     January 8, 2014
Cat. #:                         BD61412
UPC:                           01313261412080
Run Time:                   580 Minutes
Rating:                        TV-MA
SRP:                            $59.99
Format:                        1.78:1/16x9
Audio:                         English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Spanish Stereo
Subtitles:                     English SDH and Spanish             

“THE WHITE QUEEN” DVD
Street Date:                 February 4, 2014      
Pre-book:                     January 8, 2014
Cat. #:                         ST61411
UPC:                           01313261411380
Run Time:                   580 Minutes
Rating:                        TV-MA
SRP:                            $49.98
Format:                        1.78:1/16x9
Audio:                         English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Stereo
Subtitles:                     English SDH and Spanish 

Buy it at Amazon.com
DVD
Blu-Ray

THE WHITE QUEEN Ascends to Blu-ray with Digital HD Ultraviolet and DVD February 4th From Anchor Bay Entertainment

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES -- Blu-ray review by porfle

Like so many soldiers throughout the ages, returning World War II veterans were faced with a special dilemma--they were back in the homefront they'd yearned for, yet surrounded by people who had no idea what they'd just been through and what they were going through now. 

The problems these men had fitting back into peacetime society--including becoming members of their own families again--are skillfully and sympathetically explored in director William Wyler's Oscar-winning masterwork THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946), now available on Blu-ray from Warner Home Video.

Three ex-servicemen--Army sergeant Al Stephenson (Frederic March,  DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE), Air Force captain Fred Derry (Dana Andrews, CURSE OF THE DEMON),  and Navy swabbie Homer Parrish (Harold Russell)--hitch a long ride on a military transport to their hometown and become bosom buddies along the way. 

We begin to feel their tension at seeing family and friends again as they liken it to "storming the beaches", with Homer especially dreading the impending reunion due to the loss of his hands during his ship's sinking.  He fears not only how his folks will react but mostly whether or not his prospective bride, girl-next-door Wilma (Cathy O'Donnell, BEN HUR), will now reject him.

Fred has a different problem--his blond bombshell wife, Marie (a drop-dead gorgeous Virginia Mayo), to whom he had been married a mere twenty days before going overseas, is a party animal whose recent job in a nightclub has made her accustomed to a fast lifestyle which her unemployed husband can't provide. 

The young Andrews is ideally cast as a once-proud soldier who now must return to his old job as a drugstore soda jerk, biting his lip as a former underling orders him around while an uncaring boss, as did many at the time, regards him and other returning vets as a nuisance to society.  With Marie constantly berating him for not being successful or ambitious enough, and openly flaunting her intentions to "step out" on him, we can hardly blame Fred when he falls for Marie's exact opposite, the lovely and understanding Peggy (a vibrant Teresa Wright).

Trouble is,  Peggy is Al's daughter, and he's having his own problems without having to worry about her hooking up with a married man.  Unlike his two pals, former banker Al returns to a luxurious apartment but feels just as out-of-place among his wife and two kids.  Their reunion is tense and uncomfortable--empathetic viewers, in fact, may feel this way for much of the film--with Al first glimpsing his wife Milly (Myrna Loy) across the expanse of a long hallway that symbolizes the gulf still lying between them.  (He'll later describe the feeling of crossing that hallway as "like going overseas again.")

In  the film's opening scenes, it's heartrending to see the near-desperation with which the three main characters cling to each other's sympathetic company rather than face the prospect of returning to the families who now seem almost like strangers to them.  Later,  we fear that they'll never reassimilate back into normal life. 

This is especially true when restless Al urges Milly and Peggy to join him for a night out on the town.  March, seemingly slipping  into his celebrated Mr. Hyde persona at times,  portrays Al as a manic, nearly out-of-control drunk on his first night back--it's almost as though he's decompressing, or trying to put on the brakes like a speeding jet landing on a runway.  

It makes us glad that Milly is such a strong, sensible, supportive wife, with a rock-solid Myrna Loy (THE THIN MAN) lending her the stature of a woman any man would fight to come back home to and be glad to have on his side.  With her help, Al will eventually "mature" into a self-assured, no-nonsense personality whose unshakable principles threaten to get him into hot water back at the bank when he starts granting loans to other veterans with little or no collateral.  His drinking is another concern, as is the growing rift between him and Fred over daughter Peggy.

Even though we know Fred's marriage to Marie hasn't much of a future, his impulsiveness worries us when he steals a kiss from Peggy after an innocent lunch date.  Her growing attraction to him draws her into a terrible quandary which puts her at odds with her parents, and the scene of their most emotional confrontation is powerfully done. 

Meanwhile,  Fred's feelings of worthlessness are dramatically illustrated when he visits a "graveyard" for derelict bomber planes that are to be junked.  Sitting in the nose of a rusty, engineless plane and reliving his experiences as a bombadier, he realizes that he, too, is a wartime relic to be either recycled or tossed on the junk heap.  Director Wyler renders the sequence with exquisite skill, while Andrews gives it his all and musical composer Hugo Friedhofer pulls out all the stops--it's a gripping scene. 

Still, this is nothing compared to the emotional rollercoaster in store for the viewer regarding the unfortunate sailor, Homer.  Portrayed by real-life amputee Harold Russell, himself a former serviceman who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his debut role, Homer endures excruciating emotional torment which we can't help but share as he feels isolated amidst his own family and impotent as a man. 

During a scene in which he silently allows his father to remove his "arms" and dress him in his pajamas--in what was certainly a reflection of his own real-life experiences-- Russell's face and demeanor tell us everything we need to know about the thoughts and emotions roiling inside him.  When he angrily thrusts his hooks through a windowpane in response to the curious looks of his little sister and her friends, it's a shocking and disturbing moment in cinema. 

Russell gives an earnest, painfully uninhibited performance that lends added dimension to what is already a devastatingly effective and multi-faceted story.  Andrews has probably never been better, nor has Teresa Wright, with their final scene together delivering a substantial payoff for the film as a whole.

March and Loy, the two old pros, come through like gangbusters as a couple whose problems only seem to make them stronger as long if they face them together.  And in a role that displayed her dramatic talent at a time when she was known mostly for comedy, Virginia Mayo proves that she's not only a knockout but can deliver a raucous, punchy performance (her "mirror" scene with Wright dazzles, as do her frenetic exchanges with Andrews.)  Also in the cast are stalwarts such as Hoagy Carmichael, Ray Collins, Steve Cochran (as Marie's oily-haired new beau), Don Beddoe, and Gladys George.

The single-disc Blu-ray from Warner Home Video is in 1.77:1 widescreen and English 1.0 sound.  Subtitles are in English, French,  and Spanish.  Bonus features consist of a brief introduction by Virginia Mayo, interview footage with Mayo and Teresa Wright, and the theatrical trailer. 

After THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES has already put us through the wringer with its other stories of desperation and redemption,  it saves its deepest felt and most lasting impact for the final scenes between Harold Russell's "Homer" and girl-next-door Wilma (Cathy O'Donnell is sweetness incarnate in the role) finally resolving the long-running uncertainty that has lingered between them since his return.  It's one of the most heartrendingly emotional sequences I've ever seen, and if you can get through it without blubbering like a baby, then, as Kipling once said, "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!"

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THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES -- Blu-ray review by porfle

THREE CAN PLAY THAT GAME -- movie review by porfle

(NOTE: This review was originally posted at Bumscorner.com in 2008.)

If Oprah Winfrey ever drops by my house to watch a movie, I'll stick THREE CAN PLAY THAT GAME (2008) into the DVD player and then lock myself in the bathroom for two hours.  This is the kind of movie that might go over big at a girls' pizza sleepover or something, but for me it was just soul-crushing.

In this sequel to 2001's TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME, Viveca Fox is Shanté, a relationship expert who counsels Tiffany (Jazsmin Lewis) through a rough patch with her man Byron (Jason Winston George).  Byron just won a reality TV show called "The Trainee" and his fame is attracting all sorts of female attention, particularly from the show's amorous producer, Carla.  When Carla comes on to Byron in the men's room and Tiffany catches them together, Shanté comes to the rescue with her infallible five-step program to help the distraught Tiffany train dat dawg to sit up and beg.

If you think it's funny to see some poor guy get nagged and played into marriage then you'll probably enjoy this.  For me, it was like watching a horror movie with Byron as the innocent victim and Shanté, Tiffany, and Tiffany's clucky "you go, girlfriend" girlfriends as the flesh-eating zombies surrounding the house moaning "Brains!  Braaaains!"  Except instead of that, they'd be saying "Marriage!  Maaaarriage!"

Viveca Fox is insufferably smarmy and smug as Shanté.  At one point Byron comes to her for help, and she pretends to be on his side while actually playing him for Tiffany's benefit, which just ain't cricket.  The rest of the time she's giving Tiffany pointers on how to most effectively manipulate him, including teasing and denial ("Forget diamonds--blue balls are a girl's best friend!"), mind games, guilt trips, and other stomach-roiling activities.  All of which had me cringing with horror when I was supposed to be laughing along with the lighthearted fun.

Tiffany keeps whining about how much she loves Byron but she seems more interested in simply snagging a husband.  There's really not much to like about her character.  Byron is likable enough although it's depressing to see this previously happy guy mired in a web of jealousy and jerked around between the various matrimony vultures (especially Tiffany's shallow, conniving girlfriends) hovering over him as though he were a slab of fresh carrion.

The only bright spot in the movie is Tony Rock (HITCH, "All of Us") as Byron's playa friend Gizzard, who suppies Byron with his own dubious relationship advice to try and counteract Shanté's evil machinations.  He's funny but in a more down-to-earth way than the usual Eddie Griffin-type shuck 'n' jive sidekick.  He kept reminding me of a more subtle Chris Rock, which made sense when I found out that they're brothers.  But not even Gizzard is immune to the sinister Shanté's scheming when she aims a gorgeous babe named Candy his way in order to split up the guy team.

Melyssa Ford as Candy, by the way, truly is "all that."  Yikes!  Shanté actually does Gizzard a favor by hooking him up with this gorgeous babe.  As soon as she walked onscreen, I started doing that "Ha cha-cha-cha!" thing that Jimmy Durante used to do.  And Kellita Smith (FEEL THE NOISE, ROLL BOUNCE) as the sexy knockout Carla is another reason I was able to get through this movie.  Carla keeps urging Byron to fly off to Seattle with her to tape the next season of "The Trainee", and I kept thinking "Do it, Byron!  DO IT!"

THREE CAN PLAY THAT GAME tries to be lighthearted and quirky but it just can't rise above Mark Brown's leaden script and Mody Mod's lackluster direction.  The old "needle being dragged off the record" sound effect is used three times, which indicates the extent of comic invention on display here.  And we get yet another one of those wacky wedding day finales where love conquers all and the guys learn that they can never be truly happy unless they're married.  And to think that a guy wrote this--what is he, nuts?

Buy it at Amazon.com

THREE CAN PLAY THAT GAME -- movie review by porfle

NIGHT OF THE GHOULS -- movie review by Squashpants

It's not hard to find Ed D. Wood, Jr.'s movies on the public domain channels because all of them do happen to have passed into that domain. There is one of his pics that I have yet to see on any of the several PD channels I access via Roku. It is NIGHT OF THE GHOULS (1959).

It is one of Ed's most competently (if that is the right word) made movies, and one that languished, unclaimed, at the lab that Ed had process the edited print, until Wade Williams rescued it in the late 80s (I think that is the timing, don't hold me to it). This is a PD film I have seen half a dozen times, and have always enjoyed.

It is actually a kind of sequel to both "Bride of the Monster" and "Plan 9 From Outer Space", and contains footage from an unsold TV pilot by Wood. It also features some of the players from his other movies, including the character of Kelton the Cop, and Tor Johnson, playing Lobo, from "Bride".

In purely technical terms, this is almost a full level above his prior movies, yet still has some hilarious "special effects" processes and dialog. I will quote the plot synopsis from IMDb to give you the bare basics of the plot:

"Criswell, the 'real' medium, rises from his coffin to tell us of 'monsters to be despised.' Dr. Acula (Kenne Duncan) is a phony medium aided by Valda Hansen, a bogus ghost, and big Tor Johnson, wearing rags and horrible scar makeup as Lobo. The doctor swindles people by pretending to contact dead relatives, but then accidentally succeeds in reviving a bunch of corpses that bury him alive! Sat unreleased for 23 years because Wood couldn't pay the lab bill!"

It features the lovely Valda Hansen as Dr. Acula's cohort in crime, playing the White Ghost. And John "Johnny" Carpenter, a TV bit player (no, not THAT John Carpenter), is the chief of police, who diverts Duke Moore (remember him in "Plan 9"?) from an opera date to investigate spooky goings-on at the house that is supposedly the same one that Bela Lugosi worked out of in "Bride of the Monster". Kelton (a prissy Paul Marco) is assigned also and is a rank fraidy-cat faced with the phony scares Dr. Acula (get it? Dr...acula? Oh, brother, Eddie) has planted on the estate.

By far the funniest part, in that Ed Wood-y way, is the seance sequence, where we are treated to a set of strange sounds and sights, all ludicrously designed and hilariously botched for the most part. It is one of the few times that, alone in the privacy of my home, I laughed out loud at something in a movie. It is unbelievable in its goofiness.

This is one of those pics, which, since I have actually seen it, I can list some of the interest points and curiosities that it contains:

1) Tor Johnson, as Lobo, with a really gnarly set of scars. The make-up work on it was actually quite effective; and Tor's piteous whimpering is rather affecting.

2) Paul Marco plays Patrolman Kelton especially fey in this outing, and at one point, you can see his captain rise to give him a kick in the butt as he minces out the office door.

3) Valda Hansen is gorgeous in a lovely dress that my wife tells me she would kill to have. One thing you have to say for Ed, is that he did manage to get a few good looking women for his productions.

4) Ed gets a cameo in this, with some footage of a "teenage fight" he filmed back in the mid-50s. This is used to illustrate the problem of juvenile delinquency, a problem that is minor compared to that of monsters.

5) There is one scene that is actually "undercranked", so that a character moves at an abnormally fast speed, making one wonder about the competency of whoever filmed that part of the footage.

6) This movie is full of minor WTF moments, that you just look at and go "wow". I won't even try to describe them, but when you see them, you know that it's that weird Ed Wood genius at work, to make this more interesting than it has to be.

7) And we mustn't forget Criswell, looking more inebriated and disheveled than he has in past appearances, spouting stuff like "Monsters to be pitied, monsters to be despised."

The climax comes when the cops are finally called in to raid Dr. Acula's base of operations, and Kenne Duncan's character discovers that he is more effective than he thought. For a half dozen living dead guys come for him and force him into a coffin, and then bear him away to God knows where (one of the men is supposedly Dave DeMaring, who played co-pilot Danny in "Plan 9", but I will be damned if I can tell which one of the zombies is him).

You have to be an Ed Wood completist to waste your time watching this, but if you are indeed a fan, you are guaranteed the sort of good time that can only be had by experiencing Eddie's cinematic works.

Buy it at Amazon.com

NIGHT OF THE GHOULS -- movie review by Squashpants

"MY VERY FIRST VIEWING OF 'KING KONG' (1933)" -- by Tony Crnkovich

(Tony Crnkovich is an illustrator, film historian and author. Two books he co-authored are "The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936-1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide" and "The Films of Fay Wray", for which he also painted the cover.)

My very first viewing of KING KONG (1933) was in 1972 when I was on spring vacation and Monster Week was the theme on "The Morning Movie with Ione."

This was a daily fitness program, Monday - Friday on Chicago's WLS station, hosted by Ione Citrin. The 90 minute show had Ione doing exercises and answering phone-ins during commercial breaks, which of course meant you got a little over an hour of movie.

Anyway, this particular week they ran KING KONG along with Hammer's THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN, CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, BRIDES OF DRACULA, and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. That was the most blissful spring break I ever had being the huge 11-year-old monster fan that I was.

The best word to describe KONG's effect on me then is "exhilarating". I remember the log sequence had me transfixed with its boldness; the sailors were getting KILLED and yet the scene had a sense of fun as Kong seemed to be playing a game of "let's roll the log", and where other movies would cut away, here I'm being shown bodies bouncing as they hit bottom.

The entire experience was euphoric and practically left me breathless by the end. I remembered thinking, "I gotta see this movie again."

That came a few months later when I could only catch pieces of KONG because I had to help my dad in the yard with something. I left the TV on and stole chances to run into the house and watch it, then go back outside.

At that viewing, the scene that fascinated me was when Kong is pushing against the gate with the sailors and natives pushing back, trying to keep him from busting through.

Again, it was the boldness of the action and the way it was all set up that sparked a response in me - it seemed like I was watching a "realistic" fantasy, something that in a weird way looked like a documentary. That feeling became even more pronounced for me during the Empire State Building sequence.

I was also intrigued by the mysterious way Kong moved; it was like he belonged to another dimension of reality that only existed on that prehistoric island. The film disturbed me in some profound way that I wanted to understand.

The viewing that finally REALLY took me over the edge was on Christmas Eve in 1974. KONG was being shown on the 3:30 movie and I was looking forward to it with a joyous excitement.

My younger sister and I were watching TV all day, building up to KONG's arrival. Again, it was a heavily edited broadcast - I still hadn't seen the full-length movie - but it worked its permanent magic on me nonetheless.

This was the viewing where I fell in love with Fay Wray and Max Steiner's music score. After the movie was
done I remembered I had the latest issue of Famous Monsters which featured MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM, and the article had pics of Fay Wray and a list of her other horror films.

I spent that whole Christmas break digging up every little morsel I could find on KONG in my budding collection of books and magazines, abandoning whatever interests I may have had before that fateful viewing.

Little did I know that I was being plunged headlong into a love affair with classic movies that has lasted to this day. I was growing up, and at the same time KING KONG was changing my life.

Buy it at Amazon.com:
"King Kong" on DVD
"The Films of Fay Wray"
"The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936-1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide"

"MY VERY FIRST VIEWING OF 'KING KONG' (1933)" -- by Tony Crnkovich

SOME GIRLS DO (1969) -- commentary by Squashpants

Tonight's movie, which I believe should by now have passed into the public domain so I can see it on Roku, is SOME GIRLS DO (1969). This is actually a latter day "Bulldog" Drummond movie, updated for spy sensibilities big in the Sixties. In color!

Now this is one that I have never seen, neither the film in toto, nor the trailer. I know it fromThe Internet Movie Database. And here is the plot synopsis from that venerable source:

"A series of unexplainable accidents befall the people and companies responsible for developing the world's first supersonic airliner (SST1). A British agent is sent to investigate and with the help of another agent uncovers a plot masterminded by Carl Petersen who stands to gain eight million pounds if the aircraft is not ready by a certain date. The evil Petersen has developed a number of 'robots' (actually rather beautiful girls with 'electronic brains') to help him sabotage the SST1 project by means of 'infrasound' (extreme low frequency sound waves) which can be directed at people or objects with devastating results." (Thank you, Kevin Steinhauer.)

Is that wild enough for you? It would be plenty wild enough for me. Especially with Daliah Lavi playing the main female role. Hubba hubba.

IMDb has 14 (!) user reviews for the pic, and one of them makes the claim that the movie is "Better than most modern movies. Very underrated." Every one raves about the starlets in the movie, and that is a big selling point with yours truly. The music is also reported to be "very groovy".

Oh and how can you resist an appearance by a young Joanna "Patsy Stone" Lumley. And for heaven's sakes, Robert Morley plays a character named "Miss Mary". And reportedly, it shifts into high camp mode in the second half. This has to be a tasty bit of heavier-than-fluff.

This, evidently, is escapist cinema at its near-best. I would take time to watch it in a second.

Buy it at Amazon.com (Region 2 only)

SOME GIRLS DO (1969) -- commentary by Squashpants

JOHNNY WAS -- movie review by porfle

(NOTE: This review originally appeared online at Bumscorner.com in 2006.)

Johnny Doyle (Vinnie Jones, X-MEN:THE LAST STAND and LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS) was a member of an Irish terrorist group until he finally got tired of blowing up innocent people and quit.  As JOHNNY WAS (2005) begins, he just wants to go straight and fade into the woodwork of his London flat where he lives between a Rasta pirate DJ named Ras (Lennox Lewis) upstairs and Julius ("E.R."'s Eric LaSalle), a two-bit Jamaican drug kingpin, downstairs. 

But Johnny's former mate, Flynn (Patrick Bergen, PATRIOT GAMES, SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY) will never give up the fight, and never see the casualties of his bombs as more than "collateral damage."  And now that Flynn has just busted out of prison, he needs a place to lay low while the area is crawling with cops.  His only choice is to drop in on his old pal, Johnny, both disrupting his new life and sparking a tense, racially-charged confrontation with Johnny's violence-prone neighbors downstairs.

It's a pretty cool premise and director Mark Hammond makes the most of Brendan Foley's screenplay, with an excellent cast at his disposal.  There's plenty of action, but the characters are the most important thing here and I was interested in what happened to them the whole time. 

Everything on the technical end is well-handled, and the pervasive reggae score--Ras plays the records really loud during his radio show--is an added benefit that might have you wanting to buy the soundtrack CD.

Things are tense from the start as mind-his-own-business Johnny heads downstairs to go to the store and inadvertantly walks into a scene in which Julius is harshly dealing with a smack-pilferin' lackey named Sparra.  Julius tolerates Johnny's presence as long as he stays out of the way, but this promises to become less likely as Johnny grows increasingly fond of Julius' main squeeze, the lovely Rita (Samantha Mumba, THE TIME MACHINE remake), who only stays with scary Julius because he doles out the white powder she's hopelessly hooked on. 

Later, when Sparra comes screaming for help and ends up dead in Johnny's doorway, the abrasive, hair-trigger Flynn's presence will ignite this powderkeg once and for all, and everyone will end up pointing guns at each other while Johnny watches his new, non-violent lifestyle go up in smoke. 

In an interesting turn of events, Flynn ends up making a lucrative deal with Julius to become his new chemist, in addition to ensuring that certain members of Julius' competition will begin to explode one by one.  But there's more to the devious Flynn's offer than meets Julius' avaricious eye.

I like Vinnie Jones a lot and it's nice seeing him get to play a real character here instead of the seriocomic cartoon character that was his murderous but likable bank robber Winston Briggs in SLIPSTREAM.  You can really sympathize with Johnny as he tries to go straight, especially after the flashback in which he finally has a change of heart and we see him frantically warning people about that last bomb he helped set in an outdoor food court.  Everyone gets away except for one young woman who is painting a mural while listening to headphones--she turns and smiles at him right before she dies, and her face will haunt him from then on. 

Patrick Bergen is well-cast as Flynn, playing him with a wide-eyed intensity that makes you feel this is a guy who doesn't mind blowing people up to serve his political fanaticism.  He's a heartless killer, but I couldn't help liking him somewhat as he takes on the equally-monstrous Julius and screws with him in a big way. 

As Julius, Eric LaSalle is all casual and easygoing until his friendly smile fades and he starts killing people.  It's fun to see LaSalle get to prove his talent by playing someone so different from his longtime character Dr. Benton on "E.R."  Samantha Mumba, who was very appealing in the 2002 remake of THE TIME MACHINE, is even better here with her subtle, assured performance as Rita. 

In a lesser role, Who frontman Roger Daltrey comes off well as Johnny and Flynn's former boss, Jimmy, mainly because he isn't given that much to do.  And former world heavyweight boxing champ Lennox Lewis lends an air of quiet authority to his role of Ras, the pirate DJ who is not only a good friend to Johnny but a king to his fellow Jamaicans, which comes in handy later on when Johnny, Flynn, and Rita need all the help they can get while running for their lives from the revenge-crazed Julius even as the police are closing in from all sides.

At the end, you get to find out what the movie's title means, which isn't a huge surprise or anything but is a nice touch nonetheless.  The surprise comes right after that, and it's a pretty good one.  It allows Johnny to do something heroic for a change, make up for some of the bad things he's done in the past, and feel sorta good about himself at last.  Which, if you like his character as much as I did, will make you feel sorta good, too.

Buy it at Amazon.com

JOHNNY WAS -- movie review by porfle

X-RAY OF A KILLER (Sursis pour un espion) -- trailer review by Squashpants

Tonight's "How Come You're Not In The Public Domain?" movie is X-RAY OF A KILLER (1965). This is really obscure and one of those I have only seen the trailer for.

It was in a collection of Late Late Late Show trailers on my Something Weird Video Roku channel, so it qualifies as one of those little titles that comes out of nowhere to charm you at 3:30 am on the old black and white console. I would have been happy as a coon in a rhubarb patch if I would have had this pop up on the Channel 13 Late Late Movie when I was a teen.

But it didn't.

It is a French import (original title, "Sursis pour un espion"), and as you might guess, it is one of those spy themed movies that were so popular in the mid-Sixties. The biggest star in this is Jean Servais, a fixture of these kinds of movies and well respected in French cinema. He was probably slumming with this one. Some of the other names you might recognize are Wolfgang Preiss ("Mill of the Stone Women"), Olga Palinka, and Agnes Spaak.

The trailer tells you little and is mysterious enough to make you curious. It has some sexy European eye candy and a lot of cloak and dagger about who knows what. But it looks like the kind of thing that would give you a nice warm feeling in the wee hours of the morning, just for the European-ness of it. You know, Citroens and glasses of Campari, and funky-looking telephones. That kind of thing.

Evidently no one on IMDb has seen it because there are zero user reviews and little general information about it. The trailer was a modicum of fun, though. I would waste an hour and a half on it.

X-RAY OF A KILLER (Sursis pour un espion) -- trailer review by Squashpants

"THE BAT" -- 50s Cult Classic Flies Onto DVD Nov. 12 From Film Chest!

Film Chest Media Group Proudly Presents
THE BAT

Vincent Price & Agnes Moorehead Lead All-Star Cast in a ’50s Suspense, Cult Classic That Will Keep You Guessing Until the End!

HD Restoration Premieres Oct. 24th on Turner Classic Movies
Flies Onto DVD Nov. 12th

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Nov. 1, 2013 — For Immediate Release — Mystery, murder and mayhem take flight in The Bat – restored and in HD for the first time ever –  debuting on Turner Classic Movies Oct. 24 and DVD Nov. 12 from Film Chest Media Group. Featuring an all-star cast, this suspenseful cult favorite from 1959, will keep you on the edge of your seat!

In The Bat, mystery writer Cornelia van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead, TV’s Bewitched, Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Citizen Kane) resides in a town terrorized by a mysterious murderer known only as “The Bat,” said to be a man with no face who kills women at night by ripping out their throats with steel claws.

Breaking into Cornelia’s countryside home one night, he releases an actual bat, which bites her maid Lizzy (Lenita Lane, Compliments of the Season, While America Sleeps), sending her into a panic that she has caught “the rabies.”  Cornelia calls her doctor, Malcolm Wells (Vincent Price, Edward Scissorhands, House on Haunted Hill, TV’s Batman), who happens to be conducting research on bats.

Little does Cornelia know that the good doctor has an ulterior motive for coming to her assistance—a thief who has stolen $1 million in bank securities has confided in Wells, leading him to believe the stash is hidden within Cornelia’s home. After dispatching with the thief, Wells plots to claim the missing treasure.

When additional break-ins and murders by The Bat continue, local police chief Andy Anderson (Gavin Gordon, Bride of Frankenstein, The Scarlet Empress) comes to the house with suspicions of both Wells and Cornelia’s butler Warner (John Sutton, Jane Eyre, Return of the Fly).

Also featuring Darla Hood (of the Little Rascal’s Our Gang in her final film appearance), The Bat, with its hand-wringing twists and turns, will leave you guessing until the astonishing reveal at the end. A non-stop thriller sure to get your blood pumping!

The Bat, presented in widescreen (16x9) and mono sound, will enjoy a Turner Classic Movies premiere Oct. 24th prior to its DVD release.

About Film Chest:
Founded in 2001, Film Chest offers high-quality content for a wide variety of production and distribution needs, boasting one of the world’s largest libraries (10,000+ hours) of classic feature films, television, foreign imports, documentaries, special interest and audio—much of it restored and digitized in HD. Headquartered in Bridgeport, Conn., with offices in New York City, the company also produces and distributes collector’s DVD sets for its American Pop Classics, CULTRA and HD Cinema Classics labels. Visit us online: www.filmchestmediagroup.com

The Bat
Film Chest
Genre: Thriller
Original Release: 1959 (B&W)
Not Rated
Format: DVD Only
Running Time: Approx. 80 Minutes
Suggested Retail Price: $11.98
Pre-Order Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Street Date: Nov. 12, 2013
Catalog #:  FC-490
UPC Code:  #874757049090

"THE BAT" -- 50s Cult Classic Flies Onto DVD Nov. 12 From Film Chest!

SINGLE ROOM FURNISHED -- trailer review by Squashpants

Alright, time again for a look at a movie that, by God, should be in the public domain, and viewable on the public domain channels I get through Roku, but for whatever reason, is not. And tonight's movie is SINGLE ROOM  FURNISHED (1968), starring Jayne Mansfield. This was Jayney's last picture before her death. And, no I haven't seen it, but at some point, I did see the trailer.

The pic was directed by Matt Cimber (real name Matteo Ottaviano) and Jayne got the hots for him, and pushed out Mickey Hargitay for the guy. The story is that Mansfield and Cimber had an on-set spat and she took off to Florida to cool off, and crashed her car just outside of New Orleans, dying. So they had to cobble together the movie with the scenes she had completed, and shift some of the running time to a subplot about some neighbors.

Anyway, I will take the plot synopsis right out of Mike Wheldon's Psychotronic Encyclopedia: "Jayne plays a young bride who dyes her hair and changes her name to wait tables after her husband leaves her pregnant. She changes her name again and becomes a prostitute. The downbeat feature ends when a sailor proposes, then shoots himself as Jayne humiliates him with taunts of 'Mon-kee, mon-kee!'"

Fabian(!) is in this one, as one of the neighbors in the enlarged subplot. And if all that isn't good enough for ya, Bruno Ve Sota plays a character named Donald Duck from Duluth, and Walter Winchell does an introduction.

Now, ya know this has got to be a weird view, especially knowing that Jayne lost her head over it.

Buy it at Amazon.com

SINGLE ROOM FURNISHED -- trailer review by Squashpants

RIFF RAFF GIRLS -- trailer review by Squashpants

Okay, let's get back to the subject of films that oughta be public domain, but apparently are not, or I should be seeing them on my Roku PD channels.

Tonight I am thinking of a pic that I have seen the trailer for and have been intrigued by. It is a French film made in 1959, titled "Du Rififi chez les femmes", but released here as RIFF RAFF GIRLS. The interest in this is on several levels.

First of all it is a European film with Nadja Tiller, a real babe at the time. Secondly, it is a crime film and people in it evidently get really nasty with each other. But, finally the most recommending aspect of the film, at the time I would have seen it in early teenhood, was its sexiness.

No, you are not going to see any real nudity in a pic made in 1959 (even in Europe), but you are likely to have seen some nice cleavage, and sexily clad Euro-actresses, and this would have made my night if seen at midnight in my hormone-maddened condition. The trailer makes the revealing wardrobe very much apparent, and for its time, this would have definitely have lifted the males in an audience off their seats.

I also happen to like the atmospherics of these old Euro-crime movies, and the ones that were made when Black and White was still the standard are usually the best ones. Made with finesse and menace, and the restraint of a more chivalrous time, but not above making the molls as cat-scratchingly hostile as possible, and sexier than living hell.

I don't know. Maybe there isn't even a print left of it. IMDb seems to imply there is. I would watch it in the original French without subtitles, just to see it.

Buy the poster at Amazon.com

RIFF RAFF GIRLS -- trailer review by Squashpants

SHROOMS -- DVD review by porfle

(NOTE: This review originally appeared at Bumscorner.com  in 2008.)

Another cheap FINAL TERROR-style slasher flick with a bunch of young morons running around the woods getting killed off by a psycho?  That's what I thought when I started watching SHROOMS (2006), but it didn't take long to realize that there's a lot more to this one than the dumb title, deceptively bland box art and familiar premise might suggest. 

The initial set-up is pretty simple:  Tara, Lisa, Troy, Holly, and Bluto fly to Ireland on vacation and hook up with their indigenous friend Jake, who takes them deep into the forest primeval for a camping trip that will include locating and ingesting some of those "magic mushrooms" that you've, uh, read about. 

"Whatever you do, don't take any of these," Jake warns, pointing to a particularly toxic variety that, along with probable death, can also cause psychosis, highly disturbing hallucinations, and flashes of prescience.  So naturally as soon as Jake turns his head Tara scarfs one down and flips out. 

As she recovers in her tent, Jake tells the others a campfire tale about a nearby house which was once the headquarters of a perverse cult known as the Black Knights of Glengarriff, where really, really awful things happened.  I won't go into the story because it'll be more fun if you hear it for yourself.  The upshot is that, according to legend, there are these terrifying, ghostly characters--the Black Brother, the Feral Child, and the Lonely Twin--still creeping around in the woods killing people in horrible ways. 

The others poo-poo Jake's story, but Tara is already beginning to have visions of her friends being stalked and killed by these spectral creatures.  Not only that, but joining the cast of loonies cavorting around the forest are a couple of drooling inbreds who make the hillbillies from DELIVERANCE look like John Denver.  Needless to say, our heroes begin to disappear one by one.

What could have been a half-hearted rehash of a tired old formula turns out to be a very well-crafted thriller with lots of spooky atmosphere and an imaginative script that will keep you guessing right up to the twist ending.  Lindsey Haun gives a good performance as Tara, who starts out as the most level-headed person in the group and then descends into paranoid hysteria as soon as she gulps that fateful shroom, foreseeing the violent deaths of her friends and running from ghastly apparitions that may or may not be real. 

Director Paddy Breathnach takes full advantage of the dark, gloomy forest locations and later leads us on a chilling tour of the huge, abandoned spookhouse from Jake's campfire tale, which turns out to be real.  The scare scenes are well-staged, and Tara's nightmarish visions are skillfully-edited montages of disturbing images. 

Pearse Elliott's script keeps us guessing until the final revelation, which turns everything that's happened before upside-down, while an exceptional musical score by Dario Marianelli adds to the effectiveness of the visuals.

The DVD from Magnolia's Magnet label offers a fairly interesting commentary track featuring the two Paddys, director Breathnach and producer McDonald (Irish enough for ya?), and writer Elliott, along with alternate scenes, deleted scenes, and a couple of bloopers.  Of particular interest are some alternate versions of the ending.  I don't think they work as well as the one that was ultimately used, but you may disagree.

Even with the comedy bits that occur in the initial scenes--nature boy Troy displaying his not-so-great martial arts prowess, steroid boy Bluto being a total dick, Lisa and Holly constantly on the verge of a catfight--a somber mood is established early on that increases as the story progresses.  Though not all that gory or terrifying, SHROOMS is an effective, beautifully-shot mood piece that is dark, downbeat, and macabre.

Buy it at Amazon.com
DVD
Blu-Ray

SHROOMS -- DVD review by porfle

HACK! -- movie review by porfle

(NOTE: This review originally appeared at Bumscorner.com in 2008.)

HACK! (2007) begins by trotting out the usual slasher-movie stereotypes in such a deliberate manner that I quickly pegged it as a rehash of the SCREAM formula--a self-aware parody of the slasher genre filled with references to earlier movies.  What I didn't foresee was that it would accomplish this with such flying colors, turning the SCREAM concept on its ear just as that movie did with its predecessors.

The set-up is a college biology field trip to an island inhabited by an eccentric young couple, Vincent and Mary Shelly King (Sean Kanan and Juliet Landau).  The Kings--as in Stephen King, natch--are movie fanatics who film everything with their old-fashioned 8mm movie camera, and they play host to our collection of familiar types--Tim, the jock (Travis Schuldt), Ricky, the gay guy (Justin Chon), Maddy, the heavy metal lesbian (Adrienne Frantz), Sylvia, the gorgeous foreign exchange student (Gabrielle Richens), "Q", the hip black dude (Wondgy Bruny), and Johnny, the sensitive loner (Jay Kenneth Johnson). 

And last but not least, there's the virginal good girl, Emily.  She's played by Danica McKellar, for whom fans of "The Wonder Years" will no doubt already have a spot reserved in their hearts.  Emily has a raging crush on Johnny, and we just know that as soon as she takes off her glasses and lets her hair down, he'll see how beautiful she really is. 

The kids take up residence in the Kings' house, which is really awesome (I want one).  Film references fly at the dinner table as they discuss everything from FRANKENSTEIN to THE BIRDS to the modern classics such as TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and HELLRAISER.  Vincent and Mary Shelly seem just a little too obsessed with movies, which we're sure will come into play sooner or later.  Meanwhile, the kids do what they're expected to do in a movie like this, which is to party on the beach, smoke dat mary-joo-wanner, and have sex whenever and wherever possible. 

As often happens in such cases, people begin to disappear one by one.  Their biology teacher, Mr. Argento (where have I heard that name before?) drops out pretty quick, and the old salt who brought them to the island, Captain Bates (hmm...as in "Norman" Bates?), played by venerable wacko Burt Young, gets skewered real good. 

Before long, we're treated to a series of bloody, chunky death scenes which take place either around the Kings' really cool mansion or in an underground charnel house presided over by a mysterious masked killer.  And for good measure, a creepy guy played by William Forsythe (DEAR MR.GACY,  RAISING ARIZONA) keeps popping up to freak us out.

During the first half of this movie, I was all set to give it an average rating.  The production values are good, and the performances are all more than adequate considering the shallow characters and chiched dialogue the actors had to work with.  But before long I began to realize that writer-director Matt Flynn was deliberately using these familiar slasher-flick elements to set us up for what would turn out to be a wildly-entertaining and, yes, exquisitely self-aware goof on the entire genre.  I began to fall in love with this movie at around the halfway mark, when I finally realized just what was going on.  And from that point onward, HACK! never lets up, never fails to entertain, and never runs out of delightful twists on old routines.

Danica McKellar is awesome as Emily, who turns out to be full of surprises.  Juliet Landau of ED WOOD fame is utterly winsome as Mary Shelly.  We're also treated to such welcome presences as Tony Burton of the original ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and Jason Voorhees himself, Kane Hodder, who goes against type by being the first victim in the movie.  All the other castmembers are fine as well.

As in the best examples of the genre, HACK! is replete with gory murders, gratuitous nudity, and more twists and turns than a bag of Twizzlers.  The fact that it starts out as a now-standard slasher parody before turning into a genuinely entertaining spoof of the genre makes it all the more pleasantly surprising.  Like I said, at first I was ready to rate this average at best, but by the time it was over I knew I'd just seen something pretty cool.

Buy it at Amazon.com

HACK! -- movie review by porfle

Level 33 Entertainment Brings the Scares Home for Halloween!

Award-Winning Horror Themed Feature Films Available on DVD for New Low Price

Just in Time for Halloween and Holiday Gift Giving

Los Angeles, CA - Level 33 Entertainment (“Level 33”) announced today that new low pricing will go into effect on October 17, 2013 for several award-winning horror themed movies on DVD including AAAH! ZOMBIES!!, I DIDN’T COME HERE TO DIE, A CADAVER CHRISTMAS, MY STEPDAD’S A FREAKIN’ VAMPIRE!, and VAMP U.  The DVDs for these films, which collectively have been screened at dozens of international film festivals and horror festivals, will be made available for purchase at retailers and websites such as Amazon.com in time for Halloween and the holiday shopping season. The DVD for each film will be priced at under $6.00 SRP.

 “Halloween is definitely one of our favorite times of year at Level 33 Entertainment,” said Andreas Olavarria, President of Level 33 Entertainment. “We’re excited to be able to bring a diverse range of horror content to audiences across North America all year round, but what better time is there to enjoy a scary movie than Halloween?”

Recent horror themed releases by Level 33 include the highly acclaimed British zombie film, HAROLD’S GOING STIFF and festival favorite THE MOLE MAN OF BELMONT AVENUE starring Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Tim Kazurinsky (“Saturday Night Live”).

In conjunction with the promotion of these horror themed movies, Level 33 will be a co-sponsor of the Inaugural Palm Springs Horror Film Festival known as Feartastic, from October 31st to November 3, 2013.  Mr. Olavarria will be speaking on the panel titled “Getting a Film Made - Financing, Casting, Producing and Distribution” at 5:00pm PT on Friday, November 1st at the Camelot Theaters located at 2300 E. Baristo Road, Palm Springs, CA 92262.  Level 33 will host a reception following the panel.  Tickets can be purchased at www.feartastic.com.

ABOUT Level 33 Entertainment
 Los Angeles based Level 33 Entertainment is an entertainment company dedicated to redefining the landscape for independent film distribution.   Level 33 provides innovative sales, marketing and distribution services for feature films and entertainment content, delivering a flexible and transparent distribution solution for all platforms including Theatrical, Home Entertainment, Digital and Broadcast.

www.level33entertainment.com
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Trailer for Vamp U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL2wsa-BZpI

Level 33 Entertainment Brings the Scares Home for Halloween!

CASHBACK -- movie review by porfle

(NOTE:  This review was first posted at Bumscorner.com in 2006.)

CASHBACK (2006) is a strange combination of two things: a raucous comedy, and a sensitive journey through the romantic fantasy world of an emotionally-wounded young emo. 

Art college student Ben Willis (Sean Biggerstaff) is so introspective, artistic, and sensitive, in fact, that girls who gush over guys like that should be huddled around him with spoons, scarfing him down like a giant banana split.  But he's lost and lonely because he just broke up with his girlfriend, Suzy (Michelle Ryan), after sadly telling her he didn't think he could make her happy. 

Telling this out of the blue to the girl you love doesn't make much sense, but I suppose that, instinctively, Ben must have realized he'd just become the main character in a bittersweet slapstick romantic comedy-drama and needed to do something to jump-start the plot.

Suzy heaves a lamp at him and jumps into bed with another guy, driving Ben into an ever-darkening abyss of poignant emotional turmoil with the realization that Suzy's absence has rent a gaping wound filled with ever-aching despair into the very fabric of his agonized soul.

For awhile there, you sorta wish Ben would just grab a straight razor and put himself out of your misery, but he hangs in there long enough to make the life-altering decision to get a job working the night shift in a grocery store.  He does this mainly because extreme Suzy-related angst has made it impossible for him to sleep, and he needs to do something to pass that extra eight hours of waking time that have been tacked onto each day.  Travis Bickle drove a cab--Ben cleans up on aisle four.

The plot thickens as our butts inch inexorably toward the edges of our seats.  Ben meets and becomes enamored with a nice checkout girl named Sharon (Emilia Fox), and we breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they'll end up together and Ben will finally be over what's-er-name once and for all.  (It may sound like I'm giving too much away, but really--this ain't THE SIXTH SENSE.) 

Sure, they'll have to cutely get to know each other first, tentatively grow closer, and then have a falling out after which Sharon never wants to see him again, but the certainty that they'll get together again right in time for the fade-out is as vital an ingredient in the recipe for this kind of movie as eggs are to omelets. 

The raucous comedy omelets--sorry,  elements--which shoehorn themselves into all this dreamy romantic stuff are provided by Ben's coworkers, internet bicycle-daredevil Barry (Michael Dixon) and nerdy would-be ladies' man Matt (Michael Lambourne).  These guys have scooter races up and down the aisles when the boss isn't looking, lurk on the high shelves and taunt passersby from behind large packages of toilet paper, hurl merchandise at each other, and stick salamis out of their flies--anything to help get them through those interminable eight hours of their shifts. 

To top it all off, Ben even has a best friend named Sean (Shaun Evans) who is the standard sex-obsessed Don Juan who freely dispenses faulty relationship advice which more often than not results in drinks being hurled in his face.  These characters are amusing enough to allow the script to get as sappy as it wants to and still have something to goose us awake now and then.

Ben's boss, Jenkins (Stuart Goodwin), adds to the funny with his self-important buffoonery.  When he forces his employees to play a soccer (okay, "football") match against another store, the simple fact that they are incredibly incompetent and lose their asses off is kinda funny, but it's not all that funny--it ain't the football sequence from MASH. 

But when Brian suffers a nose-breaking, neck-spraining ball to the face, it gives Ben a good excuse to freeze time and go wandering around amidst the motionless tableaux of waxworks-like people, pondering the philosophical complexities of timelessness.

Oh, I forgot to tell you, didn't I?  Ben has become so introspective and intensely contemplative about time that he can freeze it and experience a single moment for as long as he wants.  It's a very romantic concept--it gives him all the time in the world to gaze at Sharon and draw endless sketches of her while dreamily soaking up her beauty with his eyes and thinking about how "love is wrapped in beauty and hidden away in between the seconds of your life." 

It also allows him to do exactly what I always wanted to do whenever I had the "freezing time" fantasy myself over the years, which is to go around taking women's clothes off, as he does during one sequence in the store.  But aside from the obvious vicarious thrill this conjures up,  there's a hushed, haunting surrealism to the scene that is very compelling. 

And after baring the naughty bits of several female customers, Ben begins to lovingly sketch them, because, as an artist, he appreciates the female form in a deeply artistic way.  This is where our versions of the fantasy differ, as mine have rarely included sketching. 

There's quite a bit of nakidity here for you nakidity fans--yes, this includes strippers--and even more when Ben flashes back to his childhood and the beginnings of his obsession with the female form.  These wistful recollections range from funny to genuinely moving, but my favorite is the one where he recalls the Swedish foreign exchange student that briefly lived with his family, as she strolls stark naked from the bathroom and up the stairs to her room.  ("I wanted to freeze the world so I could live in that moment for a week," he tells us, and I wouldn't mind spending a week's vacation there myself.)  It's a brief scene, but with DVD technology one is actually able to "freeze time" and intensely contemplate such moments--just like Ben does!  (Sketching is optional.) 

Sean Ellis' direction and Angus Hudson's cinematography are deft and imaginative throughout, especially in the surprising visual tricks he uses to link some of the scenes together.  One particularly good one shows Ben hanging up the phone after hearing some bad news about Suzy, then slowly drifting backward across the room and into his bedroom, which is situated in such a way that Ben is now being lowered onto his bed from above, where he goes right into the old "can't sleep" routine without missing a beat--all in one shot. 

The pace is obstinately slow, but if you're into the story you should make it to the end without any trouble.  Ben's extreme emo-ness, especially in the first half, would be simply intolerable if Ellis had chosen to load up the soundtrack with emo tunes as many other filmmakers would have--fortunately, he uses a variety of well-chosen classical pieces augmented by an original orchestral score by Guy Farley, and later on inserts a segment of one of my favorite Frankie Goes To Hollywood songs, "The Power of Love", at just the right moment.

The DVD includes the Oscar-nominated short film that was the basis for this feature.  It consists mainly of the sequence in which Ben freezes time in the supermarket, and is pretty much exactly the same footage used in the movie--so you don't get two versions of the same sequence to compare as you do with the short film "Some Call It A Sling Blade" and its later revision as a  pre-titles introduction to the feature, SLING BLADE.  The supermarket scene, isolated in this way and without all the extraneous stuff, takes on an added fascination and significance, and one can appreciate its strange beauty in a different light.  A "making-of" featurette shows CASHBACK's progression from Best Short Film at the Tribeca Film Festival to full-length feature.

CASHBACK is such an odd hybrid of diverse elements that you'll probably either throw up a little while watching it, or find yourself rather enjoying it.  I think it would be perfect for couples who like to read Harlequin romances and Penthouse Forum together, or switch channels back and forth between "Mad About You" and Skin-emax.  The fact that it's so well-made helps considerably.  And the snowflakes-frozen-in-time ending is so dreamily romantic that you'll either be captivated by it or sick to your stomach.  Or a little of both.  Which is a surreal feeling, let me tell you.

Buy it at Amazon.com

CASHBACK -- movie review by porfle

The Pre-Fab Four Return! "THE RUTLES:ANTHOLOGY"- Remastered in HD and 5.1 Audio!

THE RUTLES: ANTHOLOGY

THE RUTLES: ALL YOU NEED IS CASH

Remastered in HD and 5.1 Audio

Available November 19th in Canada and December 3 in the US on DVD/Blu-ray™ Combo Pack

LOS ANGELES, CA – The greatest rock mockumentary of all time makes its Blu-ray debut with The Rutles: Anthology releasing on Nov. 19 in Canada and Dec. 3 in the U.S. Led by a brand new high-definition restoration and sound mix of the Broadway Video classic All You Need is Cash, the package gives fans a sharper look at the perfect parody of The Beatles from Monty Python founding member Eric Idle.

Originally introduced by Idle in his post-Python BBC satire Rutland Weekend Television, All You Need Is Cash was brought to prime time in a 1978 TV special.   Produced by Saturday Night Live’s Lorne Michaels, directed by Gary Weis and featuring the original Not Ready For Prime Time Players, the film follows the epic rise and fall of the tight-trousered lads from Rutland as they hit the top of the pops and the heights of absurdity.
Bonus features on the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack include a new interview with Eric Idle, 2004’s sequel The Rutles 2: Can’t Buy Me Lunch and the original “Rutland Weekend” sketch from Saturday Night Live that aired in 1976 when Idle hosted the late night series. The SRP for The Rutles: Anthology is $29.98 in Canada and $24.98 in the U.S.

The Rutles are played by Eric Idle, Neil Innes, John Halsey and Ricky Fataar. Innes sound-a-likes “I Must Be in Love,” “Cheese & Onions” and “Ouch!” are so close to Lennon and McCartney that they are on the playlists of Beatle tribute bands today.

In Can’t Buy Me Lunch, celebrity artists, actors and musicians came forward to revisit and reflect on how The Rutles influenced them and the cultural landscape. Guest stars include: George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Bianca Jagger, Bill Murray, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Lorne Michaels, Carrie Fisher, Michael Palin, Paul Simon, Gary Shandling, David Bowie, Ron Wood, Steve Martin, Conan O’Brien, Salman Rushdie, Jimmy Fallon, Robin Williams and many more.

The Rutles: Anthology, distributed exclusively by Video Services Corp., is remixed and restored to all its glory with a soundtrack by Innes that’s never sounded so good. Years before This is Spinal Tap, The Rutles brought accuracy, lunacy and affection to the rock and roll parody genre, making the fake band almost as iconic as the real life Liverpool inspiration.

THE RUTLES: ANTHOLOGY: DVD/Blu-ray Combo Pack
Street Date: November 19, 2013 (Canada), December 3, 2013 (US)
Copyright: © 2013 Broadway Video Entertainment, Inc.
SRP $29.98 (Canada) $24.95 (US)
Selection Number: BRO2027
UPC Code: 7-78854-20279-5
Running Time: 130 minutes

About Video Services Corp
Founded in 1993 by former rock critic Jonathan Gross , Video Services Corp. is a leading independent film distributor with offices in Toronto and Los Angeles . With a vast catalogue strong in television, sports and comedy, some of VSC's releases include Comedy Now! Starring Russell Peters, Long Story Short from Colin Quinn and three seasons of the IFC hit sketchcom Portlandia.

About Broadway Video
Broadway Video Entertainment (BVE) is a global media and entertainment company led by Lorne Michaels, the creator and executive producer of "Saturday Night Live" and executive producer of “30 Rock,” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." More recently BVE produced "Portlandia" and “The Awesomes" and in 2014 will add “The Tonight Show” and "Late Night with Seth Meyers" to its production slate. BVE has several divisions focused on the creation, acquisition and distribution of content on a worldwide basis. The main parts of the company include: BVE's television and movie divisions, which produce some of the country's most popular TV programming and feature films; Broadway Video Enterprises, BVE's distribution arm, which creates brand extensions and distributes BV's library in over 170 countries; Broadway Video Ventures, BVE's investment and acquisition arm focused on emerging technology and media companies; Above Average Productions, a leading online comedy network and digital studio, Broadway Video Post Production, a state-of-the-art design and post production facility staffed by the industry's most creative visual and sound designers.

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"Jayne Mansfield's Car" Drives Onto Retail Shelves on Blu-ray Dec. 10th

“A TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO DIRECTING FOR BILLY BOB THORNTON.”
-  CraveOnline.com

“THE PERFORMANCES ARE FIRST RATE.”
-       NY Daily News

“NEAR PERFECT PERFORMANCES ACROSS THE BOARD”
-  TwitchFilm.com

CULTURES COLLIDE AND FAMILY TENSIONS RISE IN THE STAR-STUDDED ENSEMBLE FILM "JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR" FROM DIRECTOR BILLY BOB THORNTON

Available now On Demand and iTunes
 
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Anchor Bay Films announced today the Blu-ray™ and DVD release of JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR from Oscar® winning writer/director Billy Bob Thornton. The acclaimed comedy/drama stars Thornton and Oscar® winner Robert Duvall, along with John Hurt, Kevin Bacon and many more in this powerful story which sheds a light on family life. 

The Blu-ray™ and DVD heads to retail on December 10, 2013 with an SRP of $29.99 and $26.98 respectively.  The Blu-ray™ and DVD include Jayne Mansfield’s Car: Behind the Scenes featurette.

In what critics are calling his best work as writer/director since Sling Blade, Academy Award®-winner Billy Bob Thornton stars along with Oscar winner Robert Duvall, two time Oscar®-nominee John Hurt and Golden Globe®-winner Kevin Bacon, in this story of fathers and sons, wars and peace, and the turbulent time that changed America forever. It’s 1969 in a small Alabama town, and the death of a quirky clan’s long estranged wife and mother bring together two very different families for the funeral.

But do the scars of the past hide differences that will tear them apart or expose truths that could lead to the most unexpected collisions of all? Robert Patrick (Walk The Line), Ray Stevenson (“Dexter”), Katherine LaNasa (“Deception”) and Frances O’Connor (The Hunter) co-star in the acclaimed
comedy/drama where “the performances are first-rate” (NY Daily News).

About Anchor Bay Films
Anchor Bay Films is a division of Anchor Bay Entertainment and provides quality distribution with operations in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and offers distribution capabilities in other key territories.  Anchor Bay Films uniquely offers the creative community a fully integrated distribution capability on all platforms and an international solution extending beyond the United States.  The company focuses on a platform release strategy for its films with an eye toward maximizing their potential across all ancillary distribution platforms.  Upcoming theatrical releases include All is Bright starring Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd and Nothing Left to Fear, the first release from iconic rocker Slash’s production company Slasher Films.  Films in its library include the recent theatrical release of Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem starring Sheri Moon Zombie, Bruce Davison and genre favorite Ken Foree, 10 Years starring Channing Tatum and Rosario Dawson, the critically-acclaimed comedy City Island starring Andy Garcia and Solitary Man starring Michael Douglas as well as Kill the Irishman starring Ray Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken, Toronto Film Festival award-winner Beautiful Boy with Maria Bello and Michael Sheen and Cannes 2011 premiere Corman’s World.  Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

ACADEMY AWARD® and OSCAR® are the registered trademarks and servicemarks of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. All Rights Reserved.

JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR BLU-RAY™
Street date:                  December 10, 2013
Pre-book:                     November 13, 2013
Catalog #:                    BD60228
UPC:                            01313260228880
Run time:                     122 Minutes
Rating:                         R
SRP:                            $29.99
Format:                        Widescreen Presentation
Audio:                          Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:                      English, Spanish

JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR DVD
Street date:                  December 10, 2013
Pre-book:                     November 13, 2013
Catalog #:                    AF60226
UPC:                            01313260226480
Run time:                     122 Minutes
Rating:                         R
SRP:                            $26.98
Format:                        Widescreen Presentation
Audio:                          Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:                      English, Spanish

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"Jayne Mansfield's Car" Drives Onto Retail Shelves on Blu-ray Dec. 10th