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22 December 2023
Here\'s what we\'re reading, watching, loving, and hating. Click on the title to buy it on Amazon. Then buy some beer and invite us over to watch it.
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ABDULLAH IBRAHIM: A BROTHER WITH PERFECT TIMING (Music Video Distributors)
If you’re expecting an interesting story about an interesting man who makes beautiful jazz music rooted in traditional South African rhythms, buy this DVD. If you’re expecting it to be DVD quality and not have all the wear and warbles of an old VHS tape that’s been in your basement for 40 years, buy something else.
THE GRADE: A for Abdullah, C for poor quality
- Vinnie Baggadonuts
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CAKE BOY (Kung Fu Films)
I’d like to see Ebert and Groper try and sum this one up: a master baker, an abusive girlfriend, punk rock darlings No Use For A Name, a paralyzed love interest, and a cameo list including Kyle Gass, Bob Odenkirk, and the incomparable Brian Posehn. Writer Warren Fitzgerald’s story has the potential for comedic brilliance, but it’s too often interrupted by awkward moments that seem like they’re trying to be serious. The D.I.Y. DVD is loaded with extra features, though, including trailers for other Kung Fu films that will pique your curiosity.
THE GRADE: C
- Vinnie Baggadonuts
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DANGER MOUSE: THE COMPLETE SEASONS 1 & 2 (A&E/Thames)
My uncle used to make fun of me for watching this cartoon because it had a talking hamster with floating eyebrows. Well, when you\'re a kid you tend to like a lot of stupid stuff. However, I still enjoy this quirky show. The limited animation can be rather dull at points, but the simple character design and skewed horizon of photocopied buildings are still rather charming. This will definitely still be enjoyed by grownup fans.
THE GRADE: B+
- Jeremy Scott
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It’s a classic story as old as time: a Vietnam veteran/playboy millionaire survives naked women gunfights and international intrigue while investigating a Communist plot to take over the world. Pure Seventies exploitation fun.
THE GRADE: B-
- Night Watchman
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GUNSLINGER GIRL (FUNimation)
Gunslinger Girl is pretty amazing. I really dig the great quality of the animation style. Gunslinger Girl tells the story of little girls who, in order to survive, are taken into a program that gives them cyborg bodies. With their new superhuman abilities, they become highly-trained assassins! The action sequences-- though scarce-- are really impressive. The episodes mostly focus on the strange relationship between the girls and their professional teachers. If you liked the movie The Professional, you might like Gunslinger Girl.
THE GRADE: A
- Das Bork
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NO WAY BACK (Troma)
Campbell Scott’s first starring role was in this supernatural version of Deliverance, minus the anal sex.
THE GRADE: B-
- Night Watchman
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I don’t think Paul McCartney will ever die, and this DVD proves it. Paul McCartney In Red Square not only documents his spirited performance in Red Square, but also includes a concert from St. Petersburg, and an interesting peppering of reporting, interviews, and behind-the-scenes goodies. Enthusiasm abounds and it’s hard to tell who’s more excited: McCartney or the audience.
THE GRADE: A
- Fphatty Lamar
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ROCKERS - 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (Music Video Distributors)
\"Early-Eighties Jamaican\" might be the last three words you’d ever expect to use to describe the films you rent and purchase, but Rockers is worth trying. Especially the 25th Anniversary Edition. With a cast of reggae music legends (Gregory Isaacs, Burning Spear, Big Youth) and a soundtrack to match, Rockers tells the age-old tale of the oppressed getting an upper hand on their oppressor. Beefed up with commentaries, director interviews, music videos, and poster galleries, the DVD is also subtitled, so you can make out what they’re saying in that unmistakable Jamaican patois. And fear not-- the included glossary will help your English ass translate proper.
THE GRADE: A
- Vinnie Baggadonuts
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SHAKESPEARE IN AND OUT (Troma)
A funny mockumentary in the vein of Orgazmo and Boogie Nights. We follow a young actor who dreams of doing Shakespeare... until he makes it to Hollywood and can only find work in the porn industry. His life spirals down the drain as he gets hooked on sex and drugs. Can the lure of the bard bring him back to his true love before it’s too late?
THE GRADE: A
- Night Watchman
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SHOUT ABOUT MOVIES: VOL. 1 (Hasbro)
Boy, did I have fun! This well-designed game can be played by any moron! Some questions are tough however, and good response time is needed (pot smokers be warned!). You don’t need anything except a TV, DVD player, and two teams (no scorekeeping or gameboards!). Even though I enjoyed playing, it’s hard to avoid the game’s hefty price tag. Each volume has three games that cannot be played more than once in order to prevent repeated questions. I recommend this to someone who is having a party, and someone who likes to spend money. If you are cheap, like me, find it used or look for it at a rental place (which I doubt is possible).
THE GRADE: B+ (It would have been an \"A\", if not for the price.)
- Hellkat
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STORIES FROM THE WAR ON HOMOSEXUALITY (Docurama)
Wow! I\'ve never been more ashamed to be straight! This three-disc set from documentary filmmaker Arthur Dong explores the world of homosexuality and the public\'s affinity for treating gays like total shit. Coming Out Under Fire is about our government\'s sordid past of labeling homosexuals as \"mentally ill\" or \"sex perverts\". Family Fundamentals is about religious families that have gay family members, and how they either disown them or try and force them into being straight. And Licensed To Kill features interviews with convicted murderers that specifically hunted down gays to either rob, harass, or kill them. Never mind the fact that most of the guys in prison for killing gays are gay themselves. Morons! Anyway, the set is brutally honest, sometimes hard to watch, and depressing as fuck. It will drain you, make you think, and contemplate giving up on humanity. And yes, that\'s exactly why you should buy it.
THE GRADE: A
- Wayne Chinsang
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THE FLAMING LIPS - THE FEARLESS FREAKS (Shout Factory)
Oh, The Fearless Freaks!
Oh, The Fearless Freaks!
I want to watch you again and again!
A film that seems so genuine!
Oh, The Fearless Freaks!
Oh, The Fearless Freaks!
The Flaming Lips life is seen!
Portrayed to be just like you and me!
Oh, The Fearless Freaks!
Oh, The Fearless Freaks!
How I enjoyed your tales and tunes!
An air of inspiration and, other times, gloom.
Oh, The Fearless Freaks!
Oh, The Fearless Freaks!
A film by Brad Beesly, and of The Flaming Lips!
An A-list movie Hellkat will likely never forget!
THE GRADE: A+
- Hellkat
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THE SEX PISTOLS - THE GREAT ROCK \'N\' ROLL SWINDLE (Sony Music Entertainment)
The phony documentary of how the worst band in the world made their way to the top. This is a cult classic from 1980 that features performances by The Sex Pistols, a punk rock midget, and the most absurd storylines. It\'s weird like the Ramones\' Rock \'N\' Roll High School.
THE GRADE: B
- Sal Swayzo
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THE TOMORROW PEOPLE - SEASONS ONE AND TWO (A&E/Thames)
I remember this show being on Nickelodeon when I was a kid in the early Eighties. I didn\'t like it, and wished Mr. Wizard or a cartoon would come on. It\'s a British show about teenagers who are a higher life form and have special powers. Teenagers that think they\'re better than everyone else... this is science fiction?!? The show does have some interesting concepts, but it gets buried in poor dialogue and silly effects. Still, it\'s good for a nostalgic viewer, I guess.
THE GRADE: C
- Jeremy Scott
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TIME BARBARIANS (Troma)
Although we have to wade through 20 minutes of hair metal barbarian sword fights before we finally get to see some naked barbarian wenches, the wait is worth it as they went to porn star pro Victoria Paris to play one of them. Casio keyboards provide the soundtrack to this He-Man/Beastmaster sword-and-sorcery fest, made when they made them best: 1980. The hair is huge, and so is the cheese factor.
THE GRADE: B+
- Night Watchman
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ZIG ZAG (Adhouse Books)
I love J. Chris Campbell. So often we get crap sent here for review that is sub-par. Or sub-sub-par. Or sometimes even more subs than that. Anyway, Campbell isn\'t sub-par at all, and his newest book-- Zig Zag-- shows us. Clean and simple line and shape work is what Campbell does best, along with great storylines and perfect pacing in telling them. (Any comic that has an entire story about attic bugs is fine by me.) I sincerely tend to forget that good comic books ever get made anymore. But Chris gave me one hell of a wake-up call with Zig Zag. Pick up a copy.
THE GRADE: A
- Wayne Chinsang
artid
3202
Old Image
7_11_reviewlook.jpg
issue
vol 7 - issue 11 (jul 2005)
section
entertainmental