Ever heard of a group called Sangre? Me neither. The quintet, hailing from SoCal, are set to release their latest album on the indie Beta Records. To help get the word out they have just released a video for the song "Can't Feel." I cannot say I like the video all that much, it is simple and reveals a low-budget. I think the song would have benefitted from a concert performance based video. Still, the video may be lacking, the song is quite good. Their singer, Henry, says that this is one of their lighter songs that demonstrates a different side of the band. It is the only one I have heard, so I cannot compare. Visit their MySpace page for more info, and below for the video.
Grace is Gone is a movie that looks absolutely heartbreaking. I am sure it is going to be a tough one to watch. It is the story of a father (John Cusack) whose wife dies in Iraq. He is now faced with the unenviable task of telling their two daughters the terrible news. I missed this ont he big screen, but look forward to catching it on DVD. It is coming to DVD on May 27, 2008 and will include an interview with director James Strause and John Cusack, a look at the real world inspiration, and a look at TAPS - the organization that provides support for peoplethat have lost loved ones to war.
The Dead Zone: The Final Season - DVD Cover, Stills
Earlier this year, The Dead Zone and The 4400 were unceremoniously cancelled by the USA network. Fortunately, both series will live on with their respective DVD releases. Now, I was, at best, a sporadic viewer, but I liked the show. Anthony Michael Hall alwasys did a fine job in the lead. Lest you wonder about his future plans, he will next be seen on the big screen in The Dark Knight. Anyway, this final season is set to arrive on June 3rd, 2008. This season saw Hall's Johnny Smith dealing with new visions as well as the death of his friend, Sheriff Walt Bannerman, and the investigations into potential corruption. It is not the best season, but well worth watching and a must for series fans.
This one looks a little weird. It won the audience award at Sundance, so that has to count for something. It is a coming of age story set in 1994, with the central character, Luke (Josh Peck), spending his las tsummer before college selling frugs and seeing a shrink (Ben Kingsley). The trailer looks suitably quirky. The cast also includes Famke Janssen, Olivia Thirlby, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Method Man. The film was written and directed by Jonathan Levine (also of the as-yet-unreleased All the Boys Love Mandy Lane).
It appears that some metal fans showed just how rude they can be. At the Gigantour stop in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, some incidents very nearly stopped the show in its tracks. As reported at Blabbermouth.com, some idiot tossed a bottle of water, beer, or some fluid at the soundboard, sufficiently messing it up. As if to make things worse, someone apparently thought it would be cool to throw something at Dave Mustaine. To cap the night, a couple of fans got up on stage and ran over to Dave. Now, this sounds like an awful crowd (due to the minority of idiots, not labeling everyone) and I would not have blamed Dave at all if he chose to stop playing, but he did, and it apparently was a tight show. Anyway, someone caught some of Dave addressing the crowd on their cell phone, audio is weak, but check it out:
Way back in the late 1980's Digby Pearson started up a record label called Earache. If all you knew about the label was the name, would you be able to guess what kind of music they released? Come on, I am sure you have a guess. No? They became most identified with death metal, although there were also hardcore acts thrown in the mix, and later more radio-friendly acts like Adema were introduced. Earache also had the occasional genre oddity like Dub War, who specialize in reggae-metal, included. To this day, Earache is a thriving record label, working with distribution through Caroline Records. Their upcoming releases include new albums from Deicide and Carcass Among the labels releases is this video collection that originally saw the light of say back in 1999. It was a VHS release (DVD was still pretty young at the time), and collected a number of clips from bands on the label. It was a pretty barebones release with simple title cards in between the videos and limited credits. Now fans of Earache bands and the original VHS can relive the past with this 52 minute DVD.
My first impressions of the DVD are not all that favorable. Before you even get to the videos, the main menu has a cheap look and feel to it. There are no bonus features. Considering that fact, I was surprised to find that there was a 5.1 audio mix joining the original stereo. Frankly, I am sure they could have gotten a hold of at least a few of the included bands for some retrospective interview or something, anything.
Once you start the DVD, the cheap feel continues as this looks to be a straight port from a second or third generation VHS tape. The images lack definition; there is virtually no sharpness, and it just does not look all that good. For those fans hoping for a remastering or any sort of cleanup, you will need to keep waiting. As for the audio, it suffers as well, with little definition, often sounding muddied. You will probably be waiting a long time, as I doubt this will see another release for a long time, if ever.
DVD issues aside, one thing that becomes abundantly apparent is that the bands were working with very low budgets. Seriously, some of these videos are pretty corny looking and revolve around band performances in one setting or another. Not that this is a bad thing, but it is definitely interesting to see where they were coming from back in the day.
Funny thing, as I look over the list of videos and as I watched the collection, I discovered that while I am certainly aware of most of the bands, there are very few that I have ever actually listened to. To that end, the only song I can claim 100% that I have listened to before is Entombed's "Wolverine Blues." It was the only Entombed album I ever picked up, and I really like it. Funny thing is that the only reason I picked it up originally was because they had permission from Marvel Comics to have the X-Men's Wolverine on the cover.
Now, let's take a quick tour through the videos:
GODFLESH - "Crush My Soul" (from "Selfless") This is a simple video featuring the band performing against red and black backdrops. It opens with a cock fight, and features a nearly naked man being strapped to a table. I cannot say that it does much for me, but the industrial guitar rhythm became somewhat hypnotic in its repitition.
DUB WAR - "Strike It" (from "Pain") This caught me off-guard. I can honestly say I did not expect reggae-metal. The opening bassline reminded me of something by Urban Dance Squad, but cannot recall which song. This video is pure performance with the band plying near the river in a city (I believe it is NYC). There is not a lot to the video, but I have to admit to really liking the song, it gets under the skin and is near impossible not to groove to.
ENTOMBED - "Wolverine Blues" (from "Wolverine Blues") Opening with the Wolverine album cover "Wolverine Blues" quickly moves to the individual members playing with obviously blue-screened backgrounds with what appear to be Video Toaster effects to transition between them.The song is heavy, brutal, and accompanies a very bad video.
CATHEDRAL - "Hopkins Witchfinder General" (from "Carnival Bizarre") This video is a bit more showy than what has come before and incorporates video clips from the Vincent Price movie Witchfinder General. The video has the band performing with dead tree cutouts in the back and scantily clad "witches" dancing around. The singer looks the transitionary figure between Ozzy Osbourne and The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins. I like the song, and the video is a throwback to the 80's.
NAPALM DEATH - "Greed Killing" (from "Diatribes") Quickly changing gears we jump into the death metal of Napalm Death with a video that seems to be a bit more ambitious than the earlier entries on the disk. It still centers on band performance, but has them being observed, as if in an asylum, by strange be-goggled spectators.
MISERY LOVES CO. - "My Mind Still Speaks" (from "Misery Loves Co.") Prior to this video, I had neither seen nor heard of this band befire, The sound has a bit more of a hardcore edge to itm while still being metal. It, again, centers on band performance, but it weaves in a story of child abuse.
AT THE GATES - "Blinded By Fear" (from "Slaughter Of The Soul") Music picks up in speed and intensity with this band performance video. The band is playing in what looks like an old warehouse. I like this. It is in your face and hard to ignore.
CARCASS - "No Love Lost" (from "Heartwork") Carcass slows down the tempo, but seems to up the evil quotient. This guys voice is quite creepy and makes my skin crawl a little. Voice aside, the chugging music drew me in to the performance.
PITCHSHIFTER - "Underachiever" (from "Infotainment") Stepping away from death metal, this band introduces industrial elements, reminding me of Fear Factory. The video is interesting in how it has some of the lens blocked off to simulate watching a television set through a television set while performing a song about the effects of television and media manipulation. This is a good entry, I should look into these guys a bit more.
SLEEP - "Dragonaut" (from "Sleeps Holy Mountain") A closeup of an amp and a groovy bassline introduce me to Sleep. No, not actual sleep, just the band Sleep. Shot in grainy black and white (although some of the grain may be a result of the poor transfer, the actual intent cannot be discerned), "Dragonaut" has a strong Black Sabbath vibe to it as it grooves along with some evil sounding undertones.
BRUTAL TRUTH - "Godplayer" (from "Need To Control") Industrial metal takes over in this low budget science fiction infected video. Notable for being founded by former Anthrax bassist Dan Lilker, this song lives up to the bands name, it certainly is brutal music, although I found the video to be kind of boring.
FUDGE TUNNEL - "Rudge With AJ" (from "The Complicated Futility Of Ignorance") You have to love that band name. The video follows a bald man in an orange jumpsuit walking around in between band performance clips and sped up images of moving through traffic. There is nothing terribly exciting to be found here.
MEATHOOK SEED - "Famine Sector" (from "Embedded") This is very nearly a straigh up live video. It is compiled primarily of live concert footage with plenty of flashing lights. THis features the worst audio of the DVD, to the point that it was ruined because I was unable to get any idea of what they were doing.
Bottomline. If you are a fan of these bands, it would be worth picking up, but for the casual fan, there are other collections that would be more worth your time (like the Metalmania sets). I would have really appreciated some sort of remastering to make it look and sound at least a little bit better. I understand that being a low interest title, the expense was likely not a priority.
Stargate Infinity: The Complete Series - Cover Art
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Back in 1994, Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich created a film called Stargate. It proved to a hit and would go on to inspire a spinoff series that ran for 10 seasons, which has its own spinoff, now in its fourth season. As if that wasn't enough, it also inspired an animated series that premiered in 2002. That animated series is now on DVD. The series takes place well into the future, the Stargate program is declassified and their is an open alien presence on Earth. I missed this when it was on, and look forward to checking out this release. The 4 DVD set incoudes bonus material including concept art, animated character models, and a Stargate effect test. Below is the cover art for the set:
Genius Products is set to release Come Drink with Me on May 27. 2008 under the Dragon Dynasty imprint. This is a great line of martial arts films, so if you like old school kung fu, you will want to get your hands on anything with this banner. This film, directed by King Hu in 1966, stars Cheng Pei Pei (best known in the West for her role as Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) as Golden Swallow, a special agent who infiltrates a gang of bandits, along with Drunken Cat, to rescue her brother. The film also features an early appearance from Jackie Chan. The DVD will have a number of features, including commentary with Cheng Pei Pei and Bey Logan, an interview with Tsui Hark about King Hu, and more. Below is the DVD cover art and a number of stills.
Genius Products continues their Dragon Dynasty releases with the upcoming Heroes of the East. I have really liked what they have been doing with these titles, sort of picking up where Fox left off with their martial arts releases five or six years ago. I have not seen this one, but considering the quality of the other films in the line, I am willing to give it a shot. Well, that and the fact that it features Gordon "Shaolin Master Killer" Liu. Directedby Lau Kar Leung, this movie tells the story of a kung fu master who mistakenly insults the family of his Japanese bride. To get back in good graces with the family, he agrees to a series of duels with Japanese ninjas. This film has also been released under the title Shaolin Challenges Ninja. The DVD will be released on May 27, 2008 and contain a number of features, including commentary with Bey Logan, an interview with Gordon Liu, a featurette on Lau Kar Leung, and a featurette on the weapons used. Below is the cover art and a few stills.
Earlier this year Patricia Wiggins debut feature arrived on the big screen. While it was a hit at the 2007 Sundance festival, it never received a very wide theatrical release. That's a shame too, as after seeing the trailer I really wanted to see it. It is the story of a mother and son embarking on a journey to reunite and the adventures they have along the way. You see, in order to provide a better future, young Carlito's mother works illegally in America. Circumstances spur the two to try to find each other. It sounds like a simple premise, but the trailer promises a touching story. It will arrive on DVD on June 17, 2008. I will have to catch up with it then . The DVD includes the theatrical version of the film presented in Wide Screen (1.85:1 aspect ratio) with English, French and Spanish subitites. Bonus content includes: “The Murals of “Under the Same Moon” Featurette and The Making of “La Misma Luna” Featurettes. Below is the cover art:
It was a sad day when Matt Barlow left Iced Earth a few years back. Being a fan of the band, I had come to love his voice and the way it fit the music so perfectly. He was replaced by Ripper Owens (formerly Winter's Bane and Judas Priest). With Owens, Iced Earth released a re-recording of the "Something Wicked Trilogy" as well as the full length "Framing Armageddon - Something Wicked Part I." Now, Owens is gone and Barlow is back. All is right with the world. Anyway, the band has begun performing live again, and there is some fan shot footage of "Watching Over Me" from May 11, 2008 at the Rock Hard Festival at the Gelsenkirchen Amphitheatre in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. It is about as good as cell-phone footage can get, and they sound great.
Box Office Update 5/9-5/11: Iron Man Outraces Speed Racer
"I am Iron Man." With those fateful words the fate of a new franchise was sealed. Last weekend, Iron Man got the summer season off to a roaring start with a take approaching $100 million. This weekend it took in an impressive $51 million, pushing its gross north of $175 million. Next week will see it become the first film of 2008 to cross the $200 million mark. Its success is well deserved as it is a great comic book adaptation, and a wonderfully paced action film. It's success this week has kept it securely in the top spot; however, it will see much more potent competition next week. Just remember not to let new competition stop you from seeing it a second time. It deserves it. Surprisingly, the second place movie is What Happens in Vegas and not the expected Speed Racer. Anyway, Vegas is just the next in the long line of forgettable romantic comedies. I will say that it is better than last week's Made of Honor, but that doesn't say much. It stars Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher as the mix-matched couple destined for, well, go see the movie if you don't already know how it ends. The genre is stagnant, and this doesn't help matters. I suspect it will be forgotten relatively quickly and soon be relegated to the cheap bins at retailers around the nation.
Speed Racer was expected to open somewhere between $30 and $40 million. Coming out of Sunday, the studio predicted just over $20 million, but the actuals revealed that it just barely squeaked past $18.5 million. With this disappointing opening weekend, visions of a new franchise have quickly dissipated. It is a shame, the movie is actually very enjoyable, it is like Willy Wonka's factory exploded onto the screen in a shower of kinetic energy. Yes, I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but the film induces that sort of a reaction. It is filled with a lot of flash and a little substance, easily inducing a child-like atmosphere. See it, enjoy it, tell your friends. I know, it is a hard sell, the advertising was rather weak, and the need questionable, but there is no arguing with the outcome.
Among the remaining returnees, the box office take was relatively flat, with only Prom Night suffering a dip north of 50%, ending with a total barely edging out the superior Redbelt for the anchor position. Forgetting Sarah Marshall showed the strongest hold, dipping just 36%. I must admit to being pleased with the performance of this one, it is funny, touching, and an all around excellent film.
Next week will see just one new entry to the national stage, and it is sure to be a big one (wait a minute, didn't I say that about Speed Racer last week?). The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is set to be unleashed, looking to unseat Iron Man and get the drop on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which opens on May 22nd.
Two movies dropped off the top ten this week: 21 (12) and 88 Minutes (15).
This Week
Last Week
Title
Wknd Gross
Overall
Week in release
1
1
Iron Man
$51,190,629
$177,825,024
2
2
N
What Happens in Vegas
$20,172,474
$20,172,474
1
3
N
Speed Racer
$18,561,337
$18,561,337
1
4
2
Made of Honor
$8,116,323
$26,791,494
2
5
3
Baby Mama
$6,225,790
$40,836,370
3
6
5
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
$3,837,240
$50,781,745
4
7
4
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
$3,106,424
$30,667,308
3
8
6
The Forbidden Kingdom
$2,169,323
$48,530,104
4
9
7
Nim's Island
$1,463,622
$44,395,857
6
10
8
Prom Night
$1,012,986
$42,785,107
5
Box Office Predictions Recap Well, I got a couple positions right and a bunch of my gross guesses were real close. That counts for something right? However, there is one glaring miscue in my guesstimates. While I was only off by one position, my gross prediction was rather gross. I sort of knew that the film was going to be a tough sell, but I still thought there would have been a good turnout for it, even if only for opening weekend. Speed Racer stumbled out of the blocks and failed to come anywhere near my prediction. Now, there is always next week.
Welcome back! Well, to some of you, anyway. To the rest of you, glad you decided to stop by and I hope that this humble column helps you navigate the stacks of new releases each week. My goal is to point you toward titles of interest and warn you away from those films that seek to do nothing but leech away your time and give you nothing in return.
This week brings an eclectic selection of films ranging from unrated horror films to classic Westerns and caper films. On top of that we get a new release of some classic action/adventure flicks and a couple of flicks from earlier this year. I know there are a few here that I am looking forward to checking out, as well as some that I am eager to see for the first time. Read on and see if any strike your fancy. Frontier(s). This is my top pick this week for no reason other than I want to like it. I really do. Unfortunately, it will probably end going the other way, but I am going to be optimistic. This horror film was originally slated to be a part of the 2007 After Dark Horrorfest, but they could not get the R rating needed to be a participant, so it got a limited theatrical release last weekend and now arrives on DVD. This is the debut feature from Xavier Gens (who went on to do the lousy Hitman flick). This film centers on a gang of thieves who flee Paris only to hole up in an inn run by neo-Nazis. The trailers make it look like some bloody fun! (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection. This box set is just the packaging of the three Indy films that are being released for the first time individually. There are some new extras, although i have not seen a reason to change from the original box set, besides this set does not include the fourth disk of extras. Anyway, if you don't have them, now you can pick and choose which ones you want. I love all three, so there is my recommendation. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
The Great Debaters. This is a good film, although it is hampered by a sense of familiarity and an air of self-importance. If nothing else, this is worth seeing for the captivating performance by Jurnee Smollett. It is the story of a debate team from an all-black school that goes on to do battle with a white school. Sounds simplistic, but it isn't. It is definitely worth spending some time with. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
Fox Western Classics (Rawhide, The Gunfighter, Garden of Evil). There is a pretty big selection of Westerns being released this week, this is just one example. Now, I have never been the biggest fan of the genre, mostly because I have never given it much of a chance. With all of the titles being released (or re-released) this week, I should probably give some of them a chance. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
Untraceable. I had hoped that this would prove to be an intense thriller. By the time the film was halfway over, I had all but given up on that hope. It became quickly apparent that the movie was attempting to show something beyond what it was actually showing. Make sense? What I am trying to say is that Untraceable is more about what it reflects of our own society than what it is actually showing on the screen. It is more concept than execution. It is worth checking out, but it is not all that it could have been. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
Mad Money. Looking for a fun and witty heist film? Well, leave this one on the shelf and move on down the line. The film may be categorized as a caper/comedy, but it does not deliver on either half of the term. The caper is uninteresting and the comedy is nearly non-existent. It is a shame, too, since the general idea, and the cast, headlined by Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, and Katie Holmes, would seem to hold a lot of promise. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
Stargate Infinity: The Complete Series. Who would have thought that the film Stargate would inspire two television series plus an animated series? Not I. I am certainly glad it did. Unfortunately, I did not catch this when it was on television, but I look forward to catching up. This animated outing looks pretty good. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
Saturday Night Live: The Complete Third Season. I have seen part of the second season set and can say that any of these sets will be worth it. The cast is funny, the skits are funny, the guests are great, what more can you ask for? These sets make it fun to go back to when the show was all fun. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
The Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly Collection (On the Town, Anchors Aweigh, Take Me Out to the Ball Game). In addition to all of the Westerns, there are a ton of Sinatra releases as well. This three movie set covers a few of the musicals with, duh, Gene Kelly. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
Youth Without Youth. Francis Ford Coppola's latest film did not get that large of a release to theaters, where it received widely mixed notices. It is the story of a man who finds himself growing younger. That is about all I know about it, but I am interested in seeing it. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
The Rat Pack Ultimate Collector's Edition (Ocean's 11, Robin and the 7 Hoods, 4 for Texas, Sergeants 3). To go along with the Gene Kelly set is this one featuring the rest of the Rat Pack. Also, like Westerns, I have not seen any of these. Sounds like the perfect time! These titles are also being released individually.
The Cottage. Comedy/horror starring Andy Serkis (Gollum from LOTR) and Doug Bradley (Hellraiser's Pinhead). It concerns a botched kidnapping that brings the kidnappers face to face with a psycho farmer. Sounds like fun, no? (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
Korn: Live at Montreux 2004. As a long time Korn fan, I really liked this video. The DVD is pretty bare bones, with nothing in the way of extras. Still, it is available pretty cheap, so it is definitely worth picking up. I also believe that it is the last recorded concert of the original line-up. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
Botched. Set in Russia, this is the story of a botched heist, where a professional thief comes into contact with crazy hitmen, serial killers, and insane hostages. Sounds like some more fun! (BUY, RENT, SKIP)
Finnish metal act Children of Bodom have released their latest video. The clip is for the title track from their latest LP, Blooddrunk. It is a performance based vid, and it's pretty good. There is nothing special to really make it stand apart, but watching them perfor
Way back in the late 1980's Digby Pearson started up a record label called Earache. If all you knew about the label was the name, would you be able to guess what kind of music they released? Come on, I am sure you have a guess. No? They became most identified with death metal, although there were also hardcore acts thrown in the mix, and later more radio-friendly acts like Adema were introduced. Earache also had the occasional genre oddity like Dub War, who specialize in reggae-metal, included. To this day, Earache is a thriving record label, working with distribution through Caroline Records. Their upcoming releases include new albums from Deicide and Carcass
"I am Iron Man." With those fateful words the fate of a new franchise was sealed. Last weekend, Iron Man got the summer season off to a roaring start with a take approaching $100 million. This weekend it took in an impressive $51 million, pushing its gross north of $175 million. Next week will see it become the first film of 2008 to cross the $200 million mark. Its success is well deserved as it is a great comic book adaptation, and a wonderfully paced action film. It's success this week has kept it securely in the top spot; however, it will see much more potent competition next week. Just remember not to let new competition stop you from seeing it a second time. It deserves it.
Welcome back! Well, to some of you, anyway. To the rest of you, glad you decided to stop by and I hope that this humble column helps you navigate the stacks of new releases each week. My goal is to point you toward titles of interest and warn you away from those films that seek to do nothing but leech away your time and give you nothing in return.