Tag: DVD Review

Playing in Yakuza Hell is Dangerous, a DVD review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

why-dont-you-play-in-hell-posterForget trying to get praise from Quentin Tarantino, filmmaker Takashi Miike might want to put his support into Shion Sono’s (Suicide Club, Love Exposure) action comedy Why Don’t You Play in Hell? (地獄でなぜ悪い) that will be arriving in video stores and video on demand January 28th.

This over-the-top gonzo madcap film features Hirata (Hiroki Hasegawa) as an aspiring guerilla style filmmaker intent on making a masterpiece ala Bruce Lee’s Game of Death with his film club. Sasaki (Tak Sakaguchi) is cast into the yellow jump-suit leading role, and Kill Bill this movie is not. To make a film within a film about two feuding Yakuza clans is a fun approach to see how Hirata’s movie crew stumble into a gang war. To see what transpires next is hilarious, like it was lifted from a Japanese cartoon, and the fallout is not without some classic moments taken from traditional theater.
Continue reading “Playing in Yakuza Hell is Dangerous, a DVD review”

Justice League: Throne of Atlantis DVD Review

Justice_League_-_Throne_of_AtlantisThe Justice League is quite literally a fish out of water in Throne of Atlantis. This animated product was released January 27 and it continues in the world of DC Comics’ New 52. A bit of knowledge from the previous film, Justice League: War, helps establish a story arc that will span several films and just what Wonder Woman means about the Justice League being gods might see the light of day by the end of the year.

With this story’s focus on introducing Arthur Curry (voiced by Matt Lanter) as Aquaman, the rest of the heroes appearance really feels unimportant. Cyborg (Shemar Moore), Batman (Jason O’Mara), Superman (Jerry O’Connell) and crew are more like bit characters on a tale about who shall rule the seven seas. When a power struggle threatens the peace, it’s only the sea dwellers who will be concerned with how it will spill into a complete civil war. When Black Manta (Harry Lennix) is seen in cahoots with Orm, also known as Ocean Master (Sam Witwer), just what’s going on means somebody is pulling the strings.

Continue reading “Justice League: Throne of Atlantis DVD Review”

Unwrapping The Boxtrolls, A Blu-ray/DVD Review

91geiQgmvFL._SL1500_
Available on AmazonThe Boxtrolls

Studio Laika’s The Boxtrolls is a very bourgeois film. Unless viewers know something about how European nations historically treated the lower class, some aspects of the tale will feel alien. Some explanation is offered in the home video release’s director’s commentary, but for the most part, the point of the bonus material is to show how much work was put into this adaptation of Alan Snow’s children’s novel, “Here Be Monsters!”

The story takes place in the fictional country of Norvenia rather than some real world. Anyone who has studied Western Civilization knows how some growing cities saw revolt when one social class chastised another. As a result, this film examines the problems facing the town of Cheesebridge. A baby is lost, and Archibald Snatcher (wonderfully voiced by Ben Kingsley) blames the trolls! Those who fear them stay safe in their domiciles, while the monsters and a human boy named Eggs (Isaac Hempstead Wright) skirt the city at night. These night crawlers scavenge for food and other sundries to make their life underground possible.

Continue reading “Unwrapping The Boxtrolls, A Blu-ray/DVD Review”

The Timeless Appeal of Secret Agent Man, a DVD Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

SecretAgent(DangerMan)_Complete_TMG

There can only be one Secret Agent Man (aka Danger Man in the UK) and that’s Paul Drake (played by Patrick McGoohan), an operative who started his career at NATO. Sorry James Bond, but you are more of a super spy for the Crown than a covert ops officer. When considering the producers of this movie franchise first approached McGoohan to play role of Bond in the very first film, Dr. No, and he declined, this fine actor had no regrets. He believed that he had a social responsibility to audiences. The television medium can be like a “third parent” to many a young viewer and this actor’s goal is to provide a good moral compass to anyone who watches the shows he’s in. When looking at the life and times of James Bond, some might think that it’s cool to like him, a Casanova. McGoohan thought otherwise.

Producer/director Ralph Smart created a wonderful television show to spotlight McGoohan’s talents in Danger Man. The stories were realistic scenarios that edged close to what current cold war sentimentality were like back then. To see Drake in conflict with his own superiors showed that he was not going to violate his own sense of principles. Drake’s persona is simply grounded in humility. His experiences with the female persuasion was met with occasional disdain, especially in the early episodes, and the trust must be earned if he’s to ally with them.

Continue reading “The Timeless Appeal of Secret Agent Man, a DVD Review”

Tick, Tock; Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart, A DVD Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

jack-et-la-mecanique-du-coeur
Original Movie Poster

Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart (Jack et la mécanique du cœur) is finally getting a limited American theatrical presentation come September 24th, with a DVDThe Boxtrolls and Blu-ray release from Shout! Factory quickly following. Fans of French CGI/animated cinema can finally see what’s next after such hits like A Monster In Paris (2011) and The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec (2010)The Boxtrolls.

With this tale, the emphasis is with a musical drama that’s stylized in the same vein as Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! It’s mythic quality comes from the surreal magic invoked by the fact that a life can be saved by inserting mechanical parts into a dying human body. But unless the survivor abides by certain rules, life cannot last forever. Endless love, for that matter, also is not without some caveats.

Continue reading “Tick, Tock; Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart, A DVD Review”

Evaluating The Yoda Chronicles Trilogy, DVD Review & More

lego-star-wars-yoda-chronicles-dvdWhen news of Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles (TYC) was first announced, some fans of this licensed property were particularly excited. Details were scant about whether or not this will become a TV series or a series of original video animations. After the release of “The Phantom Clone,” its direction has become all too clear. Only a handful of episodes will get made.

Sadly, after the airing of “Menace of the Sith,” the studios dispassionately released the DVDThe Boxtrolls on October 15 and did not take into account when the final episode would get aired. Only two of the three videos are included and that can leave fans disappointed, hoping for a compilation release. The third episode, “Attack of the Jedi” aired on October 7th on Cartoon Network. Hopefully the next video release will include “The Padawan Menace” (TPM) and “The Empire Strikes Out” (TESO) to restore fans’ faith in the Force (i.e. studio planning). These shorts were far more brilliant and witty than TYC. Even the cut scenes from TT Games products had a beautiful tongue in cheek attitude that more or less started this craze.

Continue reading “Evaluating The Yoda Chronicles Trilogy, DVD Review & More”