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The Devil's Rejects, a review by Antares

The Devil's Rejects (2005) 72/100 - As I posted earlier, horror is my least favorite genre. But the other night there was nothing on TV and I was surfing like it was Endless Summer and happened upon this film on IFC. Before I start, IFC used to be one of my favorite TV channels, but as of late, watching a film on that channel is extremely laborious with the excessive amount of time devoted to commercial advertising. What a shame, it used to be such a great avenue for independent film watching, but now it's mired in a mass marketing nightmare. Back to the review... I was surprised at the end of this film as I found myself actually liking it. I guess it was the realism of the crimes committed by what has to be the sickest of psychotic families since the demented killers in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. One of the reasons that I don't care for slasher flics is that I was never comfortable with being put in the killer's eyes, which seemed to become prevalent after Halloween and Friday the 13th over thirty years ago. But Rob Zombie does it right by making you a witness, as opposed to a participant in the proceedings. I squirmed often and I felt my heart racing many times throughout this, and with the exception of a few moments of implausible activity, I was satisfied by what I was watching. Do you I ever want to watch it again, probably not, but not because it wasn't worthy of a second viewing, but because it's genre is not my cup of tea. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys slasher films, as from what I've read, Rob Zombie is pretty good at this kind of film making. Oh, and one more thing... this had one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a long while.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on October 14th, 2013)

Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage, a review by Danae Cassandra

Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage
Year of Release: 2007
Directed By:  Michael Campus
Starring: Jared Padalecki, Marcia Gay Harden, Peter O'Toole, Aaron Ashmore
Genre: Drama

Overview:
Returning home from college one Christmas, young artist Thomas Kinkade (Jared Padalecki) is dismayed to learn that attempts to promote local tourism have failed and his mother (Marcia Gay Harden) is dangerously close to losing the family cottage to foreclosure. Inspired by his mentor, Glen (Peter O' Toole), a famous artist who lives next door, Thom accepts a job painting a mural of his small, idyllic hometown. With Glen's help, Thom not only discovers his calling as the Painter of LightMy Thoughts:
I observed once that no one appreciates sentiment any more.  We have uplifted cynicism in its place.  I think perhaps that accounts for some of the reason this film has gotten poor reviews.  Yes, it's sentimental, and maybe a bit schmaltzy, but I enjoyed it and thought it was pretty good.  It's a Christmas movie, and one should expect sentiment in such a film.  The film and its characters felt very real to me, these small town eccentrics and their rivalries and friendships.  If Peter O'Toole is the standout, the entire cast did a good job with their characters.

For those who have said this isn't a "family movie" because of some very brief, and very mild, language, and the portrayal of the town hussy, you are missing the forest for the leaves.  The film is filled with the value of love and community, of putting aside those things that hold you back from others and coming together.  And that makes it a good Christmas film.  Recommended, unless you're a total prude living under a rock, or too-cool for old-fashioned sentiment.

Bechdel Test: Pass

Overall: 3/5

(From Yuletide 2013 on December 19th, 2013)

The Hunger: The Complete First Season, a review by addicted2dvd

The Hunger: The Complete First Season (1997/Canada) Terence Stamp hosts the first season of this spine-tingling horror anthology series from Executive Producers Tony and Ridley Scott, which features a phenomenal cast of familiar faces as you've never seen them before. Inspired by leading genre writers, each episode will draw you into a mesmerizing world of terrifying characters and erotic encounters, where demons feed on the weaknesses of men and temptation consumes reason. Episodes: 1. The Swords 2. Menage a Trois 3. Necros 4. The Secret Shih-Tan 5. Bridal Suite 6. Room 17 7. Anais 8. No Radio 9. But at My Back I Always Hear 10. Red Light 11. I'm Dangerous Tonight 12. The Sloan Men 13. A Matter of Style 14. Hidebound 15. Fly-By-Night 16. The River of Night's Dreaming 17. The Lighthouse 18. The Face of Helen Bournouw 19. Plain Brown Envelope 20. The Other Woman 21. Clarimonde 22. Footsteps

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Stars:
Terence Stamp as Host

Extras:

• Featurettes

I just finished the first season of this Anthology series that originally ran on Showtime in the mid '90s. It is a bit tough to review this set. I mean I enjoyed it quite a bit... but there is a lot of weird episodes in the set as well. I classify this as a horror anthology as it deals with vampires, ghosts and other supernatural beings. But then there is episodes that deals with normal murders and such as well. Since this series originally ran on Showtime each episode also has a bit of sex/nudity. Though nothing overly adult oriented. Each episode runs about 26min. Unfortunately I didn't care much for Terrance Stamp as the host. I even found myself fast forwarding through his little introductions to the episodes towards the end of the set. But over-all I would say it is worth checking out.






(From Addicted2dvd's Random TV Series Watched on May 5th, 2012)