A ridiculous Gothic horror from 1965 that features a crazed executioner in crimson wresting tights who tortures and kills fashion models. There are quite a few wonderfully composed and filmed shots that look great as movie stills, but in context are stilted and boring.
I loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I am glad that they are making these Hobbit movies, I wish they weren’t trying so hard to link the story of Bilbo with the previous films. It’s not nearly as bad as baby Greedo in Star Wars Ep. I but there is just too much attempted fan-service in here. The weaker story and characters keep this from being a great fantasy film, but it is still an entertaining ride with lots of great art direction and effects.
An eighties “classic” which I never got around to watching because I always thought the video box looked dull and stupid. Well the film is stupid, but it is not dull at all. I was surprised how well-paced it is as it moves from one cliché to the next. The actors play it for all it’s worth as the spout out cheesy dialogue and memorable one-liners without winking to the audience like a modern action film would.
Another thoroughly enjoyable book in this series. This time Kristen is told to take some time off from all the revenge killing and, of course, she can’t seem to avoid trouble with the local thugs. Lots of killin’ and pool hustling ensues.
Contract J.A.C.K. is billed as a prequel to the super-excellent shooter No One Lives Forever 2. What we really have here is a modest set of stand-alone expansion levels for NOLF 2. It uses the same game engine, graphics and features a new main character but really not much effort was put into the story or game-play. While there are a handful of funny character interactions, mostly this is a linear, run-and-gun shooter. Don’t play this one expecting any of the dialogue or varied game-play that made NOLF 1+2 two of the best PC games ever created. J.A.C.K. is okay, I guess, but would rather play NOLF 3 instead.
For most people, this is Superchunk’s finest moment. When this came out, I didn’t like it and it took several listens before I was able to accept this more mellow offering. I still tend the prefer the more punky On the Mouth. Letting Laura do the cover art must have been some sort of ill conceived breakup stipulation with Mac.
This is the first of several singles comps Superchunk released over the years. Lots of covers and a few alternate versions of songs from the LPs. Also, one of the band’s first forays into horrible cover art.
When I heard that this game featured Michael Biehn as the main voice actor I was intrigued. When I saw that it was an over-the-top homage to eighties science fiction and action movies I had to have it. The game doesn’t disappoint in the nostalgia department. In addition to the neon Tron-style art direction, there is tons of cheesy dialogue, 8-bit cut scenes (including a power rock training montage), and an incredibly cool synthesizer-based soundtrack. In terms of story, the game has nothing to do with FarCry other than it using the same game engine and open-world mechanics. There is a good balance of stealth and good old-fashioned shoot everything gun play. This sells for cheap and is well worth the low price despite its short game length.
Although it can be a toss-up between On the Mouth and Foolish, it think this is my favorite Superchunk record. It has just the right ratio of punkiness in the mix. These songs are for jumping around and spazzing-out but they have just enough maturity and songwriting craft there to escalate them above your typical sophomoric “pop-punk.” I still think “The Question Is How Fast” is their best song ever.
Mindless popcorn fair that manages to be entertaining without getting too annoying. The story and characters are really, REALLY dumb, but at least there was an attempt to put some human interest into it.
