Blu-Ray Review: THE MAKING OF THE MOB: NEW YORK

Narrated by Ray Liotta. Starring Rich Graff, Ian Bell, Anthony, DiCarlo, Jonathan C. Stewart, Craig Thomas Rivela. Featuring Interviews with Rich Cohen, Rudy Giuliani, Selwyn Rabb, Joe Mantegna, Chazz Palminteri, Frank Vincent, Frankie Valli. Directed by John Ealer. (2015, 343 min).
ANCHOR BAY

This ambitious eight episode mini-series from AMC chronicles the birth of the American mafia, focusing primarily on Lucky Luciano's rise from a lowly hood to the most powerful mob boss in New York City. With the help of some lifelong friends - including Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegal and Frank Costello - Luciano is largely responsible for the "organized" in organized crime.

The Making of the Mob: New York is presented as a docudrama. Ray Liotta narrates dramatic reenactments with a timeline roughly ranging from the turn of the century until the mid-1960s, interspersed with commentary by a variety of authors, ex-mafia associates, celebrities and family members of those featured in the story. Since all episodes essentially present a single epic tale, its serialized format makes this two-disc set supremely binge-worthy.

Despite a lack of personal insight into any of these characters, the story itself is simply too interesting to screw up. Sure, it’s been told before, and if you're already really into mob history, much of it might be pretty familiar. Even so, the reenactments are well rendered, with a lot of attention to period detail and decent performances. The show is also highly recommended to fans of The Godfather, who will be fascinated at the extent that film drew inspiration from real life, right down to some of the characters.

Not so lucky this time, Luciano is stuck with the tip.

Less interesting are the frequent interviews with various individuals supposedly associated with these events. Authors who’ve written books on the subject provide some unique insight and details, as do former mafia associates. But I do question the purpose of featuring various celebrities whose only tangible connection to the mob has been performing in gangster movies. As far as the players involved...we don’t learn a hell of a lot about them personally. The performances are decent, but none of the actors are given a hell of a lot to do besides react and remain silent while Liotta describes what‘s going on.

Still, The Making of the Mob: New York provides a solid account of the rise of organized crime in America, New York in particular. It’s an intriguing - if somewhat familiar - look at the lifestyle, violence and betrayal we normally associate with this profession.

On a personal side-note...man these guys smoke a lot! You'd be hard-pressed to find a single scene where someone isn't puffing away on a cigarette or stogie. Perhaps the show is partially funded by Phillip-Morris.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Additional Scenes
• Several Featurettes: "The Real Arnold Rothstein"; "The Secret Life of a Mob Wife"; "The Mob & Mussolini"; "Style"; "Mob Innovations"; "The Mob Shrink" (more of these are a few minutes long and feature scenes from the series, as well as additional commentary by some of the interviewees).

KITTY CONSENSUS:

PURR...LIKE A GOOD SCRATCH BEHIND THE EARS

10 Forgotten Thrillers from The 1980s Worth Your Time

For every box-office blockbuster, there are scores of worthy thrillers from the 80s that have largely been forgotten. Some of the more character-driven films got lost in a sea of those offering more spectacle, while others made the mistake of being too smart for their own good. Still more were just as high-concept and action packed as the biggest films of the era, yet for some reason, never became enduring classics.

Read more...10 Forgotten Thrillers from The 1980s Worth Your Time

TARANTULA and the Fiery Solution

Starring John Agar, Mara Corday (mee-ow!), Leo G. Carroll, Nestor Paiva and a very young Clint Eastwood! Directed by Jack Arnold. (1955, 81 min).

Essay by D.M. ANDERSON
 
I came across a news story the other day about a guy who pulled into a gas station and discovered a large spider crawling outside his fuel tank. His reaction was to burn the spider with a lighter, apparently forgetting gasoline is just a tad flammable. His car and one of the pumps erupted into flames. Only the quick thinking of an attendant, immediately shutting down all the pumps, prevented the whole incident from destroying a city block.

A few weeks earlier, a lady jumped out of her moving car, which moseyed on it's own for another thousand feet before crossing the meridian and hitting a tree. When later asked why she abandoned her vehicle, the woman said she spotted a large spider in her car and had no choice but to flee. It is unknown whether or not the offending arachnid survived the crash.

Then there was this drunken man who was relaxing in his recliner in front of the TV. Upon spotting a large spider crawling up his leg, he grabbed a nearby handgun and shot it, blowing off half his own foot.

I could go on, and you can Google countless other tales of folks who've burned down their own houses or blown themselves up just to eliminate a spider threat.

What do all these people have in common? If you're like me, where the term 'large spider' means one visible to the naked eye, these guys are superheroes. Most likely intoxicated superheroes, but no-less selfless. Taking one for the team to save us from nature's most unholy creation makes them role models to be emulated. Like Superman, only dumber.

I've always done my part by always using 8,000 times the necessary force required to kill them, usually with a shoe or a book. And I whack them more than once...usually several times to make certain they don't return to torment me in the next life. While I haven't yet resorted to using fire, I did once make the mistake of smashing one with a hammer, leaving a permanent dent in our dining room floor.

Spiders are scary because...well, they're spiders. Aside from the ants in my kitchen, they are the worst animal to ever scurry the planet and exist for the sole purpose of being squashed by a paperback (a good reason not to switch to e-books). If God didn't intend us to kill spiders on sight, he would have made them look more like little bunnies. Instead, spiders are stealthy, silent, hairy, venomous and equipped with more eyes and legs than any creature has a right to own. I'm certain if a spider were to catch its own reflection in a mirror, it would try to squash itself.

In my humble opinion, the only thing preventing Earth from becoming a Utopia is the continual presense of spiders.

And no, I don't give a damn about their so-called positive environmental impact by keeping the insect population in check. We have a bug zappers and Black Flag for that. Besides, what do you think is actually worse for the environment, a few more flies in the house, or the fact I've shit myself enough times whenever encountering any spider larger than a quarter that, somewhere on Earth, there's an Everest-sized mountain of soiled underwear named after me?

Now that I've made my personal arachnophobia apparent, we must discuss 1955's Tarantula, the movie responsible for that initial pair of shit-stained skivvies which would grow to become my carbon footprint on the world. At the behest of one of my less squeamish classmates, I first saw it on a local independent station in the early 70s and spent half the time with my head buried under blankets. This was scary-ass shit, especially since the special effects were totally convincing for the time (and still pretty impressive today). The fact that it’s black & white made everything even scarier. By the way, for those who still doubt the intrinsic power of black & white, try watching The Exorcist without color.

Getcha motor runnin'...head out on the highway...

In Tarantula, Professor Gerald Deemer (Leo G. Carroll) seemingly has good intentions, trying to create a super food nutrient that will help feed the world's ever-growing population. Instead, his experiment results in ever-growing lab animals, such as mice, guinea pigs and a tarantula. Apparently intrigued by this side effect, Deemer keeps injecting them...including the fucking tarantula.

Sure, the idea of a dog sized guinea pig has a certain appeal (who wouldn't want to cuddle with one?). But a spider? What exactly would be the possible motivation for bulking-up a creature which already makes the average person shit themselves when they spot one in the shower? Perhaps Deemer was also looking for an effective constipation cure. After all, your bowels could be impacted with a rack of billiard balls, but upon seeing a barn-sized tarantula heading your way, those suckers would shoot from your ass like rounds from an M-16. So Deemer's either totally insane or simply worst person ever.

Whatever the case, it's now up to Dr. Matt Hastings (John Agar) and "Stevie" Clayton (Mara Corday, one of the most gorgeous unsung scream queens of the 50s) to unfuck Deemer’s fuckery. After killing a bunch of farmers and their cattle, the title creature threatens an entire Arizona town. Guns don’t work, nor does dynamite, which I’ve always suspected would be the case when confronting our arachnid adversaries.

As we all know, the only effective solution to getting rid of a spider is total overkill, just to make sure it doesn’t come back twice-as-big and plenty pissed. So when military jet fighters are called in to napalm the shit out of this over-grown critter, are we really concerned about the environment at this point? Hell no! I’d use napalm as a bug bomb in my own house if it meant eradicating even the smallest of the species.

As for a gigantic mutated one? In my humble opinion, Tarantula doesn’t go far enough. Fuck the napalm. Unleash the atomics and nuke that bastard behemoth into oblivion. Sure, the Arizona desert would be a radioactive wasteland for a few decades, but that pales in comparison to the mountain range of soiled underpants blighting the southwestern landscape if any trace of this animal were left.

Despite the utter terror it instilled in me as a child, Tarantula is mostly remembered today for featuring a young Clint Eastwood near the start of his career, unbilled as one of the jet pilots. Never one to forget his friends, Eastwood later included Mara Corday in several films he directed.

THE TIMBER, Starring Josh Peck (Movie Clip)

PLANO, Texas. (August 11, 2015) – Set against the harsh backdrop of the 1898 Yukon, Josh Peck (Danny Collins, The Wackness) and James Ransone (Sinister, Inside Man) star in the apocalyptic Western-thriller THE TIMBER, debuting on Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital HD October 6 from Well Go USA Entertainment. In the Wild West, two brothers embark on a journey to collect a bounty in a desperate attempt to save their home: but what they find along the way is more than they bargained for. Directed by Anthony O’Brien (Perfect Sport), THE TIMBER also stars Elisa Lasowski (Eastern Promises), Mark Caven (Maleficent) and David Bailie (Pirates of the Caribbean franchise).

Debuts on Blu-ray™, DVD & Digital HD October 6

Bonus Materials Include Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes, Interviews with the Cast & Director Commentary

Film clip courtesy of WELL GO USA

Blu-Ray Review: BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA

Starring Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Richard E. Grant, Cary Elwes, Billy Campbell, Sadie Frost, Tom Waits. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. (1992, 128 min).
SONY

It probably goes without saying that Francis Ford Coppola is such a directorial icon that his place in cinema history is all but assured. After all, this is the guy who made The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now. Those four films were so groundbreaking that even the staunchest movie nerds of a certain age tend to forget Coppola's glory days ended when the 70s came to a close. Sure, we were sometimes reminded of his former genius during moments in The Outsiders, Peggy Sue Got Married and The Godfather Part III, but none of them held a candle to his crowning achievements.

Bram Stoker's Dracula remains his last film worth watching. Released in 1992, it's an elegant, surreal and aesthetically beautiful adaptation of Stoker's novel that, from a technical standpoint, holds up surprisingly well over two decades later, especially on this remastered 4K Blu-Ray edition. But even though it was Coppola's biggest hit in years and his best-crafted film since Apocalypse Now, its glaring flaws keep it from ever being mentioned in the same breath as his classics.

There's little dispute that, from a visual standpoint, this is arguably the greatest adaptation of Stoker's novel ever made. Virtually every scene has an otherworldly - almost artificial - dreamlike quality, which goes a long way in maintaining the viewer's interest. The story's inherent eroticism is also on full display, seldom successfully attempted in previous adaptations. More than any of his films during the 80s, it's obvious Coppola knew what he wanted to achieve.

Even at knifepoint, Keanu Reeves still can't emote.

But like The Godfather Part III, it also feels like Coppola sometimes conceded to studio pressure, setting aside his previously-perceptive casting instincts in favor of actors with marquee value. Hence, we get Keanu Reeves as John Harker, a role clearly beyond his abilities, resulting in a notoriously terrible performance. But then there's Gary Oldman, perfect as the title character, even though no one but Coppola appeared to be confident of his ability to convey Dracula's sympathetic sensuality.

Plotwise, the film is all over the place, with more emphasis on symbolic splendor than narrative cohesion (a criticism sometimes aimed at Apocalypse Now). However, it also seems like Bram Stoker’s Dracula was never intended by Coppola to be anything other than a sensory experience. If that’s the case, mission accomplished, and longtime cultists will surely enjoy this restored version of the film.

NOTE: This film is also being released as part of Sony's Supreme Cinema Series, with Clear-Case packaging and a 24 page booklet.

EXTRAS:

• New Interviews with Francis Ford Coppola & Roman Coppola (Interviewed separately, with Francis' being the most interesting)
• New Film Introduction by Francis Ford Coppola
• Audio Commentaries by Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Coppola and make-up supervisor Greg Cannon

KITTY CONSENSUS:

PURR...THE VISUALS ALONE ARE WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION

Blu-Ray Review: INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3

Starring Stefanie Scott, Lin Shaye, Dermot Mulroney, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell, Hayley Kiyoko, Tom Gallop. Directed by Leigh Whannell. (2015, 97 min).
SONY

Not being a particularly big fan of prequels, I was somewhat dubious upon hearing Insidious: Chapter 3 would be an origin story. To me, the practice is generally a sign the creative well is running dry, particularly in the horror genre. At the same time, there's always been a soft spot in my heart for the Insidious franchise (even though Chapter 2 was pretty dull), because the original film is what made my youngest daughter fall in love with horror films, just like Jaws did when I was her age. So of course, we were both totally onboard for a third go-round.

The good news is Chapter 3 is a lot better than Chapter 2, which was an anemic and unnecessary attempt to expand the story of the first film. This one takes place a few years earlier, with psychic Elise Rainer (Lin Shaye) reluctantly coming to the aid of a teenage girl, Quinn (Stefanie Scott), whose mother recently passed away and is now tormented by a vengeful demon in the apartment building where she lives.

Directed this time by Leigh Whannell (who wrote the first two films), Chapter 3 a nice return to the atmospheric dread and well-timed jump scares which made the first movie so much creepy fun. Part of that is because it's a new story, but also because the characters are well developed.

Perhaps it's time for a restraining order.

It was a smart play by Whannell to make Elise's character only part of the story, not the total focus. Since longtime fans already know her fate, we need more at stake for any kind of prequel to work. Not only do we learn much more about Elise (dealing with her own tragic past), but Quinn and her father (Dermot Mulroney) aren't just a couple of rubes whose home needs cleansing. Both are dealing with tragic loss as well, which ultimately gives the climax of this film a surprising amount of emotional power.

Insidious: Chapter 3 is not as scary as the original, but a huge improvement over the first sequel, with enough jump scares, disturbing scenes and creepy moments to make it worth checking out. If you absolutely have to make a prequel, this is the way to do it.

EXTRAS:

• FEATURETTES: "Origin Story: Making Insidious 3" (an enjoyable look behind-the-scenes); "Macabre Creations" (make-up effects); "Stunts: The Car Crash"; "Being Haunted: A Psychic Medium Speaks" (meh)
• Deleted Scenes
• Digital Copy

KITTY CONSENSUS:

PURR...A BIG IMPROVEMENT OVER CHAPTER 2

Blu-Ray Review: TREMORS 5: BLOODLINES

Starring Michael Gross, Jaime Kennedy, Natalie Becker, Lawrence Joffee, Ernest Ndhlovu, Emmanuel Castis. Directed by Don Michael Paul. (2015, 99 min).
UNIVERSAL

I remember paying to see the original Tremors in theaters and being wonderfully surprised. What initially looked like a dumb, exploitative B movie turned out to be clever, suspenseful and intentionally hilarious, with terrific performances and first-class production values.

While it did middling box office, Tremors exploded in popularity on video, so it was no surprise that the inevitable Tremors 2 skipped theaters altogether. Considering most direct-to-video sequels are complete garbage, Tremors 2 was another wonderful surprise. Sure, the budget was lower and only Fred Ward & Michael Gross could be talked into reprising their roles from the original, but it still maintained the same creativity and goofy sense of humor which made Tremors a cult favorite. Even today, it’s arguably one of the greatest direct-to-video sequels ever made.

Then the law of diminishing returns ultimately reared its head. Despite the introduction of the amusingly-named ‘Assblasters’, Tremors 3 was just more of the same, only staler, while Tremors 4 went the prequel route (always a sign of desperation). And we won’t even get into SyFy’s sad attempt to turn the franchise into a TV series, which was unceremoniously canceled after 13 episodes.

Since most of us put a fork in this franchise over a decade ago, Tremors 5: Bloodlines comes as yet-another surprise. Michael Gross remains the only constant, returning once again as Burt Gummer. This time he’s joined by Jaime Kennedy as an opportunistic sidekick as they venture to Africa to battle a new batch of Graboids and Assblasters. As in previous sequels, these creatures are evolving yet-again, which provides a few new twists.

"You know...Jaime Kennedy...I was in Son of the Mask and Malibu's Most Wanted..."

Gross once again throws everything into his role, to an almost embarrassing degree (the lengthy scene where he’s trapped in an animal cage is painfully unfunny). What ultimately made the original Tremors so great was its diverse cast. Burt Gummer was simply one eccentric character sharing the screen with others. As the actual star, his survivalist schtick sometimes becomes tedious.

But despite some heavy-handed attempts at humor and way too much screen time given to Kennedy (whose character is truly obnoxious), Tremors 5 is still reasonably entertaining if you keep your expectations low. No one should expect anything on par with the original (technically or narratively), but this film admittedly benefits from earnest performances and above-average special effects for a home video release. At the very least, it's better than the last few sequels.

EXTRAS:

• “Tremors 5: Behind the Bloodlines” Making-of Featurette
• Outtakes (most of which are dedicated to Jaime Kennedy’s off-handed comments during filming)
• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• DVD & Digital Copies

KITTY CONSENSUS:

NOT BAD...FOR A DIRECT-TO-DVD SEQUEL

ROCK THE KASBAH - Bill Murray Kicks Off #Rocktober in "The Man and the Music"

This is the story of Richie Lanz…The Man and the Music. 

Celebrate the start of ROCK THE KASBAH’s #ROCKTOBER by getting to know legendary rock manager Richie Lanz (Bill Murray) in this brand new behind-the-scenes look - “The Man and the Music.” Hear what some of your favorite rock musicians had to say about Richie, his legacy, and his famous antics throughout the years.

Check out “The Man and the Music" HERE

Bill Murray stars as has-been rock manager Richie Lanz in the upcoming dramatic comedy ROCK THE KASBAH, inspired by stranger-than-fiction, real-life events and directed by Oscar winner Barry Levinson. The film co-stars Kate Hudson, Zooey Deschanel, Danny McBride, Scott Caan, Leem Lubany, and Bruce Willis. ROCK THE KASBAH is in theaters October 23.

Digital Review: MARVEL'S AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olson, Paul Bettany, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgard, James Spader, Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by Joss Whedon. (2015, 141 min).
MARVEL/WALT DISNEY

As someone who isn't an obsessive fanboy when it comes to comic book adaptations, movies like Avengers: Age of Ultron are a challenge to review, especially since I'm of the humble opinion that Marvel's every-movie-is-connected mantra is becoming exhausting & tiresome (with no visible end in sight). I've enjoyed many Marvel films and happen to think Captain America is the best superhero franchise since Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. At the same time, I have recently become resentful of the conceit that moviegoers need to see every single Marvel film in order to grasp the big picture, lured by the promise of greater things to come.

Case-in-point...the original Avengers was a terrific surprise...assorted superheroes brought together for the ultimate mash-up. Whether or not you actually saw every previous movie leading to this inevitable teaming didn't matter. That film masterfully presented each character in such a way that, even if you never previously took time for Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger or Iron Man, you got the gist. That, more than anything, is arguably why it became the biggest superhero film of all time. If this was the only Marvel movie you ever watched, it was still a complete experience.

So here we are with Avengers: Age of Ultron, the capper to Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe which relies much more heavily on the audience's familiarity with, not only the first Avengers, but the individual films released in the interim. If you haven't been keeping up, the very first scene is nothing but a disorienting, hyper-kinetic exercise in pyrotechnics (with surprisingly bad CGI). The film doesn’t stop to remind us what Hydra is, nor the stone in Loki's apprehended scepter, nor the fact S.H.I.E.LD. is currently in shambles, nor the importance of two super-twins first introduced in a post-credit sequence of a previous film. The conceit that everyone is up-to-speed essentially renders much of this movie a mere transitional chapter for those already in the MCU club. The full-speed-ahead attitude of Age of Ultron sometimes works against it’s effectiveness as a film which can stand on its own merits.

A bee suddenly flies into the car.

Still, despite a rocky opening and a sometimes meandering second act, things improve considerably once it calms itself down to focus on the story, that of a malevolent A.I. empowered by Tony Stark’s engineering skills (not to mention a lot of ego). By now, these characters are like visits from old friends and their interactions with each other is what keeps it going during the duller bits. There are a few new characters as well, most of which are interesting, although some appear to be shoehorned in for the sake of future films. The climax is nearly as rousing as the New York battle from the first film (with the fate of the world at stake, of course), each Avenger getting showcase moments of inimitable ass-kicking and quotable one-liners.

Ultimately, Avengers: Age of Ultron is a film which mostly preaches to the converted, aiming to please the core audience who lap-up everything Marvel has to offer. As such, it’s enormously successful, even if the novelty of seeing all these guys together has worn off just a bit. The casual moviegoer may be at a disadvantage, however, since this train doesn’t really stop to let new passengers onboard.

EXTRAS:

• 2 Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes: "From the Inside Out: The Making of Avengers: Age of Ultron"; "Global Adventure"
• 2 Other Featurettes: "The Infinite Six" (about the powerful stones featured throughout the MCU); "Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron: Connecting the Universe"
• Gag Reel
• 4 Deleted Scenes

KITTY CONSENSUS:

NOT BAD...HAVING PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE HELPS CONSIDERABLY

Rest in Peace, John Guillermin

John Guillermin (1925-2015)