Friday December 14 through Thursday December 20, 2007

Friday, December 14, 2007
Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil's Son-in-Law - 1977

A Rudy Ray Moore blaxploitation film par excellence. Boy, have times changed. Blacks would be stunned to learn that this this was written, directed, and produced by blacks. Today, it not only couldn't get made, I'm shocked that Al Sharpton hasn't campaigned against the company that put out the DVD.

This is truly a product of the 70's. Fake Kung-fu, and more "N" words than you can shake a stick at. A lot of fun, if you aren't offended by stereotypes from the past.

The only extras are a tour w/ RR Moore himself of some of the locations, and a trivia game that is about all the movies of Rudy Ray, not just this one, so don't expect to do very well.

Saturday, December 15
No movie, Christmas party with friends

Sunday, December 16, 2007
Night of the Sorcerers - 1973

Boobies in the first three minutes. Always a good sign. This is by Amando de Ossorio, who gave us the Blind Dead series. And aside from that fact, and the natural boobage, there's not much to recommend this one. For example, who didn't see that ending coming about 30 minutes off?

The only extra is a set of alternate scenes, the "clothed" version. Who'd want to see that?

Monday, December 17, 2007
Hack! - 2007

Hey, isn't that Juliet Landau, who played Drusilla in Buffy and Angel? Yes it is. I suppose it's too much to hope for a nude scene with her.

Stupid movie! It had a number of chances to show boobage, and it missed every one. I'm upset. And of course, I hate every single character (except the movie freaks, who I identify with a little too much). And this is *SO* self indulgent. It's like a satire of a satire of horror movies.

And finally, not a single extra. How cheap can you get? And if you guessed that we'd see no skin of Ms Landau, you win a prize from the cheap row.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Blood Monkey - 2007

No subs, no commentary, no extras. What is up with these cheap movies? Did they spend all their budge getting F. Murray Abraham? And what is the star of 13 Ghosts and The Name of the Rose doing slumming in this movie? This is a Thai production, made in Thailand (according to IMDB). I guess that explains the slim budget.

Once again, this movie is chocked full of people I loathe. Why did this become so prevalent? But the film is saved at 50 minutes in, by some decent gore.

Did I say it was saved? I lied. The gore does not pull this pathetic steamer up out of the trash heap.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Babylon 5: The Lost Tales - 2007

My only complaints about this disc is an unskippable commercial for Superman: Doomsday (that wasn't that good, BTW), and the fact that it's too damn short. It should have be longer than 75 minutes. Other than that, this is excellence personified. Here's hoping that this sells well, so that J. Michael Straczynski can bring us lots more B5 goodness.

Lots of extras here. Interviews with JMS & Bruce Boxleitner, Tracy Scoggins, and JMS & Peter Woodward. All are fun and interesting. I think I'm glad the network stopped the all sock puppet idea.

There are also memorials to the two stars who have died since the series was made; Andreas Katsulas and Richard Biggs. Next, there's the Straczynski Diaries, which serves as a Behind the scenes/Making of. Very nice, if too much sock puppets. And finally there are the Fireside Chats, where JMS shows what are each job (DP, AD, Script Sup, etc) does, and the person who did it. Very nice.

An excellent disc. You must go out and buy it this week. No really, you must.

Thursday, December 20, 2007
Masters of Horror: Earnest Dickerson - The V Word - 2007

I know, I know. Who the F is Ernest Dickerson? They are really starting to hit the bottom of the barrel. He is usually a Cinematographer, but did direct Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight and Bones. Neither is a ringing endorsement. And it shows in this, the weakest MOH episode to date. The best part is that the original vampire is Michael Ironside, who I like a lot. My notes say it is terrible, dull, and predictable. A good neck-rip gag does not a good horror movie make.

The commentary shows that the director and producer are much prouder of this than they have a right to be. The other standard extras are here as well, including a making of the neck wound, which would have been great if we hadn't seen it in a dozen extras already.