Reviews by gamera23

gamera23 says "Dr. Sue is the best!" about Dr. Sue - TLC First Animal Hospital - Chicago, IL

gamera23 — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:59:22 GMT

We followed Dr. Sue Liszewski to her own clinic (TLC FIRST) from two others she's been at over the past years with through several pets. She now has her own first class, well designed facility, conveniently located (for us). What's really striking about her is the obvious care she puts into her work. She's an excellent diagnostician and surgeon, but she also gets down on the floor with her patients, talking to them, petting them, and making them feel more at ease during what is usually a streesful visit. Her own very friendly dog Zeke is frequently on hand to keep an eye on all activities in the clinic.

She also is in touch with the owner's viewpoint, and tailors her care to individual needs. The only downside so far with TLC First is that the (newly paved) parking lot is in the alley so you need to bring your pet around the block to the front (I'd recommend calling from a cel when you reach the lot to see if they can open the back door when necessary with very old or sick pets).

I give......

gamera23 says "Seinfeld's worldview and sense of humor makes the film a joy" about Bee Movie

gamera23 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 01:51:59 GMT

In the glut of CGI animated feature films that have been released over the past few years, studios have developed certain gimmicks to try to make their movies stand out from the other flicks about talented penguins and snarky fairy tale creatures. Chief among these techniques is casting big name celebrities to provide voices for the characters.

Over the Hedge would probably be just as good a movie with someone else besides Bruce Willis playing a cartoon raccoon, but having stars in the cast can get a movie added attention. Besides, the actors really enjoy the easy paycheck they get from spending just a day or two in a sound studio.

It would seem that Bee Movie is riding this same gravy train, casting sitcom superstar Jerry Seinfeld in the lead role as a talking honey bee. The project has been hyped relentlessly, with Seinfeld showing up everywhere from the usual talk show circuit to special extra-length television commercials to sell tickets. One might expect that, given the level of hype,...

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gamera23 says "Easily hits the dramtic points - too easily" about Flight 93

gamera23 — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 02:31:59 GMT

This 2006 TV movie broadcast by A&E recounts the tragedy and heroism of those aboard the historic 9/11 flight, as well as the tense drama on the ground.

To be brutally frank, with all the timelines and records available, writing a script for a film like this takes only a bit of imagination and the proper respect for the material. And as it’s easy to hit the tale’s emotional peaks with memories still fresh, even a Popsicle stick puppet show production of the story could make us choke up, and probably nab a fistful of awards.

That said, TV veteran director Peter Markle annoys a bit by using the same kind of jerky/zoomy camerawork that’s the house style of his CSI episodes, but is wise in keeping things as simple as possible and not introducing too many extraneous elements. In a movie where much of the drama unfolds via telephone conversations, he leaves as much of the emotional burden as possible in the hands of his capable no-name cast, who all come through nicely.

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gamera23 says "John Linck handcrafts gorgeous, heirloom-quality toys." about Wooden Toys

gamera23 — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 02:30:56 GMT

John Linck looks a little bit like Santa Claus, and in his basement workshop in Wisconsin, he, much like Santa, makes hand crafted toys sturdy enough to delight several generations of children. In a world filled with plastic toys, spun off from movies and built to be disposable, it is refreshing to see this level of craftsmanship and artisan sensibility being poured into children's toys.

Often, it is the most simple of toys that inspires the most meaningful play in children, and Mr. Linck does not disappoint. His wooden wagon is a great way for children to begin taking their first steps, and the weight of the unit blocks within it keeps them on their feet. Made of Black Cherry , Hickory and Red Oak, the wood color on this toy only deepens to a dark red over time, making this a beatiful piece of furniture. And as parents know, nothing encourages imagination like unit blocks.

His wooden train cars are both affordable and fun, and his classic rocking horse is an engineering marvel. Made for......

gamera23 says "In some ways more impressive than Akira" about Patlabor 1 - The Movie

gamera23 — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 02:26:28 GMT

What first appears as an amazingly well rendered sci-fi action tale turns out to be a technological detective story with the complexity of a novel. However, once all the details are worked out, the last 20 minutes are action packed, with plenty of crazed robot smashing mayhem.

The twists and turns of the plot, along with the kind of animated stunts that fuel flicks like Aliens and RoboCop, make this one a winner. Patlabor re-energized the fading giant robot genre by changing the setting from the usual superhero and space war background to that of a future police drama - sort of like a Robotech version of Hill Street Blues.

The TV series and the two features that followed were directed by Mamoru Oshii, who picked up a huge fan following all over the world with the release of his anime feature Ghost in the Shell. Watching Patlabor, one can pick out instances of Oshii developing the techniques and tricks that would make GitS such an influential worldwide smash.

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gamera23 says "Camp trash doesn't get much crazier" about Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster

gamera23 — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 02:21:09 GMT

Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster is one damn bizarre motion picture.

On one hand, it’s kind of like a Saturday afternoon matinee monster movie aimed at kids – and a very bad one at that. But on the other, it seems too camp to be taken at face value. Much like Queen of Outer Space, its makers seem to have been well aware that they were involved in a ludicrous project and were determined to have some fun with it.

It’s all an incredibly strange and bewildering tapestry of rock music, sex, a gruesomely disfigured android, silly space opera aliens, a creepy monster, lots of military and space program stock footage, Caribbean locations, curiously impassive extras, and a semi-interesting collection of character actors. It’s not what anyone would call “good”, but it’s also a mind-bender and a lot of fun to watch.

Some peculiar details just jump out there, such as the way the Martians slide their captives into a machine for “purification” after first throwing cheap curtains......

gamera23 says "Sick material, but well presented" about Bazaar Bizarre

gamera23 — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 02:16:46 GMT

Bazaar Bizarre pulls no punches, wallowing in shock via grainy, home movie style reenactments of serial killer Robert Berdella’s crimes with actor Christopher Leo in the lead. But these scenes are balanced well with more straightforward documentary material – interviews with the surviving abductee, detectives, journalists and neighbors, tours of the crime scene, etc. We even hear from an emergency room nurse that treated Berdella’s genital self-mutilation on several occasions.

Some of it’s most compelling and weird footage comes from an interview conducted with the killer himself in prison. The subject of serial killers lends itself well to both dry documentary examination of police procedures and sensational sideshow spectacle, and while many serial killer movies only concentrate on one side of this equation, director Benjamin Meade is smart enough that he doesn’t ignore either. It gives us the facts in the case in detail, but not to the degree that we’re numbed to the horror....

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gamera23 says "Raw 1970s Italian revenge thriller" about Street Law

gamera23 — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 02:11:30 GMT

If the sequels to Michael Winner’s Death Wish show, it’s that if anything the original didn’t go far enough. Before the Charles Bronson vehicle was even out of theaters, Italy’s action maestro Enzo G. Castellari (1990: The Bronx Warriors) and top action star Franco Nero (Massacre Time, War of the Planets) were already picking up the ball in this follow-up to their feature High Crimes.

Street Law (Il Cittadino si Ribella) is raw and violent from the very first frame, continues on through a tense bank hold-up, and then takes us along with hostage Nero on a wild car chase. Having pumped up the adrenaline level, Castellari keeps things rocking along, with even the slower paced scenes of Nero learning to become a vigilante crime buster maintaining a high level of visual energy.

Nero (apparently doing his own dubbing for the English version) is a bit wooden here, but does a good job maintaining his intensity as he gets in on the violence himself. The issue of whether he’s becoming as...

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gamera23 says "Bizarre Italian thriller based on fact" about Pyjama Girl Case

gamera23 — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 02:06:18 GMT

Shot on location in Sydney (but updated to the 1970s), Pyjama Girl Case is not your typical Italian giallo thriller any more than the case itself is a typical murder mystery.

Director/writer Flavio Mogherini, in his lone extraordinary entry in the genre, matches the atmosphere of the case with a confusing, off kilter narrative, alternately following the investigation of retired police detective Ray Milland and promiscuous waitress Dalila Di Lazzaro (Phenomena), who may have some connection to the victim. The film’s centerpiece – a master stroke by former art director Mogherini – is the public display of the partially charred nude corpse of the victim in a glass case, which the police put on public view in the hope that someone might identify her.

It’s an amazing combination of the surreal, the erotic and the grotesque, made all the more disturbing because it mirrors the true events the film is based on.

An insert booklet contains a comics story by Eddie Campbell about the case from...

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gamera23 says "Offbeat B-westerns for fans of nostalgia material" about Creepy Cowboys - Four Weird Westerns

gamera23 — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 01:58:39 GMT

Retromedia picks up on the weird western niche with this 4-movie flipper disc, which boasts no extra features but includes four fine western B-movies with a bit of spook house atmosphere.

Each of these four short features presents standard cowboy hero plots, but adds in an element of horror – or at the least, macabre mystery – which usually provide their main point of interest. Tombstone Canyon (1932) and Rawhide Terror (1934) both serve up outrageously over-the-top psychos for our entertainment, giving us an Old Dark House chiller in the wide open spaces.

Just a bit slicker production on the same Poverty Row stage, Wild Horse Phantom's (1944) spook show tricks are upstaged by ‘Fuzzy’ St. Johns’ clowning, while Vanishing Riders (1935) gets a few points for putting skeleton men (and horses) in such the unusual western setting.

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gamera23 says "a must-see for 'reality' TV fans only" about Scorned

gamera23 — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 03:10:26 GMT

If you’re a fan of “reality” TV series and stars, this is a must-see. But for anybody else, this is just a bad movie.

The supernatural horror plot holds a few surprises, but the biggest surprise in the film is that it’s not the acting of the “reality stars” that is the weakest point. They’re all used to playing characters they call themselves on television, so some of them – particularly the leads Steven Hill and Jenna Lewis – have the basic right stuff required for play-acting in this pulpy low budget movie. Many of the performances are wooden, but even the most seasoned veteran might have trouble with the crappy, unnatural dialogue in the script.

The story combines elements of Fatal Attraction and the 1978 Australian horror film Patrick, but often gets sidetracked into wild digressions whose only purpose is to cram more “reality” folks into the cast (and sometimes show them naked). In addition, the characters are always doing things that don’t make a lick of sense,......

gamera23 says "French girls gone way bad" about Don't Deliver Us from Evil

gamera23 — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 03:06:08 GMT

Purportedly based on the same Parker-Hulme murder case that served as the basis of Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures, Joël Séria’s Mais ne Nous Délivrez pas du Mal concerns itself with the friendship of two French schoolgirls who rebel against the nuns of their Catholic boarding school by smoking, reading pornography, and worshipping Satan.

As their crimes progress through tormenting the servants on to thievery, arson and murder, this pair of wicked lolitas nibble away at our sympathies, but can’t devour them completely. Of course, they end up going way too far.

Jeanne Groupil (who was actually 19 at the time) is amazing as the teen hellion Anne. Séria, in his first feature, spins a delicate but powerful thread of subtle challenge, giving his tale an air of inevitable doom much like an American film noir tale relocated to the placid French countryside. The ending is a shocker way beyond that of the source material. Another great discovery from the folks at Mondo Macabro.

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gamera23 says "ambitious B-movie horror" about Violent Midnight

gamera23 — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 03:01:08 GMT

This ambitious B-movie, also known as Psychomania and Black Autumn, from producer Del Tenney (Horror of Party Beach) plays much like low budget Peyton Place with murder, a small town whodunit soap opera with some surprising (for its day) flashes of nudity and violence.

Director Richard Hilliard (The Lonely Sex) keeps things interesting with some nicely composed shots, using odd angles and shadows to atmospheric effect, though he’s almost done in by some sloppy editing and sound work. Tenney claims to have done a lot of the direction of actors himself, but Hilliard is the obvious talent with the camera.

Future star James Farentino makes his feature debut as a motorcycle thug, Sylvia Miles appears as his trampy moll, and Dick Van Patten plays a hard-boiled police detective.

Known for decades only in murky, abbreviated TV prints, this edition presents the original uncut version.

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gamera23 says "Korean teen sex comedy" about Sex is Zero

gamera23 — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:56:17 GMT

Take the familiar American teen sex comedy formula, complete with music, and transfer it over to South Korea, and what do you get? An average college sex comedy with Korean actors, somewhere on a par between Porky’s and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Stringing gags on a simple Boy Meets Girl plot, Sex Is Zero delivers some laughs and titillation – rather old fashioned in the USA, but groundbreaking enough in Korea to make it a huge hit.

Writer/director Yun Je-gyun (My Boss My Hero) misses the boat a bit by failing to fully exploit the fact that sad sack male lead Eun-shik (Lim Chang-jung) is a half generation older than his law school classmates, but makes up for it with plenty of visual creativity, and adds depth with a surprising dramatic serious twist in the third act.

The added USA DVD extras, in both English and Spanish, concentrate on putting Sex Is Zero in the context of teen sex comedy movie history.

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gamera23 says "simplistic but remarkably sensitive view of war, race & history" about Littlest Rebel

gamera23 — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:51:14 GMT

Six year old Shirley Temple is (what else) as cute as can be in her eighth starring role in a feature in a two year period, playing the pampered daughter of a rich plantation family at the outbreak of the American Civil War.

With papa John Boles and the men folk off serving in the Confederate army, Shirley drills the slave children and shoots Yankee Jack Holt with her little slingshot. When Boles is captured while sneaking home to visit ill wife Karen Morley, Temple and head slave (and dancing partner) Bill Robinson visit the President (Frank McGlynn Sr., in one of thirteen film portrayals of Abraham Lincoln) to plead his case.

It’s a simplistic, but still a remarkably sensitive view of war, race and history, especially for kids, with a bit of action and a few songs thrown in as bonuses. The disc has bonuses, too, including a colorized version of the film and a newsreel clip of Temple’s birthday party.

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gamera23 says "a classic next to the awful original" about House of the Dead 2

gamera23 — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:46:36 GMT

The sequel gets back to the game’s plot by introducing two government agents who are sent into the zombie territory to retrieve a blood sample before the military destroys the whole area with bombs.

Throughout its run through zombie movie clichés (such as the “survivor” that turns out to be a zombie, infected team members who need to be executed, etc.), House of the Dead II manages to keep things interesting with an undercurrent of self-aware humor. The cast, for the most part, is capable of delivering even the most insipid dialogue with conviction, and they’re given some refreshingly intriguing situations to contend with alongside the familiar.

A DNA sample is being sought to develop a vaccine against the living dead plague, one scene has a soldier infected with the zombie virus by a mosquito, there’s a zombie football game, and the living dead move more quickly than the traditional Romero zombies due to the mutation of the virus. There’s nothing exceptional about any of the...

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gamera23 says "A cute update of the children's story" about Chicken Little

gamera23 — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:38:26 GMT

A cute update of the children’s story from the Brother Bear writing team and the director of The Emperor’s New Groove pits animal outcasts against an alien invasion.

Disney, who invented the animated celebrity voice subgenre, loads on a baker’s dozen recognizable voices in the cast, and whatever charms the feature has lean heavily on these personalities. However, it’s often impossible to disconnect the voice from the star providing it, and adults may be distracted trying to play Name That Voice every time a new character arrives. In contrast, Pixar’s CGI animation features stress story development along with the gags, resulting in more solid projects.

Many of the gags here are funny, the special effects are wonderful, and the facial expressions are very well done. Some of the characters look like animated puppets rather than three dimensional cartoon characters, which is not necessarily a defect, but can be disconcerting in some scenes.

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gamera23 says "a peek at every sick vice that 1982 audiences could handle" about Vice Squad

gamera23 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 14:20:57 GMT

While a lot of people in Hollywood have been crowing the past few years about how much they love the grindhouse exploitation flicks of the 1970s and early ‘80s as they churn out 21st century remakes, very few of their projects hit the mark, leaving fans to seek out the original vintage material. Vice Squad, produced during the years when low budget exploitation pictures were digging down to new depths of sleazery in order to compete with the new video rental market, is about as hard-edged as they come, a crime thriller with a grunge factor approached only by cable TV cop shows these days.

The basic plot concerns a businesswoman (Season Hubley), who helps support her daughter as a prostitute using the street name Princess. The cops are after a psycho pimp named Ramrod (Wings Hauser), and force Princess to lure him into a trap.

With slim plot material to work with, the filmmakers keep things interesting by keeping Princess and Ramrod moving, giving us a peek at every sick vice that 1982...

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gamera23 says "a great deal of camp fun" about Del Tenney Double Feature: Horror at Party Beach/Curse of the Living Corpse

gamera23 — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:59:07 GMT

Horror of Party Beach was billed as the “first horror monster musical”, and milked its campy hybrid plot about amphibian mutant zombies attacking a beachside community for a great deal of fun.

A surprise given the title, Curse of the Living Corpse features no zombies at all, though it does indeed feature a curse. Drawn and expanded from Poe’s “Premature Burial”, it’s actually the class act of the pair, a gothic chiller more in keeping with the kinds of horror films coming out of Italy at the time. In a way, it marks a crossing point between the old dark house whodunit thrillers of the 1930s and the slasher films to come.

Corpse shows a latent talent that had yet to be tapped. True to his stage background, director Del Tenney does a good job in assembling a cast that can handle his flowery dialogue, including Roy Scheider (looking a bit like a young Basil Rathbone in his film debut),and Candace Hilligoss (Carnival of Souls). But he also is able to vary his camera angles enough...

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gamera23 says "a fine representation of Ercoli's taste and visual flair" about Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion

gamera23 — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:53:07 GMT

The works of Luciano Ercoli (Death Walks in High Heels) have been rediscovered by fans of European cinema of late, and this 1970 psychological thriller (marking the point at which he switched from producing to directing) is a fine representation of his taste and visual flair. He’s not the innovator that Dario Argento is, but he has a sense of style.

The emphasis in this story by the prolific Ernesto Gastaldi is more on drama, with Dagmar Lassander (Legend of the Wolf Woman) underplaying her torment as the woman caught in the web of blackmailer Simon Andreu (Blood Spattered Bride), then building nicely throughout on the mood of paranoia. Nieves Navarro (better known in the USA as Susan Scott) adds spice as the sexy best friend, but Pier Paolo Capponi (Seven Blood Stained Orchids) is so bland as the husband that he’s all too obviously meant to draw suspicion.

Ennio Morricone contributes another good score, both contemporary and offbeat.

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