Movie Review: The Ong Bak Trilogy

Review By: Jimmy D.

The Ong Bak films really took Thai films to new levels and help break thru the martial arts market. In an era where stunts are down with wires and thru computers the Ong Bak films really impressed me by how real the action in the films was. Ong Bak opens with a tree-climbing contest to capture a red flag on top of a tree. While getting up the trees, people were kicking and shoving their opponents off the limbs. Just watching these guys falling off those high trees was such a remarkable feat in itself. Tony Jaa and this film took the martial arts world by surprise and shock. Like what Raid Redemption is doing right now, in the early 2000’s Tony Jaa was doing with the insane stunts that were real, the fresh camerawork and dynamic feel of each fight sequence. The two films that followed and are also in this collection, I feel pale in comparison to the original. Watching part 2 made me scratch my head did we really need a sequel? If you already have the blu rays, the only difference this time around is they come in this box, but there are no slim cases or special features that if you are a fan you have not seen before.

Movie Review: Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded (Blu-ray, 2006)

Drug addiction and the incredibly lucrative drug trade have been a huge part of some serious societal issues in the states over the past few decades. Importing and selling cocaine during the late 1970's and 80's in Florida is the hot topic of the Billy Corben’s thoroughly engaging documentary Cocaine Cowboys (2006). Magnet and Magnolia entertainment has been no stranger to provocative films and hard-hitting documentaries so recently they have put out a longer cut of the film you may have first caught on cable in a longer edit and titled it Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded on Blu-ray.

The film contains interviews with dealers, lawmen and even one of the most vicious hitmen (now serving time on death-row) to ever be involved in crimes in the Florida and Miami / Dade County area. We start from the ever brutal beginnings in 1978-79 when many Cuban immigrants came to Florida thanks to a maybe too friendly gesture by then president, Jimmy Carter. When the cocaine trade was at its peak in the 1980's, the demand for illegal narcotics caused blood to flow frequently in the streets.

Movie Review: Sushi Girl (2012, Magnolia)

...before gleefully and dutifully engaging this review, let's start off by saying that this viewer is a sucker for a good movie trailer. Beyond the generated hype & publicity of a movie, the advance viewing & review by critics, the suggested star power & creative hand...both behind & in front of the camera, the leaked footage & behind-the-scenes video commentary...it is a stand-out, well crafted movie trailer that quite literally grabs me by the shirt collar, slams me resoundingly up against the wall, and insistently commands my utmost attention. Granted, as does happen from time to time, some movie trailers DO exclusively feature what is best about a specific movie, with the movie itself, on a whole, proving to be something less than what the trailer promised; that's part of the gamble, I suppose...the nature of the beast...when one gets irresistably and invariably pulled in by the suggested content of the movie trailer, and as the result, committedly lays down one's hard earned samolians for the feature film, itself. However, when a movie carried through on the promise...'walks the walk', rather than merely 'talk the talk', via it's intendedly influential and compelling movie trailer, one cannot help but praise that artfully creative little two-to-two-and-a-half minutes of tease...that eye-and-mind-catching vanguard of great things to come...in the same light as the film itself proves to be...the trailer, being merely a tantilizing taste at the bottom of the shotglass...and the film, harboring the numbing contents of the whole bottle...

Movie Review: Marley (2012)

The thing I love most about documentaries is that they are always a source of education. Whether you know nothing or think you know everything about a subject, there's something to be learned. Though I'm not well versed in reggae, I, like most people, know a few songs by Bob Marley and The Wailers. We can all sing along when one comes on the radio or pops up in a commercial. We see the t-shirts and posters all over the place. The funny thing is that many of us don't really know much about him. To be honest, I always thought he died from a gunshot. I had much to learn, and in two and a half hours, I learned plenty and enjoyed it all.

Movie Review: The Hunter (2012)

Thylacine is an animal that presumably went extinct in the early 1930s. Also known as the Tasmanian tiger, it was a small dog-like marsupial that survived in Australia and Tasmania. Thousands of sightings have been reported since its extinction, but none have been confirmed. The search for the last remaining Tasmanian tiger is the basis for The Hunter.

Martin David (Willem Dafoe) is the best mercenary money can buy. You get that from a simple transaction that takes place in the beginning of the film. He is sent to the Tasmanian jungle to hunt down the last Tasmanian tiger for a very secretive biotech company. He stays a room in a house occupied by a depressed woman and her son and daughter. Martin sticks to business, but not for very long.

Movie Review: Melancholia (2011)

Directed by Lars Von Trier

Reviewed by Greg Goodsell

Anyone familiar with the films of Lars Von Trier and his Dogme ’95 buddies knows well enough not to expect light-hearted entertainment. Von Trier fearlessly pokes his handheld cameras into the darkest recesses of the human condition, as Breaking the Waves (1996) and Dancer in the Dark (2000) will attest to. Turning his attention to the horror genre with Antichrist (2010), Von Trier then tackled the sci-fi doomsday drama with Melancholia, with the expected devastating results.

Buy Melancholia on Blu-ray or DVD

"Point Blank" Comes To Blu-ray and DVD December 6th From Magnolia Pictures!

Get Ready For A Non-Stop Adrenaline Rush As The Action-Packed Film POINT BLANK Thrills On Blu-Ray And DVD December 6 From Magnolia Home Entertainment

“It leaves you with an endorphin high. An exhilarating adrenaline rush.” – New York Times
“Make a note to see it. Propulsively entertaining.”– Boston HeraldFrom producers Cyril Colbeau-Justin and Jean-Baptiste Dupont (36) and writer/director by Fred Cavayé (The Next Three Days, Anything For Her), POINT BLANK is a “skillfully directed French thriller that plays like an Alfred Hitchcock wet dream” (Paper).

Buy Point Blank on DVD


Gilles Lellouche (Tell No One) stars as Samuel, a nurse who is working at a hospital when his pregnant wife (Elena Anaya, The Skin I Live In) is kidnapped before his very eyes.  Knocked unconscious, when he comes to, he discovers that a dangerous criminal named Sartet (Roschdy Zem, The Girl From Monaco, Days Of Glory) is responsible, and if he's ever to see his wife again, he must do Sartet’s bidding.  Samuel quickly finds himself pitted against rival gangsters and trigger-happy police in a deadly race to save the lives of his wife and unborn child.

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Courses in film production from online universities may be of interest for those who want to learn about making movies.

Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil Coming To Blu-ray and DVD November 29th!

EVIL JUST MESSED WITH THE WRONG HILLBILLIES

TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL

Hilariously Gory, Horror Comedy Starring Alan Tudyk And Tyler Labine

Brings Evil To Blu-ray And DVD November 29

From Magnolia Home Entertainment Under The Magnet Label

"A deliciously fun satire.”

- Salon

“More than promising as a first feature.”

- Variety

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – Kick back, relax and enjoy a dose of evil when Tucker & Dale vs. Evil takes a hilarious turn for the worse on Blu-ray and DVD November 29 from Magnolia Home Entertainment under the Magnet Label. Making his directorial debut Eli Craig makes “an endearingly cheeky tribute to suspense and slasher classics” (Hollywood Reporter). A huge hit with horror fans the film stars cult-fan favorite Alan Tudyk (“Firefly,” “Suburgatory”), Tyler Labine (“Reaper,” Zack and Miri Make Porno) and recently named Esquire’s Sexiest Women Alive, Katrina Bowden (“30 Rock”).

Buy Tucker & Dale vs. Evil Blu-ray or DVD or Watch It Instantly

Movie Review: The Last Circus (Blu-ray, 2011)

A little over a week ago I had the pleasure of reviewing a recent Blu-ray release of Fellini's The Clowns. As you can guess it's about Fellini's lifelong fascination with the colorful circus characters. Movies about clowns are a definite weakness for me - especially the ones that aren't family friendly. Alejandro Jodorowsky's Santa Sangre is a great example, as is Alex de la Iglesias' The Last Circus from Magnet Releasing.

Buy The Last Circus Blu-ray or DVD or Watch It Instantly

Javier (Carlos Areces) is a doughy, pathetic, son of a clown looking to fill the floppy-shoed footsteps of his successful father. Making people laugh while performing ridiculous antics would give the young Spaniard all the joy in the world - that is until dad tells him he should be a sad clown. After losing his father in a furious prison break during the 1930's, the film fast-forwards to the 1960's with Javier all grown and putting on his clown gear for his first day on the job.