Tag Archive for movies

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS (Film Review)

June 11, 2013 Author, Feature Film, Heavenly, Malone, Uncategorized 3 comments
Star Trek Into Darkness poster

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS in theaters now

“Star Trek” is one of those properties with such a rabid fan base that every new movie/show/book feels like it’s predestined to fail. To the uninitiated, Trekkies seem like a group that can never be satisfied regardless of what’s done to please them. Some find such devotion intimidating and instead of joining the party, choose to avoid anything “Trek” related, altogether. The truth is, people are passionate about “Star Trek” and don’t want to see it treated carelessly. So it was somewhat surprising that when director J.J. Abrams rebooted the franchise in 2009, he was not only able to satiate the old fans’ hunger for a new film, but also attract people who’ve never heard of a “Tribble”. Now, four years later, the sequel “Star Trek: Into Darkness” flies into theaters. Can Abrams again appeal to both sides of the lunchroom or will fans be divided by his treatment of the beloved sci-fi series? Read more

THE HANGOVER PART III (Film Review)

May 26, 2013 Author, Feature Film, Hellicious, Malone, Uncategorized One comment
Hangover 3 poster

THE HANGOVER PART III in theaters now!

I’m going to throw this out there right now: I hated “The Hangover Part II”.  HATED it.  I thought it was incredibly lazy filmmaking: just set the first film in Bangkok because that’s a crazier setting than Vegas, then do everything over nearly beat for beat.  It was also too self-aware, as sequels can be.  You know the characters, so there’s less reliance on the quality of a joke.  For example, Alan can eat a piece of poop and we would laugh because it’s Alan… not because it’s funny. Well, I’m probably alone in my feelings for that film because it did extremely well. People wanted more of the same from the Wolfpack.  Well, this Memorial Day weekend, those people will be thrown for a loop as Warner Bros. releases “The Hangover Part III” – a much darker installment than anybody could’ve seen coming. Read more

FAST & FURIOUS 6 (Film Review)

May 26, 2013 Author, Feature Film, Hellicious, Malone, Uncategorized No comments
FF6 poster

FAST AND FURIOUS 6 in theaters now!

Summer has started and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has again bathed in baby oil and flung himself at the big screen.  This time he reprises his role as Agent Luke Hobbs in Universal Pictures’ “Fast & Furious 6″.  Featuring pretty much everyone who’s ever starred in the street racing series, “FF6″ serves as a link for the previous five films and gives us a glimpse at where the films are heading.  Director Justin Lin also returns to the franchise he resuscitated with the fourth installment and it’s clear from the first racing scene that he’s not afraid to take her into the red.   Read more

THE GREAT GASTBY (Film Review)

May 12, 2013 Author, Feature Film, Heavenly, Malone, Uncategorized No comments
Gatsby poster

THE GREAT GATSBY in theaters now!

The worst thing in the world for a writer is “the start”; staring at that blank page and wondering how you’ll ever fill it all with words.  Never mind how you’ll fill it all with good words.  So imagine trying to adapt something like “The Great Gatsby”, one of the great American novels, for the big screen.  Sure it’s been done before (Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay in 1974) with so-so results,  but how do you tackle something that big and make it good?  Well, Warner Bros. might have figured it out:  put Baz Luhrmann, the visionary behind the ultra-stylized, hyper-kinetic “Moulin Rouge!” in charge. Read more

RUBY SPARKS (Blu-Ray Review)

May 6, 2013 Author, Blu-Ray, Heavenly, Malone, Uncategorized No comments
Ruby Sparks Blu Ray

RUBY SPARKS available now on Blu-Ray and DVD

I’m sitting here listening to The Ramones’ cover of “Baby, I Love You” by The Ronettes and I’ve got that 80′s movie feeling.  Maybe you know it:  kind of a butterflies in the stomach, hopelessly crushing on someone while wishing you were someone else as John Hughes chooses the perfect pop song for your life to fall apart to feeling.  It’s this melancholy romanticism that will win me over every single time as long.. as it’s genuine.  When I heard about Fox Searchlight’s “Ruby Sparks”, a film about a writer whose latest female character suddenly materializes as his girlfriend, I got goosebumps…. “Weird Science” and “Mannequin” goosebumps. But as much as I wanted this movie to be my perfect mashup of these two childhood favorites, it wasn’t. And really, that’s perfect in a way because those expectations for an impossible ideal are exactly what the movie warns us about. Read more

IRON MAN 3 (Film Review)

May 5, 2013 Author, Feature Film, Heavenly, Malone, Uncategorized No comments
Iron Man 3 poster

IRON MAN 3 in theaters now

A franchise is only as good as its last installment.  “G.I. Joe” nearly died at the gate with a lackluster premier and “Batman & Robin” actually killed off what had been a particularly healthy brand of films until Christopher Nolan swooped in to save the day.  Thus far, Marvel has managed to be the Pixar of superhero franchises with each film bringing in big box office and converging into the mega-hit “Avengers”.  So, that could be the reason why “Iron Man 3″ is so important:  it’s the first post-”Avengers” film released by the studio and what very well may be the final installment of the popular series.  Expectations are sure to be higher than any one film can deliver, but if anyone can beat the odds it’s Robert Downey Jr., right? Read more

Enter To Win THE ASSASSIN’S BLADE On Blu-Ray!

April 29, 2013 Author, Contests, Featured Stories, Malone, Uncategorized No comments
assassins blade blu-ray

Enter to win THE ASSASSIN’S BLADE, coming to Blu-Ray May 7th from Well Go USA!

Well Go USA is ringing in the Summer movie season with another giveaway!  Cinema Judgement Day will be giving away two (2) copies of “The Assassin’s Blade” on Blu-Ray just in time for its May 7th release.  This new film from the director of “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers” is sure to get your blood pumping! All you have to do is send us an email with the subject line “Blade” and your name and address in the body.  The contest runs from now until 1pm PDT on Sunday, May 5th. At that point two readers will be randomly chosen and announced on our website. Only one entry per person is allowed and the contest is only open to US residents.

Good luck to everyone who enters!

PAIN & GAIN (Film Review)

April 26, 2013 Author, Feature Film, Heavenly, Malone, Uncategorized One comment
Pain & Gain teaser poster

PAIN & GAIN in theaters now from Paramount Pictures

Anyone familiar with weight lifting scenes in movies has no doubt heard the mantra “No pain, no gain!”  Some might argue this could be Michael Bay’s personal mission statement as he’s gained quite a bit for himself by inflicting pain on the intelligence of moviegoers everywhere for nearly two decades.  Personally, I don’t mind his films with their hyper-active visuals and no-brainer storylines, as they’ve set the standard for what has become the modern American popcorn movie.  This weekend, his latest Summer blockbuster, “Pain & Gain” opens… one week before the Summer movie season actually begins. Maybe Paramount wants to see men pumping iron before Iron Man pumps all the cash out of next week’s box office? Read more

WASTED ON THE YOUNG (DVD Review)

April 25, 2013 Author, DVD, Heavenly, Malone, Uncategorized No comments
wasted dvd cover

WASTED ON THE YOUTH available now on DVD from Indomina Releasing

Sometimes it seems like our world is spiraling out of control. Schools and theaters are getting shot up, public places are being bombed in the name of religion and teenagers are getting gang raped by their peers before pictures of the atrocity are passed around on facebook faster than a joint at a DMB concert. Yes, you could argue that ancient Rome was worse, but I didn’t live then/there nor would I want to.  These are strange times we live in and modern technology connects all of us weirdos together, for better or worse, in ways the world has never seen before. This is what makes Indomina Releasing’s “Wasted on the Young” (available now on DVD) so interesting. All the perversions found in today’s headlines are explored in a film made three years ago and half a world away… and it really hits home. Read more

LUV (DVD Review)

April 2, 2013 Author, DVD, Heavenly, Malone, Uncategorized No comments
LUV poster

LUV available on DVD 4/2 from The Indomina Group

The question is as old as time itself: What is love?  Some may respond, “It’s the link between a parent and a child.  Others may say , “It’s the bond shared with a spouse.”  Internet memes will answer, “Baby don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me, no more.”

All joking aside, there are many different kinds of love – but in the case of Sheldon Candis’s film “LUV”, we look at a mentorship; a young boy being brought into adulthood by an uncle.  Nominated for the Grand Jury prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, “LUV” debuts today on DVD.  But the real question to be asked: Will you be giving it any love? Read more

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