
Innerspace (1987)
by Sara Michelle Fetters - August 4th, 2015 - Blu-ray and DVDBut, in the end, it’s the way Dante keeps absolute control of all that’s happening that is most wondrous. So many tangents going at once, so many balls in the air, yet Innerspace rarely falters, never take a misstep, everything building to a rollicking, humorously joyous conclusion that’s as winning now as it ever was way back in 1987.
But, in the end, it’s the way Dante keeps absolute control of all that’s happening that is most wondrous. So many tangents going at once, so many balls in the air, yet Innerspace rarely falters, never take a misstep, everything building to a rollicking, humorously joyous conclusion that’s as winning now as it ever was way back in 1987.

Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) – Warner Archive
by Sara Michelle Fetters - August 4th, 2015 - Blu-ray and DVDShowdown in Little Tokyo might not be any good, but that doesn’t make it a disaster, and while I’m still scratching my head wondering why Warner Archive bothered with this one for fans of the stars giving the Blu-ray a look isn’t remotely a bad idea.
Showdown in Little Tokyo might not be any good, but that doesn’t make it a disaster, and while I’m still scratching my head wondering why Warner Archive bothered with this one for fans of the stars giving the Blu-ray a look isn’t remotely a bad idea.

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014) (Blu-ray)
by Sara Michelle Fetters - August 3rd, 2015 - Blu-ray and DVDWyrmwood is a hoot. It’s also remarkably easy to re-watch. I had a blast revisiting this one, and I imagine genre fans who lap this sort of stuff up greedily will likely end up feeling much the same. Simply terrific.
Wyrmwood is a hoot. It’s also remarkably easy to re-watch. I had a blast revisiting this one, and I imagine genre fans who lap this sort of stuff up greedily will likely end up feeling much the same. Simply terrific.

Ghost Town (1988)
by Sara Michelle Fetters - August 3rd, 2015 - Blu-ray and DVDI’m not sure I’d tell anyone to pay full price for this Scream! Factory release, the lack of extras are definite downer. But the moment Ghost Town went on sale I’d snatch directors Mac Ahlberg and Richard Governor’s underrated little 1988 gem up as fast as I could, this horror/western hybrid far more entertaining than it arguably has any right to be.
I’m not sure I’d tell anyone to pay full price for this Scream! Factory release, the lack of extras are definite downer. But the moment Ghost Town went on sale I’d snatch directors Mac Ahlberg and Richard Governor’s underrated little 1988 gem up as fast as I could, this horror/western hybrid far more entertaining than it arguably has any right to be.

Kill Me Three Times (2015)
by Sara Michelle Fetters - August 3rd, 2015 - Blu-ray and DVDNope. Still don’t like it. Pegg’s terrific, and Stenders does stage a couple of amusing grotesque sequences of bleak black comedy that did get me to giggle a tiny bit, but overall this film is just too flatly unappealing and boringly obvious in its machinations to be worth much in the way of a viewer’s time.
Nope. Still don’t like it. Pegg’s terrific, and Stenders does stage a couple of amusing grotesque sequences of bleak black comedy that did get me to giggle a tiny bit, but overall this film is just too flatly unappealing and boringly obvious in its machinations to be worth much in the way of a viewer’s time.

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
by Sara Michelle Fetters - July 31st, 2015 - Movie ReviewsThe fifth entry in the popular spy vs. spy series of action spectaculars, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a relentless thriller that ends up being marvelously entertaining even if many of its signature moments and beats feel in some way repeats of events from the preceding motion pictures.
The fifth entry in the popular spy vs. spy series of action spectaculars, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a relentless thriller that ends up being marvelously entertaining even if many of its signature moments and beats feel in some way repeats of events from the preceding motion pictures.

“Burying the Ex” – Interview with director Joe Dante
by Sara Michelle Fetters - July 29th, 2015 - Interviews“It’s a measure of a pretty good movie, isn’t it? If it’s a movie that you like and you go back and watch it again sometimes you’re a little disappointed because there isn’t much more there than what there was when you saw it the first time. But, sometimes, maybe a lot of times, it surprises you, and you see things in the movie that you didn’t notice the first time, you start seeing things that no one, not even the filmmakers, could have known were going to be a part of the zeitgeist at the time, that those elements would still ring true ten or twenty years later. I’ve been lucky enough to make a lot of those pictures.”
“It’s a measure of a pretty good movie, isn’t it? If it’s a movie that you like and you go back and watch it again sometimes you’re a little disappointed because there isn’t much more there than what there was when you saw it the first time. But, sometimes, maybe a lot of times, it surprises you, and you see things in the movie that you didn’t notice the first time, you start seeing things that no one, not even the filmmakers, could have known were going to be a part of the zeitgeist at the time, that those elements would still ring true ten or twenty years later. I’ve been lucky enough to make a lot of those pictures.”

Vacation (2015)
by Sara Michelle Fetters - July 29th, 2015 - Movie ReviewsBut this [Vacation (2015)] fails on an even more calamitous level, forgetting the elements that made the Ramis/Hughes effort so memorable and long-lasting. It trades in platitudes instead of sincerity, elevating the gross-out antics to an even higher plateau yet leaving out the heart, soul and honesty that made all that icky silliness matter in a way it never could have otherwise.
But this [Vacation (2015)] fails on an even more calamitous level, forgetting the elements that made the Ramis/Hughes effort so memorable and long-lasting. It trades in platitudes instead of sincerity, elevating the gross-out antics to an even higher plateau yet leaving out the heart, soul and honesty that made all that icky silliness matter in a way it never could have otherwise.

The Look of Silence (2014)
by Sara Michelle Fetters - July 24th, 2015 - Film Festivals Movie ReviewsThe Look of Silence is director Joshua Oppenheimer’s powerful companion piece to his Academy Award-nominated stunner The Act of Killing. If that latter film was a detached, clinical analysis of unimaginable evil put under the most devastatingly perceptive of microscopes, this latest endeavor is the cry to hold those killers responsible.
The Look of Silence is director Joshua Oppenheimer’s powerful companion piece to his Academy Award-nominated stunner The Act of Killing. If that latter film was a detached, clinical analysis of unimaginable evil put under the most devastatingly perceptive of microscopes, this latest endeavor is the cry to hold those killers responsible.