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"SHARKTOPUS" Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: ***1/2 (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: * (out of 5 stars) Not Rated Studio: Anchor Bay Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
With a title like “Sharktopus,” do I really need to summarize it? For the record, this film is about a giant shark-octopus hybrid, a “sharktopus,’ if you will. Originally developed by an evil scientist (Eric Roberts) to be a new weapon for the U.S. Navy, the sharktopus escapes and goes rogue. While it attacks the beaches of Mexico, a group of unnecessarily good-looking scientists and a less-attractive news crew try to hunt it down.
WHAT I LIKED
Watching “Sharktopus” is the cinematic equivalent of running to the stop-and-rob in the middle of the night to stock up on junk food. It’s not particularly good – or good for you – but it’s inherently enjoyable and an indulgence in which I partake from time to time.
Legendary producer Roger Corman has been making schlocky gimmick movies before the folks at The Asylum were picking up their first video camera. No hate for The Asylum, of course, but it’s good to see another producer step into the ring for the giant monster movies that run on Syfy on Saturday nights.
“Sharktopus” is a ridiculous film that is a hoot to watch. There’s plenty of jiggle factor for broadcast cable (sadly without any additional items on the home video release), and the premise is just ridiculous enough to make it fun. In the end, it’s nothing but a big, fat B-movie with teeth and tentacles, but were you expecting anything more? After all, this is based on the Italian 80s cheapo flick “Devil Fish,” whose greatest claim to fame was being skewered on “Mystery-Science Theater 3000” in the 90s.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
When it comes to a film with a title like “Sharktopus,” you know there’s going to be plenty of problems with it. The special effects are cheesy as hell, and the CGI animation is good enough to put tentacles on a shark but not good enough to rise above the level of FX quality you’d see on an average episode of “iCarly.”
The acting is terrible, which allows more seasoned actors like Eric Roberts to look brilliant in his role. The rest of the cast – including Pedro from “Napoleon Dynamite” – to resort to head-shaking and awkward hand gestures to punctuate their dialogue.
Everything you suspect about “Sharktopus” is true... for better or for worse.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
Unfortunately, aside from a commentary by Roger Corman and his producer/daughter, there’s no special features on the Blu-ray, though the transfer looks pretty good for a Syfy Original Movie.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Fans of bad cinema.
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"THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars) Not Rated Studio: Anchor Bay Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
The zombie apocalypse has happened. The dead walk the earth. Only a handful of human survives make a desperate life for themselves, trying to keep civilization alive. Sheriff Rick Grimes has woken up from being in the hospital to find himself in a world of the walking dead. He tries to find his wife and child, missing in the apocalyptic aftermath, and stumbles across other survivors and eventually some answers in the CDC.
WHAT I LIKED
Ever since Frank Darabont became attached to this graphic-novel-turned-TV-series, there’s been a lot of buzz in the online movie news and fanboy circuits. Not only does this show one of the first long-form adaptations of a popular graphic novel series, but it’s also the first zombie-themed series on television.
There are some fine elements in “The Walking Dead,” namely the production value, which is surprising and impressive for AMC, an otherwise basic station on basic cable. The series, which takes place in and around Atlanta, has great scope for television, and like its film predecessors “Dawn of the Dead” and “Zombieland,” “The Walking Dead” does a great job envisioning the zombie apocalypse.
When the zombies are in the picture, the show gets surprisingly gory. Sure, there’s an overuse of digital blood, which plagues Hollywood like herky-jerky camera moves and pervasive green screens, but for the most part, the kill sequences are fun and action-packed.
The acting is solid in this series as well, featuring fine television and film actors really throwing down for their roles.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
I have two big problems with “The Walking Dead, which are common pitfalls in zombie films. First, I really don’t like the characters... any of them. While the acting is good, the people the actors are portraying are too flawed, to the point that I really don’t care when any of them become a zombie snack. Their motivation – like Grimes’ wife not just falling but stampeding into the arms of another man when she thought he was dead – are not the signs of good characters.
There’s also a bevy of stereotypes populating the apocalypse prison yard, from abusive husband to redneck racists with guns a-blazing. These bad characters lead to bad character decisions, like gathering together in the woods like some buffet for the undead.
I like a good human element in my zombie movies, but the human element in “The Walking Dead” was tiresome, cliche and boring. In the end, I found myself rooting for the zombies, and there weren’t enough of those guys in the episodes.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
The two-disc Blu-ray includes the six episodes of the first season, plus a nice assortment of bonus features. Featurettes include “Making of Walking Dead,” “A Sneak Peek with Robert Kirkman,” “Behind-the-Scenes Zombie Make-up Tips,’ “Convention Panel with Producers” and an installment of “Inside The Walking Dead” for each episode.
Additional features include “The Walking Dead” trailer, a look at the actors’ “Zombie School,” a spotlight on “Bicycle Girl,” a look “Inside Dale’s RV,” plus on-set visits with writer Robert Kirkman and actors Steven Yeun and Andrew Lincoln.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Zombie lovers who can forgive some foibles to see a TV show about the undead.
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"COOL IT" DVD Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: **** (out of 5 stars) DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars) Rated PG Studio: Lionsgate Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Bjørn Lomborg, notorious author of “The Skeptical Environmentalist,” turns the climate change movement on its ear with a down-to-earth look at the real problems. Butting heads with noted environmental activists (including Al Gore, whose film “An Inconvenient Truth,” gets heavily criticized), Lomborg examines what he believes are the real causes and effects of climate change.
WHAT I LIKED
I hate being preached at, unless I’m in church. And the biggest problem with any film with an environmental angle is that it tends to preach... a lot. That was only one of the man problems with “An Inconvenient Truth” and other films like “The 11th Hour.” Another big problem is that, in order to grab an audience’s attention, these films tend to be so heavy-handed on the gloom and doom that when the world doesn’t end five or ten years after their release, they lose all credibility.
Lomborg is a calmer voice. Does he discount climate change? No. Does he say man is not impacting his environment? Not at all. But he takes a much sober attitude as to what is happening and what will happen.
Lomborg examines the politics behind the environment, both as to what caused the problems and the people trying to fix them. Instead of getting wrapped up in fads and jumping on bandwagon, he offers solutions to the problems facing the world. I can’t say whether any of these will work, but considering how poorly everything else is, it’s worth a shot.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Not a whole lot, actually. I knew nothing of this movie when I started watching it, so I was bracing myself for 90 minutes of preaching and finger pointing. I ended up with something very different in today’s market, and that won me over.
DVD FEATURES
The DVD comes with a slate of deleted scenes that, unlike many films, are actually worth watching. These are anecdotes and ideas that just didn’t fit into the flow of the film but are interesting nonetheless.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Anyone who would be intrigued simply by the title of Lomborg’s book, “The Skeptical Environmentalist.”
