Archive for February, 2003

Paid in Full

Monday, February 24th, 2003

Fellas -

As you know, last week I reviewed CUBE PART 2 and DRACULA PART 2. You know what that means: I’m right in the middle of a straight to video binge. The economy is gettin real bad, in my opinion, and it’s gonna get a whole lot worse when the bombs start dropping. It’s hard to justify paying 8 clams to go see some asshole in a red leather coat pretending he’s blind and can fly. I love you boys, I’d trust you with my life, I’d let my kids sleep over at your ranch, whatever. But for now I’m gonna have to hold off on trusting your recommendation of a movie that looks that silly. Maybe next week.

Anyway I think that’s a pretty good excuse for my quirky habit of digging through piles of video screeners hoping to find gold or at least some kind of shiny aluminum. Usually the best stuff I find is ridiculous straight to video sequels, but occasionally I find a GINGER SNAPS or an ED GEIN or a DOG SOLDIERS. A good low budget movie that for whatever reason didn’t get much of a release here in the unleaded states of america.

Today I found PAID IN FULL, which it turns out is not really straight to video. According to IMDB it played on 273 screens after Dimension released it last October. Didn’t get much attention though, at least not in these circles. When I typed that title into the search engine here I got a big fat fuckin zero. Thanks alot, search engine. (more…)

Unlike

Tags:
Posted in Crime, Drama, Reviews | No Comments »

Fuck Colin Powell, My Plan for the Pope, Return of the old Support the Troops Switcheroo, Keep Fighting

Sunday, February 23rd, 2003

There’s alot of topics I want to cover here so I might be kind of random. First of all: FUCK COLIN POWELL. I’ve been through this argument a million times and I wish everybody else was right. But now I have given up on that possibility.

Oh but Vern, I like Colin Powell. He’s a good guy. He’s real liberal for a conservative. No really he’s very intelligent and wise. His war experience has made him more careful than the nuts he works for. He’s the dove hiding among the hawks trying to convince them to keep their fuckin pants on. I know he was part of the Gulf War and he said that thing about not being terribly interested in the number of civilians killed. And he gave a press conference trying to cover up the Mai Lai massacre. But really Vern seriously man this dude is great.

Yeah, you still feel that way people? Now that he’s done a complete 180 from “we really shouldn’t be doing this shit” to going to the UN to BEG them to let us do this shit? Before he thought the war was a bad idea, now he’s so into it he’s grasping at straws, playing the UN fuzzy tapes of two RANDOM DUDES apparently talking about how shocked one of them is that the other one has a weapon he shouldn’t. THAT’S how you know we have to go in and fire twice as many missiles of the entire Gulf War on Baghdad in the first two days… because you have a tape of SOME GUYS talking, somewhere, sometime?

You couldn’t even get a guy busted for pot with that evidence and you’re using it to justify a pre-emptive attack on a metropolitan area, planned by a strategist who proudly compares his technique to Hiroshima (8th paragraph)? (more…)

Unlike

Posted in Vern Tells It Like It Is | No Comments »

Cube 2: Hypercube and Dracula II: Ascension

Monday, February 17th, 2003

Boys -

It’s me Vern. Remember me, I write articles, win awards, etc. Today I am returning to my old shtick of reviewing straight to video sequels nobody asked for. Enjoy!

Actually the first picture I’m gonna deal with here is not completely un-asked for. The first movie CUBE was one of those small time cult movies that nobody is really rabid about but everybody kind of likes. The premise is that a group of strangers find themselves inside strange, symmetrical rooms with vault doors on each side. When they go through a door, they find themselves in a room exactly like the last one. And when they go through one of the doors in there, it’s another room exactly like that one. And when they go through one of the doors in there, it’s another room exactly like that one. And I could go on man. There’s nowhere to go. So of course they get into a George A. Romero type deal where they each have a different background and they argue and what not by they try to put aside their differences to solve the puzzle of “what in fuck’s name is going on here.” There is math, etc.

The acting is not all that great and none of the actors really have the kind of screen presence you want them to have. And the dialogue isn’t exactly on Romero’s level. But it’s such a good premise that you can’t help but enjoy it.

Well CUBE 2: HYPERCUBE is almost the same level of quality as the first one, its main downfall being that we’ve already seen this before. They do shake up the premise a little by introducing this idea of the “hypercube.” I don’t know if they made this up or if this is some actual thing that weirdo math guys are into, but the idea is that it is a 4 dimensional cube. There is length, width, depth, and the mysterious fourth dimension. Maybe time, maybe smell, who knows what it is. Only some math whiz guy I guess. Not me, I am a Writer. (more…)

3 people like this post.
Unlike

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction and Space Shit | 1 Comment »