THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS:
ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE
2013; $9.98-$29.98; UR
Caitlin Stasey from “I, Frankenstein” is a lovely, if dark and brooding, cheerleader with a grudge against the local football star in this comic tale of high-school revenge, mystical orgasms, the undead, blood slurping and icky resurrections. The cast is amazing, led by hotties Sianoa Smit-McPhee from “Hung,” Brooke Butler from “Retribution” and soaper Amanda Grace Cooper, but the real talent here is writer/director Lucky McKee of “May” (2002). Essentially a bigger-budgeted remake of his 2001 original, this is one of the most entertaining unheard-of flicks in recent memory. Recommended.
BLUE RUIN
2013; $22.98-$29.98; R
We won’t spoil the unpredictable fun of this surprising no-budget thriller, except to say, “Remember the name Macon Blair.” He plays a dumpster-diving loser who plots a course of revenge when he hears that an old nemesis is getting out of jail. But violence begets violence — especially when you don’t do it very well — and he quickly becomes the unwanted protector of his long-estranged family. Brilliant direction, great characters, lots of surprises and a real sense of empathy for all concerned — this is why we love indie films! With Devin Ratray (Buzz from “Home Alone”), Amy “Homeland” Hargreaves and Eve “Brady Bunch” Plumb.
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GINGER SNAPS
2000; $26.98-$29.98; UR
A subversive, amusing and very entertaining no-budget indie teen-werewolf flick, now on Blu-ray with great bonus goodies. Katherine Isabelle (“Being Human”) and Emily Perkins (“Da Vinci’s Inquest”) are troubled teen sisters who have had enough of this world. But their suicide plans are interrupted by a rabid wolf, sending one girl to find a cure for her wounded sister while fangs grow and the blood-lust begins. Co-starring Jesse Moss (“Tucker & Dale vs. Evil”), written by Karen Walton and directed by John Fawcett, both of “Orphan Black,” this is one of our all-time favorite movies. A must-own.
HEAVEN IS FOR REAL
2014; $18.98-$40.98; PG-13
The wildly popular — and absolutely factual in every way, we swear it — really true tale of a little boy who has a brush with death and survives to tell his family all about workaday life in Judeo-Christian heaven. Underrated actor Greg Kinnear is at his best here as the dad who helps his son spread the word about the afterlife, with Kelly “Mary Watson” Reilly from the Sherlock Holmes movies as his wife, and first-time actor Connor Corum, who knocks it out of the park as the kid.
JUSTIN & THE KNIGHTS OF VALOR
2013; $20.98-$24.98; PG
This Spanish-made family flick has all the usual elements — state-of-the-art CGI animation, great voice talent, 3-D effects, wizards and a dragon (of sorts) — but what we really liked was its central theme about a boy who recognizes he is becoming a man and goes looking for his place in the world. He wants to be a knight, but in his world — as in ours — knights have fallen out of favor thanks to bean counters, regulation and, worst of all (ugh), lawyers! Man, can we relate. Stars the voices of Freddie Highmore, Antonio Banderas, James “Game of Thrones” Cosmo, Michael “Da Vinci’s Demons” Culkin and Tamsin “Gunievere” Egerton.
THE PERFECT HOUSE
2012; $14.98; UR
A horror anthology of sorts that starts with a too-perky real estate agent (former nudie-pornster Monique Parent) showing a home to newlyweds. Along the way, we learn several shocking tales about their little love nest’s previous owners. The best part is picking out all the great horror vets. We recognized Felissa Rose and Jonathan Tiersten from “Sleepaway Camp” and John “The Return of the Living Dead” Philbin. How many can you spot?
THE SEVERING CRIME EDGE: COMPLETE COLLECTION
2013; $44.98-$59.98; UR
A dark and unpredictable anime actioner that more ’Mericans should be aware of. Unremarkable, everyday objects may actually be “Killing Goods,” cursed to fulfill their users’ wishes, but always at a terrible price. Enter Kiri, an ordinary boy with a strange fixation for cutting hair with his “family heirloom” tools. But those old scissors are the key to a terrible destiny requiring the death of a beautiful, tortured young girl — and an evil cadre of wealthy decadents will stop at nothing to obtain them. Great, icky characters, brilliant plot twists and a disturbing pair of twins highlight this unique video-Manga.
THE SUSPECT
2013; $22.98-$29.98; UR
The perfect Korean action-movie: A top agent is abandoned in the North. His wife and child murdered, he comes into possession of a pair of eyeglasses filled with national secrets. On the run, with nothing to lose, hunted by all sides, he now has only one mission: To learn the truth behind it all at any cost. Stars SK wunderkind Yoo Gong (aka Gong Ji-Cheol), whose 2007 TV series, “The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince,” is the best-kept secret in video, but can be found at select vidstores and bookshops. A great introduction to an up-and-coming talent.
TRANSCENDENCE
2014; $16.98-$35.98; PG-13
While less than a box office blockbuster, you can’t blame the cast with talent like Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Kate Mara and Morgan Freeman working for you. Yes, it had the misfortune of going up against “Her,” which mines a related techno-vein, but it was the combination of first-time director Wally Pfister and unseasoned writer Jack Paglen that ultimately led to its downfall. All that aside, there’s an awful lot to like in this tale of mankind-meets-the-singularity, the day when we can upload our minds to computers and effectively live forever. Action, great scenery, interesting plot and something to think about afterward — what more do you want?
A more complete listing and free vids at videotapeworm.com.
More recommended videos for our online readers only!
APPLESEED: ALPHA
2014; $19.98-$26.98; PG-13
Now this is animation! A prequel to 2004’s blistering “Appleseed,” from the creator of “Ghost in the Shell,” it ratchets up the intensity as we follow a pair of mercenaries — the beautiful Deunan, and her cyborg companion, Briareos — through a brilliantly rendered, post-apocalypse CGI NYC. That’s where they discover a pair of Utopians who may have a means to save the Earth. But a brutal warlord and his evil master have no intentions of releasing their grip on our planet, turning all their forces loose on the courageous pair. Ah-ha! The fight is on!
DALZIEL & PASCOE: SEASON 10
2014; $29.98-$34.98; UR
This Limey mismatched-buddy-cop dramedy is a flat-out hoot, largely because of the undeniable chemistry between stars Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan. Clarke is older, grumpy and wildly politically incorrect; Buchanan is younger and wiry, with a mouth that goes nonstop. Frankly, these guys hate each other, but are fully away that they are better together than apart. This season, the episode, “Wrong Place, Wrong Time” is particularly good: With the boys at a conference in Amsterdam, Dalziel wakes up next to a dead woman — while another stiff goes floating down the channel! Terrific TV.
GMO OMG
2013; $20.98-$29.98; UR
If you hope to ever sleep again at night, do not watch this doc! Filmmaker Jeremy Seifert takes us into the world of genetically modified foods, explaining in clear and simple language what they are, what we know about them, what we suspect — and how many pounds you and your children have already consumed in the last 10 years! Or, as he puts it, we are all “participating in the largest experiment ever conducted on human beings.” We just might never eat again ...
MADE IN AMERICA
2013; $12.98-$19.98; UR
Director Ron Howard brings us a lively doc which is both a plug for the music industry as a whole and a rah-rah look at the personal industry of freshly-minted music moguls, using Jay Z’s Made In America festival as a backdrop. Includes performances and narrative by Pearl Jam, Odd Future, Dirty Projectors, Skrillex, (most of) Run-DMC, and many others, each describing how they turned their passion into profits and then paid it forward through charities, hands-on inspiration and support of good works.
MAKE YOUR MOVE
2014; $23.98-$30.98; PG-13
Derek Hough and BoA play the hot, star-crossed lovers/dancers in this lively music-filled Romeo and Juliet tale set in the underground clubs of NYC. Their respective club-owning brothers stand in for the feuding Montagues and Capulets, with a hard-boiled New Orleans parole officer as the requisite Inescapable Doom. Hough, of course, became a hot commodity after a blistering season of “Dancing With The Stars” and unexpectedly excels at tap dancing here. A great date flick.
SABOTAGE
2014; $18.98-$34.98; R
One of those aging-star-heavy actioners that lays so well on a Sunday afternoon on the couch. Arnold Schwarzengger (need we go on?) heads a drug task force charged with taking down the highest-ranking baddies of powerful international drug cartels. But it all goes to hell when $10 million goes missing from a bust and members of his team start dying. With great bits by Sam Worthington, Olivia “Dollhouse” Williams, Terrence “Iron Man” Howard, Joe Manganiello and Josh “Lost” Holloway. With Mireille “World War Z” Enos as pretty much the only other woman in the movie.
THE FACE OF LOVE
2013; $22.98; PG-13
Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Robin Williams and Amy Brenneman all excel, as expected, in this mature and very entertaining light drama about a widow who falls for a man who looks and acts surprisingly like her late husband. But we particularly enjoyed the performance of Louisville’s own Jess Weixler, who holds her own brilliantly amid such heavyweights. Recommended; a great date flick, even if it is full of old farts.
THE LAST DAYS
2013; $22.98; UR
A much-touted Spanish tale of the Apocalypse that takes advantage of its claustrophobic premise — everyone is trapped indoors after a paranoia-inducing epidemic turns the outdoors into instant death — to add excitement to a man’s frantic search for his missing girlfriend. Toss in the supernatural, a hint of old-school sci-fi, people with puppets, jaunts through subway tunnels, tension, action, non-linear storytelling, and — best of all — quiet, knowing nods to ’50s drive-in films, and you have one of the most entertaining imports in recent history. Not to be missed.
THE LAST MATCH
2013; $24.98; UR
A dark look at gay life in modern Cuba. Two young men — one a gambler and prostitute with a teen wife and child, the other a “kept” man, the plaything of an older, wealthy girlfriend — struggle to keep their secret love alive. Together they seek an escape from the hardship, poverty and pain of Havana, but recognize full well the hopelessness of their plight. So they play soccer a lot. While this is hardly uplifting stuff, it is clearly the best-made and most effective movie to come out of the recent wave of (banned) Cuban Gay cinema.
