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Is 3DTV Worth It? An Easy-to-Understand Breakdown of What You Need to Know

By Luke Mullen (Subscribe to Luke Mullen's posts), Posted Nov 25th 2010 6:02PM
Filed under: Features, Cinematical, Blu-ray DVDs

Ahhh the third dimension, it just won't go away will it? After peaking in popularity in two previous decades, 3-D is back with a vengeance and shows no signs of stopping. Whether you love it, hate it, or fall somewhere in between, the runaway success of James Cameron's 'Dances with Wolves' remake has pretty much guaranteed that the major studios will continue to suckle at the 3-D teat for the next several summers. And while we probably should have seen the writing on the wall, the surge in theatrical 3-D presentations has finally lead to the inevitable next step ... 3-D right in your living room.

The question is, should you jump in to this new technology with both feet or wait cautiously by the side of the pool and see how it all plays out?
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'Avatar' Arriving On 3D Blu-ray December 1st

By Luke Mullen (Subscribe to Luke Mullen's posts), Posted Oct 28th 2010 9:33AM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical, Blu-ray DVDs

Yes, I know. You're all so very excited about the big 'Avatar' announcement. James Cameron is forgoing the perhaps ill-conceived idea of doing a 3-D period piece with Angelina Jolie in order to return to Pandora. And return he shall, not once but twice, filming 'Avatar 2' and 'Avatar 3' which we should see in theaters around the turn of the next century. After which, I'm sure we'll get to see Angelina seduce whichever poor sap they dupe into playing Marc Antony ... in 3-D! But I digress.

As some of you eagle-eyed readers may remember, the 'My Bloody Valentine' remake recently made a splash by becoming the first live-action film to be released on 3D Blu-ray. To clarify, 3D Blu-ray is a new format, based on the same Blu-ray technology that debuted in 2007, which allows for full color 3-D at home. While the initial Blu-ray release of 'My Bloody Valentine' included a 3-D version of the film, it was the older anaglyph 3-D technology which uses red/blue glasses. 3D Blu-ray is the same type of 3-D utilized in theaters these days, requiring clear glasses but delivering a much more enjoyable 3-D experience.

Up until now 3-D at home has been making relatively slow progress, most likely due to a paucity of available 3-D content. ESPN is making big waves in the live market, producing much of this year's World Cup coverage in three dimensions, but 3D Blu-ray is still limited to a handful of titles That could all change this holiday season, though.
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15. 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' Bathtub Claw - 20 Most Iconic Horror Scenes of All Time

By Luke Mullen (Subscribe to Luke Mullen's posts), Posted Oct 17th 2010 12:00PM
Filed under: Halloween, Horror


The Movie: 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (1984)

The Scene: Shellshocked by the death of her best friend, Nancy Thompson decides to take a hot bath one night to clear her head. She's young and vulnerable and caught up in a mystery she still doesn't quite understand. There's a man named Freddy Krueger who's coming after her in her dreams, but those dreams may just be spilling over into real life. In any event, a nice, warm bath should relieve some of the tension. Only problem is Freddy's there too.

As Nancy starts to dose off, Freddy's gloved hand with knives over the fingers slowly rises from the soapy water between Nancy's legs. Just as the hand is heading towards Nancy's face, her mom knocks on the door waking her and causing the hand to slip down below the surface of the water. Despite her mother's admonishes not to fall asleep in the tub, Nancy starts to nod off again and the glove is back, like a shark in the water, and this time it pulls her under. Nancy fights for her life in what seems like an ocean under her bathtub. Kicking and flailing, she's finally able to pull herself up and out of the tub just as her mother bursts into the room, alerted to the danger by Nancy's screams. It's easily one of the most memorable scenes in a film that has become a genre classic.
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'Jackass 3D' Begs the Question: Is This Stuff Still Funny?

By Luke Mullen (Subscribe to Luke Mullen's posts), Posted Oct 14th 2010 8:42PM
Filed under: Hot Topic, Cinematical

10 years after the dawn of a new reality show on MTV, the Jackass guys have gained plenty of fame and notoriety and are about to release their third (?!) feature film, sure to be filled with plenty of their signature shenanigans. With tomorrow's release of 'Jackass 3D,' it's a good a time as any to wonder if this type of comedy is still popular and why.

By the very nature of the question's wording, the assumption is that their brand of humor was funny and popular at one time. That pretty much goes without saying. Jackass as a TV show was a hit seemingly overnight. Controversy over the stunts and condemnation from US Senators only added to the show's popularity and appeal. Whether you found it funny or not, a lot of people certainly did. The show ended it's brief television run in 2002 and capped it off with a feature film, 'Jackass: The Movie.'

Filmed on a production budget of $5 million, the film was number 1 at the box office during it's opening weekend, raking in over $20 million, well on its way to a worldwide gross of almost $80 million. If 'Jackass' on TV was a hit, 'Jackass' on the big screen was a monster, bringing in a huge return for it's producers and distributor. So what is it about 'Jackass' that still connects with audiences? It's the same things audiences have laughed at time and time again: The show takes several different approaches to comedy and cranks them all up to 11.
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'My Bloody Valentine' Becomes First Live-Action Feature Film Released on New 3-D Blu-ray

By Luke Mullen (Subscribe to Luke Mullen's posts), Posted Oct 7th 2010 3:25PM
Filed under: Movie News, Horror, Cinematical, Blu-ray DVDs

Technology advances at a frenetic pace. Just a few years ago the idea of high definition in your living room was a pipe dream for all but the super rich. Today you can go to Target and buy a decent sized HDTV for a few hundred dollars. While HD was taking homes by storm, an old technology was being revamped in an effort to entice audiences back to movie theaters. 3-D had already enjoyed a few haydays in the past, but with James Cameron promising game changing visuals from his decade-long passion project, others started to follow suit. As with any technology, the drive to make it smaller and more affordable has lead to 3-D TV, and since any display format needs content, 3-D Blu-ray has emerged as well.

As of this moment, there are only a handful of 3-D Blu-rays available. They require both a 3-D Blu-ray player to play the discs as well a 3-D TV to display the picture. So far, all currently available 3DTV's in the US also require you to wear 3-D glasses to see the 3-D effect, though prototypes of sets that don't use glasses are on the horizon (see images after the jump). As of Monday, the 3-D Blu-rays that you could buy were all animated, including the surprisingly funny and heartwarming 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.' But Tuesday, Best Buy scored the exclusive release of the first live-action film to hit 3-D Blu-ray here in the US, the 2009 horror remake 'My Bloody Valentine.'
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A Brief Chat with 'Fantastic' FX Master Greg Nicotero

By Luke Mullen (Subscribe to Luke Mullen's posts), Posted Oct 3rd 2010 8:33PM
Filed under: Horror, Cinematical, Festivals

While you might not know the name Greg Nicotero, you certainly know the man's body of work. Nicotero got his first job rather serendipitously, as Tom Savini's assistant on Romero's 'Day of the Dead' at the ripe old age of 22. Three short years later he co-founded KNB Efx Group alongside Robert Kurtzman and Howard Berger and has worked on well over 100 different films and TV shows including 'Evil Dead 2,' the 'Kill Bill' films and 'Sin City' to name just a few from his impressive and varied filmography. He's worked extensively with people like Tarantino, Rodriguez, Romero, Darabont and Spielberg. He is quite literally a legend in the makeup and special effects business. Recently, he wrote and directed a short film that takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the Universal monsters. It envisions the world of old Hollywood in a universe where the monsters are real and are managed by an agency just like any other actor or stuntman. The short, entitled Universal Monster Talent Agency, is structured partially as a newsreel and partially as an advertisement for the agency, its innovations and, of course, its monsters. It played at this year's Fantastic Fest and we had a chance to sit down with Nicotero to talk about it.
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Fantastic Fest Reviews: 'Stake Land,' 'Julia's Eyes,' 'We Are What We Are,' and 'Rammbock'

By Luke Mullen (Subscribe to Luke Mullen's posts), Posted Oct 3rd 2010 7:03PM
Filed under: Horror, Cinematical, Festivals

'Stake Land,' directed by Jim Mickle (United States)

'Stake Land' is essentially a Western road movie with vampires. After the vampire apocalypse, small pockets of humanity remain but they're few and far between. Things are further complicated by the Brotherhood, a violent, Aryan-style religious group controlling the major roadways and terrorizing non-believers using vampires as weapons. Nick Damici stars as Mister, the gruff loner on his way to New Eden, the Zion-esque human community. Mister comes across the young Martin, played by Connor Paolo, and takes him under his wing. The unlikely duo take to the open road, killing vampires and running afoul of the Brotherhood while Mister mentors Martin in the finer points of survival. But their scrapes with the Brotherhood make them marked men and vampires may be the least of their problems on the road to New Eden.

'Stake Land' is the second film directed by Jim Mickle and co-written by lead actor Nick Damici who made their mark with the 2006 film 'Mulberry Street,' one of the best entries in that year's After Dark Horrorfest. Sadly, 'Stake Land' falters a bit, partially due to a meandering plot that doesn't seem too sure where it wants to end up. Damici and Paolo play off each other pretty well, and Danielle Harris and Kelly McGillis put in solid work in supporting roles, but the slow pacing and lack of a true climax make it a tough sell. In the end, 'Stake Land' is a dry, bleak film with a few good points that aren't quite enough to save it.
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