nightmare collection volume 2 dvd promotion

April 10, 2008 at 2:57 pm | In Film Studios, DVDs, Movies, Tampa Bay Area, Contests/Giveaways | No Comments

Received via email:

Enigma Films and The Nightmare Collection bring you a very special opportunity.

How would you like to be seated at the poker table right next to Necro Nancy while filming a scene for the upcoming The Nightmare Collection Volume 2 DVD? Treasure Chest Poker and The Slug of Tampa will help bring this opportunity to life with a very special promotion.

CONTEST RULES

This special promotion will begin Tuesday, April 15, and run through Sunday, June 15.

All you have to do is visit The Slug of Tampa or any of the other locations and play in the FREE Texas Holdem tournaments provided by Treasure Chest Poker to be eligible.

Play in the tournaments and accumulate raffle tickets to better your chances of becoming the winner of the seat at Necro Nancy’s Final Table of Death.

Read below for all the details on how to win your raffle tickets:

- Each time you sign up and play, you will receive a raffle ticket.

- If you make the Final Table you will receive 3 additional raffle tickets.

- The winner will receive an additional 2 raffle tickets.

- If you get the high bar tab for the night, you will receive 3 more raffle tickets.

- For each set of raffle tickets you get, put your name and TCP number on the back of one of the them and turn it into your location host.

Collect as many raffle tickets as you can between April 15 and June 15 to increase your chances of winning. During the June Monthly Tournament, the drawing will be held. Actress Krista Grotte, a.k.a. Necro Nancy, will be on hand to pull the lucky ticket and the winner will be announced. Good luck and happy hunting.

Visit www.enigma-films.com or www.finaltableofdeath.com for more info.

goodbye 2007…

January 1, 2008 at 8:22 pm | In DVDs, TV, Movies | No Comments

What a year! What a crazy, tumultuous, hectic, bizarre, interesting year. And I’m just talking about my personal life. (Ha ha.)

There are a few movie- and TV-related items on the Best of 2007 and Worst of 2007 lists that I did for CrazedFanBoy.com. Here are a few other 2007 wrap-up lists from around the web to finish out the year:

ironweed film club movies this month

August 27, 2007 at 4:44 pm | In DVDs, Movies | No Comments

A most interesting DVD arrived in the mail recently from the Ironweed Film Club. Here’s the description from the Ironweed newsletter:

This month Ironweed looks at individuals with something to say, and the innovative methods of communication they’ve chosen to speak through - be they film diaries, political cartoons, or viral videos inspired by the need for change.

The Breast Cancer Diaries

For ten years, Ann Murray Paige covered the news. But when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 38, the only way she knew how to remain strong was to turn the camera on herself and document her battle.

She challenges everything from “drive-through mastectomies,” to how American society defines women by their breasts. Balancing work, motherhood, marriage and her illness, Ann’s powerful diary speaks volumes for the one in seven American women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Accolades: Tribeca Film Festival - Winner, Best Doc Britdoc Festival - Winner, Best International Doc.

Paul Conrad: Drawing Fire

This biographic documentary delves deeply into the history and driving force behind political cartoonist Paul Conrad, a three time Pulitzer Prize winning satirist renowned for his fearless voice and pointed critique of our political leaders and policies since the 1960’s.

Accolades: Sundance Film Festival - Official Selection South By Southwest Film Festival - Official Selection

Convenient Truths: Winners of the Green Video Contest

The winning ten amateur videos from the Convenient Truths contest (sponsored by TreeHugger and Seventh Generation), tells individual stories of activism for the environment in new and innovative ways.

Visit www.ironweedfilmclub.com to learn more.

some upcoming dvd release dates for your reading pleasure

July 12, 2007 at 2:26 pm | In DVDs, Movies | No Comments

Here are some upcoming DVD release dates, via The Library Journal:

Movies:
Purple Rain (Warner) — July 24
Disturbia (Paramount) — August 7
Are We Done Yet? (Sony) — August 7
The Dark Crystal 25th Anniversary Edition (Sony) — August 14
Labyrinth Anniversary Edition (Sony) — August 14
Vacancy (Sony) — August 14
Blades of Glory (Dreamworks/Paramount) — August 28
Year of the Dog (Paramount) — August 28
The Lives of Others (Sony) — August 21
Perfect Stranger (Sony) — August 21
Cruising Deluxe Edition (Warner) — September 18
The Jack Ryan Special Edition Box Set (Paramount) — September 25
Deliverance:35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Warner) — September 18
Commando Director’s Cut (Fox) — September 18
Wall Street 29th Anniversary Edition (Fox) — September 18

TV shows:
God Grew Tired of Us (Sony) — August 14
Rome:The Complete Second Season (HBO/Warner) — August 7
Ugly Betty:The Complete First Season Bettyfied Edition (Buena Vista) — August 21
Two and a Half Men:The Complete First Season (Warner) — September 11
Brothers and Sisters:The Complete First Season (Buena Vista) — September 18
‘Til Death:The Complete First Season (Sony) — August 21
Masters of Horror:Season One (Anchor Bay) — August 28
The Black Donnelleys:The Complete Series (Universal) — September 4
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season One and Two (Fox) — September 4

What are the odds that I’ll ever type “Masters of Horror” and “The Library Journal” in the same post again?

three soldiers’ stories from ironweed film club

July 4, 2007 at 1:20 pm | In Film Series, DVDs, Movies | No Comments

An interesting DVD arrived in my mailbox a few weeks ago, courtesy of the Ironweed Film Club. Here’s what their recent newsletter had to say:

This month Ironweed delivers three illuminating stories of soldiers and their conflicted emotions towards their jobs, peers, family and society at large.

The War Tapes — Through unfiltered and raw footage, three National Guardsmen capture their day-to-day lives in Iraq with cameras mounted to their bodies and vehicles. Join these soldiers in a ground-breaking film that bucks the sanitized mass media images of warfare to deliver a comprehensive picture of ordinary people at odds with themselves and external environment. Accolades: Tribeca Film Festival - Winner, Best Doc; Britdoc Festival - Winner, Best International Doc.

The Grass Grows Green — Aptly titled after a Marine Corps chant attributing fresh, fertile grass to the sacrifice and blood of fallen soldiers, this powerful narrative portrays the life of a military recruiter. When Sgt. Lobos discovers that one of his recruits died in battle, he grapples with his complex relationship with his job and community. Accolades: Sundance Film Festival - Official Selection; South By Southwest Film Festival - Official Selection.

All That I Can Be — Student filmmakers at the Educational Video Center follow their friend as he makes the difficult decision to join the U.S. Army in a time of war. Co-producer Antonio Abreu writes: “People I know are joining the military because they need money for college and they don’t want to work at McDonald’s like they did in high school.” Accolades: Economic Justice Award - Winner; Media That Matters Film Festival - Official Selection.

Visit www.ironweedfilmclub.com to learn more about this unique DVD club. For info on Ironweed Film Club screenings at the Studio(at)620 in St. Pete, click here.

dvd review:the guardian

May 11, 2007 at 7:52 am | In DVDs, Reviews, Movies, *Guardian, The | No Comments

Some bad news about the movie The Guardian: We’ve seen this story before.  An aging soldier/athlete/fighter (this time it’s a Coast Guard rescue swimmer) (Kevin Costner) is getting too old for the job he loves and has to train/initiate/teach a young, arrogant, cocky recruit/trainee/apprentice (Ashton Kutcher).

Some good news about The Guardian:  It manages to rise above predictability; it’s actually quite entertaining.

Bad news:  Sela Ward, playing the wife of Costner’s character, isn’t in the movie long enough.

Good news:  At least Costner’s character isn’t married to a girl half his age.

Bad news:  Ashton Kutcher is in the movie.

Good news:  Kutcher was able to tone down his whiny, Punk’d persona and do a good job as the overly-confident trainee.

Bad news:  Kevin Costner is getting older.

Worse news:  We’re all getting older.

Good news:  Costner still looks great and has the same No Way Out sparkle in his eye.

Film Fan Finding: B+

DVD Extras:

  • previews
  • alternate ending
  • deleted scenes
  • audio commentary
  • featurette The Guardian:Making Waves
  • featurette Unsung Heroes:So Others May Live

dvd review:pirates of the caribbean:dead man’s chest

May 8, 2007 at 7:11 am | In DVDs, Reviews, Movies, *Pirates of the Caribbean 2 | No Comments

Watching Pirates of the Caribbean:Dead Man’s Chest on DVD recently reminded me of a strange, pink, coconut-covered, chocolate snack food I once bought from a 7-11 while on a road trip:  I have no idea what it contains or how to explain it.  I only know I liked the way it tasted and I want another one.

Film Fan Finding: B

DVD Extras:

  • featurette Charting the Return
  • featurette According to Plan
  • Captain Jack:From Head to Toe featurette
  • Mastering the Blade (Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport)
  • featurette Meet Davy Jones:Anatomy of a Legend
  • featurette Creating the Kraken
  • featurette Dead Men Tell New Tales:Re-Imagineering the Attraction
  • Fly on the Set:The Bone Cage featurette
  • Jerry Bruckheimer:A Producer’s Photo Diary
  • Pirates on Main Street:The Dead Man’s Chest Premiere
  • DVD registration
  • audio commentary with writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio
  • Bloopers of the Caribbean

dvd review:march of the penguins

May 4, 2007 at 3:42 pm | In DVDs, Reviews, Movies, *March of the Penguins | No Comments

March of the Penguins was just as delightful on DVD as it was in the theater.  I stand by the A+ I gave it in my original review.

DVD Extras:

  • featurette Of Penguins and Men
  • National Geographic’s Crittercam:Emperor Penguins
  • Warner Brother’s cartoon 8 Ball Bunny

dvd review:aurora borealis

April 30, 2007 at 6:59 am | In DVDs, Reviews, Movies, *Aurora Borealis | No Comments

aurora1.jpg

What do you think of when you hear the name Donald Sutherland?  His smart-a$$ performance in M*A*S*H*?  The memorable scene at the end of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers?  His son Kiefer?

Watching Aurora Borealis reminded me what a talented actor Donald Sutherland is.  Somehow I had missed hearing about this movie when it came out in 2005 and knew nothing about it when the DVD review copy arrived in the mail.  In one word:  WOW. 

Joshua Jackson plays a guy in his mid-twenties who is still mourning his father’s death, even after ten years.  He can’t quite get his act together and drifts aimlessly from one job to the next.  While visiting his grandparents (Donald Sutherland as the ailing grandfather with Alzheimer’s and Louise Fletcher as his long-suffering wife), he falls in love with their quirky, free-spirited home healthcare worker (Juliette Lewis, who is always free-spirited and quirky in every role) and begins rethinking his life choices.  Sutherland is magnificent as the elderly grandfather with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, who still feels like himself on the inside, even though his failing physical body has betrayed him.  He won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival and the Best Actor Award at the RiverRun International Film Festival.  He deserves those awards and more.

Aurora Borealis is not your standard film about The Tragedies of Life with cardboard characters in predictable circumstances.  It’s a genuine, moving examination of the unpredictable fragility of life and the choices we all encounter.  How do you honor a loved one’s memory while moving on with your life?  Do you take a chance on love if it means leaving your lifelong friends behind and moving to a new town?  How do you live out your remaining days with dignity when illness and old age have robbed you of so much of who you are?

Despite being absolutely heart-wrenching in places, Aurora Borealis is also sweet, funny, hopeful…and WOW.  Just WOW.

Film Fan Finding: A

DVD Extras:

  • interviews (three separate interviews: with cast; the writer and director; and the producers)
  • audio commentary with the director, writers and producers
  • photo gallery
  • trailer

dvd review:turistas

April 23, 2007 at 7:22 am | In DVDs, Reviews, Movies, *Turistas | No Comments

The previews of Turistas promised suspense, terror and gore.  The film itself delivered none of those.  We’ve all seen this story before: a group of young, attractive Americans traveling cross-country (through Brazil this time) find themselves separated, stranded, robbed and hunted for their body parts.  Some of them survive; some don’t.  Some of the actors are decent; some aren’t.  Ho-hum.

Film Fan Finding: D

DVD Extras:

  • deleted scenes
  • commentary with director John Stockwell and producer Kent Kubena
  • featurette The Bloody Truth:The Special Make-Up Effects of Turistas
  • previews/trailers
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