Absolute Underground TV

The Raid 2: Berandal certainly owes a great debt to North American films like Die Hard, The Godfather and Kill Bill. They created a standard for how to make a gangland movie as violent as hell, and with censorship standards different in other countries, some films from Korea (like I Saw the Devil) can easily show just how man’s inhumanity to man can easily be inflicted on screen, and fans of ultra-violent films can check out this movie when it releases to DVD/Blu-ray on July 8, 2014.

The title Good Vibrations can be deceptive unless a plot summary is next to it. Some people may think that this movie is about the Beach Boys, and it’s very far from that. Instead, this film looks at the emerging punk rock movement in a country embroiled in a civil war. This film is a fictionalized account of Terri Hooley’s life (Richard Dormer), a free-age thinker, who just wants to life to be gentler, if not kinder to him and his world.

Based off Never Goodnight, a Swedish graphic novel written by Coco Moodyson, We Are the Best! is a movie that looks at the lives of three girls who are coming of age. Two of them, Bobo (Mira Barkhammar) and Klara(Mira Grosin) decide to form a punk rock band, and they think that by declaring their independence now will help them survive in the future. They bring Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne) into the fold, and although she slightly resists, her freedom doesn’t arrive until she’s rightly initiated.

When four snooty gals declare independence from men because of all the wrongs they've done to them, perhaps the big question they should ask themselves is what do they have to gain by targeting a less than bright fellow on a social media site called ConnectMeNet? In the movie Creeper, a film that mixes in grindhouse, exploitation and survival horror into one product, the big question is who is stalking and preying on whom?

Writer/Director/Cinematographer Matthew Gunnoe does a very good job in writing a story about the dangers of social media/dating websites designed for supposedly 'consenting' adults. It's not a topic often explored. Although this made-for-video product will require a repeated viewing to get that message, the hints are very sublime. He also takes a poke at all the sinful joys of watching reality television programs.

The Modern Prometheus has issues and some of that gets explored in I, Frankenstein. While this film tries to follow after the events from Mary Shelley’s masterpiece novel, Frankenstein, the events do not continue in that universe. The tale and focus shifts to that of a comic book one, completely toned down by writer/director Stuart Beattie for a general PG-13 rated audience to enjoy. Fans of the graphic novel of the same name most likely will appreciate this film more.

Gypsy Punk may not be a concept everyone is familiar with and the band Tower of Dudes will soon release an aptly titled third album, Make Your Own Culture, to help define it for the masses. In fact, some listeners may well have to examine for themselves to see how these two cultural worlds work together. The history lessons offers some interesting perspectives, and listeners can hear for themselves what this sound is all about when this album releases in March 2014.

Charles Darwin might not survive naming the horrors found in Blood Glacier (Blutgletscher), an Austrian film by writer Benjamin Hessler and director Marvin Kren. Together, they are known for films like Rammbock (2010) and Schautag (2009). If his last film is any indication, perhaps this filmmaker has a fondness for creating terrors formed by viruses. In the Alps, just what may lurk underneath the snow is definitely not the abominable snowman! Instead, as the title implies, there’s a glacier that is shrinking and revealing a red like algae that’s going to spell doom for the scientists studying the effects of climate change.

Anyone daring to see the first two movies from the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy of films — Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz — before going to see the latest, The World's End, might get a brain freeze. The final film of this series opened with high-spirited laughs and plenty of charm that only the amazing collaborative team of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost can do. Their unique take on the horror, comedy and sci-fi genre is laced with a charm that examines the human condition about what it takes to feel alive, a common theme in this trio of films.

Three long years feels like a long time for some whoopin to return. Kick-Ass 2 picks up from where the first film left off, and fans of the Die Hard trilogy or the comics that the film is inspired from will find more fun with this flick than a general audience. They will see a bunch of wannabe heroes go John McClain upon the scum of all villainy. The only question here is whether or not these heroes can rise above what they have become. Are they more like characters similar to Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) or are they good people underneath?

A little character explanation is found as each new hero explains why they have turned vigilante and this film is interesting as it tries to explain what a world can be like without heroes. It's a sorry one; not all criminals can be caught and someone has to deal with them.