Absolute Underground TV

The movie Mars et Avril (Mars and April) is visually stunning in a jazz-era inspired kind of way. It blends a world straight out of Blade Runner with props that belong to the 30’s. That also includes the strange instruments that the elderly Jacob Obus (Jacques Languirand) uses to perform his music with. They look like a cross between a bagpipe, a female appendage and a saxophone. As for how it gets played, Obus has to put his entire breath into it.

Lunarcy! is a quirky documentary with a great soundtrack by Christopher Sandes. It helps give this product a personality that is not only humourous but also serious. But as this film builds to a revelation, perhaps what this movie reveals last should have been mentioned first. That would have helped give this film a distinct focus than to present a series of anecdotes from people far too preoccupied with the Moon.

The biopic Hannah Arendt is certainly a product that will cause discussion afterwards. She’s a woman ahead of her time. As a philosopher/political theorist who coined the phrase, “banality of evil,” some people may have wondered what did she mean by that? The phrase appeared when she reported about the trial of Nazi Adolf Eichmann for the The New Yorker. The lead-up and fallout from that article is at the center of this film.

The titles of horror films these days tend to sum up the product with one word when it shouldn’t. In Sinister, due out on DVD and Blu-ray Feb 19th, the only emotion evoked is that the terror is lurking in the midst of normalcy. For the product to additionally say that this movie is produced by the creative minds of Paranormal Activity and Insidious only kills its potential. Sad to say, according to reports by Bloody Disgusting, a sequel may be in the works.

Popcorn thrill-rides are often the style that most horror-themed movies these days aim for. And with Silent Hill 3D, the adventure is like walking through a fun house of terror. Some theatre-goers may be more inclined to laugh at the scares than get scared. At least with the home video release slated for Feb 12th, they can enjoy watching how the story from the first film influenced the second product.

The Puppet Master series has evolved to become a product totally different from its first few films. Instead of the murderous dolls that many fans loved in the original three movies, now released to Blu-ray in a less than stunning transfer, they are still humanity’s saviors in Puppet Master X: Axis Rising.

One part fairy tale and two parts action-thriller, Hanna aims to deliver a simplistic plot Kill Bill style. It asks the question of who’s the big bad wolf, who’s the prey and is grandma even important to this tale? No, this film is not a simple retelling of Red Riding Hood. It certainly has a quality that borrows from folklore. 

Many opportunities are missed in Wes Craven’s latest, My Soul to Take. And for some, the money paid for this film is what some aficionados of terror will want back.