News

The Bottom Line: December 15, 2017 The long-awaited eighth entry in the Star Wars saga arrives this weekend with The Last Jedi. Find out how it will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Coco topped the box office again with $18.4 million. Second place went to Justice League, which took in $9.7 million. Wonder took third [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: December 15, 2017: Star Wars Dominates The Weekend, Also Your Life...

The Bottom Line: December 8, 2017 Tonya Harding gets the Goodfellas treatment and The Disaster Artist opens wide. Find out how they will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Coco topped the box office again with $26.1 million. Second place went to Justice League, which took in $16.6 million. Wonder took third place $12.6 million, while Thor: Ragnarok took [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: December 8, 2017: As Far Back As I Can Remember, I Always Wanted To Be A Figure Skater…...

The Bottom Line: December 1, 2017 Three of the best films of the year begin their quest for Oscar glory this weekend. Find out how they will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Coco topped the box office again with $50.9 million. Second place went to Justice League, which took in $41.1 million. [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: December 1, 2017: You Are Tearing Me Apart, The Disaster Artist!

Did Stephanie Shepherd just throw some shade at Kim Kardashian West?

On Wednesday, Shepherd — who first became Kardashian West’s assistant in 2013 and briefly rose to be COO of Kardashian West Brands — shared a cryptic post that some people have interpreted to be about her former employer.

“Self care isn’t always Lush bath bombs & $20 face masks. Sometimes, it’s going to bed @ 8Pm or letting go of a bad friend. It’s forgiving yourself for not meeting your impossible standards & understanding you are worth it. Self care isn’t always a luxury but a mean for survival,” she wrote on her Instagram story.

Don’t mix business with pleasure.

Kim Kardashian West recently parted ways with her longtime assistant Stephanie Shepherd, and now, a source tells People the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star plans on maintaining a more professional relationship with her replacement.

“Steph was very friendly with Kim’s family — she was almost part of the family,” says the source of Shepherd, who began working with Kim in 2013 and had become particularly close with Kourtney Kardashian in recent months.

“Kim needed an assistant where the relationship is more professional,” continues the source. “It’s very difficult to work with friends, so...

The Bottom Line: November 17, 2017 DC finally attempts their own version of the Avengers with Justice League this weekend. Find out how it will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Thor: Ragnarok topped the box office again with $56.6 million. Second place went to Daddy’s Home 2, which took in $30.1 million. Murder [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: November 17, 2017: Justice League Is Here To Underwhelm You...

The Bottom Line: November 10, 2017 A remake of Murder on the Orient Express faces off against Mel Gibson this weekend. Find out how they will all do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Thor: Ragnarok topped the box office (of course) with $123 million. Second place went to A Bad Moms Christmas, which took [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: November 10, 2017: Gilderoy Lockhart Solves A Train Murder!

It was Jenelle Evans‘ big day on the season finale of Teen Mom 2 — and one important family member was visibly missing.

The reality star, 25, married David Eason on Monday night’s episode, but her nuptials were unattended by most of her family, including her estranged mother, Barbara.

When a friend asked her if her mother was coming, Evans said, “Nope. My mom’s not coming. She’s not invited.”

She continued, “I wish I could have a mom there but … I have no family coming. And disapproves of David. That was the big reason. That’s the reason why...

Dceu and Justice League fans rejoice. It has been confirmed that the runtime for Justice League will clock in at a mere 121 minutes. Many fans have held the fear that the upcoming movie was going to have a ridiculously long runtime (some saying nearly 3-hours) to cram everything in about all of the characters they can, but that, thankfully, will not be the case this time around. The news comes after many news outlets began to report that the movie was going to be nearly 3-hours long, which was proven false by Zack Snyder.

After a long production process, the Dceu's Justice League will hit theaters on November 17th clocking in at a minute over 2 hours. A number of theater chains, including Regal Cinemas, and AMC Theaters, have confirmed the runtime of the movie, making it the shortest movie in the unofficially titled DC Extended Universe thus far. Director Zack Snyder...

The Bottom Line: October 20, 2017 Michael Fassbender leads a crime thriller, Josh Brolin leads a group of firefighters, and Gerard Butler fights the weather. Find out how they will all do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Happy Death Day continues a great year for Blumhouse by landing in the number one [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: October 20, 2017: Do You Want To Build The Snowman? (It Doesn’t Have To Be The Snowman)...

[[tmz:video id="0_usxb9ulm"]] O.J. Simpson can return to Florida, but he ain't gonna get a sunshiny welcome -- so says Senator Marco Rubio ... who seems pretty against The Juice lettin' loose in his home state. "What can I do about that?" Rubio told TMZ Sports when we got him in D.C. ... "He has a right to live wherever he wants." Technically, yes ... though Florida's Attorney General has strongly objected to O.J. coming back to his old digs.

In this episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County, titled "Mystic Mistake," Tamra grows tired of Shannon's attitude, a trip to the doctor gives Vicki a new lease on life, Lydia invites the girls on a trip and Shannon defends David. 

The Diko-Shannon drama continues. David admits to Shannon that he quizzed Diko about Peggy's health but only because he was a bit confused -- as all the women seem to be. I think we're all suffering from cancer fatigue after two years of dealing with Brooks' faux illness, so I hope this comes to an end soon. The bottom line is Peggy got a double mastectomy, and she didn't do it for shits and giggles. Everybody needs to let it go.

The Bottom Line: October 13, 2017 Jackie Chan returns to American cinema and we’ve got a new horror movie just in time for Friday the 13th. Find out how they will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Blade Runner 2049 may have underperformed, but it did still top the box office with [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: October 13, 2017: Celebrate Happy Death Day Again And Again And Again...

As more continue to speak out about Harvey Weinstein’s alleged decades of sexual misconduct, Women in Film released a three-point plan for potentially combating it Tuesday, encouraging women to “continue speaking up about sexual harassment, which is an all-too-common form of discrimination.”

The organization’s basic guidelines for the entertainment industry could theoretically help to combat this sort of abuse (and enabling of said abuse) going forward. Wif’s three-part plan is as follows (from the official release):

In order to do something to end sexual harassment, we must require Industry leaders to: (1) mandate gender inclusive boards and decision making groups (2) mandate inclusive hiring practices from the top down, from executives to support staff. Ensuring that there are more women in positions of power will change the culture and result in decreased sexual harassment and discrimination overall (3) mandate that lasting legal penalties be applied without compromise, bias or settlement,...

Amazon released three half-hour pilots in a batch last year: The Tick (which was great), Jean-Claude Van Johnson (which was also great), and I Love Dick (which I did not love at all). The other two series have already premiered, but we're only now getting our first tease for Jean-Claude Van Johnson, starring martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme. The teaser is pretty vague, though does give some sense of the show's satirical bent (you can read my review of the pilot here). The bottom line for me is that the pilot was the …...

Lois Braverman, President & CEO, Ackerman Institute for the Family has announced that Tamron Hall, Award-Winning Journalist will be honored with the Ackerman Family Advocate Award at the 11th Annual Moving Families Forward Gala to take place at the Jw Marriott Essex House on Monday, October 23rd in New York City.

“We are delighted that Tamron is accepting our Family Advocate Award. Her efforts to raise awareness for families who have a loved one experiencing abuse and to help victims affected by domestic violence aligns with the mission of the Ackerman Institute for the Family and our daily work with children and families,” says Lois Braverman, President & CEO, Ackerman Institute for the Family. “Her presence and participation at our Moving Families Forward event will further educate our friends, colleagues, and supporters about what we can do as individuals and as a community to prevent domestic violence and partner abuse.”

Tamron Hall...

[[tmz:video id="0_0ikibyr0"]] Judge Judy is big into karma, and thinks Harvey Weinstein got what he deserved for years of alleged sexual harassment. We got the most famous judge in America leaving Craig's in WeHo Monday night, and she had no sympathy for the fired movie titan. She thinks Weinstein was off base to beg his powerful friends to go to bat for him to prevent his firing. The bottom line for the TV jurist ... slice the allegations in half,...

Joe Matar Oct 2, 2017

Rick and Morty season 3 goes out with a bwuhhh!? Our spoiler-filled review of the finale is here!

This review contains spoilers.

See related Red Dwarf: looking back at the past and ahead to the future Red Dwarf: 8 ways it got around the ‘no aliens’ rule Red Dwarf: top 20 episodes

3.10 The Rickchurian Mortydate

Maybe it was the long wait before it returned, or maybe it’s the fact that it feels like we only got nine episodes because one had already aired months previously, or maybe it’s just that I was having such a gosh darn good time and time flies when etc., etc. Whatever the reason, season three came and went too soon.

Season one was chock-full of character development and world-building. Season two was generally more content to goof off. Season three struck a decent balance between both: there was quite a...

The Bottom Line: September 29, 2017 Things get resurrected on and off the screen as Flatliners makes its triumphant return. Plus this weekend sees the release of Battle of the Sexes and American Made. Find out how they will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Kingsman: The Golden Circle dethroned Pennywise for first place with $39.1 [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: September 29, 2017: Flatliners Comes Back From The Dead...

The Bottom Line: September 22, 2017 The Kingsmen face off against some LEGOs at the box office this weekend. Find out how they will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five It showed no signs of slowing down, taking in an impressive $60.2 million to remain in first place for its second week. [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: September 22, 2017: We Need A Lego Kingsman Movie Asap...

Let’s be honest, a lot of Doctor Who fans have been calling for a female Doctor for years now. After all, there’s no reason the character shouldn’t be female sometimes, aside from ‘tradition’ – every transformation in the show since it began in 1963 has delivered a new male face. But now, with Peter Capaldi stepping away from the iconic role, and Steven Moffat stepping away from producing the show, a fresh approach has been revealed. The Doctor will now be played by Jodie Whittaker – and this has predictably drawn some criticism.

Former Doctor Who showrunner, Russell T. Davies – also known as the man who made this new era of the series possible, having rebooted it back in 2005 – has no time for such criticisms, though. He’s done with the vocal objections of a tiny minority of sexists – as he explained to Frank Skinner on the Absolute Radio podcast.

Ben Mortimer Sep 13, 2017

Eddie Izzard on his acting career, Victoria & Abdul, Clint Eastwood, Robin Williams, directing films and more...

Eddie Izzard is back on the big screen this weekend in Victoria & Abdul. It's the new film from director Stephen Frears, a sort-of follow-up to Mrs Brown that sees Dame Judi Dench playing Queen Victoria in a story that's recently been discovered about her later life. We got a chance to chat with Eddie Izzard about his role in the movie, and potentially directing...

Could you clear something up for me, as I swear I heard a hint of it in the film - did you give Bertie a slight German accent?

Maybe mentally. He did have a tapped ‘r’, because his first years there was German in it, but it was only the hint of it, I didn’t overtly push it.

I was watching your interview this morning on This Morning,...

There aren’t many shows that can offer up as little in the way of realized positives as Seth MacFarlane‘s latest, The Orville, and still seem to be filled with potential. MacFarlane fans, and those expecting the off-the-wall comedy offered up in the trailers, will probably be put off somewhat simply by way of expecting an effort that is attempting a lot more laughs. Sci-Fi fans will likely need a bit of time to figure out what they’re supposed to be watching as the Star Trek knock off will immediately make you wonder exactly what the loopholes in copyright laws are. The pilot is rough, doesn’t have a lot of laughs, and falls into the lazy routine of establishing conversations that are painfully artificial. Still, there’s something about the premise, and the combination of actors and guests, that make this one that could ultimately come together.

The Bottom Line: September 8, 2017 Fall movie season is upon us, and we’re kicking it off with a highly-anticipated Stephen King adaptation. Find out how It will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five The Hitman’s Bodyguard showed that you can stay in first place if you just have no competition. It took [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: September 8, 2017: It’s In Your Face But You Can’t Grab It...

Madeleine Albright’s interview is part of Time Firsts, a multimedia project featuring 46 groundbreaking women. Watch the rest of the videos at Time.com/Firsts. Buy the book at the Time Shop.

There’s still work to be done in the fight for gender equality – but former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is sure that women are up to the challenge.

In a new interview for Time’s Firsts video series, Albright shares her advice for fellow female go-getters, and points out that even though the bar for successful women seems unfairly higher than the one for men,...

Francis Ford Coppola never meant to make “The Cotton Club” — yet he was dragged back, like Al Pacino in “The Godfather 3,” into making another big-budget movie. Now, 33 years later, he’s spent another $500,000 (of his own money) to restore the film and create “The Cotton Club Encore,” a longer cut that premieres today at the Telluride Film Festival.

Producer Robert Evans had hoped to direct “The Cotton Club,” a valentine to the legendary Harlem nightclub where Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Lena Horne, and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson made their names. He raised $8 million in foreign pre-sales at Cannes, but he couldn’t solve the script. According to the gory details in his autobiography “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” the whole production was a chaotic, coked-up nightmare. He turned to Coppola for help, paying him to write several drafts and finally direct, which became a battle in its own right.

At the end,...

Francis Ford Coppola never meant to make “The Cotton Club” — yet he was dragged back, like Al Pacino in “The Godfather 3,” into making another big-budget movie. Now, 33 years later, he’s spent another $500,000 (of his own money) to restore the film and create “The Cotton Club Encore,” a longer cut that premieres today at the Telluride Film Festival.

Producer Robert Evans had hoped to direct “The Cotton Club,” a valentine to the legendary Harlem nightclub where Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Lena Horne, and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson made their names. He raised $8 million in foreign pre-sales at Cannes, but he couldn’t solve the script. According to the gory details in his autobiography “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” the whole production was a chaotic, coked-up nightmare. He turned to Coppola for help, paying him to write several drafts and finally direct, which became a battle in its own right.

At the end,...

[[tmz:video id="0_o6pexh2f"]] Dominick Cruz is shutting up all the Mayweather vs. McGregor haters at the 11th hour ... saying MayMac is gonna spark an "amazing" change for the Ufc and boxing. More Superfights!! Dom admits a Conor win would be best for Ufc superstars like himself ... but tells TMZ Sports we should expect a lot of crossover in the fight game no matter the outcome. "Either way, this fight is gonna create that type of chemistry between the two combat sports,...

The Bottom Line: August 25, 2017 We’ve reached the end of summer, so all the big movies have come out already. But some smaller movies are out there fighting for your attention! Find out how they will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five The Hitman’s Bodyguard proved that audiences won’t tire of the [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: August 25, 2017: Whoa Oh Oh Oh Oh, It’s Always A Good Time...

The Bottom Line: August 18, 2017 Steven Soderbergh emerges from his self-imposed retirement and brings newcomer Daniel Craig along with him. Find out how Logan Lucky will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Annabelle: Creation proved that the Conjuringverse is still going strong by opening up in first place, taking in $35.1 million. Dunkirk took the number [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: August 18, 2017: We’re Up All Night To Get Logan Lucky...

When Steven Soderbergh is asked about the state of filmmaking, he often points to the American films of the ’60s and ’70s as a counterpoint to the broken state of today’s industry. “The bottom line is that at a certain period in time, from 1966 to 1976, the most successful movies were also the best movies, and that’s just not true anymore,” the director said in a 2014 interview.

Read More:Steven Soderbergh Movies Ranked from Worst to Best

Soderbergh may complain a lot, but he’s never been passive about it. Throughout his career, he has constantly experimented with different ways to make and distribute his films by thinking outside the box and pioneering new technology. With “Logan Lucky,” Soderbergh’s finally fulfilling his plans to launch a self-distribution company capable of releasing a studio-size film, but it’s not the first ambitious effort in a career defined by risky maneuvers.

Arthur Penn’s detective movie is one of the best ever in the genre, one that rewards repeat viewings particularly well. Gumshoe Harry Moseby compartmentalizes his marriage, his job, his past and the greedy Hollywood has-beens he meets, not realizing that everything is interconnected, and fully capable of assembling a world-class conspiracy. Gene Hackman tops a sterling cast in the film that introduced most of us to Melanie Griffith.

Night Moves

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1975 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 100 min. / Street Date August 15, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, Melanie Griffith, Susan Clark, Edward Binns, Harris Yulin, Kenneth Mars, Janet Ward, James Woods, Anthony Costello.

Cinematography: Bruce Surtees

Production Designer: George Jenkins

Film Editor: Dede Allen

Original Music: Michael Small

Written by Alan Sharp

Produced by Robert M. Sherman

Directed by Arthur Penn

Night Moves is a superb detective thriller that plays with profound ideas without getting its fingers burned.

The Bottom Line: August 11, 2017 This weekend sees the return of Short Term 12 director Destin Daniel Crettin and that creepy little doll Annabelle. Find out how they will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five The Dark Tower managed to top the box office despite overwhelmingly mediocre reviews. It took in $19.2 million, which [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: August 11, 2017: The People Who Make The Glass Castle Shouldn’t Throw Stones...

Thanks in part to generous support from its local government, Australia has emerged as a web series hotbed. One of the funniest shows to emerge from Down Under in 2017 has been Fighting Isis, in which a group of stereotypical, loud-mouthed Australians hatch a plan to take down the world's most vile terrorist organization.

Fighting Isis, created by Seb Peart, Mark Nicholson, and Peter Corrigan, is the story of four friends -- or "mates," as the locals would say -- who are convinced by their ringleader Gav to travel to Afghanistan (where all the terrorists are from, of course) in order to find and defeat Isis. The plan they cook up is ill-conceived and lands them in jail by the second episode, but led mostly by sheer bluster, they do everything in their power to continue their quest. The show, it should be said, contains Nsfw language. This is Australia, after...

The Bottom Line: July 28, 2017 Charlize Theron’s action movie renaissance continues this weekend with Atomic Blonde. Find out how it will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five A new Christopher Nolan movie was released, so naturally it ruled the box office. Dunkirk opened in first place with $50.6 million. Girls Trip surprised some people (though not anybody [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: July 28, 2017: The Box Office Goes Atomic...

Project Name: Kyloki

Asking For: $7,500 through Indiegogo

Amount Raised Thus Far (At Time Of Post): $2,061

Days Remaining In Campaign (At Time Of Post): 21

Description: The "crazy roommates" trope is a common one in the online video world, but only one web series that we know of melds that setup with a satire of famed pop culture villains. Kyloki, which is set in an apartment shared by Marvel baddie Loki, Star Wars antagonist Kylo Ren, and an ordinary guy named Matt, is seeking funding for its second season.

Kyloki comes from Leisure Elk Productions, which shared the first season of Kyloki last year as the first ever release on its YouTube channel. In the series, protagonist Matt must sort out a series of apartment snafu, but he gets no help from his co-habitants. Instead, Loki and Kylo Ren are quarrelsome renters whose personalities clash with Matt's. Loki is flamboyant,...

The bottom line with screen villains, especially those that come from a horror back ground, is that they never die. Serial killer John Kramer (Tobin Bell), aka Jigsaw, had his presence felt throughout the Saw movies (even if it was, in some cases, via flashback), and now he may be center stage once again with [...]...

The Bottom Line: July 21, 2017 One of the great modern directors returns to theaters this weekend with the new World War II thriller Dunkirk. Find out how it will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five War for the Planet of the Apes topped the box office, proving humans will continue to pay money [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: July 21, 2017: Christopher Nolan Returns With Dunkirk...

The Bottom Line: July 7, 2017 The spectacular, the amazing, the most bodacious webcrawler in all of New York City swings back into theaters with his own solo movie this weekend. Find out how it will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Despicable Me 3 topped the box office this weekend with $72.5 million, [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: July 7, 2017: Waiter, There’s A Spider-Man In My Soup...

Review by Roger Carpenter

What do you get when you mix a bunch of Swedish horror film fans with little film experience and no money but a great deal of gumption? Why, Evil Ed, of course!

Evil Ed is both a tale of horror as well as a tale of stick-to-it-ness that all aspiring filmmakers should hear, and both are equally entertaining. Some Swedish kids who grew up on American horror films courtesy of the first video boom and who shared a common goal of making a film that could play in theaters started experimenting with the tools of the trade. Their first feature was never actually completed before they ran out of steam, but the nucleus of that group, Anders Jacobsen, Goran Lundstrom, and “Doc,” moved right into what would become Evil Ed. They took the nucleus of a story, about a docile, henpecked film editor forced to cut...

Kanye West isn't interested in bonuses from Apple, Spotify or any other streaming platforms ... 'cause he's done with exclusive releases.  Sources with knowledge of the conflict between Kanye and Tidal tell us Kanye does not want to enter into any more exclusive album releases or contracts with streaming services to host any upcoming projects of his, because he wants to avoid what happened on Tidal ... too limited access for far too long. We're told when Kanye does drop new material,...

Who needs a fancy facialist? If you want to steal Salma Hayek‘s glow, you can now whip up some of her best beauty elixirs—in your own kitchen!

The actress and entrepreneur just launched Juice Generation’s new Blend It Yourself (aka “Biy”) program, which gives people around the country the ability to try Hayek’s concoctions at home.

“There are some places in America where it’s not so easy to access good organic fruit,” she says, explaining that the products can be delivered all over the U.S. and arrive frozen at your doorstep. “We’ve done all the cutting,...

There's been a lot of confusion recently regarding Spider-Man and Venom's place in the McU. Just yesterday we posted an article in which Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige refuted what producer Amy Pascal said about their Spider-Man villain taking place in the same universe. Actor Tom Holland went on to say that we would never see Venom in his Spider-Man movies.

Well, now it looks like Feige and Pascal are finally on the same page about what is going on and they released a statement through Cb. Pascal told the  site:

"Here's what we're doing: all these characters are a part of the Marvel comic book universe. In that universe, they are all related to each other. Kevin [Feige] makes characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These characters are separate, except for Spidey, who belongs in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is why he's there."

Feige is then asked in...

The Bottom Line: June 23rd, 2017 Michael Bay is back with another explosion-fest in Transformers: The Last Knight. Find out how it will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Cars 3 topped the box office with $53.7 million. Wonder Woman dropped to number two with $41.3 million. All Eyez On Me took third with $26.5 million, while The Mummy dropped to [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: June 23, 2017: Autobots, Roll Out...

In the wake of news that Bachelor in Paradise contestant Corinne Olympios’ legal counsel will continue to investigate the allegations of on-set sexual misconduct involving the star – despite Warner Bros.’ claims that it found no evidence of wrongdoing – questions remain over exactly what legal implications there may be for the production company.

On Wednesday, CNNMoney reported details of the castmembers’ contracts on the series, including that producers are not liable for “unwelcome/unlawful contact or other interaction among participants.”

Despite the reported contract details, legal experts tell People that any alleged instances of sexual assault could overrule contract language should...

Review by Roger Carpenter

In his heyday, director/producer Ovidio Assonitis was affectionately known as “The Rip-Off King” due to his blatant copying of popular, more expensive hit films. Thus, we have Beyond the Door (1974), an Exorcist-style film; Tentacles (1977), a killer octopus film in the vein of Jaws; and even the sequel Piranha II: The Spawning (1981), which he famously directed after firing James Cameron shortly after filming commenced. Always on the lookout for the next big idea in exploitation, it isn’t surprising that he would also jump on the slasher bandwagon as well. Madhouse is Assonitis’ entry into that particular subgenre of film.

Though produced in late 1980 or early 1981 in Savannah, Georgia, Madhouse wasn’t released stateside until 1983. So while the film bears more than a passing resemblance to the classic slasher Happy Birthday to Me (also made in 1981), it is unclear how much of a direct rip-off one film is of the other.

The Bottom Line: June 16th, 2017 Pixar tries to go a little more serious with the third film in the Cars series. Find out how it will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Wonder Woman remained in first with a great $58.6 million. The Mummy opened at number two with $31.7 million. Captain Underpants took third with $12.2 million, [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: June 16, 2017: Lightning McQueen Rides Again...

Joe Matar Jun 13, 2017

The latest episode of Twin Peaks: The Return is so insane it illuminates nothing, but still manages to intrigue our Us chums...

This review contains spoilers.

See related Neill Blomkamp interview: sci-fi shorts and Oats Studios

3.6 Don't Die

The premiere of Twin Peaks’ return had little in it that felt like classic Twin Peaks and it was Lynchian to the max, making for a tough but engrossing watch. The following episodes introduced some levity and seemed to be steering us inchingly back toward the familiar town.

Well, that’s all over now. Welcome back to Lynchtown, population: what the ever-loving fudge?

In an odd way, this is welcome. If the show is going to drip feed me plot developments as slowly and infrequently as it has been, keeping me in the dark about mostly everything, I’m good with it leaning into the unsettling, confusing stuff.

Thanks to The Omen (1976) and little Damien’s watchdog, Hollywood figured they could mine some horror from our canine friends, on the assumption that there’s something inherently evil to exploit. Except…they’re not. Are they sometimes vicious? Definitely. But I would hardly call dogs evil, especially ones allegedly in favor with Satan. Which brings us to todays’ Tube, as TV naturally had to take a shot at demonizing our four legged friends, a task at which Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978) fails spectacularly. It is however, a blast and more fun than a bowl full of kibble.

Originally airing on Halloween night of 1978 on CBS, Devil Dog was up against Linda Blair and her demonic cousin in Summer of Fear over on NBC, a true dilemma for horror fans as both satisfy in different ways. But since I’ve already covered that Wes Craven helmed Ya adaptation...

The Bottom Line: June 9th, 2017 Universal tries (and probably fails) to kick off their Dark Universe this week with the new edition of The Mummy. Find out how it will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line! Box Office Top Five Wonder Woman crushed it at the box office in its first weekend with $103.3 million for first place. Captain [...]

Continue reading: The Bottom Line: June 9, 2017: Hey Tom, Looks Like You’re On The Wrong Side Of The Mummy!