"Camp Nowhere (1994/Blu-ray/Mill Creek Ent.)" Review

Review: Christopher Lloyd is one of those offbeat actors that seem to always be able to steal the scene or even the film in some cases but sadly for the past few years he has kinda went off the radar as far as films go and only does them now and then but he has done TV shows alot more. Back in the 90's and up into the early 2000's  he seemed to be on the top of his game with film especially for family and kids films like Dennis The Menace (1993) and Hey! Arnold The Movie (2002). Just in the year 1994 he appeared in 5 films alone and one of them was the film I am reviewing here today Camp Nowhere!


This film follows a group of friends that are so eager to get out of having to go to computer camp, fat camp and other various camps so they make up a way to dodge that and have a summer of freedom from parents, but thing go wrong when the word gets out and a bunch of other kids want in on it too. Christopher Lloyd plays as Dennis Van Welker who the kids blackmail to act as a councilor so their parents let them go to their summer vacation paradise. As you can tell this film does have a pretty basic plot but for a film like this would you expect anything else. Now even though it does seem as if you will only see a bunch of kids and teens  going crazy and having fun which you do, but you also get more than that in the form of father/son like bonding between Dennis and Morris and a love interest side story between Dennis and a local female doctor.

If you are a fan of films from the 90's then you will love Camp Nowhere and if you are already a fan then you will love this blu-ray release! Mill Creek surely has done a great job on this blu-ray, the picture for the most part is damage free but you do still see some from time to time. The colors for the most part looks pretty good and most importantly the grain in still intact so you still do get some great detail. Now I can't compare this properly to the older DVD release because I have not seen that release in years, but for the most part it does seem to look better. Overall this is a great release of a very cool kids film from the early 90's that if you have not seen you need to go and do so now!

Picture: 4/5 Audio:3.5/5 Special Features: N/A Movie: 4/5
-Daniel "Damnation" Lee

Director: Jonathan Prince

Genre: Comedy/Family

Blu-ray Release Year: 2011

Theatrical Year: 1994

Time Length: 96 mins.

Company: Mill Creek Entertainment

Website: http://www.millcreekent.com/

"Conan O' Brien Can't Stop (2011/Magnolia Home Ent.)"

Synopsis: A documentary on Conan O'Brien's “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television” comedy tour of the U.S. and Canada after leaving "The Tonight Show" on NBC, and before “Conan” on TBS, trying to figure out where his career is heading along the way.

Review: As true and as honest as a documentary can hope to be, Conan O’ Brien Can’t Stop, captured not only what Conan himself was going through during his first ever tour, but it really showed what all entertainers go through. Rather it is selling out arenas, or playing the dive bar down the street, the life can get to you, and you have to ask your self, why keep going, why not just stop, and the answer is, you can't. At times the best feeling in the world, other times the worst, being an entertainer means you put it all on the line, and hoping, against all odds, for the best, by giving your best.

This documentary shows all sides of Conan and crew during this time in their lives, the good, the bad, the unsure, which there are plenty of, and sometimes even the ugly. Over the years Conan, along with sidekick Andy, and the Basic Cable Band, as they are now called, have become something of house hold faces, especially for the younger generation, who’ve grown up watching the Late Night show that brought them to popularity. This film allows us a behind the scenes look, letting us see what this group is like when they aren’t entertaining, and let their guard down.

Some of the better parts of the documentary are when things seems to be unsure, like the day of the first concert, they arrive in Portland, Organ, and it seems there is virtually no one around. Conan walks the streets cracking nervous jokes and you can see the obvious nervousness in his face, like a total fear has ran through him that the tour will be a flop, and no one will be at any of the shows. Of course the show is packed out, and the entire tour goes on to be an immense success, but then that turns into a new worry, will Conan hold out and make for it for the entire tour without collapsing under the pressure of having to be “on” all the time. Conan, even though he is in constant fear of loosing his voice, and wearing him self out, seems to be his own worst enemy, by never turning down any situation to meet with people, always talking with fans, friends, friends of friends, friends of the crew, journalists, executives, anyone who wants to, the man can just not stop him self from always giving his all, all the time.

After three viewings, once on Netflix, once on DVD, and once on DVD w/ the highly entertaining audio commentary, Conan O’ Brien Can’t Stop has without a doubt earned its way onto both my “top documentaries”, and “top films of 2011” lists. I urge any fan of Conan’s or just of well made documentaries in general to see this movie, and see it soon. One of the last good guys around, I’m hoping to see COCO become the Johnny Carson of our generation, and staying around for a long, long time to come.

Picture: 5/5 Audio:5/5 Special Features: 4/5 Movie: 5/5

- Foz Rotten

Director: Rodman Flender
Genre: Documentary
DVD Release Year: 2011
Theatrical Release Year: 2011
Time Length: 89 minutes
Company: Magnolia Home Entertainment
Website: http://conanobriencantstop.com/

"Ernest Scared Stupid (1991/Blu-ray/Mill Creek Ent.)" Review

Review: Amongst the 9 Ernest films this one was really one of the last ones to have a decent budget, no to say any of the films after Ernest Scared Stupid weren't any good. Like you would expect Ernest still has his child-like charm and over the top humor. In this Ernest adventure we follow Ernest as he is working as a garbage truck driver and one day some local kids who Ernest is friends with need some help making a tree house and in the process Ernest unknowingly summons an ancient Troll that Ernest's ancestor had taken care of. Now Ernest has to save his friends and the town from the Troll and his army!

This is by far one of my favorites in the Ernest films and still even holds up strong today as it did back when I first saw it in the early 90's. Now for those who have never seen this Ernest film I can tell you that if you like any of the others than you will like this one as well because like I stated before you still do get all the elements that make an Ernest film great. One of the things I always found to be the cherry on top of this Ernest sundae was the troll effects they used which are simply phenomenal and of course they are done the good old practical way. The transformation when the Troll turns into a super troll is very cool and is well executed and brings that much more badass to that character. They only use non practical effects when they turn the children into wooden figures. 

 This blu-ray release is definitely one that I was glad to be able to see because if you own the much older DVD release you will already know that it is fullscreen aspect ratio and really doesn't look the greatest. So I can reassure you that if you plan on buying this release you won't be let down. The colors are presented very well and also you see the fine details quite well on the closeups. For those who enjoy the natural film grain will not be let down because it is all still intact and not taken away by DNR. Overall this is a big upgrade from the older a very much outdated DVD copy that all of us Ernest fans have sitting on our shelves! A must have for all Ernest fans!

-Daniel "Damnation" Lee

Director: John Cherry

Genre: Comedy/Horror

DVD Release Year: 2011

Syndication Years: 1991

Time Length: 91 mins.

Company: Mill Creek Entertainment

Website: http://www.millcreekent.com/

"Act of Vengeance (1974/MGM Limited Edition Collection)" Review

Synopsis: Five raped women band together to form a "Rape Squad"...to avenge themselves on the sadistic man who attacked them and who gets off by forcing the women to sing "Jingle Bells" as he assaults them.


Review: Believe it or not there is a rape revenge sub-genre out there and it is filled with plenty of shocking films that do push the boundaries, but sadly Act of Vengeance is not one of them and actually goes into being quite stupid and just plain dumb. Well to start off the plot is as weird as they come, they have a guy who goes around stalking women and then sexually assaulting them while making them sing jingle bells as he assaults them which is painfully retarded and not to mention he wears a hockey mask and a jumpsuit which yes was before the Friday The 13th series. When I originally heard what the rapist was going to do I thought it was going to be much more dark, but like I said before it turns out very stupid.

The other things that bothered me was that they made almost every single guy seem like they just want to rape women and assault them, which in real life is dead wrong. Also the women who form a "rape squad" seem to want to attack every man they see which I could see someone being deeply effected if they were raped but they took it too far in this film. I mainly wish they would of taken it in a much more serious direction than they did, this film failed where others like it succeeded. One example of one that truly succeeded was "I Spit On Your Grave (aka Day of the Woman)" in which it took a very serious route and showed the brutality of rape.

Honestly I couldn't find any redeeming factors in this film, granted they did leave you wondering a bit on who was the serial rapist but that is all it achieved. Basically if the subject of rape is going to be in a film then I either want it to be serious or controversial, not like this film did. I say that because it is a serious matter and should be held in serious regard. Overall this is a very bad film that tried to be different but just ended up being a failed effort in film history. I give it a 0/5.

-Daniel "Damnation" Lee

Director: Robert Kelljchian

Genre: Drama

DVD Release Year: 2011

Theatrical Release Year: 1974

Time Length: 90 mins.

Company: MGM Home Entertainment

Website: www.mgm.com

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"Dark Angel (1990/MGM Limited Edition Collection)" Review

Review: Back in the 80's and early 90's Dolph Lungren was all over the place doing one film after another it seemed and surprisingly this is the film of his work during that time period that I had yet to see until now. Dark angel also has another alternative title which was "I Come In Peace" which is just taking one of the main villains lines and making it the film title which is kinda lame. Now I first watched the trailer to see what I was in for and about half way through I stopped it and had to just watch the film. I got something I didn't quite expect and that was a really entertaining film!

Now if you have not seen Dark Angel before please don't go into it expecting everything to be completely original and mind blowing, instead go into it with a clear mind that's ready to be entertained. The plot of this film follows detective Jack Caine who is one of those cops who doesn't always follow things by the rules and after his partner gets killed he is determined to take down who ever killed him but things go crazy after a string of odd murders start happening and Jack is paired up with an FBI agent to solve who and what is doing these killings.

As you would possibly suspect Dark Angel does use the classic "straight laced & rogue cop" premise and mixes it up with a sci-fi horror plot to make a great mix-up. Now what makes the story unique and not too cliche is that the evil alien in this film is actually an intergalactic drug dealer who came to earth to get the endorphins from humans to take back to where he came from and sell them, but he does have a cop from his planet out to hunt him down as well. Yes that does seem so over the top but trust me it makes this otherwise run of the mill film into something a bit more special and fun. You do still get all the elements of a film like this from that era, pleanty of explosions, violence, gore, and T&A.

The violence and gore can be at times pretty graphic but it's not overly graphic. The methods that the evil alien does to get the endorphins is a little graphic but they don't even show him stab a victim in the head from a front shot until about the 3rd or 4th person, most the other violence is gun shots or neck slices from a flying disc the alien uses. I wouldn't say that this film completely relies on fast action because you do get a little character development that will have you hoping Jack comes out on top. There is a little bit of a love interest that does get touched on but it doesn't take forefront much at all but is there to add a little to the story.

Overall this was a really entertaining film that I am very surprised I had never had a chance to view before, it's definitely one of Dolph Lundgren's best films and should be seen by alot more than what it probably has! Go pick this one up if your into Action Sci-fi flicks!

-Daniel "Damnation" Lee

Director: Craig R. Baxley

Genre: Sci-fi/Horror/Action

DVD Release Year: 2011

Theatrical Release Year: 1990

Time Length: 91 mins.

Company: MGM Home Entertainment

Website: www.mgm.com

"Drinking Made Easy: Season One (2010-2011/Magnolia Home Ent.)" Review

Show Synopsis: "Drinking Made Easy" follows world drinking ambassador, Zane Lamprey, and comedians Steve McKenna and Marc Ryan as they explore the country's drinking customs. In each episode, they visit a different city hitting up local watering holes, pubs, cars, restaurants, breweries, wineries and distilleries where they find the most unique and interesting beers, wines, spirits, and cocktails across the great U.S.A.

Review: I was first introduced to Zane Lamprey back in 2009 I believe when I say his show Three Sheets on Hulu and I got addicted to that show because Zane and his humor. Now even though I liked that show I did have my gripes with it and that was mainly dealing with they retarded sound effects they used constantly in each episode, the good thing is that this show does not do that. Drinking Made Easy does have some of the characteristics of Three Sheets in the sense that it is a show about drinking but it also does show the culture of the place that they land in each episode.

They have put 2 other guys in the spotlight this time that was on Three Sheets as well and those 2 are Steve McKenna and Marc Ryan. Steve McKenna mainly does food eating challenges. Even to someone like myself who really doesn't drink I still find this show to be very entertaining and informative which is a great combination. Zane always go to local bars of all statures and he learns how they make their signature drinks in which he actually tries to make them himself. Also they do go to local breweries and alcohol factories and show what they have to offer and their signature drinks as well.

I like that it has the feel of the reality shows that they show on the Travel Channel. Unlike Three Sheets this time around they stick to going to all different cities in the United States as apposed to traveling the world and learning about their drinking cultures. The only bad part about this set is that you see this short thing were they talk about a drinking game you can do while watching the show which is cool but gets annoying after seeing it far too many times. One thing I did forget to mention is that they also do a six pack challenge each episode where the winner wins 6 six packs if they win which is hilarious. With this set you get Deleted Scenes, Commentary on each episode with Zane and crew, and also a live comedy performance. All of which is awesome and makes this set that much more worth buying! Overall this is a fun show and a great set for anyone who likes Zane's older show Three Sheets!

-Daniel "Damnation" Lee

Director: N/A

Genre: Reality Tv/Television

DVD Release Year: 2011

TV Syndication Year:2010-2011

Time Length: 592 mins.

Company: Magnolia Home Entertainment/HD Net

Website: www.magpictures.com
www.hd.net