This week’s Christmas war pick is the 1992 release of Keith Gordon’s A Midnight Clear which was adapted from the novel by William Wharton. The film stars Ethan Hawke (Sgt. Will Knott), Peter Berg (Pvt. Bud Miller), Kevin Dillon (Cpl. Mel Avakian), Arye Gross (Pvt. Stan Shutzer), Gary Sinise (Pvt. Vance ‘Mother’ Wilkins), Frank Whaley (Pvt. Paul ‘Father’ Mundy), Larry Joshua (Lt. Ware), and John C. McGinley (Maj. Griffin).

The film tells the story of  a six man U.S. Army intelligence squad which is hand picked by their regimental commander (Griffin) to scout out an old French chateau in the Ardennes forest in December of 1944 which may house forward German patrols who are trying to push through a gap on their way towards Bastogne, Belgium. Sgt. Knott (Hawke) and his men are at the breaking point fighting the war and try very hard to disassociate themselves from the normal chain of command.

Continue Reading →

As with most every week, this week sees the release of more new movies and TV shows on Blu-ray and DVD. Of the titles dropping this week we’re most interested in Edge of Darkness, Legion, Daybreakers, the first time Blu-ray release of Karate Kid I and II, the release of the Kurosawa collection and the debut of Mel Brook’s History of the World Part One on Blu-ray (pictured above with Mel Brooks and Harvey Korman).

Check them out.

Movies

Daybreakers ~ Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe (Blu-ray and DVD)

Edge of Darkness ~ Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston (Blu-ray and DVD)

Essential Art House: Kurosawa Collection (Hidden Fortress/Ikiru/Throne of Blood) (Blu-ray and DVD)

Father of the Bride 1 & 2 ~ Steve Martin (Blu-ray and DVD)

Hang Em High (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) [Blu-ray] ~ Clint Eastwood, Ed Begley, Bruce Dern, and Dennis Hopper (Blu-ray – 2010)

History of the World Part 1 ~ Mel Brooks, Dom Deluise, Harvey Korman (Blu-ray)

Continue Reading →

The subject of vampires seems to be all the rage these days. Between the overwhelming success of Twilight and even the sweeping of yesterday’s People’s Choice Awards in the favor of all things vampire, they are a pretty sure thing these days. Hoping to continue in that success would be the folks involved in Daybreakers, which hits theaters today.

We recently got a chance to sit down with veteran actor Sam Neill (Jurrasic Park, Merlin) about his role and the film in general. While most people would consider this film a horror, Neill’s take is a bit different.

According to Neill, the film is “best described as a futuristic sci-fi thriller about an upside down vampire world. A lot of the vampire stuff that we’ve seen lately, their always the moody, pale-faced outsiders. In this film, everyone is a vampire, and the humans are a diminishing species, and more of a resource.

Of course, in a vampire world, you need lots of blood to keep everybody alive [laughs]. And since there are fewer and fewer humans available for hunting and bloodfarming, it becomes a bit uncomfortable for them.”

The Flickcast: You were pretty excited when this project was first offered to you. What was the appeal here?

Sam Neill: Well, I’ve played a lot of different characters but to play someone who is so evil and demented is not something you get asked to do a lot. I’ve had a blast, and I haven’t really enjoyed myself on a film in quite some time.

Continue Reading →