You know what’s awesome? Surprises. You know what’s surprising? “What We Do in the Shadows.” If there’s one thing that’s more played-out than vampires, it’s...
Film
Eight-Bit Junkyard
“A Boy and His Blob” (Absolute, 1989) For the bulk of 1982 and into the beginning of 1983, Activision’s “Pitfall!” was the bestselling game in...
Finding her voice
Greenland’s Skylar Burke stands up to bullies with her new short film, “Frenemy” By Larry Clow, photos by Alyssa Grenning It’s a Friday morning at...
Video Vault
“Way Out West” Hal Roach Studios/MGM, 1937 Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson, Rosina Lawrence, Sharon Lynne Director: James W. Horne The plot: Stan...
Selma
It’s been 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr. led some 8,000 people on a march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. At the end of...
Eight-Bit Junkyard
Winter Game Roundup The wind threatens your breath and sanity as your bitter tears harden on your face. Your skin is cracked and brittle. In...
The Theory of Everything
The image of Stephen Hawking slouched in his motorized wheelchair has become so iconic that few people realize he once walked, spoke, laughed, and fell...
Video Vault
The best (and worst) classic flicks and cult favorites “Blood Feast” Box Office Spectaculars, 1963 Starring: Mal Arnold, William Kerwin, and Connie Mason Director: Herschell...
Jupiter Ascending
2015, Rated PG, 127 minutes Jupiter Ascending” poses one unique challenge: nearly any description of this flick invariably makes it sound way better than it...
Eight-Bit Junkyard
Rediscovering video games of the past “The Battle of Olympus” (Brøderbund, 1989) When “The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link” was released in...
Outside the gates
Neil Novello explores the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard prison in “The Castle” by Larry Clow It’s been more than a century since the prison at the...
Video Vault
Get Carter Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1971 Starring: Michael Caine, John Osborne, Ian Hendry, and Britt Ekland Director: Mike Hodges The plot: When Jack Carter’s (Caine) brother dies...
Matt, the trees, and Sundance
Portsmouth Brewery’s Matt Gallagher makes his big-screen debut in “Bob and the Trees” by Larry Clow When audiences at this year’s Sundance Film Festival gathered...
Eight-Bit Junkyard
Rediscovering video games of the past “Yo! Noid” (Capcom, 1990) In 1982, “Fast Food” was released for the Atari 2600. Playing as a giant set...
Whiplash
In Whiplash, J.K., Simmons, well-known as the most recognizable guy who was in that thing to ever escape your memory, is simply unforgettable. As Terence...
Video Vault
Man is Not a Bird Avala Film, 1965 Starring: Janez Vrhovec, Milena Dravic, and Boris Dvornik Director: Dusan Makavejev The plot: In Cold War Yugoslavia,...
Inherent Vice
As “Inherent Vice,” the latest film from Paul Thomas Anderson, opens, it’s 1970 in California. The Summer of Love is long over and everyone’s paranoid....
Eight-Bit Junkyard
“CRYSTAL CASTLES” (Atari, 1983) The neighborhood arcade, once as ubiquitous in Anytown, U.S.A. as Burger Chef and Montgomery Ward, has all but vanished from the...
Big Eyes
2014, rated PG-13, 106 minutes The string of brilliantly imaginative and visually mesmerizing films Tim Burton put out in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
Video Vault
by Kenneth Butler The Bird with the Crystal Plumage Central Cinema Company Film, 1970 Starring: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, and Enrico Maria Salerno Director: Dario...
Send lawyers, robots, and vigilantes
Sticking to your diet? Spending time with family? Traveling with friends? Boring. Why not make your 2015 resolution something more attainable and fun? Like spending...
8-Bit Junkyard
MEGA MAN 6 (Capcom/Nintendo, 1994) The sixth entry in any series is a tough sell. Anything popular enough to make it to a sixth iteration...
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
When “The Return of the King” hit theaters 11 years ago, it was cause for celebration. Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth opus was coming to a close,...
Video Vault
Smiles of a Summer Night Svensk Filmindustri, 1956 Starring: Gunnar Bjornstrand, Eva Dahlbeck, Ulla Jacobsson, and Jarl Kulle Director: Ingmar Bergman The plot: In turn-of-the-century...
Nightcrawler
2014, rated R, 117 minutes When you hear that Hollywood has produced a budding new director, with a debut feature that just knocks it out...
