A good biography will make you regret never meeting the subject. A great biography will make you fall in love. This documentary about author Hubert Selby Jr. falls into the latter category. Cubby, as he called himself, was a warm man who transcended a great deal of pain to create beautiful and lasting art.

This compelling film is a well-edited mix of interviews with the author and his friends and associates, historical background, and feature film clips. It is narrated by Robert Downey Jr. and features interviews with artists such as poet Amiri Baraka, writer/performers Henry Rollins and Lou Reed, authors Richard Price and Jerry Stahl, actors Jared Leto and Ellen Burstyn, directors Matt Polish, Darren Aronofsky, and Jem Cohen, literary critic Michael Silverblatt, and writer/publisher Gilbert Sorrentino.

The story of Cubby's life is linear and well-told. Period stock photography is used, as well as actual photos of the author and his family. An only child who grew up in Brooklyn, Cubby dropped out of school in the eighth grade and joined the Merchant Marine. There, he developed alcoholism and contracted tuberculosis. He spent the next several years of his life in the TB ward, systematically losing pieces of his lungs and rib cage, and the rest of his life battling lung problems. He began writing because he didn't have training to do anything else. His first novel, Last Exit to Brooklyn, was a critical success and an international bestseller. The proceeds from that book, however, went into his arm: in his early 30s, his alcoholism had flowered into heroin addiction, and he didn't become clean until he turned 40.

Cubby's earlier books reflect the ravages and pain of addiction, but his later ones the hope of recovery. His life and art demonstrate that the difficult experiences of life can be transmuted into beauty. Although many people took offense at his depictions of addiction, the underlying theme of his work is the destruction "wreaked by the American dream" and, in later books and also in his life, that love can help us transcend pain and darkness. In fact, several interviewees, as well as the author himself, spoke of the necessity to say "yes" to life, whatever it is that life offers.

Cubby was also known for his unique style of writing, as evidenced by the slash in this movie's title. He wrote in a colorful vernacular, shocking some readers. He also felt that the author was taking dictation, that "…the responsibility of the artist is to transcend the human ego." Cubby was, and is, more popular in Europe than in his own United States.

The film itself is well-crafted and was an Official Selection in the Deauville Film Festival 2005. It was co-directed by Michael W. Dean, another entry into Dean's body of work that inspires artists to, like Hubert Selby Jr., step outside the commercial mainstream, and create strong and honest art.

By Uncle Creepy (of Dread Central)

The Pang Brothers. I'm thinking Danny and Oxide should change their names to Hit and Miss. Why, you ask? Because that is the perfect description of their work. Best known for their Eye trilogy, the Brothers have been pumping out ghost stories with mixed results for the better part of the last ten years. While The Eye was a great film and even The Eye 2 served its purpose, it was the laughably bad The Eye 10 that nearly made me write the duo off completely.

Here in the States J-Horror has just about run its course. Even Sirand, our resident foreign freak, is fed up with the twitchy chicks with long black hair. What was once a breath of fresh air from the Far East has now become soured by the stench of cliché. So what's a pair of filmmakers looking to cash in on a passing craze to do? Simple! Head to America and make their latest spook-fest specifically for Western audiences. Enter The Messengers. A film that is — you guessed it — hit and miss.

Sixteen-year-old Jess (Kristen Stewart) is a bit of a problem child. After a couple of rough years in Chi-town, her family packs up and heads to North Dakota to become — hold on to your asses — sunflower farmers(!). Well, I guess someone's gotta do it, right?

Upon reaching their new dwelling place, Jess discovers that they are not alone. Living with her parents and her little brother are some pretty nasty spirits and a murder of crows. Of course her folks assume that she's just acting out again so they dismiss her rantings as a cry for attention. Luckily for Jess, her brother can see the ghosties too, but the poor kid can't speak so she can't even get her story corroborated. Hell, at least she knows she's not crazy. Things quickly get out of hand, and before you know it, the entire family is taking on the evil in the home as one unit while screaming their heads off on the road to a twist ending, which, I must admit, I didn't see coming.

All in all, aside from some strange plot choices (read: sunflower farming(!) being the profession of choice) The Messengers does just fine in the story department. More importantly the ghosts do their jobs well enough when it comes to delivering the creeps. There were more than a couple of "that's messed-up" moments that had me grinning with goosebumps.

So where did this little film go wrong aside from the ghosts being damned near completely absent during the movie's finale? The answer is simple. With the influx of Asian horror hitting these shores at a truly fast and furious pace, we've seen all these gags before. The floating spectres, the twitching bodies, the stuttering crawling type movements, the discolored clutching hands reaching out to hold their victims at bay — talk about déjà vu. Still, even with all these familiarities, The Messengers does have a few inspired moments. At least this time no one was farting to keep away the spirits (a less than inspired scene from The Eye 10). Thanks for leaving that gag out, Pangs! Go you!

On the supplemental side of the sunflower farm(!), we have a pretty standard package. All that's here is a cast and crew commentary that, just like the film itself, feels very hit or… I'm not gonna say it a third time. You know what I mean. From there we have a series of seven featurettes entitled Examining The Messengers that doles out the standard making-of stuff we've all come to expect. Again, nothing to write home about.

Maybe it's time to just hang up the old long-haired black wig. We're ready for and need something new. Something that can spark the imagination and make the mind's floorboards creak with the type of dread that we crave in a good ghost story.

Sorry, guys, but this is just a case of the message getting here too damned late.

Special Features

• Cast and crew commentary
• Examining The Messengers seven-part behind-the-scenes featurette(s)

Film

2 1/2 out of 5

Special Features
2 1/2 out of 5

Dread Central is the premier website for breaking news, original content and active community in the world of horror, covering movies, DVDs, games, collectibles, live events and music. If it’s got something to do with the dark and horrific, you’ll find it on Dread Central.

By Uncle Creepy (of Dread Central)

Zzzz … zzzz … zzzz … Huh?! What's that?! There's a Hannibal Lecter movie going on? THE HELL YOU SAY! I haven't seen hide nor hair of Anthony Hopkins and I've been sitting here watching … well okay, napping, for over two hours! Surely someone didn't make a Hannibal film without him! How could they?

Well I'll be.

Let's face it, folks — we live in a world in which everything is over-explained. There's just no mystery anymore. We have to know everything. At least that was Thomas Harris' take when he wrote the novel on which this film is based. Yep, our good Dr. Lecter's early years have been dissected, analyzed, and finally put to celluloid. So does it work? In a word — no.

Hannibal Rising has all of the stunning beauty of the other films in this franchise; yet, even that cannot save it from its own mediocrity. Let's start at the beginning …

After his parents are killed, young Hannibal and his sister, Mischa, are held prisoner by a roving pack of would-be Nazis. Things get desperate for the men and their captives. So desperate in fact, that the group has to resort to cannibalism as a means to stay alive. Of course this not only develops Hannibal's taste for flesh but also drives him a bit mad. Fast forward a few years. Hannibal (played with much scenery chewing goodness by Gaspard Ulliel) sets out on his own to find the men who held him and his sister hostage way back when. What follows is your standard revenge tale which — dare I say it — lacks any real bite.

Part of the magic behind the character we all know and love was Hopkins' deliciously ghoulish portrayal. Ulliel isn't bad for what he has to work with, but Sir Anthony he is not. Bottom line — this leaves a huge void not only in the film but within the hearts of fans that cannot be filled.

Now let's talk about the word. You see it there in those enticing red letters. Unrated. Could there have been a bit more meat to pick at that the MPAA wisely shielded us from? Maybe the presence of a little more grue could make this predominantly boring and flaccid piece of unnecessary fiction go down a bit easier. Guess what? We get nothing. Not a single extra drop of blood. Just a few more minutes of exposition. Thanks. Appreciate that. Why not just include a coupon for sleeping pills as a DVD extra?

Speaking of which …

Don't expect too much from the supplemental material. We get a feature commentary with director Peter Webber and producer Martha De Laurentiis that amounts to little more than pretentious back-patting. Seven minutes of deleted scenes with optional ass-kissing commentary. A seven-minute featurette hosted by production designer Allan Starski (who is nothing without Hutch) entitled Designing Horror and Elegance (can't you just smell the snobbery?). And then things are capped off with a sixteen-minute featurette that at least sounds promising, Hannibal Lecter: The Origin of Evil. The operative word there being sounds. Instead of a concise look at the fava bean-eating madman, we just get a bit more musing by the culprits behind this snooze-fest.

Yay.

In closing … aw, screw it. I'm going back to sleep. Someone wake me when Hopkins returns from making shitty courtroom thrillers with a whole new recipe for evil.

Special Features

• Commentary with director Peter Webber and producer Martha De Laurentiis
• Deleted scenes with optional commentary
• Designing Horror and Elegance featurette
• Hannibal Lecter: The Origin of Evil featurette
• Trailers

Film

2 1/2 out of 5

Special Features
2 1/2 out of 5

Dread Central is the premier website for breaking news, original content and active community in the world of horror, covering movies, DVDs, games, collectibles, live events and music. If it’s got something to do with the dark and horrific, you’ll find it on Dread Central.

Robert T. Ironside was the Chief of Detectives for the San Francisco Police Department until a sniper’s bullet paralyzed the lower half of his body. Though he lost the use of his legs, his mind remained as strong and sharp as ever, which combined with his dogged determination allowed him to stay on the force as a special department consultant. He lived at the police station and used a modified police van to get around town. He was assisted by Sgt. Ed Brown, Officer Eve Whitfield, and on a more personal level by ex-con Mark Sanger, whose two incarcerations Ironside was involved.

The pilot, created by Colin Young, aired as an NBC television movie in March 1966. The series ran from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. Young served as executive producer for the first five episodes and was replaced by Frank Price. A few scenes of the pilot are cut at an extremely rapid pace, causing unintentional humor. Thankfully, that editing style doesn’t transfer to the series. Quincy Jones created the theme song and music for some of the episodes.

When we first meet Ironside, he is man’s man. He drinks bourbon, eats chili, and talks tough, using “flaming” to get around the censors. His drinking and swearing lose their prominence over the season. Ironside provides a lot of the story’s exposition to the viewers as he solves the crimes from his wheelchair, which limited the plot’s action.

Raymond Burr played Ironside after a successful eight seasons as Perry Mason from the show of the same name that ran on CBS from 1957-66. The shows were slightly similar; Mason solves mysteries in a courtroom and Ironside solves mysteries on the streets. Both were excellent at their jobs and almost always prevailed. These factors may have helped viewers accept Burr’s transition, which has always been a notorious one as many actors have failed to have lightening strike twice.

One of the more enjoyable aspects in watching old television dramas is that you’ll never know who is going to show up. Over this first season, some of the more recognizable talent and future television stars are Tiny Tim, Jack Lord, John Saxon, Bruce Lee, Robert Carradine, Norman Fell, Robert Reed, Edward Asner, and Susan St James, appearing as two different characters only a couple of months apart.

Unfortunately, as with many of the Universal Television DVD releases, there are no extras. For those that want to see the series in the order the episodes were produced rather than aired, which will make more sense for those who notice hair and character development, the list is as follows:

Ironside Pilot
Leaf In The Forrest
Eat, Drink, And Be Buried
The Monster Of Comus Towers
Something For Nothing
Tagged For Murder
Message From Beyond
Dead Man's Tale
The Man Who Believed
An Inside Job
The Taker
Let My Brother Go
Light At The End Of The Journey
A Very Cool Hot Car
The Past Is Prologue
Girl In The Night
The Fourteenth Runner
Force Of Arms
Memory Of An Ice Cream Stick
To Kill A Cop
The Lonely Hostage
The Challenge
All In A Day's Work
Barbara Who
Perfect Crime
Officer Bobby
Trip To Hashbury
Due Process Of The Law
Return Of The Hero

Ever had a nasty fight with someone close to you? Ever think to turn it into a screenplay, make a movie about it, and turn it into a comedy? Logically, no. However, this is Hollywood, and someone tried.

Peyton Reed directs this supposed comedy, starring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston. Vaughn is never off, and Aniston always fits into her role as the adorable girlfriend/wife. What they’re given here is nothing more than a long-winded fight that plays out in such a miserable fashion, it’s impossible to pick out the jokes.

Actually, it’s almost awkward to watch. As their fight spills into a dinner scene, it almost seems like you’re one of the guests, exchanging glances with everyone else at the table looking for a way out of the room. Thanks to home media, you have that option, and it's recommended you do so.

Jon Favreau reunites on screen with Vaughn, improvising a fun role that seems like a slightly toned down version of their starring spots in the 2001 comedy Made. The Break-Up needs far more of these two, and far less of everyone else.

The tiring arguments between Aniston and Vaughn’s characters are grating enough, yet even when they’re not on screen, someone else is joining the battles. Aniston fights with her boss, Vaughn argues with friends, and it spirals downhill from there. This is just not entertainment.

Some small credit is deserved for pulling away from the usually painful romantic comedy formula, yet the attempts at drama fall flat because you’re unsure if you’re supposed to be laughing at the situation as in some dark comedies. The problem is the concept doesn’t work as entertainment. You can argue at home. The Break-Up has no idea what it’s trying to be, and neither does it’s audience.

While it’s hardly going to be the HD DVD you’ll pull of your shelf to show off to friends, this is a well-rounded transfer. Colors are spectacular, and the compression is held at bay. A light layer of grain tends to show up against the background, though a nicely calibrated black level keeps this out of a non-discriminating view. The overall feel is soft, and sharper detail is lost. Still, it’s a decent effort for a film that doesn’t need a HD transfer in the first place.

Break-Up surprises in the audio department too. There’s extensive surround work, especially effective during the opening scenes in Wrigley Field. There’s not much to work with in terms of bass and the film has no need for it. There’s always something nicely worked into all channels that’s not expected, and it’s a fun audio mix even if the film itself is a wasted effort.

Extras are strong and varied, a nice set up for those who want to see more. An alternate ending doesn’t do much for or against the film and a commentary by Reed and Vaughn explains the change. Eight deleted scenes feel redundant after watching the movie (there’s only so many way to show an argument), and combined with an extended dinner sequence, there’s 10 minutes of additional film content total.

Seven outtakes last 12 minutes and don’t offer much. A whopping 21 minutes of improvisational material between Vaughn and Favreau is fun to watch simply to see how many different ways their scenes could have played out.

Imperfect Harmony is the first featurette, a look at a minor character played by Jason Bateman. Included is his audition tape. The Making of the Break-Up is self explanatory, running 15 minutes. A nifty tour of Chicago is contained on a separate menu, looking at the sights featured in the film from the actor’s perspective as their shooting. It’s one of the best choices on the disc.

Two commentaries, the best led by Vaughn and Aniston, are better than listening to the film itself. The director goes solo on the second track. HD DVD exclusive extras include Universal’s U-Control, featuring little tidbits during the film in a picture-in-picture window.

Apparently, people enjoy watching their lives unfold on screen. The film more than doubled its money during its theatrical run. Somehow it managed to cost an estimated $52 million to produce, which is staggering for a movie that is almost entirely contained in a single room.

Matt Paprocki is the reviews editor for Digital Press, a classic video game website which he called home after his fanzine (Gaming Source) published its final issue. The deep game collection which spans nearly 30 systems and 2,000 games line his walls for reasearch purposes. Really. He has also begun writing freelance for the Toledo Free Press.

Let me first start by saying, I never watched Hostel. There was something about glorifying the abject horror of torture made my stomach tense up and do a flip. Fast forwarding a few years and my stomach has gotten stronger on the inside (flabbier on the out). It's probably a side effect of being married for so long. Whatever the reasoning, it is just in time for Hostel: Part II. Lucky me.

Hostel: Part II starts off with the lone survivor from the first movie, Paxton (Jay Hernandez) hiding out at the house of his girlfriend's grandmother fearing for his life. Of course he doesn't last much longer, and just as soon as he's extinguished we're whisked away and are introduced to three girls, a wild child Whitney (Bijou Phillips), a rich prude Beth (Lauren German), and their butter-faced nerd friend Lorna (Heather Matarazzo). They’ve decided to go on a trip to Prague and upon departure are soon persuaded to alter their plans to include a five-star spa in Slovakia. Upon checking into the hotel, the wheels begin turning — the super-bored and-super rich folks begin bidding on who gets to "play" with them.

From there, I expected to be transported into Hell and to wish to God I never saw the movie. Yet that didn't happen. The horror and terror is practically nonexistent. I'm not about to go through the glorified gore or torture scenes, but I will say there are scythes, saws, clippers, knives, and blunt instruments all used in various ways. Unfortunately, those ways did little to revolt me. A blood bath — whoopity doo. Electroshock "therapy" — seen it in First Blood (or was it Rambo: First Blood Part II?) years ago. Aside from the ending, which made me wince, very little originality went into the heart of this film.

And that's where another problem arises. It takes far to long to even get to the heart of the movie. For the first hour we're basically hanging around with these girls as they yip and yap at art school, on the train, in the hotel ,and at an outdoor festival. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if I actually gave a shit about them but I didn't. I realize these are expendable characters, but the director (Eli Roth) should have at least made an attempt to give me a way to relate to these girls. Maybe one takes care of old people in her spare time and has a heart of gold. Perhaps another takes in stray animals and she's being kicked out her apartment because of it. Something — anything! I figured, if he couldn't be bothered with helping me to identify with them, then I sure as hell couldn't be bothered about them or their fate either. Fuck 'em — let 'em die a horrible death.

The final nail in the coffin, and it pains me greatly to say it, is even the gratuitous nudity, which is staple in these exploitation type films, is junk. The first Hostel, from what I understand, was filled to the brim with tits, ass, and sex. Hostel: Part II has very few scenes of nudity. I was expecting wave after luscious wave of European hotties baring it all for my enjoyment. Yet, instead of being dished a healthy dose of the female anatomy, I was instead given several shots of men in all their glory. This may be good for the sadistic women out there, but not, I repeat, not what I wanted to see. What a huge letdown.

Mostly, Hostel: Part II is major disappointment. I've seen far worse things surfing the web and ending up on sites like Ogrish.com (which surprisingly has cleaned itself up). As a matter of fact, the boredom from the first half of the movie was even more painful to watch than the "horrifying" torture scenes. And now that I've grown a full pair of manly balls, I'm going to rent the first movie just to see what all the fuss was about. I suspect it was over a whole lot of nothing, but it's gotta be better than this.