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So many movies ... so little time ...

On this day in 2001 (in the U.S.), Valentine enjoyed a special theatrical premiere engagement one day before its full release.  Directed by Jamie Blanks from a story by Tom Savage, Donna Powers, Wayne Powers, Gretchen J. Berg, and Aaron Harberts, the film starred Denise Richards, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton, and others. 

According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"Five women are stalked by an unknown assailant while preparing for Valentine's Day."

For the record:
At the 2002 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, Valentine took home top honors in the category of 'Worst Film.'  Ouch.

-- EZ

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Press Release

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Newest installment
in the Aliens Uncovered series
arrives on VOD January 30, 2026
​

Philadelphia, PA – [January 23, 2026] – Breaking Glass Pictures is excited to announce the upcoming worldwide VOD release of Aliens Uncovered: Invasion, the newest installment in the Aliens Uncovered documentary series. The film will be available on digital platforms beginning January 30, 2026.

Directed, written, and produced by Clive Christopher, Aliens Uncovered: Invasion explores humanity’s ongoing fascination with extraterrestrial life and the possibility of an alien threat. Framed through the Countdown to Contact podcast, the documentary features callers and experts discussing theories of invasion and the controversial 3I Atlas phenomenon—an object some believe could pose a danger to Earth.

As different opinions pour in, the film begins to theorize what such a threat might look like and how first contact could change the very fabric of our existence. Blending speculative science, conspiracy theory, and investigative documentary storytelling, Aliens Uncovered: Invasion invites audiences to question what we truly know about the universe—and what may already be on its way.

“Clive continues to bring a thoughtful and grounded approach to stories about the unknown,” said Rich Wolff, CEO of Breaking Glass Pictures. “Aliens Uncovered: Invasion doesn’t just speculate—it sparks conversation about fear, curiosity, and what it means to look beyond our planet. We’re proud to bring the newest chapter in this evolving series to audiences worldwide.”

Christopher says, ‘Working with Breaking Glass is a true blessing. My growth as a filmmaker is owed to Rich Wolff and Susan Helfrich, who believed in me before I believed in myself. They’ve supported my journey every step of the way and helped me bring these stories to audiences worldwide.’”
— Clive Christopher, Producer, Writer, Director

Aliens Uncovered: Invasion (TV-PG) runs 69 minutes and will be released worldwide in English on January 30, 2026. The film will be available in HD across major digital platforms.

Press Details: Production Details:
  • Production Year: 2025
  • Genre: Documentary, Mystery, Adventure, Educational
  • Language: English
  • Production Country: US
  • Production Company: Golden Record Productions
  • Runtime: 69 Minutes
​
About Breaking Glass Pictures:

​Founded in 2009 and based in Philadelphia, Breaking Glass Pictures is a leading independent film distribution company focused on delivering thought-provoking, inclusive, and impactful films to audiences worldwide. With a strong history of championing LGBTQ+ cinema, documentaries, and bold independent features, Breaking Glass proudly supports visionary storytellers who challenge convention and spotlight underrepresented voices.
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The genre bending
Austin-lensed horror comedy
makes its debut
with Blu-Ray and DVD release
​

(Akron, OH, January 27, 2026) – Phantom Pain Films is proud to announce the release of the highly anticipated movie Curse of the Baby-Eater, from Joe Bizarro and the good people at Trash Cult Pictures, on Blu-ray and DVD through its Future Video label exclusively at Future-Video.tv.

The Austin, TX lensed movie marks the third collaboration between Joe Bizarro and Noel Maitland (Brides of Satan, The World is a Beautiful Place and I am Not Afraid to Die), and features an exciting cast of first-time actors including MH Dempsey, Jeff Brennecke, and Cowboy Ben, alongside familiar faces, such as cult movie actor Christopher Kahler (Power Book IV: Force, Dhoom 3), Peelander Yellow of Japanese action comic punk band Peelander-Z, Scary Gary, Lexi Graves, and Lisa Mason Lee (Apple TV’s Palm Royale, Alvin and the Chipmunks).

Of the release Bizarro says, “We hope you enjoy this unexpectedly heartfelt tale of monsters, madness, and bologna sandwiches (hold the mustard)...”
​
Official Logline: When Gibby Arbuckle's dog begins channeling God, a chance encounter sends him on a mission to destroy a cave dwelling, baby eating monster. Along the way he meets fellow outcasts Gordy and Cowboy Ben. Together they will learn a much more valuable lesson about life, love, and friendship... if they survive.
​
About Future Video:

​FUTURE VIDEO was launched in 2021 as the domestic distribution label for Phantom Pain Films. Specializing in physical media, the label has distributed 18 titles over 8 Blu-Ray and 19 VHS releases.
IG: @future_vid
X: @future_vid
FB: @FutureVideoTV
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in memoriam

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Ach, folks ... this one hurts ...

Growing up when I did, Saturday Night Live was all the rage with my friends (and enemies), but -- for what it's worth -- my closest mates and I were often found guilty on Saturday night staying up late to watch the far better and far funnier SCTV, a comedy import from the Great White North that is Canada.  Not a great deal of my classmates appreciated my humor anyway, so the likes of what came over the airwaves from John Candy, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, and Catherine O'Hara tickled my funny bone in ways that maybe my Cannuck brethren up there understood.  It was goofy funny -- sometimes just plain looney tunes -- but the program and its various characters meant much more to me than just about anything that came out of SNL's glory days.  That's certainly not an insult because I have nothing but respect for the popular NBC line-up of originals: I just didn't laugh as much at their schtick as I did SCTV's, and humor is very subjective anyway.

Because so many of them were part of my formative years, I followed their careers with delight, sometimes being weirdly gleeful when I'd catch them in some American production where they were typically cast as background characters.  Inevitably, they'd wind up stealing damn near every scene they were in; and -- while I celebrated -- those around me couldn't quite appreciate what I found so damn laughably to begin with.  Looking back, it was probably more nostalgia for my youth than it was their work; but that shouldn't be construed to take anything away from any of them.  These folks were genius bit players, and they knew something special about crafting memorable characters.  Not everyone who goes into Comedy -- especially these days -- has those skills; and this is why the line-up meant so much to me.  They knew how to do it to transcend the ages as SCTV is still funny to this day.  If you doubt me, then go and check out those early years wherever you can.  You won't be disappointed.

Argh ...

I just saw word reaching the worldwide web of Catherine O'Hara's passing, and it's heartbreaking.

Yes, many many more readers know her from other work -- Beetlejuice (1988), Home Alone (1990), Waiting For Guffman (1996) -- and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.  As I said, she was an actress unlike so many; and she had the chops to step in to do Comedy and even modest dramatic work with the best of them.  Without a doubt, her time aboard the somewhat ground-breaking Schitt's Creek (2015-2020) but her back on Hollywood's map -- as she enjoyed a good handful of roles in its wake -- and re-introduced the level of zaniness she could bring at the drop of a hat to an all-new audience of untold millions of fans.  (Yes, that show was that popular.)

​Readers are encouraged to check out her IMDB.com profile, and you'll see she raked up a great deal of professional citations -- in various awards categories and programs -- which only underscores how uniquely she did what she did in front of the camera.

Our warmest prayers are extended to the family, friends, and fans of Ms. O'Hara.

May she rest in peace ...

​-- EZ
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press release

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Available on Digital Platforms
on February 6th
​

A grief-stricken arborist and her son awaken a haunting when they begin felling trees at the estate of a mysterious recluse.

"Mudge expertly leans into folk horror trappings to conjure nightmare fuel."
- Kat Hughes, The Hollywood News

SYNOPSIS:
After suffering a devastating loss, grief-stricken arborist Ellie and her son Wyatt are hired by mysterious recluse Arthur Randolph to fell the trees in part of his vast, remote estate. As Wyatt starts showing signs of erratic behavior and falls prey to creature hallucinations, a past tragedy reveals itself, a haunting awakens, and Arthur discloses the real reason he hired them.

Release Date: 2/6/2026
Directed & Written by: Andrew Mudge
Produced by: Andrew Mudge, Krista Minto, Don Schechter,
Nick Santos, Ross Saxon, & Mike Bowes
Starring: Lucy Walters, Hudson West, & Will Lyman
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Distributor: Dark Sky Films 
Run Time: 100 minutes

About Dark Sky Films:
Dark Sky Films, a wholly owned subsidiary of MPI Media Group, is an independent genre film production and distribution label founded in 2008. Dark Sky Films works with emerging talent as well as established veterans to develop, produce and finance feature films and episodic television projects. Representing films from some of most talented directors working today, such as Ti West’s The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers, and Jim Mickle’s Stake Land, Dark Sky continues to identify original talent and projects to bring a vibrant slate of films to the world market, with original productions and releases such as Girl on the Third Floor, We Are Still Here, Deathgasm, Emelie, Catfight, Darlin’, Bliss and most recently, The Dark and 1BR.

Follow us on twitter: @darkskyfilms @mpimediagroup ​
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So many movies ... so much to celebrate!!!

Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb is the kind of film that scholars love to call science fiction.  In some respects, I suppose that's an accurate characterization (even IMDB.com lists it as that), but it's clearly much more of a comedy with satirical elements than it is anything else.  

On this day in 1964 (in the U.S. and beyond), it was first released to the masses-at-large.  Written (in part) and directed by Stanley Kubrick, the film starred Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, and others. 

According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"An insane American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop."

For the record:
  • At the 1965 Academy Awards, Dr. Strangelove enjoyed nominations in the categories of 'Best Writing - Screenplay Based On Material From Another Medium,' 'Best Actor In A Leading Role,' 'Best Director,' and 'Best Picture.'
  • At the 1965 Hugo Awards, the feature took home top honors in the category of 'Best Dramatic Presentation.'
  • In 1989, the film was inducted into the U.S.'s National Film Registry, the organization tasked with preserving features for their cultural, historical, and aesthetic importance to history.

-- EZ
​
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(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters.  If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last three paragraphs for the final assessment.  If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
 
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“Genetic engineers Clive Nicoli and Elsa Kast hope to achieve fame by successfully splicing together the DNA of different animals to create new hybrid animals for medical use.”
 
If screenwriters are going to use stories that came before as inspiration, then – when it comes to Science Fiction – there’s perhaps no greater foundation than Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
 
First published in January of 1818, the tale explored the scientific shenanigans surrounding Swiss genius Victor Frankenstein discovering the secret to reanimated dead matter.  As most know, the good doctor constructs a being all of his own – one cobbled together with body parts stolen from the recently deceased – and brings it to life largely to prove that we, too, can set about the business of playing God.  Eventually as it finds nothing but rejection and loss along the way, the monster rather violently takes Fate in his own hands, wreaking havoc of those closest and dearest to the Frankenstein name.  To date, the book has been adapted hundreds of times; and there looks to be no end to the possibilities of its or its storied characters being finally laid to rest any time soon.
 
Essentially, 2009’s Splice is an all-new iteration of the classic Frankenstein story.  It may employ an entirely contemporary setting – one that uses cutting-edge gene splicing as the framework by which its creature is made – but the script from director Vincenzo Natali and contributors Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor even uses a pair of celebrated brainiacs – geneticists Elsa Kast (played by Sarah Polley) and Clive Nicoli (Adrien Brody) – to engineer their abomination through a variety of corporate trials.  While seeking a means with which to engineer unimaginable pharmacological breakthroughs, the two pilfer the use of the sponsors’ technology in order to prove that conceiving an all-new lifeform is possible, bringing to life a biological chimera of sorts they name Dren (Delphine Chanéac).
 
Just as happens in the Shelley tome, the monster initially responds favorably to its creator’s machinations.  Elsa and Dren rather quickly settle into a mother/daughter relationship – a development that’ll make vastly more sense once Elsa’s big secret is revealed – with Clive serving as an obstacle to their bond being fully achieved.  As Dren continues to grow and (rather miraculously) reach untold levels of intellectual and even biological awareness, she slowly finds herself curiously drawn to the man in a room as a potential suitor, a twist of circumstances that likely would’ve had Shelley blushing.  Of course this being the movies (and R-rated at that), the father figure succumbs to the usual male weakness, giving Splice an undercurrent of sexual chemistry some in the audience might find a bit … well … laughable.
 
Sadly, that’s about all there is to the somewhat steamy and melodramatic take on the Frankenstein. 
 
Hints of Elsa’s background – an estranged and volatile relationship with an apparently mentally unstable mother – surface with the same elegance as they would were this a V.C. Andrews’ potboiler.  (Hasn’t mommy hit her child enough?)  Clive gets somewhat sidetracked into being nothing more than the man trying to keep their work and relationship alive while Elsa hides out playing parent with the constantly evolving Dren.  (Is his descent into the affair a manifestation of his disappointment with his partner?)  While Splice starts out reasonably smart, it doesn’t take all that long for the action to devolve in the second half into a somewhat campy incarnation of the cautionary tale.  (Oh, no, now they’ve gone and killed the cat!)  Lazily, Natali never sacrifices throwing shade on the scientists and the thinly-drawn capitalistic opportunists who would seize the chance to make a profit off the technology gone awry.  While Clive is all-too-happy to share coitus with Dren, the critter rises from the dead (literally) having fully transmogrified into a male seemingly with little more than the now delirious thirst to rape his/her surrogate mother.
 
Yes, it’s that kind of romp.
 
Splice (2009) was produced by Canal+, TPS Star, Copperheart Entertainment, Gaumont, Telefilm Canada, and a few other participants.  (For a full accounting, check out the film’s listing on IMDB.com.)  DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Warner Archive.  As for the technical specifications?  While I’m no trained video expert, I can assure readers that the provided sights and sounds are exceptional throughout the picture with some impressive special effects helping to bring ‘the science’ to visual life.  Lastly, if you’re looking for special features?  The disc does boast a 30+ minute behind-the-scenes documentary which offers modest insights into the production, but it would’ve been nice to have something more.
 
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
 
Somewhere in an alternate reality, there just might be a version of Splice (2009) that doesn’t take the easy way out and instead sticks to the intelligent set-up and superior first half of this 104-minute monster.  Either that, or the project needs a total overhaul wherein a good cast and crew can give it the kind of slow-burning, multi-episode life that leaves room for something more than skin, sex, and jump scares that suffices for modern entertainment.  Sadly, there just isn’t enough spine to give this one the beating heart it deserved; and what survives feels more akin to good ideas wasted on cheap thrills.  Even Dren – as a villain – deserved better.
 
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive (via Allied Vaughn) provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Splice (2009) by request for the expressed purposes of completing this review.  Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.

-- EZ
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So many movies ... so much to celebrate!!!

On this day in 1956 (in Japan), audiences were delivered a dire Warning From Space (aka Uchûjin Tôkyô ni arawaru)!  Kôji Shima directed from a story emerging from the minds of Gentaro Nakajima and Hideo Oguni; and the film starred Keizô Kawasaki, Toyomi Karita, Bin Yagisawa, and others. 

​According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"UFOs are seen around Tokyo. Because they look like giant starfish the aliens cannot approach us without creating panic. Hence one of them sacrifices itself and takes the form of a popular female singer. It/she warns mankind that a meteor will crash on Earth. While the approaching meteor causes hotter and hotter weather, mankind runs and builds a last-chance anti-meteor weapon."

For the record:
At the 1956 Asia-Pacific Film Festival, Warning From Space took home three big wins, scoring trophies in the categories of 'Best Cinematography,' 'Best Sound,' and 'Best Special Effects.'

ExtraExtra Alert:
Iin 2020, I was fortunate to have received a complimentary Blu-ray of Warning From Space from the good people at Arrow Films.  Interested in knowing what I thought of this SciFi/Fantasy throwback?  My review can be found right here.

-- EZ
​
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So many movies ... so much to celebrate!!!

On this day in 1959 (in the U.S.), the big city of Los Angeles, California played host for the silver screen theatrical premiere of Walt Disney's classic screen Fantasy ... Sleeping Beauty!  Directed by the team of Les Clark, Clyde Geronimi, Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Hamilton Luske from the story by Charles Perrault, the film featured the voice talents of Mary Costa, Verna Felton, Bill Shirley, and others. 

​According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"After being snubbed by the royal family, a malevolent fairy places a curse on a princess which only a prince can break, along with the help of three good fairies."

For the record:
  • At the 1960 Academy Awards, Sleeping Beauty received a nomination in the category of 'Best Music - Scoring Of A Musical Picture.'
  • At the 2009 Saturn Awards, an all-new home video release of Sleeping Beauty received a nomination in the category of 'Best DVD Classic Film Release.'
  • In 2019, Sleeping Beauty was inducted into the U.S.'s National Film Registry, the organization which seeks to preserve pictures that have demonstrated a lasting cultural, historical, and aesthetic contribution to the art form.
​
-- EZ

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So little time ... so much to celebrate!!!

On this day in 2015 (in Trinidad and Tobago), time and reality collided with the theatrical release of Project Almanac.  Directed by Dean Israelite from a story by Jason Pagan and Andrew Deutschman, the film starred Amy Landecker, Jonny Weston, Sam Lerner, and others. 

​According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"A group of teens discovers secret plans for a time machine, and construct one. However, things start to get out of control."

-- EZ

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