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Hey, Ib Melchoir’s Opus Mars-us is back, in a not-bad new scan and color-grading job. If the nostalgia bug has bitten you deep enough to appreciate a fairly maladroit but frequently arresting space exploration melodrama, this may be the disc for you. Let’s be honest: Nobody can resist the allure of the fabulous Bat-Rat-Spider-Crab, and in glorious Cinemagic, no less.

The Angry Red Planet

Blu-ray

Scream Factory

1960 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 83 min. / Street Date June 27, 2017 / 17.28

Starring: Gerald Mohr, Nora Hayden, Les Tremayne, Jack Kruschen.

Cinematography: Stanley Cortez

Film Editor: Ivan J. Hoffman

Original Music: Paul Dunlap

Written by Ib Melchior from a story by Sid Pink

Produced by Norman Maurer & Sid Pink

Directed by Ib Melchior

Unjust though it may be, not all Savant reviews make the national news feed, but my old 2001 coverage of the pretty miserable MGM DVD of The Angry Red Planet got quoted all over the place,...

Stars: Scott Butler, Kelly Lynn Reiter, Jesse Hlubik, Kristine DeBell, Nicole Olson, Lisa London, Mel Novak, Vida Ghaffari | Written and Directed by Rich Mallery

What do you get when you take a bevy of actresses from 80s sex comedies, the villain from Game of Death & Black Belt Jones, and some of the cast & crew of Samurai Cop 2? You get the brand-new exorcism movie Holy Terror – from writer/director Rich Mallery (Sociopathia) and executive-producer Gregory Hatanaka (who helmed Samurai Cop 2 from a script co-written by Mallery).

Believing the strange disturbances in their home are their deceased son reaching out from the other side, Molly (Reiter) and Tom (Hlubik) ask a medium (London) to make contact. But instead of their child, the three accidentally invite a vengeful demon to cross over. After the demon violently possesses Molly’s younger sister (Olson), the couple enlists the help of a disgraced priest (Butler) and...

Lenny Bruce: Dustin Hoffman in the 1974 Bob Fosse movie. Lenny Bruce movie review: Polemical stand-up comedian merited less timid biopic (Oscar Movie Series) Bob Fosse's 1974 biopic Lenny has two chief assets: the ever relevant free speech issues it raises and the riveting presence of Valerie Perrine. The film itself, however, is only sporadically thought-provoking or emotionally gripping; in fact, Lenny is a major artistic letdown, considering all the talent involved and the fertile material at hand. After all, much more should have come out of a joint effort between director Fosse, fresh off his Academy Award win for Cabaret; playwright-screenwriter Julian Barry, whose stage version of Lenny earned Cliff Gorman a Tony Award; two-time Best Actor Oscar nominee Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy); and cinematographer Bruce Surtees (Play Misty for Me, Blume in Love). Their larger-than-life subject? Lenny Bruce, the stand-up comedian who became one of the...

At the Awards Night at Olympia Theater at Gusman Center Miami-born writer, producer, director Phil Lord summed up the atmosphere by quoting the following food for thought found on the Knight Foundation’s website: “We seek to bestir the people into an awareness of their own condition, provide inspiration for their thoughts, and rouse them to pursue their true interests,” as Jack Knight once described as the bedrock purpose of his newspaper.

The elegant Awards Ceremony was followed by the International Premiere of Álvaro Fernández Armero’s contemporary Spanish comedy "Sidetracked" (Las ovejas no pierden el tren), starring Inma Cuesta, Raúl Arévalo , and Candela Peña - Isa: Film Factory Entertainment.

Miami Dade College's Miami International Film Festival Winners

Knight Competition

Knight Grand Jury Prize: "The Obscure Spring" (Las oscuras primaveras) (Mexico), produced by Luis Albores, Erika Avila, Carlos Mesa and Armon O’Farrill - Production Company: Agencia Sha. The prize includes $30,000 Usd that will be split between the lead production company and the U.S. distributor of the film. If no U.S. distributor is secured before 30 days after the close of the Festival, then the full award will be made to the lead production company. Clock is ticking for a U.S. distributor to buy "The Obscure Spring" and receive $15K from the Festival.

Grand Jury Award Best Performance: Cecilia Suarez, Jose Maria Yazpik and the entire cast of "The Obscure Spring" (Las oscuras primaveras) (Mexico)

Grand Jury Award Best Director: Abner Benaim for "Invasion" (Invasión) (Panama / Argentina) - Panama's First Official Submission for the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Category -Isa: Cinephil.

Knight Documentary Achievement Award: (selected by the Festival audience)

"Tea Time" (La once) (Chile / USA), directed by Maite Alberdi - Isa: Cat & Docs

Lexus Ibero-American Opera Prima Competition

"In the Grayscale" (En las gamas de gris) (Chile), directed by Claudio Marcone - Isa: Outplay

Jordan Alexander Ressler Screenwriting Award

"Theeb" (Jordan / Qatar / United Arab Emirates / United Kingdom), written by Naji Abu Nowar and Bassel Ghandour - Isa: Fortissimo Films - UK: New Wave Films - Switzerland: Trigon-Film

Park Grove Shorts Competition

Best Short Film: “Young Lions of Gypsy” (“A Ciambra”) (Italy/France), directed by Jonas Carpignano

Honorable Mentions: “A Tree In The Sea” (United Arab Emirates), directed by Shahir Zag; and Alba Baptista for her performance in Simão Cayatte's “Miami” (Portugal)

Miami Encuentros presented by Knight Foundation

"The Apostate" (El apóstata) (Spain / France / Uruguay), produced by Guadalupe Balaguer Trelles, Fernando Franco, and Federico Veiroj; directed by Federico Veir - Isa: FIGa Films

Lexus Audience Award

Favorite Feature Film: "Kamikaze" (Spain), directed by Álex Pina - Production Company: Cangrejo Films

Favorite Short Film: “Young Lions of Gypsy” (“A ciambra”) (Italy), directed by Jonas Carpignano

The announcements were made by the Festival's executive director Jaie Laplante and Lexus' vehicle operations manager, Marcus Williams, at the Patrón Xo Café Igloo Awards Night Party, presented at the Historic Alfred I. Dupont Building, courtesy of Tilia Companies.

In this episode of the first ever Tfgp Kickstarted Podcast we talk to Nathan J Hunt, head of the indie development team Storm Isle Productions about his Kickstarter for the game Disciples of the Storm.

Indie developers Storm Isle Productions is nearing completion on their kickstarter and need your help.

Storm Isle Productions, based out of West Virginia, has taken their love of the real time strategy game NetStorm: Islands at War and are working to expand the mythos in their indie game, Disiples of the Storm, working with Netstorm's original talents, Jim Greer, Beverly Garland, and artist Morgan Ogburn.

As of Sunday night they have four days to complete their kickstarter but are lacking a little over half of their $50,000 goal.  That's where y'all come in.  If you are a fan of the original Rts Netstorm then you will enjoy this game just as much.

You can check out their Kickstarter page here,...

Indie developers Storm Isle Productions is nearing completion on their kickstarter and need your help.

Storm Isle Productions, based out of West Virginia, has taken their love of the real time strategy game NetStorm: Islands at War and are working to expand the mythos in their indie game, Disiples of the Storm, working with Netstorm's original talents, Jim Greer, Beverly Garland, and artist Morgan Ogburn.

As of Sunday night they have four days to complete their kickstarter but are lacking a little over half of their $50,000 goal. That's where y'all come in. If you are a fan of the original Rts Netstorm then you will enjoy this game just as much.

Disciples of the Storm (Dots) is a unique, fast-paced, real-time-strategy game which will have some elements of role playing. Dots game play takes place on the world of Sonus, shattered by a continuous war among the Tempests of Rain,...

This atmospherically frightening sci-fi short 9 Minutes centers on a man who lives in the remote desert. There, he starts to go through some very strange phenomena. The title of the film refers to nine minutes of video that was recorded on the main character's phone that he doesn't remember.

The short was directed by P.J. Wolff and stars Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project). I will say that it starts off a little slow, but it turns out to be a really awesome, trippy thriller. If you start watching, please make sure to watch to the end because the ending is solid. ...

“What? You’re moving to Los Angeles to do What?”

That was the reaction from the majority of my Oregonian friends when I unveiled my plan to come to Hollywood and score films full-time. To this day, I catch shit from my friends up north for “going California”. They don’t understand how I could just voluntarily forfeit the simple life of Oregon to live and work in one of America’s busiest and most expensive cities… not to mention in an industry that serves up entertainment and fictional escapism as its mainstay product. (We won’t mention the fact that they flock to the cinemas in droves on weekends to sample what we are serving up. We’ll just pretend we don’t know about that little tidbit.)

I love this city. I’ve been here for over a decade now. Although my work over the years has forced...

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition. And it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call The Twilight Zone.”

Or so ran the opening monologue of Rod Serling’s science fiction anthology series…

In each half-hour episode an intelligent, mysterious and often horrific and disturbing scenario was showcased, highlighting the prevalent social & political concerns of the time. Playing up to the Cold War fears of post WWII America and exploiting the paranoia generated by this, Serling and his team produced a series that was truly groundbreaking and with this exceptional debut season now available on an equally spectacular Blu-ray release,...

Hey peeps! February is Women in Horror Month and you all are invited to celebrate with the lovely ladies!

From the Press Release:

This year we are excited to announce

The Second Annual Women In Horror Month Celebration

At Dark Delicacies In Burbank, CA February 12th, 2011

We would like to officially invite you to the second year’s festivities for Women In Horror Month celebrations in Burbank, California at Dark Delicacies!

Dai Green and Reyna Young have teamed up with Sue and Del Howison to bring this exciting event to the friends and fans of women in the horror genre and to celebrate our strides in the industry throughout the years while also meeting up for two great causes!

February 12th, 2011 we will be having a food drive to benefit the Burbank Food Bank and a clothing drive to benefit The Covenant House whose mission is to reach out to...

Encino, CA - While Charles Nelson Reilly is beloved for his time on Match Game, there’s more to this actor than Dumb Dora answers. He was the toast of Broadway with roles in Hello Dolly and Bye, Bye, Birdie and won the Tony for How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. Later in life he directed several plays on the Great White Way. While many actors sum up their lives in thick tomes, Charles created a one-man show. He was a stage performer so this was the best way to distill his experiences for an audience. The Life of Reilly captures his final performance before his passing in 2007.

After playing the festival circuit and a limited theatrical release, Life of Reilly is finally out on DVD, Blu-ray and iTunes. You can take Charles every where. In edition to the feature film, there’s tons of bonus features including...

The first thing people will notice about horror director Alan Rowe Kelly (Don't Look In The Basement, I'll Bury You Tomorrow) is that he is a gender bender, but Kelly has been bending more then genders his entire career as he has broken out the idea of conventionality. At the age of 39, with 40 just right around the corner, he had an epiphany. Bored with a career as a stylist, he made the sudden and dramatic move to horror. First testing the waters as an author, he switched over to the world of indie horror film directing where he won great acclaim for "I"ll Bury You Tomorrow". As he continued to direct films, he also started making a name for himself in the indie horror world as an actor playing power players, agents, something that rhymes with witch, etc. These were powerful, empowered characters that personally reflected upon Alan Rowe Kelly himself.

Charlie Sheen is going to have a hard time nabbing the plea deal he thought he was getting, because we've learned the sheriff ain't budging ... and Charlie could end up working at a dump. Sources at the Pitkin County Sheriff's Department tell TMZ .. Sheriff Bob Braudis still insists he never signed off or gave permission to give Charlie work release.  We're told the Sheriff is pissed at a local reporter who wrote that Braudis confirmed...

Sheriff Won't Budge in Charlie Sheen Plea

Charlie Sheen is going to have a hard time nabbing the plea deal he thought he was getting, because we've learned the sheriff ain't budging ... and Charlie could end up working at a dump.

Sources at the Pitkin County Sheriff's Department tell TMZ .. Sheriff Bob Braudis still insists he never signed off or gave permission to give Charlie work release.  We're told the Sheriff is pissed at a local reporter who wrote that Braudis confirmed that Charlie would be able to smoke during work release. Sheriff Bob says he was misquoted.

The Sheriff, we're told, is letting the Jail Administrative Officer, Beverly Campbell, run the show.  Sources say Bev is clear -- Charlie is not eligible for work release.

If he serves time, the only way he can get out during the day is under the Useful Public Service program (Ups).  The way...

Another DC superhero may take flight on the big screen.

According to Pajiba, Warner Bros. and Lin Productions may be collaborating on an adaptation of "Starman." While the rumor is currently unconfirmed, the story states that the project is being produced by Daniel Lin ("Sherlock Holmes") and Gregory Noveck ("Jonah Hex").

The first Starman was created in 1941 by artist Jack Burnley along with editors Whit Ellsworth, Murray Boltinoff, Jack Schiff, Mort Weisinger, and Bernie Breslauer. While the rumor doesn't state which version of Starman would be featured in the film, it does say that the character used will "wield a gravity rod, have energy powers, and likely be able to fly."

Over the nearly 70 years since the first appearance of Starman, there have been several DC characters to use that name. The first was Ted Knight — a founding member of Jsa who recently made a cameo in the "Absolute Justice" episode of "Smallville.

The off-beat 1967 comedy The President's Analyst is among the films being screened by Joe Dante. Director Joe Dante has sent us this press release regarding an exciting classic and cult movie festival he is hosting at the New Beverly Cinema in L.A. Don't miss his appearance on August 5 when he and Bruce Dern will be screening The Burbs and Smile.

I had so much fun hosting last year's film series that we're doing it again at The New Beverly Cinema, one of La's last bastion of movie worship! Remember, Movies Are Your Best Entertainment!  Down With Pay TV!   Aug. 5-6 The Burbs/Smile  - It's cheeky of me to pair my own behavioral neighborhood comedy with Michael Ritchie's brilliantly observed social satire (American Beauty eat your heart out!), but both feature one of the movies' best, most underappreciated actors, Bruce Dern. From countless tv western bad guys through...

Mike J. Nelson is arguably the funniest man alive. And you know what they say – “make ‘em laugh, make ‘em breakfast!” (Or is it just my ex husband that says that?) In any case, Mike became every nerd girl’s biggest crush when he became the host of the awesomely amazing ‘mock bad movies’ TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the early 90’s (he also wrote and directed episodes) and made us see the humor in bad b-movies (other than the fact that they were bad b-movies). Now he’s launching Rifftrax, a website where you can download on-demand Mike’s sarcasm! Mike is our Scary Stud of the Month because I think he’s cute in a dorky, fun, b-movie-riffing, nice-arms kind of way (and you do too!) Behold the glory of Mike, stripped down (not really) and hardcore (depends on your definition of that word) for your reading (reading is fun!