Title: The Big Lebowski – Blu-ray Limited Edition Directed by: Joel & Ethan Cohen Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore and John Turturro Running time: 117 min, Rated R Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski is just a laid back guy who takes pleasure in the simple things, like White Russians and bowling. He gets mistaken for a millionaire with the same name by a pornographer’s thugs who want money he loaned to the Big Lebowski’s trophy wife, so they take it out on The Dude’s rug; the one that really tied the room together. So Dude goes to The Big Lebowski and manages to get a new-used rug,  [ Read More ]

Title: The Perfect House Directed by: Kris Hulbert (‘First Times’) and Randy Kent (‘Life of Lemon’, TV’s ‘The John Kerwin Show’) Starring: Monique Parent (TV’s ‘Tanya X’), John Philbin (‘Children of the Corn,’ ‘The Return of the Living Dead’) and Felissa Rose (‘Dahmer vs. Gacy’) The horror genre has multiple successful sub-genres, whether it be Hitchcock-inspired suspense, ‘Saw’-inspired torture-porn or violent, psychological thrillers. The new horror anthology film ‘The Perfect House’ encompasses all three sub-genres with three diverse short stories. All three stories take place in the same house, particularly the basement, and aim to prove that people are sometimes driven to commit crimes by an external evil force. ‘The  [ Read More ]

“A Good Old Fashioned Orgy” and “Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil” costar Tyler Labine has the physicality, wit and jester’s eyes that mark him as the latest garrulous inheritor to the comedy scepter wielded previously by the likes of Chris Farley, Dan Fogelman and Zach Galifianakis — which is to say a big guy with a bigger personality. In person, however, the thoughtful, soft-spoken Labine hardly seems a performer, let alone the likes of one who’s already carved out an impressive comedic presence in a relatively short period of time. ShockYa recently had the opportunity to chat one-on-one with the actor and burgeoning producer, about “Orgy,” sexual swinging spanning the last several decades, the correct quotable line  [ Read More ]

Title: Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star Director: Tom Brady Starring: Nick Swardson, Christina Ricci, Don Johnson, Stepen Dorff, Kevin Nealon Look folks; it’s a Happy Madison production (in-case you didn’t see & hear the annoying TV spots). Adam Sandler and his writer friends got together and came up with Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star. The only notable appearances from the Sandler stable are his good buddy Kevin Nealon and the usual cameos from his writing partners and friends. You’ll recognize the faces even though they seem to keep putting on weight every year. Nick Swardson – who also co-wrote this – plays the titular character who  [ Read More ]

Few actors get to star in a monster commercial smash that is also a zeitgeist hit, but that was Joshua Leonard’s experience with “The Blair Witch Project,” which turned a meager $60,000 production budget into almost $250 million in worldwide theatrical receipts, and owned the summer of 1999 (and beyond, in the form of countless spoofs, homages and far less inspired rip-offs) like no other indie movie of its time. Leonard continued to act over the years, and achieved a second peak of artistic acclaim two years back in Lynn Shelton’s “Humpday,” in which he and a fellow heterosexual friend (Mark Duplass) find themselves locked in a pact/dare to make  [ Read More ]

Title: A Good Old Fashioned Orgy Directed By: Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck Written By: Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Michelle Borth, Lindsay Sloane, Lucy Punch, Will Forte, Tyler Labine, Leslie Bibb, Lake Bell, Nick Kroll, Don Johnson Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 8/22/11 Opens: September 2, 2011 One of the guys in this fast-moving, sexy movie states that his generation-those in their 30s-compared to what came before and after, are “the lamest.” If this fun-loving group is the lamest, pass me the crutches: I want in. While some life-is-a-party people around the country are hoping that they serve beer in hell, the whole gang in Alex Gregory and  [ Read More ]

Title: Meet Monica Velour Directed by: Keith Bearden Starring: Kim Cattrall, Dustin Ingram, Brian Dennehy, Sam McMurray and Keith David Running time: 97 minutes, Rated R, Available on Blu-Ray Tobe is a typical nerdy high school grad with an odd obsession with a 70′s porn star named Monica Velour. When he finds out she’s going to be headlining at an Indiana strip joint, he takes a road trip in his “weenie” truck for the once in a lifetime chance to meet his fantasy girl. Much to his surprise, she’s aged a bit since her porno career peak; however Tobe is determined to get to know the real Monica Velour and  [ Read More ]

The box office results for the weekend of August 5th – 7th unveils a surprising ‘Rise’ for the last major tentpole of the summer season. And in other news, Universal deals with another flopper. Here are the studio estimates: 1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes ($54 million) 2. The Smurfs ($21 million) 3. Cowboys & Aliens ($15.7 million) 4. The Change-Up ($13.5 million) 5. Captain America: The First Avenger ($13 million) 6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 ($12.1 million) 7. Crazy, Stupid, Love ($12.1 million) 8. Friends with Benefits ($4.7 million) 9. Horrible Bosses ($4.6 million) 10. Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($3 million) Analysis  [ Read More ]

With ‘Sons of Anarchy’ season 4 underway, and a guest star dropping out at the last minute, show runners behind the biker series decided to cast former ‘Knight Rider’ star, and ‘Baywatch’ actor David Hasselhoff in a cameo on the FX series, and Hasselhoff won’t be playing just any character you see in the background, he plays a porn star!   ”I think when you see the show and the role it all makes perfect sense,” Hunnam stated. “We’re not expecting you to believe that he’s showing up as some mass crime boss.” Speaking out about “a pretty surreal situation,” actor Charlie Hunnam, famously known to fans as the bad-ass Jax,  [ Read More ]

Title: The Change-Up Studio: Universal Pictures Directed By: David Dobkin Written By: Joe Lucas, Scott Moor Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, Mircea Monroe Screened at: Lincoln Square, NYC, 8/1/11 Opens: August 5, 2011 If by now you do not see the error of thinking that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, David Dobkin will supply a lesson. With “Change-Up,” whose writers Joe Lucas and Scott Moor offer up quite a number of one-line zingers to match no small amount of visual and vocal vulgarity, two best friends in their thirties learn that the grass can indeed be greener  [ Read More ]

Title: Tekken Directed by: Dwight H. Little Starring: Jon Foo, Kelly Overton, Tamlyn Tomita and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Running time: 91 Minutes, rated R, available on standard DVD Based on world renowned fighting video games by Namco, the year is 2039 and the world has been ravaged by world war. Territories are now run by corporations, the largest of which is Tekken. The only event that keeps public morale going is watching the Iron Fist tournaments. When Jin Kazama’s mother is murdered, Jin volunteers in the tournament and is set to take vengeance upon the Tekken leader Heihachi Mishima whom he knows was involved. He discovers his mother was once a  [ Read More ]

Read our exclusive interview with actor Drew Powell, who plays Bic in the upcoming thriller film ‘Straw Dogs,’ which is set to be released on September 16, 2011. The movie is based on the 1971 thriller of the same name, which starred Dustin Hoffman and stirred up controversy when it was released for its violent sequences. Powell discusses with us, among other things, how he feels about violence in films, and how he prepared for the role of Bic. ShockYa (SY): You portray Bic in the upcoming remake of the thriller ‘Straw Dogs.’ The movie follows L.A. screenwriter David Sumner, played by James Marsden, as he moves with his wife  [ Read More ]

Title: Blu-ray Review: Original Sin Directed by: Michael Cristofer Starring: Antonio Banderas, Angelina Jolie, Jack Thompson and Thomas Jane Running time: 118 minutes, Unrated MGM has released the 2001 steamy thriller Original Sin onto Blu-ray. It is the story of a wealthy Cuban coffee merchant in the late 19th century that orders an American mail-order bride whom he had only communicated through letters and photographs, and when she arrives she is not the same person. She alleges she sent false photographs so he would not be captivated by only her beauty. Their early days as man and wife are passionate, however he soon discovers it was all just a ruse  [ Read More ]

Title: Queen of the Sun Director: Taggart Siegel The plight of the honeybee may not be first and foremost on the mind of even some of the more dedicated environmentalists out there, but as not one but two recent documentaries have persuasively argued, the tiny winged creatures serve as an early indicator for the continued prospects of much of humankind’s agriculture, and so their rapid disappearance across the United States over the past five years should certainly be cause for concern and action. Vanishing of the Bees, narrated by Oscar nominee Ellen Page, tackled systemic pesticides (the likely culprit, based on similar situations in Europe) in a much more forthright, and slightly  [ Read More ]

Title: Larry Crowne Directed By: Tom Hanks Written By: Tom Hanks, Nia Vardalos Cast: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Brian Cranston, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson, Gugu Mbatha-Rqw, Wilmer Valderrama, Pam Grief, Rita Wilson Screened at: Lincoln Square, NYC, 6/27/11 Opens: July 1, 2011 Thematically “Larry Crowne” is up my alley. The tagline is “You’re never too old to learn.” Tom Hanks, who in real life will be fifty-five next week, goes to college for the first time, an experience that changes his life. I identified with him because though I went to college and grad school at the usual time, I began an advanced degree in theater at the  [ Read More ]