Do Androids Sleep Soundly in the Cinema?

Blade Runner. I’ve always had problems with this film. And I really wanna like it too. It’s a flawed and highly overrated film…and I believe that could be my biggest trouble with it. Fan-boys run around telling you that Blade Runner is the greatest sci-fi flick ever made. Ask them why that is. As they stumble about for a convincing answer, the only response they can ever muster is, “Well, it looks great! It’s visually stunning…”Yeah. It is indeed. There is no denying the visual accomplishments of Blade Runner. But what about THE STORY? THE PACE? THE GODDAMNED CHARACTERIZATIONS? Blade Runner is like the most gorgeous girl at a party. She’s a dream. She has all the right curves. She is perfect. Then you take her home and try to make love to her. She lies back and she spreads her legs…and that’s it. She has no passion and she leaves you to do all the work. Not a good time in my book. Director Ridley Scott was so obsessed with creating his futuristic world he forgot to focus on all those other little elements I mentioned above. You know, the plot and pace and characters… It sounds like I’m getting off on a rant to trash the film. That I hate it. Not true. There’s a lot about Blade Runner I admire and enjoy very much. It just could have been a more involving experience for the viewer. Harrison Ford, not surprisingly, carries most of the film with his engaging performance of shaky replicant hunter Rick Dekkard. But even he is slighted by Scott’s focus on production design in lieu of characterization. In fact, Ford not withstanding, almost all the characters are one note despite the roles being filled out by an exceptional cast of actors. One might argue that Scott was indeed after this cold  and distant feeling from the characters…but ultimately, in a film that is ABOUT humanity it fails to shine through where and when it is most important.Rutger Hauer provides a powerhouse performance as chief replicant baddie Roy Batty. He might actually be the most human character in film. But again, this only highlights another of the films flaws. The film would have us empathize with the replicants. They are a product of someone else’s design and all they want is to be free and have more life. Is that wrong? No, of course not. But in what little time we spend with the replicant characters, we see them only as freakish cold blooded murderers. Pretty hard to relate to.  I could probably go on for days about the many different aspects of Blade Runner that make it both a very bad and very great film. The recently released dvd offers no less than  FOUR cuts of the film including Scott’s so-called  and amusingly titled “Final Cut.” Bottom-line: Any film which has required as many versions and re-cuts as Blade Runner has indicates that there was always something amiss and always we will be.  The new Final Cut version fixes a few errors present in the older editions…but you know what? You can’t digitally repair the film’s pace or lack of characterization.

Spilt Milk review

Your grand mom probably said to you the same as mine as I was growing up “Don’t cry over spilt milk!” Usually she’d say it when I would have done something wrong and was terrified of getting trouble or just plain upset over whatever. Tiffany Shepis stars in this tale of a woman who is slowly losing her mind, or is it a ghost that is preying on her raw emotions after a very traumatic experience that would haunt any rational female?

You will need to see it up close and personal to make your own judgment or decision. I liked Spilt Milk’s build up to an ending I didn’t really expect, it was a nice change from some of the disc’s I’ve had to suffer thru. As you watch the day unfold flashbacks included, you witness subtle clues to what is going on. Shepis was great in this and her scene in the kitchen when she breaks down, her emotions were fantastic and thoroughly believable. Kevin MacDonald and Woody Bavota have a sure fire winner in Spilt Milk!

Sin By Murder- On the Mark Productions

Anniversaries are great! Especially when you hit a milestone like your 10th and realize how special your relationship actually is. Until your husband gets called to work and leaves you all alone scared to be by yourself to go fix some lucrative computer problem that only he knows. While Michael is at work, Michelle hops in the shower and is stabbed to death by an intruder. Later things get really tangled up when the truth starts to unravel and you find out what a great best friend Sharon really was to the victim Michelle, they were so close she fucked her husband behind her back. Ryli Morgan plays Amy Cobb a lesbian police officer working on the case with her kooky partner Jack Burns. Out of all of Ryli’s movies I liked this one the best. Besides getting to see her and the very sexy Jennifer Daly in a short but steamy daydream, Ryli’s sarcastic eye rolls made me laugh every time!

  http://www.myspace.com/onmarkproductions  

The Ryli Morgan Collection- On The Mark Productions

Despair-
Love, they say some people are unfortunate enough to never experience it while others experience numerous times thru out their lifetimes and never appreciate what they have until it’s gone. Usually after a relationship progresses from months into years a partner might lose interest and want to move on, or the person could be so in love it borders the line of being such an obsession that they can’t bare the thought of losing them. The film shows a heartbroken Yvette committing suicide in a rather nasty sort of way, forget about old fashioned pill taking! Watch as Ryli Morgan shows you her utter Despair as she silently suffers her loss.

Runaway Terror-
A funky producer can’t seem to keep a hold on his actresses and they keep ending up dead. Lydia has lost her twin sister Vanessa who was going to take on the jinxed part until she too winds up murdered. Lydia decides to take matters into her own hands as the suspects mount and people die. Will she end up just another victim to these useless killings? The editing was choppy and the sound was a little low in the beginning but I read a review online that said we need more slasher films like this one, so you be the judge!

Expendable-
David is ready to leave his drug dealing days behind him so he can take his cash and new girlfriend away from all of the bullshit and leave to live in a different calm place where he can start over. A part of David can’t seem to let go of his past and he decides to pay a last visit his ex wife Nicole. Ex wifey has a little surprise for David, she’s hungry for him, and in a very different way then she used to.

Ryli’s audition- you get to see Ryli do a slow strip tease…how can you not like that?
additional extras