Tekken Tops the 3rd Annual Straight-to-DVD Movie Awards

Video game adaptation Tekken has won Best Picture in the 3rd Annual Straight-to-DVD Movie Awards, also grabbing the best Sci-Fi/Fantasy award. Other winners include Tamer Hassan who won best actor for his performance in Bonded by Blood, which also took Best Director for helmer Sacha Bennett. Romola Garai won Best Actress for her work in Glorious 39. Ballistica took both Worst Picture and Title-S0-Bad-It’s Good kudos.

Here’s the full list:

Best Picture: Tekken

Best Actor: Tamer Hassan, Bonded by Blood

Best Actress: Romola Garai, Glorious 39

Best Director: Sacha Bennett, Bonded by Blood

Worst Picture: Ballistica

Best Comedy: A Matter of Size

Best Horror: Hostel: Part III

Best Action/Thriller: The Man From Nowhere

Best Family Film: Barbie: Princess Charm School

Best Documentary: Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

Best Sci Fi/Fantasy: Tekken

Title-So-Bad-It’s-Good: Ballistica

Catherine Zeta-Jones Rebounds to DVD

In The Rebound, Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a recently divorced mom who goes all cougar on a new neighbor (The Hangover‘s Justin Bartha), begging the question if the relationship will turn out to be what the title implies.  Bart Freundlich (The Myth of Fingerprints, Trust the Man) wrote and directed the film, which took a world tour in theaters before arriving on DVD in the States.  John Schneider and Art Garfunkel co-star.

The Rebound arrives February 7th on DVD and Blu-ray.

Out Now: A Matter of Size

A Matter of Size is a comedy from Israel about a group of overweight friends that use sumo wrestling as a way to cope with and ultimately accept the way they look. My question is simple: how could you NOT want to watch this? After spending over a year touring film festivals all around the world, it’s finally seeing release on DVD in the United States so those of us who may have missed it before can finally give it a look. Here’s the trailer, complete with subtitles (if you don’t feel like reading them, you can just go stare blankly at a corner or whatever else you normally do):

Across the board, A Matter of Size has gotten rave reviews for its comedic timing and heartwarming story. Alissa Simon of Variety says A Matter of Size has “a finely honed visual sense and superb comic timing” especially in the scenes involving their training. David O’Connell at Screen Fanatic says that the movie is almost impossible to hate.

A Matter of Size is currently out on DVD.

Coming Soon: Chop

From the gorehounds at Bloody Disgusting comes Chop, a darkly comedic riff on the “torture porn” genre made famous by the Saw and Hostel franchises. Directed by first-timer Trent Haaga (screenwriter of Deadgirl), Chop stars Troma vet Will Keenan (Tromeo and Juliet, the excellent Terror Firmer) as Lance Reed, a businessman who is kidnapped by a man known only as The Stranger. The Stranger is seeking retribution for a crime that Lance may or may not have committed, and to pry the information out of him he puts him through a series of trials as well as systematically cuts his limbs off until Lance finally admits to the skeletons in his closet.

Chop has gotten favorable reviews thus far, with Jay Seaver of EFilmCritic giving the movie three stars but also cautions that the film is not for everyone and the “combination of slapstick and sadism is something that many fans may not go for”. U.K. horror site Flick Feast praises the acting and comedic timing of Keenan, as well as the work of Haaga in making the sure the film never feels staged in any way despite its lacking budget.

I’m a huge fan of Will Keenan’s work; in the two Troma films I’ve seen him in, he’s been able to rise above the more ridiculous (okay, it’s Troma, all ridiculous) elements and deliver a really good performance, especially in Terror Firmer. And from what I’ve read about Chop, this may just be his best work yet and will hopefully lead him into some more high-profile roles. I’m definitely excited to check this one out, to see how well sadism and black comedy mix. I’m hoping for it to err on the side of great, but you never know; the fact that the trailer all but sells it as a straight horror movie is a bit telling.

Chop arrives on DVD and Video on Demand December 27, 2011 the same day as Hostel Part III, which opens up an intriguing idea for a double feature.

Sexting Interviews: Jason Lewis, Carly Pope

Moviefone has an interview with the leads of Sexting (nee Textuality), Jason Lewis (Sex and the City) and Carly Pope (S.W.A.T.: Firefight).  In the film, they play a burgeoning couple navigating the waters of modern, technology-laden relationships.  In the interview, Pope talks about how art helped inform her character, Lewis talks about the role of technology in the film, and they both discuss the part mobile devices play in their own lives.

Sexting, which also stars Eric McCormick, is available now.

Out This Week: Barely Legal

Barely Legal, The Asylum‘s latest take on the teen sex comedy, gender-reverses the premise of American Pie or, alternately, triples the premise of their own 18 Year Old Virgin.  Either way, it’s about three female friends who agree to lose their viriginity on their 18th birthday.  The film is written by veteran Asylum scribe Naomi L. Selfman (Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, #1 Cheerleader Camp, the aforementioned Virgin). 

Barely Legal arrives tomorrow on DVD.

Upcoming Release Calendar Added!

For years now (has it been that long?) you’ve been clamoring (okay, asking politely) for an upcoming release calendar.  We’ve finally got one.  From here on out, you’ll be able to find it in our top nav bar, right next to “Reviews”.  It’s only got a few months so far, but we’ll add more as we go.  Check it out!  (And thanks for your patience.)

Coming Soon—Fubar: Balls to the Wall

Fubar: Balls to the Wall is the sequel to Fubar, a Canadian faux-doc that introduced the world to Terry and Dean (David Lawrence and Paul Spence), a sort of Canuck Beavis and Butt-Head.  In Balls,  they are evicted and must find jobs.  This, as you can imagine, does not go well. 

Balls is directed by Michael Dowse, who co-wrote the screenplay with Lawrence and Spence, and recently helmed the Topher Grace flick Take Me Home Tonight.  After its U.S. premiere at this year’s SXSW, Balls is coming to DVD and Blu-ray on April 19th.

By the way you can follow Terry and Dean on Twitter.

Chihuahua Outlasts Snipes, Superman to Hold Top Spot

After losing ground to the debut of All-Star Superman at the end of February, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 has since regained its crown as the top selling straight-to-DVD title in the land.  With $27 million so far in sales for the week ending March 13th, Chihuahua leads Wesley Snipes actioner Game of Death, at number two with a $2.2 million cume.  All-Star Superman has a higher cumulative total of $3.2 million, but made slightly less than Game that week and so comes in third.

Generally Meh Reviews for Role/Play

Role/Play, the new romantic comedy from writer/director Rob Williams (Make the Yuletide Gay) is getting a tepid response from critics.  In the film, a recently outed soap opera star (Steve Callahan) goes to a resort and meets a gay marriage activist (Matthew Montgomery) headed for divorce and the usual fighting with and falling for each other ensues.

eFilmCritc’s Charles Tatum gives the film two stars, stating:

“Williams’ direction is as static as his screenplay, which seems more like an aborted stage production than a filmed comedy-drama . . . Both main characters discuss the price of fame ad nauseum, and I was eventually turned off by the whining quality of some of the klunky dialogue.”

As part of a dual review with BearCity, Jonathan Youster of Sound on Sight cites both films as evidence of the sorry state of gay romantic comedies:

“However, for whatever merit they may have, the films unfortunately come wrapped in such formulaic scripts and pedestrian execution that the finished products are, at best, passable date movies, and, at worst, guilty of committing what is an unforgivable sin for any movie, gay or straight: being bland and dull.”

This Week in Texas’ Duane Simolke has kinder words for the film, saying, “Even amid the fighting, the chemistry between real-life couple Montgomery and Callahan comes through on the screen. They both work well as romantic leads,” while admitting, “In a few spots, those debates drown out the natural rhythms of story-telling, and the two lovers sound like they’re reading essays out loud, instead of carrying on a conversation.”

Oh, and it has Jim J. Bullock.

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