The Super Network

Every week the people of Super Website (Super Blog) will give you a recommendation of a Film, DVD, Bluray, Book, Soundtrack or any other item for you the readers to check out.

Super Marcey Recommends:

Undisputed III

A little while back I recommended the awesome martial arts film Undisputed II starring Michael Jai White and Scott Adkins. Well this week, I’d love for people to check out its sequel Undisputed III, which brings back Scott Adkins ad Boyka. Here is a little bit from my original review.

“This is a perfect sequel, it has the same feel as Undisputed 2, it brings back the awesome character of Boyka and of course the awesome director too Isaac Florentine. We’re still in that prison fighting setting, and that is fine, it works really well. The stakes are higher this time around, and the competition is fierce. This film boasts some of the most fantastic and awesome martial arts scenes, they really are breath taking. Undisputed 2 and 3 for me are the future of martial arts action films, Florentine has the right idea, he also has decent scripts behind him with these and fantastic people to work with. Again Scott Adkins delivers the goods, with the action and his performance as Boyka. He is right at home with that character, you can tell he loves to play him and he easily made it so you can get behind Boyka in this film.“

| IMDB| Purchase on DVD | Purchase on Blu-ray |

Logan J. Fowler Recommends:

Super Mario Bros. Game

I know what you’re thinking; Logan, why are you recommending a video game? Either a) you don’t play them or b) I’d play it anyway. Well my response to a) is fair enough, my response to b) is to sit down and shut up. And listen.

Life is hard. We have jobs, we have school, we have parents or guardians that bug us, and therefore, we need an escape. What better way to do it than engage yourself in classic gaming? Good idea, right? No. It’s a GREAT idea.

Super Mario Bros came out way back when in 1984, when the Nintendo Entertainment system was released. It stands the test of time of 2-D gaming at its best, and yes, it is only 8 bits, graphically speaking, but who cares? The difficulty level ramps up world after world, and the only thing standing between Mario and the kidnapped princess is a slew of baddies, fireballs, pits, 7 cloned Bowsers and the real one. Get those hands ready to duck, dodge, and destroy.

While Super Mario Bros. 3 had better power ups and the design improved upon the original (I’m not counting SMB 2 because it wasn’t a “real” sequel) and Mario games since then have only built upon the classic formula, this is the plat-former that saved the video game world. Respect it. Play it. Love it. DO IT. NOW.

Pat Torfe Recommends:

From Beyond

I’m heading back to the well with Stuart Gordon, Brian Yuzna and Jeffrey Combs with 1986’s From Beyond. After being floored with Stuart Gordon’s first trip with H.P. Lovecraft in Re-Animator, I had to give From Beyond a go. What a surprise, I wasn’t disappointed in the least! The story for this one (if you haven’t read Lovecraft’s original) goes like this: Doctors Crawford Tillinghast and Edward Pretorius (played by Jeffrey Combs and Ted Sorel, respectively) are working on a machine called The Resonator. The Resonator stimulates the pineal gland of the brain, allowing those within range to see beyond normal perceptible reality. What happens is that when the device is turned on, Crawford sees weird eel-like creatures floating in mid-air, and one of which takes a bite out of him. Pretorius gets the worst, as his head is ripped off and taken away to the ‘other side’. In the psych ward, Dr. Katherine McMichaels (the very lovely Barbara Crampton) takes an interest in what the two scientists were up to. So, with the aid of detective Bubba Brownlee (Ken Foree), all three return to the house where The Resonator was. The only problem: when the device is turned on, Pretorius isn’t dead. Then again, he’s also no longer human.

Besides the weird first-person acid trip moments involving the pineal gland, the film features some great acting. Combs tends to be a bit over-the-top in this one, but it’s expected when your character’s brain is f*cked up. Ted Sorel is creepy as all hell, and with the latex it’s even creepier. Barbara Crampton goes through character transformations as often as she goes through clothes in this film, and that’s a bonus in more ways that one. As for Mr. Foree, it’s always fun to see him doing these tough guys roles, whether it’s agains zombies or Leatherface or whatever the hell lies beyond. The other great thing about this film is that it takes delight in showing us some bizarre creatures and gore, often centring around Pretorius returning in various forms. In fact, the movie nazis (aka the MPAA) forced Gordon to snip out scenes which were thought lost until recently, when the scenes were found in a box. In preparation for his film’s broadcast on Monsters HD, Gordon worked to restore and reinsert the cut scenes, as well as produce a new master of the film. Eventually, this was turned into a DVD release, which is an obvious no-brainer to snag. I know that I sound like a broken record with all of these DVD pimpings, but hey. Humans, after all, are easy prey for gadgets and what lies beyond.

| IMDB | Purchase on DVD |

Bede Jermyn Recommends:

Bridesmaids

Ever since making her big screen debut four years ago in her small but hilarious role in KNOCKED UP, actress/comedian Kristen Wiig has established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the comedy world by delivering so many stand-out supporting turns in many comedies (highlights including PAUL, MACGRUBER, WHIP IT, EXTRACT etc.) and while also continuing her amazing work on the legendary T.V. sketch comedy show SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE at the same time. For my recommendation this week I’ve decided to choose her most recent film that she has appeared in, which just happens to be a film where she finally gets to take centre stage as the lead. That film of course is the recent critically acclaimed smash hit comedy BRIDESMAIDS. The film tells the story of Annie (Kristen Wiig), a single 30-something woman whose life has hit rock bottom over the last few years since her bakery went bankrupt and as well as her boyfriend leaving her. Plus it doesn’t help that she is currently living with two flatmates who she can’t stand, her sex buddy Ted (Jon Hamm) isn’t interested in having a real relationship with her and she hates her job at the jewellery store. However the only good thing in her life is her friendship with childhood friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph). When Lillian becomes engaged to her boyfriend, Annie is ecstatic when Lillian asks her to like to be her maid of honour and to help her plan her bridal shower and wedding. However while meeting the other bridesmaids at the engagement party; Annie meets Helen (Rose Byrne), the rich young wife of Lillian’s fiancée’s boss. Annie starts to be become jealous of Lillian’s new friendship with Helen, even more so when she discovers that Helen also wants to help out with both the bridal shower and wedding as well.

When you read the plot, you automatically think that this is going to be another crappy forgettable run-of-the-mill “chick flick” but the film itself is far from it. Co-writer/star Kristen Wiig, producer Judd Apatow and director Paul Feig take this story and create an absolutely hilarious and hugely entertaining comedy that had me laughing from beginning to end. It successfully combines the raunchy gross out humour that we always expect in a Judd Apatow production while also giving us some genuine honesty and insight with its female characters. Wiig gives a terrific performance in the role of Annie, it great to finally get to see her shine in a lead role. Plus it helps that the character of Annie is much well developed and interesting that most female characters in these types of films. The supporting also great job as well with their performances (the stand-out for me, of course, is Melissa McCarthy. Who is absolutely hilarious and steals every scene as Megan, the sister of Lillian’s fiancée). Paul Feig’s direction was really good and the script is simply terrific. Overall I really loved BRIDESMINDS; it’s absolutely great comedy that I highly recommend everyone to see. Don’t be put off by the fact that it’s a “chick flick”, if you give it a chance I think you may even get some pretty big laughs out of it as well.

| IMDB | Order on Blu-ray/DVD |