A Few That (Mostly) Flew Under the Radar

As Eric, Mark, or Casey will likely tell you, living in New York City has turned me into one erudite, fancy-pants snob. But if being a fancy man-about-town means I have the chance to see a cinematic marvel like Zombie Strippers on the big screen, then call me Mr. Snazzy.

We haven't talked too much about Zombie Strippers around these parts, mainly because it was slated for DTV release, but by some act of god, Sony saw fit to give this little film a theatrical (albeit very limited theatrical) run. Sadly, I'll be heading out of town this weekend when the work whistle blows, so a review might be delayed. What this theatrical release has meant however, is that most everybody is actually running a review of the film, and nothing makes me happier than when one of this country's most venerable news organizations writes about stripper zombies.

From everything that I've seen and read so far, this film sounds like a whole lot of fun. And it's not hard to imagine why, what with Robert Englund starring as a strip club owner and Jenna Jameson starring as, well, take a guess.

I was a little surprised though when I opened up the newspaper (that is, logged onto the internet) this morning, only because it turns out that this week was targeted by a lot of smaller films that were going limited with their release.

Two serial killer films are making their way to screens this weekend, 88 Minutes, seen above, and a film called Anamorph, which I was unaware of until this morning. The former, which actually opens wide today, stars Al Pacino, trying to earn a buck by acting like Al Pacino.

Anamorph, on the other hand, sounds to be an interesting, if somewhat derivative little film. Starring Willem Dafoe as a detective on the hunt for a serial killer, you probably have a pretty good idea if this film is going to be up your alley or not. The Times makes several favorable comparisons to McNaughton's Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, so there has to be something worth watching. I'd be surprised if this one gets rolled out any further, but look for it on DVD soon-ish. Sounds to be worth a Netflix-ing at the least.

One final film that flew way under the radar only to be plopped, unceremoniously, into limited release this weekend: Pathology. I remember seeing some ads for this film, but honestly, I have next to no idea. It stars Milo Ventimiglia of Heroes fame, and the director is a complete unknown (to me) German fellow by the name of Schoelermann. Apparently, there's some nastiness going down on a hospital ward and Milo wanders into the middle of it as they young-buck in town, or something. It's rated R for "disturbing and perverse behavior throughout, including violence, gruesome images, strong sexual content, nudity, drug use and language," so my guess is there's an audience out there for this movie, even if they don't get their hands on it till it hits DVD.

If you do happen to catch any of these films, let us know what you think, and keep your eyes out for some reviews when we get off our vacationing asses long enough to write them.