Lo Sound Desert (Blu-ray) by Justin Remer The Movie: Joerg Steineck's music documentary Lo Sound Desert looks at the punk- and metal-influenced desert rock scene that sprouted up in the Palm Springs/Coachella Valley area in the '80s and '90s. Known at the time as Frank Sinatra's playground, the Palm Springs establishment is naturally resistant to rowdy rock kids but that just fuels the rebellion. Bands with names like Dali's Llama, Fatso Jetson, and Carnage Asada are discussed and shown performing. Lots of talking heads with key players in the scene, but the ones that stick are Josh Homme of Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age (because he's the most famous) and Sean Wheeler of Throw Rag, who comes off as the prototypical punk scene lifer. The flick is a little sluggish on the storytelling side, but ...Read the entire review »

Catch the Heat aka Feel the Heat (Blu-ray) by Kurt Dahlke Catch The Heat: Catch The Heat (1987 AKA Feel The Heat) finds Kino Lorber hitting bedrock with their choices for Studio Classics. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there are no more old movies to release on Blu-ray, if the quality and stature of this action-comedy is any indication. Featuring an entirely too easy-going Tiana Alexander as an undercover FBI agent, Catch The Heat succeeds mostly in killing 87 minutes. Viewers expecting to find a good time in this drug-smuggling programmer will need to mentally incapacitate themselves beforehand. Alexander plays Checkers Goldberg, a fiesty, sexy, wise-cracking federal agent whom nobody in the underworld takes seriously. That's her secret, she lets tough guys think they can manipulate her, before she flies up in the air to wrap her shapely legs around their necks. Goldberg goes from the mean streets of San Francisco down to an und...Read the entire review »