Archive for the ‘2.35:1 Widescreen’ Category
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 31st, 2010
Back in 2001 Larry Blamire and his troupe released The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra. Blamire was obviously a fan of the science fiction films of the 1950’s and decided to take many of those standard elements and pretty much have a blast with the material. The end result was an over-the-top spoof that left you laughing, not because the material was all that funny. You laughed because they sometimes hit those ludicrous devices so perfectly that you have flashbacks to your favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode.
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Disc Reviews by Sarah Durr on August 29th, 2010
Most of the male reviewers in this industry loathe romantic comedies. It is the only thing in the industry that we conceive to be as easy to make as a poorly written horror movie. Insert female who is looking for love in all of the wrong places and give her an unique situation to find that special love. Insert hunky guy who is a bit quirky to sweep her off her feet. Love, love, love and they go off to get married and make babies. So I did what any man would do in this situation, I begged my better half to write the review.
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 26th, 2010
It’s almost impossible not to compare The Square with No Country For Old Men. The themes are very much the same. The talent behind this Australian movie even includes a couple of brothers, but their name doesn’t happen to be Cohen; however, one of these brothers is also named Joel. One of the original writers on the film is Joel Edgerton. The idea passed through a couple of other folks along the way to director Nash Edgerton who saw more potential in the film. So, a modest budget and a collection of relatively unknown actors combined to create a movie that does not easily fall into any one category
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 23rd, 2010
Robert (Jakob Cedergren) is a Copenhagen police officer exiled from the big city for a misdeed that is initially mysterious. His new position is as marshal in a small town in the marshlands. Though it seems at first as if he won’t have much to do here, things are looking more than a little weird. The locals all have their assigned seats at the pub, and resent any deviation from the way things are done locally. Shoplifting kids are expected to be beaten. The bicycle merchant has disappeared, but no one seems interested. A little girl in a red coat pushes a squeaky pram through the streets at all hours of the night. Then there’s the girl’s mother, the extremely flirtatious wife of the local bully. Robert is attracted to her, wants to protect her from her husband’s beatings, and one night succumbs to temptation. The consequences are deadly.
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 22nd, 2010
A renowned street fighter’s brother is murdered, so he flees to a small town where his crippled father lives. While there he discovers an underground circuit of Mixed Martial Arts competitions and raw, street fighting prize matches. With the help of a former MMA champ (played by real-life UFC contender Michael Bisping), our hero fights his way up to the top of the underground action in order to pay off the gangster who slayed his brother, earn the respect he deserves, and what the heck…win a new love interest too.
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 19th, 2010
Miley Cyrus is displaced from New York to spend the summer by the sea in Georgia with estranged father Greg Kinnear. While younger brother Bobby Coleman thinks the set-up is just keen (especially former composer dad’s work restoring the stain glass windows of a burned church), Cyrus stomps around in full Resentful Teenage Girl mode, until two things make her begin to open up: the need to protect a nest of sea turtles, and the attentions of the impossibly hunky Liam Hemsworth. Since this is a Nicholas Sparks story, true love and happiness will have to run the gauntlet of class snobbery, Disturbing Revelations ™, and the inevitable Third Act Fatal Illness That Brings Out The Best In Everyone (also a registered trademark).
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 18th, 2010
“I remember once going on a school trip to the top of the Empire State Building. When I looked down at the crowds of people on the street, they looked like ants. I pulled out a penny and some of us started talking about what would happen if I dropped it from up there and it landed on somebody’s head. Of course, I never crossed that line and actually dropped the penny. I don’t think Early Grayce even knew there was a line to cross.”
Kalifornia was never made for a mass audience, at least that’s how it appears to have played out.
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Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 18th, 2010
Some of you are aware of this but my favorite movie of all time is Escape from New York. To me, John Carpenter and Kurt Russell represent the perfect director/actor combination. The director knows how to play the actor’s strengths (and minimize weaknesses) and the actor knows how to bring out the best in the direction. It is my sincere pleasure to cover this film on its first trip to the Blu-ray format.
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Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 10th, 2010
After watching plenty of terrible horror movies in my life, I start to wonder if this is easiest thing in Hollywood to produce. Work with a small budget, come up with a scare and hire some shapely actors to play the ones in peril. Oh, and make sure you have plenty of fake blood. Our example today is Open House, a recent horror movie directed by Andrew Paquin.
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Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 9th, 2010
A good thriller is something that has been absent from my recent viewing experience. One of my favorite thrillers of all time is a movie named Ninth Gate. This movie is directed by Roman Polanski. As luck would have it, Roman Polanski also directed the thriller I am bringing you today, The Ghost Writer. My fingers are crossed and I can only hope that this film is just as good.
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Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 5th, 2010
For most of you who read my reviews, I can be rather harsh when reviewing movies of a Christian nature. One needs to look no further than my scathing review of Fireproof. More than often they tend to be too preachy with messages and heavy themes that suggest a way of life too strict for many people’s tastes. Naturally, I was a little skeptical when I received To Save a Life. But as the movie teaches us: one should not be judged on appearances alone.
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Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 28th, 2010
Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen have done a lot of movies together in the last five years including Dragon Tiger Gate, Kill Zone, and Flashpoint. This duo has had a knack of combining strong stories with fantastic martial arts. In 2008, they decided to take on the story if Ip Man, the grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun. Ip Man also had a few famous students including the legendary Bruce Lee. Can Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen produce another quality martial arts flic?
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 28th, 2010
Woody Harrelson is Arthur Poppington, a child-like adult who fights crime by night in the guise of Defendor. His costume and weapons are DIY: a helmet that records his adventures on VHS, a duct tape “D” on his black turtleneck, a trench club, a slingshot, marbles, lime juice. He is obsessed with tracking down “Captain Industry,” a mythical figure whom he blames for the death of his drug-addicted mother. He runs afoul of corrupt cop Dooney (Elias Koteas at his scuzziest best), beating him and “rescuing” prostitute Kat (Kat Dennings), and the latter convinces him that the crime boss Dooney works for is, in fact, Captain Industry. Arthur sets out on his crusade, and the question is whether his naiveté will triumph, or get him killed.
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 27th, 2010
I get this terrible knot in the pit of my stomach whenever I discover that I have to review a Kevin Smith film. I know there are a core of solid fans out there who appear to get the inside joke. It’s long been my belief that he must have the best blackmail file in the industry to keep getting studio deals to release films. It’s not like any of his films have broken any box office records. Still, he keeps getting work. So, it was with that admitted prejudice and knot with which I approached my viewing of Cop Out. My shoulder had developed this nasty twitch as the disc menu took forever to load.
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 27th, 2010
I’m reminded of my innocent childhood days when Mr. Rogers would come on my black & white television to change his shoes and put on a sweater. I have to say that I always found the guy a little creepy. He would sing to us in a soft hypnotic voice: “It’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood, a wonderful day in the neighborhood. Could you be mine. Would you be my neighbor.” Mr. Rogers had quite a fanciful neighborhood indeed. The place was mostly populated with puppets and strange creatures of all sizes. And while today he’d look and sound like a pedophile, Mr. Rogers welcomed everyone to his neighborhood. So, I can’t help thinking how he’d feel about “The Girl”.
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 26th, 2010
There was a time when racial stereotypes on television and in the movies could be very funny. Shows like All In The Family and Sanford And Son brought an entire generation to their knees with laughter. Today audiences are a little more timid when it comes to that kind of humor. This is the kind of movie you end up looking both ways before you think about letting out even the slightest giggle to make sure no one is watching, or worse, training their cell phone camera on you.
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 26th, 2010
As the name suggests, this is a collection of ten movies on LGBT themes. In chronological order, here’s what we have:
The Children’s Hour (1961): Shirley MacLaine and Audrey Hepburn are the headmistresses of a girl’s school, and their lives are turned upside down when one ghastly little child accuses them of being romantically involved. It is clear, though, the MacLaine would very much like to be. This was director William Wyler’s second stab at adapting Lilllian Hellman’s play, and this time was able actually to deal with the play’s central issue, rather than disguise it as he had to
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 21st, 2010
“Don’t act like the hypocrite, who thinks he can conceal his wiles, while loudly quoting the Koran.” – Hafez (14th Century Iranian Poet)
The Stoning Of Soraya M is based upon a book written by Freidoune Sahebjam. The book is currently banned in Iran as well as other countries. It is based on a true story. The book and now the film have caused quite a bit of controversy over the years. Director Cyrus Nowrasteh is no stranger to controversial topics. He appears to have a flair for significant historical events, and his work has shown some insight into the actual significance of his subjects
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 21st, 2010
In Florida we have some very large bugs. There’s this one particular spider that is quite a problem in my house. It’s real name is a huntsman spider, and it grows to about 16 feet, not including the legs. It sports 27-inch fangs and tends to move the furniture around at night while it stalks its prey. Yes, it stalks its prey at night in my house while I’m trying to sleep. Years ago I coined my own name for these clever, ferocious killers. I call them Rambo Spiders. The name fits these long-legged freaks perfectly as they perform their recon missions throughout our home. When I find them, I terminate them with extreme prejudice.
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 19th, 2010
In an attempt to win over more of the male viewers into their audiences, filmmakers of the romantic comedy genre have tried many tactics. To date, very few of them have worked to any great extent. The problem appears to be getting the mixture just right. Too much of the guy stuff and you’ll turn away your core “chick” audience. Too little and you’re really not reeling in too many guys. Of course, we go anyway to please the ladies in our lives.
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 8th, 2010
“Barugon: The Freezing Monster – This carnivorous reptile, a nightmare cross between a monitor lizard and a chameleon, is found only in New Guinea’s Valley Of The Rainbow. It is born every 1000 years, according to legend, from an egg resembling a large opal. It has a long, darting tongue used as a battering ram, while the tip sprays a freezing mist that immobilizes its prey…”
Ask anyone about Japanese monster movies and Gamera usually won’t be the first name that comes into their minds.
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 5th, 2010
The title is grammatically ambiguous. Is this a film about vampire killers who happen to be lesbians, or killers of lesbian vampires? The former might have given the film some nicely subversive potential, but the latter is the case. Our heroes are the gormless pair of the serially dumped Jimmy (James Corden) and the piggish Fletch (Mathew Horne) – basically Shaun and Ed from Shaun of the Dead, minus the wit. Heading out to a randomly picked village in rural England for a low-budget vacation, the duo happen upon a VW bus filled with women who, based on the available evidence, have just finished a gig as background dancers for a hip-hop video. The group arrives at a decrepit mansion and proceed to party, unaware that the area is cursed by the lesbian vampire queen Carmilla. Seeking to resurrect their matriarch, her minions proceed to vamp all but one of the women, and the stage is set for a supernatural battle of the sexes.
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Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 28th, 2010
Most people associate the book, War and Peace in the same respects as they do torture. A one thousand, two hundred and twenty five page book that is regarded as one of the most brilliant pieces of historical fiction is a nightmare to most advanced high school and college kids. However, perhaps more fascinating than any single piece of work by Leo Tolstoy is the life in which he lead. Last Station attempts to give us the last few years of the Count’s life in film form.
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 24th, 2010
Bill Williamson (Brendan Fletcher) is an angry young man. His boss treats him badly, he can’t get good service at the local coffee shop, and his parents are trying, none too subtly or smartly, to get him to move out. He hangs out with a friend who talks a big talk about changing the world, but does nothing. Bill, by contrast, is about to do something: gearing up with so much body armor he becomes a walking tank, he begins a gigantic massacre in town, beginning by blowing up a police station, and going on to gun down anyone who crosses his path. There is, however, rather more method to his madness than might appear.
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 23rd, 2010
Whenever there is a disaster, there are always the inevitable questions that follow. Where did it all begin? Could it have been avoided? What can we learn from this? No, I’m not talking about the oil leak in the Gulf. Hollywood is no exception. You have your disaster movies like Earthquake, and you have your movies that are disasters like Waterworld. Of course there are even disaster movies that are also disasters like the recent 2012. Some disasters you never see coming. But, many such events could have been predicted and possibly avoided if only the right folks had been paying attention. This is the story of one such event: Showgirls.
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