Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 18th, 2007
Take a second and think about your life. You have a pretty set schedule right? Get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch TV and go to sleep and repeat. Pretty dull no? Imagine getting a card when day at your birthday inviting you to open your life into a completely different world of change. Would you necessarily change? And what would come from the change? That is what David Fincher looks at in his 1997 film The Game.
Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) is your typical investment banker. Hi... life is completely in order and he knows exactly what is going on, why it’s going on and when it’s going on. And Nicholas likes his life in this order. His brother Conrad Van Orton (Sean Penn) knows that his brother’s life needs a reshuffle so he decides to give his brother a card to a company called CRS, which Conrad tells Nicholas he tried while in London. Curious at what CRS is, Nicholas travels to their office and after nearly a day of tests that include questions like ‘Do I enjoy hurting small animals’, Nicholas receives a phone call saying that his application has been rejected. Now Nicholas is a man of order and is obviously annoyed by this. Then one evening he notices a small wooden clown in his driveway. Upon further inspection, Nicholas realizes that the clown has a key inside of it. This key marks the beginning of a series of strange events that demand Nicholas’s attention if he wants to survive this game.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 18th, 2007
There was a time when National Lampoon’s was known for their comedic presence, with classics like the Vacation franchise, Animal House, and their first decent production in ten-years - Van Wilder. Since then they have seldom come out with anything remotely humorous, usually brining in novelty has been or never was actors/actresses to fill the roles, such as Paris Hilton (Pledge This), Vida Guerra (Dorm Daze 2), and David Faustino (Pucked). I’ll admit having not seen or even h...ard of this movie prior to now, I’m a little curious to see what’s come of David Faustino (Bud Bundy from Married with Children) as well as Bon Jovi and his bleached white teeth.
The plot is very simplistic, Frank Hopper (Bon Jovi) was formerly a lawyer who has since become a dreamer residing in his sister’s garage. Carl (David Faustino) is Frank’s loyal best friend whom is slightly more successful as of late. While out looking for a birthday present for his mom, Frank fills out a credit application that he presumes to be a survey; jokingly he fills out his annual income as a million dollars. Before long he gets a high limit credit card in the mail, in his eyes this is a way to finance his newly realized get rich dream - an all-woman hockey league.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 18th, 2007
Planet Earth – The Complete Series presents the original U.K. broadcast version with narration by David Attenborough, not the version airing on Discovery narrated by Sigourney Weaver.
Have you ever sat back and wondered about the sheer size and shape of our world, its diversity of habitats or the incredible variety of life we share it with? It’s hard to get your head around it all, especially when most of us are living out our existences in one tiny slice of the place, with the only the odd vacation ...roadening our horizons.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 17th, 2007
January is typically the month when most studios dump those films they think won’t succeed on our laps. Unfortunately this was the case with Smokin’ Aces, a film that has such an odd sense of humor that we can’t help but smile at what’s in front of us. As we know Joe Carnahan’s previous effort Narc is a dark, gritty film with little to no humor. How could a man with such a dark, violent mind direct a film with as much violence but such a level of humor?
Our film opens with two federal agents ...itting in a surveillance van late at night. Messner (Ryan Reynolds) and Carruthers (Ray Liotta) are eavesdropping on a conversation a few mob bosses are having. Before you re-read that sentence, yes Ryan Reynolds the typical college film guy is playing a serious man here. Talk about weird huh? Moving on though, we soon learn that Buddy “Aces” Israel, a Las Vegas stage magician, a man who absolutely loves hanging out that Las Vegas crowd (read pimps, gangsters, drug dealers) made the big mistake of pretending to be a gangster himself. It turns out that Israel made a big mistake by trying to impress his buddies. Such a mistake that has the FBI agreeing to work with Israel as he rats out his varying Mob connections in hopes of being protected.
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on April 16th, 2007
Sorry guys, in between starting a new job today and the news ongoing at Virginia Tech, I'm busy trying to find out what's going on at a school I'm very familiar with. Back with more news and updates next week.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 15th, 2007
In fairness to the folks at the Disney Channel and this movie’s target audience, I’m stepping into the shoes of an 11-year-old girl for this review. Boy, these are tight.
Jump In! is totally a fun movie. It was a Disney Channel original, but now you can buy it on DVD to watch whenever you feel like it. The movie is about Izzy Daniels, a teenage boy played by Corbin Bleu, who was like, so cool in High School Musical. Izzy lives with his dad and his kid sister, and he likes to box. His dad loves...boxing even more, and since Izzy’s mom died his dad has been pushing him harder about boxing. It’s, like, all his dad talks about.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 13th, 2007
Synopsis
Ian Fleming’s The Man With the Golden Gun was the only posthumous release for the established actor, and the book was such a success that producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman decided to try and recruit Roger Moore for the role immediately after You Only Live Twice to capitalize on the success of Fleming’s book. However, it wasn’t meant to be, and the film’s production was delayed several years while the George Lazenby era came and went, not to mention the Sean Connery era leav...ng and returning, only to leave again. When Moore came on, Live and Let Die was the first book they adapted, and The Man With the Golden Gun finally came to fruition in 1974.
Posted in: Hardware Reviews by Archive Authors on April 12th, 2007
Aperion 4-Series: Part One
Aperion Audio 4 Series: 422 Harmony HD, inlcuding:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 12th, 2007
The Queen is all about Helen Mirren’s performance. All of the buzz I heard leading up to the Oscars was about Mirren’s remarkable turn as the queen bee herself, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and rightfully so.
The film presents an intimate perspective on the royal family during the week of Diana’s death. Despite her majesty’s very public persona, she is actually a very private person, bound to tradition. She’s at odds with new prime minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen, Blood Diamond), who...s her opposite in many ways – modern and image conscious in a political world that’s drastically changed since the Queen took power. The British people, in shock and mourning for their “people’s princess,” look to their leaders to recognize the traumatic event of Diana’s death. The Queen, however, fully intends to keep it a private, family matter, and spurns Blair’s suggestions to make public statements and to hold a royal funeral. Unfortunately for her majesty, her family’s inaction doesn’t play well with her people, and the royals become the subject of media scorn. Essentially, this is a story about one of the greatest public tragedies in recent history, and how it was handled by those in power, behind the scenes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 12th, 2007
After watching a bloated Tom Sizemore run around tunnels being chased by a man in a rubber suit while making bad jokes, it’s hard to believe that he used to be in good movies like Heat, Saving Private Ryan, and Black Hawk Down. And that’s probably the biggest impression I got from Bottom Feeder, just another example of the latest “anyone can make a direct-to-video horror movie” trend. My, how far Sizemore has fallen.
The plot is minimal, which is par for the course in most horror films... A burn-scarred millionaire seeks a serum that will regenerate his flesh, so naturally, he tests the serum on the scientist to make sure it works. However, the serum only works properly if it's taken with another anecdote. If not, it will turn you into a monster. And just think, I hate it when medicine makes you groggy. Don't you hate when that happens?
![The Game [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-game-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
