Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 27th, 2006
Synopsis
Adam Sandler plays Michael Newman, stressed-out workaholic who, overwhelmed by his job though he is, is allowing it to interfere with his family life. At the end of his tether one night, he sets out to buy a universal remote, but Christopher Walken (apparently playing Christopher Lloyd) sells him a truly universal remote.
All sorts of gags involving giving the real world the rewind, pause, fast-forward and slow-motion treatment ensue, and a number are funny. But as sure as night f...
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 27th, 2006
From Kotaku comes news that the Microsoft HD-DVD addon for the XBox360 will sell for $199 US. This includes a "Universal Media Remote," and for a promotional period will include King Kong as well. So - TCO for HD-DVD is potential as low as $499 (xbox core = $299, plus HD-DVD add on) - not a bad cost of entry and certainly competitive with PS3's blu-ray hoopla and the BR players on the market.
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 25th, 2006
Wow, something special makes the top 100 in Amazon sales…
Well if you read comic books and own a next-generation DVD player, this was definitely your week to primp and preen. Batman Begins is coming out on 10/10 to HD-DVD, along with Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Both films will include the Warner In-Movie Experience (and Batman’s will apparently include participation by star Christian Bale if you look at your Warner inserts right). Begins will get a TrueHD track that ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 25th, 2006
Synopsis
Boy, this haunted technology stuff is getting out of hand. Seems a body can’t touch a single appliance or toy without some evil spirit emerging in smite-mode. In this instance, the problem is a survival-horror video game called Stay Alive, which not only refuses to let you stop playing, after your character dies, you die in the same way. At the root of it all is the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who has been the subject of many a film already. Unaware of this, our usual batch of charact...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 25th, 2006
Synopsis
So what we have here is Season 4, Volume 1 – i.e. the first 20 episodes of the season. I’m not sure I’m wild about this new trend to trap us into shelling out our hard-earned dollars into buying TWO box sets per season, but there you have it. None of which is to take away from the actual qualities of the show. Either I’m growing softer in the head with age (an entirely likely event) or the series just keeps growing funnier. Everything here is funny, but some are epically so, forcing you to r...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 25th, 2006
Ron Howard’s Backdraft tells the story of two brothers, Brian and Steve McCaffrey (William Baldwin and Kurt Russell), who are part of Engine Company No. 17 in Chicago. The two brothers always seem to have a sense of rivalry in their blood. Ever since their father passed away, Steve has always tried to prove to Brian that he is the true firefighter in the family. Well, despite all their problems, Steve and Brian soon find out that they will have to put aside their differences rather quickly since there is an ar...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 25th, 2006
Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic tells so many stories intertwined into one unique story that one can’t help but be drawn into what we’re viewing. The story involves many different characters including, Javier and Manolo (Benicio Del Toro and Jacob Vargas), newly appointed Presidential Drug Czar Bob Wakefield (Michael Douglas), daughter Caroline (Erika Christensen), Drug Enforcement agents Castro (Luiz Guzman) and Gordeon (Don Cheadle), drug kingpin Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer) and his wife (Catherina Zeta-Jones). < ...
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 21st, 2006
Discussing the old school DVD’s that still sound and look great in the era of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD technology.
On paper, 2001’s Pearl Harbor must have had the studio big wigs licking their chops. Randall Wallace (Braveheart) was penning script. Action director Michael Bay (Armageddon) was going to finally direct something serious. Hot stars Ben Affleck, Josh Harnett and Kate Beckinsale were cast as a love triangle set against the back drop of the historic Japanese sneak atta...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 21st, 2006
Synopsis
This is it. The finale. The many twists and turns and intricate plotlines of the series finally get wrapped up. If you haven’t been watching the series from the start, much resonance will be lost, but the last season is still comprehensible. For those in the know, this is where many of the stories come to some form of end. The battle between Schillinger and Beecher, for instance, has its final act during a performance of Macbeth, and that is precisely the kind of literate, neat, contrived, ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 21st, 2006
Synopsis
While George Lucas was in the midst of his then-recent Young Indiana Jones series, he decided to try and put together a film based on the radio theater broadcasts of the 1930s and 40s. Basically, the film is based on a radio station in Chicago that is scheduled to launch its first broadcast, hoping to become the next big radio network. But when people start to get murdered during the broadcast, things become a little bit tense.
What’s surprising about this film is just how many peo...
