Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 20th, 2006
Synopsis
1968. In a Northern California town, teenagers parking at night are being killed. The police do their best to sell the first attack as a botched robbery, but then another murder happens, and the killer, dubbing himself the Zodiac, turns out to be very media-savvy. Charged with tracking him down is Justin Chambers, and his frustration with the case spills into his home life, straining his relationship with his wife (Robin Tunney) and worshipful son (Rory Culkin).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 20th, 2006
Synopsis
Anthony “Treach” Criss of Naughty By Nature plays the title character, a one-man army as part of a vaguely defined intelligence agency. He is the midst of rescuing the President’s wife from a hostage situation when bungling by the Secret Service results in an explosion that blinds him. Three years later, his old boss lures him back to the field with the promise of regained sight. This he gets, but now he can see in the dark. The plan is apparently to steal a satellite component in order to p...ove that old-fashioned agents are still the best, but there is more afoot than, ahem, meets the eye.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 20th, 2006
Rap movies have com a long way. They have begun to evolve, from glorified music videos, to black cinema (which has come a long way in its own right), on up to a new level of art. Hustle and Flow brought the new style of black film into the limelight, and ATL follows right behind. I was really surprised how much I liked this film. In my line of work, you see a lot of bad films, and you can usually spot them from a mile away. I admit that I was fooled by this one. I was expecting to find another tired tale of a young hustla' making it big in the hood, but instead I found a genuinely touching film about what happens to four friends when High School is over and the next stage of life has not yet begun.
Now, that's not to say that the film is perfect. There are still some cliches here, and the scenes at the skating rink are probably a bit too flashy for their own good, but all told, this is an ambitious film that succeeds in much of what it is trying to accomplish.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 20th, 2006
After Heather (Agnes Bruckner) sets her parent’s tree on fire out of boredom, she is shipped off to a strange boarding school run by Ms. Traverse (Patricia Clarkson), where the woods surrounding the school seem to be slowly devouring the building itself. There’s also the standard issue legend surrounding the history of the school that involves a coven of witches who murdered the school’s head-mistress years before.
Does any of this result in an interesting film? Let’s take a step back before we delve into ...he quality of The Woods...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 19th, 2006
Tom Hanks is sometimes called this generation's Jimmy Stewart. In an odd sort of way, that is sort of a compliment to both men. Both are extraordinary actors who have secured a place in film history as the best of their time at playing the everyman. While such a role would doom other actors to being typecast as the all-time greatest supporting actor, both Hanks and Stewart have been able to pull off the role with amazing versatility.
Clearly, this is not the definitive set of Stewart's work as an actor. For t...at, you would have to include his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window and one of my all time favorite films, Vertigo. Of course, Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life would also have to receive special treatment. The Spirit of St. Louis, which is in this set, would also be there. But what about The Philadelphia Story or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, you might ask? Yes, those would have to be there too. We are now approaching the problem with putting together a set of Stewart's best movies. If you were to truly include his greatest films, you still might be left with a 20-disc box set. It's best to look at this release for what it is, and not try to play the “but where is...” game. That is a dead end road.
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 18th, 2006
If you take $17,000 from your company and you leave without any form of punishment or prosecution, can your resignation really cite “personal differences?”
You know where your Cedia is? It’s one of the other big electronics shows that helps announce and introduce new technologies. One of the more remembered announcements was Toshiba’s announcement of a 2nd generation HD-DVD player. These newer versions include shorter load times, HDMI 1.3, and in one case, full 1080p resolution. There are two models, look f...r them to come out around the holiday season. Blu-Ray hardware owners can take note that Samsung will be providing a firmware upgrade on their player sometime in October. Wow, one upgrade in 3 months, and Toshiba's HD-DVD player has had 3 or 4 in about 6. Oh well. The upgrade will supposedly allow for the Blu-Java applications, as well as the 50GB discs.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 16th, 2006
Synopsis
Marilyn Burns, Paul Partain, Allen Danziger, Teri McMinn, William Vail and Gunnar Hansen individually may not be that well known. Collectively, many people might confuse them with some group of lawyers or something. But film history has afforded them a higher place in memory past their initial endeavors. You see, back during the middle of a particularly oppressive heat wave in 1973 Texas, this group, directed by a then-fledging auteur in Tobe Hooper, combined to make what is widely regarded as one...of the best films in horror movie fame, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 15th, 2006
Amazon has a well deserved reputation as a (generally) excellent retailer and purveyor of leading edge business models. Their new movie download server - Amazon Unbox - however, is according to Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing, rife with awfulness.
From a software client that borders on malware, to TOC's that sign away your right to your purchased content, the service is plaugued by the typically heavy handed legal stylings of the MPAA. <a href..."http://www.boingboing.net/2006/09/15/amazon_unbox_to_cust.html">Read Cory's article here for a complete analysis.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 14th, 2006
Synopsis
While Some Kind of Wonderful may not feature the same kind of young spirit that Pretty in Pink may have had or the kind of older type of intelligence that Say Anything might have had, it’s still a cute, charming little romantic comedy with some recognizable faces penned by ‘80s icon John Hughes, responsible for such teen films as The Breakfast Club and Weird Science, to name a paltry few.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 14th, 2006
Synopsis
James Marsden plays Tommy, who broke away from his mob-connected family to join the marines. Something goes wrong during the Gulf War, and he lands in the brig. He’s given a second chance by the authorities if he heads back to his old neighbourhood undercover. As he heads back to hook up with his slow brother and violent cousin (Giovanni Ribisi), we also get flashbacks to their youth in these families.
