Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 22nd, 2006
Steve Martin plays a wacky TV weatherman, who develops a close friendship with an electronic freeway sign in the sleeper hit comedy L.A. Story. I found the critically acclaimed film to lack hilarity, but it does get marks for inventiveness. Martin is enjoyable in most anything he's in, even if the material is not-so-great. L.A. Story is one such example of an actor rising above said material. Most of the over-the-top silliness misses the mark, and Marilu Henner has little more to do than play the cliche...of snobbish socialite. The true love of the Martin character's life - played by Victoria Tennant - is so bland vanilla I would have much rather seen him end up with his free-spirited squeeze toy (Sarah Jessica Parker), though any such relationship would be doomed to fail. At least there would be some excitement.
With that said, I did enjoy the basic hook: Martin's interaction with the fun-loving freeway sign. The sign is just a series of bulbs lit to form questions, comments, and riddles, but there is a quirkiness to it that shows more character than any other supporting player in the film, save for Parker. Director Mick Jackson manages to make the most of this bizarre relationship, but he works from a script that lacks too many interesting additional characters to be a great film. Also, the happy ending feels tacked-on and abrupt, and if you're of my opinion, lacks the happiness part so desperately needed. Sure, things work out. It's a comedy. But at the end of the day, Martin's victory doesn't seem worth winning.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 22nd, 2006
Burned out actor Howard Spense (Sam Shepard) has a mid-life crisis, rides off the set of his latest western, and visits his mother (Eva Marie Saint), whom he has not seen in over 30 years. Mother Spense informs Howard that he has a son named Earl, (Gabriel Mann) living in Butte, Montana from a fling he had with Doreen (Jessica Lange), while he was there shooting on location 20 years ago. Upon arriving in Butte (he gravitates there more than actually arriving), Howard also meets Sky (Sarah Polley), a mysterious woman ...ho is carrying the ashes of her mother in an urn. She may also be his daughter.
If this sounds like a Lifetime made-for-TV-movie-of-the-week, then you wouldn’t be far off. There are lots of angst-riddled father-son arguments and tearful reunions. But director Wim Wenders and cinematographer Franz Lustig inject the film with a minor art-house vibe and some major western landscapes, elevating the film into something more relevant than a generic film found on the “men are evil” Lifetime network. Wenders also supplies the film with an excellent alt-country soundtrack (courtesy of T-Bone Burnett) that adds an emotional punch that is sorely lacking on-screen.
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 21st, 2006
Highly Defined
How long until Madden comes out?
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 21st, 2006
Watch your back if you own an "Avdeco" branded component and TV shelf with glass shelves:
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 21st, 2006
Ars Technica asks today "Is Plasma Doomed?" Citing the fact that LCD's now overlap with plasma in terms of size and (arguably) picture quality, along with the fact that certain manufacturers are stopping plasma development and production to shift to LCD's, the author suggests that "Plasma vs. LCD" is comparable to the apocryphal "Beta vs. VHS" battle.
Anyway, interesting observation that plasma is getting clobbered, but personally, I can't see i... being much of a "format" battle; ultimately, does it matter what type of screen anyone has? Your TV is a capstone component, not a foundation (like a Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD); generally speaking it doesn't technically matter what technology the TV sitting on top of your component is - the choice of TV technology doesn't neccessitate the replacement of other components or your media library.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 20th, 2006
Synopsis
A Christmas Story featured a charming, old-fashioned story about Ralphie (Peter Billingsley, Elf), who wanted nothing more in life than to get a Red Ryder BB Gun. His parents (played by Darren McGavin (Raw Deal) and Melinda Dillon (Magnolia)) in the depression era-Midwest kept him in check as he pleaded with them to get it for Xmas.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 20th, 2006
Synopsis
So when you’re the head of Fox prime time programming, and you’ve got a television staple like The Simpsons on your Sunday night lineup, and Arrested Development wins the Best Comedy Series Emmy in its first season, what do you do? Well you callously trim the order of episodes from 22 to 18, put The Simpsons as its lead-in without a lot of fanfare, and almost even more egregiously barely hype guest appearances by well-established comic performers like Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Se...nfeld), Ed Begley Jr. (Spinal Tap) and Zach Braff (Scrubs).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 19th, 2006
Clearly, I am in the minority when it comes to Veronica Mars. Reviewers go on and on about the sharp writing on this show, but I just don't see it. With character names like “Beaver”, “Butters”, “Weevil” and my favorite, “Dick Casablancas”, this is a show where the writing is actually one of the things that is wrong with this show. (And yes, Beaver and Dick are friends. How's that for creativity?) The character of Wallace is an African American stereotype that is embarrassing, and stinks of what old while people think young black men are like. Not only are these characters one-dimensional and unrealistic, but some of them are borderline offensive.
Veronica Mars is really just Nancy Drew for the 21st century. The writers have tried their best to add some real adult drama to the series by throwing in a murder mystery, but they have somehow managed to make even that seem soft, thanks to the amateurish acting. Story lines are basically teen faire, meaning that things are made to appear much more tragic than they actually are. That's fine if you are a teen girl, but for the majority of the population this should not be a desired trait in an hour-long drama.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 19th, 2006
Written By Jeff Mardo
This disc certainly had me fooled. I though I was in for another one of those lame teenage “comedies” where the emphasis is on lame and cliché jokes and the occasional glimpse of gratuitous nudity. What I wound, however, was a wonderful movie that is the very definition of an indie film. If you liked Kevin Smith's first foray into filmmaking, then you will probably like this piece as well. I would contend that Clerks was a better film, but this Mexican film certainly has it's on charm as well. While Smith's fi...ms are packed full of dialog, Fernando Eimbcke has crafted a piece that is about those moments when there is nothing to say.
Posted in: Brain Blasters, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 18th, 2006
And so, after a long summer, it has finally come to this: Snakes on a Plane ceases to be a hot-weather fantasy and becomes a reality. Now we can all see whether this creature that became a cult before it was even finished can in any way live up (or down) to our expectations, hopes, and fears. Let us pause, then, and reflect on killer snake movies from the past.
The question as to whether Snakes on a Plane will be any good is completely irrelevant. A look back demonstrates that there has never ...eally been a snake movie that is... um... well... good. Plenty that have been entertaining. But good? Anaconda is probably as good as things get. As obvious as the CGI effects are, they aren’t as bad as those in many other recent releases, and the death scenes are so ludicrous as to be highly enjoyable (such as the moment where one victim is nabbed in mid-air). Watch the home video release carefully: in one scene, the waterfall is flowing upwards. Anacondas, meanwhile, falls down on the most important front: not enough snake action.
