Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 8th, 2006
Synopsis
Here we go again. Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) is pretty comfortably ensconced in the home of Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes) now. The season follows Punky through the usual round of problems at school, with friends, with boys, and so on. Will she do her homework and get to a rock concert? We await the answer on the edge of our seats. Frye is a few years older now, and so is moving from precocious youngster to tiresome tween. Lessons are learned in the most painfully didactic and mundan...
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 7th, 2006
In what universe is a weekend jail visit considered a “family emergency” when it comes to missing your job? Can anyone answer this for me? By all means, send your answers (or curious situations) to yours truly. I’m curious to hear what the responses are.
The big news in the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray battle is that Training Day, Rumor Has It and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang arrived on Blu-Ray this week, after being available in HD-DVD for a little while now. And the verdict? Well, at least according to Pet...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 4th, 2006
Synopsis
Robin Williams is struggling to keep his job, and struggling to keep his sanity in the face of his teenage children (particularly daughter Joanna “JoJo” Levesque). This all becomes more difficult when his boss forces him to cancel a trip to Hawaii and head off to Colorado instead. Williams rents an RV, packs his family in, and hits the road for misadventures and hijinx.
And everything plays out much as one would expect it to. The film looks slick enough, but it might just as well h...
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 4th, 2006
Reader Brian asks:
What happened to the HUDSON HAWK: 15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION dvd? It was supposed to come out on July 25th and now it doesn't appear to be available anywhere ... Including Amazon.com. Can you research it and let me know as I seriously (seriously) would like to get it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 3rd, 2006
Synopsis
Well, Mark Dancer’s review of Season Two of Bridezillas pretty much echoes my general thoughts on the show. Now, for those of you who haven’t read his review, go there. Come back, and see what I do with it.
Now again, I basically agree with Mark’s comments. Bridezillas is another in a growing list of shows featuring women (or young girls, as is the case with MTV’s Sweet Sixteen) that are either in upper-middle class relationships or in a very safe position in life tha...
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 3rd, 2006
Discussing the old school DVD’s that still sound and look great in the era of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD technology.
Ang Lee’s Hulk got a bad wrap.
When it was originally released in 2003, it was endlessly criticized for replacing action with a "boring" psychoanalysis of Bruce Banner.
I think there was a mutated poodle in there somewhere, too. But I could be wrong.
Despite all of its flaws -- and it has quite a lot of them -- I always enjoyed Hulk. I foun...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 2nd, 2006
Kathy Bates and the late Jessica Tandy star in Fried Green Tomatoes, a wonderfully surprising film about four strong women finding friendship, loyalty, and strength in each other. Sounds boring, right? I thought so, too, until I actually sat down and gave the extended anniversary edition a chance. The film, based on Fannie Flagg's novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, is really two stories in one. Bates plays an unhappy Southern woman stuck in a marriage routine, which doesn't favor her n...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 1st, 2006
We Were Soldiers unfortunately, was a film that didn’t really find its audience, and was also a casualty of the 9/11 attacks. Whereas Black Hawk Down was released in late December 2001/early January 2002 and made almost $110 million, We Were Soldiers was released six months later, and made $30 million less. Figure in the then-recent surge of big studio films of that genre in recent years, notably Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers, perhaps We Were Soldiers was the film ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 1st, 2006
Synopsis
In 1930, the animation department at Warner creates three characters: the Warner Brothers and their sister, Dot. The siblings run riot, however, and are finally caught and imprisoned in the Warner water tower. Flash-forward to today, when they escape to once more wreak havoc.
From the opening song and credit sequence (which echoes The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Hour) on, this is an affectionate look back to the golden age of the Warner Looney Tunes, and mixes postmodern humour w...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 31st, 2006
Synopsis
Jon Voight is a rogue director in the National Security Agency. When politician Jason Robards stands in the way of dangerous bill that would give the NSA almost unlimited powers, Voight has him killed. The murder is captured on tape, and a disc containing the incriminating evidence winds up in the hands of attorney Will Smith. The next thing he knows, his life is turned upside down as Voight sends high-tech minions after him. He seeks the help of retired surveillance whiz Gene Hackman.
...
