Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 28th, 2006
Synopsis
Will Patton is the owner of the Black Pelican, a road house where he will tolerate no nonsense, and particularly no drug dealing. This doesn’t please local slimeball Jake Busey, and when Patton refuses to sell, Busey (through dirty fighting, of course) beats Patton to within an inch of his life. Patton’s nephew is Johnathon Schaech, undercover DEA agent, and he arrives in the boondocks to take over the bar and set things straight.
B-movie checklist: opening fight scene (check), cop...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2006
Synopsis
In 1908, an inbred hillbilly (played by, who else, Newhart’s William Sanderson) had decapitated a family member, and is brought to a spooky asylum. A maniacal intern realizes that the face-like deformity on the man’s back is actually intelligent, and his obsession with cracking the mystery unleashes all sorts of horrors.
On the commentary track, the filmmakers joke the seizure-inducing editing style. They aren’t kidding. The film jumps back and forth between B&W and colour a...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2006
Synopsis
Geena Davis is the Vice-President who was chosen as running mate by the Republican President because she would balance out the ticket (she’s an Independent) and help him with the female voters. When he is felled by a stroke, the possibility that she might become President fills the powers that be with dread, and her resignation is demanded so that the hard-right Speaker of the House (Donald Sutherland) can step in instead. Davis refuses, and the series follows her struggles as the first woma...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2006
Not being a big fan of Black Hawk Down, I can't really tell you how many releases of the feature this makes from Sony. I know it's a title, which has seen at least two prior offerings. There is nothing new here to recommend the extended cut over the previous three-disc monster edition; however, it may be the way to go if you've yet to add this Ridley Scott war film to your collection. I'll be the first to admit that Scott does some of his finest work as director in this gritty combat picture; but his style is ...
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2006
Discussing the old school DVD’s that still sound and look great in the era of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD technology.
It doesn’t get much better than Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. It’s an excellent movie filled with gutsy performances, swashbuckling adventure that doesn’t get corny or cheesy, and it’s received one of the best A/V treatments in DVD history.
Every big film like Master and Commander should receive a treatment like this. Upon its release on DVD, i...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 26th, 2006
The truth may never come out as to why HBO cancelled Carnivale after the show's second season. They claim that it was a combination of decreased ratings and rising production costs equaling $2 million an episode. What doesn't make sense, however, is that the network also admits that they received as many as 50,000 emails in a single weekend following the cancellation announcement. The facts also show that they followed up this show that was “too expensive to be profitable” with Rome, a show that has been widely recognized as the most expensive television series ever produced.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 25th, 2006
Synopsis
Tyler Perry once again dons multiple costumes to incarnate several characters, most prominently Madea, the no-nonsense but mischievous matriarch of a very fractious family. She is ordered by the court to take in a runaway as a foster child, and that project of reclamation joins that of helping out her nieces. They have a mother from hell. One sister is struggling to learn how to love again, while the other is being forced into marriage with the hideously abusive Blair Underwood.
I ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 24th, 2006
Synopsis
Will Rogers was once the biggest star in Hollywood. Think of any other big name from the late 20's and early 30's, and he outpaced them all. Today, he is little more than a name, and there are plenty of film guides out there that don’t even list his films. Quite the sobering lesson on the evanescent nature of fame. The films in this collection were all made in 1935, the last year of Rogers’ life, before he was killed in a plane crash. These comedies have definitely dated, but Rogers’ charm i...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 24th, 2006
Synopsis
In 1985, Steven Spielberg backed this TV anthology series. It took its name from the very first SF magazine (which was briefly revived to coincide with the TV show), but have very little in common with that mag. It was almost purely fantasy-oriented, and its real model was the likes of The Twilight Zone (which itself was revived for TV the same year). Spielberg himself directed the pilot, and plenty of other big names singed on as well. So Harvey Keitel stars in an episode directed by...
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on July 24th, 2006
OK, so after a brief disruption of service, there’s a new blog author in town for the Highly Defined column, and he’s me. To just do a quick intro on the author of the column: this is me!
No wait, that probably won’t suffice. But to assuage those videophiles in the house, here are a few things about the gear I watch this stuff on. I’ve got a Toshiba HD-A1 (I had the XA1 for a couple of weeks, then I came to my senses and realized that this was WAY too much money to spend on a DVD player, hence the ex...
