Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 28th, 2006
Synopsis
The ironically named Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan) is a hitman whose lifestyle of promiscuous sex, exotic locales and contract killings is catching up with him. As he approaches meltdown, he runs into Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear), a businessman who has had a long run of bad luck. The two strike up a friendship in Mexico city, and toward the end of their stay there, something happens. Six months later, Noble, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, turns uup on Wright’s doorstep.
If Bro...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 27th, 2006
Synopsis
Private Kang (Jan Dong-kun) is a coast guard – i.e. a soldier tasked with watching the South Korean coast for spies from North Korea. He is obsessed with shooting one, even though it is extremely unlikely that he will encounter any. One night, he sees movement and opens fire, killing not a spy, but a teenager having a tryst with his girlfriend. The boy isn’t just shot – he’s riddled with bullets and then blown to pieces with a grenade. No surprise, then, that the girl is traumatized to the p...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 27th, 2006
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is, it seems, the poor cousin to the likes of the FBI and the Secret Service. It doesn't have all the toys of these other organizations, and appears to have a staff of four (five by the end of the first episode). Mark Harmon heads up the investigative team that delves into mysteries that invariably have a military tone (and thus the stories frequently deal with terrorism and the like).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 26th, 2006
Once in awhile, a film comes along that really catches you by surprise. Little Manhattan is one of those films. At first glance, it appears to be an updated take on a coming of age film that warms the cockles of your heart and leaves you smiling, but it's actually a bit of a romantic comedy that is timeless and memorable.
Written by Jennifer Flackett and directed by Mark Levin, who are a married writing team whose most notable work was Wimbledon, the focus of Little Manhattan is Gabe (Josh Hutcherson, Kicking and Screaming), who also narrates the film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 26th, 2006
Jack Nicholson can make a convincing case for being one of the greatest actors of all time. He's had his share of memorable moments in movies, with quoted lines etched in our brains. It took a while for me to get "You can't handle the truth!" out of my head. He has also turned in outstanding performances in lesser known movies that have shown his range and dramatic ability. Alternate viewing recommendations to see Jack in action include Hoffa and The Pledge, among a variety of others....In About Schmidt, the follow-up effort by Alexander Payne (Election), Jack strips away the sunglasses, the eyebrow and the devilish grin, puts on 20 pounds, and gives us a performance that some have labeled as career defining.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 26th, 2006
Let’s face it. Movies released in January usually aren’t very good. Yes, some of these movies are Oscar hopefuls that are released nation-wide, but only after being released in selected cities to quality for those Oscars. No, we’re talking about stinking piles of crap like Uwe Boll’s Bloodrayne here. Being that January is Hollywood’s cinematic dumping ground, it comes as no surprise that Tristan & Isolde was released during this very same month in 2006.
Delayed for nearly a year, Tristan & ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 26th, 2006
Let’s face it. Movies released in January usually aren’t very good. Yes, some of these movies are Oscar hopefuls that are released nation-wide, but only after being released in selected cities to quality for those Oscars. No, we’re talking about stinking piles of crap like Uwe Boll’s Bloodrayne here. Being that January is Hollywood’s cinematic dumping ground, it comes as no surprise that Tristan & Isolde was released during this very same month in 2006.
Delayed for nearly a year, Tristan & ...
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on June 26th, 2006
The world of High-Definition is upon us, whether or not the public is ready or aware of it. High-Definition is available in almost every media format now from Televisions to Video Game Consoles and now actual movies. But the true question that lies ahead for the public is, which format do we support? Which format will eventually become BetaMax 2.0? In this new weekly column exclusive to UpcomingDiscs, we’re going to take a further look into every High-Definition as if we were fans cheering from the sideline of a foot...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 25th, 2006
For better or worse, Hugh Grant has carved out a niche in Hollywood as the nervous, awkward, charming, British romantic leading man. He's tried doing other things, paired with Gene Hackman as the protagonist in the thriller Extreme Measures. But attempts such as these are few and far between, and haven't seemed to work. For better or worse, he'll always be the stodgy British guy trying to bed an American chick over the objection of her parents, or some other convoluted romantic comedy plot. To his credit, he has been playing against that stereotype lately, to a lesser degree in Bridget Jones's Diary, but to a larger scale in About a Boy, recently nominated for a Golden Globe in Comedy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 25th, 2006
I watched Ryna while my wife watched Shopgirl on the TV. And aside from watching Ryna because I thought it was going to be a film about a DVD reviewer whose name is misspelled, there were a lot more differences between the two films. As far as I could tell, Shopirl appeared to be about a girl with Down�s Syndrome who falls in love with her Dad but reconsiders at the end (whoops, my wife tells me that I�ve got it wrong), Ryna is about a girl who tries to rise above being repressed because of her gender.
