Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 13th, 2004
Scooby-Doo 2 is pretty-much the same as the original film. Oh, sure, the plot differs slightly, but for the most part, this is the same film. If you liked the first one, you will like this one. However, if you hated the first one, like I did, then this is regrettably more of the same mindless fluff.
Recently, movie studios have caught on to the idea that if they make children’s movies with subtle in-jokes for adults, their profits will rise. This was the case with Finding Nemo, Shrek an... even Looney Tunes – Back in Action. Unfortunately, this trend does not continue with the Scooby-series. These films are purely and unashamedly “kids only”. The jokes are lame, the mysteries are transparent, and the film takes itself way too seriously. The inherent problem with a film based on a cartoon is that it must develop a cast full of characters that were previously one-dimensional. This is not an easy task for any filmmaker, and it is clear that Raja Gosnell (which sounds curiously like a pseudonym to me) is not up to the challenge.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 12th, 2004
Yup, the A-Team is being made into a movie, and thus will eventually be a DVD. In the meantime, I'm sure you can expect all sorts of SE/CE/??? DVD releases of the original series, and plenty of hype. Looks like for the movie the surviving original cast (Mr. T, etc. - Hanninbal died a few years back) will be resticted to cameos. The setting will be modern day with the A-Team perhaps hailing from the Persian Gulf instead of Vietnam.
<a href="http://breakingnews.iol.ie/entertainment/story.asp?j=120504316&p=yzx5...5xzz">Read the full story here...
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 9th, 2004
New Line will finally release the much anticipated Extended Edition of the final chapter of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on December 14th. This 4-disc set will include approx. fifty-minutes of additional footage, along with cast and crew audio commentaries and multiple behind the scenes documentaries and featurettes. A collector's giftset will also be made available on the 14th that will include a Sideshow/Weta statue of Minas Tirith and a Howard Shore Creating the Lord of the Rings Symphony DVD.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 9th, 2004
MGM Home Entertainment will release the special edition of David Lynch's Wild At Heart on December 7th. This disc will be presented in a new digitally remastered anamorphic widescreen transfer, along with a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. Extras will include a new thirty-minute making of documentary, an original promo featurette, interviews with the cast and the crew, sixty-five animated behind-the-scenes photos (set to music), a “Specific Spontaneity: Focus on David Lynch”, a David Lynch “On the DVD” feature, as well as...trailers.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 9th, 2004
Miramax Home Entertainment will release the Jet Li film Hero on November 30th. This disc will be presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, along with both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 6.1 audio tracks (in both Chinese (with English subtitles) and dubbed English versions) Extras will include of a 'Hero Defined' making-of featurette, four storyboard sequences, and an interview with Quentin Tarantino.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 6th, 2004
Fox Home Entertainment will release the director's cut of Daredevil (starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner and Colin Farrell) on November 30th. This 124-minute version (22 minutes longer then the theatrical cut) will be presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, along with English DTS 5.1 & Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as Spanish & French Dolby Digital 2.0 audio tracks. The only extras that will be included are a new audio commentary (by director Mark Steven Johnson and Avi Arad) and a “Making of the Director's ...ut” featurette.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 3rd, 2004
Sometimes, when I am writing my review and I come to the “genre” section, I wish I could find an entry marked “crap”. If there was ever a serious film effort that deserved such an entry, this is it. Let’s be honest… made for TV movies have a bad reputation for a reason. For that matter, so do films that have child actors as their star. This film suffers from the unenviable fate of being both. Mary Tyler Moore and Burt Reynolds may be on the cover, but the kid is in nearly every frame of the film.
This is on... of those sickly-sweet TNT movies that have been produced time and time again (though they usually seem to show up on CBS). The plot is a familiar one. An older divorced woman (Moore) takes in her free-spirited granddaughter, and the little girl’s presence melts her hardened heart. The point is a simple one, but it takes this meandering film a long, long time to get there. I have heard of films that go nowhere fast, but this one goes nowhere slow. The pace is even more broken up with the added necessity of commercial breaks, which sometimes show up at awkward times.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 2nd, 2004
The fifth season of Babylon 5 would prove to be the show’s last. Fans had clamored at the end of the third season for a fourth, and they succeeded. At the end of the fourth, the clamoring began again, and they earned the show yet another reprieve. The fifth try finally sounded the death knell on this show, however. It’s really all for the best, though, since the series had unquestionably been driving toward this conclusion for some time. To go on any longer would have been unfair to the integrity of the show i...self.
The final season was a bit of a rocky one by comparison, filled with new and departing cast members, guest spots and the always-unpopular series finale. Luckily, this show avoided the last-show curse, and created a series finale that was well received by critics and fans alike. Even going back now, after all the hype, it is easy to see why this episode was liked so well. It is a surprisingly moving piece on what it means for life to move on, no matter your species.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 2nd, 2004
If you think about it, it’s a little surprising that Wonder Woman lasted for three full seasons. To my knowledge, there really hadn’t been any popular female super heroes before this show. Obviously there were a couple peppered around here and there in comics, but as far as movies and television go, it was pretty hard to find any kind of super female hero. Of course, Lynda Carter and that tiny patriotic costume may have had something to do with it.
Almost 40 years later, it’s a little more understandable wh... this show can still move some units. It’s a bit Austin Powers, and a bit Indiana Jones. A show about the 40’s, created in the 70’s, and now available on DVD in the new millennium. It’s about as retro hip as the time that Sammy Davis Jr. guest-starred on Bewitched. Too cool to miss.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 1st, 2004
This is one of the most interesting ideas that I have seen for a DVD boxed set in some time. Just as there were five seasons of Babylon 5, there were five made for TV movies created as well. Each was essentially a super-episode that was based on the series, but not necessarily a vital part of the story arc of the overall program. This DVD set includes all five of these bonus films.
Included in this collection is the feature-length pilot, as well as a prequel. The other three films have no added agend..., which I believe actually helps them along. One of the benefits of being attached to a television series is that much of the introductory work is done before the movie begins, so the writers are free to jump right in to the story. Of course, this can also be a problem when dealing with viewers that may not be knowledgeable of the series. These films will not bring in any new fans, as the barriers to entry are just too great.
