Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 30th, 2004
This is a great idea for a children’s video. Our Friend Martin is an animated film that follows the Dickens Christmas Carol format to tell the story of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. When two boys (an underachieving African-American and his slacker white counterpart) visit the birthplace of Dr. King on a school field trip, they are magically transported back in time to experience monumental events in the civil rights movement. Along their journey, they learn of the legacy of Dr. King, and of his...importance to our modern American way of life.
Many A-list actors have provided their voice talent for the production, including Ed Asner, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel A. Jackson, Angela Bassett and John Travolta. Part of the fun of watching the film was trying to pick out which actor was voicing what character. Surprisingly, however, much of the voice talent is weak, and only a few actors (such as James Earl Jones and the aforementioned Sarandon) really grasp the intricacies of providing a voice for an animated character. Particularly bad is the “surfer hick” accent of the white main character.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 29th, 2004
Angels and demons and monsters, oh my!
Not even the death of Buffy could stop this popular show from coming back for a third season. This time around, Angel must find melodrama in new and interesting places, and luckily for fans of the show, he succeeds admirably. In fact, I feel that the death of Buffy was a good thing, as it forced the writers to push this show into its own territory, and helped to give the whole production a voice and an identity all its own.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on January 26th, 2004
Links has been the most successful golf game on the PC, now Microsoft has ported it over the X-Box with tremendous success.
Graphics
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 25th, 2004
Scorched follows in the tradition of Guy Ritchie films such as “Loch Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch” from the perspective of having a group of characters that don’t have too much in common except for fate brining them all together at the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time.
Scorched follows three main characters who all work at a bank and have the same idea, although thought of independently, to rob the bank – all on the same weekend. Sheila (Alicia Silverstone) has been dating ...he bank manager and supporting his desire to continue through school and going so far as to pay for a tutor for him. However she has revenge in her sights when he leaves her for that same tutor. Woods (Woody Harrelson – go figure) is a hard working employee who believes that all of his dedication has finally paid off when he is called into the manager’s office with the promise of a promotion. He does get it – more responsibility a better title and a massive raise of…55 cents and hour. Stuart Stein is another hard worker who is encouraged to carry through on his little thought out plan to rob the bank by a friend.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 23rd, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2004
Unlike most spinoff series, Frasier may be one of those rare instances where the spinoff was equally if not better than the original series. Much of the writing that made Cheers a phenomenon was continued with Frasier, with the exception that there was a smaller cast of characters and as such the stories became more involved and the characters were allowed to grow. The second season adds a great amount of depth to Frasier, his equally quirky psychiatrist brother Niles, and their gruff but lovable father, Martin. ...uring the second season, Frasier annoys the entire city of Seattle by complaining about the weather, Martin’s favored bar faces the threat of a wrecking ball (which may be the fault of his own 2 sons), Roz gets a new job offer, Niles lusting after Daphne continues, and Frasier once again comes face-to-face with his ex-wife Lilith ruining his island getaway.
During its run, Frasier won several Emmys for best direction, best comedy series and best actor. Watching the second season will remind any viewer why the show was worthy of its high praise. The jokes are fast paced and work well. The writing was very clever, especially the use of Frasier and Nile’s elitist vocabulary which often was used to poke fun at them. Fans of the show quickly grew to love the characters in the first season and the second season allowed the writers the opportunity to really sink their teeth into them and truly produce one of the greatest television shows in history.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 15th, 2004
Slam is one of the rarest of films, an intelligent urban drama. These days, most films that deal with inner city African American youth either glorify the violent world that they live in, or turn into an After School Special on just saying "no". Slam disses both of these paths, and instead, forges its own path. Luckily, this path leads to truth, to knowledge, and to awards at Sundance.
This is the story of one young man coming to grips with his time and place in the history of the world. Being pinche... for possession of narcotics, the talented poet finds himself locked down while he awaits trial. While on the inside, he develops his talents as a writer as well as his views on violence and loyalty to the street life that he has been living in.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 13th, 2004
If you are a fan of space flight, this DVD is your holy grail.
While the Spacecraft Films series of releases is full of high-quality products covering the history of space flight, Apollo 11 – Men on the Moon pushes their usual high standards to the outer reaches. The few frustrations that I had with their previous titles have all been remedied here, and the result is an absolutely fantastic DVD set covering every aspect of NASA's famed Apollo 11 mission.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 10th, 2004
Apollo 8 – Leaving the Cradle continues the high standard that Spacecraft Films have set for themselves with their previous NASA-themed releases. While earlier titles examined the early role that rockets played in the ultimate goal of manned space flight, Apollo 8 sees that dream come to fruition.
This three-disc set is an amazing record of that famed mission, and literally all of the footage available in the NASA archives is included here, much of it coming complete with bonus audio. The foot...ge runs the gamut, from dull, to mildly interesting, to flat-out spectacular.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2004
It seems to me that B-level actors sometimes agree to do a movie for the experience and practice as much as to further their career and get a paycheck. Other times, the opposite is true, and major stars purposely chose to do a small independent production following a major success, knowing that they could never top their last picture. Often times, it is obvious when an actor has their personal motives in mind when choosing to do a film. Kate Winslet's decision to shoot Hideous Kinky following the hugely-succes...ful Titanic comes to mind, as does Elijah Wood's decision to take part in All I Want, following his work on The Lord of the Rings.
These films are usually great for everybody except the audience. The obscure filmmaker gets a "name" in their film, the actor gets to work in a more relaxed environment, everybody gets to work a little and the studio will hopefully break even in the accounting department. The film is almost secondary, and while the finished product usually has a bit of low-budget charm, it's certainly not going to be an award winner.
