Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 6th, 2004
Sometimes, movies are just inexplicably bad, and as a DVD reviewer, I get to see a lot of them. These are films that are so horrible that I sometimes don’t know where to begin. It is often times hard to place blame in one are or another, when the whole production is flawed.
In the case of Lost and Delirious, however, the blame is easy to place. This film is not half bad… the premise is decent, the film looks and sounds better than expected, and the acting, while not fantastic, is respectable. The pro...lem here is the script. The horrible, awful, appalling, embarrassing script. The dialog in this film makes the whole piece feel not… quite… right. It is riddled with so many nonsensical non sequiturs that makes the viewer wonder if the author has been around teenagers at all in the past forty years. Do people really think that teens speak this way?
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on January 5th, 2004
When the PS2 and Xbox were released both promised to be full home entertainment units. No questions that they both shined with the cutting edge graphics and sound as well as performing admirably as DVD players with both Dolby Digital and DTS decoders built in. This year both systems have tried to push another venue into home entertainment : Karaoke. Love it or hate it Karaoke looks like it’s here to stay. Earlier this year, X-Box had the X-Box Music Mixer which provided karaoke features – with mixed results. Could th... PS2’s Karaoke Revolution outdo it’s X-Box rival?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 4th, 2004
Seriously… was a director’s cut of this film really needed? Extended versions of The Lord of the Rings films are welcome, but come on now, The New Guy? This disc includes a mere 4 extra minutes of footage, all of which adds to the back-story; so for those of you hoping of a little bit of added ranch… sorry. You have probably read it before, but here is the premise…
Video
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on January 3rd, 2004
X-Box’s first venture into the racing genre gave us Project Gotham. A great looking title with its own unique charms but also had a fair number of shortcomings. Would the sequel address these shortcomings and live up to the hype? In a word: YES.
Graphics
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 3rd, 2004
Easily the one of the weirdest (if not the weirdest) concepts to ever grace the small screen, Space Ghost Coast to Coast is a bizarre talk show hosted by a minor 60’s cartoon hero Space Ghost. Repeated animation clips are used to have Space Ghost “interview” such luminaries of the mid 90’s (the show ran on Cartoon Network from 1993-1996) such as Slash, Hulk Hogan, Bobcat Golthwait, Michael Stipe from REM (promoting Monster), and The Jerky Boys.
The basic premise has Space Ghost asking inane questions to hi... guests only to have them respond in equally confusing ways. The guests are interviewed before hand in the studio and clips of their discussions are spliced into the conversation with Space Ghost. Intertwined into this is Space Ghost’s ongoing conflict with the leader of the band – Zorak an man sized evil preying mantis and his producer Moltar – some evil dude with a bucket on his head. These two are constantly insulting Space Ghost. He is occasionally aware of this and responds by threatening to blast them with his space wristbands. This very unusual combination provided some rare moments of hilarity but all too often felt myself wondering “was there something more to that comment that I am missing?” This is definitely a show that would have it’s devoted fans, similar to shows like Mystery Science Theater 3000 (of which I was a big fan), but would have a hard time appealing to the audience at large.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2003
There have always been directors that have stood out in the public consciousness. Scorsese. Spielberg. Hitchcock. Lynch. These are all directors that have a specific vision. With very few exceptions, if you came across one of their films on television on an average Saturday afternoon, it wouldn't take too long to figure out who the director was. They each have a very unique cinematic style, usually based in dramatic films.
Oddly enough, Rob Reiner also fits into this category. His light comedies all have a ...pecial feel to them, and even the bad ones are uniquely pleasing. A kind man hiding behind an emotional facade, a quirky but charming woman and a classic soft jazz soundtrack is all it takes to make one of his light-hearted modern classics.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2003
There have always been directors that have stood out in the public consciousness. Scorsese. Spielberg. Hitchcock. Lynch. These are all directors that have a specific vision. With very few exceptions, if you came across one of their films on television on an average Saturday afternoon, it wouldn't take too long to figure out who the director was. They each have a very unique cinematic style, usually based in dramatic films.
Oddly enough, Rob Reiner also fits into this category. His light comedies all have a ...pecial feel to them, and even the bad ones are uniquely pleasing. A kind man hiding behind an emotional facade, a quirky but charming woman and a classic soft jazz soundtrack is all it takes to make one of his light-hearted modern classics.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2003
NHL Rivals is Microsoft's first effort into the hockey market, and you can easily tell this once you start to play this game. NHL Rivals had to battle with three other hockey titles (Ea Sport's NHL 2004, ESPN's NHL 2k4, and NHL hitz pro) and Rivals was also the last of the games to be released. Hockey fans are very pick about there hockey games, with most fans either going with EA's effort and ESPN's game. Microsoft would have to do something real different to win over the hockey gamer. Unfortunately they faile... in this area and hockey gamers are better to look elsewhere this season for their hockey gaming.
Graphics
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 23rd, 2003
I have never really seen a movie like Gang Tapes, a sort-of urban mockumentary told in the first-person through a digital camcorder. The Blair Witch Project is all that really comes close, and even that is not exactly the same thing. The film begins with home video footage of a family on vacation in Hollywood, but once they are carjacked, the family video camera falls into the hands of a 14 year old kid in urban Los Angeles. With this camera, he chronicles his adventures with the other boys and young me... in the neighborhood, including going to parties, dealing drugs, hitting on women, committing crimes and even witnessing murder. The audience is treated to a view of this boy's life through his own eyes, and the result is a frightening look at the life of a child growing up in the ghetto.
While this is a gripping urban tale, the film is not without some problems. At first, the story is intriguing, shining a light in a corner of America that not many people are familiar with. After a while, however, the extreme use of language and constant arguing wears thin. While this may very well be the reality of the situation, it is not always entertaining faire. Likewise, the action begins to give way to a series of speeches by various members of the cast throughout the last part of the film. Many of these scenes feel forced and unnatural in the midst of the chaos around them. The result is a very good film that could have been even more powerful if it were edited down to a running time of about an hour.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 22nd, 2003
Tapped Out is an independent film starring Georgio. It is also produced, written and directed by Georgio. The film is adapted from a story by Georgio. Oh, and the music supervisor is this guy named Georgio; maybe you've heard of him?
Honestly, it doesn’t really mater if you have heard of him or not (though you probably haven’t), my point has already been made. In previous reviews, I have stated my distrust of independent films that put too much power in the hands of one man, especially when that one ...an is as obscure as the singularly-named control freak in question. One man can’t do all things on a film set. If too much is attempted, even by A-list personalities, everything they do will suffer. A film is a mass creative effort, and when that sense of collaboration is lost, so are many unique ideas and talents. If a filmmaker can’t trust the professionals around him to do a fine film, he may be in the wrong business.
