Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 7th, 2003
Set to coincide with the theatrical release of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Columbia-Tristar releases the highly successful Charlie’s Angels as the latest Superbit Deluxe DVD. This film is wildly enjoyable… with a wonderful mix of action and comedy. I cannot imagine another trio pulling this film off as well as Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu. Their acting chemistry, along with the direction of McG, has made this a film that can be enjoyed over and over again.
”They're beautiful, th...y're brilliant, and they work for Charlie. In the sexy, high-octane comedy update of the '70s television phenomenon, bookworm Natalie (Diaz), tough girl Dylan (Barrymore) and tech-savvy Alex (Liu), alongside faithful lieutenant Bosley (Bill Murray - Rushmore), must foil an elaborate murder-revenge plot that could not only destroy individual privacy and corporate security worldwide, but spell the end of Charlie and his Angels.” – Columbia-Tristar
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 7th, 2003
Sam (Chad Donella) is a down on his luck artist who has just been told by his professor that he sucks as an artist and dumped by his girlfriend. The same wind that blows his life a way also brings him Hope (Erin Bartlett) who shows him how to get his smile back. As they part ways he writes down her phone number on his hand, this disappears though as it is raining heavily. After taking up a job as a delivery man for his friend’s coffee shop he finally finds her but, she is now in need of someone to show her her smile. On the way to restore Hope’s zest for life he finds his..
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 7th, 2003
Surrounded by hundreds of extras in China’s Forbidden City director Don Tyler (played by Donald Sutherland) is hit with a creative draught and doesn’t know where to go with his latest masterpiece. YoYo (played by Ge You who some of you may remember from Farewell my Concubine) is hired to be the documentary making of camera man befriends the troubled Tyler. Tyler and YoYo discuss film maker and philosophy and happen upon the idea that in Chain if someone over the age of 70 dies the funeral is not sad but happy, Tyler ...efers to it a as a comedy funeral as there is a language barrier between him and YoYo who mainly speaks Mandarin. Knowing he is not well and having just been kicked off the film by his studio boss Tyler asks YoYo to give him a comedy funeral as he collapses into a coma.
When the costs for the funeral start to soar YoYo enlists the help of a friend who is one of the biggest concert promoters in China, things get completely out of hand as every square inch of real estate at the funeral is up for bids by advertisers as this unique event will be broadcast worldwide. We also has a romantic subplot between Tyler’s assistant (played by Rosamund Kwan) and YoYo as he tries to convince her that selling advertising space at a funeral is not selling out but, fulfilling the wishes of their boss. Through a couple of interesting plot twists in there and you have a very dynamic movie with an original story line.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on May 6th, 2003
Video gamers now have another platformer to try out on their Nintendo GameCube console. Vexx, from Acclaim, has just landed on the system and brings with it some interesting visuals, unique features, and unfortunately, a much maligned camera system.
The basic story behind Vexx is that of a young warrior of the same name whom lives in the peaceful village of Overwood on the planet Astara. That is, until one day when the evil Dark Yabu and his henchman showed up in town and destroy...d everything. Vexx and his grandfather Vargas were then enslaved along with the other villagers--banished to work in the mines.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on May 6th, 2003
Someone once said that 90 percent of life is maintenance and nowhere is that more true than in the new Xbox title, The Sims. For anyone who has been living in a cave for the last two and a half years, The Sims is a game that allows you to create a character and then oversee every aspect of their life--from shopping to sleep--and has been a smash hit on the PC, garnering awards and spawning add-on expansions packs galore.
People are so taken with the ability to create either little demons or an...els, that Electronic Arts has released a new title this past month called The Sims for the Xbox that follows the exact same concept that its PC brethren pioneered. Players start out by choosing a basic model and with the help of several editing tools, can create the “Sim” of their dreams.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 3rd, 2003
Synopsis
Chihiro is a ten-year-old girl moving to a new home. On the way there, her father takes awrong turn, and they find themselves in an abandoned amusement park. I really don’t want tosay too much, as this is a film whose wonders should be discovered without too muchforeknowledge. Suffice to say that Chihiro soon finds herself in a magical world of spirits,striving to free herself, her parents, and a new friend. Spirited Away is a stunning film, worthyof comparison to Alice in Wonderla...d and other children’s classics, and I don’t mean just otherfilms, either. The witch queen looks like something out of a John Tenniel illustration. The filmmight be too frightening for very young children (especially in the first half-hour), but everyoneelse is in for an unforgettable treat. This is a masterpiece.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 25th, 2003
Synopsis
Chow Yun-Fat is Godfrey (not “Jeff” as the case has him, though “Godfrey” is, to NorthAmerican ears, an odd name for an action hero), tough-as-nails leader of a group of friends inThailand. Godfrey’s weak cousin gets them involved in a heist masterminded by the Judge(Simon Yam), who leads a gang as flamboyant as they are nuts. Godfrey is betrayed and left fordead, but comes back a year later for revenge. Directed by Ringo Lam, Full Contact doesn’tachieve the heights of John Woo’s b...st work, lacking the impossible-to-top action blow-out ofHard-Boiled or the utter delirium of Bullet in the Head. There are, however, plenty of nifty set-pieces, especially towards the end.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 24th, 2003
In this story, very loosely based on his own life, Eminem makes his acting debut. This is the story of Jimmy Smith Jr. a white boy born on the wrong side of Detroit’s 8 Mile divide. With an alcoholic white trash mother played by Kim Basinger, a dead end job and a trailer park for a home he does not have much going for him. His dreams fed by Detroit’s vibrant underground rap battle scene Jimmy tries to find himself and his voice in the world. This is a well written story about courage and not allowing one’s self to become a product of your environment. It also deals with the issues of racism by turning the tables with a white man trying to break into the predominately black world of rap and freestyle.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 19th, 2003
Based one the wildly successful Harry Potter series of novels, this film is based on book two of the series. As sophomore jinx’s go this one could have been far worse, the problem here is we no longer have the wonder of a new world to explore but, we still have characters that are not fully fleshed out yet either. The plot is somewhat predictable in that we have the same villain as the previous novel, albeit in a different form. Harry Potter and the usual cast of characters return for another year of adventure at Hog...arts, this time we see a story line that is much darker then the first as the kids have grown up a little and are ready for bigger and scarier things. Parents with small children who where a fan of the first film may want to watch this with out the kids first to insure that it is appropriate for their kids as there are a couple of very frightening scenes.
The first film was criticized for a couple of things, firstly the quidditch scenes where kind of flat and all though the DVD release boasted that it had lots of great extra features it fell somewhat flat as well. I can safely say that they made great improvements to quidditch, you will have to read on though to find out if the extra features have improved.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 19th, 2003
Synopsis
