Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2008
The only place that I think anyone would really know Andy Samberg is as the brains behind some of the hilarious Saturday Night Live digital shorts over the last couple of years. The most notable being a Christmas gift that you can give your beloved. A gift you can make yourself, using three easy steps. Step one, cut a whole in the box…
So he’s taken the five to ten minute short and tried to harness that humor into a ninety minute feature film, which everyone seems to be doing, right? Well in Hot Rod, the feature film debut of Samberg, he plays Rod Kimble, a stuntman without a lot of charisma or ability, relying on a moped as his means of wowing the stunt crowd. With the help of his friends Rico (Danny McBride, The Foot Fist Way), and Dave (Bill Hader, Superbad) and his stepbrother Kevin (Jorma Taccone), Rod tries to impress his stepfather Frank (Ian McShane, Deadwood), who Rod challenges to fights in order to win some respect. His mom Marie (Sissy Spacek, Coal Miner’s Daughter) tries to help him through it also, and Rod’s prospective love interest is his longtime neighbor Denise (Isla Fisher, Wedding Crashers) is a problem for him, since Denise is dating Jonathan (Will Arnett, Blades of Glory).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2008
The big thing that gave Captivity the anticipation leading up to its release was a less than studio endorsed billboard showing its star Elisha Cuthbert (24) being tortured before getting killed. The main thing about the film was that Cuthbert had sunk so far downhill after renouncing her dad Jack Bauer. But holy crap, Roland Joffe directed this film! For those who don’t know, Joffe is a two time Oscar nominated director for The Killing Fields and The Mission. But since then, his success arc seemed to fall off the table completely since the mid ‘80s, with contributions like Super Mario Brothers and The Scarlet Letter, even directing an episode of an MTV sitcom. So I guess it’s only natural that he come into the torture horror genre much too late in the game with Captivity.
Written by Larry Cohen (Cellular) and Joseph Tura, Cuthbert plays Jennifer Tree, a successful model who finds herself captured by an unknown assailant, with no foreseeable hope for freedom. While in captivity (get it?), she meets Gary (Daniel Gillies, Spider-Man 2), and together they both try and find a way out of their hell. I wish I could give you more without diving into a spoiler or two, but that’s as far as I can get.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2008
As the Harry Potter franchise heads into the home stretch of films, some of the film’s young cast members are attempting to break out into other roles, or at least employ a little bit more emotional depth in the roles that they’ve made into small cottage businesses. And of course, the biggest one in the bunch is Harry himself, Daniel Radcliffe. He’s appeared in a London played named “Equus”, in which he appeared nude in and got a lot of notoriety for, but received some praise based on his performance. He also appeared in the Ricky Gervais show Extras where he played himself in a role where he really really wants to break out from his childhood perception. But in December Boys, he plays a bit of a loner of sorts, though people seem to label the film for the sensationalist things Radcliffe does in the film. Look, Harry Potter smokes and gets it on with a girl, wow! But looking beyond perception, it’s a decent film.
December Boys was a film that was adapted from a Michael Noonan novel and directed by Rod Hardy, who has directed mainly television shows, most recently, Battlestar Galactica. But in the film, Radcliffe plays a guy known as Maps, along with his friends Misty (Lee Cormie, Darkness Falls), Sparks (Christian Byers) and Spit (James Fraser). The boys are slightly older orphans who have not been adopted by any prospective Australian families and are getting to the age where adoption is unlikely. They share the same relative birthday in December, and at the orphanage they live at, the nuns give them a chance to go to the beach and enjoy a holiday during Christmas, where two sets of families decide to welcome them. The younger family apparently has aspirations for adopting one of the children and Misty finds this out, and the boys are thrown in a competition of sorts. Maps finds Lucy (Theresa Palmer, The Grudge 2), who is staying there for a time, and shows Maps his first real look at the birds and the bees.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 5th, 2008
When warner Brothers decided to start their Raw Feed line of direct-to-DVD horror films, Daniel Myrick was brought in to Produce. The choice of Myrick was a no-brainer, as he (along with his partner Eduardo Sanchez), was the creative force behind the "Blair Witch" phenomenon. While the team Directed the first film, they served as Producers on the second. Admittedly, "Blair Witch 2" was not as well received as its predecessor, but it was exactly the type of film that would be successful as a direct-to-DVD release.
Myrick Produced the first two Raw Feed releases ("Rest Stop" and "Sublime", which both received high marks on this web site), and he has moved back into the directing chair with the third film in the series, "Believers". Truth be told, this is really Myrick's traditional Directorial debut, as the faux documentary style of "Blair Witch" was not a typical feature. I had high expectations for this film, but unfortunately, it looks like Myrick is better wearing the hat of a Producer than that of a Director.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on January 4th, 2008
"Warner Bros.' move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a
strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give
consumers what they want," said Meyer. "The window of opportunity for high-
definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We
believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for
mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most
importantly, consumers." - Barry Meyer(WB CEO)
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on January 3rd, 2008
from engadget:
Slated to launch sometime in Q2, the networked player would purportedly allow owners to stream in movies for viewing on their television, and it's being reported that the feature would be "included in all of its various price plans... at no extra charge." Pricing deets on the LG device have yet to be disclosed, but we're told that the firm could "embed the receiver into its $799 dual-DVD player [likely the BH200]." According to Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings, the LG partnership will hopefully be "the first of many such deals" for the company, and he added that he'd love to "see a hundred Netflix-capable boxes," suggesting that there could be deals struck with internet-connected gaming consoles as well as cable / satellite providers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2007
In the recent days and weeks since the Lindsay Lohan film I Know Who Killed Me arrived on video, she’s discussed the details behind a car accident in which she may or may not have been under the influence of alcohol. It only seems fitting, since this film is a carwreck of substantial proportions, and we probably have to ask whether or not Michael and Dina’s daughter was on something when she agreed to make the movie.
Written by Jeff Hammond in his first feature film screenplay (big shocker there) and directed by Chris Sivertson (The Lost), Lohan appears as Aubrey Fleming, who is abducted and tortured by a mysterious criminal mind. The next thing Lohan knows, she wakes up in a hospital, without any memory of what’s happened to her except for some telling physical signs, and has no memory of this person named Aubrey. In her mind, she’s Dakota, an exotic dancer and proverbial grown up girl. In Aubrey’s absence, Dakota frequently bumps heads with her parents Daniel (Neal McDonough, Minority Report) and Susan (Julia Ormond, Legends of the Fall) and with boys at school.
Posted in: Expired Contests by Archive Authors on December 22nd, 2007
Ho HO HO!! Welcome back to the 12 Days Of Contests, Day 9 Edition! Today we throw our first HD DVD into the mix... The Deer Hunter, nominated for nine academy awards (winner of five, including best picture in 1978).
So - enter away below by commenting! Contest draw date is Tuesday, Jan. 1st - the same for all of the 12 Days contests.
Posted in: Expired Contests by Archive Authors on December 20th, 2007
Ho! Have you seen the "Baddest Mofo in a Cardigan Sweater" video? Bob Saget is definitely not on Santa's good list. No, I'm not linking to it, so as to protect people's illusions about Bob Saget's family values. But if you search on YouTube, you will find. But - before Saget went bad, there was Full House! Yes, welcome back to the 12 Days Of Contests, Day 8. The TV-on-DVD theme continues, with the eighth season of Full House up for grabs. If you want an idea of what's in store, check out the reviews for Season Four and Season Five. The verdict? Great releases for fans of Saget-humour or masochists. (don't get me started on the twins - shudder)
If I may make a recommendation: check out our TV-on-DVD section for lots of other series on DVD, or if you're seeking Saget-free humour, our comedy section is a good starting point. If you need some instant gratification, we've got 36 comedy trailers ready to go for you too.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on December 18th, 2007
Today New Line released a press release declaring their feud with Peter Jackson settled. Not only are these two parties settled they are now working on an adaptation of the classic novel, The Hobbit. Work will also start for a follow up sequel to the hobbit which will fill-in the spaces between the Hobbit and the already made Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Peter Jackson and his wife Fran Walsh are set to produce. No word yet on directors or writers but it's obvious that the mind blowing talent at WETA digital will be behind the SFX. The first movie should be expected around 2010. in the meantime Jackson has started shooting his latest production "The Lovely Bones", a horror feature. He is also set to direct a film called Tintin which is being produced by Steven Speilberg. Click below for the full press release.
ACADEMY AWARD-WINNER PETER JACKSON AND NEW LINE CINEMA JOIN WITH MGM TO PRODUCE “THE HOBBIT,” EAGERLY-ANTICIPATED FANTASY ADVENTURE EPICNEW LINE AND MGM TO CO-PRODUCE AND SHARE WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS
