Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 13th, 2007
What is it with horror films today? They just seemingly lack all original wit and style. And let’s not even mention the remakes that Hollywood forces on us. Having just finally watched John Carpenter’s Halloween (yes I know!!), forcing myself to watch the drab Black Christmas almost made me cringe.
A group of sorority sisters, after getting snowed in after the holiday break, try desperately to survive the night. Surviving from the intense cold isn’t the game plan of the film, but rather trying to survive from a relentless killer. The killer, for some reason, wants to kill all the girls. We never quite learn why exactly that is, but apparently the killer use to live in that sorority house. I guess that’s just a fine reason to start killing people on Christmas Eve.
Posted in: Blog Posts, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on October 11th, 2007
HD DVD players are back on top, at least for now. Several news sites are reporting Toshiba's announcement that HD DVD players have out-sold Blu-ray in 2007, according to the latest NPD Group sales figures. NPD shows HD DVD units at 53%, while Blu-ray is nine points down at 44%. Combo players account for the other 3%.
While Sony has seen good pick-up on their $499 units, released in August, Toshiba's $299 player is beginning to hit store shelves. The big T is also touting big expectations for sales of HD DVD PC drives. They're estimating 5 million units will be sold in 2008, which should help address Sony's PS3 advantage. Still, with studio support pretty much split 50/50, the format war has no end in sight. Have you jumped in, or are you holding out for a victor?
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on October 10th, 2007
Today Nintendo announced that their one-time arch rival Sega, has licensed Sonic to be included in the latest installment of the hit Super Smash Bros. franchise. The game releases in early 2008. The game also features the Legendary Solid Snake from the Metal Gear series. The game is of course exclusive to the Nintendo Wii and features numerous Nintendo and gaming mascots fighting it out on uniquely themed levels.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2007
I'm not much of a soccer fan. I played a few years as a kid, for a local community club, but quit well before puberty. I almost never watch it on TV, even when the World Cup bandwagon rolls around. The only players I can name are Pelé, Beckham and Hamm. And Knightley, but I suppose the Bend it Like Beckham star doesn't count.
With my limited knowledge and appreciation of the game, I didn't expect much from this HBO documentary. Sure, I know sports stories can be dramatic and exciting, but the U.S. Women's Soccer Team? Not my first choice of subjects. Imagine my surprise when I became totally engrossed in the inspiring story of these women who gave their all when hardly anyone cared, who fought through all kinds of adversity, who dared to dream.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2007
Surf's Up is Sony Pictures Animation's second and latest film, and is directed by Toy Story 2 co-director Ash Brannon and Chicken Little's Chris Buck. Although it was considered a box office failure, Surf's Up has since been applauded by critics and fans alike. I have to say, normally I'm a sucker for CGI films but lately there has been a flood of them on the market, and frankly they're starting to decline in quality. But Surf's Up does something different, it's actually a CGI mockumentary on surfing documentaries, and with quite a list of voice actors. The list includes Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, Jon Heder, Shia LaBeouf, James Woods, Diedrich Bader, and more. So does this film break free from the recent rut the animated film genre seems to have found itself in?
A crew of cameras follows Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf, Transformers) around Shiverpool, Antarctica documenting him as he hopes to become the next renowned surfing penguin, after his idol "Big Z" (Jeff Bridges, The Big Lebowski). Eventually a talent scout makes his way to Shiverpool where he recruits Cody to join his team. Here Cody befriends Chicken Joe (Jon Heder, School For Scoundrels) a mellow surfer, and becomes hostile with the buff and jerkish Tank Evans (Diedrich Bader, Napoleon Dynamite). Along the way he also meets a kind and caring lifeguard Lani (Zooey Deschanel, Live Free or Die) whom he instantly falls in love with. After a while Cody's arrogance gets himself injured while having a surf off with Tank, and he ends up being nursed back to health by a hermit named The Geek. Eventually Cody finds out that The Geek is actually "Big Z" and with his help Cody hopes to win the upcoming Big Z competition.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 8th, 2007
Some portions of this review regarding general show information are shared with the Season 1 and Season 2 reviews.
After watching the first two seasons of CSI Miami I was pleased with the shows story arc, and although the latter season was starting to get a bit dull with regards to the character development, the case loads were just as engaging and bizarre. As I've said before, I hope that in Season 3 a few of the weaker aspects form the past two season can be rectified like the sometimes endless dialogue.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 8th, 2007
Some portions of this review regarding general show information are shared with the Season 1 and Season 3 reviews.
Before I saw Season 1 of CSI Miami I was quite skeptical about the shows ability to live up to the original. After watching the first season I was impressed with most aspects of the show, ranging from character development to entertaining and interesting cases. I don't want to over praise the show though, because it does have its flaws, and can drag on a bit at times, but I'm hoping that Season 2 might just improve on these aspects.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on October 8th, 2007
Kotaku reported today that, Microsoft will be including 2 free games with all Xbox 360 SKUs starting at the end of October. The two titles being included are Forza Motorsports 2 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. This adds at least 90 dollars in value to the current prices of 360 units. Microsoft made it clear that no changes to pricing would be involved with the bundles.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on October 8th, 2007
Here's the trailer for the NEW straight to DVD Futurama movie. It releases on, November 27th, everywhere. Also look for the shows upcoming new season on Comedy Central early next year.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 7th, 2007
Some portions of this review regarding general show information are shared with the Season 2 and Season 3 reviews.
When the original CSI was put on the air, I was a huge fan. At the time it was totally unique, entertaining, and to a certain degree educational. Not to say that hasn't changed over the years, but it has certainly lost its uniqueness over the course of two spin-offs. However I won't judge the quality of these spin-offs because I've never actually watched them before, who knows maybe they still have the integrity of the original show. But when you have a show staring David Caruso, it's going to be hard to win me over, so I'm hoping for some developed storylines and engaging character arcs.
![Black Christmas (Unrated) [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/black-christmas-unrated-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
