Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 10th, 2007
Would you believe me if I told you a nature documentary was responsible for the advent of the summer blockbuster? Common film lore says Steven Spielberg's Jaws was the first of the now familiar summer smashes. Jaws was based Peter Benchley's book of the same name. Benchley was inspired by Blue Water, White Death, a groundbreaking documentary film about divers on a nine-month expedition to seek out, film and swim with a Great White Shark.
That's one reason you should watch Blue Water, White Death. There are easily a hundred more.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 10th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
Unfortunately, one of the best things you could say about the first season of ’Til Death is that it’s consistently inconsistent. It’s sometimes boring, it’s sometimes sentimental. Occasionally it’s angry. From time to time, it’s even funny. That said, I have a hard time believing the back cover’s assertion that this sitcom is a “top rated comedy.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 8th, 2007
There are those of us who love Will Ferrell and just about everything he’s done lately, and there are those of you who can’t stand the guy. Read that last sentence carefully and you’ll be able to determine which one I am, but I’m sure you won’t have to read much past this sentence to figure it out anyways. Starting back with A Night at the Roxbury and ranging to Old School and Anchorman, comedically I can’t get enough of these nonsense full movies. Surprisingly I didn’t check this one out in the theatres, but I eagerly welcome the opportunity now.
Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby) and Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder, School For Scoundrels) are rival world class figure skaters. During the 2002 WinterSport games the two tie for a Gold medal which leads to a scuffle, ultimately banning the two from the sport. Three years go by and the two are working dead end skate related jobs, Chazz is a drunken ice show performer, and Jimmy sells skates at a local sports store. Jimmy then learns from an obsessed fan (Nick Swardson, The Benchwarmers) that through a loophole he is only banned from singles figure skating, not pairs. Of course one thing leads to another and after a hilarious fist fight, Jimmy teams up with Chazz against both their volition. What ensues is some pretty funny stuff as the two try to get ready in time for the WinterSport games in Montreal.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 8th, 2007
Wow, the '80s were just full of pretentious crap, and for all the good that Fast Times at Ridgemont High offered, you know Hollywood, they simply can't just stop at one, so there was Hardbodies, Joysticks and other films that attempted to capture the spirit of fun and lightheartedness, while mixing in the occasional drug reference with copious amounts of nudity, some of it welcome, but most of it bordering on exploitative.
In the eminent wisdom of MGM/Fox, they have decided to release two of those films as an affordably priced package for those who are nostalgic past Bachelor Party or Ski School. The concept within both films is similar, with a group of guys (sometimes involving one fat guy, perhaps to capture the spirit of a recently dead John Belushi, but that's neither here nor there) looking to "get some", with one of the guys, usually the quietest and most reserved winding up with the girl he's been pining after. In the first one, Losin' It covers a group of friends who drive to Tijuana to, lose it, for lack of a better word. The story itself is forgettable for a myriad of reasons, but it is notable for the names that are involved in this project. Aside from the names that we know (yes, Tom Cruise was in this, as well as Shelley Long, who was red hot in her Cheers period), and upon further review, Curtis fricken' Hanson directed this thing! Who would have thought that the guy who did L.A. Confidential would direct the guy from Minority Report several years before they hit superstardom? John Stockwell would also appear in My Science Project, but he also appeared in Top Gun with Rick Rossovich, who also appears in this. And Jackie Earle Haley, who played Kelly Leak in the Bad News Bears films, also appears as one of the buddies too. Like I said, overall this is pretty predictable, but the kitsch lasts longer than the film's appeal. The disc physically cracked as I was playing this movie, and maybe that's not such a bad thing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 7th, 2007
When I first heard the title I was thinking, documentary on celebrities impact on making the planet go green. But now having seen Everyone’s Gone Green I can assure you that’s not the case. Instead this is a low budget Canadian movie about a slacker, which doesn’t leave me with much more expectations than when I thought it was a documentary on global warming. As a Canadian I can admit that besides producing some great actors and actresses and supplying some great filming locations, Canadian cinema is about as entertaining as watching the wind blowing around a plastic bag. This movie doesn't prove to be any different.
This movie has a very simple plot, and centers around a problem that seems to phase every single human being, wanting more than we have, and things we don’t necessarily need. The main character Ryan played by Canadian actor Paulo Costanzo who you might recognize from Joey, Road Trip, or even 40 Days and 40 Nights. Ryan is a slacker who wants more out of life so begins to contemplate scamming money while working for a lottery magazine.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 7th, 2007
I am a huge John Woo fan, especially his earlier classics like Hard Boiled. I’ll admit it’s been several years since I last seen Face/Off, but I don’t have a reason why, as I remember really liking this movie then. At either rate now I have a copy of the movie to call my own, and a special two disc release at that. Let’s just hope that it is what I remember, but as a big fan of Nick Cage I don’t think I’ll be let down.
In order to catch him, he must become him. I couldn’t put it any better myself, Face/Off tells quite the eccentric story of revenge, devotion, and of course crime. Sean Archer (John Travolta, Wild Hogs) is an extremely devoted FBI agent, obsessed with catching terrorist Castor Troy (Nicholas Cage, Ghost Rider). Several years earlier Troy killed Archer’s son, since then it’s been his goal in life to put Troy to justice. He gets the opportunity one day when Troy ends up in a coma after boasting about a massive terrorist attack he has planned on Los Angeles.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 6th, 2007
If you're into both movies and graphic novels ("comic books"), you'll want to have a watch at new web TV show "Bif! Bam! Pow! Wow!." Hosted by Tom Seymour of Graham Crackers Comics (a store in Chicago), the show is a quirky, interesting, quickly paced, fun tribute to our comic hero's villains and stories, and oozes graphic-geek cred.
Check out Batman, Spiderman, or Zombies -- all good fun and interesting as hell, with more (apparently) to come.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 6th, 2007
Hmmm... interesting. Looks like there's a single disc, non-SE version coming too, to complement the 2-Disc SE DVD and 2-Disc HD DVD versions announced yesterday. That's all I know so far...
Click for super enormous version...
Posted in: Super Round Up by Archive Authors on September 6th, 2007
Here's the first ever Review Super-Roundup: a soon-to-be-regular feature where we track down reviews all over the net in an effort to provide you with a well-rounded view about a particularly exciting or unique release.
Reviews aren't in any particular order; the one's with numerical rankings come first, and hell, I put UpcomingDiscs at the top because that's my prerogative. Other than that - these are culled from all over, and the quotes from each attempt to capture the spirit of the review. Click on through and enjoy! BTW - if you have a review you'd like included, comment it.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 6th, 2007
The DVD version is pre-orderable:
The HD DVD one is just "sign up for email notification"....
