Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on June 25th, 2007
Shouldn’t you be out at the beach right now?
I don’t know about you, but I burn easily, so I can’t spend as much time at the pool as others, so I get to watch movies, and I watched Ocean’s Thirteen at a theater that just opened down the road from me. The theater itself is pretty nice, the film delivered what it’s supposed to do, which is be fun, so you can’t ask for too much more I guess. Overall, there really isn’t that much to pore over, other than surveys which reiterate what everyone already know..., which that HD is getting bigger and better, but the video formats that would best suit this continues to suffer in the big picture. It would be nice if everyone played nice and got behind this thing, but I would expect the petty sniping to continue for quite awhile.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 23rd, 2007
Snow Cake is a slow, quiet film that creeps up on you. You don’t realize it’s working for you until the end rolls around, and you’re left reflecting on its impact.
It’s about a lonely, middle-aged man whose life is changed by a car crash. Alex Hughes (Alan Rickman, Love Actually) is on a road trip across Canada. He reluctantly picks up a hitchhiker, a spunky teenage girl. Just as they’re developing a bit of a connection, they’re blindsided by a semi. This results in Alex making an unplanned st...p in her hometown of Wawa, Ontario, to visit the girl’s mother, Linda (Sigourney Weaver, Alien), a high-functioning autistic woman.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 22nd, 2007
Although Trading Places is nearly twenty five years old it still manages to offer some pretty good laughs, being one of the better comedies out of the 80’s. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Eddie Murphy, and Dan Aykroyd the trio appeared to have some great chemistry together, as they were all at or near the peaks of their careers.
Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd, The Blues Brothers) is a well respected member of high society, manages a commodities brokerage firm for the Duke Brothers and is recentl... engaged to the superficial Penelope. Everything is going well for Louis until Mortimer and Randolph Duke have a bet on the nature versus nurture debate. Mortimer believes that any well breed member of high society can get back on his feet even if everything was taken away from him, and a street urchin would simply fail even if the right opportunity for a bright future came along. Randolph of course believes the opposite and the two decide to wager “the usual amount” on the bet, and before you know it Louis is framed as a drug dealer and a thief. With frozen bank accounts and no house he has only a hooker with a heart of gold, Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis, True Lies) to count on. Meanwhile Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy, The Nutty Professor) is invited into the posh arms of high society, living in Louis’s house and even taking his old job. It appears that money is already changing Billy Ray, and the street has broken the once confident and in control Louis. Eventually the two see society for what it really is which actually leads to a pretty interesting climax.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 21st, 2007
Four years ago when The O.C. came out it was a pretty big deal. I was finishing out high school back then, and like Beverly Hills 90210 did to the previous generation, The O.C. captivated the minds of the teenagers and young adults. I, like most people my age, watched the first season regularly. Back then I loved it and although some of its novelty has worn off, I can still really enjoy it. But as with most shows, as the years go on, the episodes become less entertaining - I watched much of the s...cond season, parts of the third season, and none of the fourth. Recently I had a fit of what could best be referred to as nostalgia, I rented the first three seasons of The O.C. and got back into what I loved so much back in 2003. As it stands I still really like the first season, the second season seemed lazy and predictable as with the third. Since I already know the fourth season was its last, I hope it somehow returned to its roots, regardless I am eagerly anticipating how things are going to wrap up.
If for some reason you’re reading this and have not yet seen the first three seasons of The O.C. I’ll briefly fill you in on the situation, so be prepared for spoilers. Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie) was a troubled teenager living in Chino, after being busted for theft his public defender Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher) decided to adopt him giving him a new start in the posh Orange County. Before long Ryan befriends Sandy’s son Seth (Adam Brody) and the neighbor’s daughter Marissa (Mischa Barton). Of course there are love triangles, parties, fights, and other teenage matters that are dealt with throughout the show, but it mainly focuses on the relationships between Ryan and Marissa and Seth and the girl of his dreams Summer (Rachel Bilson). By the time season three wraps up Marissa has died in a car accident and Summer is heading to college out east.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 21st, 2007
Flags of Our Fathers is based on the book of the same name by James Bradley and Ron Powers about the Battle of Iwo Jima and the famous raising the flag on Iwo Jima picture. It’s the second recently released movie about the Battle of Iwo Jima, the other being Letters from Iwo Jima.
Both films were directed by Clint Eastwood. Although both focus on the same event, they are quite different. Letters from Iwo Jima is from the Japanese perspective and Flags of Our Fathers from the Ame...ican. Also, Flags is more focused on the group of Marines that raised the flag, their efforts in selling war bonds back in America and their coping with the war. Having recently watched and enjoyed Letters from Iwo Jima, I eagerly anticipated this film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 20th, 2007
Shooter is closely based on Point of Impact, an excellent novel by thriller writer Stephen Hunter. I read the book in the late 90’s, and enjoyed it. A lot. When I began seeing trailers for this film last year, you can bet I was excited at the prospect of seeing Bob Lee Swagger come to life on the big screen, even if it had to be “Marky” Mark Wahlberg in the role.
The film updates Hunter’s story to present day, shifting Vietnam to Iraq and villains to mercenary pawns of thinly veiled Dubya coho...ts. Otherwise, it’s fairly true to the story structure in the novel, which is a good thing in my book, but obviously the movie has to play well on its own. I’d call this one entertaining overall, but uneven – some parts are terrific, others drag it down.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 18th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
Television today is littered with shows that burned bright but died quickly. In a time when networks are quick to cancel, it’s becoming more and more rare to see a show live out its full potential. Having just concluded its thirteenth season, with many more years on the horizon, ER has more than shown itself to be a proven commodity. It could very well be remembered as one of the most successful and longest-running series in the history of primetime television.
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on June 18th, 2007
I’ve got enough tiki torches, guava juice and poi to last awhile.
Well, I’m still trying to catch up on things on East Coast time, even as things in Hawaiian Time are still dark out as of this writing, not to mention just so damn nice out. Anyway, moving on to the news, which is, well, pretty bland, since all of the next gen released equipment is just about to come out or has come out. Blu-ray buyers do have reason to celebrate though, as Blockbuster has announced Blu titles in their stores for carrying. On...smaller software news, Sony has an email address and phone number set up for the Fifth Element exchange, as the remastered disc comes out next month.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 16th, 2007
I’m kicking myself. Martin Scorcese’s The Color of Money has long been a favourite of mine, but for some reason I never knew it was a sequel to The Hustler, a film 25 years older and three times better.
Starring a young Paul Newman (Road to Perdition) in a role that earned him his second Oscar nomination, The Hustler is about a cocky pool player hustling his way to the top. When “Fast Eddie” Felson (Newman) challenges undefeated straight-pool champ Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason,...Requiem for a Heavweight) to a high stakes game, the talented young hustler shows he has the skills to be the best, but self-destructs toward the end of the 25-hour marathon match. Left near-penniless and without the managing partner who helped him get started in the seedy world of pool hustling, Eddie faces an uphill struggle to regain his confidence. Shacking up with smart, attractive and similarly self-destructive Sarah (Piper Laurie, Carrie) proves to be a decent diversion while Eddie wallows in misery, but while he uses her as a crutch, he becomes the cause of her destruction when he agrees to play for Bert Gordon (George C. Scott, Patton), a ruthless, greedy manager, and brings her along when they hit the road.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 16th, 2007
Watching the trailers for Black Snake Moan, I recall thinking it was going to drum up some outrageous controversy. I mean, the only thing we really knew about the film was that a big, scary black man chains up a half-dressed white girl in his home. Not exactly a wholesome image.
It’s a southern gothic parable, starring Samuel L. Jackson (Shaft) as Lazarus, a God-fearing man whose wife just left him for his own brother, and Christina Ricci (Sleepy Hollow) as Rae, a broken young woman wh...’s haunted by terrible sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather. Other key players include Justin Timberlake (Alpha Dog) as Rae’s boyfriend, Ronnie, John Cothrane Jr. (Madagascar) as Lazarus’ reverend friend, and S. Epatha Merkerson (Law & Order) as a potential love interest for Lazarus.
![Flags of Our Fathers (Two-Disc Special Edition) [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/flags-of-our-fathers-two-disc-special-edition-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
