Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 10th, 2013
"Homer Simpson, it's time you got what's coming to you."
What's been a long time coming is bringing television’s longest ongoing scripted series to high definition and Blu-ray. There's so many seasons that it's going to take some time to get there. While the recent years are now coming out on Blu-ray, Fox has been working hard to get some of the older seasons up to speed. It's time for season 16.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 9th, 2013
“There she is boys…Mandy Lane. Untouched. Pure. Since the dawn of junior year, men have tried to possess her and, to date, all have failed.
With its deep-red title card and the blood-curdling scream that opens the film, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is very clearly a horror flick from its first frame. However, the movie displayed its greatest potential — a lot of which it squandered — when it seemed less preoccupied with who was going to kill Mandy Lane, and more interested in who was going to deflower her. The result is a promising, pitch black high school satire that eventually gets invaded by a run-of-the-mill horror film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 9th, 2013
"Wanted: a nanny for two adorable children. If you want this choice position, have a cheery disposition, Rosy cheeks, no warts. Play games, all sorts. You must be kind, you must be witty, very sweet, and fairly pretty. Take us on outings, give us treats, sing songs, bring sweets. Never be cross or cruel. Never give us castor oil or gruel. Love us as a son and daughter, and never smell of barley water. If you won't scold and dominate us, we will never give you cause to hate us. We won't hide your spectacles so you can't see, put toads in your bed, or pepper in your tea. Hurry, nanny! Many thanks!"
And so the call goes out for Mary Poppins. It was 1964 and Walt Disney had a terrible time convincing writer P.L. Travers that Walt Disney Studios should be the ones to bring her flying nanny to life in a feature film. Those trials and tribulations are the subject of a new film out by Disney called Saving Mr. Banks. And so the Blu-ray release of Mary Poppins has been timed to the box office release of Mr. Banks.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 5th, 2013
People have used a lot of different words to describe Michael Bay and his films: “loud”, “blockbusters”, “mindless”, “soulless”, “Hitler” and, of course, “awesome.” One of the words you don’t normally associate with Bay’s undeniably successful output is “clever.” I daresay Pain & Gain is the most interesting movie the action auteur has ever made; the film is both seriously silly and surprisingly smart in how it presents its stupid characters.
“Unfortunately, this is a true story.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 4th, 2013
We’re about 50 years removed from the Beatles taking the entire world by storm, so you’d be forgiven for thinking that everything anyone could possibly say about the Fab Four has already been said. Fortunately, the success of Good Ol’ Freda — a Beatles documentary that doubles as a loving tribute to its subject and the famous band she adored — doesn’t hinge on any heretofore unknown/shocking revelations. In other words, the film’s charm doesn’t so much come from what Freda Kelly says; instead, it comes from the delighted, no-fuss way she recounts her time with, arguably, the most famous band of all time.
“Who would want to hear the secretary’s story?”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 4th, 2013
Galactic Adventures from Image Entertainment is a nifty little collection of two Solar System IMAX films both running just under a half hour. The two short documentaries off a 3D ride to both the Sun and Mars. The films were produced in 2007 with 3D Sun opening at The Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum. Both films have made the circuit of science museums throughout the country and come to you now through the modern milestone of home 3D for the first time ever.
3D Sun:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 28th, 2013
What makes a bad movie? What makes a good movie? The standards are getting lost in murky waters, because many of the critics have no interest in film history and the clear record of what is great and what is garbage. That goes for many filmmakers too. Their standards are what works in the last 12 months and how to try out the latest technology. Unfortunately they often forget the tried and true basics like good writing and good acting. Ethan Hawke gets a lot of these small movies. Sometimes it's a fantastic independent film like Before Midnight (part of a series of films for director Richard Linklater including Before Sunrise and Before Sunset) and sometimes it a genre picture that costs nothing that makes a fortune like The Purge or Sinister. Hawke knows what he's doing. He wants to make every kind of picture, because he knows that's the only way to stay viable. Sometimes it doesn't work out.
Getaway is a simple genre picture made to make people happy. The goal of this movie is to have as many car crashes possible in under 90 minutes. Is that so terrible? Not really, but the problem is that it does get monotonous. There are too many crashes. One wouldn't expect that to be a problem, but it is. I've sat through six Fast and Furious movies, and I thought they were all crap except for the last one. Why? Fast and Furious 6 gave up any pretense of being taken seriously and just went all the way to make the movie fun. They spent a ton of money, but they finally just made the movie fun.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 25th, 2013
This is a film that has become a significant contribution to the very the timeline it depicts, which is that of US President Nixon being forced into resignation after the Watergate scandal. This film is an engrossing depiction of the actual reporters who used anonymous tips to help uncover a scandal so big that it rocked the entire US nation. This film was released only four years after the infamous attempt to bug the Democratic offices in Watergate, which spurred the entire course of events in this film. This was a bit of a passion piece for Robert Redford, as he began production while its main characters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (who would be played by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, respectively) were still reporting on related elements. Redford spent tireless hours, acting officially as the producer and star, researching the stories and the characters in order to deliver a compelling but painfully accurate adaptation.
By making these two reporters the main characters, the film became more of a detective story instead of merely a dramatization for what could easily have been a documentary. By seeing the actual methods these two men apply to uncover the details of Watergate, and “follow the money,” makes the audience all the more engaged in their findings. This, despite the fact that most everyone knows exactly how the film ends well before it begins.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 25th, 2013
It's nice to see two Spielberg veterans in the same movie. It's been a long time since American Graffiti when Harrison Ford and Richard Dreyfuss last appeared together. It's been a long time since Hooper in Jaws and Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but Dreyfuss and Ford don't appear together in this movie either. It's like they are in two different movies. Paranoia is a corporate espionage thriller with two CEO's played by Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman, who have strong ties and stronger hates. There is lots to like about the movie, but many, many missed opportunities too.
The story is fairly tangled and revolves around a young genius (Liam Hemsworth, the brother of Chris who plays Thor in some other movies) who suffers from immaturity and bad judgment. Richard Dreyfuss is his lovable loser of a father who needs his medical insurance. But he loses his medical insurance because he's not important enough to his big boss Oldman, who fires him. It turns out that was a bit of a ruse. It's actually much more convoluted and confusing than that, but that's the essence of it. Oldman's rivalry with his former mentor and now fierce competitor played by Ford is all-consuming, so much logic is lost in his zeal. Oldman uses threat of death and promises of riches to entice Hemsworth to infiltrate Ford's inner circle.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 22nd, 2013
"Space... the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before."
Quality shows only get better with time, and by the time Star Trek: The Next Generation entered its 5th season it was already beating out most network shows in the ratings. First-run syndication was still quite new, and it was almost unheard of to expect to go up against the networks and survive...let alone win. The Next Generation went where no series had gone before, and it was just getting better all the time.
