Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 2nd, 2012
Ryan Gosling's 2011 made the rest of us look like a bunch of slackers. When he wasn't breaking up fights on the streets of New York City or inspiring countless memes last year, he was starring in three incredibly varied and well-received movies. The curiously punctuated Crazy, Stupid, Love. is the most commercial of those releases and also features Gosling at his movie star/leading man best. Steve Carell stars as Cal Weaver, a middle-aged man who is blindsided after his wife, Emily (go-to-adulteress-of-the-moment Julianne Moore, of The Kids Are All Right and Chloe), reveals she had an affair with a co-worker (Kevin Bacon) and asks for a divorce. While drowning his sorrows at a stylish local bar, Cal catches the eye of ladies’ man Jacob (Gosling), who decides to take clueless Cal under his wing and help him navigate the singles scene.
For a while, directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa along with screenwriter Dan Fogelman, seem content to make Crazy, Stupid, Love. into a less-slapsticky, slightly sharper version of Hitch. Carell and Gosling, an unlikely and terrific comedy duo, make those scenes come alive, and they are the best bits in the movie. Carell balances his sad-sack character with enough charm and humor to make you believe women would find him attractive, while Gosling admirably and completely commits to playing a smooth-talking operator with the same fervor he brought to playing a drug-addicted teacher (Half Nelson) or a fiercely anti-Semitic Jew (The Believer).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2012
Written by Joe Gause
Here we go again! It’s another movie about something dangerous in the water. I’m not gonna lie here, folks, I wasn’t expecting to much out of this one, but to my surprise I enjoyed it quite a bit. So here’s the short and skinny. A bunch of college kids set off to a lake house to enjoy a much-needed vacation. There is a fair amount of drinking and flirting and tomfoolery (always wanted to use that word). Early in the film we discover that Sara (Sara Paxton) has a dark secret with one of the town locals. As the party gets under way, trouble starts to brew in paradise when one of the partygoers gets his arm ripped off by a shark! In a panic to get him to the hospital they call the town sheriff (Donal Logue) only to find out that he and the locals have been releasing sharks into the saltwater lake and filming the shark attacks to sell to the folks at the Discovery channel! So, as you might guess, there is a fair amount of suspense-filled scenes with our heroes trying to not only escape the sharks, but also escape the crazy sheriff and the locals. It all comes to and end in a way that doesn’t leave you wanting to smack the director (which is rare in Hollywood these days).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2012
Written by Brian Ludovico
To film fans, the clause “Directed by Alfred Hitchcock” has almost become an adjective in and of itself. It has come to mean suspense created by using the viewer’s imagination and mind as a part of the film, first and foremost. These films didn’t have the freedom of CG, and consequently had to invent ways to achieve visual effects (watch the documentary on Birds or Rear Window for example). Besides the lack of freedom of creation that digital filmmaking now provides, the filmmakers had to tip toe around the Hays code, not only restrictive on sex and sexual undertones, but also on content (as we learn in the featurettes here) and gore. The phrase, and the adjective that bears the director’s name, has grown to include a certain quality of characters and meticulous film crafting in every phase of the production. Rebecca, therefore, can rightfully be called “classic Hitchcock.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on February 2nd, 2012
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson plays a hotshot college football player is at the cusp of making a big move to the NFL and riches when he collapses in the locker room due to a tumor growing in his chest, near his heart. Having to undergo cancer treatments, he loses his ability to play and must start again without all the advantages being a star came with.
It is sometimes hard to sympathize with a character he is so egotistical, and used his status to take advantage of other people, but he is undeniably a victim. Not only was he facing a lethal illness, but most of his family and friends treated him like a living lottery ticket. Of course, losing that ego is all a part of the all-too obvious character arc and life lesson's we are supposed to witness in this film. I spoil nothing by stating that he does indeed go through this crushing lesson in humility. While regaining strength after chemotherapy treatments, he just reconnect with his family members and find a way to earn a decent living. What unfolds would do the LIFETIME network proud. Tears are shed, fists open up for hugs, and the film lingers on at least 20 minutes longer than it should so that everyone can celebrate family for the sake of celebrating family.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 31st, 2012
Written by Joe Gause
Pass the tissue please! If you plan on watching this movie, I recommend you buy yourself a big box of tissue and be prepared to shed a few tears. This extremely well done post-WWII love story is designed to show you that life doesn’t always have a happy ending. The cast is nothing short of incredible, and the acting is top-notch. Here’s the short and skinny. Count Laszio de Almasy’s (Ralph Fiennes) plane is shot down in the final days of the war. He is badly burned and is in need of special care. Nurse Hana ( Juliette Binoche) volunteers to look after him in an old rundown church. During their time together she discovers that he has had quite a past. He had fallen in love with a married woman (Kristen Scott Thomas) and was secretly trying to convince her to leave her husband and be with him. Of course this never works out the way we want it to. And so begins the first of many tear-jerking events in this tale. She tells him to go away and never see her again (apparently cheating on her hubby was too much guilt for her), so our dear Count goes a bit love-crazy, hitting the drink a bit and becoming a bit like a stalker. One thing leads to another, and the husband (Colin Firth) learns of his wife’s wrongdoings, so he thinks the best way to get revenge on the Count is to run him down in his plane (not the smartest idea). Well, the plane crashes and misses the Count all together. Only problem is the Count’s love was also in the plane and is badly injured. She admits her love for the Count, and it seems we might just have a storybook ending here, but of course this is just false foreshadowing. The Count ends up leaving her in a cave while he walks through the desert for help, promising her he will only be gone for three days. He leaves her food and water and sets out into the vast sand. Well, as luck would have it, he is captured by the Germans, and it takes him quite a bit longer than three days to get back to her. Of course when our hero finally returns to the cave, his true love has died.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 30th, 2012
When I was in the fifth and sixth grade, I learned how to play a cello. Despite my attempts at learning the instrument, it was a constant struggle to be able to read sheet music and get my hands to cooperate in an appropriate manner. Personally, I think it had something to do with the fact that instrument spent half the time in the shop (school provided) rather than in my hands. Today’s review explores a similar subject, the movie: The Piano. Let’s see how well Holly Hunter does with her instrument.
We hear a voice. But it is not a speaking voice, rather a voice inside a female’s head. That female is Ada McGrath (played by Holly Hunter). She’s been a mute since she was six years old. For a little while now, she’s been without a spouse and unfortunately for her, she’s been promised to a man in New Zealand who has never met her. All of her belongings included her prized possession, a piano and her eleven year old daughter by the name of Flora (played by Anna Paquin) are put on a boat and the crew sets sail for the island.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 30th, 2012
Jack Lemmon is a rather meek insurance company employee who is slowly working his way up the corporate ladder by lending his apartment to married executives looking for a place to take their girlfriends. Life is rather inconvenient, as he is locked out of his home at all hours, but things become even more complicated when the big boss (Fred McMurray) takes an interest. The good news is that Lemmon gets another promotion. The bad news is that McMurray’s affair is with Shirley MacLaine, the elevator girl for whom Lemmon is carrying a torch.
Billy Wilder’s follow-up to Some Like It Hot certainly has plenty of funny moments, most involving Lemmon’s doctor neighbor (Jack Kuschen). But the film doesn’t shy away from the darker implications of its storyline (up to and including a suicide attempt). The result is a romantic comedy-drama that is sweet without being sentimental, and hard-nosed without being cynical. And the audience’s emotions are thus sincerely earned.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 24th, 2012
"The 2nd World War's violent, disturbing images have been constantly replayed for decades. Sometimes it seems there is little we can see that we haven't seen before. But buried in archives and tucked away in private collections an astonishing set of 3D films and photographs with the power to erase time and transcend space will now be seen for the first time in nearly 70 years."
I know what you're thinking. Like the above prologue says, it hardly seems like we can get anything new out of footage from World War II. There have been countless of specials and serials to the point of overload for many. Yet, History Channel has found ways to bring cutting edge technology to these old themes, and somehow they find new ways to intrigue us. Historians are living in a veritable new age of discovery. The boom began when footage was cleaned, restored and mastered in high definition. History was there every step of the way and delivered the goods in WWII in HD. But, they haven't stopped there. 3D has been trending lately, and now we have this documentary which delivers stunning 3D images from 70 years ago. What will be the next step?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 20th, 2012
The Paranormal Activity franchise steps back in time for this third entry, revealing how and why sisters Katie and Kristi come to suffer demonic assaults later in life. We are back in 1988. The blended family of mother Julie (Lauren Bittner), daughters Katie (Chloe Csengery) and Kristi (Jessica Tyler Brown) and stepfather Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith) are settling in to life together when the first odd things start happening.
Wedding video producer Dennis is the first to suspect the outright paranormal, and sets up cameras upstairs and down to capture events. Ominously, little Kristi has an imaginary friend, Toby, who, in proper Captain Howdy style, reveals himself to be all too real. What is he saying to Kristi? What does he want of her? Answers are forthcoming, and they are not reassuring.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 20th, 2012
"As you know, in less than two hours liquor will be declared illegal by decree of the distinguished gentlemen of our nation's Congress. To those beautiful, ignorant bastards. Rest assured that, dry though the country may be, I am in the midst of concluding arrangements that will keep Atlantic City wet..."
Lately, you might have heard a lot of folks talking about getting home for a little Nucky. Well... it's not what you think. They're talking about Nucky Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi on HBO's latest gangland series, Boardwalk Empire.
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