Dolby Digital 2.0 (English)

Boffo! Tinseltown’s Bombs & Blockbusters

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2006

Boffo! Tinseltown’s Bombs & Blockbusters is all about the magic of movies. It’s about doing it right and doing it wrong, and how there’s no sure thing. This HBO documentary doesn’t get very technical about making films, but it certainly does get personal with some of Hollywood’s heaviest hitters.

Through a well-crafted collection of interviews and clips from some of the best and worst movies of American cinema, this documentary brings us the perspectives of folks like Steven Spielberg, George Clooney…
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Xiaolin Showdown – Season One

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2006

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Synopsis

As if the urge to capitalize on the spirits and success of the Pokemon children’s franchise weren’t enough, someone decided it would be best to create an American version loosely based on the addictive game, or hobby, or whatever the hell it is that makes Pokemon so popular, and at least as of this writing, heading into it’s fourth season of episodes.

The idea is easy enough to follow. A young monk in training named Omi is the leader of a group of several other young monks. Among them are…
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Slight Case of Murder, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 21st, 2006

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Written By Jeff Mardo

TNT is slowly becoming the poor man’s HBO. Their programing quality has improved dramatically over the past couple of years, and even their original films are starting to look more like features than made-for-TV time wasters. More often than not, they provide quality programming that is a step above what you usually find on cable television.

This particular TNT original was both written and directed by William H. Macy. Predictably, Macy stars in the film as well. He pays a movie reviewer who is involved in an…
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Pet Sematary

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 20th, 2006

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From the rather twisted mind of Stephen King, Pet Sematary is actually one of my favorite of his horror novels. It’s scary to think the story was never meant to be published and only offered up to finish a contract with his earlier publisher. As has been the Stephen King plague at nearly every turn, something ends up lost in the translation. In the novel, the deeper subtexts that King is so adept at take several hundred pages to set up and ultimately pay off. Unfortunately a mere couple of hours of celluloid never …
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Nacho Libre

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 19th, 2006

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Jack Black says when he’s embarrassed, he knows it’s funny. He must have been pretty confident about the success of Nacho Libre, because as Ignacio (Nacho) – the friar by day, wannabe wrestler by night – he embraced one embarrassing moment after another.

Black stars as a friar at a Mexican orphanage run by the sort of God-fearing folk who think wrestling, or Lucha Libre, is a sin. All his life, Black has longed to be a luchador (wrestler), which is a bit of a conflict. His only jobs at the orphanage are cooking duty, and dead-guy duty.
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Magus, The (Cinema Classics)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 18th, 2006

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Synopsis

Michael Caine plays Nicholas Urfe, a self-centred, cynical Englishman who arrives on the Greek island of Phraxos to take a teaching post. He meets Maurice Conchis (Anthony Quinn), a mysterious individual who ensnares Urfe in a complex, psychologically violent mind game, where Urfe is increasingly unable to distinguish truth from lies, reality from illusion.

John Fowles wrote the script, adapting his own novel, and while the story is recognizable, the result is not encouraging. The …
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Slither

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 16th, 2006

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Synopsis

A meteor lands in your typical SF/horror movie Small Town (and it could well be the same meteor that brought the original Blob to town). Bullet-headed mug Michael Rooker stumbles over it one drunken night, and promptly becomes infected with carniverous slug-parasites from outer space. He sets about spreading the good news, as it were, and before long the entire town is a chaos of slithering nastiness and zombiefied townspeople.

After scripting the slick but soulless remake of Da…
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Forever Knight – The Trilogy, Part 3

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2006

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The USA network took over the Forever Knight series for its third year. In a way, you could say they saved the show from cancellation, but they also killed it. In keeping with the nework’s M.O. of the time, it was believed the series wasn’t accessible enough. The obvious grab for the younger audience appeared in the likes of the Andy Garcia clone Ben Bass as the Vachon. Lovable partner Schanke was killed off along with the previous season’s captain. Nick was given a female partner in the likes of sci-fi veteran Li…
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Supernatural – The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 11th, 2006

Synopsis

I first thought that Supernatural was a pointless, stupid show that Jared Padalecki was starring in, because I kind of liked his character on the Gilmore Girls (I’m a married male, by the way), and doing this show that I didn’t know that much about smelled like an instant disaster.

However, when you open up the DVD package, anyone who has seen the shows sees that there are a lot of creative members of the team that come from other shows with supernatural-like themes. Some of…
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I Am a Sex Addict

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 11th, 2006

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Synopsis

About to be married for what he hopes will be the final time, Caveh Zahedi turns to us and reveals his long battle with sex addiction. His story is a difficult one for him to tell, not only for the (very, very funny) personal humiliation it entails, but because he keeps interrupting himself and jumping from one moment in his life to another, but also because he gets tangled up with explaining how the recreations were done in the movie we are now watching. Thus, having just said that he could…
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Down in the Valley

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 10th, 2006

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Synopsis

In the soulless wasteland of the San Fernando Valley, feeling-her-oats teen Evan Rachel Wood meets cowboy (or something) Edward Norton at a filling station. Despite the creepy age difference, friendship becomes romance, but Wood’s father (David Morse) is understandably less than keen about the relationship. He orders an end to it. Neither of the lovers is happy with that, and the situation is all the more explosive since Norton is far from being right in the head.

The performances …
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They All Laughed

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2006

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Peter Bogdanovich’s The All Laughed is a classy, bittersweet film. It’s plot is pretty thin, but here’s the gist: a New York City private detective agency is hired to keep tabs on two women suspected of infidelity. Things get interesting when the gumshoes on the trail begin falling for their lovely targets.

The best part of this film is its cast. Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, John Ritter, Dorothy Stratten, Patti Hansen, Colleen Camp, Blaine Novak and George Morfogen all fit their parts so well, it’s not surprising to learn in the bonus material that Bogdanovich wrote the parts with exactly these actors in mind.
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Blackwater Valley Exorcism

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2006

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I don’t watch a lot of horror movies, but when I do I want them to be scary or amusing, or both. I found Blackwater Valley Exorcism to be none of the above.

The story centers around the demonic possession of a young woman, and the efforts a group of people make to save her. This group includes her family, her father’s farmhands, a sheriff, a veterinarian and a priest who’s never dealt with this sort of thing before. Luckily, one of those farmhands just happens to be a former priest who has conducted an exorcism.
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Cedric the Entertainer – Taking You Higher

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 8th, 2006

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Cedric the Entertainer – Taking You Higher is Cedric’s first solo HBO Comedy Special. He made his mark in the biz as a top-notch, critically acclaimed stand-up comedian, and has also appeared in a series of lackluster films like Be Cool and Big Momma’s House. I don’t think many would argue against the assertion that Cedric is at his best on stage, doing stand-up.

For proof, look to this hour-long HBO Special. Cedric the Entertainer lives up to his name in this show, which offers up about four parts stand-up, one part song and dance.
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The King

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 8th, 2006

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A letter from the filmmakers included with this disc reads, ”I guess some people will find… The King pretty extreme.” I had barely heard of this indy film going in, so I had few presuppositions to influence my experience. But before hitting play I read the letter, and that statement stuck with me as I watched. I wanted to know whether I was one of those people.

It turned out that I was. Sort of. There are aspects to this story that are so dark and twisted that I often found myself squirming as the scenes unfolded.
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Wildboyz – Complete Seasons 3 & 4

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 7th, 2006

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If Jackass was on the Travel Channel, the result would be Wildboyz. I think this show can best be described as “perversely fascinating”. On the one hand, any sane person would never sit in a hot tub full of alligators, or step into the ring with a champion Thai boxer. On the other hand, it really is fascinating to see these morons visit the wilds of Africa, see rat-infested temples in India or face off against the Russian hockey team. While most travel programs would discuss the history of the locations…
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Boris Karloff Collection

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 5th, 2006

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Few names are as recognizable as that of Boris Karloff. The gentle English actor who brought us the sweet Christmas tale “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” also brought us some of the most terrifyingly wonderful performances in the history of the business. Cursed with a harsh enough look, Karloff was denied the mainstream success his ability so obviously warranted. He was one of the founders of the Screen Actor’s Guild and was extremely active in charity work throughout his lengthy career. Still, mainstream Hollywoo…
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This Island Earth

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 5th, 2006

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By the middle of the 1950’s Universal was playing out its long string of monster movies that started over 20 years earlier with Dracula and Frankenstein. In the next year their last iconic monster would take its last bow in The Creature Walks Among Us. This Island Earth was a bit of a crossover film. Like many of the alien invasion films of the 1950’s the film capitalized on the growing belief that we were not alone. Contrary to the DVD’s misleading box art, these aliens were here to find answers to their own survi…
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Gilmore Girls – The Complete Sixth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 4th, 2006

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When I began watching Gilmore Girls several years ago, it was in response to my girlfriend saying, “it’s my favourite show, but you don’t have to watch it with me.” This meant, of course, that I’d better sit my butt down right quick and get to know the Lorelais.

Well, my girlfriend became my wife, and Gilmore Girls has now made it to season six on DVD. I’ll admit that I’ve taken a liking to the show. It’s not the best thing on TV, but it’s far better than the worst. My biggest complaint about Gilmore Girls also happens to be my favourite thing about it – the dialogue.
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Save the Last Dance

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 4th, 2006

Synopsis

Everything I needed to know about why there was a double-dip of Save the Last Dance was answered within the first five minutes, when I saw a trailer for what appears to be the straight-to-video sequel for the film. So from there, the strategy appears to be to throw two or three semi-current extras onto the existing disc and call it a special edition. My favorite. Like green vegetables first thing in the morning. Now don’t get me wrong, the movie itself I like, but I would guess that there ar…
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I Am A Sex Addict

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 4th, 2006

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One of the nice things about I Am A Sex Addict is that it is both a comedy and a documentary. I am thrilled that at some point somebody figured out that documentaries can be entertaining as well as informative. Filmmakers have certainly turned the camera on themselves before, but I don’t recall seeing one be quite as intimately honest as Zahedi is here. This is a film that is just what the title suggests… an examination of the life of a sexaholic. The document is sometimes funny, but frequently uncomfortable…
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The 4400 – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 3rd, 2006

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The second season of USA Network’s The 4400 picks up one year after the events of the four-part season one. This time around, we know the 4400 once-missing people were not returned from alien abduction, but rather from the future.

That revelation aside, this series is still chock full of mystery. What is the nature of the fate the 4400 are meant to save us from? How were they selected? What impact will their return continue to have on the collective future of humankind? Will the government’s role be one of interference, or protection?
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Dead Zone, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 1st, 2006

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Synopsis

As one who has a brother that is (or was) a bit of a Stephen King fanatic and loves goofy King adaptations like Pet Cemetery, I’d never seen The Dead Zone, and I’m a Christopher Walken (True Romance) fan. I’m also a David Cronenberg (Dead Ringers) fan. And now that I’ve finally seen The Dead Zone, I can consider myself having a fairly complete existence now.

Based on King’s novel and adapted for the screen by Jeffrey Boam (The Lost Boys), Johnny S…
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Bob Newhart – Button Down Concert

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 30th, 2006

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Synopsis

I can honestly say that a one-hour standup special might result in my shortest review ever, but if that’s how the chips fall this time, so be it. Bob Newhart is certainly not without his admirers, he’s been an established comedic force for decades. He didn’t get his big break until the ‘60s, and parlayed that success into television shows in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and aside from the occasional movie appearance, shows up from time to time with late night talk show hosts that run out of material.

Brak Show, The (Volume 2)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 27th, 2006

Synopsis

Following the success of The Cartoon Network’s entertaining Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, someone decided to include one of the characters from the show as part of a spinoff series. The Brak Show recalls the encounters of the space cat of sorts, as he’s placed in a home with a loving mother and father, sort of in the vein of a Leave it to Beaver scenario.

The show, which ran from 2000-2003 had been previously released in one Volume, and this second version covers the …
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