Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2005
This remake ofCheaper by the Dozen, like the original, focuses on the Baker family. Father Tom Baker (Steve Martin) and mother Kate Baker (Bonnie Hunt) decided to have 12 children. The children range from 5 years old to 22 years old. Nora (Piper Perabo) is the oldest child and the one who lives outside the home. Tom coaches Division III football at the small Lincoln College. When Tom’s old teammate Shake Maguire (Richard Jenkins) shows up to offer Tom a big fat contract to coach Division I at Illinois Poly Uni...ersity, Tom decides to take the job. The obvious catch is that Tom and his ENTIRE family must move from Chicago to Illinois.
The second oldest child Charlie Baker (Tom Welling) is the star quarterback of his team. Charlie leads his siblings in voting on the decision not to move. Tom and Kate decide it’s in the family’s best interests to move. The kids, for the most part, are complete brats and are extremely annoying (I guess ALL children are right)?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 20th, 2005
If your first introduction to William L. Petersen is through CSI, then you’re missing some real treats with his short-lived film career, which burned brightest about fifteen years before he ever became Gil Grissom and investigated his way onto our small screens and, subsequently, into our hearts. Both of his cinematic outings never got the respect due them until after Petersen reminded us he was still alive, still well, and still acting. His best effort was Manhunter, Michael Mann’s adaptation of the Th...mas Harris novel Red Dragon. While the most recent effort stuck more to the letter of Harris’s novel, Manhunter proved the superior film through Mann’s unmistakable style, and the straight-laced, troubled, and obsessive portrayal of Agent Graham by Petersen.
In To Live and Die in L.A., Petersen again dons a badge, this time as Federal Agent Richard Chance for the U.S. Treasury Department. He’s after a murderous counterfeiter (Willem Dafoe), and he has zero qualms about cracking heads and breaking rules to bring down his adversary. As the film progresses, director William Friedkin throws us quite a few surprises, and yet another breathless car chase. It’s too bad Friedkin’s career is remembered for only two films: The Exorcist and The French Connection. Because his courtroom-serial killer thriller Rampage, and this 1985 action-drama are solid efforts, and much better deserving of success than most anything Hollywood puts out today.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 14th, 2005
Written by Clayton Self
Kingdom of Heaven is a handsome epic by Gladiator director Ridley Scott. It is an underrated film due to a less than successful theatrical release, but at closer examination, this film is a deeply important tale of courage, faith and self-sacrifice. It focuses on a relatively lesser-known period of the crusades, when peace was trying to be made between Christian and Muslim.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 14th, 2005
Written by Clayton Self
The cult classic "Office Space" from creator Mike Judge (Bevis and Butthead) found a huge following on its initial release on DVD. The movie stars Ron Livingston as Peter Gibbons, a software analyst for the computer giant Initech. Fed up with his condescending boss (Gary Cole) and the frustrations of his job in general, he visits a hypno therapist who puts him in a state of well being and relaxation. The therapist dies of a heart attack before the procedure is complete, leaving Peter permanately care free. Peter ...ses his new confidence to ask out a local waitress (Jennifer Aniston) and to plot with his co-workers to install a virus that will take fractions of a cent from Initech's money transactions and place them into an account for them. Also of mention is the paranoid nuerotic Milton (Stephen Root).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 13th, 2005
In the event you had to move under a rock in 1997 and just crawled out from under it last week, James Cameron’s TITANIC – winner of 11 Academy Awards - recounts the tragic sinking of the supposedly indestructible ship seen through the eyes of two young lovers on board. Though the romance is fictional, it serves as a guide that will walk us through one of the most memorable events of the twentieth century.
There isn’t much to be said about this film that hasn’t been said a thousand times over in the ...ast few years. If you’re looking for some master thespians, you won’t find them here although the supporting cast, with the likes of Frances Fisher, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Victor Garber and more is quite rich. While Winslet was more than capable as Rose, a young, passionate woman betrothed to a rich asshole (Billy Zane), DiCaprio, in the main role of Jack Dawson, teetered on horrendous at times although in his defense, some of the dialogue he was given was cheese worthy of George Lucas’ best work. Both however, proved more than apt at giving us a fantastic point of view at the very real events depicted in the movie. That realism is precisely what propels Cameron’s film into the stratosphere of “historical epics”. Yes, there may be a few inaccuracies that were modified for dramatic purposes but heck, even documentaries have those. The realism was in the success Cameron had in bringing the ship and the people on it back to life for a few precious hours in order to put their story in perspective. The Kate and Leo show took up most of the screen time but in the end, it paled in comparison to what was happening to the ship itself.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 9th, 2005
The Mask of Zorro was the Pirates of the Caribbean of its day. A classic swashbuckling story packed with action and romance, yet still presented in a family-friendly style that hearkened back to the days of the old Saturday afternoon matinée. Indiana Jones was conceived in this style, as was Disney's National Treasure, in a way. There is a ton of room in the marketplace for PG and PG-13 rated films like this, as it provides something that the whole family can not only attend at the theater, but t...uly enjoy. I wish Hollywood made more films like this. Now, I certainly have a soft spot for the standard hard R flicks, but who doesn't love a good classic (mostly) wholesome adventure tale?
In addition to being the highlight of Antonio Banderas' questionable career, this film brought the movie-going world a wonderful gift in the package of Catherine Zeta-Jones. Michael Douglas will eternally be grateful for this inspired casting choice, as she became an instant superstar after her scene-stealing performances in this film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 30th, 2005
The Girl in the Café is an interesting idea for a movie. It’s a blend of romantic comedy with a political agenda. The film doesn’t really work, but it’s nice to see something different. The romantic pair is played by Bill Nighy and Kelly MacDonald. Both are fine actors, and they have an awkward, engaging chemistry. Nighy plays a lonely civil servant and MacDonald plays a damn sexy woman. They “meet cute” in, you guessed it, a café, and they end up going to the G8 summit in Iceland (go figure). The scri...t is written by Richard Curtis (of Love Actually). Curtis seems to have a flair for the unconventional in his scripts. He doesn’t quite pull off the last act, but (for most of the ride) The Girl in the Café is worth a look.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 27th, 2005
Synopsis
Wow, take a look at the vocal talent that lends a hand to this straight-to-video sequel! As Lilo, you’ve got that child actress next to be exploited by her parents in Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds). Lilo’s custodian is Nani (Tia Carrere, Wayne’s World). Stitch’s alien friends are voiced by David Ogden Stiers (M*A*S*H*) and Kevin McDonald (The Kids in the Hall). Jason Scott Lee (Dragon) plays Nani’s love interest David.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 27th, 2005
Synopsis
Wow, take a look at the vocal talent that lends a hand to this straight-to-video sequel! As Lilo, you’ve got that child actress next to be exploited by her parents in Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds). Lilo’s custodian is Nani (Tia Carrere, Wayne’s World). Stitch’s alien friends are voiced by David Ogden Stiers (M*A*S*H*) and Kevin McDonald (The Kids in the Hall). Jason Scott Lee (Dragon) plays Nani’s love interest David.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 3rd, 2005
Synopsis
The son of Seth Brundle, the unfortunate man-fly, is born with his mixture of human and fly DNA. He turns out to be uncannily brilliant, but also reaches adulthood (played by Eric Stoltz) in only five years. He grows up in the Bartok Industries facility, and is asked to carry on his father’s work. Inevitably, the fly genes make themselves felt, and he begins to transform, and love interest Daphne Zuniga wants to save him.
