Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 5th, 2006
I don�t recall when I first saw Rocky, and I haven�t kept track of how many times I�ve seen it since. The answers are probably �15 years ago� and �more than 10 times�, but accuracy isn�t important. What is important for you to know, is that Sylvester Stallone�s masterpiece is one of my favourite films of all time.
In other words, I love this movie, so don�t expect any criticism until at least the �video� section of this review. I don�t deny that there may be aspects of Rocky that merit denigration, I just refuse to let anything distract me from what I consider to be the ultimate inspirational story.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 4th, 2006
When I sat down to watch The Devil Wears Prada with my wife, who was excited to see it, I was braced for a complete chick flick. I figured it was another one of those �ugly� duckling turns beautiful to conquer her situation movies, and that prospect didn�t exactly have me jazzed up.
Well, that�s not quite how it goes, and I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the film. The story centres around Andrea (Anne Hathaway), an aspiring journalist who�s getting nowhere, who takes a job as second assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the frightening editor-in-chief of a leading fashion magazine. The idea is that this job could be an influential stepping stone to her career as a serious journalist. Unfortunately, Andrea is totally out of her element in the fashion world, and at first struggles to accomplish the simplest tasks of her ridiculous new job. Everyone mocks her complete lack of style, and she mocks them right back � though much, much more timidly � for taking this fashion stuff so seriously.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 30th, 2006
John Tucker Must Die has all of the elements of an average teen movie: a high school setting, an unrealistically attractive cast, cliques, and the list goes on. That’s my way of saying I can’t think of any other obvious teen movie stuff, so fill in whatever comes to your mind and I’m sure it’ll fit just fine.
If it looks and sounds like a duck, then it probably is an average teen movie, right? Right. I may have skipped a step there, but the point is you shouldn’t expect anything special from John ...ucker Must Die. But if you want some eye candy and a fluffy, feel-good ending, then this might be the movie for you.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 30th, 2006
Five years seemed to go by in the blink of an eye, but Sydney Bristow and friends have gone on their final mission. The final season brought along the expected plot twists, new faces, and clever disguises just as the previous four had, but something was definitely missing by now. With J.J. Abrams moving on to other things like Lost and Start Trek XI, it seems that Alias was left to fend for itself. Now, granted, it had been a while since Abrams was involved in the day to day running of the show, but by year 5 it se...med to also be lower on everyone’s priority list. It was the lowest ratings for many episodes. The introduction of Prophet Five never really made it out of the awkward stage. While it was clear that at times Alias was trying to return to the beginning in tone and delivery, the same tricks don’t seem to always work the second time.
Cast additions dominated this season cut short. Rachel Nichols is an attempt to remind us of our first introduction to Sydney. She also has been deceived into working for a CIA pretend organization called The Shed. Rachel Gibson has a more technical skill set, but takes to the APO as did Sydney. Amy Acker has the far better new role as Kelly Peyton. Peyton is a bit of a villainous foil that we could have actually used more of. Finally, I think we were all getting a little tired of Rambaldi. It would have served Alias far better to have moved on at some point. (I’m talking years ago.) By the last episodes all they were trying to do is wrap things up, and it ended up causing some contrived finishes that did not do the show or its legion of fans justice.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 27th, 2006
I�m never up on the film festival scene, so it�s no surprise to me that I�ve only just discovered Tom Zuber�s Little Athens, even though it was an official selection of the Toronto Film Festival back in 2005.
My three favourite things about this movie are its strong cast, solid story and the unique cinematography. Actually, make it four things, because the soundtrack is also pretty excellent.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 25th, 2006
(Portions of this review have been pulled from the original one-disc version of Ronin, which can also be found in the reviews portion of the site)Synopsis
I think the only thing I remember about Ronin initially was that Robert DeNiro (Heat) was involved in some scandal involving a French "house of ill-repute" or something along those lines. But when Ronin was released, people quickly forgot about that mess, as what came from it was an action film that put a little more e...fort into the characters than other action films. But that’s not to say the action scenes were neglected; the car chase scenes that negotiate through winding French country roads, and through city sidestreets so narrow you couldn’t open either car door to get out of the car, are some of the most nail biting in recent memory. Based on J.D. Zeik’s story and rewritten by Richard Weisz, a.k.a. David Mamet, Ronin’s introduction is a title card about Japanese samurai without a master, who are mission-less assassins. As a US operative named Sam, DeNiro is introduced almost immediately to the group, who include Frenchman Vincent (Jean Reno, Leon), the Russian, Gregor (Stellan Skarsgard, Dogville) and the Brit, Spence (Sean Bean, Lord of the Rings). Their liaison between them and their employer is the Irish lass Deirdre (Natascha McElhone, Solaris), and their object is a briefcase whose contents are mysterious.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 25th, 2006
Synopsis
Back when it first aired on Comedy Central in a previous incarnation as a television series, Strangers With Candy was an interesting enough premise. Take a menopausally challenged, recently released prisoner named Jerri Blank (Amy Sedaris, Elf) who decides to return home for the first time in over three decades to try and get a new start and throw her into high school. Now, not knowing how good or bad the show did, it must have had some sort of following, because there’s a movie out ...ow from which said television series is inspired.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 24th, 2006
No monster movie is bigger than King Kong. AFI members recently considered King Kong to be the most influential film ever. The original King Kong has inspired more filmmakers, actors, and technicians than any film in Hollywood’s history. The score is considered the first modern film score. For the first time the music is timed to accent certain aspects of the action. Willis O’Brien practically invented movie special f/x with his revolutionary stop motion technique seen earlier on The Lost World. One of those filmma...ers so inspired was director Peter Jackson. It seems none of the wonderful journey that was Lord of the Rings would exist on celluloid if not for King Kong. At 12 years old, Jackson set out (unsuccessfully) to create his own version of the iconic film and has apparently dreamed of remaking it ever since. After a hopeful but aborted start in 1996, Peter Jackson finally brought his childhood fantasy to life, and was it ever worth the wait.
The first question you might ask is how does this film compare with the original or the 1976 Kong? This film simply blows away the 1976 debacle. As for the original? Obviously the 70 years of f/x progress means that Kong himself shows the greatest improvement. No question the stop motion Kong was the most spectacular thing 1933 audiences had ever seen. Today we live in a computer age where if you can imagine it someone can bring it to life. Jackson’s WETA Digital is very much like George Lucas and ILM. In New Zealand they are movie f/x. Unlike Lucas, Jackson integrates his f/x so intimately into the action that we cease to think of them as movie magic. Lucas tends to overload each scene with a “look ma what I can do” overindulgence. Andy Serkis plays the Kong character as he did with Gollum so that the other actors have something real to act against. His emotional range gives Kong a façade of realism that sucks us into the story without really thinking about the f/x. So, like the original, Kong is a real character to us, capable of feelings and deserving of our empathy When he finally slips from the tower of the Empire State Building, we share an emotional moment with Ann (Watts) that can only be possible for a real being. The film is far longer than the original. In this extended version Jackson’s Kong is about double the original’s running time. Jackson’s Skull Island, while richly detailed and far more elaborate than the original, maintains the illusion that we are in that same place. The creatures are purely magic, rivaling the best we’ve seen from Jurassic Park.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2006
Synopsis
This is another film one feels a little silly summarising, given that it must be an exercise in redundancy. At any rate, Macy’s department store gets a new Santa, and this one (a marvellous Edmund Gwenn) insists that he is the real thing. He sets about restoring the sense of wonder in hard-nosed Maureen O’Hara and her skeptical daughter (Natalie Wood), and John Payne winds up having to prove that our boy is who he says he is in a memorable court case.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2006
I thought Pen & Teller were magician-comedians. When did they get a T.V. show? Call me out of touch, but I hadn�t heard of Pen & Teller: Bullsh*t! until this third season set was sent my way to review.
Obviously, I�m in no position to make comments like, �season three of Bullsh*t! (for short) is by far the best yet.� I can say it�s the finest season of Bullsh*t! I�ve ever seen in my entire life, but that means jack-all since I�ve already explained that it�s the only season of Bullsh*t! I�ve watched.
