Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 11th, 2006
(Portions of this review have been pulled from the original one-disc version of Jackass, which can also be found in the reviews portion of the site)Synopsis
One could make an attempt at witty prose by comparing Jackass to the works of Kubrick, Cassavettes, Scorsese, or what have you. But look, it’s a bunch of guys, some of whom have reputations in other circles, such as skateboarder Bam Margera and acclaimed director Spike Jonze, doing stunts that you may not have thought, dared or ...emotely considered doing, and keeping parts of the general public off guard. The gang made a huge splash on MTV, and scores of crazed teens wanted to try what these guys were doing, and maybe appear on the show. I think the quote from Millhouse on the Simpsons says it best: "All those warnings on TV make me want to do it more". The kids would get burned, broken, what have you, and parents who couldn’t crack the whip hard enough at home decided to sue anyone under the sun, despite the profuse warnings on each show, as well as a timeslot shift early on in the series’ life. So Johnny Knoxville became this decade’s Beavis, which I guess makes Steve-O Butthead. So, after judging (perhaps correctly) there wasn’t anything really left to do on TV, they decided to step things up and do a movie, and a $5 million budget led to a gross of over $60 million and a sequel that may make the same amount.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 10th, 2006
In the wake of cable television’s recent success in the horror anthology genre, TNT brings us 8 tales from the mind and pen of Stephen King. Showtime’s hugely popular Masters of Horror series set a high standard while proving that this time-honored method of storytelling could survive. Cable’s unique ability to circumvent many of the censorship problems that plague network television puts them at a distinct advantage. Here it’s easier to tell compelling stories, with limitations, for the most part, only in the imag...nation of the story teller himself. And oh, what an imagination to cultivate, that of Stephen King. In his garden some of our most frightening nightmares are tended like the fragile leaves of a new basil plant. Here our fears are planted in fertile ground indeed, as fertile as graveyard dirt. These stories are what set apart this series from the many that have come and gone before. Most of the stories carry a feel very much like the 1990’s Outer Limits episodes we saw on Showtime a decade or so ago. You can almost hear the controller’s voice delivering a sober moral as each piece fades away. There are 8 episodes, each about 45-50 minutes spread out over 3 discs.
Disc 1
“Battleground” The teleplay is by Richard Christian Matheson, son of the great Richard Matheson who brought us many Twilight Zone adventures as well as “I Am Legend”, basis for a third version starring Will Smith, coming soon. The father also wrote the teleplay for the famous “Prey” segment of Trilogy Of Terror. This story is very much an almost remake of that episode. The story is unique in several ways. The most obvious is that there is no dialogue in the entire hour. I found it slowed the story down quite a bit, particularly in the overlong setup. Here William Hurt plays an assassin who slowly breaks into the headquarters of Morris Toys, where he apparently was hired to kill Morris, the owner. He commits his dirty deed and steals a music box dancer as a souvenir. Back at his plush penthouse apartment, we see he has collected many of these trophies over the years. In Battleground, we find that payback’s a bitch. A mysterious package arrives by carrier. Inside is a chest full of plastic army men and play equipment. These guys are pretty much like the versions we all had as kids. The toy regiment comes complete with choppers and jeeps as well as a “surprise item”. Our killer’s apartment becomes the titular Battleground when the toys come to life and terrorize the man. The f/x here are simply amazing as the toys wage a war with our gunman. There are even shades of another King classic, “The Ledge” from the Cat’s Eye collection here. After that slow start, things move at a brisk pace now that the battle is on. The Zuni Doll from the original Trilogy Of Terror episode also makes a cameo in this story. It acts as a nice moment of foreshadowing. Hurt has to carry the story, at least until the real action kicks in. You’ve just got to have some patience and it will finally be paid off.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 9th, 2006
William Keane (Lewis) has apparently lost his daughter, abducted from a New York Subway station. The film opens with a frantic Keane searching for anyone who might have seen her. But did any of it really happen? At first Damian Lewis’s performance completely sells the abduction. Every nuance of his acting tugs at our heartstrings for his horrible loss. His incessant searching and constant probing of his own memory draws us deeper and deeper emotionally into the set-up. It doesn’t take us very long at all to questio... the event and Keane’s sanity. In short time the story begins to unravel along with Keane’s mind. Again, it is a superb performance by Lewis that makes it all so real. It is this compelling performance that makes any of this interesting to us at all.
Keane, both the film and the man, is a detailed character study into the mind of a seriously troubled man. His troubles run far deeper than the possible missing child. Barely surviving in a hotel room with no job, we soon learn he is on some kind of disability. We are pretty sure what that’s all about. Keane spends a great deal of his time either drunk or high on coke. While it is almost impossible to have any kind of sympathy for this man, we are hooked into caring what happens to him, and more importantly what he might do next. Perhaps it’s the same concept as watching a train wreck, because we never believe this story’s going to end well for Keane or the young mother and daughter he befriends at the hotel. With this relationship our suspicious nature is aroused. Now we’re never really sure if Kean’e state of mind is a result of the substance abuse, or rather the reverse. A meltdown in a bar and a growing paranoia starts to scare the hell out of us, yet we simply can’t look away. Again, credit Lewis and his amazing performance.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 9th, 2006
By the time this film was announced, everyone and their dog had asked me if I’d read The Da Vinci Code. I hadn’t.
Yes, I’d heard it was the bestest book in the whole wide world. No, I didn’t want to borrow their copy. Months later, when I finally sat down to watch this DVD, I had still not read Dan Brown’s masterpiece. See, I decided to be one of the few who could judge the film as completely separate from the novel.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 8th, 2006
The DVD is basically one of those HBO comedy stand-up presentations. George Carlin’s been doing them for years, but Lewis Black ain’t no George Carlin. He’s just an angry middle-aged liberal with an agenda. As Terry Bradshaw is fond of saying: “That ain’t funny.” Say it again, Terry. The crowd seems appreciative enough, so maybe there’s about 1500 DVD sales there. I had heard very little about Black before this DVD came my way, so I had really no expectations going in. Somehow I had managed to miss any of his mater...al, and now I know why. It just isn’t very good. Now, if you’re looking for some harsh potshots at Republicans and the current administration, you’ll likely eat this stuff up. You won’t really laugh, but you’ll feel warm and fuzzy inside. You could just hug a teddy bear and skip the antics. To his credit, he does take one shot at Kerry, but somehow manages to bring it around to another jab at Bush. All of the so called jokes are merely DNC speaking points, yelled at times to attempt to make them funny. Hell, maybe they should do a Howard Dean HBO comedy special. I’d pay good money for that one. But Carlin does the same thing, you might say. Sure. But Carlin’s funny as hell.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 7th, 2006
I can’t imagine anyone who’s not a Kevin Smith fan renting, buying, or otherwise arranging to view this DVD. The gist of this review is simple: if you like Kevin Smith and/or his work, you’ll enjoy An Evening With Kevin Smith 2 – Evening Harder.
Since I haven’t seen the original An Evening With Kevin Smith, I can’t offer a comparison. That said, I’d be willing to guess that this release is both more of the same and a whole new experience.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 6th, 2006
20 years after its theatrical release, Transformers the Movie is available on DVD. This is indeed a treat for all Transformers fans, since the VHS version of the movie has apparently been out of print for several years.
This 2-Disc set is a significant upgrade from the VHS version, boasting a remastered image, commentary tracks, and tons of extras.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 2nd, 2006
Conviction: The Complete Series ran thirteen episodes, a run of such brevity that one might ask as he looks at the tag, “From the Creator of Law and Order,” why Dick Wolf finds it necessary to add one more courtroom-based show to his laundry list of similarly themed projects. I was prepared for another simulation of the basic L&O format, and that did not excite me. And who knows? Perhaps Conviction is a needless clone of Wolf’s other more successful ventures. As someone, who has never...seen an episode of his previous material, I really couldn’t say one way or the other. What I can say is that Conviction enjoys the benefits of solid writing, a talented cast, and compelling character development.
While the series can sometimes stretch too far across that line of realism that a good courtroom drama straddles so well, the outlandish idea that all these young attorneys could exist under one roof and get involved in so many perilous physical and emotional ventures never ceases to entertain. Remember, it’s still a fictional series, realistic or not, and while the plots seem like a little much for one core group’s experiences, they have a way of baiting hooks that no unsuspecting viewer with a pulse can fail to bite. The finale goes for the throat and exemplifies this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mentality of the show, but still layers on enough suspense to quench viewers’ doubts. I wish there had been more than thirteen episodes, but after seeing all the other like-minded shows (most of which were dreamed up by the same creator) that just go on and on and on, it’s refreshing to know we have an example of courtroom drama with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 1st, 2006
There are so many sub-genres of horror these days. There is the ever-popular teen slasher flick, there is Japanese horror, gore, zombie, thrillers and even the recent popularity of the 70's throwback. This one falls into the dramatic slow-burn category. The plot here sounds like something out of one of the better Steven King short stories. Someone in the federal government discovers that the population of little Rockford Falls seems to have remained steady for over a hundred years. An official is sent to investigate this anomaly, and what he finds is a mixture of small-town life, strong religious beliefs and some eerily strange goings-on.
This is actually not a bad little film. From the cover, I was expecting yet-another week low-budget horror film full of bad jump scares and overly-predictable plot developments. Well, there are some pretty lame jump scares here, and the plot is about as transparent as a sliding glass door, but the film has a certain charm nonetheless. Plus, you get Fred Durst in a surprisingly effective role as the town Sheriff. This may not be a film that is ready for the multiplex, but it is most definitely worth a rental.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 31st, 2006
Ice Age – The Meltdown is a short, funny, well-animated sequel that offers up a new adventure for the memorable characters from the original Ice Age film. As a great bonus, it’s nicely balanced for audiences young and old.
20th Century Fox Animation is still a poor second cousin to Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios, but for sheer entertainment value, Ice Age – The Meltdown doesn’t get knocked completely out of the water by top-shelf blockbusters like The Incredibles. Sure, the animation is weaker, and story is less inspired, but the voice work is excellent, with the talent of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, Jay Leno, and the list goes on.
