Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2005
The first Deuce Bigelow film was something of a surprise hit. Rob Schneider's first outing as a leading man was never expected to be as, well... genuinely entertaining as it was. Sure, the movie was a little hokey, but that was to be expected. After all, we're talking about a film that tells the story of a pool boy that becomes a gigolo. What was not expected was that the film would actually have a heart. As would be expected, the film had its fair share of comedy, but the tender love story was unexpected and ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2005
Synopsis
Jennifer Connelly is going through a messy divorce with Dougray Scott. They are feuding over the custody of their daughter. Trying to piece her life together, Connelly rents an apartment in a down-at-the-heels building on Roosevelt Island in New York City. A leak develops in her ceiling that keeps getting worse. Her daughter develops an imaginary friend. The supernatural events gather force, apparently determined to drive her out of her mind.
In the extras, the filmmakers make much...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2005
Meiert Avis' new romantic comedy-drama Undiscovered has been turning up on more than a few worst lists for 2005, and while that may be an unfair assessment, as just about every film out this year could have made it onto the same list, it's still no picnic. Some of the numbers are hip enough, and the two lead actors deliver likeable, though poorly written performances. However, Ashlee Simpson's performance drives it all down into the mud and solidifies her standing as not just the least talented Simpson daughter, but also one of the most obnoxious wretches, who dares call herself a celebrity.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2005
8MM 2 is a sequel to Schumacher’s 8MM in name only. It tells the story of an aspiring politician and his loving fiancée on a mission of sexual experimentation in Budapest, which quickly turns into a trust-no one game of seduction, blackmail, and murder. The crux of the story is a steamy threesome between the two lovers and a strange dark-haired beauty. The only eight millimeter tie-in is from the film which is shot during the escapade – unbeknownst to the lovers – which is then used to string the politi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2005
John(Owen Wilson) and Jeremy(Vince Vaughn) are divorce mediators faced with the daily struggle of attempting to reconcile fractured partners for long enough to enable them to reach some kind of settlement. But let's not worry about that too much because it’s nearly wedding season, a time when their entire agenda shifts focus. Why? Because John and Jeremy are wedding crashers. We're not talking about anything half-hearted either. These two are professional wedding crashers. They have rules, game-plans, and even fake f...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2005
Director Brian Henson continues a family tradition with father Jim’s creations, The Muppets. He also carries on another tradition, this time in the form of the long-told tale “A Christmas Carol” by legendary author Charles Dickens. The combination goes so well together I can hardly understand why it wasn’t done sooner, as in by Jim himself before his untimely death. Michael Caine does an extraordinary job, as usual, in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge, a hopeless miser, who receives visits from three very different ghost...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 28th, 2005
I must admit feelings of suspicion before popping in the DVD copy of Prozac Nation:. I remember seeing the theatrical trailer years ago. It was not, by any means, poor advertisement. I had taken a liking to the acting of Christina Ricci, and the film looked like a decent outing with a talented supporting cast. So I waited for the film to come out. Then I waited some more. Years passed and the film never popped up at my local multiplex. It is generally not a good sign that a film is shelved for so long, but I s...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 28th, 2005
Synopsis
It would appear that the 1961 Disney film The Parent Trap helped to spur popularity within Disney’s non-animated film section. Films like the Herbie films, and films featuring other stars like Kurt Russell would soon follow several years later. Based on a book by Erich Kastner, and written and directed by David Swift (Eight is Enough, Barney Miller), the film is centered around Sharon and Susie (both played by Hayley Mills, Saved by the Bell, Pollyanna), who are i...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 27th, 2005
Synopsis
This is a short (69 minutes), quite elliptical film that traces the arc of a relationship between a young man (Kieran O’Brien) and woman (the pseudonymous Margo Stilley). We see individual moments, usually framed around episodes of lovemaking, and in between we see our couple at rock concerts (and so we get, in their entirety, performances by the likes of Primal Scream, Super Furry Animals and Franz Ferdinand). The whole story is a flashback, with O’Brien in the present, post-relationship, r...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 27th, 2005
Most film-goers could identify a Michael Bay film just by the techniques he uses -- quick edits, sun drenched color palate, and lots of action. This usually means that Bay is suited more for low-brow action movies as opposed to high concept films.
In Pearl Harbor, Bay proved that he couldn’t handle anything that didn’t explode -- resulting in a lop-sided film. The first hour was a tedious love story and the last 90 minutes were better -- including an excellent recreation of the surprise attack.
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