Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2008
While strolling through the local Blockbuster store, I'm always amazed at how many direct-to-video sequels there are to big name movies. Sure, Bring it On was never in the Lord of the Rings echelon of franchises, but it was still a successful movie at the box-office. Yet I still can't get over the fact that Bring it On now has its own trilogy, just like LOTR.
Most of these low-budget sequels exist solely to cash in on the movie's title, which is usually unrelated to the original film. The roles are recast or characters done away with, and some dumbed-down script that rehashes the first film is approved. But every once in a while, a cheapie comes along that does more with less, and surpasses the original. See my review for I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer for more proof of this.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 25th, 2008
Director David Cronenberg’s masterpiece, A History of Violence catapulted him to the upper-echelon of today’s directors. Until AHOV, he’d previously worked on offbeat films that got mixed reviews, like Crash (1996), eXistenZ, and Spider, with the occasional brush with “commercial” films like The Fly.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 24th, 2008
I understand that The Game Plan was never intended for adult audiences. So I tried to make allowances by remembering that the film wasn’t targeted at me specifically. Even knowing all of that going in, I found The Game Plan a really hard film to watch. If you’ve read enough of my reviews you already know that I can enjoy a kid’s film as much as anyone else. The problem is I don’t think I would have enjoyed this movie even when I was 8 years old.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 23rd, 2008
Let me start off by saying that if you are a Neil Gaiman fan, you likely should skip this review. I’m going to take the probably unpopular stand in this review that the film was not a very good one. I did not ever read the book that this world and characters come from, but if the film truly represents that world, I think I’ll pass. To begin with, the idea had tremendous potential. I liked the overall concept, and hopefully that is more Gaiman’s doing than the film’s.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 23rd, 2008
”A philosopher once asked, ‘Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?’ Pointless, really...’Do the stars gaze back?’ Now that's a question.”
They do more than gaze in Stardust, a quirky, enjoyable film that’s not the epic tale it’s made out to be. The film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel of the same name, Stardust is a tale about a young man from a small English village who gets caught up in a magical adventure in another realm. With evil witches, fratricidal princes and a cross-dressing sky-pirate, there’s a lot of fantasy in Stardust, but director Matthew Vaughn’s penchant for Lord of the Rings-style sweeping cinematography creates a canvas much too grand for this simple fairy tale.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 22nd, 2008
Shattered, whose original (and more original) title was Butterfly on a Wheel, presents us with the household of Gerard Butler and Maria Bello. Life seems idyllic. They have a nice house, a lovely little girl, and the money is flooding in as Butler rises in his career (though his tactics don't always seem entirely fair). Into their lives erupts Pierce Brosnan, who kidnaps their daughter, then forces the couple to perform one strange act after another, each event destroying their lives further.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 22nd, 2008
I don’t particularly care how many times filmmakers recycle old tales, so long as they produce enjoyable films. The Invasion revisits sci-fi scribe Jack Finney’s “The Body Snatchers” for the fourth time on film, following in the steps of the original 1956 film and the ’78 and ’93 remakes. Dave Kajganich wrote the screenplay, and Oliver Hirschbiegel (The Downfall) directed. Then Warner hired the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix) to rewrite some scenes and inject more action into the film, and James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) to direct the re-shoots.
So is The Invasion a case of too many cooks in the kitchen, or just the right creative balance to bring Finney’s classic horror tale to life in the new millennium?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 22nd, 2008
Screwball comedies can be fun, sometimes. The comedy where the main cast members have the intelligence of a three-toed sloth...combined. Dumb & Dumber was a good example. Gags that get created simply on the premise of their inadequate brain power. However, Dumb & Dumber created an awful sequel. What's worse is that created a few wannabes in the process. One of those films arguably is Brothers Solomon. However, this viewer hoped just for a second that I wouldn't be holding my head in my lap the entire ninety three minutes asking for my very painful headache to go away.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 22nd, 2008
As expressed before, I have a certain fondness for Garfield. The larger than life orange tabby cat has been a staple of my comic strip reading diet for more than 20 years. I've watched Garfield & Friends, seen the longer animated specials, and even sat through the first of the full length movies (I couldn't stomach the nerve for the second one). So naturally, I was a little excited when I heard that Garfield would be a full CGI showing in a new dvd called Garfield Gets Real I just hoped it would be better than what I've heard about the Tale of Two Kitties
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 21st, 2008
This is one of those wholesome movies the entire family can enjoy. From veteran director Michael Apted (Coal Miner’s Daughter), Amazing Grace is the true story of William Wilberforce, the 18th Century political activist who spent nearly his entire adult life campaigning to end the British slave trade. It’s a simple but compelling story wonderfully told, with a superb cast including Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four), relative newcomer Benedict Cumberbatch (Atonement) and stage and screen legends Albert Finney (Big Fish) and Sir Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban).
