Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 12th, 2007
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Five years ago, Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme were riding high with the best drama on Television, The West Wing, which is hands-down my favourite show ever. When word got out about a new Sorkin/Schlamme project set for the '06-'07 season, I was more excited than a monkey at the banana harvest. Expectations — mine and everyone else's — were sky-high for this new series, a behind-the-scenes drama about an SNL-type sketch comedy show. It would be the finest new show since The West Wing debuted in '99, Sorkin would once again raise the bar in prime-time entertainment and the collective intelligence of the human race would be elevated to the stratosphere.
Ok, not so much. While Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip premiered with much fanfare and critical praise, the series quickly slumped and never recovered. That made me angry, like a monkey whose monkey-mom made him stay home from the banana harvest. It's just not fair! So this review is about a good show killed by hype. Alas, Studio 60, you died too young.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 12th, 2007
Bad horror movies are like watching a trainwreck. There are bodies all over the place and everybody is screaming in agony like a little school girl. And you can't turn your head away. So imagine my complete enjoyment when I received the Tripper to review. I screamed like a little school girl, my rabbit fainted and my girlfriend actually was able to turn her head away several times. I understand why they are the stronger sex cause I watched intently and was considering therapy when my 90 minutes was up.
The Tripper is the story of Ronald Reagan gone wrong. The back story indicates trauma to a young kid named Gus (played by Noah Maschan ) who chainsawed a tree hugger who was preventing his father, a lumberjack from performing his job. One would assume he spent the rest of his adolescence in a mental institution and then re-appeared as an axe wielding, Ronald-Reagan mask wearing psycho killer (played by Christopher Allen Nelson).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 7th, 2007
I must admit that from the moment I first heard about this Pixar film I was abnormally indifferent. I can’t explain exactly what it was that kept me from the theaters, but this is the first time I missed a Pixar film in its original release. I like rats, so it wasn’t the subject matter. Perhaps the unpronounceable title is to blame. I will admit it conjures nothing for me, so I found it hard to get excited about what I might see. This is rare, because I have eagerly awaited these outings based not only on the story idea but knowing it will be a treat in every aspect from design to technological wizardry. So finally I sat down to watching this elusive Pixar presentation for the first time on DVD. I have to say my instincts were almost right on. This is by far the least interesting entry from the Pixar folks so far. Which is not to say the film is bad or not somewhat entertaining. It doesn’t stand out. This could have been Dreamworks or Sony or a dozen other CG workshops. The only thing that stood out was the quality and detail of the work.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 6th, 2007
Stephen King must be solely responsible for an acre of deforestation a year in legal pads and typewriter pages alone. I have heard it said that he writes at least ten pages a day, including holidays. A quick check of IMDB shows that he is credited for writing 106 television or movie stories, at least in part, since "Carrie" in 1976. While no writer - as I well know - can hit a home run every time they put pen to paper, King's "good to crap" ratio is far superior to that of the majority of the novelists working today.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 6th, 2007
I wanted to watch these movies back to back to try and get a feel for how they work together. The box art tells us: “Much has changed since we last saw Jake.” No truer words were ever spoken. Jack Nicholson is now a household name and a fixture at the Lakers games. Many a classic character has worn Jack’s sardonic smile since
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 6th, 2007
Jack Nicholson’s career has been decades of a man who is constantly redefining himself. Few actors have created as many memorable roles; among them has to be Jake Gittes. This Raymond Chandler styled character first appeared here in the Roman Polanski Film Noir Chinatown. The feel of
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 6th, 2007
Pixar has become somewhat of a fixture around here, as I suspect it has in many homes across the world. For the most part the films have been nothing short of magic. I’m not only talking about the ever improving technological breakthroughs the company seems to have an endless supply of. The films often contain a warmth and friendliness that wear easily like a favorite shirt. They comfort and entertain all at the same time. It’s really a pretty good mix that they ended up at Walt Disney, which did the same thing for decades in hand drawn animation. To date there have been many copies but no equals.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 5th, 2007
A woman scorned is a dangerous thing. They will break you, hurt you and leave you for dead in the most unimaginable ways possible. In fact, it might be best for most men to sleep underneath their covers with a flashlight, a security system and no contact with the outside world. It probably wouldn't help. So it makes only sense that one would make films that deal with this subject. However, they had to make it believable even if a scorned woman sometimes does the unthinkable.
A plethora of tv monitors fill into the screen and we see Jackie (played by Kate Dickie ) fulfilling her role as a CCTV operator by watching a particular part of the Scotland streets. She watches for crimes or other point of interest as part of her workday. On the outside, her life is very simple and she keeps to herself except to meet a guy every couple of weeks or going to see her parents for special occasions. One day while on the job she spots a man, one that she never expected to see ever again or at least so soon. That man is Clyde Henderson (played by Tony Curran ). From what we can find out Clyde was in jail for a crime and is out on good behavior. We suspect that it has something to with Jackie but we aren't sure on the role she plays. As the story unfolds and Jackie gets to the point where she confronts him, more of the story is given away until we reach a shocking finale that tells it all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 5th, 2007
The name of this double-pack is slightly misleading, but that is not to suggest the film and television mini-series on offer are in any way bad. Quite the contrary, in fact. It’s just that they aren’t exactly “action” films per se. So don’t pick this up hoping for something in the vein of The Road Warrior. Instead, these are brutally intense dramas with strong action elements. Both titles are excellent.
Metal Skin is a 1994 effort from director Geoffrey (Romper Stomper) Wright. He returns here to the world of youth subculture. Here, instead of Skinheads, this is a world of underground races, but the denizens are just as doomed as in the earlier film. The main character is a disturbed young man whose dreams of driving a fast car and forming a romantic attachment are utterly deluded. He has a fraught relationship with a trio, each of whom has his/her own reasons to see the world as a black hellhole. When the car-duel climax arrives, it is earned at the emotional level, and makes the likes of The Fast and the Furious look even more anaemic than it already is.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 5th, 2007
There are few things as tragic as potential that is unrealized. Whether it’s by choice or by extenuating circumstances, to see a life cut down before it has a chance to develop and make an imprint on the world is sad to see. And it seems to happen disproportionately among musicians. In most casts, drugs frequently has been the main culprit (see Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin), or suicide in some cases (Kurt Cobain being the more notable name in recent memory). But when an entertainer is murdered, the abrupt nature of the crime seems to shake many to the core. It was sad four decades ago when Sam Cooke was murdered, and equally disappointing two decades later when Marvin Gaye was felled by the hands of his father. When Selena Quintanilla was murdered by her business manager in 1995, it sent shockwaves through the Latin music community. Here was a young woman on the fast track to superstardom, gunned down before her full promise could be delivered.
With the cooperation of the Quintanilla family, Selena was made in part to make sure any films that were being made without the family’s approval would be made null and void. So while Selena’s father Abraham had the final say over what was included in the film, the film itself was written and directed by Gregory Nava (Bordertown), and in the main role, a young pre-diva Jennifer Lopez (Gigli) as the Tejano star. Her charisma is noticed early in her life by Abraham (Edward James Olmos, Miami Vice), who was a musician in his early days and he wants Selena to do well and maybe be a star while avoiding the things he had to endure.
