Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 7th, 2010
High school was a nightmare for me, I try to forget most of it. For me, there was no 10 year high school reunion and I was glad I never went. Speaking of ten & high school, this is the 10th year anniversary of 10 Things I Hate About You, a Gil Junger comedy that helped launch quite a few careers. As such, they made the leap to Blu-Ray with a well-done anniversary edition. But how does the movie hold up?
Cameron James (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is new to Padua High School. He is assigned another student, Michael Eckman (played by David Krumholtz) to show him around. Michael introduces him to the various groups of kids and they start to develop a friendship. Cameron then spots a girl, Bianca Stratford (played by Larisa Oleynik) and his life would never be the same.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 5th, 2010
"To everyone's surprise, the ship didn't come to a stop over Manhattan or Washington or Chicago, but instead coasted to a halt directly over the city of Johannesburg. The doors didn't open for months. Nobody could get in. They eventually decided, after much deliberation, that the best thing to do would be to physically cut their way in. We were on the verge of first contact. The whole world was watching, expecting, I don't know, music from Heaven and bright shining lights..."
It all started when Peter Jackson's long anticipated Halo project went belly up. You might recall it was that project which had Jackson deferring directorial duties on the upcoming Hobbit films, electing to act as producer instead. But Halo didn't happen. Jackson was in search of an ambitious project to fill the void. Enter Neil Blomkamp, a native of South Africa, who had come up with the basic imagery for District 9. A short film was the end result, but it would be far from the end for the idea. Blomkamp incorporated his own firsthand experiences as a boy living in the infamous days of South Africa's apartheid. It's completely impossible to see this film in any other light than an allegory to that era. Teaming together, Jackson and Blomkamp have taken these very basic ideas that were at best loosely held together by the concept and worked them into the most provocative science fiction film of the last decade.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 29th, 2009
By day, this reviewer is not just a writer but a glorified cubicle jockey. For lack of a detailed job description, I am a computer software administrator. So as many cubicle jockeys, I've watched Office Space. To be honest, I'm not in love with it. I did find it mildly funny and there were a few “I've been in that situation before” moments. But interestingly enough, I was pretty excited to see Extract (Mike Judge had directed both). Perhaps it was my infatuation with Mila Kunis or seeing how Jason Bateman has progressed in comedic films or maybe I just wanted to see Ben Affleck in a full grown beard.
Joel (played by Jason Bateman) built the Reynolds extract factory from the ground up. His is still in charge of the factory but does yearn to sell the factory to somebody like General Mills and retire. However, he has other issues more pressing at the moment. His wife, Suzie (played by Kristen Wiig) works at home and once she puts on the sweat pants (8pm), Jason has no chance of getting any from his wife.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 15th, 2009
"For years, we've been putting a secret into the heart of every member of the Saberling Family. Be it the cryogenic refrigerator or the microwave heated coffee maker. A Secret which is at the core of any successful family: Communication."
When director Hoyt Yeatman's son Hoyt, Junior, got a pet guinea pig, he began to put soldier-like gear on the unfortunate animal and imagine stories that the rodent was part of a secret spy ring. He would imagine all kinds of missions for the little guy. Thus was born the idea for G Force. Yeatman took the idea to Jerry Bruckheimer, who in turn shopped the idea to Disney. Before you know it, Bruckheimer had put his extensive resources into making the next cute talking animal film for the Mouse House.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 8th, 2009
"When the lights go off the battle is on."
Sequels are a dangerous business. They've gotten the best of some of the biggest heroes. Just ask Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker, or Neo. Expectations are always going to be high. You've already shown us what you can do. We assume you did your best on the original film, now go and do better. Often filmmakers interpret this mandate to just make it bigger. More explosions and hard hitting action and special effects. They tend to remember everything but the story. I'm happy to say that Night At The Museum refused to fall into that trap. The film is certainly bigger. There are far more characters. The f/x have absolutely gone up a notch. But everything that made you love the first film is back ... and more.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 23rd, 2009
We are in the late 1920s, and to the family manor comes Ben Barnes, in the company of new wife, Jessica Biel. That this woman is both American and a race car champion does not sit well with the very conservative mother Kristin Scott Thomas. That her nose is out of joint delights husband Colin Firth, a veteran of the Great War who, thoroughly world-weary and disillusioned with just about everything, wants nothing to do with the petty concerns and squabbles of his family. What follows is a clash of cultures and generations, veering between slapstick comedy and something rather darker.
I know you've all been waiting to see Jessica Biel finally star in a film whose script is based on a Noel Coward play, which was first adapted in 1928 by Alfred Hitchcock. All kidding aside, Biel acquits herself well, despite occasionally displaying some rather anachronistically defined pecs. The other cast members aren't having to strain themselves too much -- Scott Thomas has played repressed ice queens before, and Firth pretty much phones in his trademarked display of amused contempt -- but they are never less than efficient in their portrayals. That said, Scott Thomas and the performers playing her daughters have a tendency to project to the back of the hall, and otherwise remind us a bit too forcefully that this material was originally a play. The film is far from the jaunty comedy of mores that the case suggests -- it is rather too dark for that, by the end. It is an enjoyable, though finally slight, bit of entertainment.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 23rd, 2009
This is the story of an unfortunate underachiever who is left with his niece after his even less fortunate sister abandons them. Unhappy with social services and the places they are forced to live, they take what little money they have to fund an aimless trip across the country until arriving at the home of his abusive father.
This film relies on the performances since the story is so utterly bleak at times that all the audience has to cling to sometimes is the recognition of the stars within it. Filling up the smaller roles are the likes of Woody Harrelson, playing the goofy friend, Dennis Hopper, who is devouring the scenery as the aforementioned abusive father, and Charlize Theron, who is greatly missed during most of the film for she delivers probably the most solid and engrossing performance as the troubled mother. Theron controls the first fifteen minutes then becomes nothing more than a reference for the better part of the proceeding film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 22nd, 2009
Some thirty years after seeing his father killed by a car bomb, Samir Horn (Don Cheadle) is a dealer in explosives. When he is imprisoned in Yemen along with members of a militant group he was about to make a sale to, he is drawn in and becomes an integral part of the group's terrorist activities. But wait – is he in fact an intelligence agent who has infiltrated the group in order to bring down their leader? Meanwhile, FBI agent Guy Pearce is hot on Samir's trail, but if he catches up, will that be a good thing or a bad one?
Given that we are, after all, talking about the lead in a mainstream Hollywood release, it should come as no surprise that the answer to the question of Samir's ultimate loyalty comes as no surprise. Fortunately, the question mark is dispensed with about an hour into the film, and the real suspense shifts to more urgent concerns, such as whether a ghastly bombing plot can be averted. Without venturing into spoiler territory, I must say that the climax leads to as clever a bit of cinematic prestidigitation as I have seen in quite some time, so kudos. Though the film is, first and last, a suspense thriller, and quite the effective one at that, it also makes a few telling points. Though the villains are suitably dastardly, a number of the characters on that side are also humanized – Sarmir's best friend (Saïd Taghmaoui) may be a terrorist, but he is also a man whose motivations are entirely understandable, and he is clearly acting out of genuine conviction. By contrast, intelligence operative Jeff Daniels is willing to go to such lengths to stop the terrorists that he becomes morally indistinguishable from them. And when was the last time that Hollywood had a devout Muslim as the protagonist of an action film? Rank this, then, with The International and The Kingdom as another satisfying exercise in suspense that leaves its audience with plenty to talk about after the closing credits roll.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 11th, 2009
“The future is bright at Monsters Incorporated. We power your car. We warm your home. We light your city. Carefuly matching every child to their ideal monster to produce superior scream. Refined into clean, dependable energy. Every time you turn something on, Monsters Incorporated is there. We know the challenge. The window of innocence is shrinking. Human kids are harder to scare. Of course, Monsters Incorporated is prepared for the future. With the top scarers, the best refineries, and research into new energy technologies. We’re working for a better tomorrow, today. We’re Monster’s Incorporated. We scare because we care.”
When you do this job you get asked the same question a lot.You get it from friends, family and people who just met you. They all ask the same thing. “What is your favorite movie of all time?” That’s a hard question, and it’s one that changes from time to time. But if you’re talking animated films, my answer’s been the same for several years now. It’s Monsters, Inc. You hear me gush about Pixar films all of the time here, but with all of their advances on technology, this is still the best film they’ve put out. And that’s saying something.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 11th, 2009
“The perpetrator is an expert marksman. He’s an expert in explosives and tactics. Gentlemen, play this one by the numbers. Maintain your fields of fire… We’re blind and he’s seeing in 20/20… We have not contained him. He’s contained himself.”
“He” is Samuel L Jackson in the 1998 action thriller The Negotiator. Jackson stars as Danny Roman. He’s a Chicago Metro hostage negotiator. As the film opens we get to see him in action saving a little girl from a tight hostage situation. He’s obviously good at his job and he has the respect and admiration of his fellow officers and commanders. Roman’s partner Nathan Roenick (Guilfoyle) has gotten a hot tip from an informant. Someone inside the department has been skimming money from the union’s retirement fund. He’s about to blow the case wide open when he’s killed. Roman discovers his friend and partner just as other cops arrive to see him leaning over the dead body. He becomes the prime suspect not only in his partner’s death but the missing money as well. Someone has gone to great lengths to frame him for the crimes. When evidence of his guilt is found at his house, not even Roman’s friends believe he’s innocent. With everyone turning their backs on him, Roman goes to Inspector Niebaum (Walsh), an internal affairs cop that Roenick mentioned as a part of the embezzlement scam. The confrontation quickly gets out of control, and before anyone knows what’s happened, Roman has taken the internal affairs department hostage. He demands that Lt. Chris Sabian (Spacey), another hostage negotiator that Roman trusts, be put in charge of the operation. Sabian takes over, but he’s dealing with a perp who knows all of the rules of engagement. To make matters worse, the book doesn’t cover this kind of negotiation. Roman isn’t asking for money and a plane full of fuel at the airport. He wants someone to get to the bottom of the frame job, or else.
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