Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 24th, 2007
2004 brought moviegoers two big-budget historical epics in Oliver Stone's Alexander and Wolfgang Petersen's Troy. One bombed. The other performed well, but was by no means heralded as a critical success. No, Troy was praised for slick production values and exciting battles, but derided for a lack of emotional depth.
Can it all be blamed on running-time constraints and compromises made for the ratings board? The answer is here, with the unrated Troy: Director's Cut, Petersen's second shot at eternal glory, this time with more than 30 minutes of additional footage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 22nd, 2007
It’s hard for me to believe that Darkman comes from a time when Sam Raimi was fresh off directing Evil Dead 2 and Liam Neeson was a little known Irish actor. A lot has changed since then, but a true classic can stand the test of time, and although I was very young when I first saw this movie, I remember it being very unique. Of course my perspective on films has blossomed since the time I was watching Rugrats, and it has literally been that long since I’ve seen Darkman. Nonetheless I’m pleased to finally get the chance to watch this Liam Neeson classic, and in HD to boot.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 16th, 2007
Every time I long for the free and easy days of my youth, something like Disney Princess Enchanted Tales comes along to remind me why it's good to be done with childhood. If I was a kid, I'd be entertained by this stuff. Since I can no longer appreciate kid-friendly, sitcom-like productions, I will imagine I'm a seven-year-old girl for the remainder of this review. In order to keep things nice and coherent, though, I'll write like I'm not.
All you need to know about this original release from Disney is that it's Disney-lite, with lower production values and more heavy-handed stories. However, I'm sure it will please children, especially those who love all things princess.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 14th, 2007
One of the handful of films deemed extra special in 2006, Babel had lofty intentions, a lot of hype and plenty of Oscar nominations. And yet, while the film was well directed and very well acted, it falls well short of its reputation. In fact, Babel fails to create a real impact, unless you count the utter depression one experiences while watching it.
Still, the film has lots of fans willing to call it one of the best of 2006. Those folks will be happy to add Babel: 2-disc Collector's Edition to their own collections. That is, unless they already picked up the single-disc version released back in February. Is this double-dip good enough to say, "out with the old, in with the new?" Read on to find out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 8th, 2007
There are those of us who love Will Ferrell and just about everything he’s done lately, and there are those of you who can’t stand the guy. Read that last sentence carefully and you’ll be able to determine which one I am, but I’m sure you won’t have to read much past this sentence to figure it out anyways. Starting back with A Night at the Roxbury and ranging to Old School and Anchorman, comedically I can’t get enough of these nonsense full movies. Surprisingly I didn’t check this one out in the theatres, but I eagerly welcome the opportunity now.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 6th, 2007
I like Paul Walker; I tend to enjoy his movies. However my experience with Paul Walker starts with JoyRide and ends with Running Scared. (we'll ignore the Fast and the Furious) So I was kinda excited at the chance to review Bobby Z, a straight to video release that also starred the clever Laurence Fishburne. Two fun actors in what looked like to be a fun action movie. The basic premise was that Tim Kearney (Paul Walker's character) is plucked from a prison by Tad Gruzsa (Laurence Fishburne's character) and his assistant because he looks exactly like the infamous Bobby Z, a drug runner who is supposedly dead. So, Kearney takes on the persona of Bobby Z and is used in a trade for a federal agent that was captured. Of course the deal goes horribly wrong and Kearney finds himself in the Mexican desert. Here he has to stay in the Bobby Z persona as he finds out that Bobby Z had a kid among many other plot points. This drives forward to a conclusion with some predictable twists where Kearney does everything he can to stay alive.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 6th, 2007
Do you as the viewer ever watch that movie that you feel due to overwhelming popular opinion you should like? Unfortunately, I run into this all too often. Most of the time I'm able to push that aside, and give an honest review. Sometimes it is harder. Private Fears in Public Places directed by Alain Resnais is one of those movies. Set in Paris (with language to match); this puts six lonely characters in search of love during the harsh winter season. However, what they find isn't what they were searching for. Naturally these characters' stories intertwine and we get a whole lot of snow effects which encapsulate the end of each scene (and each part of this review).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 31st, 2007
I don’t care what anyone thinks, A Night at the Roxbury is awesome. Back when Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan would do the skits on Saturday Night Live I loved it, and when the movie came out I pumped. This was back when I was barley a teenager and for me, this one has still got it. The hard part is explaining why this movie is so funny to me and its cult following. It has no real story, character development, etc. But still it manages to keep me laughing, time and time again. I’ll get more into that later, for those of you who haven’t seen A Night at the Roxbury I’ll play it out for you.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 31st, 2007
Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs) is a successful engineer who recently discovers his wife’s infidelity. He becomes aware that she has been sleeping with a police detective, which pushes Ted to the point of shooting his wife. Initially he confesses to the crime, and it looks to be an easy win for rising star district attorney Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling, The Notebook). This is of course until Ted redacts his confession and engages in a battle of wits with Beachum.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 24th, 2007
Right off the start Wild Hogs looks to be appealing simply because of the cast which includes John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy, and Ray Liotta. However when you get numerous big names together, some of whom aren’t known for comedy, their meshing on screen becomes quite an issue. Regardless, I don’t anticipate this to become a problem with Wild Hogs.
Wild Hogs tells the story of four middle aged recreational bikers who are all going through a personal crisis. Doug (Tim Allen, Galaxy Quest) is a dentist stuck in a rut, he wants to relive his glory days but has too much responsibility and a kid who doesn’t respect him.
![Darkman [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/darkman-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![Wild Hogs [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/wild-hogs-blu-ray-large.jpg)
