Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 22nd, 2007
Although Trading Places is nearly twenty five years old it still manages to offer some pretty good laughs, being one of the better comedies out of the 80’s. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Eddie Murphy, and Dan Aykroyd the trio appeared to have some great chemistry together, as they were all at or near the peaks of their careers.
Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd, The Blues Brothers) is a well respected member of high society, manages a commodities brokerage firm for the Duke Brothers and is recentl...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 21st, 2007
Flags of Our Fathers is based on the book of the same name by James Bradley and Ron Powers about the Battle of Iwo Jima and the famous raising the flag on Iwo Jima picture. It’s the second recently released movie about the Battle of Iwo Jima, the other being Letters from Iwo Jima.
Both films were directed by Clint Eastwood. Although both focus on the same event, they are quite different. Letters from Iwo Jima is from the Japanese perspective and Flags of Our Fathers from the Ame...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 14th, 2007
Recently released on HD DVD, this film is the last of the films from the famous British comedy band Monty Python. Originally released in 1983, this is by far Python’s darkest film, filled with violence and dark humor, seemingly tailored to offend everyone. I did not care for the part in the restaurant with the extremely obese man, so there we are.
The film consists of a series of short sketches about various aspects of the “Meaning of Life” or at least an observation of the quirky aspects of life, such as ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 13th, 2007
Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) is a TV news reporter at Eye Witness Channel 7 in New York who fails to get a job as an anchorman and, after a series of other bad luck incidents, complains to God that He is treating him unfairly and is doing a poor job as supreme deity. God (Morgan Freeman) contacts Bruce and offers him the chance of a lifetime. He offers to give Bruce all the powers he has. Bruce quickly abuses his new powers for personal gain (new car, pleasing his girlfriend), only to be reminded that he also has to take...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 13th, 2007
Peter Jackson’s the Frighteners is a 1996 comedy/horror film starring Michael J. Fox. It follows the story of a physic investigator/ deactivate who is in league with the very sprits he is supposed to be exorcising. For the first half hour, the film is mostly comedy, with good work by Chi McBride as Cyrus, the ghost of a black man from the 70’s, complete with a huge afro. The other ghosts are less noteworthy and merely amusing, such as R. Lee Ermey as a ghostly version of his character from Full Metal Jacket. T...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 12th, 2007
Fletcher Reed (Jim Carrey) is your typical lawyer in that he’s successful and seemingly loves his job. He openly lies each and every day to the judge just so his client can win the case. In fact Fletcher has gotten so accustom to lying so much that he doesn’t even realize that his son Max (Justin Reed) has pretty much became aware that his father is a liar (he means to say lawyer). When Fletcher doesn’t show up to Max’s birthday, Max wishes that for 24 hours his father couldn’t tell a lie. Enter the real humorous and...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 10th, 2007
Freedom Writers is based upon The Freedom Writers Diary; a book written by teacher Erin Gruwell and her students. I’ll admit that initially I was quite mixed about what to expect from this film; on one hand I just didn’t want to sit through another one of these To Sir with Love, Stand and Deliver, Dangerous Minds type movies, but on the other hand I hoped it would be different and live up to some of the rave reviews I have read. Well, let’s find out.
Instead of giving a lengthy sy...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 10th, 2007
Posted in Disc Reviews by Joshua Noyes
Smokey, aka Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), is the prospective father-in-law of unwilling bride Carrie (Sally Field). The Bandit (Burt Reynolds), a maverick racecar driver, makes an 80,000-dollar bet that he can transport a shipment of Coors beer from Texarkana, TX, to Atlanta within 28 hours. It's important to note that in 1977, it was illegal to sell the Coors brand east of the Mississippi River without a permit; if we don't note that, then the plot won't make sense at times.
Already in dange...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 31st, 2007
Films about fantasy have always caught my eye. Even though most end up bordering on the top realm of pure stupidity, a majority of them succeed in what they intend to succeed in, that being pure entertainment. Fantasy films typically please audiences simply because they bring the audience into a world they know they’ll never travel to. Dragons, in particular, have always interested me possibly because they’re majestic creatures that seem so complex. I suppose that’s what makes Dragonheart as entertaining as it...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2007
Every so often a film comes along and completely takes me by surprise. I had heard good things about Lost in Translation before viewing the title a few weeks ago. Critics hailed this as Bill Murray’s comeback as he played a genuine man who simply didn’t know what to do in life anymore. While critics may have been overly generous to the film (not quite four stars), I will admit that I didn’t expect anything at all from this one. In the end, I came away shocked and completely absorbed by the material in front of...