Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 10th, 2007
The Departed, a basic remake of the Hong Kong film Internal Affairs, tells the story of Boston mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) and his ruling ways of the streets. An early scene in the film shows Costello recruiting a young boy inside a convenience store (where he naturally picks up his commission promising to keep his men out of the neighborhood). The film soon flashes forward to a semi-present day where we meet a man named Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon). Turns out that this is the child Frank recruited in the previous scene. Luckily for Costello, Sullivan has just joined the prestigious Massachusetts State Police. His ultimate role is to make sure the cops never get to Costello. Now we know why the Department thinks Costello is so "clever" and can "always anticipate their every move".
We soon meet another character named Billy Costigan (Leonardo Dicaprio), a man who wants nothing more than to be a cop. Costigan is interviewed by two detectives named Dignam (Mark Whalberg) and Oliver Queenan (Martin Sheen) who ultimately decide that Costigan has to go undercover as a mole joining the ranks of Costello's mob group. Costigan's ultimate goal is to find out which man Costello has working as a mole in the State Police. The rest of the film follows convincing sequence after sequence as each group tries to undercover each other's mole all while trying to keep their act up.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 8th, 2007
There are a few early sequences in Hollywoodland that show two important aspects of the film. First these sequences show us the type of man that George Reeves was trying to become (simply trying to get noticed) and, possibly more important, the type of actor that Affleck is becoming as his career becomes more about making quality films than making sure-fire moneymakers.
Based on the true story of the Hollywood unsolved murder of TV�s George Reeves, Hollywoodland stars accomplished actors Ben Affleck, Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins and Adrien Brody. Each plays a rather pivotal role in the film either as Reeves� lover (Diane Lane), her estranged husband (Bob Hoskins), a private investigator (Adrien Brody) or the man himself George Reeves (Ben Affleck in quite possibly his finest peformance to date).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 23rd, 2007
Wow. It�s already been over a year since hearing the endless �I can�t quit you� pander that many labeled Brokeback Mountain with. Sitting down to see this one for the 3rd time, I feared that the initial power the film had over me would be diminished. Such isn�t the case here as Brokeback Mountain is still the same excellent film it was over a year ago.
Brokeback Mountain tells the story of star-crossed lovers Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Kake Gyllenhaal). Both are young men, not even twenty, working in the year of 1963. They meet and fall in love on a sheep-herding job in Signal, Wyoming. The film chronicles the next 20 years of their lives from Ennis marrying Alma Beers (Michelle Williams) to Jack marrying Laureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway). The 20 years that the film takes place over show Ennis and Jack trying to lead a normal life without seeing each other, but shortly before realizing that they both have a deep connection to one another.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 23rd, 2007
It�s hard to believe, but after six years and three movies, this fourth film proves the Scary Movie franchise is still good for a cheap laugh.
For those of you that have lived under a rock and aren�t familiar with the Scary Movie series, I will enlighten you. Some of the horror movies coming out these days are just begging to be parodied, and the comic brains of the Wayans brothers did so in 2000 with first instalment simply titled Scary Movie. This movie poked fun of then-recent movie... like I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream, and as the movies went on they continued to make jokes of both new and old horrors alike. Scary Movie 4 doesn�t seem to add anything new to the mix in comparison to the previous three titles, but that�s just part of its charm � senseless humour poking fun at other movies. Finally, I must add that apart from re-rolling previous characters, none of the Wayans brothers had anything to do with the screenplay for Scary Movie 4, which ultimately left me unsure going into this movie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 19th, 2007
Having previously only seen the theatrical trailer for Derailed, I was pleased to finally get a chance to watch it. The movie seemed to be filled with a lot of suspense, but the redundancy of this type of affair movie sort of detoured me. Ultimately, I went into this with expectations of an impressive thriller.
Charles Schine (Clive Owen) is a well-off advertising executive married to a school teacher. Together, they have a teenage daughter. Due to complications with diabetes the couple has to be co...stantly on alert with their daughter, causing them continuous stress and leading to what is ultimately a deteriorating marriage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2007
I'm sure we all remember when it was rumored that Brett Ratner was going to direct Superman Returns and Bryan Singer was going to direct the third X-Men film. Well we all know how that one turned out. Ratner made a decent film while Singer made a better film but not without it�s own faults.Superman Returns takes place roughly five years after the events of Superman II. Superman aka Clark Kent (portrayed by Brandon Routh) has left on a journey back to his home planet of Krypton. Upon returning, Superman notices everything is different. Most important to him is that Lois Lane (portrayed by Kate Bosworth) is married (and worse off has a child). Superman learns that Lois was kind of pissed that he suddenly zoomed off without saying goodbye to her and everyone else. In fact she was so angered by his sudden departure that she wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning article on �Why the World Doesn�t Need Superman� (something that obviously hurts Clark).
Superman�s arch enemy, Lex Luthor (this time portrayed with little to no emotion by Kevin Spacey) is out of jail (yes like a common sense world would release a super criminal like Luthor out just because Superman couldn�t testify) and is ready to create more havoc. This time Luthor intends to use a few kryptonite crystals to make cities right in the middle of the ocean. And what is Luthor�s goal in this? Why to make money of course (imagine the cost he asks). Doesn�t Luthor have enough money?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 16th, 2007
10 years ago, Clerks was released, appealing to the ever-growing population of the subculture of slackers. For a generation of grunge-music-listening, going-nowhere, fast-food-working young adults, Clerks became a cult favourite. With the release of Clerks II, I�m sure the very same people are attracted to this title, whether they have grown up and want to revisit that nostalgic feeling, or are still flipping burgers and living the slacker lifestyle. Whether you live in your parents� basement or ...ou�re an upstanding citizen, Clerks II appears to be a slapstick movie that everyone can enjoy.
Clerks II picks up just where the original left off. Randall (Brian Anderson) and Dante (Brain O�Halloran) are still working their dead-end jobs at the Quickie Mart. Their days consist of one sarcastic quip after another, and of course the barrage of insults for every customer that walks through the door. But one day their world is turned upside down when a fire demolishes the Quickie Mart, forcing them to find employment with Mooby�s, the local fast food joint. Life here continues much as it did back at their other job, with the exception of the new boss, Becky (Rosario Dawson), with whom Randall appears to be infatuated. Aside from documenting the daily tribulations of a burger flipper, Clerks II actually has a plot; Randall finally has a chance to grow up and make something of himself, as he is engaged and ready to move to Florida. Of course, this doesn�t sit well with best friend and man-child Dante, but more importantly Randall is ultimately unsure if it�s what he wants as well. As the movie plays out, some hilarious dialogue as well as some dismal humour is thrown our way. Our two protagonists have to make some important life decisions, such as, are they ready to turn their backs on their slacker lifestyles?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 13th, 2007
Honestly, was anyone really surprised when Universal announced a sequel to the ultra successful (and ultra-good) film The Mummy? The easiest comparison one can make is that Universal was trying to create their Indiana Jones series ala Fox. Even though neither Mummy film will EVER approach the quality of any of the Indiana Jones films (even the weakest Temple of Doom), The Mummy films, especially The Mummy Returns, are damn fun to watch.
Rick O�Connell (Brendan Fraser) and Evie (Rachel Weisz) are a happily married adventure seeking couple. Having just returned from another treasure hunting trip (this time looking for the bracelet of Anubis). We zip to another scene where we learn that Anuksunamun is trying to bring her old love Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) back to life. The only big problem is that this particular year, 1933, happens to be the year of the Scorpion (a little back-story is that The Scorpion King sacrificed his soul to the god Anubis in exchange for victory over his enemies). If someone gets a hold of this bracelet and puts it on, The Scorpion King will rise in seven days (which is exactly what Imhotep and company want as they hope to steal The Scorpion King�s power). Well imagine what exactly happens and you have a pretty solid (if loop-holed) film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 13th, 2007
Wolf Creek is an Australian horror film that is based on true events; with no certain event in specific it combines a few elements from some missing people�s cases in Australia. The actions of some of the characters mirror that of famous serial killers, most notably that of Ivan Milat who most have speculated is whom the movie is based on. According to Quentin Tarantino Wolf Creek is ��One of the great horror film heavies of the last 25 years� so it seems to be really promising.
Liz Hunter (Cassandra Magrath) and Kristy Earl (Kestie Morassi) are friends from England who are travelling Australia for a holiday. Here they meet up with Ben Mitchell (Nathan Phillips) with whom they plan to take a trip to Wolf Creek, a desolate area of Australia where a large crater formed by a meteorite lays. The Wolf Creek of the movie is based upon the real life Wolfe Creek in Australia, which you can see during the aerial shots of the crater in the movie. After driving to Wolf Creek and exploring it the group happily returns to the car ready for their next adventure. But fait would have it, or maybe someone else would have it, their car won�t start. Waiting in the car for hours finally they see headlights off in a distance approaching them. Out comes Mick, a Crocodile Dundee looking fellow who offers to tow their vehicle to his camp and will fix it free of charge. Although a bit hesitant the group decides to accept the offer due to their lack of money. After driving for quite some time they arrive at Mick�s camp, an abandoned mining site that he calls home. Here they all sit down and exchange stories, where Mick�s behaviour becomes a bit suspicious, but somehow he manages to woe them into a false sense of security. Before we know it everyone passes out and we skip ahead to day break where Liz, Kristy, and Ben wake up.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 5th, 2007
Pierce Brosnan as a hit man, something were all used to with the James Bond franchise, but this time he�s not killing for the good guys. Instead he is a freelance assassin traveling the globe killing whoever he�s told and for good money too. But comparing Pierce�s role in this film to James Bond isn�t exactly fair, although the characters share some similarities; you really have to watch this one to appreciate the uniqueness of the character.
Pierce Brosnan stars as Julian Noble, a jaded assassin visiting Mexico on business, don�t expect the same Pierce you�ve seen as James Bond as of late. Instead he plays a much deeper and more troubled assassin, which makes this movie both funny and dramatic. Greg Kinnear plays Danny Wright an edgy salesman on his last whim hoping to land an account with a big client whilst in Mexico. The moment these two meet in the hotel bar the humor, dark at times, begins. They exchange awkward conversation, which ultimately results in Danny taking off in a huff because of an offensive comment made by Julian. The next morning the two meet again, Danny not wanting anything to do with this mysterious stranger, but Julian is sincerely sorry and offers up tickets to see a local bull fight. This is where the real fun begins as Julian reveals his profession, and even feels he has to somehow prove he is telling the truth. The two form an awkward yet undeniable bond and part ways from Mexico. Things really take a turn for the worst beyond there, Julian is undergoing a mid life crisis, causing him to rethink his profession and ultimately resulting a hit put out on him. Apparently this guy has no other friends, so guess whose door he goes knocking on?
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