Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 15th, 2006
Ever since making the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Director Peter Jackson has almost become a household name that seems to always guarantee success. Don’t get me wrong though, Jackson has not always been successful. Before making the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson had the film The Frighteners and a few smaller films where he only produced. The idea of giving this not so successful movie director hundreds of millions of dollars to remake the Lord of the Rings trilogy, made many turn their...heads simply wondering why. After the gigantic success of the trilogy, Jackson targeted another remake, a remake to a film he says was the reason he wanted to become a film director. The film in question is the 1933 classic King Kong.
When news first arrived of this remake, many fans, including myself, were very excited to see what Jackson could come up with. However, I don’t need to spell out how many remakes, including the recent Pink Panther, are extremely horrid. With the news coming out that New Line wanted Jackson to trim the film down (from the final run time of 182 minutes to 140 for a quicker turn around audience) and that the film’s budget had sky-rocketed forcing Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh to fork over their money, a lot of fans started to worry if Peter Jackson’s King Kong was going to go down in history as simply another poorly made remake. Can a one-time nobody director, now an extremely famous director turn a black and white classic into a modern age epic? Read on to find out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 8th, 2006
It seems that most of the creators behind today’s horror movies just aren’t thinking anymore. Films like The Grudge or the remake of the classic The Omen just aren’t as scary anymore. Such is the case with the recent Universal film Slither, which ends up being an entertaining movie, but never really produces that spook factor that say the original Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street produced.
The film begins after a meteorite crashes in a Midwestern town. A man named Gra...t (Michael Rooker) stumbles upon a fossil and is infected by a life force living inside the fossil. Soon his super cute wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks) figures out that something is not right with her husband. He has a new found larger than life hunger for raw meat and he begins to crave strange body mutations. It turns out that a strange alien creature has infested Grant in hopes of infesting the entire human race. Now the next part sounds a bit out of the film Species. The creature inside Grant decides it wants to mate with Starla to create a whole new race. Bring in Deputy Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion) and Jack MacReady (Gregg Henry) to do battle with this new creature and you have, surprisingly, a pretty entertaining film even if it never truly scares you.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 5th, 2006
The second of the Fast and Furious trilogy finds Brian O’Connor returning only this time in the streets of Miami. Down there he has become a Dominic type character ruling the streets with his excellent racing skills earning the respect of everyone. One night his buddy Tej (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges) calls him up asking if he wants to race. Needing cash, Brian obviously agrees. After a close race including an impressive bridge jump, Brian wins. Cutting his celebration short, the police arrive after an undercover...cop Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes) watches Brian’s every move. We soon learn that the authorities were rather angered with Brian when he let Dominic go. Offering to forgive this and his numerous other charges, the cops wants Brian to infiltrate a Miami drug lord Carter Verone (Cole Hunter). The only way Brian agrees to do this is if he picks his partner, who turns out to be his childhood ‘friend’ Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson).
We soon learn that Monica is involved with Carter as his ‘girlfriend’ which is only so she can get inside and learn what his next move is. She brings both Brian and Roman to him along with a few others. Their goal is to obtain a package that was in the glove compartment of a confiscated vehicle. This is the test for both of them, something they easily pass. Now that Brian and Roman are on board, they can give tons of tips to the police about Carter and his newest deal right? Well, that will be found out soon enough.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 30th, 2006
12 Monkeys tells the story of a man named James Cole (16 Blocks Bruce Willis) who is sent back in time from the year 2035 to the year 1996 in hopes of saving the human race from a deadly virus which has forced mankind into total seclusion from the above world. Down below the ground, they live in communities hoping one day to come out and start a new world. Once he arrives, Cole encounters a patient named Jeffrey Goines (Troy’s Brad Pitt) and a psychiatrist named Kathryn Railly (We Were Soldier... Madeleine Stowe). Cole soon learns, after a few conversations with Jeffrey, that he may hold the whole key to solving this virus. As the film progresses, what we and Cole learn is that the scientists who simply sent Cole back to obtain a sample of this virus for further study, may have had more sinister motives at hand.
The film is directed by Terry Gilliam, a man who certainly has quite the fan base not because his films gross a lot of money, but rather because his films require the mind to think about what they’ve just seen on the screen. Having only seen this film once before this viewing, my love for the film was brought back quickly. Even though I’ve only seen a handful of his films, I’ve always loved how Gilliam is able to sway away from the main plot to introduce side plots in a manner that is always keeping the viewer in loop with what the main purpose of the film at hand. His films are so creative, insane (in a good sense), fun, and simply a mind trip to watch (especially his recently released on HD DVD Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas). He creates these characters that are so unique and interesting that one can help getting sucked into the story at hand.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 30th, 2006
With impressive urban dramas under his belt, John Singleton sets out to create another classic. Boyz n The Hood is always associated with this genre, in terms of quality it remains a classic drama. Four Brothers doesn’t attempt a serious get out of the hood type movie, but rather an action film with serious themes and tones. Well that’s not to say that there isn’t a laugh or two in here, because there sure is.
It’s a cold November night in Detroit; Evelyn Mercer enters a convenience store to ...ail an underage thief out of trouble. We learn that she is a compassionate elderly lady that sees the best in everyone. As she proceeds to pick out a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner two masked men enter the store, demanding money and making threats. They shoot and kill the cashier proceeding to the back of the store where they hear Evelyn rustling around. Without hesitation they take her life and flee from the store into the snowy night.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 28th, 2006
With all that’s been going on with Tom Cruise as of late, I found myself doubting the integrity of this picture. I was fearful that the happenings of Cruise’s personal life would somehow bring down this movie; the previous two films did set the bar pretty high. So how did the third installment add up, did it fall short of expectations, or did it deliver beyond what I expected?
MI:III doesn’t hesitate a minute to bring us suspense, the picture begins with Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) having Et...an Hunt and a woman (whom appears to mean a lot to him) captive. He means business; she is going to die unless Ethan can come up with something called the rabbit’s foot. The scene closes, and we roll back to the previous week when nothing is amiss.
Posted in: 2.35:1 Widescreen, Disc Reviews, Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 (English), Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 (French), HD-DVD, Suspense / Thriller, Universal by Archive Authors on October 25th, 2006
Synopsis
(What can I say, I’m a lazy bastard, so I’ve liberally borrowed from my earlier review of this disc, which can also be found on the site, save for the audio and video information.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 25th, 2006
Steven Soderbergh’s film Out of Sight tells the story of a man named Jack Foley (E.R.’s George Clooney) and his ability to rob banks. As the film opens up, we see Jack as he cunningly convinces the bank clerk that his partner is speaking to the bank manager and will blow off his head if Jack gives the word. Turns out that this is the exact opposite and Jack almost gets away had his car not flooded. As Jack is doing his time in jail, we immediately learn that he is going to escape soon, actually that nig...t. The escape goes off cleanly until Jack and his driver named Buddy Bragg (Mission Impossible’s Ving Rhames) nab a federal marshal named Karen Sisco (The Cell’s Jennifer Lopez), putting her and Jack in the trunk of her car together. It’s here that Jack and Karen, while talking, become attracted to each other.
As a federal marshal and law officer, Karen is obviously suppose to arrest Jack. But this can’t happen yet otherwise the film would only be 20 minutes long. Here is where Soderbergh succeeds at a high level. He gives us a lot of flashbacks, one in particular to Jack’s days in prison. Jack meets a man named Glenn, who seems to be a kind of odd character who doesn’t necessarily seem to full in the upper portion of his head. We also meet a group of three men named Snoopy Miller, the violent part of the group, Kenneth, his partner and White Boy Rob, his big, bulky bodyguard who constantly stands up for Snoopy. While all this is occurring inside the prison, Soderbergh switches back and forth between the ongoing ‘relationship’ between Karen and Jack.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 18th, 2006
The Break-Up tells the story of the relationship of Gary (Mr. And Mrs. Smith’s Vince Vaughn) and Brooke (Friend’s Jennifer Aniston. As the film begins, we see Gary at a baseball game as he attempts to ask Brooke out on a date by endless asking her. The film skips forward roughly two years, to a point where Gary and Brooke are now a couple who are living together in a highly desirable condo. Gary is working as a Chicago tour guide with his brothers, while Brooke works at the Marilyn Dean Art Gall...ry. Everything seems to be going fine until a dinner with their respective families. Gary, feeling that Brooke is constantly asking too much of him, yells at Brooke, who feels that Gary never wants what she wants in life, leading to them breaking up (hence the title of the film).
Now that they’re ‘broken-up’, Gary and Brooke tend to play off each other doing little things to annoy each other. Gary is beaten up by Brooke’s brother while Brooke, on the other hand, votes Gary off of her bowling team. All these events occur, as Brooke tells us, in the hopes of getting Gary to change himself so he’ll get back with her. While this plot sounds kind of stupid, the real charm of this film is Vince Vaughn.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 3rd, 2006
This, the first of three films in the Fast and Furious trilogy, tells the story of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his group of friends Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Jesse (Chad Lindberg), Vince (Matt Schulze), Leon (Johnny Strong) and his sister Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster). By day Dominic and his friends seem like normal people who work in the garage on their cars, have barbeques and seem to have a good old time. Once the night comes, Dominic involves himself in the L.A. street races, something he particula...ly excels at. There is something else that he and his buddies do that prompts the interference of the police and office Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker).
Turns out that Dominic and his buddies are suspects (mostly due to Dominic’s background) of stealing product from trucks of which include high-end audio/video equipment. With a little money from column A and a little from column B, they fix up their cars, go race them, and gain tons of gawking fans who then run to the local custom shop trying to fix up their own cars so they can become the next Dominic in the racing world. Brian’s job is to infiltrate Dominic and his gang, try to prove that Dominic is indeed behind these robberies and bring him down. Unfortunately for Brian, he develops a friendship with these people (well all except Vince for the most part).