Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 14th, 2007
Released earlier this year to a successful box office run, Ghost Rider is yet another Marvel character making his way to the big screen. There’s something about these comic movies that have everyone all psyched these days, all of them performing admirably in the theatre and selling just as well upon DVD release. For me, there are only a couple of these Marvel films that I actually think were well done and in good contrast compared to their comic book counterparts. In fact I’m probably the only person on this c...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 6th, 2007
Synopsis
Holy crap, this movie made a boat load of money for Fox when it came out around Christmas 2006, making $250 million and running second only to the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel for box office money. And to see Ben Stiller finally appear in a film that could be considered a blockbuster success was nice too. And in Night at the Museum, he gets to play Larry, night security guard in the New York Museum of Natural History.
Based on a book by Milan Trenc, the story contains man...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 5th, 2007
Synopsis
Well in the ever ongoing series of reviews of the James Bond series, this particular installment is the last of the Pierce Brosnan collection (the others are on the site, so go find them). And in Tomorrow Never Dies, I saved it for last because well, I needed some form of drama to keep me going.
This one takes Ian Fleming’s characters and adapts them into a screenplay that was written by Bruce Feirstein (GoldenEye) and directed by Roger Spottiswoode (Under Fire). And ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 26th, 2007
Synopsis
Well, time may not have been too kind to George Lazenby since he assumed the tailored suits of James Bond for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but considering how well Daniel Craig did in Casino Royale, and the basic storyline is the same for both films, why do people still want to bash Lazenby now? Is it because he wasn’t a carbon copy of his predecessor, Sean Connery? Who knows?
As for the film itself, Lazenby was as unknown as one could get for the job, as this was only h...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 13th, 2007
Synopsis
Ian Fleming’s The Man With the Golden Gun was the only posthumous release for the established actor, and the book was such a success that producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman decided to try and recruit Roger Moore for the role immediately after You Only Live Twice to capitalize on the success of Fleming’s book. However, it wasn’t meant to be, and the film’s production was delayed several years while the George Lazenby era came and went, not to mention the Sean Connery era leav...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 9th, 2007
Synopsis
Carlos Santana has been a veritable part-owner in the Montreux Jazz Festival, with a half dozen or so appearances under his belt in over three decades of performing. Some have been solo appearances, but others have been fruitful collaborations with various blues and jazz performers, some singers. In 1988, Santana and friend Wayne Shorter performed at the show as part of a brief tour.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 9th, 2007
Synopsis
Carlos Santana has been a veritable part-owner in the Montreux Jazz Festival, with a half dozen or so appearances under his belt in over three decades of performing. Some have been solo appearances, but others have been fruitful collaborations with various blues and jazz performers, some singers. In 1988, Santana and friend Wayne Shorter performed at the show as part of a brief tour.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 4th, 2007
To the credit of James Bond film producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, they realized that recycling a storyline with Russian antagonists or other satellites of communism, was stale even several years after the Berlin Wall fell. But in its place, the big Bond villain was a Serbian national of sorts named Renard, who was shot in the head, and the bullet, still lodged in his brain, made him magically impervious to pain.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 31st, 2007
Admittedly after George Lazenby left the James Bond franchise when On Her Majesty's Secret Service was released, producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli wanted to go with a more American-based Bond in their seventh film, and were pretty serious in their intent. At one time, Adam West (yes, Batman) was even involved in negotiations to play the part. Actor John Gavin (Psycho) was signed and sealed for the role a week before principal photography started. But Sean Connery was pitched for it, a bunch of money was thrown at him, and he went upon his merry way to reprise the role that made him famous.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 31st, 2007
Once Roger Moore left the Bond franchise (some would say three or four films too late), quite a few things left with him. When Timothy Dalton, whose most well-known work before this was an excellent supporting turn in The Lion in Winter, was brought in, several things seemed to change. First and perhaps most notably, the return of a James Bond that smoked cigarettes was most startling. Second, supporting characters like Lois Maxwell (who played Miss Moneypenny) and Bernard Lee (M) were replaced with younger, fresher (?) perspectives.
