Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2010
Remakes are a fact of life. It might seem now more than ever that we are plagued with this reality, but it's been true for a very long time. It's not so new, as you might expect. Even the lauded Cecil B. Demille The Ten Commandments was a remake of his own silent 1923 film. They've existed almost as long as the movies themselves and will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. So, the question should be: Why should a particular film be remade? Often technology catches up with the content in a film. The ability to create on the screen something that was simply impossible originally is a legitimate reason to tackle an older film. Sometimes the movie is so powerful that it bears retelling for a new generation.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 15th, 2010
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.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 15th, 2010
Ice Age – The Meltdown is a funny, well-animated sequel that offers up a new adventure for the memorable characters from the original Ice Age film. As a great bonus, it’s nicely balanced for audiences young and old.
20th Century Fox Animation is still a poor second cousin to Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios, but for sheer entertainment value, Ice Age – The Meltdown doesn’t get knocked completely out of the water by top-shelf blockbusters like The Incredibles. Sure, the animation is weaker, and story is less inspired, but the voice work is excellent, with the talent of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, Jay Leno, and the list goes on.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 14th, 2010
I’ve often spent a lot of time talking about how Pixar has dominated computer animation, at least as far as full-length features go. With few exceptions, there isn’t anything out there that even comes close. Most films rely on toilet humor and crude innuendo to get a few laughs. A lot of the kids and adults might suck that stuff up, but they can’t hold a candle to Pixar. There are, as I’ve mentioned, some quite notable exceptions. The Fox Blue Sky Studios has had enormous success with their Ice Age films, and when you take a look at the third and latest entry in that franchise, you’ll understand why.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 14th, 2010
"Imagine a world of incredible color and beauty. Of crabs wearing jellyfish for hats. Of fish disguised as frogs, stones, and shag carpets. Of a kaleidoscope of underwater life. Now go explore it."
Jim Carrey narrates this IMAX experience that takes you deep under the ocean. The film focuses on five particular locations: New Britain and Milne Bay (both in New Guinea), South Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, and Indonesia. Because this was filmed with IMAX equipment and presented here in high definition, you can expect a pretty spectacular ride on this one.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 12th, 2010
One of my soft-spots in films (puns aside) are erotic thrillers. This genre includes some of my favorite movies of all time include the likes of Basic Instinct, Sliver & Fatal Attraction. As it turns out, Basic Instinct & Sliver’s screenplay was written by one Joe Eszterhas. Then I get a copy of Jade to review on Blu-Ray which just also happens to feature Joe on screenplay credits. Color me interested.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 9th, 2010
Growing up in life came a little later for me than most people. Most people seem to hit maturity right around their later teen years and early twenties. Honestly, I didn’t really grow up until I hit my mid twenties. But what would happen if one was forced to grow up sooner, say around their seventeenth birthday? Well then, you might be like Jenny Mellor from An Education who had to grow up a lot sooner than she probably expected to.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2010
"We're back..."
The Chipmunks began life oddly enough as a singing group, of sorts. They were the brainchild of struggling songwriter Ross Bagdasarian and were named after the three chief executives at Liberty records. His own alter ego David Seville’s name came from his World War II Army station in Spain. The Chipmunks first appeared in a 1958 record called The Witch Doctor, but wouldn’t officially become The Chipmunks until later that year when The Chipmunks Christmas Song was released. It is for that Christmas music that I most remember the group
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2010
One might have to legitimately ask about the thinking behind this particular children- targeted release. I have to admit that I was a little uncomfortable with the idea of reviewing this film at this particular time. I have two issues that are just unavoidable here:
They both deal with the film's two central stars here. Bindi Irwin is the daughter of famed Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. You all remember Steve. He used to approach some of the most dangerous animals on the planet and quite casually tell us just how deadly they were while tempting them to tag him
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 6th, 2010
"It's New Year's Eve on the Poseidon. Partying voyagers toast the future. The future comes in a rush; a 150 foot rogue wave flips the cruise ship over. And a struggle to survive begins."
Poseidon doesn’t waste any time getting to the action, so I won’t waste any time with an introduction to this review. Yes, it’s a remake of the 1972 film, The Poseidon Adventure. Yes, it is chock full of convenient cardboard characters (a former Navy man, a fireman, a nurse, etc…). But we don’t watch movies like Poseidon for character exposition, do we?
![The Thomas Crown Affair [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-thomas-crown-affair-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Night at the Museum [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/night-at-the-museum-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Ice Age - The Meltdown [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/ice-age-the-meltdown-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Ice Age [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/ice-age-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Jade [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/jade-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![An Education [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/an-education-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/alvin-and-the-chipmunks-the-squeak-large.jpg)
![Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/free-willy-escape-from-pirates-co-large.jpg)
![Poseidon [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/poseidon-blu-ray-large.jpg)
