Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 12th, 2007
Seraphim Falls was a sparsely released film released early in 2007, recently finding its way to DVD. In addition to being the first film where two Irish stars - Pierce Brosnan & Liam Neeson - share screen time together, it also marks the directorial debut of David Von Ancken who also happened to be a co-writer. After watching this movie I can definitely tell you that I am looking forward to any future projects of Von Ancken’s. But that’s aside from the point, how was this film?
Before watching this m...vie I didn’t know anything about it, and it definitely makes it more interesting this way. The movie opens with Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) sitting next to a fire in the snowy woods, the tranquility of the forest is soon interrupted by gun shots aimed for Gideon, one hitting him. He begins running and pursuing him closely is Carver (Liam Neeson) with a posse. I was perplexed at the time trying to figure out what was going on, more specifically why Carver was trying to kill Gideon. I couldn’t figure out who to cheer for, and after Gideon cleverly kills a few posse members it becomes apparent that he’s not just your average Joe which made it all the more interesting to discover their back stories. As the film progresses you learn more about the connection between these two and their motives, but I won’t spoil that. But you can expect a very entertaining movie with an intense chase that leads from mountains to desert, although there isn’t much dialogue there is a lot of intensity and enjoyment, of course there is some action as well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 11th, 2007
Not all heist films are created equal. The Hard Easy is a poor man’s Ocean’s Whatever. Number. While that might appear more often than not a knock on the film, that would not be so in this case. Actually I rather liked the film, more for its nuances. The first thing that impressed me was the cast. This isn’t the gaggle of A listers found in the Ocean films. These are still some hard working craftsmen. Just because this isn’t as hyped or financed to the hilt doesn’t take anything away from the performances. It might...have made them work even harder.
Paul (Thomas) and Roger (Boreanaz) both have some serious money problems. Paul owes a huge gambling debt to vicious mobster Freddie (Allen). Roger is caught up in a stock scam about to explode in his face. The only way out, or so it appears, is an easy score. Seems there’s this can’t miss opportunity waiting for the right crew to come and make a good $15 million. Circumstances pull both of these misguided lads into the job. The problem is, of course, they don’t know each other. Both are working with separate crews planning the same job. So this easy score gets very hard; hence the title. When both crews show for the same diamond heist, all hell’s gonna break loose. What this film lacks in action it more than makes up for in characters. Peter Weller has some of the best lines in his over the top portrayal of Ed who leads Roger’s crew for the heist. The cigar crunching ex commando is such a stock character that it’s actually pretty funny to observe. An aging Bruce Dern puts in an almost equally rousing turn as Gene, the leader of Paul’s gang. Where most films concentrate on pulling off the job, this film mines the characters themselves for most of the running time. While it might not be gold they’re mining, it still comes up silver. Rae Allen might have the best role in the very short appearance of female mobster Freddie. I don’t know about you, but I’ll never look at a wrench quite the same way again. Her facial stuff is priceless. Gary Busey plays Vinnie, a counselo of sorts for Paul, who might just be setting him up for a fall. Vera Farmiga has the most unlikely role as Dr. Charlie. Why do all of the women in this film have guy names?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 10th, 2007
Synopsis
Hello, all you happy people. Growing up, many people of my generation when turning to classic cartoons turned to Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse or even Popeye. I wasn't normal (who would have guessed?). I found my cartoon home when I wasn't watching Transformers or He-Man in the old Tex Avery cartoons of yesteryear. My favorite character was Droopy, the little dog with the deadpan wit and a penchant for outsmarting the big bad Wolf or Spike/Butch the bulldog. Tex was fa...ous for throwing one gag at you and then while you are still laughing throw another. He would usually follow that up with a third one for good measure. It was this constant unapologetic slapstick that would become his signature and would be found most consistently in the hands of Droopy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 10th, 2007
Synopsis
Gabrielle Anwar is a children’s author (of the Edward Gorey school, from the looks of things) who is haunted by intense nightmares. When she sees the house of her dreams on television, she heads out to the small town where it is located and rents the place. Sure enough, there are ghosts there. Fortunately, Forest Whitaker is also in the neighbourhood as a psychic investigator.
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...opsis I will spell this one out simply. Erin Gruwell (Hillary Swank) is white teacher who is new to a predominantly black high school. The kids are your typical Long Beach gang bangers and she goes to great lengths for them to see their potential. From taking on a second job for money to spend on the class too distancing her relationship with her husband Scott (Patrick Dempsey), Gruwell will stop at nothing to overcome the doubting student and fellow staff who believe she is just overly optimistic, guess how this one is going to end folks.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 10th, 2007
Where was I when Miss Potter was in theatres last year? I don’t recall hearing much about it, and that’s a shame. This is one of the most charming, infectiously light-hearted films I’ve seen in long while.
It’s the story of Beatrix Potter (Renée Zellweger, Chicago), the 19th century British creator of the famous Peter Rabbit children’s stories. When we first meet Beatrix, she’s an unmarried woman in her early thirties, lugging her portfolio of paintings and a story to potential publishers. In meeting with two crusty older gents, it seems she’s not going to have any luck. They flip through her drawings of rabbits dressed in human clothes, while she insists they, the rabbits, are her friends. She must be crazy. Lucky for her, these guys have an annoying younger brother who’s insisting he be allowed into the family publishing business. They decide to give him this “bunny book” to minimize the harm he would surely do to their serious business.
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.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 10th, 2007
Synopsis
One of my favorite movies of all time is Rocky Horror Picture Show. My favorite character of that movie is Dr. Frank-N-Furter who is just a sweet transvestite transexual from Transylvania. So when I got Priscilla Queen of the Desert to review which had two cross dressers and a trannie and a grand helping of humor to boot, I was hoping it would become one of my favorite movies as well. The story behind Priscilla is that Tick Belrose (drag name: Mitzi) ...(played by Hugo Weaving) got a contract to perform a show way out in the Australian desert. He convinces an old trannie named Bernadette (male name: Ralph) (played by Terence Stamp) and a rather flamboyant newcomer named Adam (drag name: Felicia) (played by Guy Pearce) to come along to be part of the act. From there, they take a faboulous journey across the desert with many hilarious stops along the way.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 8th, 2007
Tony Scott’s controversial thriller, Revenge, is based rather loosely on a 1979 novella written by Jim Harrison for Esquire Magazine. I say loosely because the source material is quite short and was necessarily expanded for a feature length film. I never saw the 1990 theatrical release of the film, but research shows it did rather poorly. What I know of the difference between this cut and the original comes from Tony Scott’s commentary, which I’ll discuss in the audio portion of this review. I do know the changes m...st be significant as extra credits were required which provide for an additional composer for new music for some additional footage. The running time is also a stunning 30 minutes or so less than the original film. I say this up front so that if you are a fan of the original your mileage may differ. That DVD was released back in 1998. The DVD cover contains a quote from Quentin Tarantino exclaiming that Revenge is Tony Scott’s masterpiece. He does not imply which version he’s talking about. Either way, that’s saying a ton when you consider Scott’s impressive portfolio.
The film begins as Michael Cochran, no relation to Zephram (I think) is retiring as a Navy pilot. He heads to Mexico to spend time with a very old friend. It is hinted that he is going there to work for him, but that situation is never really explained. Unfortunately he falls in love with his pal’s wife, Mireya (Stowe). I say unfortunately because it happens that his pal Tibby (Quinn) also happens to be a ruthless underworld kingpin with plenty of power, money, goons, and guns. Did I mention he has a lot of guns? From almost the moment Cochran enters this world he seems to be ruffling the feathers of everyone around Tibby even before he starts ruffling Mireya’s bed sheets. Now I hate to disagree with the venerable Mr. Tarantino, but doesn’t all of this look just too contrived to be a masterpiece? Call me, Quentin, and we’ll talk about it over pasta and meatballs, my treat.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 8th, 2007
There's a heat-wave in January, and dozens of meteorites are falling from the sky. The plane carrying a princess explodes, but the princess has somehow survived, though she has no memory of her former self and believes herself to be Venusian, come to warn humanity of impending calamity. In due course, this calamity arrives as one of the meteorites transforms into King Ghidorah. Earth will be destroyed unless Mothra manages to convince Godzilla and Rodan to stop fighting each other and instead take on King Ghidorah.
This follow-up to Mothra vs Godzilla marks the point at which the series definitively took a deliberate turn for the comic, for good or ill. The slapstick had already been present in King Kong vs Godzilla, but now it would be here to stay. The storylines would also become more and more outlandish. The monster battles here are largely in the countryside, thus cutting costs on the expensive destruction of city miniatures. Whatever one's feelings on the direction the series took from this point on until the late 70's, the wrasslin' is still a lot of fun, both exciting and funny. However, it is far too long in coming. The monsters have far too little screen time, taking backseat to the rather uninteresting (but much cheaper to film) human stories.
![Freedom Writers [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/freedom-writers-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![Smokey and the Bandit [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/smokey-and-the-bandit-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
