Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 18th, 2007
The day and age were Hollywood remakes coming off as a somewhat passable effort are completely gone. Hollywood continues to feed us drivel that is devoid of anything remotely entertaining or anything that made the original entertaining in its own right. In 2006 Warner Brothers decided to remake the 1973 classic film Wicker Man. Instead of trying to adhere to the original, Warner threw everything that made Robin Hardy's original such a classic and have since replaced it with moments that were meant to scare us but instead come off as almost laughable.
In this remake actor Nicholas Cage stars as detective Edward Maius. We quickly learn that Edward's former fiancée Willow (Kate Beahan) left him a few years back without any reason why. Edward soon receives a letter from Willow stating that their daughter Rowan has gone missing. Traveling to the island of Summerisle, Edward soon learns that the island that Willow has moved to (oddly comprised entirely of woman) may have something to do with their missing child. Edward searches high and low trying to figure out who these women are, what they do and who exactly is the so-called Wicker Man.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 18th, 2007
Synopsis
Reality series are so rampant on tv these days. You have everything from people who has been celebrities living together to the journey of people who want to lose a ton of pounds. Some of these are good and some defy explanation. However, I found a good little nugget of reality when I was sent a copy of Dog the Bounty Hunter - Best of Season 3 on DVD. To be honest, I was expecting the worst and what I got was actually pretty interesting and might be on the A...E channel to watch in the future.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 18th, 2007
Synopsis
I grew up with Beavis & Butthead, the so stupid it hurts MTV cartoon show that basically would launch MTV programming and put it on the map for future series. Mike Judge was the creator behind that masterpiece. He would go on later to be the guy behind King of the Hill and a few assorted good shows. However, somewhere along the way he decided to direct a couple of movies. His most recent affair, Idiocracy; a feature film staring Luke Wilson (Old...School, Anchorman) & Maya Rudolph(Saturday Night Live) is the story of an Army grunt & a prostitute who participate in an army experiment to be frozen for a year and then returned to live their lives. The problem is the experiment goes awry and they end up frozen for 500 years and hilarity ensues.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 16th, 2007
Since its premiere in 1994, Inside the Actors Studio has been a fascinating talk show for film fans and aspiring actors, writers and directors alike. Each episode a famous guest � usually an actor � is interviewed one-on-one by host James Lipton, followed by questions from the student audience.
In early 2006, one such guest was Dave Chappelle (Chappelle�s Show). Chappelle�s appearance followed some controversial events in his life, mainly his surprising exit from his mega-hit Comedy Central sh...w during production for its third season, followed by a mysterious trip to Africa, which triggered media rumors of mental instability and drug addiction.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 16th, 2007
These are the other four films featuring Peter Lorre as the mysterious detective Mr. Moto. All but the first are from 1939.
1938's Mr. Moto’s Gamble began life as a Charlie Chan film, but difficulties with that franchise’s star (Warner Oland) led to Fox putting the Chan films on hiatus. Keye Luke, Chan’s Number One Son, is here anyway, as is plenty of footage shot for the Chan film. Luke and comic relief ex-boxer Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom do their best to help Moto solve a case of murder in a boxing ring.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 16th, 2007
Before Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, there was another film full of warriors running through the wilderness, accompanied by a majestic score. That film was The Last of the Mohicans, director Michael Mann's remake of the 1936 film of the same name, which was a remake of the 1920 silent film. And all of these movies were based on the original novel by James Fennimore Cooper, a popular 18th Century American writer.
So there's a lot of history to this story, which is set during the French and Indian War in the mid-18th Century. Our hero is Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York), the white adopted son of a Mohican father, Chingachgook (Russel Means, Natural Born Killers). Together with Chingachgook's biological son, Uncas (Eric Schweig, Tom and Huck), they do their own thing in the wilderness, hunting and trapping and uninvolved in the ongoing war.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2007
Las Vegas made its most significant changes in the third season. The full time addition of Lara Flynn Boyle as the new rich owner of the Montecito made the show somewhat lighter overall. It was probably a good idea to shake things up a bit. The cast chemistry on this show is quite good but was perhaps settling in a bit too much after two years. Boyle's Monica was a perfect foil for James Caan's Ed. Caan was able to stretch his acting muscles a lot more in this season. The overall idea hasn't really changed: The Montecito Hotel and Casino is the setting for action and play. Former CIA operative Ed Deline (Caan) and his CIA buddy Danny McCoy (Duhamel) run one of the world's most sophisticated surveillance systems. With the help of a very young and attractive staff, the crew encounters everything from cheaters to mob hit men.
Once again the package promises Uncut and Uncensored. All that really means is literally a few seconds tacked on to an episode here and there. Those few seconds are more often than not a little quick nudity shot that adds absolutely nothing to the stories. It's a shame, really, that Las Vegas seems to need such a sexy element. The ensemble cast makes this a quality show without the extra trappings. This season features some new classic moments. Monica's exit is, unfortunately, a jump the shark moment for Las Vegas. The season begins a bit slowly as Ed tries to assemble the old crew. Once the band is back together, everything starts firing on all cylinders once again. Another Crossing Jordan crossover episode includes Jill Hennessey and Jerry O'Connell. A very nice change-up is the "Everything is New" episode. All the characters fantasize about what it was like working Vegas during the 60's. The entire episode takes on a Raymond Chandler look and feel as the actors step into the shoes of their counterparts working a hotel that once stood where the Montecito now towers over the Vegas skyline. This was a brilliant change of pace. If you like the show, the third season will give you a lot more of what you come to the Montecito for. This is not a good season to begin with, however. The storylines have a bit more of an overall arc to them, unlike the two previous years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2007
Maria Bello gives a wasted performance in the Tim McGraw vehicle Flicka, a by-the-numbers family film that is such a retread of other more competent efforts, one wonders, What is the point? Alison Lohman plays McGraw's teenage daughter and friend-to-Flicka, a role type that was much better utilized in classics, such as Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Summer of the Monkeys. Lohman is the precocious adolescent, who struggles through boarding school, and her relationship with gruf...-farmer daddy McGraw. McGraw is mis-cast in most everything he's in, being too hip, new-wave country sissified to qualify as a) a tough guy (in this film), and b) an ex-high school football star (see Friday Night Lights). In other words, his time would be better spent returning to Nashville for more of those inane little suck-tracks like "Don't Take the Girl." He's a poor actor with limited range, and his performance in Flicka confirms it.
An even more noteworthy problem the film suffers from is the same plot formula we've seen for over fifty years in novel and film. Teenager clashes with parent because they're just alike. Parent and teenager neither one realize, or admit to, the similarity. When they finally do, fences are mended, and the real healing begins, all so we can get that warm fuzzy the studio wants from us. End of story. Somewhere along the way, the dog or deer or buffalo or goat incurs some kind of tragedy, which may or may not result in death, depending on the sadism of the filmmakers. I won't tell you which way this ends up, but I will say Flicka follows the formula, and doesn't depart one inch from it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2007
Don't let the goofy title fool you; The Doctor, the Tornado, and the Kentucky Kid is a serious documentary. This film takes an inside look at the fast-paced world of MotoGP motorcycle racing. Specifically, the subject is the lives of three top riders as they enter the week of the race at Laguna Seca, one of the most difficult tracks in the world. While this film may be a little too in-depth for those that don't at least casually follow the sport, fans of motorcycle racing will likely be thrilled with this, the...sequel to the popular film Faster.
Often times, sports films get tedious as the story drags on. Since this one focuses on just one race, however, viewers don't get bogged down in the grind of a full season. Plus, as with the sport itself, the riders are living on the edge of their mortality throughout, and the viewer really gets the sense that instantaneous death could occur at any time. This sense of tension perfectly mimics the film's subject matter, and it goes a long way to helping the at-home viewer stay engaged with the material. Director Mark Neale has done an excellent job of crafting a documentary that is exciting, yet still dramatic and informative.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2007
Certain aspects of Working Girl have not aged well, but the film remains a quality production that showcases Melanie Griffith in her best role, with Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver as superb, lightly humorous supporting characters.
Tess McGill (Griffith) is a secretary struggling to rise in the New York business world. After a series of bad experiences with chauvinistic managers, she's transferred to a new secretary role, this time under a female boss (Weaver). At first relieved to be working for someone who understands the female struggle, Tess is hurt when she learns that her new boss is a backstabbing cutthroat who only listens to her to steal ideas. When her boss is hospitalized after a vacation accident, Tess takes action - by taking control of her boss' office, title and even her wardrobe. In her new guise, Tess gets right to work on brokering a deal with an investment banker, Jack Trainer (Ford), risking her career on one hail-Mary play.
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