Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 19th, 2006
Spike TV has really picked up steam in recent years, and this momentum is nowhere more apparent than in their staple show MXC – Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. Now on DVD with the complete first season, fans of the show and adventurous new viewers are sure to enjoy the antics and wisecracks of hosts “Kenny” and “Vic,” who provide commentary on each episode of insane Asian people sacrificing their bodies for the thrill of being on television. Of course, the American voiceovers of MXC are all added ...ost-facto. But the original show – “Takeshi’s Castle” – is not short on the crazies itself, as we see from this collection’s bonus materials.
I’m not sure how necessary owning these 13 episodes on DVD is, but to each his own. I am content to watch on Spike TV late night, but I will admit, some of Kenny’s most painful eliminations are worth multiple viewings. If you like to see people in pain but not to the point of death, then this What’s Up, Tiger Lily game-show knock off is for you. Just be careful, and, above all, “Don’t Get Eliminated!”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 19th, 2006
Nicolas Cage is a highway cop haunted by a gruesome accident. He receives a mysterious letter from his ex-fiancee, begging him to come to the remote colony where she lives and help find her daughter. Cage arrives there to find a grim matriarchy, uncooperative locals, and sinister hints of something nasty going to happen to the child.
I wrote about this film when it was in the theatres, and rather than repeat myself through paraphrase, I repeat myself verbatim. Note there are some spoilers below.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 18th, 2006
A Fish Called Wanda returns to DVD, this time in a stunning 2-disc collector’s edition that finally gives adequate treatment to one of the funniest surprises of the eighties. John Cleese stars as an English barrister, whose life is so dull and – well, British – that a seductress/jewel thief named Wanda comes along and steals his heart in record time. But Wanda carries a lot of baggage with her, the heaviest piece being a Nietzche-quoting moron, who just so happens to be her psychotic boyfriend. Add an anima...-loving hitman with one of the world’s worst stuttering problems, and Wanda quickly turns into an outrageous farce – but one that works with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine.
This kind of film, without doubt, is Cleese’s strong suit. An alumnus of Monty Python, Cleese actually tones down the farcical elements, and I think his film benefits from the downgrade. While Cleese is a very funny actor, most of the good stuff goes to Kline, who can’t stand to be called stupid, though he is mostly incapable of proving such accusations wrong. But he is a formidable opponent once he gets his hands on you, a fact Cleese draws many laughs from in his scenes with the nemesis. If it’s been a while since you’ve seen A Fish Called Wanda, and you’re worried it’s lost something, don’t be. The film stands up well, though some of its humor has since been copied in more unflattering films. No doubt this reality will hurt some of the laughs, but there is still plenty of Kline, Cleese, and Michael Palin, to go around for everyone, so you shouldn’t be disappointed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 17th, 2006
Little Miss Sunshine is a gem. With a quirky script, a great cast and interesting cinematography, there's plenty to appreciate as this ultimately uplifting film unfolds.
To make a great movie, they say you have to start with a great script. From there, your goal is just to not screw it up. Little Miss Sunshine's script laid just such a foundation for this film, as it's unique, funny and surprisingly heartwarming. The story is about a dysfunctional family. They've got a crude, drug-addicted grandpa; a suicidal, gay uncle; a mother "this close" to divorcing her husband, the struggling, aspiring motivational speaker; a son who has taken a vow of silence and only communicates via scribbling on a little notebook; and a slightly chubby little daughter who's working toward a goal of being a prepubescent beauty queen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 16th, 2006
Synopsis
Not to fawn too heavily on one side in the next-generation format wars, but how cool is HD-DVD? Well, if for nothing else, the HD-A1 and HD-XA1 players from Toshiba are all region-free. And while Warner Brothers has been slipping over themselves and teasing American consumers with a release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, British customers have gotten full penetration, and can pick up the fourth Potter film now. So I went onto Amazon UK and picked up my own copy, and I�m going to presume that the disc will be the same when it comes out here, whenever that will be.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 16th, 2006
If there's something that bothers me about the wave of digital films for children's entertainment nowadays, it's that anyone who has a Mac and good enough software feels compelled to make a movie, no matter how much it sucks. And Disney (or Dreamworks) or another studio will put enough marketing money behind it to make anyone want to watch it.
How can you tell how good or bad it will be? Well, if it's not a Pixar film, you can generally tell by the cast that is brought in to do voice work for it. In the case of The Wild, Samson the Lion (Kiefer Sutherland, 24) lives in the New York zoo with his son Ryan (hey, that's me! But really it's Greg Cipes, John Tucker Must Die). Ryan is a little bit shy because he hasn't gotten his roar yet, and Samson is a legend among his zoo friends for the stories he tells. His friends include a giraffe named Bridget (Janeane Garofalo, The Truth About Cats and Dogs), a squirrel named Benny (Jim Belushi, According to Jim) and a snake named Larry (Richard Kind, Spin City). And Ryan leaves the zoo and accidentally gets on a ship bound for Africa, so Samson and friends follow the ship that lands'in the wild!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 16th, 2006
Maybe you guys don't remember the Blake Edwards romantic comedies of the '70s and '80s like 10 or even Skin Deep, but I'd even go so far as to say that when it clicks, The Oh in Ohio is much in the same vein of those comedies. Anyone notice the disclaimer?
Anyway for those that missed it, Priscilla Chase (Parker Posey, Superman Returns) is a successful businesswoman in Cleveland who is married to Jack (Paul Rudd, Anchorman), a high school teacher in the area. They've been married for awhile, but the marriage is cold and distant, in large part because Priscilla has problems, well, "arriving", when she sleeps with Jack. Jack thinks the problem is his, even though it isn't.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 16th, 2006
Well as far as girl groups go, I suppose one could do worse than the Cheetah Girls. Something that is a pretty clear production of the Disney network, the only recognizable thing about the group itself is the appearance of the big-boned Raven Symone, otherwise known as the youngest Cosby kid.
And it appears that several different plot devices occur through the film. You've got the Help! or other delirious fans of young groups. Then the girls travel to what appears to be Spain after maxing out their success in the US, so they decide to go without really going, using enough exterior shots to match up with the sound stage scenes. Then you've got the whole thing about them wanting to make it big, and I think at one point one of the girls falls in love, but I could be mistaken on this.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 15th, 2006
Why is it that kids watch so much bad programming? When I was a child I watched a lot of Full House, even though I knew at the time that it was a poorly-crafted program. I really don't remember ever laughing during an episode, and I knew how cheesy the whole thing was, yet if I was at home changing channels, and the show came on, I would inexplicably stop and watch. At first, I think it was confusing for me that Dave Coulier was on the show, as up until that point I was used to seeing him as the host of Nickel...deon's Out of Control. I think that was the first time that it really sunk in for me that the people on TV were actors, and not real people.
Season Five catches the show's eight-season run during its "prime". The season starts off with Uncle Jessie and his wife Becky finding out that they are going to have twins. This is an event that really marks the beginning of the end of this show for me. The episodes leading up to this point put the focus on Bob Saget and his daughters, while this season starts the transition to spending much more time with the supporting characters. Subsequent seasons saw the characters growing in increasingly different directions, and the whole mess just became more and more disjointed. While this opened up new storytelling options for the writers, it also changed the show's core dynamic. The same could be said for the final couple of seasons of this show's thematic forerunner, Growing Pains. Once Mike Seaver became a responsible adult, the show had strayed too far from what made it appealing to audiences in the first place.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 15th, 2006
Michael Mann, for myself, has always been an entertaining director. His commercial successes like Last of the Mohicans, Heat and Collateral are some of my favorite guilty-pleasure films that I can always enjoy. When Mann decided to make a feature film on the classic TV series Miami Vice, I immediately piqued interest in the film. I figured with Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx acting and Michael Mann directing that Miami Vice would be a home run. In the end, Vice is more of a double that has a few faults which keep it from hitting a home run.
Some may instantly criticize me for this next sentence. Colin Farrell is a great actor. There I said it. I loved his performances in Phone Booth, Daredevil, Tigerland and yes, Alexander. He brought his own unique style to each performance adding a bit of quality to each of the said films. In Miami Vice though, Farrell as Detective James �Sonny� Crockett failed on nearly all cylinders never convincing me of his performance. Even in scenes of action, Farrell and his partner Jamie Foxx as Detective Ricardo �Rico� Tubbs tended to almost bore me causing myself to continuously look at the clock.
