Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 22nd, 2006
Synopsis
Five years after saving New York City from supernatural destruction, the Ghostbusters have fallen on hard times. Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver have broken up, and he is now the host of a dubious psychic TV show. Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson have been reduced to performing a children’s parties, what with the anti-spook outfit having been sued into non-existence. And so it goes. But then weird goop, powered by New York’s anger, rises from the ground to create havoc anew.
Posted in: 1.85:1 Widescreen, Comedy, Disc Reviews, Dolby Digital 5.1 (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (French), DVD, Universal by David Annandale on March 8th, 2006
Synopsis
The recently divorced Uma Thurman is seeing therapist Meryl Streep as she tries to put her life back together. She meets Bryan Greenberg, sixteen years her junior, and falls for him. Streep encourages her to go for it, and then discovers that the object of Thurman’s affection is her son, whom she wanted to find a nice Jewish girl. Neither Thruman nor Greenberg know of their connection through Streep and carry on with their relationship, while Streep struggles to carry on with Thurman’s thera...y, forced to hear altogether more than she would like about her son.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 5th, 2006
Synopsis
Well, a Terry Gilliam children’s film might seem like a bit of an oxymoron, however writing a film with fellow Monty Python alum Michael Palin actually resulted in a funny, and even philosophical film, reflecting on themes of good and evil.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 25th, 2006
Synopsis
Quite frankly, I didn’t remember much about 13 Going on 30 when I first saw it (yes, I’m copping to watching it), but in revisiting it for the purposes of the review, I found that it was a cute film whose story is quite clearly lifted from the ‘80s Tom Hanks film Big (right down to the scene where the main character rides in a limo), but the performances by the cast is actually quite commendable.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 24th, 2006
The death of a celebrity usually brings sadness to many of their fans. However, whenever a celebrity does die, you can definitely expect a best of or some type of collection to find its‘ way to your video store shelves as soon as possible. After Richard Pryor died in December, Universal decided to wait one short month before releasing this four disc movie collection which features four of Pryor’s films that he either starred in or had something to do with. While the film’s contained her are not the best work of Pryor...s (other studios have rights to those particular works), the film’s Universal chose are pretty entertaining and remind us of the genius that Pryor was.
First up is the film Which Way is Up? which is re-make of the 1972 Italian comedy The Seduction of Mimi. The Italian version concerns the mob, but this version concerns Corporations and Labor Unions, where the workers at an orange-picking field want to form a union to ensure better and less-dangerous working conditions. Pryor steps up the plate when he falls off his ladder one day. Pryor is asked to leave the town by the big bosses at the orange corporation. This causes him to move to the city, fall in love with a union supporter, and funny comedy simply ensues. While the comedy presented is nothing that will have you laughing on the floor, it did have me similing many times simply because the type of comedy is something we can all relate to. The comedy is about human beings and their life lessons through family and work.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 24th, 2006
Get ready, all you pre-teen Emilio Estevez fans, for this new special edition of Repo Man from Focus Features. I had no idea this film had such a following, and after viewing, I can’t seem to make sense of it. Not always sure of its genre, Repo Man is a film oddity that mixes drama, comedy, and goofball science-fiction with a meandering plot and questionable performances to get one of the strangest and most forgettable B-movies this side of Bride of the Monster. I was joking about a pre-teen Este...ez, but he is still very young, and not at all convincing in the role he’s playing here. I wonder if Estevez looks back on this film with the embarrassment one has for an old yearbook photo. He probably should. The great thing about this film, however, is you get to see Harry Dean Stanton at the top of his game, and he was an actor of incredible talent, who could have brought artistic credibility to a porno film if he so desired. Unfortunately, cheesy ‘80’s effects inferior even to Alf and an all-over-the-place plot pull away from the merits Stanton brings to the production.
The story begins with a roguish teen outsider, played by Estevez, who can’t seem to get any respect, or anything good out of life, no matter how hard he tries. One day, Stanton’s character takes a liking to him and decides for no reason that makes any sense he would make a great “repo man.” Voila, instant protégé. Meanwhile, there’s a scientific madman on the loose carrying a neutron bomb in the trunk of his old Malibu, and frying any overly curious person to a crisp with it. Whether it’s a highway patrolmen or a street punk kid, no one is immune from its effects. Along the way, there are crazy conspiracy theorists, street gangs, and a rival team of repo men on the prowl just waiting to heat the pot to a confusing boil. The sad thing about this film: it’s very entertaining in its simplicity, and very frustrating and dull in its complexity. The repossession scenes are immensely entertaining, and I’m sure a good film lurks somewhere within those confines. But Cox wants to make too many films at once and, in the end, does more harm than good.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 22nd, 2006
Synopsis
In Spain of the early 70s, Javier Cámara is Alfredo, an unsuccessful door-to-door encyclopedia salesman. His wife, Carmen (Candela Peña), desperately wants a baby, but he refuses because of their dire financial straits. The publishing house he works for decides to move into making sex films, and its remaining door-to-door men must film themselves having sex with their wives or lose their jobs. Carmen sees this as a good opportunity to get pregnant, and convinces Alfredo to give it a try. The...two turn out to be very good at making these films. Bitten by the cinema bug, Alfredo has ambitions of making a feature film in the vein of his idol, Ingmar Bergman. Will his artistic dreams be realized? Will Carmen become a mother? And what to do about Alfredo’s non-existent sperm count?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2006
Eric Idle, Kohn Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and of course Graham Chapman formed Britain’s most famed comedy troupe. The exploits of Monty Python’s Flying Circus were truly “something entirely different”. Their off the wall antics have written an entire chapter in the story of pop culture. There certainly is not near enough space here for me to give the group its just due. So I won’t even try. If you’ve never heard of them, then stop reading, crawl back into the rabbit hole you’ve been living ...n, and open a fresh can of Spam. For the rest of you who just want to know if this particular DVD is worth picking up, the answer, in short, is yes.
This disc is part of a six part series that covers each member of the Monty Python troupe. The series originally aired as part of a PBS tribute. This DVD begins as a fitting tribute to Graham Chapman who passed away in 1989. The remaining five Python members get serious, for the most part, and offer their own fond memories of their fallen comrade. The interviews are insightful and refreshingly quite frank. They not only address the man’s comedic genius but his personal demons as well. Chapman struggled with alcoholism and the ridicule of a flamboyant homosexual lifestyle. Many of Chapman’s and certainly Monty Python’s best moments are here. The task is not an easy one. They have produced hundreds of hours of comedy, and selecting an hour of the best is hardly a simple mission. The choices are very nice ones indeed. Some of my own favorites included in this set are the self-wrestling match and Oscar and His Majesty. More than just a collection of skits, this DVD provides wonderful insight into Chapman, the man. A special treat is a few behind the scenes moments from such great works as “Life of Brian”.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 20th, 2006
Synopsis
Dennis Quaid is a widower Coast Guard Admiral with eight kids. He runs his household with (of course) military precision. His career has taken him back to his home town, where he runs into high school sweetheart Rene Russo. She is a widow (no divorces in THIS movie, thank you very much) with ten kids (four biological, the rest adopted), and her household is a joyful chaos of artistic self-actualization. Quaid and Russo fall in love and marry immediately, and then announce to their kids that ...heir family has just double in size. Cue conflict as the military kids and the artsy-hippy kids collide, and then collude to try to break up the marriage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 19th, 2006
The idea of a gross-out comedy is nothing new. There have been some extremely funny gross-out comedies like The 40-Year Old Virgin and The American Pie Trilogy. However, there have also been some extremely boring and stupid gross-out comedies like National Lampoon’s Van Wilder and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigalow. The key to a successful gross-out comedies to is have a smart plot and jokes that actually make sense and aren’t just made for a quick laugh. While there are some funny sequences ...n Waiting…, the film just lacks the overall spark and humor of a good comedy.
Basically summing up the plot of the film; Monty (Ryan Reynolds), Serena (Anna Faris), and Dean(Justin Long) star in this film about a bunch of waiters that are simply trying to show their customers how awesome the service can be at the restaurant ShenaniganZ can be. Monty’s job, it seems, is to show the new guy Mitch (John Francis Daley) around the restaurant, showing him everything from where the condiments are kept to a rather vile game that ends with the offender’s butt being kicked. (I won’t go into full detail as it seemed like Director McKittrick was trying to bring some energy into the film with a gross-out concept that falls extremely flat.)
