Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2012
Written by Joe Gause
After watching this movie, it really makes me wonder how Hollywood is still allowed to make movies. Although funny in some points, all in all, it’s a very run-of-the-mill college movie. Basically, the story centers around Paul Tarson (Christopher Gorham), a college student who is unable to make decisions, especially when it comes to where he wants his life to go. He is given a chance to follow in his father’s (Ralph Williams) footsteps and be a college professor. As he ponders if this is the road he wants to follow, he ends up falling in love with a student (Arille Kebbel) and thus sparks a typical college love story with all the ups and downs (gee, I think I’ve seen this movie before a hundred times). Just when you thought it couldn’t have any more story lines, Paul decides the meaning of his life is to win a pub trivia contest with his two drinking buddies. So he blows his college professor interview, sleeps with his student girlfriend in the library, and enters the trivia contest.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2012
Frozen World is a four-part History Channel mini-series about the Ice Age. The History Channel tends to have a sensationalistic bent to a lot of its programming. That’s one way of saying that they like history to come alive. This series begins with the battle between Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal human cavemen 40,000 years ago in Clash of the Cavemen. It outlines the differences between these totally different kinds of humans. The Neanderthal is stronger. The Cro-Magnon is smarter. The scientists are just beginning to differentiate between the DNA’s of the Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. We know little about them except they were more brutish and animal like. The Neanderthals had to travel at the time when the ice pushed them south into Germany. Leading scientists are interviewed on the many differences between the two types of humans that led to the eventual extinction of the Neanderthals.
The second installment is called Volcanic Winter. It deals with a massive volcanic explosion 75,000 years ago that shrouded the world in ash and smoke. It details the earth-changing climatic shift caused by the event. The volcano was called Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. This explosion was 3,000 times bigger than Mount Saint Helens. There has not been a volcano since that has ever been even a small fraction as massive. The closest was another Indonesian explosion in 1815 at Mount Tambora. It was called the year without a summer. Strangely, after the effects of the massive volcanic explosion 75,000 years ago subsided, then a 1,000-year ice age took hold. Once the climate change was established, it fed on itself. Some scientists suggest that the climatic shift was already happening naturally and this event just added a catalyst. Also worth noting is that there are many potential super volcanoes that potentially exists even today. The biggest potential threat is in Yellowstone National Park.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 16th, 2012
Here we go with more romantic comedies boys and girls. Captain Post Office did not listen last time when we told him no more hokey and predictable romantic comedies featuring pretty boys and girls doing really stupid things for some horrible laughs. Alright, let us see what we got. I Don’t Know How She Does It? featuring Sarah Jessica Parker?!!. Oh geez, what did I do to deserve this one. I am so sorry oh great one, but why did you forsake me? WHY???!!!!
Allison Henderson (played by Christina Hendricks) has known Kate Reddy for about six years now. Allison thinks she is a great at being a mother and well, everything else. However, she has had her slip ups here and there, including one three months last winter. The slip up centered on the Kindergarten bake sale for her daughter Emily. We now take you to the action (couldn’t we have stayed with Christina just a little bit longer?).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2012
It would still be two years before Kate Beckinsale would don her fangs, blue contacts, and black cat suit and become a blip on the radar for the guys among us. Yes, she had done Pearl Harbor, but how many guys thought that was just a romance story that happened to revolve around a particular historic event. Can anyone say Titanic? Serendipity came out the same year as Pearl Harbor, so 2001 was likely the year that Beckinsale really came out, at least to the women in the audience. Of course, Serendipity didn't bring in near the kind of cash that Pearl Harbor did, and honestly, it's kind of fallen by the wayside in the last decade. Mirimax is doing something about that with the new Blu-ray release of John Cusak and Kate Beckinsale in Serendipity.
Jonathan Trager (Cusak) and Sara Thomas (Beckinsale) are both doing a little Christmas shopping for their significant others. In a department store they both attempt to lay claim to the last pair of black gloves on the counter, each tugging on a separate glove. They share a little laugh and conversation and Jonathan offers to allow Sara to have the gloves in exchange for a coffee together. While they both are in relationships, they begin to have feelings for each other. They appear to keep bumping into each other, and Sara is a believer in fate, or serendipity, if you will. She decides to leave their future in the hands of chance. She will write her name and number on a book and sell it to a random bookstore the next day. He puts his information on the back of a five dollar bill, and she spends it at a newsstand without peeking. The idea is that if they were meant to be together, the information will find itself back to them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2012
Where do I begin? There was this rather formulaic movement that started in the 1990's and continued to just a few years ago. It was certainly that generation's version of Animal House. Every generation has them. They typically star teen idols or up and coming young stars and where my generation often placed them in college, these films were all about high school. They tend to take advantage of the cool trends of the time from the present pop culture to the style of music. The problem with these kinds of films is that they seldom have staying power and almost never translate to the next generation in either direction. A good example of this rule has to be She's All That.
At the time of its release in 1999, the film became quite hot. It yanked in over $60 million at the box office and became the fodder for teenage giggles and dates. Now we find the film making another generation jump into Blu-ray and high definition. But this might be one jump that just misses its mark. I freely admit I was never in the film's target audience either then or now. If you were a teen then, you might still have fond memories of this one. I just don't think those memories are going to be quite so magical this time around.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 12th, 2012
And so, for the second time, Hawaii Five-O has reached the end of its run. The first time happened on April 5th, 1980 when the final episode aired. Now the series ends its run of DVD releases as Paramount now issues the 12th and final season of the landmark series. There will be a third ending, let's hope not for a long time when the revival series closes its doors in the future. For now fans can be content that they can finally complete their collection of the original series.
Have you ever walked down the street and heard a chorus of “Five Oh” making the rounds? In street lexicon, that means the police. It’s a warning to the drug dealers and any other illegal activities that the police are on the way. That’s just one of the ways that Hawaii Five-0 has invaded our pop culture. Who hasn’t heard the phrase, “Book him, Danno”? It’s no surprise, because until Law & Order, Hawaii Five-0 was the longest running crime drama on television. It started in 1968 and didn’t end until 1980 when the production staff and facilities were immediately retooled to produce Magnum P.I., which was an unofficial spin-off of Hawaii Five-0. While he never actually appeared on Magnum, Five-0’s McGarrett was often referred to by characters on the series. The series continued for a few years in syndication where the episodes were all mixed up. These DVDs allow the first chance since their original broadcast for these episodes to air complete and in the correct order. While continuity wasn’t huge, as there were few actual story arcs beyond the episodes, there were minor changes that made the show look strange in syndication. The final season was aired under the title “McGarrett”.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 11th, 2012
To say I am not a big fan of racing is something of an understatement. I never find myself watching the races, Nascar or Indy and could really care less about the sport where you turn left a whole lot. When it comes to cartoons or video games, it is a somewhat different tale since I have enjoyed the show Wacky Races as well as loved to play anything in the Burnout series of video games. So when it came to reviewing the anime film, Redline, I was not sure exactly what to think but looked forward to the review.
“In the far distance future when cars are giving up their wheels in the change over to air-cars, there still exist fools who carry on a vanishing spirit of racing.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 10th, 2012
James M Cain wrote Mildred Pierce in 1941 and based the character on a woman he was seeing at the time. It's said that she offered much of the insight into women's plights of the depression era from undisclosed women. Not that Cain needed help in writing a compelling story. He's had a few hit novels that include The Postman Always Rings Twice. Mildred Pierce was an almost instant hit and was soon optioned for a film in 1945 staring Joan Crawford, for which she won an Oscar, and while she had been nominated three separate times, it would be her only win. The filmed did huge at the box office, and that's where the character and story have pretty much resided for over 60 years.
HBO is no stranger to quality series or mini-series. The John Adams production is considered one of the best period mini-series ever made. The list of Emmys is long and well deserved. So, it is in their hands that the long-dormant Mildred Pierce would make her resurrection in the form of Kate Winslet. The all-star cast also includes: Homicide's Melissa Leo, Guy Pearce, Mare Winningham, Evan Rachel Wood.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 10th, 2012
"December 7, 1972: Apollo 17, the final official lunar mission, lands on the moon. In 2011 eighty-four hours of classified footage is uploaded to www.lunartruth.com. This film was edited from that footage."
Yes, you get the picture. Apollo 18 is another "found footage" film that has populated the movie landscape since the time of The Blair Witch Project. Unlike that famed film, this movie did not go on to make any kind of box office history. In spite of a rather large advertisement campaign, the film pulled in a very modest $17 million. I'd say we've become somewhat jaded by these kinds of films, and we've begun to demand something more in order to put up with the intentional amateur shooting style and enough shakes to reward our attention with something akin to a hangover. There will continue to be a flood of these kinds of films, and some of them might even be quite good. I can't count Apollo 18 among them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 9th, 2012
My mother was born in Poland thus making me 50% full Polish. Growing up, I was often told stories about the Second World War and how my grandfather primarily was affected by it. So much so, that he never really spoke of it (I got my stories second hand through my grandmother and mother) most likely due to the horrors endured to the Polish invasion and other unspeakable depictions of violence. Today’s review takes us to an interesting Anime that is set in Russia during the same war with a supernatural feel.
1942, Russia. The Eastern Front. The Soviet Union is trying to withstand Germany’s attacks and avoid defeat at any costs. We change our focus to a battle inside Russian lines with one of the Russian commanders yelling instructions at his troops. As he does so, he does not notice a giant black knight on a horse swinging about to swing a sword at his head. The commander’s head goes clean off in a brilliant fashion. Blackness. Then a little girl named Nadya wakes up who is traveling with a troupe to entertain the troops.
![I Don't Know How She Does It [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/i-dont-know-how-she-does-it-blu-r-large.jpg)
![Serendipity [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/serendipity-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![She's All That [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/shes-all-that-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Redline [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/redline-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![First Squad [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/first-squad-blu-ray-large.jpg)
