Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 5th, 2010
Few television situational comedies have produced the stable of A-list stars that this one did. Every one of these cast members were relatively unknown at the time that Taxi was taking fares on our television sets each week. Not so today. The cast was so remarkable that it is here that I decided to spend much of my review. The episodes were often funny, even more often hilarious. But after all of these years, it is the characters that are most remembered by the fans. Yeah, we all have our favorite moments. Many of them in this release. And I’ll get to those moments, but first:
Playing the hard-nosed and lecherous dispatcher for The Sunshine Cab Company was Danny DeVito. He spent most of his Taxi days sitting in a cage barking orders and insults with equal frequency to the crew of drivers in the garage. Each of them had dreams beyond the yellow sedans, and Louie took great pleasure in watching them try and ultimately fail to achieve their dreams. Of course, DeVito went on to star in a boatload of feature films and never looked back.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 4th, 2010
The film begins in the middle of the story, at the end of one journey and the beginning of another. Marlon (Aldemar Correa) and Reina (Angelica Blandon) are illegal Columbian immigrants, and have just arrived in New York City. They are staying in a beyond-seedy hostel in Queens, and Reina has just spent their last coins on a fruitless phone call. Frustrated, Marlon hits the street, and after a panicky encounter with the police, winds up lost in NYC. So begins his second journey one that is both a search for belonging as well as his beloved Reina, that is intercut with flasbacks to the trip that brought Marlon and Reina to the city in the first place, beginning with their leaving the relative comfort of their lives in Medillin and tracking their increasingly nightmarish trek to the States.
The film opens with a bird's eye tracking shot of the various cells (I can hardly call them “rooms”) of the hostel. It's a striking bit of filmmaking, though we have seen this done before (see, for instance, Brian De Palma's Snake Eyes). This is not a bad encapsulation of what is to come – it is both striking (especially the harrowing trip to the States) and familiar, in that it covers ground familiar from other hard-luck immigrant narratives. Marlon is a likable character, but Reina is such a manipulative sexpot that one feels that Marlon would be better off not finding her again. Generally, the male characters are better written and a little less stereotypical than the female ones. There is a lot of power here, then, but the familiar melodrama and iffy characterizations undermine that power.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 4th, 2010
On February 11th, 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from the Victor Verster Prison is often seen as the symbolic end of apartheid in the country of South Africa. However, the apartheid was not fully removed until the elections of 1994. Furthermore, the story was way more complex than the African National Congress leader’s freedom. The story that was more focused on Willie Esterhuyse, Thabo Mbeki and Michael Young. These names might seem foreign to most of us, but they are perhaps three of the most important names to the recent history of South Africa.
Michael Young (played by Jonny Lee Miller) is a British businessman who is secretly working for Consolidated Goldfields, a firm who has particular interest in the affairs of South Africa. The film starts with him visiting a poverty stricken part of South Africa where he is trying to help with funding for the education of their youths. Unfortunately for Michael, talking with the locals puts him in danger of his life. After one particular incident, he decides to aim in a less direct but more ambitious approach.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 4th, 2010
Parker Lewis Can’t Lose as anyone could guess was heavily influenced by the cult classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. It lasted for three seasons and seventy three episodes. It actually did a fair amount of decent ratings (as far as Fox was concerned) during the run. The living cartoon as many have described it has kept its fans through the years. As a result, Shout Factory has decided to go ahead with the release of the 2nd season. Hopefully it still keeps its charm after all of these years.
For those who are not familiar with the show, let me spend a few moments setting up the show. The three main characters of the show are Jerry Steiner (played by Troy Slaten), Mikey Randall (played by Billy Jayne) and of course Parker Lewis (played by Corin Nemec). Parker is the quintessential slacker and cool attendee at the Santo Domingo High School.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 1st, 2010
The title, “Somebody`s Gonna Miss Us” is cute but also rings true. This is not a Documentary that details why this band rocked the entire music world, because they did not. This film shows how a Pop Punk outfit from Pennsyvania arrived at the right time with a lot of energy, the willingness to tour endlessly and made some tunes that people genuinely loved.The film bounces back and forth between the boys in the band giving their history in their own words, as well as chunk by chunk (several days at a time) coverage of their final tour. Having this story told entirely by the band is refreshing as it makes for better fanfare. This CD/DVD combo is indeed entirely for the fans, the ones who will “miss them” as it were.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2009
It seems to be commonly believed that Robin Williams’ acting career took an abrupt change from outlandish, eccentric comedic choices (Aladdin) to more dark, complex and satirical roles in the early ‘00s (Death to Smoochy). But Williams has always played both ends of the spectrum and roughly everything in between. He channeled a father willing to do whatever it takes to reconnect with his children in the 1993 classic Mrs. Doubtfire, a role that nabbed him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy. In writer and director Bobcat Goldthwait’s latest film, Williams once again plays a single dad, but this time he’s struggling to raise his crude, sex-obsessed teenage son.
Lance Clayton (Williams) is a high school poetry teacher whose class receives little interest from the student body and even less faith from the administration. He’s involved in a secret relationship with the perky, much-younger art teacher, Claire (Alexie Gilmore), and is constantly reminded of his own insecurities as a boyfriend — and rejected author — when Claire starts getting close to hot-shot English teacher Mike (Henry Simmons).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2009
Disney has a knack for turning television shows into profitable movie franchises-- Lizzy McGuire, Hannah Montana, and now The Wizards of Waverly Place. Since the formula hasn’t deferred much, it should come as no surprise that its latest show has caught on like wildfire. In the wake of a Harry Potter-crazed nation of tweens, Disney’s latest show follows the Russos—former wizard father Jerry (David DeLuise), non-magical mother Theresea (Maria Canals-Barrera) and their three wizards-in-training. Unlike previous Disney Channel shows, Wizards offers a refreshing cultural spin on the situational comedy with the Italian-Mexican heritage of its starring family.
The show focuses on the three children: Alex, Justin and Max. Alex (Selena Gomez) is a modern day archetypical Disney lead—a fresh-faced girl with an appetite for disobedience and a sharp tongue. She retaliates with rolled eyes and a snarky remark for nearly every parental request. Justin (David Henrie) is the Golden Child—an attractive young man who’s not above ratting out his younger sister to save his own skin. The youngest child, Max, is played by Jake T. Austin, and he essentially provides the comic relief. He’s goofy, annoying as many younger siblings are, and more confident than any pre-teen kid I’ve met lately. None of these characters are seemingly likable, but that hasn’t stopped the show from being one of the most-watched cable programs ever since its premiere on October 12, 2007. So, naturally, a movie was in Wizards’ midst. And what an impression it made. 11.4 million viewers tuned in to watch the August 28 premiere, making it Disney Channel’s second highest rated film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 29th, 2009
By day, this reviewer is not just a writer but a glorified cubicle jockey. For lack of a detailed job description, I am a computer software administrator. So as many cubicle jockeys, I've watched Office Space. To be honest, I'm not in love with it. I did find it mildly funny and there were a few “I've been in that situation before” moments. But interestingly enough, I was pretty excited to see Extract (Mike Judge had directed both). Perhaps it was my infatuation with Mila Kunis or seeing how Jason Bateman has progressed in comedic films or maybe I just wanted to see Ben Affleck in a full grown beard.
Joel (played by Jason Bateman) built the Reynolds extract factory from the ground up. His is still in charge of the factory but does yearn to sell the factory to somebody like General Mills and retire. However, he has other issues more pressing at the moment. His wife, Suzie (played by Kristen Wiig) works at home and once she puts on the sweat pants (8pm), Jason has no chance of getting any from his wife.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 23rd, 2009
“Inspired by a true story,” two youth hockey teams on either side of the Canada/US border find friendship and bond through their mutual love of the game while tensions rise between those that support and those that protest the Iraq invasion and assorted post 9-11 security fears.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 23rd, 2009
Tycoon Tom Arnold sends employee and all-signs-point-to-being-future-son-in-law David O'Donnell and daughter Sarah Thompson (a ghastly person who is clearly Ms Wrong) to O'Donnell's home town in order to seal a real estate development deal. There O'Donnell comes up against former flame Nicole Eggert, who is fighting to preserve the town's pristine self. And yes, all of this is happening over the Christmas holiday, though it could just as well be the Fourth of July. At any rate, based on this setup, if there is a single one among you who can't anticipate every single turn of the story, allow me to be among the first to welcome you to the planet Earth.
Let's face it, though everybody and his monkey's uncle seems to have a Christmas movie up a sleeve, the form is actually murderously hard to do well. Think about it: how many really good Christmas movies are there out there? It's a Wonderful Life (1946). The 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. Director Bob Clark has given us two, though I can understand why most people prefer his A Christmas Story (1983) at this time of the year to Black Christmas (1974). Since A Christmas Story, I would argue that we have had precisely one new classic, and that is Elf (2003). All of which is to say that A Christmas Proposal is not a classic. It has all the life, zing and comedic timing of a dead fish. The closest it comes to having a glimmer of life is when Tom Arnold is (briefly) on the screen, and when your high point would be considered the low point in just about any other movie, you are in serious trouble.
![Extract [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/extract-blu-ray-large.jpg)
