Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 24th, 2008
A decade or so ago, Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca came to a theatre near you. It received a fair amount of critical acclaim, including a few award nods for production design and music, but wasn’t much of a commercial success. Beats me why not, because the film is right up there with the best in the science fiction genre, at least in my book.
Now on a Special Edition DVD from Sony Pictures, Gattaca has another shot at the mass popularity it deserves. But does the special disc treatment add anything to improve its chances?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 21st, 2008
A tough-as-nails cowboy (James Denton) unwillingly hooks up with a naive greenhorn (Chris Kattan) when they have a run-in with a bent sheriff. They may think they have some problems now, but things are much worse than they think, as the town and the surrounding countryside are in the initial stages of a zombie plague.
Simon Pegg and company might well be starting to rue the day they came up with Shaun of the Dead. Though not the first zombie comedy (that would probably be Return of the Living Dead if we exclude some non-cannibal zombies appearing in some 30s horror-comedies), their magnificent film and its success are the proximate cause of the current flood of would be “zombedies” (as this flick labels itself). A western zombie comedy might seem like a promising mix, until one realizes how few western comedies have actually worked, and this one isn’t breaking the trend. Its opening scene (a clumsy zombie attacking his family) veers uncertainly from the tired slapstick to the truly distasteful, and the rest of the film has all the comedic zing of dragged out SNL skit (Chris Kattan, I am casting my baleful eye at YOU). Turgid stuff.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 19th, 2008
I’m not going to spend any time in this piece telling you about the characters, actors, or plots of the new Stargate direct to DVD film The Ark Of Truth. Honestly, if you are not up to speed you will be totally lost here and have zero chance of even remotely enjoying the ride. For the show’s fans, I think you’ll know exactly what I mean when I say that The Ark Of Truth is basically a perfect extended episode of the series. There is a prelude that provides the “story so far” in flashbacks from the series, but let’s face it, Stargate ran for 10 years and it wasn’t really known for its uncomplicated story threads to begin with. Likely instead of catching you up, the prelude will leave you with even more questions. This is not the place to jump on board the Stargate journey. And no, having seen the original film will do you no good at all. If you find yourself suddenly interested in the franchise, go back and start at the beginning. Trust me, the time will be well spent.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 19th, 2008
It seems like foodies are everywhere these days. Maybe Emeril is to blame, maybe it's Paula Dean, maybe it's the Food Network as a whole.I have even been sucked in my Anthony Bourdain myself (whose show is ironically also named No Reservations). Wherever there is a trend, there is guaranteed to be a romantic comedy to follow. Enter Aaron Eckhart and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Eckhart has been doing some fantastic work lately, from his work in Thank You for Smoking to lesser known films such as Conversations With Other Women, he is quickly becoming one of the best actors on the scene today.
I have no problems with romantic comedies whatsoever. The problem is that the vast majority of them are just the same film over and over again. A girl who is a cute mess is pursued by a surprisingly understanding man who loves her just the way she is, and the whole thing is wrapped up with some dialog that thinks it is much more clever than it actually is. In this case, the girl is a chef, and the man is her new sous chef. Sure, the not-so-clever is here just as you would expect, but in this film, the serious dialog is no good either. The film is filled with poor imitations of life in a kitchen, not to mention some amazingly bad acting. It is obvious that everybody here phoned it in, which leads me to ask the question of why anybody signed on to do this film at all. In doing some background research, I discovered that Catherine Zeta-Jones worked for exactly one day as a waitress in preparation for her role... as a chef. Believe me, it shows, in the way that an actor who spent one day playing guitar would be completely unconvincing as a musician.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 19th, 2008
Bee Movie is almost completely a Jerry Seinfeld creation. The idea apparently came out of a conversation the comedian had over dinner with Steven Spielberg. From the simple concept of a film about bees called Bee Movie, Seinfeld teamed with his long-term collaborator Spike Feresten. Together they created a rather amusing world where bees can talk and live in a human-like society dedicated to the production of honey. I’ll admit that while I often enjoyed the Seinfeld television series, I was one of those that never really got it. On the surface a lot of it was funny, so I watched it, but I can’t really call myself a true fan of the series or the comedy of Jerry Seinfeld. Pretty much however you might have felt about the show will carry over to Bee Movie. The entire film reflects pure Seinfeld in the characters and his somewhat trademark observations on life. It is that element that might have lessened the overall enjoyment for me. Seinfeld’s bee world is so much like his television or stand-up world that I found it hard to immerse myself into the story. No question there were some clever ideas at work here, but it sure seemed like somewhere along the way someone settled for mediocrity.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 18th, 2008
I don’t know what I really expected when I started watching Greek. I never saw the broadcast, and the series was extremely underplayed in the crowded wilderness of promos and press. Honestly, I’m not sure I would have invested any time in the show if I had heard of it. So, when Greek showed up at my door to watch and review, I had to scratch my head a little bit before deciding to put the first disc into my DVD player. The release case almost makes the show sound like a Greek life reality show, and I’m sure as we speak some new reality creator is just now thinking what a great idea that would be. But Greek is not a reality show at all. It’s a teen soap opera set in the party environment of a college campus and both a fraternity and sorority house. The concept would appear to be slightly misplaced on ABC’s Family Network. The prerequisite underage drinking and promiscuous sexual lives don’t appear to be the best “family” entertainment. We don’t get even halfway through the pilot episode before we’re already charting those waters. To be sure, Greek is no Animal House, and the atmosphere is toned down considerably, but the issues remain, and this is not a show for the kiddies.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 18th, 2008
Two couples, each with their own intimacy issues, set out to spice up their love life by attending a sex therapy seminar. After navigating through their problems for about forty minutes, they each settle on group sex to solve their problems, because that's always the best solution to everything, right?
The first couple is James and Heather (Culkin and Alexis Dziena). James is madly in love with Heather, but she can't have an orgasm when they have sex. That, my friend, is a problem. The second couple is Ellis and Renee (Kuno Becker and Dushku), who seek thrills to liven up their bored sex life. That, is a problem too... but not as bad as the first.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 17th, 2008
“Greed is Good.”
No other cinematic phrase described the 1980’s better. And no other movie captures the financial corruption of the 80’s better than Oliver Stone’s Wall Street.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 16th, 2008
I now realize that the funniest funny is found in awkwardness. This is why Curb Your Enthusiasm is so popular. The main characters do things that make you cringe, often to the point where you even cover your eyes because it’s just too painful to watch. You say aloud to yourself, “Oh my god, no he didn’t just get a boner while hugging that old woman,” or “why are you talking to the TiVo guy when your wife might die?!” But with all due respect to the people that hate Larry’s character (Larry David) because he’s so rude and does stupid stuff, he often gets the short stick and apologizes when he shouldn’t have to.
If the unscripted show didn’t already shoot from the hip, the sixth season of Curb adds new potential for cringe-worthy activities. This 10-episode season introduces the Blacks (including Vivica A. Fox), an African-American family displaced by Hurricane Katrina Edna who altruistic Cheryl (Cheryl Hines) wanted to take in while the family’s house was being rebuilt. I was surprised by the few issues that actually sprung up with the new additions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 14th, 2008
If Matt Stone and Trey Parker have learned anything in their long run with
![No Reservations (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/no-reservations-combo-hd-dvd-and-s-large.jpg)
