Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 10th, 2008
It'll be interesting when man travels past the moon to far away places in outer space. The science of it will be reason enough for the rest of the world's population to pay attention, but I want to find out, more than anything, if every deep space crew in real life runs into the same problems that they do in the movies.
In Sunshine, a movie by director Danny Boyle, I thought that the deep space crew in the film would be relatively free of space movie cliches. This just didn't seem like one of those movies. But I'll be damned if at the end of the movie Cillian Murphy wasn't racing panicked through the corridor of his space ship, determined to detonate a nuclear bomb before a clock reached zero.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 9th, 2008
Early on, it's easy to tell that Mr. Brooks doesn't take itself seriously.
At least I hope it didn't.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 9th, 2008
The Aristocats has the distinction of being the very last animated project that was greenlit by Walt Disney himself before his passing. The film reveals all of the classic elements that Walt believed a good animation project should contain. He went to the famous Sherman Brothers to provide sing-a-longable songs and utilized the best voice talents in the Disney arsenal. While the animation is not quite as good as some of the other films made during this animation golden age, it still met the high standard Walt Disney had already established. You won’t find quite so fluid movements as The Jungle Book and there certainly isn’t the stylish charm from The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh, but the spirit of Walt can certainly be felt if not always seen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 8th, 2008
Ever find yourself shuffling around your local video store, eyes glazed over at all of typical genre fare studios churn out year after year, longing for something different? You could head over to the independent/festival section for relief, but it might mean straying farther from your usual tastes than you’d like. Enter The Brave One, an intelligent thriller that takes the usual revenge tale and rearranges its DNA. It offers the unusual perspective of director Neil Jordan (The Good Thief) and Jodie Foster’s finest performance since The Silence of the Lambs.
Foster stars as Erica Bain, a New Yorker whose life is torn apart by a vicious attack that leaves her in a coma and her fiancé dead. When she comes to weeks later, she learns of his death and funeral, and she cannot remember enough from those dark moments in Central Park to help the police track down the killers. Bain, host of an I-love-NY radio show called “I Walk the Streets,” can now hardly bear leaving her apartment. Fear controls her. The city she once loved has become a terrible place where danger lurks everywhere, in dark corners and broad daylight. Giving in to her fear, Bain buys a gun off the street, and like Alice down the rabbit-hole, her life spirals into a disturbing adventure.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Athena on February 8th, 2008
OK. Listen up. My name’s Athena and I’m a 12 year old Siberian Husky living in Florida. When I heard Gino say he needed a break and some down time, I decided to pitch in. It turns out that pulling a speaker from the shelf was not the kind of “break” he was talking about, and maybe not what he meant by “down” time either, now that I think about it. So, in between the “bad dogs” and those funny little words that come out whenever I get creative, I was able to figure out what he was really talking about. He was tired from watching all these DVD’s for you guys and then telling you all about them. It seems he wanted to take a day off is all.You humans aren’t very good at saying what you really mean sometimes. So, with no selfish desire for a treat or belly rub, and partly to make up for the messed up speaker (guess I’m the only big woofer right now :-) ) I agreed to watch Snow Buddies and write a review of this doggie film from a dog’s point of view.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 8th, 2008
Here we are again with a semi-themed collection of SpongeBob cartoons (seven in all, for a brief 77 minute running time). Food is the recurring theme here, with the title episode seeing SpongeBob creating a Krabby Patty so perfect that he falls in love with it, and keeps it with him until Patty can be charitably described as “festering.” Collections like this don’t exactly have the same value as a complete season, but that doesn’t change the fact that the nautical nonsense at work here is, as ever, pretty damn funny.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 8th, 2008
Sarah Caine (Lisa Pepper) is a newspaper columnist whose career is in a rough patch – her work lacks inspiration, and she is barely syndicated anymore (only two newspapers still carry her). But perhaps her muse is soon to be revived. Her Amish sister dies, leaving her children in Sarah’s care. Cue the culture shock as Sarah travels from the Big Smoke (well... Portland, anyway) to the Amish community, and then again as the children come back with her.
The warning signs arrive with the opening credits. The film is a co-production of Believe Pictures and Redemption Films. Uh-oh. The very names of the studios indicated that actual filmmaking is going to take a back seat to proselytizing, and sure enough, that’s what follows. Performances and script are strictly at the level of community theatre. What poor Elliott Gould is doing here (as Sarah’s editor) is anybody’s guess. He does his best to make his lines sound less stale than they are. Here’s hoping he was paid well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 6th, 2008
In the Valley of Elah is the second film I’ve seen recently that addresses the condition of soldiers returning from the Iraq war. Unlike Home of the Brave, however, Elah is actually a strong film with impressive performances and a story that hooks you and holds on to the end. It’s a Paul Haggis production – the two-time Oscar winner wrote, directed and produced the film – so Elah has some serious cred right off the bat, thanks to the success of other Haggis projects. Maybe you’ve heard of Crash, best picture winner of 2004, Million Dollar Baby or Letters From Iwo Jima?
Those credits aside, In the Valley of Elah’s best feature is a masterful performance by Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men), who’s up for a best actor Oscar for his portrayal of an old-school army veteran searching for his son.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2008
I have watched these DVD episodes of the Ira Glass series This American Life, some segments more than once, and I have to say I just don’t get it. Perhaps it is because I never heard the radio program on which they are based. It is a somewhat popular show with a cult following. I tend to avoid public radio at all costs as it is far too heavy handed in its liberal politics for my particular tastes. Still, I approached the series with an open mind that knew literally nothing going in. I’m sorry to report that I still seem to know nothing about the show. So I began to try and research the series and found there is remarkably little information out there on it at all. Even Showtime, where the series originally airs, offers precious little about the program. I can’t even get a good handle on what kind of a show it is trying to be. The commentaries suggest it is a documentary of sorts, but their banter also makes one believe that they are actually attempting to spoof the documentary. Bad news Ira, Michael Moore’s already been doing that for years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 31st, 2008
I remember when Ocean’s Eleven was first announced, and how disappointed I was. Steven Soderbergh was already well-respected by critics and serious film buffs due to his films Sex, Lies & Videotape, Out of Sight, Erin Brockovich and Traffic. He was the last person in Hollywood that needed to sell out to the masses by directing a re-make packed with eye candy. Not only that, but he chose to re-make a fantastic film that starred the Rat Pack. Essentially, Soderbergh decided to go to Vegas and relieve himself on the legacy of Frank Sinatra in the name of the almighty dollar. Imagine my surprise when I saw the film, and it was nothing short of fantastic; an amazing re-creation of the spirit of the original film, while updating the plot to be both modern and classic at the same time. Soderbergh had won me over. Even with all that success, I never expected a sequel. The sequel, cleverly titled Ocean’s Twelve, was something of a letdown. It was missing the slick feel of the original, and it seemed like everybody simply phoned it in. I still enjoyed it, but it was nowhere near as fun as the first. Now we come to Ocean’s Thirteen, which sees the crew finally return to their Vegas roots. While I still consider Eleven to be the best film in this series, Thirteen is a worthy follow up. The camera work is clever, the story is tight, and the acting is sharper than the previous iteration. Newcomer Al Pacino does his usual fantastic work here, and the whole film moves along at a quick pace that keeps the action exciting from start to finish, with no lulls. The whole point of this film is cool, and it delivers completely. VideoI love movies shot in Vegas. The lights on the strip and in the casinos always pop in a way that is more spectacular than any other location on earth. This is a golden opportunity to really show off what the standard DVD format can do. Unfortunately, this disc just looks horrible. Images are way too dark, even during the daytime in the desert. The images severely lack definition, and they are very grainy. There is also a real problem with edge enhancement that makes many of the stars’ faces appear nowhere near as sharp as they should be. AudioThe audio here is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the music is fantastic; cool, peppy and slick. On the other hand, the audio quality it self is pretty average. There is not a lot of punch from the subwoofer, the surrounds are sparse, and the whole thing is lacking the flash that I was hoping to hear from such a slick film. Special FeaturesIt’s a real shame to say it, but the special features included on this disc are slim. In addition to the inclusion of some deleted scenes, there are also two special features here. The first is called Vegas: An Opulent Illusion- Las Vegas’ Influential Design Sense. See, now all this time I thought Las Vegas was the pinnacle of trashy design, but apparently I was mistaken. Independent of taste, this featurette appears to be a Travel Channel segment that discusses the architecture of Sin City, and is actually a very interesting and first-rate documentary segment. The other featurette is called Jerry Weintraub Walk and Talk- The producer takes us on a casino tour. This is actually a tour of the indoor set where this film was shot, and it reminded me of a similar extra that Martin Scorsese did on the Gangs of New York DVD. Unfortunately, it just lasts a little over two minutes. Final ThoughtsTo put it simply, good movie, bad disc. While not up to the same standard set by Ocean’s Eleven, this is a very entertaining film that deserves much better treatment on DVD. It’s possible that the HD DVD version fixes many of the audio and video problems present here, but I can not attest to that. Given the poor quality of the presentation here, however, I can only imagine that HD would be the way to go.
