Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 26th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
Space Ghost & Dino Boy is the kind of show that seems as though it would carry with it a great deal of nostalgia. Its characters are memorable and its animation is characteristic of an era of cartooning long since gone. Unfortunately, since I missed the show’s heyday by a good 20 years, it’s impossible for me to join in on these fond memories.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 25th, 2007
Streets of Fire is yet another welcome addition to the ever growing number of high def titles. This movie, self-described as a rock and roll fable, was first made in 1984 and stars Diane Lane, William DaFoe, Michael Pare and Rick Moranis in a rare serious role. Diane Lane plays Ellen Aim, who has returns to an old haunt that looks much like the Battery of New York City, to give a charity concert. After the conclusion of her first song, Ellen is kidnapped by a biker gang. Her manger, Billy Fish wants her back. Enter the film’s hero, a soldier of fortune named Tom Cody (Michael Pare).
Cody is reluctant due to his history with Ellen. He agrees to help after Fish offers him $10,000. The rest of the movie follows the rescue attempt as well as a hilarious over-the-top fight and a great closing concert scene.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 25th, 2007
In Good Company is a 2004 film from the director of About a Boy. It tells the story of Dan Foreman, an experienced 50 something head of an ad agency. His comfortable and familiar world is torn apart when a young executive impresses and is promoted to the job Dan held, despite the agency having its best period in 20 years. That young man is Carter Duryea, played by Topher Grace. Upon his arrival, he tries his best not to upset the balance, attempting to befriend Dan and his family. Corporate politics force his hand into firing people for profit balancing. Eventually he invites himself over to the house of Dan for dinner and meets his daughter, Alex. Alex is the one who sees something different in him and Carter begins to change. The rest of the movie concerns Carter, Dan and their shaky friendship, teetering on the knowledge that he is dating Alex. Along with a top corporate visit and more lay-offs, Carter is on shaky ground, vying for success and loyalty at the same precarious time.
The movie is billed as a romantic comedy, but as the relationship does not begin until well into the film, it seems like more of a drama, especially with the aspect of his wife. Interestingly, the film was originally titled Synergy until it was revealed that 9 out of 10 test goers did not know the meaning of the word.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 24th, 2007
The latest in Lionsgate's line of movies about nice black people (see Daddy's Little Girls and Akeelah and the Bee), Pride presents a well-tread story with a few tweaks.
Its formula is the sports team underdog winning against all odds. The sport is swimming, which I don't think we've seen much of in the past. All of the usual players are here, though: the frustrated coach inspired to lead, the unlikely athletes who are too poor and too black to succeed, the rival team too rich and too white to be beaten, the crusty old guy who helps out and the token love interest for our protagonist coach.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 23rd, 2007
I did a couple of high school musicals growing up. South Pacific and Oklahoma. South Pacific I remembered much more fondly as sometimes I wanted to wash that man right outta my hair. Wait...umm...*taps fingers* *pause*. Oh, right, musicals. High School Musical was a low-budget Disney tv movie that would end up becoming one of Disney's best successes in recent memory. It was only natural that due to its musical nature and teen fanbase that it would expand into a national tour that would encompass 51 dates over 6 months. The DVD is kinda cool in the sense that the show they used is footage from the December 18th performance in Houston, Tx at the Toyota Center since I happen to live in the Metro area. For those living here, it's easy to tell that it is the Toyota Center from it's sky boxes (and also the fact they mention it about half a dozen times). No I did not go. Let's just make that perfectly clear. I think I had to wash my hair that night. *more taping*
I could sit here and pan the dvd for being hokey and being nauseating. However, in all reality; it's not that bad if you go in expecting something that will appeal only to it's fan base. I mean if I am a fan of High School Musical, this concert dvd is going to be great; first of all I get a whole 57 minutes of material. All the familiar songs are here from the movie and wait, 57 minutes? The shows usually ran 2 1/2 hours. Sure there is an intermission or two and you have to count the opening act, but the edits are obvious and it feels like a best of. High School Musical can not do a best of until they get at least two cds worth of material. Like Hilary Duff or Brittany Spears. The good thing about the concert is that they do have most of the original cast minus Zac Efron who went to go work on Hairspray (he liked standing in the shadows of a very big and scary John Travolta). It just feels like they rushed the dvd a bit in the editing process so that they could sell a few hundred thousand copies to the fanbase and say cha-ching.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 23rd, 2007
Video games (especially those with platformer elements) were easy fits for syndicated cartoons. I spent a lot of time watching the Super Mario Super Show despite the show's silliness and use of Captain Lou Albano. Another show I naturally watched in the same vain was the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Featuring Sonic, the speedy blue hedgehog and his sidekick Tails (something resembling a fox but with two tails) would face off against Dr. Robotnik and a legion of robots that wanted to take over the planet Mobius. These robots included Scratch (a chicken), Grounder (the gadgets robot) and a less used Coconuts (monkey bot regulated to sanitation duty). The original series would run 65 episodes and a special before spinning off into a somewhat darker show dubbed just Sonic the Hedgehog.
The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog worked in a lot of areas. It was entertaining, using its slapstick humor to keep the plot moving for the entire 22 minutes. Sonic might have been an ego-maniac but it wasn't so overbearing that it took away from the cartoon (except the phrase "I'm waiting"). The villains were extremely entertaining as Dr. Robotnik came to life better than expected since the video game series was fairly new and it didn't really have much to draw from. Even the main robots were fun to watch, well with the exception of Scratch who to be honest was just plain annoying. The show also served to create many sub-villains and sub-heroes that held interest and were sometimes multi-dimensional. In fact, they even created a few characters that switched sides and did so in a way that made sense.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 23rd, 2007
Synopsis
I started watching cartoons in the 80's growing up and remembering most fondly cartoons like Transformers, Batman, Thundercats, TMNT and so forth. Oh I've had my fill of Looney Tunes and appreciate them greatly. But once you go past Looney Tunes a lot of the older cartoons escape me (with the exception of Droopy and Scooby Doo). Good examples are the Flintstones and almost anything out of the Hanna-Barbara lineup like Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound. So imagine my ...confusion when I received Batfink - The Complete Series across my reviewer table. Batfink was a cartoon series that originally ran in the late 1960's with influences like the Green Hornet and Batman which also ran at this time. The series was created by Hal Seeger and basically featured three main characters; Batfink, Karate and the Chief.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 23rd, 2007
Shooter is based upon the Stephen Hunter novel Point of Impact, and although there are multiple similarities, readers of the book can look forward to a modern rehash of the Hunter story. Since the release of the trailer I have been looking forward to this one, especially now that its being released on HD DVD, how does it turn out?
Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg, The Italian Job) is an elite Marine sniper and patriot. But that all changes when his commanding officer abandons him behind en...my lines, his best friend and spotter dies and Swagger narrowly escapes. Naturally Swagger turns to a life of solitude in the minuteness wilderness of Wyoming, where he shares a log cabin with his dog.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 22nd, 2007
George Dolenz is the Montreal scientist working on an atomic something-or-other. Foreign spies (could they be.... Communists??!!) hire exiled American gangster George Raft to get Dolenz and his secret into their clutches. His secret weapon for this project is the seductive power of Audrey Totter. Working for the angels is RCMP detective Edward G. Robinson. The expected race against time ensues.The Montreal setting is unusual, as is the idea of Robinson as a Mountie, so that's fun. Rraft is very much the aging gangster by this point, but still rasps it out with the best, and the film is really about his redemption. Not only is Dolenz' research a pure McGuffin, so is he, his character nothing more than the means to have Robinson and Raft play cat and mouse. This isn't in the top rank of films noir, but it is still a lesson in how to pack a lot of entertainment into an economical 87 minutes.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 21st, 2007
Synopsis
Honestly, the only thing that I remembered from watching For Your Eyes Only was that Sheena Easton sang the title song (qualifying her as probably the most attractive Scotsperson out there) and that there was a sprawling chase scene involving Roger Moore on skis that was cool. But that’s it. And now that I’m wrapping up this long winding once over for all the James Bond Ultimate Edition DVDs and I get a chance to see everything again, it turns out that this film is a pretty good one.
![Streets of Fire [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/streets-of-fire-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![In Good Company [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/in-good-company-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![Shooter [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/shooter-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
