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.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 25th, 2008
Director David Cronenberg’s masterpiece, A History of Violence catapulted him to the upper-echelon of today’s directors. Until AHOV, he’d previously worked on offbeat films that got mixed reviews, like Crash (1996), eXistenZ, and Spider, with the occasional brush with “commercial” films like The Fly.
His follow-up to AHOV is Eastern Promises, which features the same actor from AHOV (Viggo Mortensen) in another mysteriously dark role that has earned the actor a well-deserved Oscar Nomination for Best Actor although he will almost certainly lose to frontrunner Daniel Day-Lewis of There Will Be Blood.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 22nd, 2008
Shattered, whose original (and more original) title was Butterfly on a Wheel, presents us with the household of Gerard Butler and Maria Bello. Life seems idyllic. They have a nice house, a lovely little girl, and the money is flooding in as Butler rises in his career (though his tactics don't always seem entirely fair). Into their lives erupts Pierce Brosnan, who kidnaps their daughter, then forces the couple to perform one strange act after another, each event destroying their lives further.
Butler's accent is erratic, but he does well as the rather too self-concerned husband. Bello turns in another performance that specializes in resiliance showing through extreme stress and distress, and Brosnan is clearly having a fine old time as an out-and-out villain. The scenario is, of course, utterly preposterous, but it trips along in a quick and entertainingly outlandish manner. Then the ending arrives, shattering the prepostero-meter with several twists that undermine much of came before. Oh well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 22nd, 2008
I don’t particularly care how many times filmmakers recycle old tales, so long as they produce enjoyable films. The Invasion revisits sci-fi scribe Jack Finney’s “The Body Snatchers” for the fourth time on film, following in the steps of the original 1956 film and the ’78 and ’93 remakes. Dave Kajganich wrote the screenplay, and Oliver Hirschbiegel (The Downfall) directed. Then Warner hired the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix) to rewrite some scenes and inject more action into the film, and James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) to direct the re-shoots.
So is The Invasion a case of too many cooks in the kitchen, or just the right creative balance to bring Finney’s classic horror tale to life in the new millennium?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 11th, 2008
Arthur Kennedy and wife Teresa Wright are an older childless couple who discover a young man (Tom Happer) living in the crawlspace of their basement. Though they are initially alarmed, he seems harmless, and they take him under their wing. What seems to be a nice, if bizarre, solution for everyone becomes tense when Happer, tormented by locals, shows a potential for great violence.
This release from Wild Eye in their TV Movie Terror Collection is a much stronger entry than The Devil’s Daughter. Rather than highlight the limitations of television when it comes to horror, the film plays to the medium’s strengths. The tone is low-key and character-driven, and off-kilter in just the right sort of way to generate a nice current of unease. Happer is a disturbing figure, but he’s also sympathetic, much in the same vein as the Frankenstein monster.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 8th, 2008
In the late 1960’s
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 5th, 2008
When warner Brothers decided to start their Raw Feed line of direct-to-DVD horror films, Daniel Myrick was brought in to Produce. The choice of Myrick was a no-brainer, as he (along with his partner Eduardo Sanchez), was the creative force behind the "Blair Witch" phenomenon. While the team Directed the first film, they served as Producers on the second. Admittedly, "Blair Witch 2" was not as well received as its predecessor, but it was exactly the type of film that would be successful as a direct-to-DVD release.
Myrick Produced the first two Raw Feed releases ("Rest Stop" and "Sublime", which both received high marks on this web site), and he has moved back into the directing chair with the third film in the series, "Believers". Truth be told, this is really Myrick's traditional Directorial debut, as the faux documentary style of "Blair Witch" was not a typical feature. I had high expectations for this film, but unfortunately, it looks like Myrick is better wearing the hat of a Producer than that of a Director.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 4th, 2008
Every two years, the Wo Shing Society, an ancient Triad, elects its chairman. The two candidates this year are Lok, an amiable, level-headed, managerial type, and Big D, a flashy hothead cut from the same cloth as Tybalt. Big D throws bribes and around in an effort to win, but to no avail. Refusing to accept defeat, he resorts to violence, threatening to tear the Society apart. The question is whether Lok is made of the necessary stuff to make good his victory.
This is the first of two films recounting a crime epic, and though this effort stands very handily on its own, it is to be fervently hoped that Part 2 makes it to DVD very shortly. From a deceptively placid beginning, the story builds to a climax worthy of Shakespeare and his blackest and most violent. There are also surprising moments of humour (there’s a scene involving a two simultaneous phone calls that is one for the ages). The sheer number of characters can be a bit confusing, but this is tight, smart, economical storytelling at its finest.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2007
In the recent days and weeks since the Lindsay Lohan film I Know Who Killed Me arrived on video, she’s discussed the details behind a car accident in which she may or may not have been under the influence of alcohol. It only seems fitting, since this film is a carwreck of substantial proportions, and we probably have to ask whether or not Michael and Dina’s daughter was on something when she agreed to make the movie.
Written by Jeff Hammond in his first feature film screenplay (big shocker there) and directed by Chris Sivertson (The Lost), Lohan appears as Aubrey Fleming, who is abducted and tortured by a mysterious criminal mind. The next thing Lohan knows, she wakes up in a hospital, without any memory of what’s happened to her except for some telling physical signs, and has no memory of this person named Aubrey. In her mind, she’s Dakota, an exotic dancer and proverbial grown up girl. In Aubrey’s absence, Dakota frequently bumps heads with her parents Daniel (Neal McDonough, Minority Report) and Susan (Julia Ormond, Legends of the Fall) and with boys at school.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 27th, 2007
Sometimes I absolutely adore anime. Great action from the far east that breaks boundaries one could only dream of. Or perhaps to tell an engaging story about a love lost long ago. Once in a while, I hate anime unfortunately. This usually occurs when they break no boundaries, tread over the same story or it plays out like hentai (tentacles in places where they don't belong). So I receive Paprika to review. Hoping I would like it, I quickly stuffed it in my dvd player and found the following:
Paprika is the story of what would happen if somebody built a machine (called the "DC Mini" here, presumably the Mini DreamCatcher) that would allow psychotherapists to enter their patient's dreams and help them understand their hidden meaning. The DC Mini was designed and built by Dr. Kosaku Tokita, an extremely large fellow who is basically a child at heart. The main therapist Dr. Atsuko Chiba uses the device to enter her patient's dreams as "Paprika". Paprika is a fun and whimsical being and in contrast to the doctor who is very serious and laid back. Her primary patient for the film is Detective Konakawa Toshimi. He is having a recurring dream where he is trying to find this killer on the case he is working on. However, he can never make that breakthrough as the killer keeps escaping thru the various scenes in his dream.
