Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 16th, 2007
Following the success of back-to-back hits Forest Gump and Apollo 13, Tom Hanks wanted to shake things up. His project of choice? Writing and directing his first feature film.
The result was That Thing You Do!, a light, enjoyable comedy about a 60’s pop band that makes it big on the strength of one hit song. Barely together a few weeks, The Oneders (pronounced “Wonders”) win a small-town talent contest, which lands them their first gig, playing at a local bar. Before they can adjust to ...heir first taste of success, they land a touring deal with Play-Tone, a record label. Just like that, they’re on a whirlwind tour that echoes the success of The Beatles. But can they handle the big-time, or will fame tear them apart?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 24th, 2006
No monster movie is bigger than King Kong. AFI members recently considered King Kong to be the most influential film ever. The original King Kong has inspired more filmmakers, actors, and technicians than any film in Hollywood’s history. The score is considered the first modern film score. For the first time the music is timed to accent certain aspects of the action. Willis O’Brien practically invented movie special f/x with his revolutionary stop motion technique seen earlier on The Lost World. One of those filmma...ers so inspired was director Peter Jackson. It seems none of the wonderful journey that was Lord of the Rings would exist on celluloid if not for King Kong. At 12 years old, Jackson set out (unsuccessfully) to create his own version of the iconic film and has apparently dreamed of remaking it ever since. After a hopeful but aborted start in 1996, Peter Jackson finally brought his childhood fantasy to life, and was it ever worth the wait.
The first question you might ask is how does this film compare with the original or the 1976 Kong? This film simply blows away the 1976 debacle. As for the original? Obviously the 70 years of f/x progress means that Kong himself shows the greatest improvement. No question the stop motion Kong was the most spectacular thing 1933 audiences had ever seen. Today we live in a computer age where if you can imagine it someone can bring it to life. Jackson’s WETA Digital is very much like George Lucas and ILM. In New Zealand they are movie f/x. Unlike Lucas, Jackson integrates his f/x so intimately into the action that we cease to think of them as movie magic. Lucas tends to overload each scene with a “look ma what I can do” overindulgence. Andy Serkis plays the Kong character as he did with Gollum so that the other actors have something real to act against. His emotional range gives Kong a façade of realism that sucks us into the story without really thinking about the f/x. So, like the original, Kong is a real character to us, capable of feelings and deserving of our empathy When he finally slips from the tower of the Empire State Building, we share an emotional moment with Ann (Watts) that can only be possible for a real being. The film is far longer than the original. In this extended version Jackson’s Kong is about double the original’s running time. Jackson’s Skull Island, while richly detailed and far more elaborate than the original, maintains the illusion that we are in that same place. The creatures are purely magic, rivaling the best we’ve seen from Jurassic Park.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2006
Not being a big fan of Black Hawk Down, I can't really tell you how many releases of the feature this makes from Sony. I know it's a title, which has seen at least two prior offerings. There is nothing new here to recommend the extended cut over the previous three-disc monster edition; however, it may be the way to go if you've yet to add this Ridley Scott war film to your collection. I'll be the first to admit that Scott does some of his finest work as director in this gritty combat picture; but his style is ...lso the reason why I feel Black Hawk Down fails to deliver, and pack the same emotional punch of a Saving Private Ryan or We Were Soldiers. Most of the young stars involved in this film, and in the grisly fighting, stay masked under a thick layer of dirt and grime throughout the 152-minute running time. While that contributes largely to the chaotic and confusing authenticity during battle scenes, it hinders the audience from getting attached to any of the characters.
I know character development needn't be sacrificed on the altar of battle realism; yet that's exactly what happens in Black Hawk Down. It's the kind of film, which needs Mark Bowden's book on which it was based to fill in the gaps left by the dramatization. The contemporary war efforts mentioned above are proof this sacrifice is an unnecessary one. Still, as disorienting as the film is, you can tell Scott is a seasoned director, who knows his way around a camera. And who knows? Perhaps his style creates some of the most realistic battle scenes known to film. And if this is all he wanted to accomplish, then Scott's film succeeds. But I can't imagine a director actively indifferent towards how his audience feels about the characters. And if this assumption rings true in Scott's case, then he can't look back on Black Hawk Down pleased with how it all turned out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 8th, 2006
Synopsis
Photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders decided to do a series of portraits of some 30 porn stars. Two pictures of each, one clothed, one not, the same pose in both pictures. This is his documentary of that shoot. Scenes of the studio process are intercut with interviews with the various stars and talking-head moments from the likes of Karen Finley, Gore Vidal, John Waters and Whitley Streiber (!). We are at the other end of the porn spectrum from Dag Yngvesson’s Rated X – these are t...e top-paid performers, and so the overall experience is less depressing the world shown in Yngvesson’s film. (Though there is some inevitable overlap.) Many of the stars are very articulate (and not just from the expected sources such as porn star/activist Nina Hartley), and there is quite an interesting range of personalities and views presented here. Jenna Jameson is seen, but presumably was too expensive for an actual interview. Instead, she is talked about, and so accrues the semi-divine aura of an all-powerful, all-knowing, enigmatic Mona Lisa. One is left a bit wanting: one doesn’t learn very much about Greenfield-Sanders’ photographic process, and one wishes many of the interviews were longer and more in-depth. That said, a fascinating piece.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 19th, 2006
Mel Gibson stars as reluctant guerilla fighter Benjamin Martin in this story of courage, passion, and war, which dramatizes elements from the American Revolution into a gripping fictional narrative that will manipulate every emotion you have until its rousing finale. Martin endures great personal tragedies at the hands of the British - in particular, the despicable Colonel William Tavington (played with the vile gusto of a demon from Hell by Jason Isaacs). Tavington has already killed one of Martin's sons, and it is ...enjamin's concern for his other - as well as his insatiable lust for revenge - that drives him to take up arms for the Continentals and lead them into battle... and perhaps, freedom.
Whether it's tugging at heart strings, or planting viewers right in the middle of primitive warfare (no type of warfare is capable of being anything but), The Patriot maintains control of its audience, and only lets go at the final credits. Be forewarned, if you've never seen it. There will be times when you want to stop the film for fear of what might happen to Benjamin at Tavington's brutal hands. Then, other moments are "damn the torpedoes," kill that expletive-expletive, if it's the last thing you ever do. The point is, it will involve you the way few films can, and will actually have a physical effect on you - of some kind - by the time it reaches its conclusion.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2006
David Lynch's Dune has an extremely odd past, which some might say is just how David Lynch likes it. This cult classic came out in 1984 to the joy of sci-fi fans everywhere. Some time after the film's release, the studio tried to get Lynch to take all of the extra footage that he had shot for the film, and re-cut the product into an extended TV-appropriate film. Lynch refused, but since the studio already owned the footage, they went ahead and cut it together themselves. The result is an "Alan Smithee" directe... version of Dune. (For those that may not know, "Alan Smithee" is a pseudonym often given to films that directors want to totally remove their names from, as a result of their films being re-cut by the studio against their wishes. A search for Alan Smithee on IMDB is a fascinating and often-times humorous look at what happens when the "business types" get involved in the creative process.)
Lynch further expressed his displeasure with this new cut of the film by crediting the screenwriter as "Judas Booth", a cross between the Judas from the bible who betrayed Jesus, and John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. In this way, Lynch made the statement that the studio had betrayed him and killed his film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 11th, 2005
Stargate is something of a cult phenomenon among sci-fi buffs. It is so popular, in fact, that it produced not one, but three spin-off TV shows. It is amazing that the big business of the Stargate franchise started with a quirky little film. Now there are some big fans of this movie that will surely have strong words of disagreement for me, but this is really not a very good film. The premise alone is enough to make most moviegoers roll their eyes. An Egyptian historian cracks an ancient code on a strange artifact, and discovers a method by which to travel to the other side of the universe. Accompanied by token military-types, the whole crew jets off to a strange and distant land, where they find an alien slave camp run by an Egyptian god and... oh, what's the point. This is all really just the stuff of a 16-year-old geek writing stories in his parents' basement. The real story here is that, for some completely unexplainable reason, the movie actually kind-of works in an odd action adventure sort of way. If viewers can suspend belief and go into this with low expectations, you might find an exciting flick to fill an afternoon.
For those that wish the story in this action thrill ride made more sense, this disc includes the extended cut of the film, though unfortunately this cut extends the film by only five additional minutes. Still, with a film like this one, every little bit helps.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 19th, 2005
Synopsis
Charlton Heston is the title character, a Union officer who determines on his own hook to track down a group of Apache raiders. He gathers together a ragtag group of raw recruits, criminals and Confederate prisoners, and heads off to Mexico. His second-in-command is Confederate officer Richard Harris, and the two men have a long history of mutual hatred and respect. Heston forges ahead despite all obstacles, and despite the costs both to his men and to the civilians they encounter.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 22nd, 2004
The third and hopefully final entry in the American Pie series, American Wedding keeps with the sweet charms and gross out comedy of the first two movies, but can’t live up to the humor of the original or its sequel. Average Joe Jim, (Jason Biggs) and former band geek Michelle, (Alyson Hannigan) are now engaged to be wed and must decide whether raucous Stifler (Seann William Scott) should be invited to the wedding. Shenanigans ensue involving a night out at a gay club, a bachelor party, pleasing the in-laws, and pubi... hair on a wedding cake.
Sure, Stifler eats dog poop and does for curse words what bullet time did for special effects, but missing characters and lack of novelty cannot lift this one into the rare category of sequels being as good or better than the previous installments. While it offers plenty of funny moments, most courtesy of Stifler, the movie just seems tired and worn out. The filmmakers should excuse themselves from the table after this. No more pie for them.
