Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 12th, 2008
The original Bachelor's Party was produced roughly 25 years ago in the 80's. Drugs, Sex, Tom Hanks and a donkey with a taste for belly dancing and cocaine all highlighted this cult favorite film that actually did very well for it's time and genre. However, 2008 decided to release a sequel to this movie. Naturally, they could not get Tom Hanks to even do a cameo since he's busy doing important films that involve him walking around an airport or naming inanimate objects "Wilson". However, throw in some hot comics and even hotter females with some solid writing and you might just have a really fun and racucous time.
Ron (played by Josh Cooke) and has fallen in love with Melinda(played bySara Foster). They decide to get married and Ron's friends decide to throw him a bachelor party at the local strip joint. However, Ron's future brother in law, Todd (played by Warren Christie ) decides to take them to something a little more crazy and fancy. He books a vacation for Ron, his friends and himself to a scantily clad hideaway on the family's company tab. Ron tries his best to remain faithful to Melinda and still have a good time around a bevy of booze and beauties.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 11th, 2008
The web has a way of delivering some of the most interesting material. Flash animation in particular can produce some very funny shorts. Furthermore, these shorts are unedited and can be downloaded by millions of people on a whim. These viral episodes can be played over and over again, with little care to the quality or the content. But what happens when they take that idea and decide to make into a feature length film? In this case, proof that people will download anything.
Jake is the king of poon nanni. He'll screw anything in a skirt and come back for sloppy seconds. However, Siton is not so lucky in the conquering of young females. In fact, he's never been fortunate enough to get a girl to sit a top of his knob. One night, Jake uses Siton as his wing man in his quest for more tastes of the forbidden fruit. After Siton fails to close the deal, Jake realizes that this character needs a little more help. We also find out that Siton is actually a prince. Thus begins the journey where Jake and Prince Siton go across the world trying to find beautiful women and more importantly one that gives the prince his first taste of that casual sex.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 29th, 2008
Fox re-releases this beloved weepie in a new edition with a number of new extras. Beyond those additions, this version is identical to the one reviewed here previously. Therefore, my deathless prose once again: “On a luxury ocean liner, playboy Cary Grant meets singer Deborah Kerr. Each is involved with someone else, but they fall deeply in love with each other. Upon arriving in New York, they decide to part and, if all goes well, reunite in six months at the top of the Empire State Building, by which time their lives should be in order. If you’ve seen Sleepless in Seattle, you know what happens next. Though this is one the most celebrated weepies ever, I found it curiously uninvolving. The banter on the ocean liner, though amusing, fails to make us believe in the depth of the relationship, and so the tragedy that comes later lacks punch. The plot meanders interminably, is padded out by Sound of Music-style songs involving sweet widdle kiddies, and the reasons for keeping the characters apart during the third act are so contrived that suspension of disbelief crashes and burns. The ‘scope cinematography is nice, and it’s always fun to watch top stars like Grant and Kerr, but if you want a more convincing heart-tugger, see Now, Voyager.”
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 27th, 2008
Despite being very thoroughly dead, Jigsaw is up to his old games again. This time, SWAT commander Rigg must race against time to rescue to kidnapped fellow officers. Jigsaw's messages send him all over town, to one gruesome event after another. Meanwhile, the FBI is also on the case, interrogating the killer's ex-wife, which means the audience finds out quite a bit more about Jigsaw's backstory.
The film gets right down to work with an extremely detailed autopsy of Jigsaw, so the target audience should feel well-served. The torture devices are as baroque as ever, and the deaths are elaborately gruesome. “Elaborate” and “baroque” are pretty good terms to describe the plot as well, only not necessarily in a good way. The main problem here is excessive flashbacking (rarely a good tactic in cinematic narrative) and equally excessive reliance on the audience remembering every detail of the previous entry. On the other hand, there are some very nifty transitions between scenes, and I confess to being rather more caught up in the story than I was expecting, this many episodes in. For the most part, this is actually an improvement over the third entry. Then there's the difficulty of the ending. The need to have each film end in a twist here results in a conclusion that's borderline incomprehensible rather than shocking.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 16th, 2008
What we've got here is a nasty case of the Sequels. Rush Hour, the original Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker vehicle, was a fun action-comedy with an amusing twist on the buddy-cop genre. Rush Hour 2 was a re-hash, bigger but not better, but still worth a rent. Six years later, Rush Hour 3 proves the third time is definitely not the charm, with 121 minutes of recycled gags, bad acting and uninspiring action.
This two-disc release may be a top-notch DVD, but I certainly hope you don't get suckered by a nice transfer, good audio and a whole whack of extras. No matter how well you dress it up, this film's a walking, talking turd.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 12th, 2008
The trailer trash Myers family (inexplicably living in a pretty big house) is a powder keg waiting to go off, what with the rampaging abuse and a young Michael (the admittedly creepy Daeg Faerch) butchering small animals and looking like he’s mad as hell and soon not going to take it anymore. Snap he does, going on a killing spree, before he is captured and locked up for years, while eccetric shrink Dr. Loomis (a shameless Malcolm McDowell) making a career out of trying to learn what makes him tick. Growing to Godzilla proportions, Michael makes his escape, and proceeds to pick up his spree where he left off in his home town of Haddonfield.
I trashed this fiasco in a Brain Blasters column back in September, and the unrated version of the film does nothing to change my opinion. Zombie misses the fact that restraint of the original film was a large part of its success, stupidly gives Michael a backstory and thus nixes his fearsome aspect as supernatural boogeyman, distractingly fills small roles with Look Who It Is cameos (Udo Kier, Richard Lynch, Brad Dourif), and, after expanding the original movie’s single shot prologue to an entire act, compresses the actual rampage to the point that there is no time for character development, and so we care not a whit for the victims. An idiotic, crashing bore.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 12th, 2008
When Close Encounters of the Third Kind came out in 1977, a young Steven Spielberg was coming off of the unexpectedly phenomenal success of Jaws. This was the director's chance to solidify his career as a well-respected filmmaker, and build a lifelong career. While most directors would have either gone the route of making Jaws II or picking up a no-brainer script from a proven scriptwriter, Spielberg wagered his success on the odd tale of a possibly mentally deranged individual's belief in extra-terrestrial life. What he came away with was a film that won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, was nominated for four Golden Globes (including Best Picture and Best Director), and has become synonymous with the legacy of the famed director.
Normally I would take this opportunity to go over the basic plot of the film, but this is a classic. Most film buffs are already well versed in the plot of this film, and those who are not should be ashamed of themselves. The real story here is not the fact that this film has been released yet again. The story is the manner in which it has been released. In addition to Spielberg's original version of the film, he also re-cut the film into a Special Edition in 1980. In 1998, the film was re-cut yet again, in a version that the Director considers to be his definitive cut. All three versions are included on this three-disc set, so there is plenty here to warrant a purchase for any Close Encounters fan. All versions have been completely remastered, and the set is packaged in a box that reminds one of the excellent packaging of The Soprano's sets.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 20th, 2007
The
This is a Bruckheimer film from beginning to end. You get all of the standard conventions in National Treasure. Plenty of action, intriguing characters, and a fast and furious ride.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 10th, 2007
So in a summer where a film directed by Judd Apatow and starring Seth Rogen made a truckload of money, another film released a couple months later where Apatow produced and Rogen co-wrote made almost the same truckload of money, yet both films were funny for different reasons.
In Superbad, Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Da Ali G Show) wrote the script that Greg Mottola (Undeclared) directed, and the film’s premise is simple enough. Seth (Jonah Hill, Knocked Up) and Evan (Michael Cera, Arrested Development) are high school seniors who are attending one last party, with the help of their friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and his fake ID and subsequent new name ‘McLovin’. The trio’s night takes a dramatic turn, as Fogell is assaulted at the liquor store and Seth and Evan presume that he’s been taken to jail for the fake ID. So Seth and Evan try to get liquor for a party that Seth’s friend Jules (Emma Stone, Drive) is throwing, and Evan wants to get some vodka for Becca (Martha MacIssac, Ice Princess), and the boys desperately want to get with the girls before the boys go to their respective colleges. In the meantime, Fogell isn’t taken to jail, but is taken on a wild ride and a wild night by Officers Slater (Bill Hader, You, Me and Dupree) and Michaels (Rogen), who take him through various twists and turns in the city.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 10th, 2007
Will Ferrell, arguably the last funny member of Saturday Night Live has picked some strange movies to be in since leaving the sketch comedy show. Appearing first as a co-star in Old School and then later in the kid-friendly (but cute) Elf, Ferrell took his time in getting to what fans wanted, a good PG-13 or better comedy for him to stretch his comedic talent.
By and large, Anchorman delivers on that, though occasionally Ferrell himself isn’t the one causing the laughs. As 1970s San Diego newsman Ron Burgundy, Ferrell is the one everyone in town trusts, along with his newsteam. The chemistry is broken when female newscaster Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate, Married With Children) is hired. Ron has to resolve the conflicts between himself, his team and his new interest in Veronica…
![Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Unrated) [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/anchorman-the-legend-of-ron-burgun-large.jpg)
