Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 21st, 2007
It’s clear watching Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer that Tim Story and company spent lots of time on the Silver Surfer and little gags for the Four’s powers, and not so much time on the actual story.
The result is a shiny hunk of refuse. There are holes all over the place, and once again the filmmakers have failed to present characters and conflicts the audience will actually care about. The world’s going to end? Big deal. On the bright side, while the film sucks, this 2-Disc Power Cosmic Edition DVD set is pretty fantastic.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 13th, 2007
"Remember when I promised I'd kill you last? I lied."
Time to relieve the glory days. Arguably the finest of Schwarzenegger's over-the-top, muscle-bound 80s action flicks, Commando is finally getting the respect it deserves. This is the perfect example of a movie so bad it's good. Really bad, and really good. Commando has it all: copious one-liners, a ridiculously huge Ah-nold physique, and a body count so high you'll run out of fingers and toes in no time flat.
Yes, Commando is the quintessential 80s action extravaganza, and proof positive that the governator used to be a one-man Ah-my.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 12th, 2007
I love horror movies, but lately Hollywood hasn’t done it for me, and Wrong Turn wasn’t an exception. So I wonder how a low budget sequel is going to manage to be better than its phony prequel. But I won’t judge this one until I’ve seen, lets just hope its nothing like The Hills Have Eyes 2, or The Grudge 2, etc.
Wrong Turn 2 takes off shortly after the events of the first film. Right away I’ll let you know that other than the mutant freaks of the first film, this movie has no other links to the first installment, i.e. characters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 6th, 2007
Planning a high-profile charity football game that they must nonetheless be sure of winning, the powers that be of Yale attempt to invite the University of Texas, but instead accidentally invite Texas State University, a small college whose town population is a mere 700. Newly arrived coach Jack Haley and his formidable wife Patsy Kelly face the challenge of somehow whipping the football team into something that won’t be utterly destroyed on the day of the big game. The key to possible victory is bumpkin-but-natural-prodigy Stuart Erwin, but he’s a package deal, and comes along with little sister Judy Garland, here making her debut.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 6th, 2007
I’ve said in the past and still believe that Josh Hutcherson will be a pretty good adult actor if he chooses to go down that path. I liked his work in Little Manhattan and recently finished watching him in Bridge to Terabithia, but then he comes back and makes films like Firehouse Dog, which seem to flush away a lot of that goodwill in my opinion. He doesn’t try at all and becomes the typical sweet kid, rather than the intellectual who acts larger than his shoes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 28th, 2007
Lets face it, at one point or another we’ve all watched The Simpsons, and I’m sure at points we’ve all loved it. But I don’t think it’s a matter of debate that as the years went on the show seemed to have lost its touch, its uniqueness. With shows like Family Guy and American Dad pushing the envelope it’s hard to enjoy The Simpsons as much as we get older. But nonetheless there are millions of you who still love this show. For me its hard to pinpoint when The Simpsons took it’s turn for the worse, does Season 10 get classic status, or is it on the downside of the slope?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 26th, 2007
The third volume of classic Charlie Chan mysteries is a great package of treats, and of course gives us, once again, Warner Oland, the definitive Charlie Chan.
The Black Camel (1931) only one of the films in this set actually to take place in Honolulu, Chan’s home turf. A beautiful movie star is murdered, and among the suspects is none other than Bela Lugosi as a clairvoyant with murky motives. He and Oland have many scenes together, which is no small part of the pleasures of this entry.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 18th, 2007
There was a time when break dancing was the hottest thing around. For this film, that time is 1986, when a talented young dancer goes too big in a dance contest, flips off the stage and winds up in a coma. He wakes up 20 years later, a grown man with the mind of a 12-year-old, an unhealthy passion for break dancing and a crush on the girlfriend he almost had two decades earlier.
With that premise, how can you go wrong? Plus, you know Kickin' It Old Skool is a righteous movie because it spells 'School' with a 'k.'
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 30th, 2007
I have to admit that I have never heard of this film prior to receiving it for review, so I went into this one completely blind without any expectations. My only guess was that this would be some sort of fantasy/horror film, and it turns out I was right. Perfect Creature is a different sort of take on a vampire film which makes it rather unique, but how’s it going to end up?
Set in a fictitious New Zealand referred to as Nuovo Zelandia, Perfect Creature takes place in an alternate world not unlike our own.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 18th, 2007
Synopsis
Danny Kaye plays Jack Martin, entertainer in a Riviera nightclub, as well as Henri Duran, philandering aviator. Duran is being driven to the edge of bankruptcy by a man with which he is forced to do business. Desperate to raise cash, he leaves town, but then his rival is invited to a dinner party. If Duran is not present at the party he is supposed to be hosting, disaster will ensue. So his partners conscript Martin, who has done a pitch-perfect impersonation of Duran at the club, to act as ...