Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 15th, 2006
Michael Mann, for myself, has always been an entertaining director. His commercial successes like Last of the Mohicans, Heat and Collateral are some of my favorite guilty-pleasure films that I can always enjoy. When Mann decided to make a feature film on the classic TV series Miami Vice, I immediately piqued interest in the film. I figured with Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx acting and Michael Mann directing that Miami Vice would be a home run. In the end, Vice is more of a double that has a few faults which keep it from hitting a home run.
Some may instantly criticize me for this next sentence. Colin Farrell is a great actor. There I said it. I loved his performances in Phone Booth, Daredevil, Tigerland and yes, Alexander. He brought his own unique style to each performance adding a bit of quality to each of the said films. In Miami Vice though, Farrell as Detective James �Sonny� Crockett failed on nearly all cylinders never convincing me of his performance. Even in scenes of action, Farrell and his partner Jamie Foxx as Detective Ricardo �Rico� Tubbs tended to almost bore me causing myself to continuously look at the clock.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 13th, 2006
The 1978 Superman film set the standard for what a quality comic hero film should be. The tagline promise: “You will believe a man can fly” was kept. All future comic films would be judged by this standard. Superman II had its faults. Certainly it was not the modern classic like the first film. The plot was bogged down with a rather silly love story that broke down the barriers of the Kent/Superman identity for Lois Lane. Luthor, while played again with style by Gene Hackman, is reduced to a comedic backseat to the real villains. Plot contrivances abound, along with plenty of corny lines. Yet, even with these limitations, this has always been a rather enjoyable film, particularly when compared to the dreadful sequels that followed.
Richard Donner, who brought us the first film, was about a third away from finishing the second when he was unceremoniously fired from the project. While Richard Lester, who took over, used much of this footage ( he had little time or money to do otherwise) the heart of this film was released along the way. Lester added unnecessary jokes and diverted the story to a strong degree away from its intended flight plan. Now, finally, we are able to see at least a hint of what Donner had originally intended. I say only a hint because he was unable to film everything he intended. This version does end up using some of Lester’s stuff as well as screen tests to fill in some of the unfilmed blanks. Still, it is as close to the original concept we are ever going to see. While even this version retains many of the flaws, it is a marked improvement over the original version. Unfortunately the stories of this intended version have reached almost mythical proportions. Our expectations have likely been inflated to a point where no version could meet them. For those of you expecting something akin to the first film you must remember that at its soul this is not that film. It’s still Superman II, complete with all of the baggage that infers. The politics over this fallout are no longer important. Hollywood is overrun with similar stories. Even as we watch this film for the first time, a storm is brewing over Peter Jackson and the proposed Hobbit films. It never ends.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 13th, 2006
I can't believe this show ran for seven seasons. Sure, I enjoyed it as a child, but I was a child, and didn't know any better. Seeing it today, it is shocking how bad it really is. The acting is pathetic and the storylines are lame and predictable. Every episode for seven straight seasons had the same basic skeleton. The boys are having a good time, the corrupt county commissioner does something for personal gain, the half-retarded Sheriff blames it on the innocent Duke boys, car chase, short shorts, car flies throug... the air, sheriff's face in a mud puddle, phony laughing for no reason, credits. By the time The Dukes of Hazzard finally aired its final season in the mid-80's, it had actually sank to the point of bringing on guest stars with as much believability as the time that the Harlem Globetrotters visited Gilligan's Island.
This was truly a show aimed at America's lowest common denominator. I can respect the fact that it had eye candy and it was anti-establishment. The thing is, the show just beat the viewer over the head with it. The Sheriff is not just stupid, he is clearly such a colossal moron that I am truly amazed that he can dress himself in the mornings. The government was always wrong, and the innocent citizens were always right. Trust me, if you have seen one episode of this show, you have seen them all. There is no reason to purchase an entire season's worth, and there is absolutely no sane reason to collect the whole series. Do yourself a favor and pick up a complete season of The Andy Griffith Show instead.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 13th, 2006
My Super Ex-Girlfriend certainly has a fun premise, but after 10 minutes or so, you'll quickly realize that the originality is at most skin-deep. What we have here is a formulaic romantic comedy with the usual character types and plot points.
Luke Wilson plays Matt Saunders, a nice guy who's kind of unlucky with love. He meets Jenny Johnson (Uma Thurman), falls for her, realizes she's a needy psycho, and dumps her because he's really in love with his co-worker, Anna (Hannah Lewis).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 12th, 2006
The Griswolds, a household name for a series of National Lampoon comedy�s beginning with Vacation and most recently Vegas Vacation. Few of us could say these iconic characters haven�t left an impression in our minds. I was happy when I heard that Christmas Vacation was going to be released on HD DVD, a true Christmas classic in high definition. With many memorable scenes associated with Christmas, is this classic worth the purchase in HD?
Clark Griswald (Chevy Chase) is a family man who always has a positive outlook on matters, as you may remember his optimism throughout the other collection of Vacation movies. He is joyous at the thought of putting up a large group of his family and in-laws for the holidays, and it all starts with the perfect tree. The opening of the movie tracks Clark, Ellen (Beverly D�Angelo), and kids (Juliette Lewis & Johhny Galecki) as they scour the countryside looking for a tree to take home. They end up uprooting the biggest tree in sight and driving home with it on the roof of their station wagon, and yes getting stuck under a semi-truck in the process. I�m sure you remember this scene, along with the numerous classic sequences spread throughout the movie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 8th, 2006
This is an interesting package, in that the title feature could just as easily pass as an extended extra to accompany all the shorts here. At any rate, said feature is a 104-minute documentary/autobiography. Don Glut has been successively fan, amateur filmmaker, writer and pro, and most of the film consists of him sitting in front of the camera, recounting his amateur days. Interspersed are brief interview with his mother, friends, and other notable fans/historians such as Bob Burns and Bill Warren, as well as clips from the films. Glut still has a great many of the props he used as a kid, which is astonishing. The style of the doc is very simple, and this probably won’t have too much appeal beyond, well, the same kind of people as this feature is about. But for anyone who ever read an issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland, this will bring a nostalgic tear to your eye. It also makes an excellent companion piece to Monster Kid Memories Home Movies.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 8th, 2006
Synopsis
Hooray for Donald Bellisario and his decision to create prime time television shows with various branches of the armed forces! But in this case, NCIS takes advantage of the craze of all the CSI related shows that have sprouted up over the last several years. But with various jump cuts and clips of music that are interspersed with it, it’s still hard to make the distinction.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 7th, 2006
They say you can't turn back the clock. Sometimes, that really sucks. Like when I pressed "play" to watch Garfield and Friends, Behind the Scenes. There was a time in my life when I lived and breathed Garfield, and everything Jim Davis touched glittered like a clear, starry night to my eyes. I'm exaggerating, but the point is I used to really like the comic.
Well, that was age seven, and this is now. My mature, adult brain just cannot compute why this comic strip still runs in the dailies, and still sells off store shelves. So you can guess that I wasn't too keen on watching nearly two hours' worth of the animated Garfield cartoon.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 7th, 2006
A secret military research base (consisting of boring green-lit corridors and boasting a total staff and solider complement of about eight plus Michael Madsen) is working on a serum that boosts aggression and creates super-soldiers. Used on war heroes, it turns them into raging psychotics, so the decision is made to test it on losers, with the idea that they won’t be boosted quite as much. (Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t write the script.) A group of misfits is hauled in, but they don’t like what they’re being subjected to, and are soon running around corridors, looking for a way out. One of the previous subjects is accidentally freed, and he stalks the hallways as a very economical monster.
The introduction to our losers is actually quite funny, raising hopes that this might turn out to be some kind of torqued satire. No such luck. Just another DTV exercise in hallway horror. Depressingly familiar and tedious.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 7th, 2006
In a live action sequence, Mother Goose (Hal Smith in drag) is hauled before the court to account for herself. She proceeds to inflame the passions of those present with a series of raunchy tales. These are animated, and we find out what Jack really found up on that beanstalk, how Cinderella really impressed the Prince, and what sort of, er, encounters a not-so-Little Red Riding Hood had on her way to Grandma's house.There is some wit here (see the coda to Cinderella's story, for instance), but for the most part, the film is (surprise, surprise) crude in every sense of the word. The animation is roughly on the caliber of "Rocket Robin Hood," though given the nature of the acts depicted, limited repetitive motion isn't as much of a handicap as it might be, and seeing something like this in the Hanna-Barbera style is seriously weird. The characters are for the most part engagingly drawn, and as a curiosity, this is absolutely priceless. This had theatrical dates (albeit limited) in 1976. Hard to imagine the same thing today.
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![National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/national-lampoons-christmas-vacati-large.jpg)
