Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 24th, 2005
Synopsis
Cedric the Entertainer is Ralph Kramden. Mike Epps is Ed Norton. They have the get-rich-quick schemes that never work. Gabrelle Union and Regina Hall are Alice and Trixie, the long-suffering and very sensible wives who are increasingly exasperated by their numbnuts husbands. The latest scheme involves things like turning a pet greyhound into a competitive racer, all in the hopes of purchasing a duplex.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 24th, 2005
John and Jane Smith are a seemingly happy couple. They live a pretty normal but almost mundane existence of shared meals, kissed farewells and chats about the color of their curtains. They even go to therapy together, purportedly to iron out their differences. It turns out, however, that they have a lot more in common than they both realize. You see, they both have secret lives—they are both assassins. We're not talking some street-punks you might hire in a bar, or leather coat wearing mafia hit-men, they are the bes... at their game. Armed to the teeth with the latest military equipment, they swoop into high risk situations, execute their targets with professionalism and glide out using gadgets that would make Bond jealous. Of course they don't know what each other truly do for a living, lying and pretending on a daily basis and always staying one step ahead of being caught until one day they meet on an operation and suddenly—understandably—everything changes. Cue lots of matrimonial gunplay, fisticuffs and general banter as the fight their way to a stalemate before deciding what they are going to do from then on. Needless to say the respective agencies that employ them are none too happy about the situation that they are in and require each one to kill the other. Will they be able to survive and—more importantly—save their marriage?
Mr. and Mrs. Smith is a romantic comedy action vehicle which weighs heavily on the final element to keep audiences gripped. Many of movies over the years have adopted a similarly strange mix to lighten an otherwise potentially serious subject and make the proceedings more appealing for a wider audience, but with debatable results. The trouble is, if you go for a Last Action Hero-style near-spoof, you risk losing all sense of dramatic tension and potentially all interest that the audiences might have in the film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2005
Inspired by the 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film, Reefer Madness is a musical by Showtime. The film stars Steven Weber as Jack, Ana Gasteyer as Mae, John Kassir as Ralph, Amy Spanger as Sally, Neve Campbell as Miss Poppy, and Robert Torti as Jesus. The film was a pretty fun watch especially if you enjoy musicals.
Directed by Andy Fickman from the screenplay by Kevin Murphy & Dan Studney based on their musical stage play, the three men also serve as the film's executive producers. Reefer Madness< ...i> is musical that works best if you have a knowledge of the original subject. The basic story of Reefer Madness remains basically the same as the 1936 version, although now Bill and Jimmy are combined so the kid in trouble is now Jimmy "the Cannibis Killer" Harper (Christian Campbell).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2005
Synopsis
Mark Stevens is a PI recently out of jail after having been framed for manslaughter by his former partner. He is trying to make a new start in a new city, and the good news is that something might be developing with his new secretary, Lucille Ball. The bad news is that he’s being followed, and it turns out his treacherous ex-partner, Kurt Kreuger, is in town and making life hell for him. Or is he? In fact, obsessive gallery owner Clifton Webb is setting Stevens up for another frame.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2005
Burn! stars Marlon Brando as a British warmonger named William Walker, who’s a master manipulator and politician, as well as an excellent military strategist. While not one of the master’s best films, his presence really elevates the material and carries the other performers. Funny thing about Brando… he could play a Brit, an Irishman, and a mafia godfather and make you believe he was the nationality he was portraying.
Through the controversies of Brando’s later career (in which he also made ...imself scarce in the eyes of the public), it might be easy to forget about him, but all you need to do is revisit a fine performance such as the one in this film, and you’ll quickly remember why he’s one of the greats.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2005
Written by Clayton Self
Alien vs. Predator had mixed reviews upon its initial release in theatres. Fox studios demanded a PG-13 rating (to gain a wider audience) and two weeks before the release, cuts were made to reduce the amount of human blood onscreen, and a few moments of character moments. This new, un-rated edition restores some of those cut scenes, adding just over 8 minutes of previously unseen footage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 23rd, 2005
Aliens have sent super machines to Earth. The intent is obvious. They want to remove the human infestation and relocate from their own dying world. Independence Day, right? Wrong. Almost 50 years before Rolland and Emerich pitted mankind against killer aliens, George Pal brought us a wonderful interpretation of the famous H.G. Wells novel, War of the Worlds. Although not as faithful to the source material as a Wells fan might have hoped for, Pal created a classic film with groundbreaking f/x for the 1950’s. It’s a bit of a shame that this edition is hitting stores primarily because of the Spielberg version, also soon out on DVD. I like Steven Spielberg. I really do. I have to say, however, that I was disappointed in the “remained” version of the film. Purists will say there are moments that are closer to the Wells story, but they are wrong. How can you have War of the Worlds without Martians? George Pal gave us a wonderful milestone in science fiction history; it should be truly admired with this newly mastered DVD.
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2005
This remake ofCheaper by the Dozen, like the original, focuses on the Baker family. Father Tom Baker (Steve Martin) and mother Kate Baker (Bonnie Hunt) decided to have 12 children. The children range from 5 years old to 22 years old. Nora (Piper Perabo) is the oldest child and the one who lives outside the home. Tom coaches Division III football at the small Lincoln College. When Tom’s old teammate Shake Maguire (Richard Jenkins) shows up to offer Tom a big fat contract to coach Division I at Illinois Poly Uni...ersity, Tom decides to take the job. The obvious catch is that Tom and his ENTIRE family must move from Chicago to Illinois.
The second oldest child Charlie Baker (Tom Welling) is the star quarterback of his team. Charlie leads his siblings in voting on the decision not to move. Tom and Kate decide it’s in the family’s best interests to move. The kids, for the most part, are complete brats and are extremely annoying (I guess ALL children are right)?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2005
Synopsis
One of the first scenes in Out of Sight was the main character robbing a bank using only his words. That same kind of knack for thinking quickly under pressure is employed in Catch Me If You Can, which tells the story of Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), who, after witnessing the end of the marriage of his parents (Christopher Walken and Nathalie Baye), decides to flee, and begins to bounce checks. Not only does he bounce over $2 million in checks, but he also impersonates a tea...her, a doctor, a lawyer and an airline pilot, all by his 21st birthday. DiCaprio’s foil in the movie is the FBI agent pursuing him, Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), who is dedicated to pursuing "paper hangers" like DiCaprio. The 2 hour movie is spent on the chase and friendly jousting between the two, and puts you right by DiCaprio as he makes sure not to say the wrong thing in the situations he runs into. One of the other subplots given attention is the relationship between Frank and Frank Sr., portrayed by Christopher Walken, who earned an Oscar nomination for his brief work in the film. Unconditionally, despite whatever financial woes he suffered, Frank Sr. loved his son, and despite Frank Jr.’s attempt to ease his father’s pain, his father seems to be a proud man, and never accepts his gifts, however extravagant they may be. As a funny postscript, Abagnale not only worked with the FBI as part of his parole to assist in check fraud cases, but also helped developed check security protocols for many corporations, and has made millions from those also.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2005
Jean Hamilton, after having a bad relationship, decides to move to New York City with her two daughters. We quickly learn that this particular mother feels the need to move after EVERY bad relationship. The whiny eldest daughter gets sick of it, so she decides to set up her mom with an imaginary guy so she can get her mother on the possible right path.
The Perfect Man is the type of film that you watch once and literally cry through. No, it's not the type of film that you cry because it is really s...d. It's the type of film that you cry through because it's so pathetically bad. The film contains so many countless scenes where the characters do such ridculous things to each other that are, apparently, suppose to be funny. How can harming each other be considered funny? Apparently this film was made for all those teenage people who A. Love Hilary Duff for some reason, B. Love silly romantic comedies, and C. Need a stupid, mundane, boring film to make themselves feel better about their own lives.
