Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 23rd, 2011
Boxing has never been a particularly popular sport for me to watch. The boxing world has always seemed to be one of lies and politics. But on the other hand, I will watch with interest any movie that has boxing as a major subject. Rocky, Raging Bull, heck The Great White Hype are all fine examples of exciting boxing movies. That is why when I received Knockout with Steve Austin, my interest was peaked a little to say the least. Let us see how it goes.
Matthew Miller (played by Daniel Magder) chews his nails and doesn’t like the fact that he is in the middle of nowhere (Tacoma, Washington). His mother, Christine (played by Janet Kidder) gets after him for his nail biting and tells him that he had to drop out of private school and go to public school because times are tight. She does it in a rather melodramatic manner and it is no wonder that Matthew didn’t just punch out her lights right there. That would have been a boxing movie to be proud of.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on February 25th, 2011
A Wild West overlord is plotting to shrink the world's population. This evil plot is running along smoothly until a shrunken Texas ranger escapes in a whiskey bottle and finds himself saved by a plucky sibling duo named Luke and Lucy, along with their gaggle of wacky friends. The group become honourary rangers and set out to battle evil.
The character design, and over the top sense of adventure, are reminiscent of the Tintin series as these characters are based on those that appeared in Belgian comics under the same Herge banner that Tintin shares. Sadly, the CGI animation takes most all the life out of them with rigid movements and very poor lip syncing. Of course, being originally produced in Dutch, one can forgive some of the mismatched dialogue-to-mouths, but some more work could have been done to smooth it out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2011
The Freebie is a festival friendly drama-comedy about Darren (Dax Shepard) and Annie (Katie Aselton) ailing sexual relationship. The film is interested with relationships after they pass the lust stage. How do couples maintain a healthy romantic relationship? Darren and Annie strive for ways to spice up their situation and the idea eventually becomes one night of freedom from each other to explore other options. The film is shot very intimately and the audience will be shocked at the warmth conveyed by direction. The tension explored in this film is not typically deployed in this genre. This film showcases a perspective that could surprise viewers, I know I was.
Both Dax Shepard and Katie Aselton are able to deliver solid performances. I have always been skeptical of Shepard’s acting chops given his track record. However, he delivers a subtle and strong performance. His scenes with Aselton always have naturalistic approach and the direction only amplifies this. The intimacy and warmth in scenes is overwhelming. Aselton also directs and she uses a variety of tight portrait shots to convey emotion. I commend the effort and was surprised at how invested I found myself in the characters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 18th, 2011
A young dreamer named Power is fired from his mining job just before his union-leader father instigates a strike. Wishing he could be a drummer, but never getting the chance to play an actual kit, Power does not know what to do with his constant ambitions that make him air-drum 24/7. Fate steps in and he discovers an underground movement of air-drumming that all leads to a major event in New York city where he will have a chance to face off against a billionaire country-music star, who just so happens to be the son of the evil Copper Mine owner who is treating his Union friends, and family, so unfairly.
This film does spend a good chunk of time riding on the one-note quirkiness of its man child lead character and his oddball dreams of air-drumming, and does not get saved by the token love interest or ethnically broad supporting characters. But this film does find moments where it moves past the potential to be another rehashed, super-quirky Napolean Dynamite clone (though it strays close). It clings tightly to the RUSH worship of other contemporary comedies such as I Love You Man into rides it into a sentimental and surprisingly moving story about spirit. This almost exclusively occurs in the third act so the audience will have to hold tight until then.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2010
Written by Dave Younger
This is a prison drama, where the most feared criminal in Combs State Prison is born-to- be-bad Miles “Cain” Skinner (Ving Rhames). His nemesis Redfoot (Robert LaSardo) has just been caught doing his last drug deal and is transferred there. Which tough guy will prevail? Cain is so dangerous he’s in solitary confinement, so that makes it harder to take him out. But he is allowed out one hour a day. He’s handcuffed – sometimes – and security is increased, so it seems like Redfoot has an advantage. But those handcuffs could be nasty weapons…
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 27th, 2010
Written by Dave Younger
David (Sam Page) and Georgie (Natassia Malthe) are engaged. They go overseas, to Spain, to get the blessing of David’s father, Robert (Michael Maxwell). Georgie is abducted from a nightclub and becomes a sex slave for a twisted psycho known as the White Arab (David Gant, but because this is an ultra-cheap straight-to-DVD Hostel knockoff, his name is misspelled as Grant on the cover). Georgie’s fiancée discovers a guy whose sister was also kidnapped, and they make plans for a rescue. But there are lots of crazies, drug dealers, and corrupt officials they have to deal with first.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 23rd, 2010
Written by Dave Younger
This is an entertaining and informative biopic of the American icon. Starting with a $600 loan from the bank, he parlays his good fortune of coming across Marilyn Monroe pay-the-rent nudes into an I-gotta-see-this magazine. Along the way he publishes some great fiction – Ray Bradbury says nobody wanted his Fahrenheit 451, so he sells it to Hef for $400 – and non-fiction: groundbreaking interviews with Jimmy Carter, Miles Davis and John Lennon. His road was filled with battles, because America in the 50s was staunchly conservative. And racist, so imagine the shock of seeing blacks and whites mingle on his TV show Playboy’s Penthouse. (Sammy Davis Jr. is given a puppy for Christmas by the eternally suave Hef – “Oh, hi, I didn’t see you come in.”)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 6th, 2010
Written by Diane Tillis
Deadland is about a man searching for his wife five years after an apocalyptic event has changed the world.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 11th, 2010
The Trailer Park Boys are household names in Canada; the central characters even more than the show itself. The mockumentary TV series has been a cult sensation since its inception in 2001, right through its seven seasons and two feature films. Here is the introduction to Ricky, Julian, Bubbles and other charmers from the Sunnyvale Trailer Park.
To praise this show seems nearly redundant as its worldwide success and popularity certainly stands on its own. Nevertheless, this truly is a show that should be praised for managing to have brilliant subtle humour amidst the very loud and lowbrow style of humour it is best known for. As well, there is a certain level of Pathos that one might not think possible from such a motley crew but alas, many of us know people eerily similar to these lads, and can see their natural drive to avoid a painful life and strive for true happiness....yes, yes, all the while growing marijuana and robbing places.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 9th, 2010
Three couples are meeting for a trip out to the country to have an old fashioned, American orgy. What instigated said orgy is mostly a mystery, as is what truly keeps them motivated to go through with it. Needless to say, most of them are in it for reasons beyond being carefree and their ulterior motives and inner demons will only spoil the party.
The pacing of this film is like that of an art film...which is code for saying it's slow. This would not be a hindrance on the film if the mood of did not waver so often between being painfully uncomfortable and being curiously intriguing (more often the former). Some of the characters are perpetually unlikeable, while others are just so bland that one could hardly care enough to notice if they were likable or not. The last half of the film offers more for the audience as they inch closer to the moment of moving their relationships past casual friendship...and then when they do well beyond that, but that tension is all the film has going for it.
