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.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 5th, 2007
The movie of Hudson Hawk was often panned by critics who thought the movie was the worst thing since George Bush Sr moved into office. Look where that has got us! Remember kids, bad presidents only birth worse presidents. Anyhow, Hudson Hawk which was billed as an action comedy and was thought of by many as sloppy, over-inflated movie making that took the cream of bad movie making. Was it a turd that sank like the Titanic?(both the movie and the ship) Was it a lemon like XXX? (both the movie and the scent of Vin Diesel's Mr. Clean head)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 13th, 2007
"Spidey's back, and better than ever." Good thing, too, because in this third installment in the highly successful comic book-to-film franchise, Spider-Man faces off against a trio of villains: Sandman, the new Goblin and, of course, Venom. Each is a handful on his own. Together, they're Spidey's toughest challenge yet. But he's up to it, so long as he can first overcome his own internal conflict.
Spider-Man 3 hits store shelves October 30, on DVD in both a single-disc widescreen edition and a two-disc special edition, and on a two-disc Blu-ray release. I got my hands on the single disc and put it through its paces. Does the bare-bones DVD hold its own? Read on to find out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2007
Surf's Up is Sony Pictures Animation's second and latest film, and is directed by Toy Story 2 co-director Ash Brannon and Chicken Little's Chris Buck. Although it was considered a box office failure, Surf's Up has since been applauded by critics and fans alike. I have to say, normally I'm a sucker for CGI films but lately there has been a flood of them on the market, and frankly they're starting to decline in quality. But Surf's Up does something different, it's actually a CGI mockumentary on surfing documentaries, and with quite a list of voice actors. The list includes Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, Jon Heder, Shia LaBeouf, James Woods, Diedrich Bader, and more. So does this film break free from the recent rut the animated film genre seems to have found itself in?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 26th, 2007
I have no idea what critics thought of this film. I don't know how it did at the box office. I can't even recall knowing anything about it, except for seeing its title on the showtimes board at the theatre. It doesn't matter. I'm telling you now, Reign Over Me is a wonderful film.
I'm in one of those situations when I've discovered a really special movie, and want to recommend it to everyone I know without telling them anything about it. I'm not sure whether I can get away with that here, but I'll try. Let's talk about the DVD. Does it give Reign Over Me a fair shake? Read on to find out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 19th, 2007
Based on a popular 1957 novel by Alistair MacLean, The Guns of Navarone was a smash hit in 1961, and the highest grossing film of that year. It’s a World War II movie, and for its time was considered to be packed with excitement. While it definitely has some great action sequences, for modern standards the film has nowhere near the fast pace or high action-to-dialogue ratio we’ve come to expect from the genre.
So many years later, can a slow, talky action movie still excite audiences? And is The Guns of Navarone – 2-disc Collector’s Edition a worthy upgrade over the 2000 special edition release? Read on to find out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 10th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
Unfortunately, one of the best things you could say about the first season of ’Til Death is that it’s consistently inconsistent. It’s sometimes boring, it’s sometimes sentimental. Occasionally it’s angry. From time to time, it’s even funny. That said, I have a hard time believing the back cover’s assertion that this sitcom is a “top rated comedy.”
Here’s the premise, which is hardly new to television. Eddie and Joy Stark (Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher) have been married 24 years and have settled into a period of their lives that could charitably be described as stable, but more honestly as a rut. They love each other, but they take each other for granted. The magic is gone. Unfortunately, there’s no chemistry, either.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 6th, 2007
I like Paul Walker; I tend to enjoy his movies. However my experience with Paul Walker starts with JoyRide and ends with Running Scared. (we'll ignore the Fast and the Furious) So I was kinda excited at the chance to review Bobby Z, a straight to video release that also starred the clever Laurence Fishburne. Two fun actors in what looked like to be a fun action movie. The basic premise was that Tim Kearney (Paul Walker's character) is plucked from a prison by Tad Gruzsa (Laurence Fishburne's character) and his assistant because he looks exactly like the infamous Bobby Z, a drug runner who is supposedly dead. So, Kearney takes on the persona of Bobby Z and is used in a trade for a federal agent that was captured. Of course the deal goes horribly wrong and Kearney finds himself in the Mexican desert. Here he has to stay in the Bobby Z persona as he finds out that Bobby Z had a kid among many other plot points. This drives forward to a conclusion with some predictable twists where Kearney does everything he can to stay alive.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 5th, 2007
In hellish vision of a near future (?) LA, Marty Malt (Judd Nelson) is an incompetent garbage man who moonlights as an even worse comedian (his jokes aren’t funny, and he is half-crippled by stage fright). His only friend is the manipulative Gus (Bill Paxton). When Marty starts to grow a third arm out of his back, he loses his girlfriend (Lara Flynn Boyle) but attracts the attention of sleazy showbiz types Wayne Newton and Rob Lowe.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 22nd, 2007
Although it arose from the talented minds behind The Muppet Show, this 1982 fantasy classic is no kids' film. While The Dark Crystal can be enjoyed by kids, it's a little too dark and a little too abstract for your average seven-year-old.
Set in "another world, in another time...in the age of wonder," The Dark Crystal represents a monumental creative undertaking, and the first live-action feature film to not have any humans appearing on screen. While this 25th Anniversary Edition release appears to be a quadruple-dip, it just might be worth your attention.
