Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 11th, 2014
Need for Speed is based on a video game. It caters to people who love the experience of speed. There is a huge audience for this sort of thing. To their credit, the writer and director makes every effort to create an actual story and real characters in this presentation. It is easy to compare it to Fast and Furious, but why bother. That gives these sorts of films too much credit. Fast and Furious and Need for Speed are designed to give people a thrill. If anything, Need for Speed takes things more seriously than the Fast and Furious series. It also focuses more on beautiful and very expensive cars. Some of the cars featured include Koenigseggs, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches, McLarens, and Jaguars, but Ford Mustangs and Torinos get some of the most lavish praise. It could be a commercial for these cars. In fact, the film could be a commercial for the video game and the car culture, in general. One of the plot points is that the millions of invested in these cars is motivation to overlook past hostilities. The other reason for making this film is to give a star vehicle to Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad).
Tobey Mitchell (Aaron Paul) has a high-performance car shop in Mount Kisco. There are some fun street racing scenes right at the start. It should be stated that, at every point in this film, there is zero concern for the safety of innocent bystanders. The driving is always reckless and insane. He connects with his old girlfriend Anita (Dakota Johnson) who was stolen away by an old friend. That ex-friend Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper) is now a big shot in the racing world. Tobey is behind on the mortgage on the shop. Dino offers him $500,000 to fix up a $3,000,000 car. Tobey has no choice but to set their differences aside. All his coworkers and best buddies are totally against it including Anita's brother Pete (Harrison Gilbertson). Pete is also a bit of a psychic and seer, predicting that Tobey will win a great race that ends at a lighthouse. I'm not going to go on about the plot too much, because it's predictable and done just to make sure no one just thinks it's a cheap video game rip-off. Aaron Paul does give full commitment to his role and is actually very good. I don't think he's leading man material, but he is able to convey all levels of intensity. This movie would be better off with a Steve McQueen type, but those are nearly nonexistent (although I think Tom Hardy has potential, but he's not in this movie).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on March 31st, 2014
What would you do if you found out that you fathered 533 kids? Better yet, how would you handle that news on top of the news that the children you fathered are petitioning the courts to have your identity revealed? Well, that is the dilemma that Vince Vaughn is faced with in his new comedy Delivery Man. As you can figure out from the funny premise, this is a comedy, but it is not just hapless jokes without any real substance; Delivery Man actually has another side to it, a side that tugs on the heartstrings a bit.
A remake of the French-Canadian film “Starbuck,” (it is also worth mentioning that both films, original and remake, share the same creator, Ken Scott) Delivery Man tells the story of David Wozniak, a truck driver for his family’s butcher shop who has big plans for his life that never quite pan out. Perhaps that is too kind a way of putting it. A better way would be to say that David has been a bit of a disappointment to his girlfriend Emily (Cobie Smulders, How I Met Your Mother) who has just informed him that she’s pregnant, his father who would most likely fire him if he wasn’t related to him, and the family business. Not only that, he owes an immense amount of money to some unsavory characters with a penchant for drowning people who don’t pay their debts.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 5th, 2013
If you were alive at the time, you probably remember watching the seven tobacco company executives testifying in before a Senate committee on the addictive nature of their products. They all raised their hands to swear that they do not believe that nicotine is addictive. It made for great television of the absurd. It was great fodder for the late-night comedy routines, and almost every stand-up in the country found a way to work it into their material. It was the beginning of a changing environment in America toward smoking, in general. Most states have since passed "Clean Air Acts" which prohibit smoking from most public places. States have sued and ultimately won to recoup some of the money they lose each year on taking care of citizens who have ruined their health by smoking. Even more restrictions on advertisement have been implemented, and the idea of smoking being "cool" went out along with the billboards and sports stadium banners. The tobacco companies are still doing fine, however. They now export more product than they sell in the United States, and the lawsuits and advertisement bans have been little more than speed bumps on the profit margins.
Much of that swing in public opinion can be attributed to Jeffrey Wigand (Crowe). He was a scientist working for one of these "big 7" companies when he was fired. He had some fundamental issues with the work he was doing and left with a pretty generous severance package and a non-disclosure agreement that barred him from revealing what he knew.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 13th, 2012
At the turn of the millennium, we seemed to collectively decide that we wanted our heroes to be dark and gritty. The X-Men traded in their yellow spandex for black leather in their first big-screen adventure. Batman went from exchanging quips and painful puns with Mr. Freeze to brooding magnificently for director Christopher Nolan. And Hollywood almost completely stopped making candy-colored spectacles like Dick Tracy.
It’s not difficult to understand why this happened. Though I have a soft spot for pulpy ‘90s period pieces like The Rocketeer, The Shadow and even The Phantom, they didn’t exactly set the box office on fire. The star-studded Dick Tracy was actually the most successful film from this group, grossing over $100 million, earning seven(!) Oscar nominations and winning three of those trophies. However, the fact that Dick Tracy’s closest doppelganger is probably the ultra-violent Sin City — another tale with tough-talking cops and crooks that looks like it was ripped directly from the pages of its source material for the big screen — tells you where moviemaking has gone from then to now.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 11th, 2012
War Horse began life as a novel by Michael Morpurgo and went on to become a relatively successful Broadway play. I haven't read the book, and it's hard for me to imagine the material on the stage. But in the hands of Steven Spielberg there is little left to the imagination. This is definitely one of his most inspired films and contains some of the more beautiful and compelling images. That's saying a lot when you think about the many iconic images Spielberg has brought us from ET to the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park and the great white shark in Jaws. Yes, the images rank right up there. Unfortunately, the film itself doesn't come close.
The story begins with the birth of Joey, a thoroughbred horse. But this is not really the beginning of the story, is it? Joey is sent to auction where drunkard farmer Ted Narracott (Mullan) falls in love with the impractical animal. Helped by the taunts of his landlord Lyons (Thewlis) he bids too much for the animal and wins him. The problem is that he needed a working horse to plow his fields, and Joey isn't going to make wife Rose (Watson) very happy at all. But his son Albert (Irvine) instantly sees what his father saw and falls in love with Joey. He promises to train him. If he can't the family will lose their farm. But even this isn't really where the story begins.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 20th, 2012
"Goooood morning, Vietnam! Hey, this is not a test! This is rock and roll! Time to rock it from the Delta to the D.M.Z.!"
Since his early days on Mork and Mindy, Robin Williams has been in a lot of movies. Some of them are pretty good films. Others are even downright awful. He does have a habit of going over the top. Ask anyone you might meet for their favorite Robin Williams movie and the answers will most certainly differ. Still, two things are pretty certain.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2012
Written by Joe Gause
What can be said about Dead Poets Society that has not been said before? This is what I consider a landmark in filmmaking. Director Peter Weir demonstrated true vision in the film process to deliver what some call an epic cinematic achievement. Combine that with an all-star cast (though many of them were just starting their careers), and it’s a true work of genius.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 24th, 2011
The story of Romeo and Juliet is a story that is retold at least once every generation. It can be retold using a different time period or with alien races or perhaps even in a thirty second commercial. It is a fairly easy story and parts can be tweaked given the audience and intention. So begins the story of Gnomeo and Juliet. Take one part animation, one part garden gnomes and a dose of laughter that could be just what the classic play needs. Or it could become a tragedy of the highest order.
There are two elderly people who share a large house. One is Mrs. Montague and the other is Mr. Capulet. They can not stand each other. In such, part of their daily routine is to look after their separate prized garden. One is decorated in blue (Montague) while the other is decorated in red(Capulet). However, they both share one thing in their design. They both like to use garden gnomes. When Mrs. Montague and Mr. Capulet go away however, the gnomes magically come to life. So starts our story.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 23rd, 2011
When I was a kid, I always wished and hoped I had super powers. Frankly, I did not even think my parents were my parents, rather hosts for somebody who would eventually change the world. Somewhere along the way, I grew up (kinda) but always wondered what would happen if things were different. I Am Number Four explores the story of a teenager who could change the world with his powers if he can simply stay alive long enough. By the way, I still don’t think my parents were my parents.
Two men (played by Greg Townley and Reuben Langdon) are asleep in some remote part of the world. All of the sudden, they feel something is wrong and wake up. They find nothing, but then suddenly one of the men is grabbed by an unknown monster and taken out of the cabin by force. The other man witnessing this horrid event has no choice but to try and run to safety.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 11th, 2011
For those who have made it through my prior two reviews of terror by romantic comedy, I salute you. You are certainly stronger and far more resilient than one could ever imagine. But, we always save the best (worst) for last. It is an unspeakable tale of big Hollywood stars, revenge and a great overdose of Disney movie magic. Come in, if you dare and witness the debacle that can only be known as You Again.
We travel back to 2002. Marni Olsen (played by Kristen Bell) is making her part of the video for a high school time capsule. She talks about how she is always picked on and abused by the other children. This leads to an impromptu scene where her arch-nemesis Joanna (played by Odette Yustman) and her friends throw her out of the school. All of this is accomplished while playing We are the Champions and making the loser hand gesture at poor Marni.
![Good Morning, Vietnam (25th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/good-morning-vietnam-25th-anniver-large.jpg)
![Dead Poets Society [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/dead-poets-society-blu-ray-large.jpg)
