Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 26th, 2007
In 1988 the original Land Before Time animated feature enjoyed moderate success at the box office. This is the 12th direct to video sequel in what Universal describes as a billion dollar franchise. A lot has changed since the original film. None of the voice actors from the feature remain. The animation is really Saturday morning cartoon quality and has none of the detail work that Don Bluth gave to the first film. It seems these little gems have been coming out about once a year since around 1994.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 9th, 2007
Steve Carell is Evan Baxter in this “sort of” sequel to Bruce Almighty. He is a freshman member of the United States Congress about to start his first day. His campaign promise was to “change the world”. In the “be careful what you wish for” department, God (Morgan Freeman) gives him the chance to do just that. There’s just one catch, however. Evan has to build an ark…. You know the rest of that story. Suddenly animals begin arriving in pairs, and Evan makes a physical transformation into the traditional long bearded Noah. As you might imagine, this causes some troubles in his life as a Congressman. Try as he might, this modern-day Noah can’t escape his divine destiny. You’re probably thinking: “this sounds like funny stuff”. Wrong. This film meanders through a one-joke plot for most of its hour and a half. Steve Carell is no Jim Carrey and simply doesn’t have the chops to carry this off. The film resorts to mostly physical gags that are more gross-out than funny.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 22nd, 2007
It’s hard for me to believe that Darkman comes from a time when Sam Raimi was fresh off directing Evil Dead 2 and Liam Neeson was a little known Irish actor. A lot has changed since then, but a true classic can stand the test of time, and although I was very young when I first saw this movie, I remember it being very unique. Of course my perspective on films has blossomed since the time I was watching Rugrats, and it has literally been that long since I’ve seen Darkman. Nonetheless I’m pleased to finally get the chance to watch this Liam Neeson classic, and in HD to boot.
Darkman was hardly what I remembered it, but not in a bad way. I can understand it better now, and see there is more depth to it than I remember. It tells the story of scientist Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson, Star Wars Episode I : The Phantom Menace) who is developing a synthetic skin that would allow burn victims to appear normal. That’s pretty handy considering Mr. Westlake is about to be hideously disfigured, but I’ll overlook that. Anyways, there is a flaw with the skin; it only lasts for slightly over 90 minutes before it disintegrates in the sun. In the dark it will stay intact. This all comes into play later, but in the meantime Westlake’s girlfriend and attorney Julie Hastings (Frances McDormand, Fargo) has found evidence incriminating a local developer and a mobster. This leads to Westlakes lab being blown up, with him in it. The Darkman is now born, the disfigured Westlake undergoes surgery that severs his nerves and his ability to feel anything, along with an overactive adrenal gland, and you got a pretty pissed off halfway superhero. He escapes from the hospital and hopes to rebuild his relationship with Hastings, and get his vigilante justice on those responsible for making him the way he is.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 20th, 2007
What would happen if a studio was so confident in a show that it offered the DVD’s at a reduced price and slapped on a money back guarantee? Universal has done just that with Friday Night Lights. There is a rebate program where you can turn your discs back in for a full refund if you’re not completely satisfied with the show. Couple that with the fact I picked up this entire season for only 20 bucks, and I’d say somebody is either really stupid, or they’ve got a hell of a television series. Friday Night Lights is the latter.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 18th, 2007
Notting Hill is a bit of a spin on a Cinderella type story, only Cinderella is William Thacker (Hugh Grant, About A Boy) the owner of a break even book store. Nothing seems to be going his way until fate would have it that Anna Scott (Julia Roberts, Oceans Eleven) the worlds most respected and loved actress enters his store. William having a hard time coping with his recent divorce can’t believe the glimmer of hope placed before him. The two seem to get along quite nicely, and days later run into each other again. This time William accidentally spills his orange juice all over her, later inviting her to clean up in his house. The two share an intimate moment and the seeds for the relationship have been planted. Days later William comes home to find out his eccentric Welsh roommate Spike (Rhys Ifans, Formula 51) has taken down a broken message, some American girl called a few days ago. Of course William tracks her down and it’s obvious he’s falling for her, but things get really complicated when her American boyfriend shows up. Of course from here the two go through a rough patch, but it doesn’t take a genius to guess how this one ends.I wasn’t exactly knocked off my feet with Notting Hill but it was better than I originally anticipated. There were quite a few comedic moments mainly at the expense of Rhys Ifans, but Hugh Grant had his moments as well. Julia Roberts as usual does her thing and gives the movie a little extra something. Take this movie for what it is, a sappy romantic comedy with a bit of a twist to make it more enjoyable.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 30th, 2007
1998 marked an interesting time for the career of Robin Williams. The previous year he stared in his Oscar Winning Role via Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting, which was a somewhat rare role for Williams as it showcased his dramatic side. Obviously hoping for similar success, Williams followed that excellent role with another role that, at some points, finds itself just as good as his performance in Hunting.
Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams) has just endured the part of life that any parent fears. Both of his children have been killed in a car accident. His wife Annie (Annabella Sciorra) is extremely distraught by this as is Chris. She falls into a suicidal state seemingly blaming herself for her the passing of her children. Events don’t improve when suddenly Chris is killed in a car crash. Upon his death, Chris wonders around the planet witnessing his funeral. Soon he finds out that his wife is dead, making him think that they might be reunited in heaven as perfect ‘soul-mates’. The only problem in this equation is that Annie has committed suicide, thus sending her to Hell (where all those who commit suicide go). Determined to bring his wife back from eternal torment, we (as the audience) are invited in a visual masterpiece from director Vincent Ward that includes almost 3-Dimensional glances into an Impressionist world of suffering that channels Dante’s Inferno in a splendid, visually stunning manner.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 16th, 2007
In the day and age of sequels being thrown at us like lies from the media, the idea of a sequel surpassing its predecessor rarely occurs. I can only think of a few films that have achieved such a title. Titles like Aliens, The Bourne Supremacy and the recent comedy sequel Meet the Fockers are perfect examples, the latter which is actually funny and charming instead of being cruel and rather mean like the first.
As we all know in Meet the Parents, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) asked his girlfriend Pam (Tea Leoni) to marry him, which she accepted. Only it wasn’t as open and shut as this. See first Greg had to ask the permission of Pam’s father Jack (Robert De Niro) for his daughter’s hand. Jack, an ex-CIA specialist, basically tried to torture Greg into not wanting to marry Pam by ridiculing him in front of others and digging up every little secret he could. And let’s not even bring in the other completely childish and rude family members who act like jerks. Anyhow, Jack finally comes to the realization that if Greg loves his daughter so much, he can marry her. But now there comes a dilemma. Just like Greg had to meet Pam’s parents, it would only be polite for Jack and company to meet Greg’s parents. The only problem here is that Greg’s parents, well, are a bit odd.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 12th, 2007
There are often stories about burn patients who lose part of their face or leave their other body parts horribly disfigured. It is sad and unfortunate. But what if you had horrible chemical and fire burns and had to take refuge in warehouses and underground? You had the strength of ten men, but could create a mask that you could use to duplicate your enemies or be the man you used to be? However, that face only lasted 99 minutes. This is the story of Darkman. A trilogy of movies that developed a cult following for its subject matter and campy presentation. Part action, part sci-fi, part thriller. But a great time as long as you left your brain at the door.
The first film directed by Sam Raimi (Spiderman, Evil Dead) features Liam Neeson as Dr. Peyton Westlake, a brilliant scientist on the verge of finding the solution to liquid skin cells or synthetic skin. This in time would help burn patients or disfigurements replace unwanted and dead skin tissue. The problem is he can only make it last for 99 minutes. One day his lab gets ransacked by a group of thugs led by Robert G. Durant (played by Larry Drake) who are in search of a memorandum. Peyton is horribly burned in the fire and presumed dead when his body can't be found in the explosion. He later resurfaces as a John Doe burn victim who is given a radical new treatment that cuts off his nerve impulses. He breaks out of the hospital and retreats to a condemned warehouse. He then goes back to the wreckage of his lab and tries to salvage his work. Using what is left of his work and vigilante money that is collected from thieves and bad guys that he fights he attempts to recreate faces of his enemies so that he may take revenge on the Durant crime syndicate. He also attempts to get back in touch with his girlfriend (played by Frances McDormand) by putting on his face and spending time with her. However, he realizes he can only put on the charade for so long and continually he descends back to the darkness as Darkman. He prevails over Durant, but the pain and suffering he endures from day to day stays with him.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 12th, 2007
Erin Brockovich tells a story based on a true series of event. Erin (Julie Roberts in her Oscar winning role) has a tough life. She’s a single mother of three kids, her two ex-husbands left her not supporting her or her children, she can’t seem to find any work due to her lack of education, and she has $16 in her bank account. Life seems to be continuing on a downward spiral for Erin. Things start looking up when she is practically handed a job by her defense lawyer Ed Marsy (Albert Finney). It’s here that Erin stumbles upon a case involving PG&E, a $28 billion company that had been disposing a chemical into the local water supply of a nearby town called Hinkley, California.
Erin and Ed soon find themselves in a lot more than they ever probably bargained for when this case turns more ugly as each minute passes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 4th, 2007
(Non-format specific portions of this review are culled from my review of said film, so enjoy or read elsewhere.)
In watching Being John Malkovich again recently, for the first time in awhile, the thing I was struck by is how unique it is (duh!). It doesn’t try too hard at being different, to the point that it’s going to suck, everything is matter of fact, and it’s hilarious. Its characters are flawed, but we feel for some of them a great deal. It’s funny, it’s touching, it’s dramatic, it works on many levels.
![Darkman [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/darkman-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![Notting Hill [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/notting-hill-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![What Dreams May Come [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/what-dreams-may-come-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![Meet the Fockers [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/meet-the-fockers-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![Erin Brockovich [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/erin-brockovich-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![Being John Malkovich [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/being-john-malkovich-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
