Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 11th, 2007
It seems unbelievable to me that Scooby Doo was just on for three seasons. Undoubtedly there were individual cartoon tie-ins created all along the way, and there are new episodes being created even today. No, I’m talking about the original classic program. Just three short seasons were produced, the final one of which is now available on DVD.
What is there to say about this series, these cartoons that were such an integral part of my childhood? You would have to be living in the mountain caves of Afgha...istan to not know about Shaggy, Daphne, Velma and the rest of the Scooby Gang, riding around in the Mystery Machine solving crimes and debunking ghost myths. Each episode was an island unto itself, without any plot points that carried over from episode to episode. In fact, it was actually helpful if you didn’t remember what was going on the last time you saw the show, since every episode was pretty much the same. There is a guy that is secretly doing something bad for personal gain, Daphne Fred and Velma investigate and compile clues, and Scooby and Fred accidentally solve the crime. The funny thing is, he “would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids.” The perpetrator is turned over to the police, the dog eats some snacks, and everybody piles into the van to go find another mystery.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 5th, 2007
This winner of the Oscar for best animated feature of 2006 is one fantastic movie.
Happy Feet is the story of Mumble, a teenager who - thanks to his daddy dropping him early on in life - is mildly physically challenged. You see, Mumble can't sing like other Americans - he can only dance. As a result, he has never fit in with his people. When he accidentally crosses the border into Mexico, his disability and greater height over the small, energetic Mexicans earn him a sort of respect. With his newfoun... friends, the teen heads back to the U.S. to trick the girl he loves into believing he's no longer challenged, Cyrano De Bergerac-style. While she admits she'd be happy if it were true, she quickly exposes his lie. Fortunately, Mumble owns up to it and goes back to being himself, with gusto.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 1st, 2007
I’ve always been fascinated by ocean life much more than space. Sure, planets and stars are cool, but growing up I was reading books about sharks, not supernovas. That interest in the wonders of the sea has never really faded, so you can imagine that I was pretty stoked to watch IMAX: Deep Sea.
Unfortunately, I missed this one in theatres when it was IMAX: Deep Sea 3D. The only thing three-dimensional about this DVD release is the sweet lenticular slipcover. If you stare at the cover while you turn it slowly, a shark appears to swim up to have you for lunch. Nice.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 27th, 2007
Two films in, and I am still impressed with Warner Brother's new Raw Feed line of direct-to-DVD horror films. As the direct-to-DVD market continues to grow, Warner's has jumped out in front with their new studio. The first film, Rest Stop, deftly told the story of a woman stranded at a rest stop and terrorized by a local madman. An entertaining film, but certainly not a new premise.Sublime is a much more developed story, and a very involving film.
Tom Cavanagh from TV's Ed and Love Mon...ey stars in a film that is much more psychological horror than outright terror. When George Grieves visits the hospital for a routine colonoscopy, all seems to be going well. When he wakes up, however, he discovers that the procedure was anything buy routine. I don't want to give too much away, but I can honestly say that the film pulled me in early, and didn't let me go until the last frame.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 13th, 2007
To tell you the truth, I think Warner Brothers is really on to something with their recent series of direct-to-DVD sequels. The studio offers a familiar story in a quality package, often at a discounted price. Some of these direct-to-DVD films are actually pretty good, such as the studio's new Raw Feed line of horror features. Unfortunately, this title is not one of the good ones.
While The Dukes of Hazzard – The Beginning is supposed to tell the story of how the Duke boys first got together, much o... this film appears to take place in the present day. Buses are from the 70's, but cars have modern alarms. Wardrobe choices are either going for a throwback look, or really are supposed to be period. I never really figured it out, and maybe that is part of what annoyed me so much about this film; it's lack of focus and forethought. I understand that the point of this product is to put something low-budget out into the marketplace to make a quick buck, but at least a little effort could have gone into the plot and character development. This film feels more like yet another American Pie sequel than a serious attempt at another story in the Hazzard series. The plot is one that has been told over and over again. Boss Hog is going to foreclose on Uncle Jessie's farm, so the Duke Boys (with Daisy's help), raise the money to save the farm, and have a wild and crazy good time doing it, complete with random naked women for no good reason.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 6th, 2007
Posted in Disc Reviews by Joshua Noyes
Lady in the Water is the latest film offered from M. Night Shyamalan. In its opening weekend (21-23 July 2006), the film grossed a total of $18.2 million, placing third in the United States box office results for that weekend. It was M. Night's lowest opening for any of his five major films. Due to negative reviews and poor word-of-mouth, its second week fell sharply to $7.1 million, pushing its total to only $32.2 million. Its third weekend was no better, falling another 62.1% to $2.7 million. As of September...14, 2006, its total was $42.285 million. In addition, the film only made $30.5 million in the foreign box office, pulling its tally to approximately $72.785 million internationally. The movie had an estimated budget of $70 million for production and a further $70 million in advertising costs.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 2nd, 2007
Posted in Disc Reviews by Joshua Noyes
Two guys who were used to drinking beer for fun suddenly become fierce competitors in the “Beer Drinking Olympics” in Germany. Todd Wolfhouse (Erik Stolhanske) and his brother Jan (Paul Soter) are from a German-American family but have never visited the Old Country until their grandfather dies and they fly to Germany to scatter his ashes. Todd and Jan arrive during the annual Oktoberfest celebration and accidentally discover a secret competition, "Beerfest," in which the world's leading beer guzzlers determine who ca... handle the most brew during several days of heated drinking games. Todd and Jan are no lightweights when it comes to downing brew and offer to compete, but the German branch of the family, the Von Wolfhausens, hesitate at their desire to enter the contest and inform them no mere Americans stand a chance winning the Beerfest honors. Determined to prove Americans can drink beer with the best of them, Todd and Jan bring their drinking buddies to Germany to defend America;s honor and prove to their German relatives that they too can drink as well as anybody.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 27th, 2007
The return of the historical epic hit Hollywood hard in 2005/2006. Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, King Arthur and the two Colin Farrell vehicles, The New World and Alexander, all hit theaters pretty close to each other... and all flopped. The basic complaint was the same about all these films; they were too long, the pace was too slow and they were hard to follow. As much as these huge pictures cost, the studios quickly looked to the DVD cash cow to try to recoup some of the production co...ts. The first to hit was King Arthur, which was released in the theatrical PG-13 format (full screen only), and the director's preferred extended unrated cut (presented in widescreen). Antione Fuqua's fighting with the studio over the final cut of the film was widely known, so it was nice to get to see the director's original, more violent, vision. Audiences were pleased too, as this new cut was widely regarded as superior to the original.
A very similar thing happened with Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven. The theatrical release was regarded as average, as it was on DVD. When Scott re-cut the film and released it as a four-disc special edition, however, consumers and critics went wild, declaring this new extended cut far superior to the original theatrical version. In fact, this new vision was named the DVD of the year last year by many critics. Scott has since said that this new cut represented more of his original vision for the story, but that the studio feared that it was far too long for theater audiences. (Remember, these are the same audiences who had complained that the film was too long to begin with, proving that filmmakers' would be best served creating their films on their own terms, without the input of the general public.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 27th, 2007
There's definitely no doubt in my mind that the Superman films, particularly the first two, will always be remembered as excellent pieces of film not only because they introduced the world to the late, great Christopher Reeve but also because they're simply great films. When word first came around that Superman director Richard Donner had filmed an ENTIRE version of the 2nd film only to have it scrapped at the last second, the interest of fans immediately piqued. What was so risqué about the Donner cut that made Warner Brothers basically shelve the film for some 20+ years? Well thanks to renewed interest in the Superman stories via Superman Returns, Warner has finally decided to let fans see for themselves what Donner's visionary ideas were all about by showing us his cut of Superman II.
A bit of back-story for those of you interested. Originally hired to film both Superman and Superman II back-to-back, Donner was soon fired by the Salkinds over a stupid dispute they were having with actual Superman II director Richard Lester over some films he shot for them. Instead of actually working out an agreement between all parties, the Salkinds decided to fire Donner and bring in Lester to film the story. The end result is a film that's good in its own right but seemingly was missing a big part that made the original so great. Laughs seemed force, the romance seemed out of place, and the climatic battles seemed kind of dull in retrospect.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 18th, 2007
The day and age were Hollywood remakes coming off as a somewhat passable effort are completely gone. Hollywood continues to feed us drivel that is devoid of anything remotely entertaining or anything that made the original entertaining in its own right. In 2006 Warner Brothers decided to remake the 1973 classic film Wicker Man. Instead of trying to adhere to the original, Warner threw everything that made Robin Hardy's original such a classic and have since replaced it with moments that were meant to scare us but instead come off as almost laughable.
In this remake actor Nicholas Cage stars as detective Edward Maius. We quickly learn that Edward's former fiancée Willow (Kate Beahan) left him a few years back without any reason why. Edward soon receives a letter from Willow stating that their daughter Rowan has gone missing. Traveling to the island of Summerisle, Edward soon learns that the island that Willow has moved to (oddly comprised entirely of woman) may have something to do with their missing child. Edward searches high and low trying to figure out who these women are, what they do and who exactly is the so-called Wicker Man.
![Lady in the Water (Combo HD DVD and Standard HD DVD) [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/lady-in-the-water-combo-hd-dvd-and-large.jpg)
![Beerfest (Unrated) [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/beerfest-unrated-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/superman-ii-the-richard-donner-cu-large.jpg)
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