Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 3rd, 2006
The plot of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, although simple, provides a very enjoyable experience throughout its entirety. Johnny Depp does a tremendous job brining his character to life, as does the rest of the cast.
Set in a dark Victorian era city, Corpse Bride is the tale of an arranged marriage between Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) the son of fishmongers, and Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson) the daughter of aristocrats. Victor is very hesitant of the marriage, of course until he meets the cha...ming and beautiful Victoria. The two seem to genuinely like each other and now the idea of an arranged marriage doesn’t seem so bad. During the rehearsal a nervous and clumsy Victor messes up and in the process sets Victoria’s mothers gown on fire. At this point Victor is banished into the woods in order to practice his wedding vows. Practicing the vows aloud Victor gains confidence and places the ring on a branch resembling a hand. This is where the miscommunication and fun begins, as it turns out it was a hand, that of the corpse bride (Helena Bonham Carter). Throughout the movie there is singing, trips to the world of the un-dead, and of course the classic villain out to make problems even worse.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 26th, 2006
Natalie Portman stars in V for Vendetta, cast in a role unlike what I typically expect from her, a dialogue driven action movie with a serious tone to it. This movie even got me thinking a little bit about mankind’s intolerance of other man and how far society has to go to protect itself. I enjoy movies of this nature, you know the kind taking place in a not to distance future and not so distant problems, but a drastically different way of life. Something these movies always have in common is the civil rights ...hat are stripped from society for “beneficiary” reasons and leadership is in the form of a dictatorship. Basically, mankind takes a step back and a docile society is brought forward. Curfew and the inability to freely express oneself via certain forms of art and music plague a futuristic England. The real question here being, would you rather live in a world with few forms of expression and the inability to be a non-conformist but with crime almost non-existent? Comparable to the movie Equilibrium before it, the people in this future must sacrifice these certain rights in order to live in a “safe” environment.
The movie also has obvious Nazi undertones; the most obvious would be the rise and rule of Chancellor Adam Sutler, which shares similar traits and action of Adolph Hitler. The way the speeches are conducted, and the way the personal army of the Chancellor have rule of the streets all seem to remind me of the Nazi regime. I believe this element of the film makes it much more real to the viewer, seeing as fear tactics have and still are being used by government officials today.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 22nd, 2006
Few science fiction films of the 1950’s left as much of an impact as Forbidden Planet. Gene Roddenberry often cited the film as the birth of Star Trek. It is in this film that he took away the interactions of an interstellar craft’s bridge crew. Even the United Planets organization in Forbidden Planet heralds Trek’s United Federation of Planets. Robby the Robot would become a science fiction icon and lead to a great number of copycats, most notably the Lost In Space robot. Robby even made a cameo on that show. MGM ...ulled out all the stops on what must have appeared to be a risky proposition. Certainly science fiction films were popular, particularly as drive-in fare, but most were created on shoestring budgets. Forbidden Planet was an honest to goodness blockbuster budget film long before the steady stream of big budget genre films were popular. MGM launched one of its largest promotional campaigns. For one of the first times in Hollywood history, there were product tie-ins and cross promotion on other MGM properties. Many of the images from Forbidden Planet were already familiar to the movie-going public before the film’s actual release. If anything else, this film would provide a model that huge budget films of today still follow when they hit the market. More than just science fiction cinema changed with this milestone release.
The cast of Forbidden Planet was another trend setter. Walter Pidgeon was already quite an established name outside of science fiction circles. Until this time, most of these films featured no name actors or contract players obligated to participate in whatever was tossed their way. Some prestige was bestowed upon the genre with that kind of a cast decision. Anne Francis, of course, steals the show whenever she is present on screen. Unlike the roles for women often provided on these kinds of things, Francis was given a chance to show true acting skills instead of simply being eye candy for the male audience. That’s not to say she wasn’t quite attractive, but the part required a great deal of emoting that this young actress was able to pull off nearly perfectly. Leslie Nielsen, now more renowned for his deadpan comedy, plays the ship’s commander. It’s not hard to see where Kirk got his flair for the feminine charms while watching Commander Adams working on Altaira. Future Six Million Dollar Man’s Oscar Goldman, Richard Anderson is also a pleasant casting gem.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 21st, 2006
Humphrey Bogart, screen legend. Before I got my hands on this collection, I�d never seen a Bogart picture in its entirety. And yet, I knew his name as well as anyone, and was aware of his status as one of classic Hollywood�s biggest stars.
Humphrey Bogart � The Signature Collection, Volume 1 presents four Bogart films: Casablanca � 2-disc Special Edition, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre � 2-disc Special Edition, High Sierra and They Drive By Night. I�d always meant to wat...h these films, but I just never got around to it, partly because I can barely keep up with all of the new ones released every year, and partly because of � I admit it � a slight prejudice toward �old� movies. I have no idea why I avoid the classics, especially since each time I do sit down to experience one I�m always pleasantly surprised.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 16th, 2006
Steven Seagal has never been able to do it for me, that probably explains why this is the first time I have ever seen this movie. Upon reading the back it seemed to have potential, the first thing I notice on the back was the comment “Die Hard on a battleship”. That’s a bold statement as Die Hard is one of the best action movies ever made, having all the core elements.
It’s the fiftieth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor as the movie begins, and it’s the final voyage of the USS Missouri. ...teven Seagal plays Casey Ryback an ex-navy seal turned cook who has the tedious task of retaking the ship once terrorists seize it. Tommy Lee Jones and Garry Busey play the leaders of the terrorists, who are now hell bent on stopping Segal from reeking havoc on their plans. Yes the movie plays out in similar fashion to Die Hard but lacks everything that made that movie good. I’ve never been a fan of Seagal and this movie clearly demonstrates why. The guy acts like a robot, lacking any charisma that Stallone and even Schwarzenegger bring to the action genre. This guy is supposed to be well trained in martial arts but I don’t see it, all he does is throw people around, no Jackie Chan moves here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 15th, 2006
Written By Jeff Mardo
The final season of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman has finally hit store shelves, and it couldn't have come at a better time for the franchise. The Big Red S is everywhere these days, between a new feature film that is coming soon to DVD, a boxed-set re-release of all the Christopher Reeve-era films and an all new video game, the hero seems to be everywhere. It's only fitting that the final season of the modern series should be hitting the streets as well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 15th, 2006
Written By Jeff Mardo
The final season of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman has finally hit store shelves, and it couldn't have come at a better time for the franchise. The Big Red S is everywhere these days, between a new feature film that is coming soon to DVD, a boxed-set re-release of all the Christopher Reeve-era films and an all new video game, the hero seems to be everywhere. It's only fitting that the final season of the modern series should be hitting the streets as well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 15th, 2006
The Shawshank Redemption is a film that didn't do much at the box office. However, home video, word of mouth and countless airings on TNT have made it an enormously popular film in the time since. Director Frank Darabont returned to prison with The Green Mile, another film based on a story by acclaimed writer Steven King. One could almost look at these two films as companion pieces. Whereas the central theme of Shawshank was the importance of never giving up hope, The Green Mile was more about the changing power of love. Granted, a 1930's prison death row cell block isn't the most obvious place to set a love story. Then again, we've all seen the obvious love stories countless times before. King has always had a knack for the original, and this film is most certainly that.
The film is a thorough examination of the guards and guests at this inn without a door. The guards are mostly cynical and worn down by the long line of murderers that have come through their walls, the inmates are deserving of their fate, and the warden benevolently looks over the whole affair, with his own demons patiently waiting for him at home. The guards and the inmates have something of a kinship, as they all spend every day together. Though there is a clear distinction between the haves and the have nots, the two sides still spend the majority of their days talking and working together.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 15th, 2006
Yes I will admit that I probably was the only person who had never seen Casablanca. A movie so highly regarded by critics and fans alike, I don’t think it needs an introduction. With A List stars of its time, and seemingly endless amounts of quotable phrases it is quite a surprise I haven’t seen it yet.
Set during World War II in Casablanca (current day a city Morocco) the story’s main focus is the love affair of Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). They had met in France just before Nazi...occupation with a promise of running away together. Rick is let down upon receiving a note from Ilsa at the train station stating that she will not be joining him. Heartbroken life goes on for a now cynical and bitter Rick the owner of an upscale club in Casablanca. Until one-day fait would have it Ilsa enters the club with her husband Laszlo (Paul Henreid) a famous Czech resistance leader. Rick is furious with her and wants nothing to do with her, until later on when she tells him the story behind it all. Ilsa was under the assumption that her husband had been killed in action when she met and fell in love with Rick, when she soon found out he was alive she abandoned Rick. Whether Rick likes it on not, he believes what she has to say and wants to help her and Laszlo to get to America.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 10th, 2006
In the wake of cable television’s recent success in the horror anthology genre, TNT brings us 8 tales from the mind and pen of Stephen King. Showtime’s hugely popular Masters of Horror series set a high standard while proving that this time-honored method of storytelling could survive. Cable’s unique ability to circumvent many of the censorship problems that plague network television puts them at a distinct advantage. Here it’s easier to tell compelling stories, with limitations, for the most part, only in the imag...nation of the story teller himself. And oh, what an imagination to cultivate, that of Stephen King. In his garden some of our most frightening nightmares are tended like the fragile leaves of a new basil plant. Here our fears are planted in fertile ground indeed, as fertile as graveyard dirt. These stories are what set apart this series from the many that have come and gone before. Most of the stories carry a feel very much like the 1990’s Outer Limits episodes we saw on Showtime a decade or so ago. You can almost hear the controller’s voice delivering a sober moral as each piece fades away. There are 8 episodes, each about 45-50 minutes spread out over 3 discs.
Disc 1
“Battleground” The teleplay is by Richard Christian Matheson, son of the great Richard Matheson who brought us many Twilight Zone adventures as well as “I Am Legend”, basis for a third version starring Will Smith, coming soon. The father also wrote the teleplay for the famous “Prey” segment of Trilogy Of Terror. This story is very much an almost remake of that episode. The story is unique in several ways. The most obvious is that there is no dialogue in the entire hour. I found it slowed the story down quite a bit, particularly in the overlong setup. Here William Hurt plays an assassin who slowly breaks into the headquarters of Morris Toys, where he apparently was hired to kill Morris, the owner. He commits his dirty deed and steals a music box dancer as a souvenir. Back at his plush penthouse apartment, we see he has collected many of these trophies over the years. In Battleground, we find that payback’s a bitch. A mysterious package arrives by carrier. Inside is a chest full of plastic army men and play equipment. These guys are pretty much like the versions we all had as kids. The toy regiment comes complete with choppers and jeeps as well as a “surprise item”. Our killer’s apartment becomes the titular Battleground when the toys come to life and terrorize the man. The f/x here are simply amazing as the toys wage a war with our gunman. There are even shades of another King classic, “The Ledge” from the Cat’s Eye collection here. After that slow start, things move at a brisk pace now that the battle is on. The Zuni Doll from the original Trilogy Of Terror episode also makes a cameo in this story. It acts as a nice moment of foreshadowing. Hurt has to carry the story, at least until the real action kicks in. You’ve just got to have some patience and it will finally be paid off.
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