Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 13th, 2004
Following in the tradition of This Is Spinal Tap, Mark Hamill’s Comic Book: The Movie is a “mockumentary” that delves into the lives of those obsessed by comics and those that try to make money off of these people i.e. heartless Hollywood types who want to cash into the comic book craze by bastardizing a classic comic book hero into a major Hollywood blockbuster. Hosted by longtime comic geek Donald Swann (Hamill), this new ‘documentary’ shows the evolution of legendary character Commander Courage. Orig...nally a 1940s-era Nazi-fighting patriot, Courage has evolved into a post-9/11 terrorist-fighting vigilante, and Swann is against this evolution every step of the way. A new movie starring the revamped character (Codename: Courage) is in the works, and Swann is lobbying to bring the once-classic hero back to his original roots. With the help of some friends, he just might pull it off.
Most of the footage was shot in just 4 days, during the San Diego Comic Convention. It must have been quite a challenge to put everything together amidst the chaos, but the spontaneous nature of the movie really works to its advantage. It almost seems as if everyone who’s anyone shows up here, from Hugh Hefner (a long-time fan of comics and once-aspiring cartoonist), to Ray Harryhausen (pioneer of stop-motion animation), to Bruce Campbell (cult movie icon), to the Godfather of Comics himself, Stan “The Man” Lee. In fact, most of the supporting characters are noteworthy voice actors from the wonderful world of animation, including Billy West (Ren & Stimpy, Futurama), Jess Harnell and Robert Paulson (Animaniacs), the legendary Gary Owens (Space Ghost), and many more! In short, Comic Book: The Movie is a treasure trove of pop culture comedy gold, and it’s a winning effort from start to finish.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 13th, 2004
Synopsis
Michael Vartan plays Tyler Briggs, a man who separates from his redneck family in order to leave the past behind him and start a new life for himself. Following the passing of his mother, his father tries to re-establish contact with him and tracks him to his new home, a secluded beach town where he spent time as a child. Accompanying his father are his law breaking brothers who continue their lawless ways after Tyler decides not to return to their ways. They assault his girlfriend and bruta...ize his town. He then has no choice but to revert to his family’s ways to defend himself and those he cares about.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 12th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 12th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 12th, 2004
Film
While walking in a junkyard, a character says, “This place has a lot of treasures.” That statement could also be used to describe one of the many powerful scenes that are treasures in this film. Not that this film is anything close to a junkyard. Nominated for a few Independent Spirit Awards in major categories, Tully is a moving film that uses several wonderfully understated performances to tell its story about a troubled family.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 11th, 2004
A miner from the Gold Rush days of ’49 comes back to life to terrorize a group of youngsters. Sound familiar? Yeah... vaguely sounds like that Scooby Doo episode with the Miner 49er. Alas... I’m not talking about Rooby Roo himself. The movie is Miner’s Massacre. And I would advise eating a whole pouch of Scooby snacks before watching this abomination.
Indeed, the movie is about an old miner that comes back to life to haunt whoever takes his “gold”. Of course, there is a gaggle of young kids re...ponsible for the theft. The corpses pile up as the miner puts his prospector’s axe to good use. It’s fairly cheesy. The long dead miner looks like a 500 year old Ewok. The young people are twenty something and fairly boring. But, as usual with these things, there are some sexual situations to pepper the pot.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 11th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 9th, 2004
Synopsis
After a museum heist goes awry, Lorenzo Lamas works off his debt to Lance Henriksen bysigning on as part of a team for an even bigger job: stealing $250 million from a 747 in mid-flight. We follow the team of expert thieves prepare for heist, and then the big event goes down.But Lamas doesn’t trust everybody he’s working with, and he is right not to.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 9th, 2004
Synopsis
An ocean floor lab is attacked by intelligent sharks. Subsequently, sleazy oceanographer con-artist Lorenzo Lamas and partner-in-crime Simmone Jade MacKinnon (she of the extremelyshaky American accent) are forcefully recruited by the man Lamas blames for the death of hisfather. They are forced to take Lamas’ private sub down to the lab. Everything goes wrong, andin the wake of another shark attack, the survivors are picked up by a US sub commanded by alunatic. The sub is the headqu...rters of the research that turned the sharks into weapons, and ourheroes must escape both the marines and the sharks.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 9th, 2004
I’ve found a new crime genre: New Orleans noir. I’ve seen a few of these in the past month. The films seem to be about the flawed people of Louisiana (the Pelican State, by the way) and center around steamy murders and love affairs. All made with a certain bayou charm. Tempted is another movie that fits this pattern. It has all the makings of a guilty pleasure.
Tempted stars, Stroker Ace himself, Burt Reynolds as a well known New Orleans business magnate who hires a young stud employee (...eter Facinelli) to sleep with his wife (Saffron Burrow) for a lot of cash. Facinelli has moral qualms, of course, but he is a struggling law student. Why the hell not. Would you do it? Would I? That’s for me to know and for you to find out. Complications arise… seductions, twists, death… you know the deal. It’s all been done before and seems vaguely familiar to Body Heat with Kathleen Turner. Tempted is B movie trash. But the good news is that the movie is not afraid to admit it. I like the honesty.
