Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 18th, 2007
As any respectable history professor will tell you, if you want to learn about our past you should watch Hollywood historical fiction. That explains why MGM’s College Essentials: History 101 features Platoon – Special Edition, Windtalkers and Dances With Wolves. All three are clearly excellent examples of thoroughly accurate representations of historical conflicts, right?
Alright, so maybe educational impact isn’t the intention here. This is just MGM’s way of unloading some sub-par discs on unsuspecting buyers. What’s wrong with getting three movies for the price of one, you ask? Nothing. Unless one disc is out-dated and the other two should be incinerated by a giant laser.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 13th, 2007
The film that arguably more than any other put director Alfonso Cuarón and actor Gael García Bernal on the map, Y Tu Mamá También is a smart, funny, extremely erotic tale of two young friends travelling across Mexico in the company of an older, sexually experienced woman. It’s a great film. But this isn’t the DVD you should watch to appreciate it. In this day and age of a veritable deluge of discs boasting unrated versions of their theatrical release, what, pray tell, is the point of an R rated DVD butchering of a unrated theatrical release? Fully six minutes are missing. The 100 that remain are, of course, excellent, but what is here is not the director’s vision. There is terrible irony in box boasting a blurb that exults in how “unafraid of sexuality” the movie is, when the DVD is clearly terrified.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 12th, 2007
At long last, we've received the two greatest films of the 80's on DVD. Finally. Ok, maybe not the greatest films - they're ok at best - but this is the first time they've been released on DVD. Wait, that's not true either. Desperately Seeking Susan, Madonna's sixth best movie, hit the streets on DVD in 2000. And Something Wild, one of the answers to "what was Johnathan Demme doing before Silence of the Lambs?" has been available since 2001.
So what's special about this Totally Awesome 80s Double Feature? Shelf space. You can fit two films in one spot, thanks to MGM's efficient packaging.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 6th, 2007
Planning a high-profile charity football game that they must nonetheless be sure of winning, the powers that be of Yale attempt to invite the University of Texas, but instead accidentally invite Texas State University, a small college whose town population is a mere 700. Newly arrived coach Jack Haley and his formidable wife Patsy Kelly face the challenge of somehow whipping the football team into something that won’t be utterly destroyed on the day of the big game. The key to possible victory is bumpkin-but-natural-prodigy Stuart Erwin, but he’s a package deal, and comes along with little sister Judy Garland, here making her debut.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 6th, 2007
I like Paul Walker; I tend to enjoy his movies. However my experience with Paul Walker starts with JoyRide and ends with Running Scared. (we'll ignore the Fast and the Furious) So I was kinda excited at the chance to review Bobby Z, a straight to video release that also starred the clever Laurence Fishburne. Two fun actors in what looked like to be a fun action movie. The basic premise was that Tim Kearney (Paul Walker's character) is plucked from a prison by Tad Gruzsa (Laurence Fishburne's character) and his assistant because he looks exactly like the infamous Bobby Z, a drug runner who is supposedly dead. So, Kearney takes on the persona of Bobby Z and is used in a trade for a federal agent that was captured. Of course the deal goes horribly wrong and Kearney finds himself in the Mexican desert. Here he has to stay in the Bobby Z persona as he finds out that Bobby Z had a kid among many other plot points. This drives forward to a conclusion with some predictable twists where Kearney does everything he can to stay alive.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 4th, 2007
Sometimes when you sit down to review a dvd, you are treated to a fantasy. However, sometimes that fantasy isn't all it seems and leaves you with a blank expression and curious feelings of being unfulfilled (kinda like that marriage I had). Anyhow, I took the dubious task of reviewing Lesbian Sex & Sexuality, a television show that is on the here! network who also bring you such fine shows such as Dante's Cove. (okay; so I gave Season 2 a 2 out of 5, who's counting?) The show is very simple and has a very provocative premise. That premise is to take a mostly uncensored (I'll explain later) look at the secret and rarely explained world of lesbian sex. All kinds of subjects would be explored from fantasies to erotic dancers to the ever popular porn films. No stone and no position would be left untouched. No girl either. Men, well...anyhow the show is broken down into six half-hour episodes across two discs.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 28th, 2007
Lets face it, at one point or another we’ve all watched The Simpsons, and I’m sure at points we’ve all loved it. But I don’t think it’s a matter of debate that as the years went on the show seemed to have lost its touch, its uniqueness. With shows like Family Guy and American Dad pushing the envelope it’s hard to enjoy The Simpsons as much as we get older. But nonetheless there are millions of you who still love this show. For me its hard to pinpoint when The Simpsons took it’s turn for the worse, does Season 10 get classic status, or is it on the downside of the slope?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 27th, 2007
Holy crap, Soul Food was a show?!?!? Wait, let me rephrase that to even more unbelievable standards. Holy crap, Soul Food the show lasted for a lot of seasons? I’ve never really seen too much of Soul Food in either small box or large screen viewing, but amazingly I’ve been transformed into the resident critic of all things “African”, as Seth Rogen said in Superbad. I don’t have a problem with it, I’m just waiting for my improved athletic skills and membership card, that’s all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 26th, 2007
The third volume of classic Charlie Chan mysteries is a great package of treats, and of course gives us, once again, Warner Oland, the definitive Charlie Chan.
The Black Camel (1931) only one of the films in this set actually to take place in Honolulu, Chan’s home turf. A beautiful movie star is murdered, and among the suspects is none other than Bela Lugosi as a clairvoyant with murky motives. He and Oland have many scenes together, which is no small part of the pleasures of this entry.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 24th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
Most cartoons of the Saturday morning variety are written for kids and little else in mind, but every once in a while a show offers a little something extra. Pinky and the Brain is one such anomaly, providing plenty of great antics for kids, but even more for the grown-ups among us. It's full of parodies and Hollywood in-jokes that a 10-year-old could simply never appreciate. Strangely, as a 24-year-old, I felt very much within the target audience.
The memorable Pinky and Brain mice started as supporting characters on the WB's Animaniacs back in 1993, but quickly spun off onto their own show.
