Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 22nd, 2008
Just another working day in Los Angeles. Lexi (Mary McCormack) heads off for the commute, while hubby Brad (Rory Cochrane) stays home. His morning ablutions are interrupted by the news that a series of dirty bombs have just gone off in the city. Stymied in his attempts to reach his wife, Brad retreats home, where he acts on the instructions to seal up the house, as the bombs have released a deadly toxin. When Lexi does return, Brad cannot let her in, as she is contaminated. How's that for a strain on a relationship?
The first act of Right at Your Door is a propulsive exercise in panic. There is a genuinely alarming realism to the depiction of LA under terrorist attack, accomplished through a judicious and restrained use of FX and convincingly freaked-out radio news reports. This section of the film will not only conjure unpleasant memories of 9/11, but will generate a deeply distrubing you-are-there sensation for viewers. Once Lexi returns, the film becomes less about the attack then about the individual responses to it, and the action shifts to the emotional domain. After the frenzy of the first half hour, the second act inevitably feels a bit slower, and one has the impression of the plot marking time until the conclusion can begin. Said conclusion is dark and twisty, and very much in keeping with the bleak zeitgeist the film is tapping into.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 20th, 2008
Turok is a property that seems to come and go. In the 1950's, it was introduced to lure kids away from the television sets because it had dinosaurs and intriguing stories. It was later updated when it got inserted in the Valiant comic world and rose to sell nearly 2 million copies with its first issue for the universe. In more recent times, Turok has become a series of video games by Acclaim. So it was only natural that an animated dvd would also hit the mix. However, would the character be more representative of its roots or perhaps take on a more futuristic feel akin to the current property portrayed in the video game?
The movie opens up with three native american teenagers are playing in a stream when Catori loses her hair clip. The two male men, Turok and Nashoba decide to go after it and come upon a nasty group of warriors who want to keep the clip and cause harm to the three kids. Turok goes on a berzerker rage, killing all of the warriors and injuring his comrade Nashoba. Afterwards, it is determined that Turok should be exiled from the tribe because he is too dangerous.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 12th, 2008
The original Bachelor's Party was produced roughly 25 years ago in the 80's. Drugs, Sex, Tom Hanks and a donkey with a taste for belly dancing and cocaine all highlighted this cult favorite film that actually did very well for it's time and genre. However, 2008 decided to release a sequel to this movie. Naturally, they could not get Tom Hanks to even do a cameo since he's busy doing important films that involve him walking around an airport or naming inanimate objects "Wilson". However, throw in some hot comics and even hotter females with some solid writing and you might just have a really fun and racucous time.
Ron (played by Josh Cooke) and has fallen in love with Melinda(played bySara Foster). They decide to get married and Ron's friends decide to throw him a bachelor party at the local strip joint. However, Ron's future brother in law, Todd (played by Warren Christie ) decides to take them to something a little more crazy and fancy. He books a vacation for Ron, his friends and himself to a scantily clad hideaway on the family's company tab. Ron tries his best to remain faithful to Melinda and still have a good time around a bevy of booze and beauties.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 9th, 2008
The Aristocats has the distinction of being the very last animated project that was greenlit by Walt Disney himself before his passing. The film reveals all of the classic elements that Walt believed a good animation project should contain. He went to the famous Sherman Brothers to provide sing-a-longable songs and utilized the best voice talents in the Disney arsenal. While the animation is not quite as good as some of the other films made during this animation golden age, it still met the high standard Walt Disney had already established. You won’t find quite so fluid movements as The Jungle Book and there certainly isn’t the stylish charm from The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh, but the spirit of Walt can certainly be felt if not always seen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Athena on February 8th, 2008
OK. Listen up. My name’s Athena and I’m a 12 year old Siberian Husky living in Florida. When I heard Gino say he needed a break and some down time, I decided to pitch in. It turns out that pulling a speaker from the shelf was not the kind of “break” he was talking about, and maybe not what he meant by “down” time either, now that I think about it. So, in between the “bad dogs” and those funny little words that come out whenever I get creative, I was able to figure out what he was really talking about. He was tired from watching all these DVD’s for you guys and then telling you all about them. It seems he wanted to take a day off is all.You humans aren’t very good at saying what you really mean sometimes. So, with no selfish desire for a treat or belly rub, and partly to make up for the messed up speaker (guess I’m the only big woofer right now :-) ) I agreed to watch Snow Buddies and write a review of this doggie film from a dog’s point of view.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 8th, 2008
Sarah Caine (Lisa Pepper) is a newspaper columnist whose career is in a rough patch – her work lacks inspiration, and she is barely syndicated anymore (only two newspapers still carry her). But perhaps her muse is soon to be revived. Her Amish sister dies, leaving her children in Sarah’s care. Cue the culture shock as Sarah travels from the Big Smoke (well... Portland, anyway) to the Amish community, and then again as the children come back with her.
The warning signs arrive with the opening credits. The film is a co-production of Believe Pictures and Redemption Films. Uh-oh. The very names of the studios indicated that actual filmmaking is going to take a back seat to proselytizing, and sure enough, that’s what follows. Performances and script are strictly at the level of community theatre. What poor Elliott Gould is doing here (as Sarah’s editor) is anybody’s guess. He does his best to make his lines sound less stale than they are. Here’s hoping he was paid well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2008
I have watched these DVD episodes of the Ira Glass series This American Life, some segments more than once, and I have to say I just don’t get it. Perhaps it is because I never heard the radio program on which they are based. It is a somewhat popular show with a cult following. I tend to avoid public radio at all costs as it is far too heavy handed in its liberal politics for my particular tastes. Still, I approached the series with an open mind that knew literally nothing going in. I’m sorry to report that I still seem to know nothing about the show. So I began to try and research the series and found there is remarkably little information out there on it at all. Even Showtime, where the series originally airs, offers precious little about the program. I can’t even get a good handle on what kind of a show it is trying to be. The commentaries suggest it is a documentary of sorts, but their banter also makes one believe that they are actually attempting to spoof the documentary. Bad news Ira, Michael Moore’s already been doing that for years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 31st, 2008
I remember when Ocean’s Eleven was first announced, and how disappointed I was. Steven Soderbergh was already well-respected by critics and serious film buffs due to his films Sex, Lies & Videotape, Out of Sight, Erin Brockovich and Traffic. He was the last person in Hollywood that needed to sell out to the masses by directing a re-make packed with eye candy. Not only that, but he chose to re-make a fantastic film that starred the Rat Pack. Essentially, Soderbergh decided to go to Vegas and relieve himself on the legacy of Frank Sinatra in the name of the almighty dollar. Imagine my surprise when I saw the film, and it was nothing short of fantastic; an amazing re-creation of the spirit of the original film, while updating the plot to be both modern and classic at the same time. Soderbergh had won me over. Even with all that success, I never expected a sequel. The sequel, cleverly titled Ocean’s Twelve, was something of a letdown. It was missing the slick feel of the original, and it seemed like everybody simply phoned it in. I still enjoyed it, but it was nowhere near as fun as the first. Now we come to Ocean’s Thirteen, which sees the crew finally return to their Vegas roots. While I still consider Eleven to be the best film in this series, Thirteen is a worthy follow up. The camera work is clever, the story is tight, and the acting is sharper than the previous iteration. Newcomer Al Pacino does his usual fantastic work here, and the whole film moves along at a quick pace that keeps the action exciting from start to finish, with no lulls. The whole point of this film is cool, and it delivers completely. VideoI love movies shot in Vegas. The lights on the strip and in the casinos always pop in a way that is more spectacular than any other location on earth. This is a golden opportunity to really show off what the standard DVD format can do. Unfortunately, this disc just looks horrible. Images are way too dark, even during the daytime in the desert. The images severely lack definition, and they are very grainy. There is also a real problem with edge enhancement that makes many of the stars’ faces appear nowhere near as sharp as they should be. AudioThe audio here is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the music is fantastic; cool, peppy and slick. On the other hand, the audio quality it self is pretty average. There is not a lot of punch from the subwoofer, the surrounds are sparse, and the whole thing is lacking the flash that I was hoping to hear from such a slick film. Special FeaturesIt’s a real shame to say it, but the special features included on this disc are slim. In addition to the inclusion of some deleted scenes, there are also two special features here. The first is called Vegas: An Opulent Illusion- Las Vegas’ Influential Design Sense. See, now all this time I thought Las Vegas was the pinnacle of trashy design, but apparently I was mistaken. Independent of taste, this featurette appears to be a Travel Channel segment that discusses the architecture of Sin City, and is actually a very interesting and first-rate documentary segment. The other featurette is called Jerry Weintraub Walk and Talk- The producer takes us on a casino tour. This is actually a tour of the indoor set where this film was shot, and it reminded me of a similar extra that Martin Scorsese did on the Gangs of New York DVD. Unfortunately, it just lasts a little over two minutes. Final ThoughtsTo put it simply, good movie, bad disc. While not up to the same standard set by Ocean’s Eleven, this is a very entertaining film that deserves much better treatment on DVD. It’s possible that the HD DVD version fixes many of the audio and video problems present here, but I can not attest to that. Given the poor quality of the presentation here, however, I can only imagine that HD would be the way to go.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 22nd, 2008
I don’t particularly care how many times filmmakers recycle old tales, so long as they produce enjoyable films. The Invasion revisits sci-fi scribe Jack Finney’s “The Body Snatchers” for the fourth time on film, following in the steps of the original 1956 film and the ’78 and ’93 remakes. Dave Kajganich wrote the screenplay, and Oliver Hirschbiegel (The Downfall) directed. Then Warner hired the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix) to rewrite some scenes and inject more action into the film, and James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) to direct the re-shoots.
So is The Invasion a case of too many cooks in the kitchen, or just the right creative balance to bring Finney’s classic horror tale to life in the new millennium?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 22nd, 2008
As expressed before, I have a certain fondness for Garfield. The larger than life orange tabby cat has been a staple of my comic strip reading diet for more than 20 years. I've watched Garfield & Friends, seen the longer animated specials, and even sat through the first of the full length movies (I couldn't stomach the nerve for the second one). So naturally, I was a little excited when I heard that Garfield would be a full CGI showing in a new dvd called Garfield Gets Real I just hoped it would be better than what I've heard about the Tale of Two Kitties
Garfield has become bored with the comic strip world. He lives in his cartoon house with owner Jon and his sidekick Odie. He goes to work (yes, Garfield does work; well in a manner of speaking) with friends like Nermal and Arlene. He shoots a daily comic strip which is seen by many newspapers in the real world. However, when Odie sticks a bone through a hole that leads to the real world, Garfield realizes that this is his ticket to alleviate boredom and soon decides to go through the hole himself. Odie follows (mostly for his bone). Once there, Garfield realizes the real world is quite different from his own (despite looking very similar) despite finding a few cats and dogs to hang out with. Trouble ensues when the newspaper starts looking for a replacement strip and then it is only a matter of time before Garfield is desperately trying to find his way home.
