Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2008
It's not often that a review starts with the final score, but I'm going to break that rule. Go out and buy this DVD set. Stop reading this review, leave your residence, and go directly to your nearest DVD retailer for a copy of the 3-disc version of Hot Fuzz. When I first watched Shaun of the Dead, I was absolutely blown away at how deftly creators Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright were able to mix the comedy, spoof and horror genres into one of the most entertaining and original films of the decade. While I had high hopes for the follow up project, deep down I was expecting to find a case of the sophomore slump; a good film that manages to fall short of the success of the debut. Not only was my gut feeling dead wrong, but I am of the opinion that the two have actually been able to surpass their previous success. Shaun of the Dead was not a fluke, but merely a warm-up to the amazing success of Hot Fuzz.
This time around, the pair (along with hilarious stalwart Nick Frost) cover the action film genre. Pegg plays a London cop so outstanding that he makes the rest of the department look bad, so he is shipped off to a sleepy countryside hamlet to hand out tickets to speeders and the occasional noisy pub patron. What he finds, however, is something more sinister than anything he had ever come in contact with on the streets of London.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 16th, 2008
Imagine a world where William Shakespeare is being controlled by creatures akin to witches, a place where Santa is a deadly menace, and a rather eccentric fellow travels about in a police call box with a rather deceptively spacious interior. To Dr. Who fans of all ages, this is all very familiar territory. I fell in love with Dr. Who as played by Tom Baker from 1974 – 1981. He was the fourth actor to portray the Doctor and arguably the most popular. With a pocket full of jelly babies and a trusty sonic screwdriver, The Doctor rather muddled his way about with a massive wool scarf around his neck, all the while solving the mysteries of the universe. It was through PBS stations in the late 70’s that Americans were first introduced to these adventures on a regular basis. Before long The Doctor would develop a cult following of sorts, particularly at college campuses. The Doctor was an alien from the planet Gallefrey. A time lord, he traveled through space and time in his TARDIS, disguised as a police call box by a chameleon device. He was accompanied by a line of companions that would serve as the representative of the audience. These women provided a place for The Doctor to bounce his ideas off of, and from time to time they would more often than not require a bit of rescuing. The show was noted for its low budget f/x and over the top villains. The cardboard sets often appeared as if they would collapse at any moment. All of this created more than a little bit of campy cheese. But for some reason there was a charm to the entire play that was oddly compelling. To ensure longevity, the character was able to regenerate when faced with death. The new Doctor would not only look different, but he would sport an entire new range of mannerisms. This way the series would continue through several changes in the actor playing him. It all worked, and Dr. Who became the longest running scripted science fiction show ever in the world. Of course all good things do come to an end, and so did Dr. Who, in spite of an American television film attempt to bring the character back. But what started with Peter Cushing in a couple of films finally ended for good…
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 14th, 2008
Political humor has been around since the dawn of time. Just go look at History of the World Part One. Of course, these days, comedians aren't getting fed to the lions. In fact, on some occasions they are even invited to the White House. Bill Maher has been doing leftist political comedy for quite some time. I had not watched him on standup in nearly 20 years (One Night Stands) prior to receiving this dvd but I have enjoyed his show Politically Incorrect fairly recently. I honestly hoped that it wouldn't be all political humor but we shall soon see.
This stand up special was filmed on July 21st, 2007 at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston, Massachusetts. "The Decider" as a title is a play on one of the nicknames that George Bush has accumulated over the years. Bill Maher starts a strong set of material. His topics range from the Iraq War to sexuality to the current presidential race to double standards to his favorite subject of choice: our current president George Bush. Maher has the crowd firmly behind him as he delivers a near full hour of side splitting comedy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 11th, 2008
My wife and I have gotten into a small discussion about October Road. A fellow writer has mentioned that this show is the natural progression of shows like Gilmore Girls, where you've got young twenty and thirty somethings living in an idyllic setting, somewhere in the Northeast, as they take in the residents of the town they used to spurn. I think my wife likes it in that vein. Me? Not so much.
October Road was helped along to TV by Gary Fleder, director of films like Kiss the Girls, but also has done quite a bit of television directing. The show's main focus is Nick (Bryan Greenberg, The Perfect Score), who left Knights Ridge, Massachusetts when he graduated college and went to New York and became a successful writer after his book about his hometown was published. He's faced a couple problems since then, first off is that he's blocked and unable to write a follow-up, and secondly, the first book seemed to burn a lot of bridges and goodwill between him and the town, so it seems he can't go home again.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2008
Nathan Maguire (David Leon) is having a very bad day. The boneheaded bully at school has it in for him. Jessica (Samantha Mumba), the girl he loves, doesn’t show up for their meeting where he was finally going to declare his feelings, and then he sees her in the car of one of the local studs. Plus he gets soaked in the rain. And just to cap things off, he is accidentally hanged, and his distraught mother performs a voodoo ritual to bring him back from the dead, only the manual was missing a page and he returns as an infectious zombie. Oops.
Thank you, Shaun of the Dead, for turning the zombie comedy into a veritable cottage industry. Boy Eats Girl certainly doesn’t have the brilliance of the former film or the likes of Fido. The characters are pretty generic (the Nice Girl, the Losers, the Jocks, the Slut, etc.) as well. But the film is efficiently paced (a mere 80 minutes), and the performances are engaging. We may have gone down these teen comedy paths before, but the conviction of the cast and script makes it all seem fresher than it should be. There are some very funny moments (as Nathan starts exhibiting superhuman strength and an alarming lack of pulse, for instance), and the gore, which is remarkably restrained for most of the film, explodes with would-be Dead/Alive enthusiasm at the climax.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2008
The only place that I think anyone would really know Andy Samberg is as the brains behind some of the hilarious Saturday Night Live digital shorts over the last couple of years. The most notable being a Christmas gift that you can give your beloved. A gift you can make yourself, using three easy steps. Step one, cut a whole in the box…
So he’s taken the five to ten minute short and tried to harness that humor into a ninety minute feature film, which everyone seems to be doing, right? Well in Hot Rod, the feature film debut of Samberg, he plays Rod Kimble, a stuntman without a lot of charisma or ability, relying on a moped as his means of wowing the stunt crowd. With the help of his friends Rico (Danny McBride, The Foot Fist Way), and Dave (Bill Hader, Superbad) and his stepbrother Kevin (Jorma Taccone), Rod tries to impress his stepfather Frank (Ian McShane, Deadwood), who Rod challenges to fights in order to win some respect. His mom Marie (Sissy Spacek, Coal Miner’s Daughter) tries to help him through it also, and Rod’s prospective love interest is his longtime neighbor Denise (Isla Fisher, Wedding Crashers) is a problem for him, since Denise is dating Jonathan (Will Arnett, Blades of Glory).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 7th, 2008
HBO’s
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 5th, 2008
When warner Brothers decided to start their Raw Feed line of direct-to-DVD horror films, Daniel Myrick was brought in to Produce. The choice of Myrick was a no-brainer, as he (along with his partner Eduardo Sanchez), was the creative force behind the "Blair Witch" phenomenon. While the team Directed the first film, they served as Producers on the second. Admittedly, "Blair Witch 2" was not as well received as its predecessor, but it was exactly the type of film that would be successful as a direct-to-DVD release.
Myrick Produced the first two Raw Feed releases ("Rest Stop" and "Sublime", which both received high marks on this web site), and he has moved back into the directing chair with the third film in the series, "Believers". Truth be told, this is really Myrick's traditional Directorial debut, as the faux documentary style of "Blair Witch" was not a typical feature. I had high expectations for this film, but unfortunately, it looks like Myrick is better wearing the hat of a Producer than that of a Director.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 26th, 2007
I remember when there was only one Criminal Investigation show and it was in Las Vegas. The buzz was how they could piece together scraps of evidence to form a case against the eventual perpetrator. Now we have ones in Miami, New York and I heard they were pitching one for Sister Mary's School for Girls. (those nuns are deadly with rulers) However, in the redundant search for DNA and hair follicles; there is one rather unique gem in NCIS or better known as Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The series boasts both dramatic and comedic elements and has to date posted very strong ratings. But how would season four relate to DVD and does the show continue its strong impressive form?
At the beginning of season four, Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon) has retired to south of the border and the NCIS force is left to their new leader, Tony DiNozzo (played by Michael Weatherly). Tony does his best to lead the staff which includes Tim McGee (played by Sean Murray), Ziva David (played by Cote de Pablo ) & Michelle Lee (played by Liza Lapira). The season is dubbed "The Season of Secrets" as we start finding out various things about the cast and certain things they have done or situations they find themselves in. Some are interesting, some are provided for comic relief. However, they aren't revealed to the cast until the last episode (the audience sees it in bits and pieces throughout the season) in a dramatic cliff hanger show guaranteed to get us back into season five. (which is enjoying the usual great ratings NCIS has come to expect)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 26th, 2007
Remakes of movies seem to be common these days. Originality is found almost nowhere and more often than not you get retreads of old ideas. Now it even seems that tv movies are getting remakes like The Initiation of Sarah. The original was made in 1978 and starred Shelly Winters and Morgan Fairchild. The remake produced in late 2006 would also feature Morgan Fairchild in a role. But would it be as good as the 1978 classic or would it simply be a silly excuse for teenage college mayhem with sororities and witchcraft?
Sarah and Lindsey Goodwin (played by Mika Boorem and Summer Glau) are two new freshmen at Temple Hill University. Their mother Trina (played by Morgan Fairchild) shows them the sorority that they will be rushing at, Alpha Nu Gamma. She also makes mention of the fact that they need to stay away from PED, which is a rival sorority. We find shortly after that Sarah has interesting witch like powers and is being labeled as the one. From that point forward she is pursued by both Alpha Nu and PED. For you see, both sororities are groups of witches. Alpha Nu, headed by Corinne (played by JoAnna Garcia) and PED, headed by Dr. Eugenia Hunter (played by Jennifer Tilly)want Sarah to join their side. But the questions about who is good and who is evil in this fight for campus superiority continue to mount as Sarah recognizes her true power.
