Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 25th, 2007
OK, it's difficult to talk about Season Three of NCIS without talking about what happened in Season Two of the show, so I'd suggest anyone reading this who hasn't seen it to skip ahead to the next paragraph. OK, done. Season Two of NCIS brought in a cast change that virtually nobody saw coming, let alone the cast member who indicated they wanted to leave anyway. Agent Todd (Sasha Alexander, Mission Impossible: III) had been shot and killed by a terrorist, and her comrades made concerted attempt to avenge her death at the beginning of Season Three.
(OK, spoiler over, come on back). Still, the cast felt a little bit incomplete. Enter Agent Jen Sheppard (Lauren Holly, Dumb and Dumber), to fill the void. At least the remaining members of the cast were still around so that Holly's breaking in period could be a slow and gentle one. You still have the unofficial head of the group in Leroy Gibbs (Mark Harmon, St. Elsewhere), the young stud who frequently clashes with Gibbs when it comes to style points in Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly, Dark Angel), and the resident tech geeks in McGee (Sean Murray, Hocus Pocus) and Abby (Pauley Perrette, Brother Bear). Holly's character also has a past with Gibbs as it's discovered later in the show, which adds another layer to the relationship of the characters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 25th, 2007
Synopsis
I really wasn’t entirely sure how to digest watching a film about a natural disaster where a quarter million people have died or are presumed missing/lost. Nevertheless, Tsunami: The Aftermath is a compelling portrait of the events surrounding the 2004 event that resulted in the deaths of thousands of people.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 24th, 2007
Synopsis
Emilio is a Grade 11 student smitten with Jacklynne, the most popular girl in the school. She, of course, doesn’t even know he exists. He decides to get her attention by running for president of the Student Council, but no sooner does he declare himself as candidate then he discovers that his opponent is Jacklynne herself. Oops. He is now forced to run, but plans, with the help of his friends, to sabotage the results of the election to make sure he loses, but the is fraught with risks, most ...otably running afoul of the tyrannical principal and her hall monitor toady.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 23rd, 2007
Kyle XY is a quirky series that began about a year ago on the ABC Family Channel. Owned by Walt Disney, you can imagine the kinds of programs one can find there. It’s pretty much a safe haven for kids and their parents to be able to watch things together. That’s why I was a little bit surprised when I watched Kyle XY for the first time on these DVD’s. Certainly the show is pretty much family friendly, but not to the squeaky clean Disney image I’ve come to expect. There are a couple teenage make-out scenes in the pi...ot that seemed awkwardly out of place, at least to my expectations. Certainly these scenes were quite tame, particularly in the post NYPD Blue television universe, but I was still a bit surprised. The overall science fiction theme is also a bit edgy. There is a Smallville/X-Files flavor here. The violence level is toned down from those other shows considerably. That’s not to say there isn’t a bit of danger element pervading the entire series. With the exception of Matt Dallas, who plays the titular Kyle, the cast is considerably weak in its acting chops. Dallas is, however, a bit of a standout here. The young actor seems to have a considerable insight into the nature of his character. He does an absolutely stupendous job of demonstrating the naiveté and innocence of Kyle. Perhaps this performance stands out because of the really bad acting by the rest of Kyle’s adopted family. Bruce Thomas, playing Dad, is horrid. Maybe that’s to be expected when your movie resume includes the two Legally Blonde films. Another rare performance is to be found in Nicholas Lea as the enigmatic Foss. Lea, of course, is best known as the sometimes ally, sometimes bad guy Krycek from the aforementioned X-Files.
The premise for Kyle XY starts very much like the John Doe series and continues to parallel that failed series. Kyle shows up naked in the woods with no memory of who he is. Taken in by a social caseworker and her family, Kyle begins to exhibit strange abilities. He doesn’t require sleep, although in an attempt to be more normal he does give it a try using a bathtub for a bed. He has extremely acute hearing and unusual physical strength. While his memory might be fuzzy, his mental capabilities are off the charts. Oh, and he’s missing a belly button. Most of the shows find Kyle trying to find out who or what he is. A mysterious stranger, Foss, is watching him closely and eventually reveals himself as a possible friend. The show tries to get a lot of mileage out of the Trager family’s learning to deal with Kyle and his emerging oddities. The season ends with Kyle leaving the Tragers to meet his possible creator.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 21st, 2007
Thora Birch (remember when she was the lead and Scarlett Johansson was her support?) Is a young woman with a loving husband. She is struggling to deal with anxiety as she undergoes fertility treatments, and is having vivid nightmares in which she is living in a run-down apartment, working in a grotesque mortuary, is beset by strange visions, and is being stalked by a murderer. Or is it the other way around, as this young woman keeps dreaming she is the young married. And that murderer stalks both worlds. What’s going...on?
Writer/director Ray Gower cites David Lynch among his film’s major influences, but he leaves out the most painfully obvious one: Jacob’s Ladder, which this film mimics both in narrative structure (jumping back and forth between possible realities) and in groaner ending that makes a hash out of what has come before. Sorry, but that kind of third-hand Twilight Zone gambit simply doesn’t cut it. Along the way, there are some effectively gruesome sequences, nicely spooky imagery, and though the performances are uneven (a television newscaster is painfully amateurish, but Birch acquits herself well), the story is still interesting enough that the viewer will stick with the film long enough to be miffed by the conclusion.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 21st, 2007
Synopsis
The 4400 Season Two left us on quite the cliffhanger. The returnees had been taken off the promicen inhibitor, thus enabling their abilities to return to normal strength. Ryland (played by Peter Coyote) was exposed as the one behind the cover up and went straight to trial. Isabelle (played by Megalyn Echikunwoke); infant daughter of Richard & Lily Tyler(played by Mahershalalhashbaz Ali and Laura Allen respectively), had grown up quite quickly as she was found in Shawn Farrell's (played by Patrick Flueger) office. Meanwhile, the two main protagonists' Tom Baldwin (played by Joel Gretsch) & Diana Skouris (played by Jacqueline McKenzie)are dealing with events of their own in addition to their casework at NTAC (National Threat Assessment Command).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 18th, 2007
Synopsis
My life has been a strange journey. Recently I found myself divorced after a three year marriage. Needless to say I'm probably need a bit of soul searching. Perhaps I need to cleanse my spirit before setting back out into the world from which I came. Now I've never been a religiously deep person but I do take myself on as a spiritual one. So to see a surprise title in my queue with the words The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success would bring at least a little ...bit of curiosity to my senses. In 1994, Deepak Chopra wrote a book with the above title and it granted him critical acclaim from people worldwide. Thirteen years later, this is brought to us in dvd form to enjoy. While some of the theories can be debated, a lot of its fundamental ideas make sense.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 14th, 2007
Synopsis
Meeska Mooska Mickey Mouse! (tell me you just didn't say that) So what happens to a 31 year old adult who sits through a show alone that is geared towards children who might not even be in grade school yet? Besides binge drinking & wondering why he doesn't have a date this weekend? Apparently some good wholesome family entertainment. I was actually a little surprised how decent this was after twenty minutes into the program.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 8th, 2007
OK. Everyone knows about The Blair Witch Project by now. We’re all impressed that this little independent film managed to bust out and generate enormous success. Every film student in the world is encouraged that a crude looking film can make history. So, can we all stop trying to imitate it now? The Hunt is nothing more than an obvious copy. In this case it’s a trio of deer hunters who are attempting to make a “how to” video on hunting deer with a bow. The film integrates their grainy footage with that of one of t...e members of the rescue operation. He, of course, is also documenting his search for the now missing hunters. Throw in an out of nowhere climax and you have the entire film in a nutshell. The film keeps everything that was annoying about The Blair Witch Project, but retains none of what made it original. It doesn’t take long to get really tired of the shaky grainy camera work that basically gives us nothing remotely suspenseful or entertaining. Before long, Atticus (Rusler), the group’s cameraman, plays the part of a poor man’s Mulder with no Scully for balance. I can’t imagine what is really motivating these two men to continue their romp in the woods with a 10 year old boy in tow. Whatever happens to them we tend to feel they deserve. The final reveal is a complete letdown. Not even the film’s creatures are original. Hell, they’re not even rendered competently.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 7th, 2007
Synopsis
Five different horror stories play out in this film, though they are all loosely interconnected, in that main characters in one story put in cameos in another, and the same locations are revisited. A sullen teenage girl comes home to her fractious family to see her father struggle with a newfangled remote. It doesn’t change the TV channel, but does zap her through alternate universes. A young man living in a dilapidated building starts taking orders from his possessed radio. A serial killer ...all girl encounters a vampire. And so it goes.
