Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2007
The only thing I knew about Extras as of a couple of weeks ago was that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant were behind the show, the follow-up to their cult hit The Office, which has been adapted into a Steve Carell vehicle to showcase his talent. Seeing very little on The Office and not being familiar with Gervais' work, I downloaded the first episode of the second season of Extras from iTunes (Season Two recently resumed airing on HBO), and I found it one of the funnier things I've seen in recent memory, and not just because it didn't cost me anything.
Gervais plays Andy, a background artist who has appeared in numerous films through the years, and with the company of his friend Maggie (Ashley Jensen, Ugly Betty) and his truly unprofessional agent (played by Merchant), who seems to always stay out of touch with Andy and gives his roles to other people.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 21st, 2007
Back in late 2006 there was a minor to-do about a film depicting the last days of Jesus, except that Jesus was played by a black man. Written and directed by Jean-Claude La Marre, Color of the Cross tries to do what it can to tell the tale of this black Jesus, or be-jeezus if you will.
The film, like others covering the last two days of his life, follows Jesus as he performs the Last Supper, gets betrayed by Judas and the other stuff. While in town, many Jews are trying to celebrate Passover without being abused or persecuted by the Romans, so they celebrate in secret. In the meantime, what happens during a lot of other character thoughts is that they wonder about this so-called prophet, and because he's black AND jewish, whether that should diminish the message that he is trying to convey.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 19th, 2007
The only thing I really knew about The Librarian was that Noah Wyle, previously known for his work in ER was playing in some goofy looking film, and the making of this film was getting in the way of whatever theatrical film I was watching from August-October. Imagine my surprise when I found out that it was more than just a goofy little film, that it was the second in a presumed series, and hey, it's not all that much about a library at all!
Written by Marco Schnabel in his initial outing and directed by Number One himself, Jonathan Frakes, Wyle plays Flynn Carsen, an adventurous academic with 22 Ph. D's who works in a library that's maintained by Judson (Bob Newhart, Elf) and the accountant Charlene (Jane Curtin, Saturday Night Live). He goes to Africa to search for the secrets behind King Solomon, and encounters a myriad of intrigue that few are familiar with.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 18th, 2007
Alexandra Holden is a big-time TV reporter who is traumatized when an intruder breaks into her home and kills her fiancé. (Does this set-up remind anyone of The Howling?) She retreats to her old home-town, moves back with her parents (Sid Haig and Leslie Easterbrook!) and starts work at a local TV station. Her first assignment takes her to a house where murders took place years ago, and she promptly has visions of ghosts and the murders, and she feels she is being called on to provide justice for the ghosts. Their still-living killer has other ideas, however.
The counter-casting of Haig and Easterbrook (most recently together in The Devil’s Rejects) as overly protective parents is enjoyable perverse, but the movie itself has the rather plodding, pedestrian feel of a late-70's made-for-TV flick. The dialogue is frequently awkward and excessively expository, and the characters aren’t always consistent. There are a couple of decently assembled jolts, but there isn’t really much here to lift things out of the run-of-the-mill.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 15th, 2007
Jaleel White continues to flounder about aimlessly looking for a post-Family Matters career in Who Made the Potatoe Salad?, a mindless 90-minute excursion into the offensively cliched family comedy. Looking for laughs in all the wrong places, this effort from writer-director Damon "Coke" Daniels tries to cash in on every dirty race-driven joke it can think of without once pausing for a breath of originality. White plays, of all things, a police officer, who decides the time is right to move his relati...nship forward with the gorgeously awful Jennia Fredrique. That's where the film takes a turn from the familiar to the overdone. Of course, her family disapproves right away, led by her former Black Panther daddy, who believes all cops are pigs. Lucky for White, he picked the right profession to set Daddy Dearest up with every "been there, done that" joke in the book.
As for White's performance, I suppose he is a capable actor, but there are portions of this film where he disappears for what feels like an eternity, so the less than stellar cast can result to every outrageous gangland quip and situation to push the film along to its well-deserved R-rating they can think of. Of course, the real fault lies with Daniels' humorless script and direction. Family comedies, both dirty and clean, should connect with viewers on the grounds we can see our own lives reflected in the situations and character play that arise. All of this film seems as staged as a suspicious crime scene, where the characters react based on the needs of the script - and that, ladies and gentleman, is an ass-backwards way to write any work of fiction.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 13th, 2007
Wolf Creek is an Australian horror film that is based on true events; with no certain event in specific it combines a few elements from some missing people�s cases in Australia. The actions of some of the characters mirror that of famous serial killers, most notably that of Ivan Milat who most have speculated is whom the movie is based on. According to Quentin Tarantino Wolf Creek is ��One of the great horror film heavies of the last 25 years� so it seems to be really promising.
Liz Hunter (Cassandra Magrath) and Kristy Earl (Kestie Morassi) are friends from England who are travelling Australia for a holiday. Here they meet up with Ben Mitchell (Nathan Phillips) with whom they plan to take a trip to Wolf Creek, a desolate area of Australia where a large crater formed by a meteorite lays. The Wolf Creek of the movie is based upon the real life Wolfe Creek in Australia, which you can see during the aerial shots of the crater in the movie. After driving to Wolf Creek and exploring it the group happily returns to the car ready for their next adventure. But fait would have it, or maybe someone else would have it, their car won�t start. Waiting in the car for hours finally they see headlights off in a distance approaching them. Out comes Mick, a Crocodile Dundee looking fellow who offers to tow their vehicle to his camp and will fix it free of charge. Although a bit hesitant the group decides to accept the offer due to their lack of money. After driving for quite some time they arrive at Mick�s camp, an abandoned mining site that he calls home. Here they all sit down and exchange stories, where Mick�s behaviour becomes a bit suspicious, but somehow he manages to woe them into a false sense of security. Before we know it everyone passes out and we skip ahead to day break where Liz, Kristy, and Ben wake up.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 9th, 2007
Victor (Greg Bryk) is one piece of work: a millionaire playboy with a taste for torture and absolutely no regard for anyone but himself. Who wouldn’t want this guy dead? His wife Elizabeth (Kristy Swanson, emerging from the where-are-they-now file) and his lawyer Roman (Josh Peace) are having an affair and plan to knock him off. They poison him, but it turns out the drug only creates a death-like stasis. He is still fully conscious, even as he’s about to be dissected. Understandably, when he regains mobility, his disposition has in no way been improved.
The film is at its strongest during Victor’s pseudo-death, as it gives free reign to black humour, and the initially ho-hum lovers-kill-evil-husband plot ventures into fresher territory. The dialogue becomes quite witty at this stage as well. The first and third acts are rather more conventional DTV fare, though the gore level is surprisingly, and pleasingly, high. When all is said and done, this flick isn’t going to rock anybody’s world, but it is brisk, efficient and bloody enough that one won’t complain about the lost 85 minutes either. Call it rental fodder that actually delivers what it promises.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 9th, 2007
When you consider the huge amount of acting inherent to the WWF, you might expect acting talents to dominate this WWE horror production. OK, of course you wouldn't. Still, acting is not where this film shines. The tired formula of teens in an isolated location who get picked off one by one is certainly nothing original, so the script doesn't offer any real shining moments either. So where exactly does this film take on a luster of its own? Truth be told? It doesn't. Of course, looking at the target audience, the film doesn't really need to. What matters here is body count, right? The numbers are up there in respectable territory. And while the gore f/x are not groundbreaking, you have to give the film style points for creativity. The plot has plenty of holes. Let's just forget the overall premise of jail inmates earning time off for fixing up an old hotel. Let's totally ignore that when they arrive there's obviously no direction or equipment to do the job. The setting at least takes us away from the by now cliché babysitters and camp counselors. As for the rest of the story, it's pretty much horror 101. Everyone knows that when running for your life from a bloodthirsty maniac, there's always time to break for a joint and a quick romp in the sack.
The cinematography is almost video game in nature. There are plenty of POV shots and quirky lighting. There are too many rapid cuts, which tend to make the kill shots a bit frantic and hard to actually see. There's also a strong influence by the latest Asian Horror Invasion, as evidenced by jerky movements and again in some of the rapid cuts. Glen Jacobs is the wrestling world's Kane. The film was obviously developed for and catered to the wrestling personality. Unlike such icons as Hulk Hogan or even The Rock, Kane has a pretty limited range. Fortunately he's perfect for the part, but let's not get too many of those Shakespeare scripts to him yet. What makes Kane work is that all he really has to do is look menacing without really speaking, and Kane has it down. The film's atmosphere works on many levels, thanks to an inspired set design. Unfortunately the shooting style cheats us of any opportunity to linger a bit and enjoy the work.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 3rd, 2007
I've gotta say, I love stand-up comedy. My first albums were George Carlin records, and I'd always listen to my Dad's recorded tape of a Friar's Club roast of Don Rickles, where four letter words would get dropped as often as the drinks in the room. Then it was on to Richard Pryor, then onto the R-rated genius of Sam Kinison and to a lesser extent, Andrew Dice Clay. And now, it's Lewis Black, David Cross, Dave Attell and Robert Schimmel.
To understand the premise behind Dane Cook's Tourgasm, I guess one has to better understand Dane Cook. For those that don't, he is the stand-up flavor of the month right now, a man whose albums have sold like gangbusters, who has successfully utilized the internet to spread word of mouth about his material, and he is all over shows that the kids are watching. In March/April 2005, he rented a rock star bus and invited three comic friends of his (Jay Davis, Robert Kelly and Gary Gulman), and did a bit of a barnstorming tour of college campuses across the country, similar to what Kinison did with the so-called "Outlaws of Comedy" in the '80s, as Cook's tour was designed to get his friends some more exposure, while giving his fans a chance to check him out. Filmed over 30 days in 20 locations, the group of episodes (that presumably aired on HBO awhile back) was also a look into the personalities of each comic.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 3rd, 2007
Two things you should know about me before reading this review: I'll watch anything involving John Goodman, and I've never seen the animated classic this live-action version of The Year Without a Santa Claus is based on. So unlike when I watched the horrendous Jim Carrey-Ron Howard take on Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, in this case I hold no special place for an original.
The times are changing. Toys are becoming more complicated and violent, people are becoming more and more materialistic, and the "true" meaning of Christmas is being lost. Santa (John Goodman), now just "a toy delivery division of Santa Co.", can't keep up, and he's becoming disillusioned about the whole thing. What he needs is just one kid who really cares about Christmas for the right reasons. Otherwise, he's skipping the whole Christmas Eve present thing.
![Wolf Creek (Unrated) [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/wolf-creek-unrated-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
