Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 11th, 2006
Synopsis
The film focuses on the life of a family of nomads in the Gobi Desert region of Mongolia. Their camels are vital to their well-being, and when a mother rejects her newborn white calf, this is a serious problem. Two sons set off to a distant village to summon a magician is summoned, who, it is to be hoped, can perform the necessary miracle to save the calf.
This film is another testament to the virtue of simplicity and restraint in storytelling. There are no histrionics (even the ca...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 11th, 2006
The Academy Awards ceremony continues to devalue itself by giving honors to films, which are mediocre at best, or films that try desperately to force a political agenda down the American people’s throats, while gems such as 2004’s Downfall linger in relative obscurity, and certainly do not receive the recognition they deserve. Director Oliver Hirschbiegel’s study of Hitler’s final days transcends the triviality of being considered a film and instead functions as a window into the past. And for a little more th...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 10th, 2006
This is the perfect time for Lion's Gate to release Made on UMD for the PSP. Not only does the film feature such trendy personalities as Faizon Love and Puff Daddy/Puffy/Sean "Puffy" Combs/P-Diddy/Diddy, but it also stars the current comedic genius of the week... Vince Vaughn. That's not to say that I don't like Vince Vaughn, it's just that he is riding such a high wave since his hilarious work in Wedding Crashers that this is the perfect time for the studio to cash in on some of his lesser known films ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2006
Bad News Bears is not necessarily a fine film, but it is a lot better than the host of other remakes Hollywood has thrown at us as of late. Billy Bob Thorton stars in the film, and I quote, “as a drunk who makes a living killing rats to live in a trailers.” The film seems to take his character from Bad Santa and the football coach in Friday Night Lights and seems to merge the two. However, neither of his tactics in either film are used in the film. This results in the audience liking his characte...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 3rd, 2006
Note: the following synopsis contains brief spoilers. Only read this first section if you know have happens in season four.
Nominated for 25 Golden Globes and 110 Emmys, including 7 for Outstanding Drama Series, ER has long been one of the best prime-time shows on television. Premiering in September 1994 on NBC, the hour-long hospital drama vividly illustrates the intensity and fast-paced stress endemic to hospital emergency rooms across America. Brought into being by Michael Crichton - famous Hollywoo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 3rd, 2006
Synopsis
The Stiffler character from the Amercian Pie movies has, it turns out, a younger brother, who is also a loathsome creep. After sabotaging the high school band’s performance, his punishment is to attend band camp himself. He makes the best of a bad deal, planning to videotape raunchy goings on.
What can you say about a movie where ex-porn star Ginger Lynn Allen is the most convincingly human character present? Eugene Levy returns from the other movies to collect a paycheck as...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 1st, 2006
Synopsis
Having zipped through The Emperor’s New Groove awhile back (yes, I have Disney DVDs), I was somewhat familiar with the story and the cast behind it. I was aware that the original film enjoyed some theatrical success, but I didn’t understand why the film necessitated a sequel. But here I am, trying to wrap my head around the logic for this sequel.
And surprisingly enough, I got a nice kick out of this animated film. Instead of focusing largely on the Emperor Kuzco (voiced by David S...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 1st, 2006
One of the few positive side-effects of the popular era of reality TV that we live in today is that the desire for the real has also crossed over to film. This has provided an excellent opportunity for documentary filmmakers to get their product seen by a large audience that just a few short years ago would never have taken the time to watch a documentary film. In fact, documentaries have become so mainstream that Murderball is produced in association with MTV Films. While a wheelchair rugby documentary sounds...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 24th, 2005
Season Four of The West Wing was the series' final season with the show's creator, Aaron Sorkin. This left quite a bit of trepidation among the show's faithful followers. What would happen with the series left in the hands of new writers, and without Rob Lowe's portrayal of Sam Seaborn? After all, Sorkin's original plans for the show were for it to focus on Sam, and now everything seems to be falling apart.
With one notable exception, I am proud to announce that the show is still rolling along at a s...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 22nd, 2005
Synopsis
In the year 2000, the United States (and much of the rest of the world, it seems) is under the dictatorial rule of Mr. President, and the masses are kept passive with the Transcontinental road race, where the competitors must not only race from the remains of New York to the remains of LA in record time, but kill as many pedestrians as possible. Chief rivals are fan favourite Frankenstein (David Carradine) and the villainous Machine Gun Joe Viterbo (Sylvester Stallone).
You know yo...
