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IMAX: Blue Planet (HD DVD)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 9th, 2007

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Sometime after 1990 when Blue Planet was released, I remember really wanting to see it. Unfortunately I was young and with time my interest in the worlds around our own dwindled. Recently with the advancements in technology my interest in space has sparked up again, making for just the right time for Blue Planet to land in my hands. After nearly 20 years Iâ€™ll be able to set my eyes on this for the first time, and in hi-definition. Then of course thereâ€™s the additional documentary The Dream Is Alive of which Iâ€™ve never previously heard of. The footage on this one is over 20 years old, so my expectations arenâ€™t extremely high.
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Dynamite Warrior

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 5th, 2007

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Dan Chupong plays a young warrior, armed with rockets and martial arts skills, who roams the Thai countryside in the 19th Century, searching for the man who killed his parents. His only clues are that he trades in buffalo and is a unique tattoo on his chest. He finds the man he believes is his target, but this trader, who possesses magical powers, is also in the sights of an evil local aristocrat who is trying to get rid of the local buffalo population in order to drive up sales for his tractor franchise. Said neâ€™er-do-well sets up our hero to do his dirty work.
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The Dead Zone – The Complete Fifth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 2nd, 2007

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Having never seen or heard of this program, I had to do a bit of research into the history of this show. Iâ€™ll share my findings with you in case you are new to the series as well. Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall, The Breakfast Club) was involved in a car accident that left him comatose for six years. Upon waking up he has a special gift, when he touches people or things he can see into the future, and sometimes prevent awful things from happening.
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Surf School (Unrated)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 1st, 2007

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I can just feel already, what an epic teen comedy Surf School is going to be, much pun intended of course. But appearance isnâ€™t everything and I hope that this film can somehow surprise, as much as I doubt it.

Laguna Beach High School is tough for everyone, especially the outcasts, the non surfers. But when a group of social misfits band together, they decide to beat the schools reigning champions in a surf competition. The group goes to Costa Rica to learn, meeting some interesting people along the way. I bet you can already guess how this one ends, and trust me there are no surprises.
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Fail Safe (2007)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 31st, 2007

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In an old-groundbreaking television event likely orchestrated by classic TV aficionado George Clooney, Fail Safe was presented live on CBS in 2000. Seven years later, it hits DVD with little fanfare, but it should grab the attention of fans of any or all of the following: classic TV, live theatre, all-star casts and military dramas.

I havenâ€™t seen the original film version based on the 1962 novel, Fail Safe, by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, or read the book, so I approached this live teleplay with an open mind.
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Fay Grim

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 29th, 2007

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In 1997, Hal Hartley put out a film called Henry Fool. It was the story of an introvertish garbage man Simon who makes friends with Henry Fool, a witty but talent-less novelist. Simon ascends to be a great poet while Henry finds the bottomless pit of alcoholic brew. However, the plot turns around and Simon helps Henry to flee the country since he has a criminal past. The movie did seem to hint at a sequel but didn’t see one until 10 years later. Fay Grim tries to pick up where Henry Fool left off. It includes many of the same cast of characters.
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Live Free or Die

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2007

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Although I was never really motivated to check this movie out on my own, I had just recently heard of it and thought it could be fun. It doesnâ€™t have any A list stars in it, but rather has a nice collection of well enough known actors and actresses including Zooey Deschanel, Michael Rappaport, Aaron Stanford, and Paul Schneider. Already Iâ€™ve heard this film to be a cross between Bottle Rocket and Fargo, well I donâ€™t know if those statements have any warrant, I can only hope they do and Live Free or Die turns out to be a hit. Writers Gregg Kavet and Andy Robin did some writing on Seinfeld so I can only hope a bit of that can rub off on this one.
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Played

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2007

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With a cast that includes several well known actors, IÂ couldn’t believe that I hadn’tÂ heard of this movie prior to reviewing it. ThisÂ really didn’t worry me however, because in the past Iâ€™ve alwaysÂ enjoyed low budget Indy films. So how does Played stack up?

Played dissects the lives of players in the London underground ring of crime, from the hustlers to the crooked cops. After an elaborate heist goes all wrong small time thief Ray Burns takes the fall and is sentenced to eight years in prison. He keeps his mouth shut and does his time with only one thing on his mind, revenge.
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Weeds – Season Two

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2007

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The second season of Weeds follows much the same formula as the first, and incase you havenâ€™t seen the first season I suggest you do so beforehand. But for your benefit Iâ€™ll quickly run over what youâ€™ve missed. Nancy (Mary Louise Parker) has recently lost her husband and the only way she sees to raise her children in the affluent neighborhood theyâ€™ve become accustom too is by dealing weed. Most of her customers are parents, most notably the town councilman Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon, Saturday Night Live). While dealing with problems at home and on the streets Nancy goes through life the best way she can, which is rather comedic for the rest of us.
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Roving Mars

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 17th, 2007

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Mars has always held a certain fascination with us mostly earthbound humans. What child has never looked to the heavens at night, mind filled with more questions than they could ever hope to find answers for? If you are one of these star crossed dreamers, Roving Mars be a thrilling journey indeed. I’m sorry to say that I missed the Roving Mars IMAX experience. I’m sure it was available at one of the several IMAX facilities here in Tampa. Life, as usual, is often too busy to get to everything I want to see. As I wat…
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Matthew Barney — No Restraint

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 17th, 2007

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Synopsis

Famed for his obsessive love of petroleum jelly as a medium for sculpture, Matthew Barney uses 45 000 pounds of the stuff in the creation of Drawing Restraint 9. This film documents the making of that piece, which is both sculpture and film, done aboard a Japanese whaling vessel. Intimately involved in the production is Barney’s collaborator and partner Björk.

For those, such as myself, for whom this is a first exposure to Barney, this film is both intriguing and frustrating…
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Extras – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 15th, 2007

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Synopsis

It’s no big secret that I enjoy Extras, and found my way to it through the first episode of the second season, which included a guest appearance by Orlando Bloom (of Pirates of the Caribbean lore). And now that I’ve seen the first season, and rabidly followed the second season on HBO, while it’s a bummer to see Extras fade away after a dozen episodes, and just like The Office, it’s not going to soon forgotten.

Both shows were written and directed by Ricky Gerva…
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Color Me Kubrick

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 15th, 2007

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Synopsis

Try to wrap your mind around this one. Take the guy who was the center of attention and played the role in Being John Malkovich, and have him play a role as a guy who impersonates the film auteur Stanley Kubrick, of 2001 fame in a story that may or may not be true.

Color Me Kubrick tells the tale of Alan Conway, who decided to take on the personality of the director of Dr. Strangelove lore, as the director had become notoriously reclusive for almost two decades…
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Robin Hood Season One

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 6th, 2007

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Synopsis

Robin of Locksley returns to England from the Crusades to find the home he had left behind has taken a drastic turn for the worse under the tyrannical Sheriff of Nottingham. He is forced to take up an outlaw life, fighting for justice for the common man. Marian, fending off the advances of Guy of Gisborne, is his mole in the houses of power.

Of course, you probably knew all of this, didn’t you? What’s new to this version of the Robin Hood’s adventures is a rather contemporary aware…
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Kill House

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 3rd, 2007

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Be afraid. Be very afraid, if you are even thinking about picking up this rather lame title. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about this film. The only way that Kill House has any chance of giving you nightmares is by putting you to sleep. If only I had been so lucky. Beth Dewey was the “mastermind” behind the whole thing. She wrote, directed, and acted as the killer in this piece of crap. Dewey ought to be arrested for grand larceny if even one person paid any real money for this picture. I would tell you som…
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Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 28th, 2007

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I’ll admit it. I was taken in by The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico, for about five minutes. I’m not a follower of the country music scene, so it didn’t really bother me that I had never heard of Guy Terrifico before. The box art explained he came and went in the early 70’s, when I was just a kid myself, so none of this was the least bit suspicious to me at all. The film opens believably enough with Kris Kristofferson on stage dedicating his next song to this Guy Terrifico. When we get to that first interview…
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Glastonbury

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 25th, 2007

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Perhaps Woodstock is the best known music festival, but only one has kept strong for several decades and still going – Glastonbury. A small town in the southeast of England is the host to a sizeable music festival that spans for several days and attracts in excess of 150,000 people. Like a lot of you I’m sure, I had never heard of this music festival and after watching this once I’ll probably never get wind of it again.

The first disc of Glastonbury is a documentary on the festival it is not in chron…
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O.C., The – The Complete Fourth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 21st, 2007

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Four years ago when The O.C. came out it was a pretty big deal. I was finishing out high school back then, and like Beverly Hills 90210 did to the previous generation, The O.C. captivated the minds of the teenagers and young adults. I, like most people my age, watched the first season regularly. Back then I loved it and although some of its novelty has worn off, I can still really enjoy it. But as with most shows, as the years go on, the episodes become less entertaining – I watched much of the s…
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ER – The Complete Seventh Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 18th, 2007

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Written by Evan Braun

Television today is littered with shows that burned bright but died quickly. In a time when networks are quick to cancel, it’s becoming more and more rare to see a show live out its full potential. Having just concluded its thirteenth season, with many more years on the horizon, ER has more than shown itself to be a proven commodity. It could very well be remembered as one of the most successful and longest-running series in the history of primetime television.

It certainly can’t be said that the sh…
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Marsh, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 10th, 2007

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Synopsis

Gabrielle Anwar is a children’s author (of the Edward Gorey school, from the looks of things) who is haunted by intense nightmares. When she sees the house of her dreams on television, she heads out to the small town where it is located and rents the place. Sure enough, there are ghosts there. Fortunately, Forest Whitaker is also in the neighbourhood as a psychic investigator.

Moody, blue-black photography, sudden jump cues in the score, ominous shadows, equally ominous flashbacks:…
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Last Sin Eater, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 8th, 2007

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Having heard exactly zilch about The Last Sin Eater before receiving my review copy, I expected it to be a low-budget horror flick. Boy, was I wrong. This film is based on a bestselling novel by Francine Rivers, a popular writer of Christian-themed fiction. Produced under the 20th Century Fox FoxFaith brand, it’s intended for an Evangelical Christian audience.

The story is set in 1850’s Appalachia, where a group of early Irish settlers have made their home. When the grandmother of 10-year-old …
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Light in the Darkness, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 6th, 2007

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Synopsis

Recently released from a psychiatric institute, but hardly a model of stability, archaeologist Taylor Melnick (Geoffrey Lewis) returns home, still haunted by nasty hallucinations involving his demented mother (Karen Black). Complicating his attempts to function are the people around him, ranging from the alcoholic woman across the street to his shady uncle.

As one would expect, everyone’s life reaches a crisis point with the unfortunate Melnick as a focal point. Though some would-b…
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Half Past Dead 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 1st, 2007

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Half Past Dead 2 is, obviously, the sequel to 2002’s lukewarm action picture, Half Past Dead. The main difference in this sequel is the lack of Steven Seagal so automatically that should make this a better picture, but not necessarily a good one. The film stars two unlikely actors – a rapper and a wrestler – The Dogg Pound’s own Kurupt and WWE’s Goldberg. Not exactly promising, but I’ve been surprised before.

Twitch (Kurupt, Dark Blue), an inmate at the New Alcatraz penitentiary, has ju…
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Life of the Party

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2007

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Life of the Party is little known movie which was released in 2005 where it has since gone mostly unnoticed. I know the first time I’d heard of it was just a few days ago where I first saw it in my hands. It didn’t look half bad, a few cast members were recognizable, and as the movie actually went on I saw quite a few familiar supporting faces.

Michael Elgin (Eion Bailey, Band of Brothers) is a functioning alcoholic with a close-knit group of friends and a loving wife Phoebe (Ellen Pompeo, Old Scho…
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Griffin & Phoenix

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 29th, 2007

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Synopsis

It always feels good when you go into a film with very little expectations. Such as the case with Griffin and Phoenix, other than Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding), who is apparently in every fricken movie that involves the words “romantic” or “comedy”. While Griffin and Phoenix is a mite bit romantic and its story is hardly new, its execution makes things a bit more pleasant.

Written by John Hill, who originally wrote a 1976 TV movie of the same name, and di…
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