Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 18th, 2007
As any respectable history professor will tell you, if you want to learn about our past you should watch Hollywood historical fiction. That explains why MGM’s College Essentials: History 101 features Platoon – Special Edition, Windtalkers and Dances With Wolves. All three are clearly excellent examples of thoroughly accurate representations of historical conflicts, right?
Alright, so maybe educational impact isn’t the intention here. This is just MGM’s way of unloading some sub-par discs on unsuspecting buyers. What’s wrong with getting three movies for the price of one, you ask? Nothing. Unless one disc is out-dated and the other two should be incinerated by a giant laser.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 18th, 2007
Looking for romance? This three-movie collection from MGM likes long walks on the beach, candle-light dinners and formulaic plots. The films have been around a while, but a fresh new look makes this set an attractive option.
As is usually the case for common-theme boxed sets, Romance 101 includes one stinker, one hit and one older gem you probably forgot about years ago. The movies aren't the greatest examples of the genre, but the studio sweetens the deal, offering you three films for the price of one new-release DVD. Hit the jump for a rundown of these three discs.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 13th, 2007
The film that arguably more than any other put director Alfonso Cuarón and actor Gael García Bernal on the map, Y Tu Mamá También is a smart, funny, extremely erotic tale of two young friends travelling across Mexico in the company of an older, sexually experienced woman. It’s a great film. But this isn’t the DVD you should watch to appreciate it. In this day and age of a veritable deluge of discs boasting unrated versions of their theatrical release, what, pray tell, is the point of an R rated DVD butchering of a unrated theatrical release? Fully six minutes are missing. The 100 that remain are, of course, excellent, but what is here is not the director’s vision. There is terrible irony in box boasting a blurb that exults in how “unafraid of sexuality” the movie is, when the DVD is clearly terrified.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 13th, 2007
"Remember when I promised I'd kill you last? I lied."
Time to relieve the glory days. Arguably the finest of Schwarzenegger's over-the-top, muscle-bound 80s action flicks, Commando is finally getting the respect it deserves. This is the perfect example of a movie so bad it's good. Really bad, and really good. Commando has it all: copious one-liners, a ridiculously huge Ah-nold physique, and a body count so high you'll run out of fingers and toes in no time flat.
Yes, Commando is the quintessential 80s action extravaganza, and proof positive that the governator used to be a one-man Ah-my.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 12th, 2007
I love horror movies, but lately Hollywood hasn’t done it for me, and Wrong Turn wasn’t an exception. So I wonder how a low budget sequel is going to manage to be better than its phony prequel. But I won’t judge this one until I’ve seen, lets just hope its nothing like The Hills Have Eyes 2, or The Grudge 2, etc.
Wrong Turn 2 takes off shortly after the events of the first film. Right away I’ll let you know that other than the mutant freaks of the first film, this movie has no other links to the first installment, i.e. characters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 11th, 2007
It’s good taste time once again, as we follow the unfortunate Amber (Grace Johnston) as she falls into the clutches of your usual gang of inbred hillbillies. These psychos have kidnapped a number of women. They then force them to fight to the death, with the idea that the winner will get to carry on the clan’s bloodline. Charming.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 6th, 2007
I’ve said in the past and still believe that Josh Hutcherson will be a pretty good adult actor if he chooses to go down that path. I liked his work in Little Manhattan and recently finished watching him in Bridge to Terabithia, but then he comes back and makes films like Firehouse Dog, which seem to flush away a lot of that goodwill in my opinion. He doesn’t try at all and becomes the typical sweet kid, rather than the intellectual who acts larger than his shoes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 6th, 2007
(Supplemental material portions of this review are culled from Gino Sassani's review of said film in the Blu-ray format, so enjoy or read elsewhere.)
I've always enjoyed Hitchcock's Rear Window, and I've gotta say I was more than a little disgusted when I saw that it was going to be remade and modernized, with no less than Shia fricken' LaBeouf in the main role. Oddly enough, LaBeouf carries the role pretty well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 6th, 2007
(You’re going to have to forgive me, I’m pulling ample portions of this review from my earlier Divimax review of Dawn, with some exceptions of course.)
Anchor Bay, holding all (or most) of the keys in George Romero’s zombie film trilogy put out a copy of this film now before overloading us we on the remake, done in grainy, handheld 28 Days Later style by director Zack Snyder of 300 lore. A stopgap one disc version was released, followed by this huge-arse four disc version that we’re viewing now.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 5th, 2007
In hellish vision of a near future (?) LA, Marty Malt (Judd Nelson) is an incompetent garbage man who moonlights as an even worse comedian (his jokes aren’t funny, and he is half-crippled by stage fright). His only friend is the manipulative Gus (Bill Paxton). When Marty starts to grow a third arm out of his back, he loses his girlfriend (Lara Flynn Boyle) but attracts the attention of sleazy showbiz types Wayne Newton and Rob Lowe.
