Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 14th, 2007
Synopsis
Baseball films always hold a place near and dear to me. I would go see them with my dad when I was a kid and enjoy the plight of a team or an individual with a desire to win and overcome the odds. Sometimes it would be funny (Bull Durham), sometimes it would be sad (Eight Men Out), sometimes it would be uplifting (Field of Dreams). However, all of the above movies would have never been as successful without one movie in particular. That movie is The Natural . The Natura... (starring Robert Redford & Glenn Close and so many other great actors & actresses) is the story of a fairy tale; one where Roy Hobbs (Redford) grows up with a great gift. The gift to play baseball better than anybody who has ever played the game. However, fate deals him a cruel hand as he encounters a mysterious woman (played by Barbara Hershey) who guns him down with a silver bullet. This ends his career for the next sixteen years until he battles back to find a spot on the Knights, a last place professional team in search of a hero. From here, this is where the story begins of a man battling his health and his demons to capture the pennant and to have his name remembered for ever.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 13th, 2007
Synopsis
Ian Fleming’s The Man With the Golden Gun was the only posthumous release for the established actor, and the book was such a success that producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman decided to try and recruit Roger Moore for the role immediately after You Only Live Twice to capitalize on the success of Fleming’s book. However, it wasn’t meant to be, and the film’s production was delayed several years while the George Lazenby era came and went, not to mention the Sean Connery era leav...ng and returning, only to leave again. When Moore came on, Live and Let Die was the first book they adapted, and The Man With the Golden Gun finally came to fruition in 1974.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 12th, 2007
The Queen is all about Helen Mirren’s performance. All of the buzz I heard leading up to the Oscars was about Mirren’s remarkable turn as the queen bee herself, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and rightfully so.
The film presents an intimate perspective on the royal family during the week of Diana’s death. Despite her majesty’s very public persona, she is actually a very private person, bound to tradition. She’s at odds with new prime minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen, Blood Diamond), who...s her opposite in many ways – modern and image conscious in a political world that’s drastically changed since the Queen took power. The British people, in shock and mourning for their “people’s princess,” look to their leaders to recognize the traumatic event of Diana’s death. The Queen, however, fully intends to keep it a private, family matter, and spurns Blair’s suggestions to make public statements and to hold a royal funeral. Unfortunately for her majesty, her family’s inaction doesn’t play well with her people, and the royals become the subject of media scorn. Essentially, this is a story about one of the greatest public tragedies in recent history, and how it was handled by those in power, behind the scenes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 12th, 2007
After watching a bloated Tom Sizemore run around tunnels being chased by a man in a rubber suit while making bad jokes, it’s hard to believe that he used to be in good movies like Heat, Saving Private Ryan, and Black Hawk Down. And that’s probably the biggest impression I got from Bottom Feeder, just another example of the latest “anyone can make a direct-to-video horror movie” trend. My, how far Sizemore has fallen.
The plot is minimal, which is par for the course in most horror films... A burn-scarred millionaire seeks a serum that will regenerate his flesh, so naturally, he tests the serum on the scientist to make sure it works. However, the serum only works properly if it's taken with another anecdote. If not, it will turn you into a monster. And just think, I hate it when medicine makes you groggy. Don't you hate when that happens?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 10th, 2007
Notes on a Scandal is an unsettling film, uncomfortable to watch because it highlights some of the darkest aspects of the human condition. It’s a film about loneliness, secrecy and obsession, and thanks to incredible performances by its leading ladies, it succeeds as a thriller.
Barbara Covett (Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents) is an aging schoolteacher and a voracious diarist. When young, beautiful Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett, The Aviator) shows up as the high school’s new art teache..., Barbara initiates a friendship. Sheba invites Barbara to lunch with her husband and two children, and although Barbara comes off a bit odd about the friendship, all seems to be fine. That is, until Barbara discovers Sheba’s dark secret: she’s having an affair with one of her students, a 15-year-old boy. Revealing a dark side to her intentions for Sheba’s companionship, Barbara promises to keep the illegal affair under wraps, in hopes that the shared secret will bind them together forever. She asks only one price for her secrecy – Sheba must end the affair.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 4th, 2007
Perhaps in an all too unsubtle move, the MGM/Fox contingent has released The Pebble and the Penguin on the same day as the recently released Happy Feet. The film chronicles the quest of Hubie (Martin Short, Innerspace), a penguin who is trying to win the love of Marina (Annie Golden, Twelve Monkeys) as a mate. But Marina is also eyed by Drake (Tim Curry, Clue), and knows that Hubie must not have her, so he throws Hubie into the ocean. Hubie meets Rocko (Jim Belushi, Return to Me), who helps him stand up to Drake while winning the love of Marina.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 29th, 2007
Lovewrecked appears to be a standard teen movie chick flick, starring the likes of Amanda Bynes and Chris Carmack. Off the get-go the only things appealing to me about this movie are I get too see Chris Carmack on my TV for the first time since he played Luke on The OC and it takes place on a colorful island.
Jenny (Amanda Bynes) is a bookworm who just graduated high school and plans on attending medical school after the summer, during which she will be working at a resort with her best frien... Ryan. Ryan�s with her because he obviously has a thing for Jenny, and Jenny�s because she hears her favorite pop star, Jason Masters (Chris Carmack), frequents the resort. Before long Jason does show up, and Jenny competes for his attention with her rival, Alexis.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 27th, 2007
Midnight Cowboy (Awards Series) is a previous DVD version re-released with a cardboard slipcover.
"I'm walking here! I'm walking here!" Smart money says you're familiar with that quote whether you've seen this film or not. Midnight Cowboy was a hit back in 1969, and it's been referenced plenty of times in pop culture since.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 27th, 2007
Ask anyone on the street about children and odds are they will respond that children are our hope and are the obvious future of the world. We strive to improve our lives and fight for every available right so our children can live the best possible life. Imagine a world where children have become such an absent feature of daily life that everyone gathers around the TV when one dies. Visionary master Alfonso Cuaron invites us to sit back and imagine a future that is drab, dull and lacking the brightness of a world we expect for our children.
The year is 2027 and the surrounding world seems to be down for the count with no real sign of getting up. Cities and countries around the world burn from fires and explosions. Infertility has resulted in no child being born in nearly 18 years, and Britain is controlled by such a repressive police force that it seems like an Orwellian world has resurfaced. Police forces round up illegal immigrants called Fugees throwing them inside cages for immediate deportation (some later sequences seem like concentration camps). We soon meet Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a man who isn�t really the ideal type of hero that we would think of. He tends to drink, smoke and curse quite a lot almost feeling as if life doesn�t have a point. His old girlfriend Julian (Julianne Moore) approaches him, causing Theo to be immediately thrown into a world he never thought possible for himself. What we, and Theo quickly learn, is that Theo must protect the first pregnant woman in over 18 years. In the blink of an eye Theo, the seemingly disillusioned character, has now become Theo, the last hope of the human race.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 26th, 2007
Misery (Awards Series) is the 2000 DVD version re-released with a cardboard slipcover. (Cover art pictured is the 2000 edition)
Of the many films based on books by prolific writer Stephen King, Misery ranks near the top. Falling somewhere between the horror and thriller genres, this film about a twisted obsession is frightening because the premise seems very real.
