Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 3rd, 2006
The plot of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, although simple, provides a very enjoyable experience throughout its entirety. Johnny Depp does a tremendous job brining his character to life, as does the rest of the cast.
Set in a dark Victorian era city, Corpse Bride is the tale of an arranged marriage between Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) the son of fishmongers, and Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson) the daughter of aristocrats. Victor is very hesitant of the marriage, of course until he meets the cha...ming and beautiful Victoria. The two seem to genuinely like each other and now the idea of an arranged marriage doesn’t seem so bad. During the rehearsal a nervous and clumsy Victor messes up and in the process sets Victoria’s mothers gown on fire. At this point Victor is banished into the woods in order to practice his wedding vows. Practicing the vows aloud Victor gains confidence and places the ring on a branch resembling a hand. This is where the miscommunication and fun begins, as it turns out it was a hand, that of the corpse bride (Helena Bonham Carter). Throughout the movie there is singing, trips to the world of the un-dead, and of course the classic villain out to make problems even worse.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 1st, 2006
When I first heard of the film Accepted I immediately thought of Camp Nowhere. Both films have a similar plot – that of kids convincing their parents of a fake place that they're all going to. Accepted is a modern version of the aforementioned film, but lacks the overall humor that Camp Nowhere gave us.
When Bartleby Gaines is turned down by every single college he applied to he decides to make up a sister school to Harmon College simply named South Harmon Institute of Technolog... (read S.H.I.T.). The college campus is located down the road from Harmon in an abandoned psychiatry ward. Everything seems to be running smoothly for Bartleby and his buddies. The parents have all handed them the first 10K semester tuition and the parties seemingly never end. Naturally something has to go wrong, right? Well it turns out that when Bartleby's best friend Sherman designed the college website, he made the mistake of letting everyone who hit the 'accepted' button on the site actually become, um, accepted to the school. What on earth will Bartleby and his buddies do with the sudden influx of students? Why have an endless of amount of parties of course!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 30th, 2006
John Tucker Must Die has all of the elements of an average teen movie: a high school setting, an unrealistically attractive cast, cliques, and the list goes on. That’s my way of saying I can’t think of any other obvious teen movie stuff, so fill in whatever comes to your mind and I’m sure it’ll fit just fine.
If it looks and sounds like a duck, then it probably is an average teen movie, right? Right. I may have skipped a step there, but the point is you shouldn’t expect anything special from John ...ucker Must Die. But if you want some eye candy and a fluffy, feel-good ending, then this might be the movie for you.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 27th, 2006
I�m never up on the film festival scene, so it�s no surprise to me that I�ve only just discovered Tom Zuber�s Little Athens, even though it was an official selection of the Toronto Film Festival back in 2005.
My three favourite things about this movie are its strong cast, solid story and the unique cinematography. Actually, make it four things, because the soundtrack is also pretty excellent.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 25th, 2006
Synopsis
Back when it first aired on Comedy Central in a previous incarnation as a television series, Strangers With Candy was an interesting enough premise. Take a menopausally challenged, recently released prisoner named Jerri Blank (Amy Sedaris, Elf) who decides to return home for the first time in over three decades to try and get a new start and throw her into high school. Now, not knowing how good or bad the show did, it must have had some sort of following, because there’s a movie out ...ow from which said television series is inspired.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2006
I’ll come right out and say it. I don’t see what the big deal is with actor Owen Wilson. Sure he was funny in Wedding Crashers, but he always seems to play that super annoying character in his films that you just want to hate, but seemingly can’t sometimes feel sorry for. Such is the case in his recent 2006 affair with Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon entitled You, Me and Dupree.
Carl (Matt Dillon) and Molly (Kate Hudson) have just gotten married in the beautiful Hawaii islands. Dupree (Owen Wilso...) is Carl’s best friend and best man at the wedding. Life for the newlyweds is running smoothly until Carl learns that Dupree has been fired from his previous job for taking the week off to attend Carl’s wedding without informing his boss. Now Dupree is homeless and living on the street with no job. Naturally, as any best friend would do, Carl invites Dupree into his home for a few days in hopes that he’ll get back on his feet. Antics after antics result in Carl and Molly realizing that their genuine hospitality toward Dupree may have been overly nice. As the film’s tagline goes ‘Two’s company, but Dupree’s a crowd.’
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 21st, 2006
For nearly eleven years now, I've heard nothing but horrendous comments about Kevin Costner's post-apocalyptic film Waterworld. Critics and audiences alike have torn this film a new one, claiming that the film was boring and full of so many holes that it literally swallows itself. While I didn't absolutely love the film, it surely surprised the hell out of me as I found it to be rather entertaining.
The basic plot of the film goes something like this. The unknown future has arrived along with the me...ting of the polar ice caps. The Earth is covered almost entirely in water. The humans that are left have totally forgotten the past and tend to believe in a modified creation belief in which their god, or creator, created the world covered entirely with water. There is also a so called 'dry-land' somewhere on the planet. Actor Kevin Costner stars as a drifter (i.e. people who ply the water in their boats trading and collecting with one another) named Mariner. He's a mutant of sorts with webbed feet and gills (a very useful attribute to have especially considering the amount of water surrounding him). The other main group of people are the Smokers who are basically pirates who inhabit abandoned oil tankers. The Smokers have been tipped off that a girl named Elona, whose mother is named Helen, has a tattoo on her back that serves as a map toward Dry-land.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 16th, 2006
Steven Seagal has never been able to do it for me, that probably explains why this is the first time I have ever seen this movie. Upon reading the back it seemed to have potential, the first thing I notice on the back was the comment “Die Hard on a battleship”. That’s a bold statement as Die Hard is one of the best action movies ever made, having all the core elements.
It’s the fiftieth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor as the movie begins, and it’s the final voyage of the USS Missouri. ...teven Seagal plays Casey Ryback an ex-navy seal turned cook who has the tedious task of retaking the ship once terrorists seize it. Tommy Lee Jones and Garry Busey play the leaders of the terrorists, who are now hell bent on stopping Segal from reeking havoc on their plans. Yes the movie plays out in similar fashion to Die Hard but lacks everything that made that movie good. I’ve never been a fan of Seagal and this movie clearly demonstrates why. The guy acts like a robot, lacking any charisma that Stallone and even Schwarzenegger bring to the action genre. This guy is supposed to be well trained in martial arts but I don’t see it, all he does is throw people around, no Jackie Chan moves here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 15th, 2006
I never saw the original film, so I won’t be able to offer any insight on how this film might compare or continue the story set down by Save The Last Dance. What I can say for certain is that this direct to video release isn’t worth the 86 minutes it takes to watch it. The film begins with the first film’s Sarah (now Miko). In a video much like one provided for a dating service, she’s telling us how she feels about various things. These are her highlights and already I don’t care. She is apparently headed to Jullia...d, which seems to be a thread from the first film. There she is torn between her classical training and her passion for hip hop. The conflict presents itself even further in the unlikely pairing with Miles (Short). What follows is a romp in the world of hip hop dance music. If you are a fan of the genre, the music is really the only redeeming value in the entire film. Plot lines are introduced, dangled, or made to disappear completely and without resolution. Maybe it’s bad editing, but I simply couldn’t follow most of the subplots. The against all odds finale is unbelievable even by fantasy standards. None of the performers give us characters to care about. Even Jacqueline Bissett can’t salvage this film. Most of her performance seems to be mired in a “What the hell am I doing this film for?” attitude.Be warned. This film will leave a void in your life. An hour and a half you’ll never get back.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 14th, 2006
Synopsis
A dysfunctional family unit (single mother and infant, her sister and loutish husband, their autistic teen) are travelling through rural New Jersey when their car gets stuck. One after another, they head off to seek help, only to knock on the door of the sinister Mrs. Leeds and her homicidally retarded crew. And if that weren’t bad enough, there’s some kind of monster flapping through the woods.
![Tim Burton's Corpse Bride [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/tim-burtons-corpse-bride-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![Waterworld [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/waterworld-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![Under Siege [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/under-siege-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
