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The Spy Who Loved Me (Region 2)

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

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After seeing Casino Royale it’s hard to look at a Bond film the same way, and when Roger Moore inhabited the guy who likes martinis, fast cars and dangerous situations, it may have been a little cheesy. Granted, Moore did appear in a couple of notable Bond misses, but in the tenth release of the James Bond franchise, The Spy Who Loved Me stands as one of his best, if not the best Moore film.

From a screenplay by Richard Maibaum (his 7th Bond film) and Christopher Wood (his first) and directed by Lewis Gilbert (his 2nd Bond film), this new situation finds James at first in Austria, being chased by assassins, with everyone on skis.
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (HD DVD)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 7th, 2007

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Some of you might know the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream, then others of you might known the movie simply called Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but one way or another you know about the crazy days Hunter S. Thompson had in Vegas. Hunter Thompson along with his buddy Oscar Zeta Acosta are the credited creators of Gonzo Journalism (Journalism with indistinct lines between fact and fiction), so the book and movie are partially based on their accounts, except replace Thompson with Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) and Acosta with Dr. Gonzo (Benicio del Toro).
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Matador, The (HD DVD)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 5th, 2007

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Pierce Brosnan as a hit man, something were all used to with the James Bond franchise, but this time heï¿½s not killing for the good guys. Instead he is a freelance assassin traveling the globe killing whoever heï¿½s told and for good money too. But comparing Pierceï¿½s role in this film to James Bond isnï¿½t exactly fair, although the characters share some similarities; you really have to watch this one to appreciate the uniqueness of the character.
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Casino (HD DVD)

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

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Letï¿½s face it people. Martin Scorsese, for most part, is a god amongst filmmakers. The man canï¿½t do anything wrong in the filmmaking. Film after film he continues to amaze me with his sheer ability to tell a story bundled together with fantastic acting. Even though many donï¿½t name Casino as one of his best works (rightfully so), the film is still excellent as it shows the gritty 1980s Las Vegas mob world.

One cursory glance at the plot of Casino would make the smallest Scorsese fan think that the film should be called Goodfellas 2.
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The Scorpion King (HD DVD)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2006

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Truth be told, when I first heard of the idea of a new Mummy film, I became excited. The first two in the series were surely not examples of Oscar material, but were damn entertaining films. Then news slipped out that the next film would be based on WWE Superstar The Rockï¿½s character The Scorpion King, which seemed like an odd idea on paper. Was The Scorpion King that much of an awesome character that he needed his own film? Well, success continues as The Scorpion King isnï¿½t excellent film making, but sure is pretty entertaining.
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Jet Li’s Fearless

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 28th, 2006

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Jet Li’s Fearless is reportedly the star’s final martial arts epic. Since we’re talking about the guy who did Once Upon a Time in China, Twin Warriors and Hero, that fact alone makes this is a significant film for martial arts fans.

Fearless tells the story of Huo Yuanjia, who in 1910 helped found the Jin Wu Sports Federation (Chin Woo Athletic Association), the first civil Kung Fu organization in China. Li plays Yuanjia, who is a Chinese folk hero. The film follows Yuanjia’s life from early childhood until his last days, showing his journey from a weak, little boy to a cocky, selfish bully, and finally to a respected martial arts master and Chinese patriot.
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Hulk, The (HD DVD)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 27th, 2006

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Synopsis

I must be crazy, but I kinda liked Hulk! Although, this is coming from the kid who faithfully watched the old CBS show and loved every damn minute of it. When Universal decided they were going to make a big-screen adaptation, with a computer created green machine, so be it. I fell for the trailers, and everything else. So when it came out to theaters, it seemed like the consensus result was: ï¿½Blah!ï¿½ in large part to said CG leading man/monster. But at the end of the day, it doesnï¿½t seem like he takes up much of the movie, and the action scenes arenï¿½t hurt by his presence, some of them look very good.
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The Last Kiss (2006)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 22nd, 2006

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Don’t pay any attention to the description on the back of DVD case. Described as “hilarious”, this film is anything but. While it may have a few funny moments, we’re talking about a serious drama. The Last Kiss is a cautionary tale about temptation. It presents the circumstances and life choices of 30-year-olds in an intense, honest way, which makes the film both completely engrossing as well as difficult to watch.
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The Wicker Man (2006)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 19th, 2006

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Nicolas Cage is a highway cop haunted by a gruesome accident. He receives a mysterious letter from his ex-fiancee, begging him to come to the remote colony where she lives and help find her daughter. Cage arrives there to find a grim matriarchy, uncooperative locals, and sinister hints of something nasty going to happen to the child.

I wrote about this film when it was in the theatres, and rather than repeat myself through paraphrase, I repeat myself verbatim. Note there are some spoilers below.

Little Miss Sunshine

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 17th, 2006

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Little Miss Sunshine is a gem. With a quirky script, a great cast and interesting cinematography, there’s plenty to appreciate as this ultimately uplifting film unfolds.

To make a great movie, they say you have to start with a great script. From there, your goal is just to not screw it up. Little Miss Sunshine‘s script laid just such a foundation for this film, as it’s unique, funny and surprisingly heartwarming.
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Superman II – The Richard Donner Cut

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 13th, 2006

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The 1978 Superman film set the standard for what a quality comic hero film should be. The tagline promise: “You will believe a man can fly” was kept. All future comic films would be judged by this standard. Superman II had its faults. Certainly it was not the modern classic like the first film. The plot was bogged down with a rather silly love story that broke down the barriers of the Kent/Superman identity for Lois Lane. Luthor, while played again with style by Gene Hackman, is reduced to a comedic backseat to the real villains.
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Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 5th, 2006

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Synopsis

Christmas, 1914. In the trenches, we see the Scots, French and Germans beginning to celebrate in their own way. Singing in one trench inspires more in the opposing one, and before long, an unauthorized truce has broken out, and the enemy combatants are marking Christmas together. The film concentrates on a handful of characters who play a pivotal role in the truce in this particular section of the trenches, in particular the local commanding officers.

This was one of the most start…
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The Devil Wears Prada

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 4th, 2006

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When I sat down to watch The Devil Wears Prada with my wife, who was excited to see it, I was braced for a complete chick flick. I figured it was another one of those ï¿½uglyï¿½ duckling turns beautiful to conquer her situation movies, and that prospect didnï¿½t exactly have me jazzed up.

Well, thatï¿½s not quite how it goes, and I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the film. The story centres around Andrea (Anne Hathaway), an aspiring journalist whoï¿½s getting nowhere, who takes a job as second assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the frightening editor-in-chief of a leading fashion magazine.
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Mansion of the Living Dead

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 28th, 2006

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Four young women (including Lina Romay in her Candy Coster persona) arrive at beach resort. They plan to pick up plenty of men for sex, but if none are available, as they’re in a Jess Franco film, they’ll make do with each other. They see no one else around, except for the odd manager (Robert Foster) and the even more bizarre gardener. At first they think nothing of the town’s deserted nature, but gradually they realize something is wrong, and it has to do with the nearby monastery, where undead Cathars vent their frustration with their cursed state by raping and killing our heroines.
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Macumba Sexual

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 27th, 2006

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Alice (Lina Romay under her blonde pseudonym “Candy Coster”) is haunted by erotic nightmares involving the Princess Obongo (the Amazonian Ajita Wilson). She therefore has her misgivings when she is ordered by her boss to travel to a remote island and sell some real estate to that very person. Doubts notwithstanding, off she goes (got up in an outfit I’ve never seen a real estate agent wear before) to play Jonathan Harker to Obongo’s Dracula. On the island, she falls under the Obongo’s spell, and becomes emmeshed in a web of sex, rituals and magic.
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Die Another Day (Region 2)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 25th, 2006

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Synopsis

With Casino Royale now out in theaters and being shown to a mostly positive audience, let’s all take a step back and remember that James Bond just celebrated an anniversary in 2002 with the release of Die Another Day. The film was the twentieth in the Bond legacy, and Brosnan’s fifth (and last) in the role. How does it stack up?

Directed by Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors), the film puts Bond in North Korea, attempting to procure some diamonds from a young Korean Col…
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Ronin

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 25th, 2006

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(Portions of this review have been pulled from the original one-disc version of Ronin, which can also be found in the reviews portion of the site)Synopsis

I think the only thing I remember about Ronin initially was that Robert DeNiro (Heat) was involved in some scandal involving a French “house of ill-repute” or something along those lines. But when Ronin was released, people quickly forgot about that mess, as what came from it was an action film that put a little more e…
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King Kong (2005)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 24th, 2006

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No monster movie is bigger than King Kong. AFI members recently considered King Kong to be the most influential film ever. The original King Kong has inspired more filmmakers, actors, and technicians than any film in Hollywood’s history. The score is considered the first modern film score. For the first time the music is timed to accent certain aspects of the action. Willis O’Brien practically invented movie special f/x with his revolutionary stop motion technique seen earlier on The Lost World. One of those filmma…
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Peeper

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2006

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Synopsis

Michael Caine is a down-on-his-luck PI in LA. He’s hired to find the long-lost daughter of a man who is now wealthy, though being hunted by goons. Caine heads off to house of the presumed daughter’s adoptive parents. There are two women the right age here. Which one is he looking for? Could it be Natalie Wood?

And the questions keep coming, such as who thought Wood would be perfectly cast as a femme fatale? Questions unlikely to be answered. The script is full of would-be witty ban…
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Forbidden Planet

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 22nd, 2006

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Few science fiction films of the 1950’s left as much of an impact as Forbidden Planet. Gene Roddenberry often cited the film as the birth of Star Trek. It is in this film that he took away the interactions of an interstellar craft’s bridge crew. Even the United Planets organization in Forbidden Planet heralds Trek’s United Federation of Planets. Robby the Robot would become a science fiction icon and lead to a great number of copycats, most notably the Lost In Space robot. Robby even made a cameo on that show. MGM …
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King Kong (2005) (HD DVD)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 15th, 2006

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Ever since making the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Director Peter Jackson has almost become a household name that seems to always guarantee success. Don’t get me wrong though, Jackson has not always been successful. Before making the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson had the film The Frighteners and a few smaller films where he only produced. The idea of giving this not so successful movie director hundreds of millions of dollars to remake the Lord of the Rings trilogy, made many turn their…
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Chairman, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 13th, 2006

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Synopsis

Gregory Peck is a Nobel-laureate scientist sent to China to try to recover a new enzyme that allows one to grow any crop in any climate. The operation is being conducted jointly by the Americans, the British and the Russians (!). Peck has a transmitter implanted in his head that relays his physiological conditions and his every word back to base. What he doesn’t know is that the implant is also explosive, and trigger-happy general Arthur Hill might well blow Peck’s top, as it were.

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Quiller Memorandum, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 10th, 2006

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Synopsis

George Segal is assigned by spymaster Alec Guinness to find the base of a group of neo-Nazis in Berlin. Head bad guy Max Von Sydow hopes to pry information out of Segal, specifically where the base of the good-guy spies (the precise organization is vague) is located. Segal’s only help is a schoolteacher (Senta Berger) with whom he begins an affair. George Sanders turns up in a couple of scenes for no particular reason.

The script is by Harold Pinter – yes, THAT Harold Pinter, and i…
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How Much Do You Love Me? (Combien tu m’aimes?)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 7th, 2006

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Synopsis

Bernard Campan, diffident office worker with a bad heart, enters an Pigalle brothel/bar and informs prostitute Monica Bellucci that he has just won 4 million Euros. He will pay here handsomely to live with him until the money runs out. She agrees. Campan’s doctor friend disapproves, being particularly worried about what a bombshell like Bellucci will do to Campan’s heart. Can the couple find true love? Or is the relationship only based on money? And what about loquacious gangster Gérard Depa…
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2 Fast 2 Furious (HD DVD)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 5th, 2006

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The second of the Fast and Furious trilogy finds Brian O’Connor returning only this time in the streets of Miami. Down there he has become a Dominic type character ruling the streets with his excellent racing skills earning the respect of everyone. One night his buddy Tej (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges) calls him up asking if he wants to race. Needing cash, Brian obviously agrees. After a close race including an impressive bridge jump, Brian wins. Cutting his celebration short, the police arrive after an undercover…
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