Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 8th, 2008
In the late 1960’s
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2008
The big thing that gave Captivity the anticipation leading up to its release was a less than studio endorsed billboard showing its star Elisha Cuthbert (24) being tortured before getting killed. The main thing about the film was that Cuthbert had sunk so far downhill after renouncing her dad Jack Bauer. But holy crap, Roland Joffe directed this film! For those who don’t know, Joffe is a two time Oscar nominated director for The Killing Fields and The Mission. But since then, his success arc seemed to fall off the table completely since the mid ‘80s, with contributions like Super Mario Brothers and The Scarlet Letter, even directing an episode of an MTV sitcom. So I guess it’s only natural that he come into the torture horror genre much too late in the game with Captivity.
Written by Larry Cohen (Cellular) and Joseph Tura, Cuthbert plays Jennifer Tree, a successful model who finds herself captured by an unknown assailant, with no foreseeable hope for freedom. While in captivity (get it?), she meets Gary (Daniel Gillies, Spider-Man 2), and together they both try and find a way out of their hell. I wish I could give you more without diving into a spoiler or two, but that’s as far as I can get.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 4th, 2008
Mel Gibson has had a bit of a rollercoaster life these last couple of years. He has apparently given up on the mainstream films that have made him such a hot property over the years. His DUI arrest and subsequent anti-Semitic rant have caused many to look less favorably upon the man himself. It doesn’t help that his last two films have been less accessible and in obscure ancient languages. These films have not come without their own controversies. Still, no matter how you view Gibson or his work today, it can’t be denied that he has created one of the more compelling films of our day in Braveheart.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 24th, 2007
Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) is the lone human survivor in an LA devastated by a worldwide plague that killed most of the global population and turned the rest into vampires. For three years he has survived on his own, mourning his lost family and systematically staking every vampire he can find, working his way block by block through the city. Then, one day, he sees what appears to be another survivor...
Richard Matheson wrote a screenplay adapting his novel I Am Legend, but by the time the film was actually made, his script had been sufficiently changed that he replaced his name in the credits with a pseudonym. There is no denying that the film has its share of flaws. The dubbing of the Italian cast members is hit-and-miss, the action scenes are indifferently staged, and one feels a bit too acutely the monotony of Price’s lonely existence. On the other hand, there is a completely convincing vision of a deserted city achieved on a small budget, and a couple of genuinely creepy moments (most notably when Price’s wife returns from her grave). Furthermore, this remains the adaptation closest to the original novel, and the only version to retain the idea of the hero actually being a villain from the perspective of those he is exterminating. That alone gives this somewhat clunky effort a bit of an edge of its slicker successors (The Omega Man and I Am Legend).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 20th, 2007
The
This is a Bruckheimer film from beginning to end. You get all of the standard conventions in National Treasure. Plenty of action, intriguing characters, and a fast and furious ride.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 17th, 2007
I like Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting). A lot. Generally, his presence alone is enough to make me watch a particular movie — an unfortunate fact, given his spotty record. The man can be hilarious, and he has starred in some highly entertaining films over his long career. But he's also done bad movies, flops and failures. License to Wed is one of those.
10 minutes in, I wanted to turn it off. At 18 minutes, I was actively mocking everything and anything onscreen. By the half-way point, I was cursing my obligation as reviewer to sit through the entire film. This movie is an all-around bust. Stop reading now, and check out some other Upcomingdiscs reviews for better films to watch. You can pretty much close your eyes and click to find something that'll top License to Wed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 12th, 2007
There is a certain audience that really gets into what I call "mythic combat". Zena and Hercules on TV, and movies like Reign of Fire, Conan and Dragonslayer all fit into this category for me. While I typically don't enjoy this type of faire, I am a sucker for the more popular versions, such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and 300. After seeing a very promising trailer in the theater, I had high hopes for Pathfinder. Unfortunately, the final film did not live up to the potential of its marketing.
Pathfinder tells a story set in North America, 300 years before Columbus "discovered" the new world. When a band of ruthless Vikings attacks a small native village, a Viking boy shows his true colors, and refuses to kill a defenseless family. Disgraced, the boy is left to die. The natives, however, take him in and raise them as one of their own. When the boy is grown, the Vikings return, and the boy must fight his original kinsmen to defend the only family he has ever known.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 9th, 2007
I must be one of the few people who despite hearing positive things, did not see Transformers in the theatre this past summer. The main reason being I’m just not interested in transformers, but then again so were most of the people I know who loved the movie. Regardless, here I find myself holding a copy of this summer blockbuster on HD DVD, I’m sure it’s going to blow me away, but only time will tell.
I couldn’t tell you how the film compares to the original cartoon, but from what I have gathered the premise is quite similar. I’ll give you the simplistic version; Cybertron is a very distant planet which is home to the transformers, but like all living beings war has erupted. The planet is eventually destroyed at the hands of Megatron who wanted to use the power of the All Spark for evil and domination. Meanwhile his main opposition Optimus Prime wants to use the All Spark for good. At the end of the day the All Spark end up on Earth, where Megatron followed it, but crash landed and became frozen in the Arctic Circle. Here explorer Captain Archibald Witwicky stumbles upon his body in 1897 and accidentally has the coordinates of the All Spark embedded into his glasses. Over a hundred years later Archibald’s great grandson Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf, Disturbia) is in possession of these glasses, not knowing the power it holds, trying to sell them on eBay. After his 1976 Camaro comes alive before his eyes, he learns that there are a group of transformers called the Decepticons that are out to get the glasses from him. Sam allies with the good group of transformers called Autobots and eventually fights to save the world.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 5th, 2007
Avast ye mates, Jack’s back, and did ye ever doubt the return of Cap’n Jack Sparrow? Johnny Depp once again transforms himself like no other actor in
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 24th, 2007
In the vein of Underworld, here is another tale of warring supernatural societies. In this case, both sides are werewolves (the “skinwalkers” of the title). The good guys seek to protect a 13-year-old boy who represents a cure for lycanthropy. The bad guys, who like turning into monsters, want to kill him to protect themselves. The weapons of choice in this battle? Fangs, you guess. Nuh-uh. Guns.
Yep, also in the vein of Underworld, gunplay is much more popular than monster mashes, but this effort makes its inspiration look like a masterpiece. The big showpiece gun battle (anatomized at length in one of the features) is a spectacular example of unintentional camp, whose highlight is the Sergio Leone-style drawdown between chief nasty Jason Behr and the boy’s grandmother. You read that right. In a stunning bit of blazing originality, the boy is also asthmatic. Sigh. Add in painfully expository dialogue and an almost total absence of transformed werewolves (who, when they do show up, are in no way worth the wait), and what you have here is a waste of time, which, fortunately, only robs you of just under 90 minutes, and not the 110 threatened on the case.
![Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition) [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/transformers-two-disc-special-edit-large.jpg)
