Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 15th, 2007
The heroes in a half shell are back, and looking better than ever. TMNT doesn't represent a revolutionary rebirth of the franchise, but it does breathe new life into once-loved characters who've been fading in our memory. Whatever your take on this film, kids, one thing's for certain: these ain't your daddy's turtles.
It has been more than 10 years since the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stunk up the big screen in their third film, which had them time-traveling back to ancient Japan
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 14th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
I came to the second season of The Closer with an interesting piece of baggage: I hadn't seen the first season. And still haven't. Seeing as I'm a bit of a completionist, this was initially driving me nuts. That said, by the time I finally gave the show a chance, I felt like I'd been in it my whole life.
The show's premise is simple. Every police department hopes for one thing when working cases, and that's a confession. To get one, you need somebody you can elicit it from a suspect, usually in an interview, and close the case before it ever goes to a courtroom.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 14th, 2007
In the advertisements we are promised a thrilling heist film. I’m happy to report that those promises were quite wrong. The heist is pretty lame and never keeps up with the many superior attempts. Honestly, we’ve had too many of these multiple twist heist films, culminating in the Ocean franchise which went two films too long. Instead, what we get here is something far better. The Lookout is a compelling character study brought off entirely by a sweet performance by the lead. Who would have believed that Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the dweeb kid from 3rd Rock From The Sun, had pretty nice acting chops?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 14th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
I am something of a news junky. For lack of anything better to do, I'll routinely flip my television over to CNN for countless hours of 24/7 up-to-the-minute coverage. Of all the talk shows on the airwaves today, there is no match for the great Larry King. Oprah only wishes she were this good. The ladies on The View should bow down to Mr. King, who is so good at what he does that even his most famous guests seem to open up to him in ways they would normally know better than to do in front of a camera. Whether you're looking for something light and funny, the hardest news story, or the insights into the most intriguing public figures in the world today, this DVD set is your one-stop shop.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 14th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
If I had to find one single word to completely encapsulate this show, and particularly its first season, it would be: Cute. No, wait ... scratch that. Make it: Nauseauting.
Silver Spoons came a little before my time, which possibly explains why I have no real affection for it. Certainly I'm guilty of having fallen for a few nauseatingly cute shows of my own (say, Full House, to name but one). If I was 5-10 years older, I could have fallen for this, too.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 14th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
I am both the perfect person to be reviewing Babylon 5 and exactly the wrong person. Being an irrationally devoted fan of the series, it's difficult for me to be objective about it. And it is therefore with this unique perspective that I sat down to watch this newest B5 release.
I expected to absolutely enjoy it. In my mind, if it was really great, than it was good ... and if it was really mediocre, it would still be good on account of the fact that it had been so long since the last B5 movie. As it turns out, it was impossible for me to be as universally pleased as I'd anticipated.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 13th, 2007
Mads Mikkelsen, whom we last saw taking a rope to James Bond’s family jewels, is here up to a far more praiseworthy activity: helping run a school for orphans in an impoverished region of India. The school is struggling to survive, and when a Danish businessman expresses an interest in providing stable funding, but only if Mikkelsen comes to Denmark for a meeting, the latter is reluctantly persuaded to leave India for the encounter. At said meeting, the tycoon (Rolf Lassgard) casually (it seems) invites Mikkelsen to his daughter’s wedding. Mikkelsen accepts, and at that wedding receives quite a shock. Lassgard, it turns out, has a very personal secret agenda at work.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 12th, 2007
There are often stories about burn patients who lose part of their face or leave their other body parts horribly disfigured. It is sad and unfortunate. But what if you had horrible chemical and fire burns and had to take refuge in warehouses and underground? You had the strength of ten men, but could create a mask that you could use to duplicate your enemies or be the man you used to be? However, that face only lasted 99 minutes. This is the story of Darkman. A trilogy of movies that developed a cult following for its subject matter and campy presentation. Part action, part sci-fi, part thriller. But a great time as long as you left your brain at the door.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 9th, 2007
Wild Hogs is a pretty simple film for the most part. You have four guys who, for their own reasons, are finding their daily lives have gotten away from them. Their mid-life crises lead them to venture together on a cross country motorbike journey filled with enough peril to make them forget their ordinary lives and live the adventure of their dreams. The film has the standard sight gags that pretty much carry the first half of the film. Macy's character has a rather amusing computer glitch in a Wi-Fi cafe. A lot of these jokes, often dealing with a gay cop who thinks the four are a pretty hot and tempting, get carried too far and get stale rather quickly. I could certainly do without the naked butt shots myself.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 9th, 2007
Logan (Malcolm Stumpf) is a lonely 13-year-old whose experience of junior high, already hellish, is made exponentially worse by his emerging homosexual identity. Smitten with Rodeo, an older rebel who is one of the only other students to spend time with him, Logan adopts the female identity of “Leah†which he uses to seduce Rodeo over the phone, hoping to make his daydream a reality. Meanwhile, he identifies strongly with the mountain lions that have begun straying onto the campus and being shot.
