Highly Defined – The World of High Definition
Posted in Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on March 26th, 2007
Breaking the Blu cherry and all still remains well. I hope you’ve enjoyed my first two Blu reviews for the site. Rest assured, everything is always a work in progress, and we’re coming along rather nicely, don’t you think?
The big news for the week has to be the announcement of The Matrix trilogy arriving to HD-DVD shelves on 5/22, with a BD release sometime down the road. The common assumption for the BD delay appears to be the lack of BD-J interactivity right now, which would also explain why Ba…
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In the Heat of the Night
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 25th, 2007
Synopsis
As I get older, I notice my tastes for movies change. Sure, I still like over the top action and if there is an attractive girl on the screen it gets my attention. I’m human, however as I get older I start liking films that are older. Now, I’m not talking about keeping true to films of my generation but I find myself engrossed in films that were made before I was born. There are some true classics out there such as In the Heat of the Night. This movie starred Sidney Poitier …
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Inside the Actors Studio: Icons
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 25th, 2007
Since its premiere in 1994, Inside the Actors Studio has been a fascinating talk show for film fans and aspiring actors, writers and directors alike. Each episode a famous guest � usually an actor � is interviewed one-on-one by host James Lipton, followed by questions from the student audience.
If you�ve never seen the show, this three-disc set would make a fine introduction. Inside the Actors Studio: Icons features episodes with four towering entertainment personalities. In chronological order, star…
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Are We There Yet? (Re-Release)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 25th, 2007
Synopsis
Family pictures usually miss when viewed by a lonely dvd reviewer who has nothing better to do on a saturday morning. There are no kids to laugh at the bad jokes and slapstick mayhem, there are no wives to go awwwww and marvel at the cute kids. All that one man can hope for is a decent lead who provides thought provoking characterisms and smart laughs. Wait, I’m watching Are We There Yet?, so I have pretty much no chance of that. Are We There Yet? is the stor…
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Children of Men
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 24th, 2007
Children are the future. They’re why we strive to make the world a better place, or at least to maintain the world we’ve got. But what happens when there are no more children, when there is no future?
That’s the context for Children of Men, the latest film from director phenom Alfonso Cuarén (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). Based on the novel by P.D. James, Children of Men is set in 2027, our near future. There are no flying cars, or space-suit clothes. In fact, the world appears pretty rundown, and the reason for its shabby state is the most striking difference between our present and the film’s – humankind is infertile.
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The Hannibal Lecter Collection
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 24th, 2007
He’s one of the most compelling villains of modern fiction. Disturbing, disgusting and absolutely captivating at the same time, Hannibal Lecter can really get inside your head.
You may not have read the novels by Thomas Harris, or even seen all of the films, but I’m willing to bet you’re familiar with The Silence of the Lambs. One of the greatest thrillers in film history, the film in which Sir Anthony Hopkins became Dr. Lecter is the cornerstone of this three-movie set.
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You Only Live Twice (Region 2)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 23rd, 2007
By the time of the fifth James Bond film, producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli decided to shake things up a bit creatively. Star Sean Connery was probably getting a little antsy inhabiting the suits and drinking the martinis and feared getting pigeonholed (sorry Sean) and announced he was stepping away from the role. However, he still had one more in him, and with You Only Live Twice there was a definite change in style. It may have been based on Ian Fleming’s novel, but it was adapted for the screen by Roald Dahl, of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fame.
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Brain Blasters
Posted in Brain Blasters, News and Opinions by David Annandale on March 23rd, 2007
A tale of three films. One is original. One is its remake. One is a cash-in. And the latter is the one that became a classic.
In 1975, a big-budget SF effort by Norman Jewison hit the theatres with much publicity. This was Rollerball. In a future world with no wars, and everything is controlled by corporations, human aggression is channeled through the titular, extremely violent game. The game has been designed to be such that becoming good at it is impossible, and thus there are no heroes, and the f…
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C.R.A.Z.Y.
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 22nd, 2007
Zac is the fourth of five sons in a Montreal family, growing up in the 60s and 70s. He’s sensitive, and rather more in touch with his feminine qualities than his father (very macho, though a huge fan of Patsy Cline) would like. The film then tracks Zac’s struggle to accept the direction his sexuality takes, to accept himself, and to once again find his father’s acceptance.
Lord knows that rock music is more than the soundtrack of our teenage years; it’s the narration.
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The Last King of Scotland
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 22nd, 2007
The Last King of Scotland generated quite a bit of buzz at this year�s Oscars, most notably the performance by Forest Whitaker. Based upon the book of the same name, which was in turn based upon the Ugandan dictator between 1970 and 1979; Idi Amin. Although the movie involves a completely fictional protagonist it apparently shadows the life of Idi Amin quite well, which offers a nice mix of fiction and reality.
Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) recently graduated from medical school and decides to lead his expertise to a small countryside hospital in Uganda.
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Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Playstation 2)
Posted in Game Reviews by Michael Durr on March 22nd, 2007
Opening
A single console rarely gets five different releases in its library. The Playstation 2 has been fortunate (or not so fortunate according to Jack Thompson) to get five Grand Theft Autos. III, Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City Stories and now Vice City Stories have provided essentially the same game engine with new features and missions along the way. The Stories line was games that started on the PSP and then ported over. Liberty City Stories was a good port and a fun game to play. However,…
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Eragon
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 21st, 2007
Eragon is based upon the best selling book, which was written by then nineteen-year-old Christopher Paolini. This film was met with much hype, but initially to me seemed to be another generic Lord of the Rings type rip-off, with the addition of a dragon. Not usually my type of movie, but The Lord of the Rings trilogy did more that just amaze me maybe Eragon has a trick or two up its sleeve.
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Dare to Play the Game
Posted in Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on March 21st, 2007
Take Two for Sale?, Cooking Your Mama and An Extremely Long Name – Welcome to the column that brings you in the F & M in family but in reverse known as Dare to Play the Game.
Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. I found me a new addiction to stray me (at least temporarily) from Rainbow Six Vegas, it is also the first PC game that I’ve played in years that wasn’t solitaire. It’s called Guild Wars. I picked up the first one for a me…
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Man About Town
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 20th, 2007
Ben Affleck is a good actor. So why does he make so many bad choices? I can understand how mistakes like Pearl Harbor could happen on the front end, but how do you explain the fact that he did wonderful work in Hollywoodland and he shows up in a low-budget film like this one all in the same year? He was wonderful in Good Will Hunting and ate up every scene he was in in Boiler Room. Then he did Gigli. This guy is all over the place.
What’s frustrating is that he’s pretty good…
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Cinema of Death
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 19th, 2007
Cupt Epics here presents five films identified as “underground” (a fluid term at the best of times). Certainly, they are all deliberately transgressive, though not all are equally successful. Two are by Nico B. – the perviously released “Pig” and “Hollywood Babylon.” The former has been reviewed here before, but briefly, its catalogue of murder and S&M horrors, working out a killer’s fantasies, is rather too self-conscious about its own transgression. The latter is a 4-minute tribute to Kenneth Anger, taking in exhibits at the Museum of Death.
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Highly Defined – The World of High Definition
Posted in Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on March 19th, 2007
P>The first full week of being format neutral, and all appears to be well.
Well, that pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it? I picked up Casino Royale, Layer Cake and Black Hawk Down, and all seems to be pretty good. All of them having PCM soundtracks doesn’t hurt either. I’ve also grabbed Motorstorm and Resistance Fall of Man recently, so the gaming and movie split is about 50-50 right now, on top of everything else I’ve been doing. The reasoning for those three titles, aside f…
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Pursuit of Happyness, The
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 18th, 2007
The Pursuit of Happyness is inspired by the true story of Chris Gardner, who wrote a biography of the same name, from which the movie is based. Will Smith plays Gardner who is a salesman of medical equipment, who actually only manages to sell the odd unit. Because of his poor sales, his family is struggling making it from bill to bill, until finally his wife becomes so fed up she packs up and leaves for New York. Gardner is now left by his request, with his five-year-old son Christopher. With the untimely loss…
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Cinderella Liberty
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 17th, 2007
James Caan is a sailor whose stopover in Seattle becomes much longer than he expects, as first he has to wait for new orders when a medical exam forces him to miss shipping out with his crewmates, and then his records disappear. During this time, he meets Marsha Mason, a prostitute with an 11-year-old son. Caan falls for both of them, and a finely developed sense of responsibility sees him moving heaven and earth to make life good for all three. His task won’t be an easy one.
The Last Unicorn
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 16th, 2007
I can’t say I’m too familiar with The Last Unicorn, I mean overall, animated children’s films were in the midst of a decline in the ’80s. However my wife was more than familiar with it and enjoyed it a lot growing up. And Lion’s Gate has presumably cleaned up the film and thrown some extras on it just in time for the film’s 25th anniversary.
Based on a novel by Peter Beagle and directed by the animation team of Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin (who helped produced such shows as the stop motion of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and The Hobbit animated version back in the ’60s and ’70s), the unicorn in question is named, well, Unicorn (voiced by Mia Farrow, The Omen), who walks around rather peacefully in the countryside.
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Brain Blasters
Posted in Brain Blasters, News and Opinions by David Annandale on March 16th, 2007
Gosh, I don’t know if today’s subject counts as cult movies. These are genre films, though. And they’re old.
Really old.
They’re the first.
Horror, fantasy and SF in film effectively owe their existence to one man: Georges Méliès. A stage magician, he attended one of the first shows the Lumière brothers put on with their cinematograph, and was intrigued by the device’s commercial possibilities. Come 1896, he was making his own movies. He built a movie a studio, and here I let Denis Giffo…
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Harsh Times
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 15th, 2007
I�ve been anticipating the release of Harsh Times for quite a while now, never being able to catch it in the theatre, I finally got the chance to check it out. Christian Bale is by now known for his versatility and wide range of playable characters; Harsh Times offers another committed and deep portrayal to his resume. Bale plays ex-ranger Jim Davis who is back in Los Angeles after a 6-year tour. He is trying to land a job with the LAPD so he can marry his Mexican sweetheart and have her live in America.
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Romeo + Juliet (Music Edition)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 15th, 2007
No matter where you grew up or what books you�ve read, you have undoubtedly come across the workings of William Shakespeare, and especially his Romeo and Juliet. This film takes the dialogue from the original play pretty much word for word but depicts it in a more modern time, with, of course, then-teen heart throbs Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as our star-crossed lovers.
Instead of swords and castles, there are guns and skyscrapers. The famous opening argument with Benvolio, Tybalt and Mercuteo is a public firefight that kicks off the film.
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Ghost
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 15th, 2007
At one point or another you�ve either seen Ghost, or have seen some of its memorable scenes parodied. Paramount is now releasing a new special collector�s edition of the 1990 Academy Award winning picture. Since then, star Patrick Swayze hasn�t really been up to much besides a Ja Rule video and a small role in Donnie Darko. Whether Demi Moore has seen success since this film is debatable, but for a while there in 1990 these two were the talk of the town. At the time I was too young to have any interest in the film, so prior to this review all I knew were the memorable clips I�d seen. I looked forward to finally viewing the entire film.
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Un Chant d’amour
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 15th, 2007
Long the bad boy of French novelists, Jean Genet directed this 25-minute short in 1950. Borderline pornographic, it is a silent portrayal of (literally) imprisoned desire. Two prisoners convey their longing for one another through the prison walls, while a voyeuristic guard watches, becoming aroused and frustrated to the point of violence. Poetic, fetishistic, and intensely personal, it is a startling and historic piece of underground cinema.
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Requiem
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 14th, 2007
A young woman leaves her small town and intensely religious family to study at University. Even as she experiences the new freedom of campus life, her epileptic seizures become much worse, and she gradually comes to the conclusion that she is possessed. Her friends try to help her as her suffering becomes intolerable, but she eventually turns to a priest who wants to perform an exorcism.
If the above synopsis sounds familiar, that’s because this film is based on the same case that inspired The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
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