The Marine
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 29th, 2007
John Cena is The Marine. Though, as matters develop, The Maroon might be a better handle. At any rate, after being discharged for having Disobeyed a Direct Order in Iraq (where, in a scene distinctly reminiscent of the opening of The Naked Gun, our boy shoots up one of those elusive Al-Qaeda training camps that nobody else seems to be able to find). Readjustment to civilian life is difficult, but then, while heading out for a little holiday with his wife (Kelly Carlson), an unfortunate stop at a gas station results in Carlson being abducted by a violent gang of jewel thieves headed up by Robert Patrick (who comes across, as was pointed out to me, like the love child of Martin Sheen and Chandler Bing).
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The Grudge 2
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 29th, 2007
Amber Tamblyn, playing Sarah Michelle Gellar’s sister, comes to Tokyo to help Gellar, currently in a hospital and considered insane. The help is too little too late, and soon Tamblyn is contending with the same evil ghosts. Two other storylines intertwine with this one: a young American student goes into the evil house on a dare, and she and her two friends attract the unwelcome attentions of the spectral mother and son. And back in the States, a blended family moving into a new apartment is gradually torn apart by the influence of the malevolent duo.
Highly Defined – The World of High Definition
Posted in Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on January 29th, 2007
In a week filled with minimal news, there was one major announcement that is sure to make HD DVD fans happy. Yes, Universal has finally announced some of their exclusive HD DVD title line-up. Although none of the big blockbuster titles we know Universal has sitting around on a shelf were announced, more than a few big name titles were announced that will be sure to put a smile on your face. With upwards of 100 titles to be released throughout 2007 we can expect great things from Universal this year.
Extras – The Complete First Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2007
The only thing I knew about Extras as of a couple of weeks ago was that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant were behind the show, the follow-up to their cult hit The Office, which has been adapted into a Steve Carell vehicle to showcase his talent. Seeing very little on The Office and not being familiar with Gervais’ work, I downloaded the first episode of the second season of Extras from iTunes (Season Two recently resumed airing on HBO), and I found it one of the funnier things I’ve seen in recent memory, and not just because it didn’t cost me anything.
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Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton Film Collection
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2007
The relationship between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor appeared to blossom when they were both on the set of Cleopatra. The epic film was famous, not for the success of the film but more for the near bankruptcy of the studio and for the romance that blossomed between the two. Warner Brothers has recently been releasing groups of films surrounding various film icons, and this set of four titles focuses on the two acting giants.
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Rainbow Six Vegas (Xbox 360)
Posted in Game Reviews by Michael Durr on January 28th, 2007
Opening
The Rainbow Six series of console and pc games has always been about realistic tactical warfare. These games are not for the faint of the heart as with any Tom Clancy shooter. In their latest offering: Rainbow Six Vegas; they take that realism and then put it in the anything but real land of glitz, glamor, and high rolling. Las Vegas, Nevada. A town where nobody sleeps and that’s unfortunate because you are going to need all the skills and firepower you can muster at all hours …
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Brain Blasters – The Boris Karloff Collections
Posted in Brain Blasters, News and Opinions by David Annandale on January 26th, 2007
Bela Lugosi has certainly had his share of collections and box sets hitting the stands, but now, belatedly, Boris Karloff has some sets of his own, and we’re not talking cheap public domain films from late in his career.
Universal, where Karloff became a star with Frankenstein, has released, as part of their Franchise Collection, The Boris Karloff Collection. There are five films here: Night Key (1937), Tower of London (1939), The Climax (1944), The Strange Door (1951) and…
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Gridiron Gang (2006)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 25th, 2007
The Rock � sorry, Dwayne Johnson � sure has come a long way from his melodramatic days as a WWE superstar. His first major film role, as the Scorpion King in 2001�s The Mummy Returns was more about his physical presence than any acting ability. Two years later, he proved he could handle action comedy with The Rundown. Now, with Gridiron Giants, Johnson has added the drama notch to his genre belt.
The film, based on a true story and following a 1993 TV documentary of the same name, tells…
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Dare to Play the Game
Posted in Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on January 24th, 2007
Halo 3 Beta, Wii at a Loss, and a Link to the Past – Welcome to the mortgage that’s been refinanced too much and drowning fast known as Dare to Play the Game.
Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. I’m your host that is having a rough week, but the looks on the horizon are quite good and I might come out of my current situation alive. Thank goodness I have my job to fall back on and thanks to my friends too for they provide me an outlet to let go my mental …
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CNET picks Blu-Ray FTW
Posted in News and Opinions by Archive Authors on January 24th, 2007
This CNET article wishfully prophecies that HD-DVD will surrender mid-year. This prognosis is based on the the fact that there’s a 5:1 ratio of Blu-Ray to HD-DVD players in households – driven mainly by the PS3. Of course, the verdict is still out on whether the PS3 will ever get traction in the marketplace, so take that with a grain of salt.
Personally, I’m going to skip the next-gen physical media ratrace entirely and skip right to HD downloads via A…
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Scary Movie 4 (HD DVD)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 23rd, 2007
It�s hard to believe, but after six years and three movies, this fourth film proves the Scary Movie franchise is still good for a cheap laugh.
For those of you that have lived under a rock and aren�t familiar with the Scary Movie series, I will enlighten you. Some of the horror movies coming out these days are just begging to be parodied, and the comic brains of the Wayans brothers did so in 2000 with first instalment simply titled Scary Movie. This movie poked fun of then-recent movie…
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Brokeback Mountain (HD DVD)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 23rd, 2007
Wow. It�s already been over a year since hearing the endless �I can�t quit you� pander that many labeled Brokeback Mountain with. Sitting down to see this one for the 3rd time, I feared that the initial power the film had over me would be diminished. Such isn�t the case here as Brokeback Mountain is still the same excellent film it was over a year ago.
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Color of the Cross
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 21st, 2007
Back in late 2006 there was a minor to-do about a film depicting the last days of Jesus, except that Jesus was played by a black man. Written and directed by Jean-Claude La Marre, Color of the Cross tries to do what it can to tell the tale of this black Jesus, or be-jeezus if you will.
The film, like others covering the last two days of his life, follows Jesus as he performs the Last Supper, gets betrayed by Judas and the other stuff. While in town, many Jews are trying to celebrate Passover without being abused or persecuted by the Romans, so they celebrate in secret.
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Oh! What a Lovely War
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 21st, 2007
For all the talk about a film being “just as relevant now as when it was released”, Oh! What a Lovely War seems to fit that bill more than a lot of movies I’ve seen recently. From a screenplay by Len Deighton and directed by a first-time director (but longtime actor) in Richard Attenborough (Jurassic Park), the film may be a daunting endeavor for some to see, probably because it’s a film that’s two and a half hours long and contains a lot of songs.
It also contains a lot of dialogue, and both the songs and dialogue were from the period.
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The Sting (HD DVD)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2007
Con movies are nothing new to Hollywood. Each has that character who thinks they�re on top of the world behind this bullet proof armor only to eventually realize that they�ve either been played or been watched the entire time. I suppose what makes con films work on the level they do is that these characters (admit it!) are all committing acts we�d love to even THINK about committing. The only problem is that we�re not even that badass of a person to even attempt it. Having never seen this film, I figured I�d get a fairly entertaining film with decent acting and an interesting enough plot. Boy was I mistaken about this one. Oscar awarded 1973 film The Sting has easily become my favorite con film.
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Brain Blasters – The Original Twist Ending
Posted in Brain Blasters, News and Opinions by David Annandale on January 20th, 2007
The next time someone talks about The Sixth Sense having an original twist ending, sit them down and force them to watch Carnival of Souls (1962).
Spoiler warning. If you haven’t seen either of these films, or generally have no idea what I’m talking about, stop reading now. Go away. Come back next week. You don’t want to be hear. God knows, I might spoil the twist in The Crying Game while I’m at it.
Your humble correspondent waits one for one more paragraph in case some unfort…
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Derailed (HD DVD)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 19th, 2007
Having previously only seen the theatrical trailer for Derailed, I was pleased to finally get a chance to watch it. The movie seemed to be filled with a lot of suspense, but the redundancy of this type of affair movie sort of detoured me. Ultimately, I went into this with expectations of an impressive thriller.
Charles Schine (Clive Owen) is a well-off advertising executive married to a school teacher. Together, they have a teenage daughter. Due to complications with diabetes the couple has to be co…
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Factotum
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 19th, 2007
Back in 1979 (that’s a whole generation ago, kids!) Matt Dillon was appearing in films that would make the average reader of Tiger Beat swoon. He was in plenty of material like Little Darlings, Rumble Fish and The Outsiders that didn’t help that idea too much in the eyes of his female fans (of which there are scores). But since the early ’80s, he’s gone through a bit of a rediscovery, and in the film Factotum, based on the works of author Charles Bukowski, he may have hit his best stride to date.
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The Librarian – Return to King Solomon’s Mines
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 19th, 2007
The only thing I really knew about The Librarian was that Noah Wyle, previously known for his work in ER was playing in some goofy looking film, and the making of this film was getting in the way of whatever theatrical film I was watching from August-October. Imagine my surprise when I found out that it was more than just a goofy little film, that it was the second in a presumed series, and hey, it’s not all that much about a library at all!
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LG BD + HD-DVD Player on Sale in Feb
Posted in News and Opinions by Archive Authors on January 19th, 2007
Yes, its coming. And yes, it plays both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs, although apparently for the HD-DVD’s you can only watch the movie – no menu access just yet.
Superman Returns (HD DVD)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2007
I’m sure we all remember when it was rumored that Brett Ratner was going to direct Superman Returns and Bryan Singer was going to direct the third X-Men film. Well we all know how that one turned out. Ratner made a decent film while Singer made a better film but not without it�s own faults.Superman Returns takes place roughly five years after the events of Superman II. Superman aka Clark Kent (portrayed by Brandon Routh) has left on a journey back to his home planet of Krypton.
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A Dead Calling
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 18th, 2007
Alexandra Holden is a big-time TV reporter who is traumatized when an intruder breaks into her home and kills her fiancé. (Does this set-up remind anyone of The Howling?) She retreats to her old home-town, moves back with her parents (Sid Haig and Leslie Easterbrook!) and starts work at a local TV station. Her first assignment takes her to a house where murders took place years ago, and she promptly has visions of ghosts and the murders, and she feels she is being called on to provide justice for the ghosts.
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Walt Disney Treasures: The Complete Pluto Volume Two
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 18th, 2007
This is the second volume of Pluto cartoons, here going from 1947 to the end of the series in 1951. The neat thing about these themed collections in the Wald Disney Treasures series is that they highlight particular strengths in Disney’s animation. Thus, if the Silly Symphonies sets focus on the marriage of movement with music, the Pluto cartoons are wonders of pantomime, since the central character doesn’t speak. Pluto is not a jot less communicative for not using words, however, and the sight gags involved in some of his facial expressions (such as when wearing the unwanted “Pluto’s Sweater”) are priceless.
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Deer Hunter (HD DVD)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2007
Let me begin here by saying that I�ve never found any film based on the Vietnam War good. I assume this stems from that everything I�ve ever known or been taught about the War shows that (I apologize in advance for those who get offended) the War was not necessary (this said by my Uncle who fought in the War). Every Vietnam film I�ve tried to enjoy from Born on the Fourth of July to Platoon I just couldn�t as this little reminder always poked in the back of my mind. I should honestly scratch that last sentence as I�ve found the first Vietnam film that I absolutely found excellent.
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Invincible (2006)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 17th, 2007
Invincible (2006) marks the latest in a string of sports-underdog films from Disney, following such hits as 2002’s The Rookie and 2004’s Miracle. This time, we have a film inspired by the real-life Cinderella story of Philadelphia Eagles’ alumnus Vince Papale.
Papale’s story is so similar to that of fictional Philadelphia son, Rocky Balboa, that calling Invincible a remake of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky isn’t much of a stretch. But then, the sports long-shot genre is tried and true, so as far as my enjoyment goes, I have few issues with this film’s formulaic plot.
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