Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 30th, 2008
Teens seem to have a lot of angst. They like to have angst regarding what they wear or who they make friends or simply because their hair has a split end. In the middle of their angst, they form groups who share angst. These groups are more pseudo-families where they share experiences and care for each as if they resembled a sibling or a close relative. Enter Normal Adolescent Behavior: Havoc 2 where a group of 6 teenagers form a bond where only the 6 of them exists in each other's hearts. But would this bond step over the line and create a situation that one or more could not bear to take?
Posted in: Expired Contests by Archive Authors on January 29th, 2008
We are back once again, trying to conclude our 12 Days Of Contests promotion. Today, for our Day 11 Edition, we go way back to 1959! That's right, we are giving away a copy of Ben Hur - 4-disc collector's edition (winner of 11 academy awards).
So - enter away below by commenting! We have extended the draw dates for all 12 of our "12 Days of Contests" contests to Tuesday, February 5th... so check back at that time so see who won!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 29th, 2008
Fox re-releases this beloved weepie in a new edition with a number of new extras. Beyond those additions, this version is identical to the one reviewed here previously. Therefore, my deathless prose once again: “On a luxury ocean liner, playboy Cary Grant meets singer Deborah Kerr. Each is involved with someone else, but they fall deeply in love with each other. Upon arriving in New York, they decide to part and, if all goes well, reunite in six months at the top of the Empire State Building, by which time their lives should be in order. If you’ve seen Sleepless in Seattle, you know what happens next. Though this is one the most celebrated weepies ever, I found it curiously uninvolving.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 29th, 2008
What happened to Cuba Gooding Jr.? Since when did he have to take Eddie Murphy's sloppy seconds? The man has an Academy Award for crying out loud. OK, that was twelve years ago from Jerry McGuire, and Cuba has made Snow Dogs and Boat Trip since then, but I still kinda believe in him. After all, this is the guy who said "Show me the money" and made Tom Cruise say "I love black people!" Wasn't that great? Talent like that doesn't just fade away into bolivian like Mike Tyson would say.
Apparently Cuba didn't heed the advice that you should avoid working with kids and animals because they'll always steal the show from you. Or the advice that you should avoid crappy sequels to kids movies. Maybe he lost out to Scott Baio on Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 and decided never to miss an opportunity like that ever again. Maybe he needs to consider hiring a new agent. Maybe we never hear from Cuba again. Only time will tell if he can stand the test of time...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2008
On the surface, The Kingdom appears to be a good way for Americans to relieve some stress by watching the demise of some middle-eastern terrorists. But The Kingdom is actually quite different from your standard action movie shoot 'em up. Yes, there is a lot of action, most of it occurring in the film's last half an hour, but the film asks some tough questions and is optimistic in its belief that Americans and Muslims can work towards one goal together.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2008
While strolling through the local Blockbuster store, I'm always amazed at how many direct-to-video sequels there are to big name movies. Sure, Bring it On was never in the Lord of the Rings echelon of franchises, but it was still a successful movie at the box-office. Yet I still can't get over the fact that Bring it On now has its own trilogy, just like LOTR.
Most of these low-budget sequels exist solely to cash in on the movie's title, which is usually unrelated to the original film. The roles are recast or characters done away with, and some dumbed-down script that rehashes the first film is approved. But every once in a while, a cheapie comes along that does more with less, and surpasses the original. See my review for I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer for more proof of this.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 27th, 2008
Despite being very thoroughly dead, Jigsaw is up to his old games again. This time, SWAT commander Rigg must race against time to rescue to kidnapped fellow officers. Jigsaw's messages send him all over town, to one gruesome event after another. Meanwhile, the FBI is also on the case, interrogating the killer's ex-wife, which means the audience finds out quite a bit more about Jigsaw's backstory.
Posted in: Brain Blasters by David Annandale on January 25th, 2008
As promised last week, this monster-lover’s thoughts on Cloverfield. In a word: joy. In the pantheon of giant monster rampages, this one should find a place of honour. There have been a few good such films in the last while (most notably The Host, though one could argue that its creature is too small to make it a proper Giant Monster Movie), but this is the first really fine example to emerge from Hollywood in decades. Among other accomplishments, it washes away, once and for all, the sour taste left by the Emmerich/Devlin Godzilla (partly by taking some similar moments and showing how they should be done).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 25th, 2008
Director David Cronenberg’s masterpiece, A History of Violence catapulted him to the upper-echelon of today’s directors. Until AHOV, he’d previously worked on offbeat films that got mixed reviews, like Crash (1996), eXistenZ, and Spider, with the occasional brush with “commercial” films like The Fly.
Posted in: Bitchy Rants by Archive Authors on January 24th, 2008
We reported a couple weeks ago that Warner Bros Home Entertainment was going Blu-Ray exclusive once their contract with the HD-DVD collation was up. Despite Warner’s move HD-DVD is far from dead. Though HD-DVD is precariously on the edge of “losing” the HD disc format war. Even if one format wins out we should ask the questions: “Will the HD market go physical or broadband? If HD-DVD wins, will the lower priced players and uniform spec make the market successful? Can Blu-ray make the market better? Or are the IPTV technologies too attractive to keep HD discs strong?
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