Posted in: Release Announcements by Archive Authors on October 30th, 2007
FOX is on a roll today with announcements. "Death Sentence" comes out Jan. 8th...
CENTURY CITY, Calif. – The hardcore story of one man’s quest for vengeance and justice featuring thrill-a-second action and pulse-pounding stunts, Death Sentence arrives in an all-new Unrated Edition DVD January 8th from Fox Home Entertainment. Kevin Bacon (Mystic River, Hollow Man) stars as Nick Hume, an everyday family man living a stable, comfortable life - a good job, a loving wife and two teenage boys. But when a gang initiation takes the life of his eldest son in the blink of an eye, Hume’s perfect life comes to a screeching halt. What follows is a series of violent confrontations, forcing Hume to transform into someone he never thought possible. Directed by innovative filmmaker James Wan (Saw, Dead Silence) from the powerful novel by James Garfield...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 30th, 2007
Ron Howard’s move from sitcom star to director began with playing the lead in this Roger Corman-produced car chase flick, after which he would move to behind the camera to direct Grand Theft Auto. Here he plays the son of the local sheriff. In an effort to impress the girl of his dreams (Christopher Norris, and yes, that’s a woman’s name), he steals a stock car, and he and his friends then lead the authorities on a merry chase. As is typical of Corman productions, this works hard at delivering, on a stringent budget, exactly what its audience wants. Writer/director Charles B. Griffith was responsible for some of the better scripts to come out of the Corman stable (It Conquered the World, Little Shop of Horrors, Death Race 2000), and some of his trademark wit is on display here, but without the snap of the better films. It feels much more forced and laboured. The film clips along just fine, but today is little more than a curiosity.
Audio
Posted in: Blog Posts, Release Announcements by Archive Authors on October 30th, 2007
FOX is announcing with customary PR fanfare that Adam Goldberg comedy "2 Days in Paris" will hit the streets on Feb. 5th of the next year - just in time to cash in on Valentine sales.
Adam Goldberg delivers “an uproarious study in transatlantic culture panic” (MTV) as Jack, an anxious, hypochondriac-prone New Yorker vacationing throughout Europe with his breezy, free-spirited Parisian girlfriend, Marion (Delpy). But when they make a two-day stop in Marion’s hometown, the couple’s romantic trip takes a turn as Jack is exposed to Marion’s sexually perverse and emotionally unstable family, her coarse temperament with cab drivers and her ex-lovers…her many ex-lovers. Culture-shocked and ego-bruised, Jack finds himself hoping that their relationship can survive as their love is revealed in surprising ways.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 29th, 2007
OK, brace yourself when I tell you that Hallowed Ground was a straight to video release. I know, you're stunned, right? You can't even get up. I was as shocked as you. But I've got to hand it to the filmmakers, they've got a decent idea by putting a somewhat scary image on their cover and keeping a brother intrigued, so to speak.
Written and directed by David Benullo, he of Shadow Man fame, this film focuses on the town of Hope, where Liz (Jaimie Alexander, Kyle XY) finds herself standed. The people are nice to her, but for some reason, they just come off as being "too nice". She manages to find out the town is pretty much composed of religious fanatics, who find out that Liz is part of a prophecy as outlined by the town's preacher. The funny part is that the preacher died a century ago and was crucified and hung like a scarecrow, resulting in the semi-cool picture. So the town tries to hold her hostage while the scarecrow gets his pseudo freaky deaky on.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 29th, 2007
In my mind, Robert Wuhl has never really understood when to quit. The guy was the star of Arli$$, which was an anomaly on the HBO cable channel. Whereas all the other shows on the channel were ending too soon and were too well received, this show went on and on and on, and no one seemed to really like it. So when I saw he was doing a couple of one-off shows set at universities, I thought this was just another way to grab onto popularity.
AS it turns out, these specials, entitled Assume the Position, aren’t entirely horrible. What Wuhl manages to accomplish is to effectively discuss American history and perhaps introduce a point that history might not just be what was read and published. He discusses some things that many in the class (myself included) didn’t really know before, like the origins of the “Yankee Doodle” song and the benefit of the War of 1812. In between, he mixes in slides and animations that bring a smile, maybe even a chuckle, to these jaded lips. Don’t get me wrong though, there are times where Wuhl seems to hit a joke every so often that seems to be the perfect example of “old guy trying to connect to young audience”, and that’s why mentions of Ben Affleck and Outkast follow.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 29th, 2007
I love CSI and have been an avid fan from day one. I think it brought a fresh look to the procedural crime dramas that have long ago become just a little stale and predictable. The problem is that the series has gone the Dick Wolf route of branching out so that the final product might be a little diluted. Unlike the Law & Order franchise, each version of CSI has attempted to take on a unique look and style to reflect the location without giving up those elements which are the tradition of the series. CSI:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 29th, 2007
Every now and then a writer gets stuck for what to write. As a reviewer it happens that I can watch a film or series, take pages of detailed notes and read everything I can get my hands on about the subject, but still when I sit down to my computer it’s just me and that flashy cursor, aptly named, for every writer has felt the curse as that incessant blinking blob continues to remind us we’ve got nothing. In the industry we have a highly technical term for this condition. We call it writer’s block. Sometimes I’ll try and get around it by telling a little story about myself and hope the reader won’t find out it’s just a stall.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 29th, 2007
I admit I don't have the strongest faith. Sure I believe in God, but it pretty much ends at that like any other agnostic. So when I get a movie that is based on the idea of the Ten Plagues; let's say I'm not that familiar with the subject matter. I know there are locusts attacking and toads dropping involved along with the whole river of blood thing but outside of that I'm a little thin. However, not to say I wasn't interested. In fact I'm always intrigued by stories in the bible when they are used as methods of literature and peaks into the historical past.
The Reaping is the story of Katherine Winter (played by Hilary Swank), a LSU professor who has made a living off debunking miracles by explaining them away with science. We find out from her backstory that she was in fact an ordained minister who lost her faith when her husband and daughter were killed in Sudan on a mission. Her partner and fellow teacher, Ben (played by Idris Elba) helps her out. They are approached by Doug Blackwell (played by David Morrissey), a schoolteacher from Haven, LA about a new case. Haven, LA has seen a young 12-year old girl Loren (played by AnnaSophia Robb) murders her brother and turned the river to blood. The town also believes this is the start of the Ten Plagues of the Old Testament. Katherine & Ben go to investigate.
Posted in: Blog Posts, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on October 29th, 2007
Some great deals on the unholiest day of retail sales(source).
Coby DVD Player - $9.99
Curtis Home Theater System - $29.99
Philips HDMI Up Convert DVD Player - $29.99
Sony 1000 Watt 5 Disc Home Theater System - $299.99
Sony 1000-Watt 5-Disc Home Theater System - $299.99
Sony 800 Watt Home Theater System - $149.99
Sony Combination DVD VCR Player - $84.99
Sony DVD Recorder With VCR DVD - $199.99
Toshiba HD-A3 HD DVD Player - $169.99
Zenith DVD Player / VCR Combo - $39.99
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on October 28th, 2007
Some things just go together. Like Peanut Butter & Jelly, Sonny & Cher, Siskel & Ebert (okay, not so much). Puzzle Quest brings something together in complete harmony like no other game before it. Puzzles and Role Playing Games. Sure the Zelda or Breath of Fire series have puzzles in the game, but we are talking full integration where every battle is decided in a Bejeweled-like interface. Complete with mounts, spells, and other rpg-like elements; this could be the best idea of putting things together since I tried fritos and cream cheese. (Come on, you know you are curious)
Graphics
Puzzle Quest was first released on the DS and the PSP in early 2007. Things that look big on the tiny screen have to be scaled so that they fit appropriately when dealing with HD and the way the Xbox 360 operates. The colors and the objects on the screen are extremely colorful and vibrant. It's not mind blowing but it is certainly adequate and you will be able to navigate the menus with ease. Unless you are trying to read the text on the screen. For some reason, the text is very small and difficult to read. Perhaps I'm getting old but I found myself slowing down to read the text. This wasn't due to complexity or wanting to be careful to not miss a clue. Keep in mind, I also operate on a 42" HD Tv. If it is small for me, I cringe to worry about how small it might be for those will smaller sets (HD or not). The graphics look very good, however this one little attention to detail should have been taken care of in the testing stage.
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