Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 22nd, 2007
Every so often, a remake comes along that does the original proud. David Cronenberg’s The Fly is one. Philip Kaufman’s reworking of Don Siegel’s 1955 classic is another. For the three people out there who aren’t familiar with the plot, pods from outer space are replacing people with soulless duplicates. Donald Sutherland is the health inspector whose friend (Brooke Adams) is one of the early people to believe that someone close to her is no longer who he appears to be. Before long, Sutherland, Adams, Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright are running for their lives.
The story of perfect paranoia is infinitely flexible, adapting itself perfectly to the tenor of the times (assuming, of course, the filmmakers are halfway competent). Kaufman’s film distinguishes itself from its predecessor by playing on our worst fears concerning big city anonymity and alienation, and by introducing the infamous pod scream, which leads to one of the most chilling final frames in film history.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 22nd, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
I'll admit it: I'm confused. JAG was on television for an long time, 10 seasons in fact, which puts it in the company of a lot of truly remarkable shows. The current popularity of serialization probably accentuates the challenge, but it seems especially difficult for good dramas these days to make it into the double-digits.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 22nd, 2007
Although it arose from the talented minds behind The Muppet Show, this 1982 fantasy classic is no kids' film. While The Dark Crystal can be enjoyed by kids, it's a little too dark and a little too abstract for your average seven-year-old.
Set in "another world, in another time...in the age of wonder," The Dark Crystal represents a monumental creative undertaking, and the first live-action feature film to not have any humans appearing on screen. While this 25th Anniversary Edition release appears to be a quadruple-dip, it just might be worth your attention.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 22nd, 2007
TechDirt sums up my thoughts astutely in their post on the recent dealings to reignite the HD DVD vs Blu-ray format war:
Fewer people are willing to adopt one technology if there's still a half decent chance the other one might prevail. At the same time, fewer people are willing to adopt one technology if half the content they want to view is stuck on the other technology. It's a lose-lose situation. [from TechDirt]
Posted in: Random Fun by Archive Authors on August 22nd, 2007
Heh - this is funny stuff - 13 of the Worst Movie Accents ever [found via BB]. I've never really paid too much attention to accents - either their relevance to a film's setting, or their authenticity, but apparently they really piss some people off. See the trailer below for a good example...
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on August 22nd, 2007
Super Metroid goes VC, Bioshock goes Letterbox, and My 360 goes Boom - Welcome to the column that comes and goes just like that chalupa from the mexican roadside eatery known as Dare to Play the Game.
Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. Guess what, I join the thousands and thousands of XBOX 360 peeps. My 360 go boom. It had been glitching here and there for a few weeks. Not too troublesome, but a pain. Well this weekend, it decided to go postal. It would freeze in the middle of the session, give four red lights, beep for no apparent reason, etc. Then it happened, the dreaded three rings. Nine months into owning the console, thank you have a nice day. I had bought a warranty through Microcenter in addition to the manufacturer warranty that I thought would cover the replacement. That way I would not have to go through the hassle of calling Microsoft, waiting for a box and sending it back. After fighting with Microcenter on two seperate occasions about their warranty, we culmulatively decided they should go rot in a very unearthy place. (Well I decided that for them). Even though they would not come out and say it, their warranty is essentially useless because of recent Microsoft legislation. So I called Microsoft, that did go pretty easy, I was told I would have a box sent in about 10 minutes after I got on the phone. It should be there Thursday or Friday. Maybe it will make it back by Halo 3, maybe not. One slight advantage, the repair center is in McAllen, Tx about half a dozen hours south of here. So here is hoping.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 20th, 2007
In August 1945, the world was transformed in the blink of an eye when the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That act of destruction sparked the end of World War II, and the beginning of endless suffering for those who survived.
It was the first and only attack with nuclear weapons in our history, and the story of White Light/Black Rain is the reason it should never, ever happen again. Hundreds of thousands of people died as a result of the bombings, but when you meet the survivors, it seems that the worst victims were those who lived.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 18th, 2007
There was a time when break dancing was the hottest thing around. For this film, that time is 1986, when a talented young dancer goes too big in a dance contest, flips off the stage and winds up in a coma. He wakes up 20 years later, a grown man with the mind of a 12-year-old, an unhealthy passion for break dancing and a crush on the girlfriend he almost had two decades earlier.
With that premise, how can you go wrong? Plus, you know Kickin' It Old Skool is a righteous movie because it spells 'School' with a 'k.'
Posted in: Brain Blasters by David Annandale on August 17th, 2007
Nacho Cerdá made his name on the underground horror circuit with Aftermath, a short feature that made everyone’s worst surmises about autopsy tables look hopeless optimistic. The question that looms around his feature debut, The Abandoned, just out on DVD, is how on earth he might top Aftermath’s taboo-busting calling card. Wisely, he attempts no such thing. Though there is one notable moment of “yeeeurrrrgggh” in the film, it otherwise marks a very different approach to horror, as well as making clear that Cerdá is the kind of talent that horror desperately needs at this juncture. It’s a criminal shame that the film received to theatrical distribution to speak of, but here’s hoping it will find the audience it deserves on DVD.
The ominous prologue is set in Russia (played by Bulgaria) in 1966. A mortally wounded woman drives a truck to a farm, where the inhabitants discover a pair of newborn twins in the seat beside her. In the present, one of those twins, Marie (Anastasia Hille), determined to learn more about her birth parents, has arrived in Russia from Los Angeles. She is given directions to her ancestral farm. Once she gets there, a malevolent supernatural trap slams shut. She meets her twin, Nicolai (Karel Roden), who is just as caught in the web as she is, a web spun by patient and merciless past.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 17th, 2007
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