Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 3rd, 2007
Here's yet another huge release on Blu-Ray and DVD: Spiderman 3! No cover art yet - waiting to get a membership at the Sony PR firm's media website. But! Lots of other details in the meantime. There's a stack of versions coming:
Paraphrased from the press release: more than six hours of all-new bonus materials, including...
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 3rd, 2007
Here's yet another huge release on Blu-Ray and DVD: Spiderman 3! No cover art yet - waiting to get a membership at the Sony PR firm's media website. But! Lots of other details in the meantime. There's a stack of versions coming:
Paraphrased from the press release: more than six hours of all-new bonus materials, including...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 3rd, 2007
One hundred years after Abraham Van Helsing and allies fail to annihilate Dracula, the vampire arrives in a small American town looking for an amulet that, if destroyed at the prescribed moment, will usher in a reign of darkness. Recruited to aid in this project are versions of the Wolfman, the Frankenstein Monster, the Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Opposing Dracula is the titular Monster Squad, a group of monster-crazy boys and one very little (and very adorable) sister, who befriends the Monster.
I first caught this film during its original theatrical run, and enjoyed it then. Twenty years later, it looks even better. This is the kind of movie that Stephen Summers (The Mummy, Van Helsing) evidently thinks he is making, even though he is utterly unable to do so. Director Fred Dekker’s acknowledged model is Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, and as in that film, the monsters are treated with respect, remaining figure of fear, not of fun. There is much humour in the film, but the stakes are real. There is a sense that the battles could have a real cost to them (and when the monsters attack, people do actually die). There are also enormously poignant, heartfelt moments (when was the last time you teared up at a Summers film?). The special effects have aged somewhat, but have accrued all the more charm for that. Dekker’s love of the classic Universal films imbues every frame, right down to replicating the out-of-place armadillos and phony-looking bats from the original Dracula. This is, from top to bottom, the dream of every classic monster fan made flesh.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2007
You will want to check out these two new Buena Vista TV on DVD releases coming on Tuesday: 8 Simple Rules Season One, and Home Improvement Season Seven.
Check out these samples, including clips from the blooper reels found exclusively on these DVD's.
Posted in: Brain Blasters, Regular Columns by David Annandale on August 3rd, 2007
Part and parcel of loving cult movies is a profound sense of nostalgia. This melancholy ache for the past is not necessarily limited to periods one has actually lived through. The shape of the nostalgia also takes on different forms, and can often wind up feeding on itself. This is a phenomenon that the bargain-basement DVD can help perpetuate. Allow me to attempt to explain myself a little more clearly.
Our starting point is the grindhouse cinema of the 1970s. As I’ve mentioned before, I was too young to actually go to any of those dubious houses, or ever see any of their offerings theatrically. But I am just old enough to remember the ads for these films in the paper. As my friends and I started going to movies on our own in the early 80s, the grand days of exploitation were drawing to a close (and we were still too young to be allowed in to many of the titles out there). So that is Stage 1 of the particular form of nostalgia I’m tracking today: the longing for a past that was witnessed from a distance.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 3rd, 2007
Kedrix, author of our often alarming Dare to Play the Game series is going to like this one - Morgan Webb's new daily gaming video blog.
Not that it isn't without some controversy already, though.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 3rd, 2007
Monty (Idris Elba, 28 Weeks Later) is a father struggling for custody of his three children. This has become of utmost importance to him especially since his ex wife is involved with a local drug dealer. He enlists the help of attorney Julia (Gabriel Union, Bad Boys 2) to get his children back. Of course sparks begin to fly between the two, and the children seem to take the backseat. I’ve seen this type of movie way too many times before, and I would be completely content if I didn’t have to again.
It’s a good thing I had no expectations of this one going into it, because otherwise I would have ended up being extremely disappointed. This movie is poorly played out, albeit pretty realistic in some aspects. But regardless I’m getting tired of these day to day struggle movies, they all end the same way, don’t expect anything different here. The acting in this movie was rather disappointing as well, including the one facial expression we are graced with from Gabriel Union throughout. The movie started off as a struggle for a man to get his kids back, but ended up being another horrific and predictable romance. But if you’re into these emotional types of movies about the struggle of Joe everyman, you might find this one worthwhile checking out.
![Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/tyler-perrys-daddys-little-girls-large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 2nd, 2007
Having never seen or heard of this program, I had to do a bit of research into the history of this show. I’ll share my findings with you in case you are new to the series as well. Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall, The Breakfast Club) was involved in a car accident that left him comatose for six years. Upon waking up he has a special gift, when he touches people or things he can see into the future, and sometimes prevent awful things from happening. The name the dead zone comes from the part of his brain that normally goes unused, but because of his accident it can now be attributed to his visions of the future. In season 5 there isn’t much ongoing story arcs, but rather a collection of different stories in which Johnny solves crimes and saves unwilling victims. He deals with the logistics of saving lives and changing the outcome of the world and his own personal life.
Well this show wasn’t spectacular but I liked it enough to label it decent. It was rather hit and miss with this show; some episodes were entertaining and others weren’t. But the acting was consistent throughout and surprisingly good for a cable TV show. Well I can’t offer any comparisons to past seasons of the show, but this seasons finale was extremely lackluster. Still, I can say that in the future I might check the rest of the seasons out after being left with a mostly positive perspective on the show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 2nd, 2007
The War tells the story of newly returned Vietnam soldier Stephen Simmons (Kevin Costner). Steve is the father of Stu (Elijah Woods) and Lidia (Lexi Randall) and wants nothing more than to show them the meaning of life and what it (really what HE) can provide them. The only problem is that Steve isn’t getting the adequate funds a soldier should receive. Bouncing from job to job because of his mental history (he’s had numerous flashbacks to the war), the family struggles daily to survive. The children seem to be mixed on their father with Stu loving him, but Lidia calling him a loser.
What the Simmons family doesn’t realize is that soon a simple, old tree house will bring them closer than any of them have ever been.
![The War [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-war-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 2nd, 2007
Superheroes are huge these days, at least most of them are. Some are a little under 3 feet. In the Disney afternoon universe of Ducktales comes Darkwing Duck, or DW as his friends and arch enemies refer to him. Darkwing appropriately enough inhabits a more sinister side of the Ducktales world where he is ever vigilante for the exotic criminals that threaten St. Canard. If you still don’t get the idea, think of Adam West’s Batman as a Disney duck. DW comes complete with the prerequisite Duckmobile and steady supply of crime fighting gadgets and gizmos. His faithful, if not overly intelligent, sidekick is Ducktales holdover Launchpad McQuack. When not fighting crime, DW has the expected secret identity of Drake Mallard. Just to finish the Batman comparisons, Drake has a ward, of sorts, Gosalyn, his adopted daughter. Like Robin, Gosalyn is ever helpful in DW’s capers. Once in a while DW is challenged by a secret villainous society, The Fiendish Organization of World Larceny, or F.O.W.L. for short. There are some 60’s secret agent themes to be found here, but they are far more Maxwell Smart than James Bond.
Darkwing Duck appears to be aiming at some of the adults in the audience. It appears to me that a lot of the cultural references and even plot points might be over the head of the typical afternoon cartoon crowd. Disney, cleverly, integrates enough of the 1960’s comic nostalgia to sucker in the parents as well. Lately I’ve been in my own trip down memory lane thanks to the release of many of my Marvel Comics favorites on DVD-ROM. I’ve been able to reacquaint myself with the likes of Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four beyond the modern films, recreated from the pages of their original exploits. Perhaps that makes me more alert for the obvious references. All of the villains could easily have come from these very color-splattered pages of adolescent excitement. This means that all you parents out there might end up joining your kids in watching these DVD’s.
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