Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 18th, 2007
There was a time when National Lampoon’s was known for their comedic presence, with classics like the Vacation franchise, Animal House, and their first decent production in ten-years - Van Wilder. Since then they have seldom come out with anything remotely humorous, usually brining in novelty has been or never was actors/actresses to fill the roles, such as Paris Hilton (Pledge This), Vida Guerra (Dorm Daze 2), and David Faustino (Pucked). I’ll admit having not seen or even h...ard of this movie prior to now, I’m a little curious to see what’s come of David Faustino (Bud Bundy from Married with Children) as well as Bon Jovi and his bleached white teeth.
The plot is very simplistic, Frank Hopper (Bon Jovi) was formerly a lawyer who has since become a dreamer residing in his sister’s garage. Carl (David Faustino) is Frank’s loyal best friend whom is slightly more successful as of late. While out looking for a birthday present for his mom, Frank fills out a credit application that he presumes to be a survey; jokingly he fills out his annual income as a million dollars. Before long he gets a high limit credit card in the mail, in his eyes this is a way to finance his newly realized get rich dream - an all-woman hockey league.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 18th, 2007
Synopsis
Anna Karenina (Vivien Leigh) is married to a rigid and boring politician (Ralph Richardson). Despite herself, she falls in love with the dashing young Kieron Moore. Richardson retaliates by cutting her off from her son. And though having an affair is tolerated by upper class Russian society, the couple wind up challenging convention too far, and Anna finds herself completely ostracized.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 18th, 2007
Take a second and think about your life. You have a pretty set schedule right? Get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch TV and go to sleep and repeat. Pretty dull no? Imagine getting a card when day at your birthday inviting you to open your life into a completely different world of change. Would you necessarily change? And what would come from the change? That is what David Fincher looks at in his 1997 film The Game.
Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) is your typical investment banker. Hi... life is completely in order and he knows exactly what is going on, why it’s going on and when it’s going on. And Nicholas likes his life in this order. His brother Conrad Van Orton (Sean Penn) knows that his brother’s life needs a reshuffle so he decides to give his brother a card to a company called CRS, which Conrad tells Nicholas he tried while in London. Curious at what CRS is, Nicholas travels to their office and after nearly a day of tests that include questions like ‘Do I enjoy hurting small animals’, Nicholas receives a phone call saying that his application has been rejected. Now Nicholas is a man of order and is obviously annoyed by this. Then one evening he notices a small wooden clown in his driveway. Upon further inspection, Nicholas realizes that the clown has a key inside of it. This key marks the beginning of a series of strange events that demand Nicholas’s attention if he wants to survive this game.
![The Game [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-game-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 17th, 2007
January is typically the month when most studios dump those films they think won’t succeed on our laps. Unfortunately this was the case with Smokin’ Aces, a film that has such an odd sense of humor that we can’t help but smile at what’s in front of us. As we know Joe Carnahan’s previous effort Narc is a dark, gritty film with little to no humor. How could a man with such a dark, violent mind direct a film with as much violence but such a level of humor?
Our film opens with two federal agents ...itting in a surveillance van late at night. Messner (Ryan Reynolds) and Carruthers (Ray Liotta) are eavesdropping on a conversation a few mob bosses are having. Before you re-read that sentence, yes Ryan Reynolds the typical college film guy is playing a serious man here. Talk about weird huh? Moving on though, we soon learn that Buddy “Aces” Israel, a Las Vegas stage magician, a man who absolutely loves hanging out that Las Vegas crowd (read pimps, gangsters, drug dealers) made the big mistake of pretending to be a gangster himself. It turns out that Israel made a big mistake by trying to impress his buddies. Such a mistake that has the FBI agreeing to work with Israel as he rats out his varying Mob connections in hopes of being protected.
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on April 16th, 2007
Sorry guys, in between starting a new job today and the news ongoing at Virginia Tech, I'm busy trying to find out what's going on at a school I'm very familiar with. Back with more news and updates next week.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 16th, 2007
Synopsis
When the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series came out on DVD, they decided to go the 12 episodes on one disk Volume approach. Sure it was only $10, but when you are looking at near 200 episodes and realized that it would 16+ volumes to make it complete, it was a bit overwhelming. Add that to the fact they were only releasing a new volume every 4-6 months, you were looking at well over 5 years to get all of the episodes. Plus some major shelf space. Thank ...goodness after 6 volumes, they finally realized their error (took them long enough) and released Season 4 in one nice gulp. All 40 episodes spread over 5 discs. Less compression and a higher production value all around.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 16th, 2007
Synopsis
A young Jane Eyre thinks she is escaping Hell when she is sent from the home of her unloving aunt to a boarding school, but she has simply traded one Hell for another. Despite the attempts of sadistic Henry Daniell, she survives her years at the school with her spirit intact, and, now a grown woman (Joan Fontaine), she goes to work as a governess at the gothic home of Edward Rochester (Orson Welles). She perceives something good behind his forbidding extrior, and finds herself falling in lov... with her haunted employer. But what is the secret in the locked tower?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 15th, 2007
In fairness to the folks at the Disney Channel and this movie’s target audience, I’m stepping into the shoes of an 11-year-old girl for this review. Boy, these are tight.
Jump In! is totally a fun movie. It was a Disney Channel original, but now you can buy it on DVD to watch whenever you feel like it. The movie is about Izzy Daniels, a teenage boy played by Corbin Bleu, who was like, so cool in High School Musical. Izzy lives with his dad and his kid sister, and he likes to box. His dad loves...boxing even more, and since Izzy’s mom died his dad has been pushing him harder about boxing. It’s, like, all his dad talks about.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 14th, 2007
Synopsis
Baseball films always hold a place near and dear to me. I would go see them with my dad when I was a kid and enjoy the plight of a team or an individual with a desire to win and overcome the odds. Sometimes it would be funny (Bull Durham), sometimes it would be sad (Eight Men Out), sometimes it would be uplifting (Field of Dreams). However, all of the above movies would have never been as successful without one movie in particular. That movie is The Natural . The Natura... (starring Robert Redford & Glenn Close and so many other great actors & actresses) is the story of a fairy tale; one where Roy Hobbs (Redford) grows up with a great gift. The gift to play baseball better than anybody who has ever played the game. However, fate deals him a cruel hand as he encounters a mysterious woman (played by Barbara Hershey) who guns him down with a silver bullet. This ends his career for the next sixteen years until he battles back to find a spot on the Knights, a last place professional team in search of a hero. From here, this is where the story begins of a man battling his health and his demons to capture the pennant and to have his name remembered for ever.
Posted in: Brain Blasters, News and Opinions by David Annandale on April 13th, 2007
Before anything else, some housecleaning. In my piece on BluRay and HD-DVD some time ago, I quoted Video Watchdog as saying the BluRay machines would not be backwards compatible. This has turned out, of course, to be inaccurate. Video Watchdog printed its correction, and I now follow suit.
Right, then. So, after a disappointing opening at the box office, the first reports about how Grindhouse will appear on DVD have surfaced, and that’s all the excuse I need to talk about the film again... now with the advantage of having seen it.
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