Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 7th, 2007
Some of you might know the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream, then others of you might known the movie simply called Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but one way or another you know about the crazy days Hunter S. Thompson had in Vegas. Hunter Thompson along with his buddy Oscar Zeta Acosta are the credited creators of Gonzo Journalism (Journalism with indistinct lines between fact and fiction), so the book and movie are partially based on their accounts, except replace Thompson with Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) and Acosta with Dr. Gonzo (Benicio del Toro). The movie is very similar to the book, and Thompson had a large role in the production of the film, even lending Depp clothes and accessories for authenticity.
Raoul Duke and lawyer buddy Dr. Gonzo are sent to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race for a magazine, to prepare for the trip the two have come armed with two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole multi colored collection of uppers, downers, laughers, screamers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. It goes without saying that the rest of the movie consists of these two and there adventures around Las Vegas while taking copious amounts of narcotics, and I can assure there is very minimal journalism done.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on January 7th, 2007
Gameplay
Hype. Hype is a piece of the media that we never want to admit to ourselves, or anyone for that matter, we let get the best of us. After all, how many times has the hype for something become so huge that it turned out to be a real bummer once you finally played it? When message boards started rambling in 2005 about a game coming from Microsoft Studios (made by Epic) entitled Gears of War, a small look into Microsoft’s history of product release, would easily entail a game that would ...ake forever to actually hit the store shelves. So low and behold the shock when Gears of War hit store shelves in November of this year. Taking over a year to make and amid numerous delays, would this spell a sign of things to come for Gears of War?
Posted in: Brain Blasters, News and Opinions by David Annandale on January 5th, 2007
William Peter Blatty might seem a slightly odd candidate for discussion in this space. After all, he wrote and produced The Exorcist, whose enormous mainstream success makes it rather suspect as a cult film. Ditto for another of Blatty’s screenplays: A Shot in the Dark, which is arguably the best of the Pink Panther movies. But as a director, ah, there we start getting closer to cult status. He has made two films. The Exorcist III (1990) is his best-known effort, and is debatably a cult movie. Ve...y little debate is necessary regarding his other work: The Ninth Configuration (1980).
A couple of words about The Exorcist III to begin with. Of all the sequels and prequels to the landmark original, this is the only one that really stands up to scrutiny. It is, granted, a flawed work. It’s low-key, character-driven mood is broken by the sudden over-the-top pyrotechnics of the climactic exorcism, but we can’t entirely blame Blatty for that. The story, in a nutshell, goes something like this: Blatty gets the green light to film his novel Legion. He comes up with the perfect ending for his story. Studio suits tell him that the title has to be changed to The Exorcist III or no one will know it’s a sequel. Fine, he changes the title. Then he’s told there’s another problem: there’s no exorcism in the film, and how can it be called The Exorcist III if there’s no exorcism in it? You can figure out the rest.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 5th, 2007
Pierce Brosnan as a hit man, something were all used to with the James Bond franchise, but this time he�s not killing for the good guys. Instead he is a freelance assassin traveling the globe killing whoever he�s told and for good money too. But comparing Pierce�s role in this film to James Bond isn�t exactly fair, although the characters share some similarities; you really have to watch this one to appreciate the uniqueness of the character.
Pierce Brosnan stars as Julian Noble, a jaded assassin visiting Mexico on business, don�t expect the same Pierce you�ve seen as James Bond as of late. Instead he plays a much deeper and more troubled assassin, which makes this movie both funny and dramatic. Greg Kinnear plays Danny Wright an edgy salesman on his last whim hoping to land an account with a big client whilst in Mexico. The moment these two meet in the hotel bar the humor, dark at times, begins. They exchange awkward conversation, which ultimately results in Danny taking off in a huff because of an offensive comment made by Julian. The next morning the two meet again, Danny not wanting anything to do with this mysterious stranger, but Julian is sincerely sorry and offers up tickets to see a local bull fight. This is where the real fun begins as Julian reveals his profession, and even feels he has to somehow prove he is telling the truth. The two form an awkward yet undeniable bond and part ways from Mexico. Things really take a turn for the worst beyond there, Julian is undergoing a mid life crisis, causing him to rethink his profession and ultimately resulting a hit put out on him. Apparently this guy has no other friends, so guess whose door he goes knocking on?
![The Matador [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-matador-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 5th, 2007
You may have heard this one before. Annabelle (Erin Kelly, channelling Leelee Sobieski) is the hellraising daughter of a US Senator, sent to a Catholic girls’ school to be out of sight and out of trouble. Her rebellious ways continue, however, and she falls in love with her poetry teacher Simone (Diane Gaidry). Much angst, particularly on Simone’s part, ensues, not to mention inevitable walks on the beach and much Lilith Fair-style musical noodlings (our heroines would clearly die of shock if they had a run-in with Maria Beatty), before the consummation and the rather sudden ending of the movie arrive.
Kelly and Gaidry turn in good work, and succinctness of the storytelling keeps the viewer’s interest. There is a larger problem, though, than the movie’s rather overdone storyline and not-terribly-original narrative technique. In the making-of featurette, writer/director Katherine Brooks acknowledges the inspiration provided by Mädchen in Uniform, and how she had wished the student and teacher had gotten together in that film because that would have been “hot.” All right, so that makes this pic something a fantasy. Fair enough. But she also wants a real-world tie-in to all the stories in the news about teachers arrested for having sex with their students, only her take is sympathetic. This leads to some intellectual dishonesty. Having the student actively seduce the teacher is a neat but cheap cop-out from dealing with the unbalanced, predatory power dynamic such a relationship implies. Any truly ethical teacher would have run in a blind panic from a student making the advances Annabelle does, but Simone only utters one line at the end of the film to suggest that her many haunted looks might have been caused by the notion that what she is tempted to do might be wrong. I have this sense of the film trying to have things both ways, and it simply can’t. But even with these knocks against it, it remains a not unengaging romance.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 5th, 2007
Here we go, with another rise and fall story in the underworld. Two young friends in Jamaica, Biggs and Wayne, grow up separately to become powerful gangsters (the “shottas” of the title). After a prolonged separation, they reunite in Kingston, and the story takes them back and forth between that city and Miami as they climb the drug totem pole, heading for the inevitable fall shown pre-credits.
All the characters speak Jamaican patois, making subtitle necessary. This and the vision of the grinding poverty of Kingston give a certain freshness to the film, but the storyline is utterly hackneyed, and we know nothing about the characters we are following, let alone have any reason to sympathize with them. Attitudes toward women are, as one might expect, antediluvian. Imagine a Grand Theft Auto storyline presented with all the humour and satire removed, and this is what you’d get.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on January 3rd, 2007
New Columns, Gamers do make money & Guitars for everyone - Welcome to the Busted Old Jalopy that got a new fender this year known as Dare to Play the Game.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 3rd, 2007
Two things you should know about me before reading this review: I'll watch anything involving John Goodman, and I've never seen the animated classic this live-action version of The Year Without a Santa Claus is based on. So unlike when I watched the horrendous Jim Carrey-Ron Howard take on Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, in this case I hold no special place for an original.
The times are changing. Toys are becoming more complicated and violent, people are becoming more and more materialistic, and the "true" meaning of Christmas is being lost. Santa (John Goodman), now just "a toy delivery division of Santa Co.", can't keep up, and he's becoming disillusioned about the whole thing. What he needs is just one kid who really cares about Christmas for the right reasons. Otherwise, he's skipping the whole Christmas Eve present thing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 3rd, 2007
I've gotta say, I love stand-up comedy. My first albums were George Carlin records, and I'd always listen to my Dad's recorded tape of a Friar's Club roast of Don Rickles, where four letter words would get dropped as often as the drinks in the room. Then it was on to Richard Pryor, then onto the R-rated genius of Sam Kinison and to a lesser extent, Andrew Dice Clay. And now, it's Lewis Black, David Cross, Dave Attell and Robert Schimmel.
To understand the premise behind Dane Cook's Tourgasm, I guess one has to better understand Dane Cook. For those that don't, he is the stand-up flavor of the month right now, a man whose albums have sold like gangbusters, who has successfully utilized the internet to spread word of mouth about his material, and he is all over shows that the kids are watching. In March/April 2005, he rented a rock star bus and invited three comic friends of his (Jay Davis, Robert Kelly and Gary Gulman), and did a bit of a barnstorming tour of college campuses across the country, similar to what Kinison did with the so-called "Outlaws of Comedy" in the '80s, as Cook's tour was designed to get his friends some more exposure, while giving his fans a chance to check him out. Filmed over 30 days in 20 locations, the group of episodes (that presumably aired on HBO awhile back) was also a look into the personalities of each comic.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 2nd, 2007
On its surface, The Promise seems to have a good pedigree backing it up. You've got the guy who directed Farewell, My Concubine and the cinematographer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, combining forces for a Chinese film that is epic in scope, similar to the Zhang Yimou films Hero and House of Flying Daggers.
The problem with The Promise is that the story rambles a bit, and the characters are ones that you don't care about. The stunts aren't even breathtaking either, as the visual effects are apparently done with wires and green screens, and can be made out so obviously, they lack the magic and wonder of the Yimou films, or even other films like Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle.
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