Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 11th, 2006
Synopsis
About to be married for what he hopes will be the final time, Caveh Zahedi turns to us and reveals his long battle with sex addiction. His story is a difficult one for him to tell, not only for the (very, very funny) personal humiliation it entails, but because he keeps interrupting himself and jumping from one moment in his life to another, but also because he gets tangled up with explaining how the recreations were done in the movie we are now watching. Thus, having just said that he could...’t afford to shoot any scenes in Paris, suddenly, Zahedi sheepishly addresses us from Paris.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 11th, 2006
Synopsis
For those who enjoy the films of Warren Beatty, perhaps his quintessential film, the epic Reds has finally arrived on DVD. The film, which earned 12 Oscar nominations in 1981, including a remarkable four for Beatty (as Director, which he won), Actor, Writer and Producer), the film was a clear labor of love for the left-leaning political activist. Beatty plays John Reed, an American political writer who becomes more and more enamored with the ideas and concepts behind a blossoming ideological...revolution in World War I era Russia.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 11th, 2006
Synopsis
I first thought that Supernatural was a pointless, stupid show that Jared Padalecki was starring in, because I kind of liked his character on the Gilmore Girls (I’m a married male, by the way), and doing this show that I didn’t know that much about smelled like an instant disaster.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2006
The third entry into the X-Men franchise turned out quite a bit better than I expected. Early script turmoils were only overshadowed by cast problems. It seemed the bottom fell out when Bryan Singer decided to take on The Man of Steel instead of X3. Enter Brett Ratner, best known for the Rush Hour films. Give the man credit for overcoming a ton of problems to deliver a pretty good thrill ride film. Ratner adapted quickly to the f/x driven world of X-Men and managed to fashion a rather compelling tale. The idea of a...“cure” for mutancy is likely the best plot element in the franchise. Ratner was smart enough to not tinker much with the formula already established by Singer. The problem is, he played it entirely too safe. The story has the potential for a hell of an emotional tale which it never quite delivers. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the film a lot, and I have nothing against these amusement rides, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this film wanted to be something more than it was. In the greatest traditions of shows like Star Trek, there was a powerful message to be mined here. Instead, it sat there more like a clever plot device, which it certainly was. Ratner did a fine job of dealing with so many characters all wanting their own moments to shine. Hugh Jackman still steals the show as Wolverine, but this time Berry’s Storm and particularly Famke Janssen have meaty roles, if not too much dialogue. The real cast surprise has to be Kelsey Grammer. Who could have guessed that barfly Frasier would make such a fine Beast? Patrick Stewart’s death scene was visually stunning but a bit of a letdown. (Stay tuned after the credits for more on this situation.) The Golden Gate Bridge sequence is a very impressive display. Finally, I expected to see more humor coming from Ratner. The fact is, I guess I expected that there would be too much humor. Perhaps he tried too hard not to create X3:Rush Hour.
For the most part this will be the last X-Men film for at least a little while. A Wolverine project will most certainly be the next related film. There is talk of a young Magneto film. I wouldn’t expect to see Berry return to the franchise, as she was not exceptionally happy with her role. When the X-Men do return, I would expect to see more time spent on different mutants. The three films do work well together as a satisfying trilogy. Any future films will likely take a fresh approach to the franchise.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2006
The USA network took over the Forever Knight series for its third year. In a way, you could say they saved the show from cancellation, but they also killed it. In keeping with the nework’s M.O. of the time, it was believed the series wasn’t accessible enough. The obvious grab for the younger audience appeared in the likes of the Andy Garcia clone Ben Bass as the Vachon. Lovable partner Schanke was killed off along with the previous season’s captain. Nick was given a female partner in the likes of sci-fi veteran Li...a Ryder as spoiled daddy’s girl Vetter. La Croix and Janette took much smaller roles, and the whole thing smelled more like a soap opera. Fortunately the new network didn’t play with the traditional double story aspect that made the show unique. The atmosphere pretty much remained intact. Now Nick’s partner is aware of vampires, but not that Nick is one of them, which is far more unbelievable. The sexy element was ratcheted up a bit to try to increase the ratings. All of these elements failed to bring in new viewers, and Nick Knight was finally laid to rest with most of the cast in May of 1995.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 10th, 2006
Waist Deep tells the story of a man named Otis Senior (Baby Boy’s Tyrese Gibson), an ex-con who is trying to straighten out his life after being releasing from jail. Otis, known by his previous street name of ‘O2’, is working as a security guard at a place he got from part of his ex-con program. One day O2 goes to pick up his son, Otis Junior, from school when his child and his car get ‘jacked’ in a carjacking. O2 chases down these men and, despite killing two of them, doesn’t get his car back. He then ...ealizes, after seeing a woman named Coco (Meaghan Good) who tried to sell him some suits cheap, that he was set up. Obviously this doesn’t sit well with O2 who forcefully (read gun point) convinces her to come with him in hopes of getting his son back and getting her off of the hustling that has consumed her life.
O2’s cousin Lucky (who was suppose to pick up Otis Junior but failed to) tells him that a gang leader named Big Meat (rapper The Game) heard that O2 has a lot of money (try $100,000). In your typical movie plot line, Big Meat gives O2 48 hours to give up this money in exchange for his son. While all this seems kind of terrifying, there is some actual humor to this. As all of this is occurring to O2 and Coco, in the background there is an anti-violence rally going on throughout downtown Los Angeles.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 10th, 2006
Synopsis
In the soulless wasteland of the San Fernando Valley, feeling-her-oats teen Evan Rachel Wood meets cowboy (or something) Edward Norton at a filling station. Despite the creepy age difference, friendship becomes romance, but Wood’s father (David Morse) is understandably less than keen about the relationship. He orders an end to it. Neither of the lovers is happy with that, and the situation is all the more explosive since Norton is far from being right in the head.
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2006
So how about this, Blu-Ray plans to region-code their discs. While it’s probably a formality that the HD-DVD camp does this sometime, it makes buying the Fox releases in Europe and Japan all the sweeter for the time being. This is while Warner revises forecast for BD and HD-DVD spending, saying that people won’t spend as much for the remainder of the year, mainly because of equipment delays (Sony, I’m looking at you on that one…).
If you’re lucky enough to live where the Target employees aren’t the brightes... bulbs in the lamp, then you might be able to snag Batman Begins, The Polar Express and Corpse Bride just before they’re due to street on Tuesday. I haven’t been as lucky, but from what I hear (and read), the Batman release appears to reason enough to get into the next-gen player buying business. The audio and video are reference quality, so for you early adopters out there, get your arse down to Tar-shay, or at least your local electronics store, so you can snap this release up pronto.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2006
I don’t watch a lot of horror movies, but when I do I want them to be scary or amusing, or both. I found Blackwater Valley Exorcism to be none of the above.
The story centers around the demonic possession of a young woman, and the efforts a group of people make to save her. This group includes her family, her father’s farmhands, a sheriff, a veterinarian and a priest who’s never dealt with this sort of thing before. Luckily, one of those farmhands just happens to be a former priest who has conducted an exorcism.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2006
Peter Bogdanovich’s The All Laughed is a classy, bittersweet film. It’s plot is pretty thin, but here’s the gist: a New York City private detective agency is hired to keep tabs on two women suspected of infidelity. Things get interesting when the gumshoes on the trail begin falling for their lovely targets.
The best part of this film is its cast. Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, John Ritter, Dorothy Stratten, Patti Hansen, Colleen Camp, Blaine Novak and George Morfogen all fit their parts so well, it’s not surprising to learn in the bonus material that Bogdanovich wrote the parts with exactly these actors in mind. Hepburn and Gazzara anchor this picture with a measure of class that’s so rare in films today. This was Hepburn’s final starring film role, and she’s as effortless as ever. Gazzara is old-school cool, making moments out of so many of his lines.
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