Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 3rd, 2006
This, the first of three films in the Fast and Furious trilogy, tells the story of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his group of friends Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Jesse (Chad Lindberg), Vince (Matt Schulze), Leon (Johnny Strong) and his sister Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster). By day Dominic and his friends seem like normal people who work in the garage on their cars, have barbeques and seem to have a good old time. Once the night comes, Dominic involves himself in the L.A. street races, something he particula...ly excels at. There is something else that he and his buddies do that prompts the interference of the police and office Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker).
Turns out that Dominic and his buddies are suspects (mostly due to Dominic’s background) of stealing product from trucks of which include high-end audio/video equipment. With a little money from column A and a little from column B, they fix up their cars, go race them, and gain tons of gawking fans who then run to the local custom shop trying to fix up their own cars so they can become the next Dominic in the racing world. Brian’s job is to infiltrate Dominic and his gang, try to prove that Dominic is indeed behind these robberies and bring him down. Unfortunately for Brian, he develops a friendship with these people (well all except Vince for the most part).
Posted in: Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on October 2nd, 2006
I may have some more free time to do this now…
Maybe the studios shot their holiday wads when it came to big name releases last week, because the most notable news on the next-gen front was that not only will the PS3 maybe have a Blu-Ray demo disc to show off the magic of the format for those 31 or 32 of you that will be able to find and buy one when it comes out. To counter this, Microsoft will apparently include King Kong when folks buy their HD-DVD add-on when that comes out in November. Stay tun...d to this space for more details as they’re received.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 1st, 2006
Synopsis
As one who has a brother that is (or was) a bit of a Stephen King fanatic and loves goofy King adaptations like Pet Cemetery, I’d never seen The Dead Zone, and I’m a Christopher Walken (True Romance) fan. I’m also a David Cronenberg (Dead Ringers) fan. And now that I’ve finally seen The Dead Zone, I can consider myself having a fairly complete existence now.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on October 1st, 2006
Opening
I am a huge fan of the Evil Dead series. The perfect blend of movie style with a steady dose of horror and more than plentiful slapstick humor. The main character; Ash voiced by Bruce Campbell has to be one of the top ten heroes of all time as the witty boomstick shooting, chainsaw waving good guy. I had not played any of the previous Evil Dead games for Playstation or other systems, but however I was automatically sold when I saw this title in the Circuit City c...earance bin. What a time I had with the game.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 30th, 2006
Synopsis
I can honestly say that a one-hour standup special might result in my shortest review ever, but if that’s how the chips fall this time, so be it. Bob Newhart is certainly not without his admirers, he’s been an established comedic force for decades. He didn’t get his big break until the ‘60s, and parlayed that success into television shows in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and aside from the occasional movie appearance, shows up from time to time with late night talk show hosts that run out of material.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 30th, 2006
Synopsis
Thankfully, some of the larger studios are beginning to produce films that are either good old-fashioned family films, or are films touting religious value and piety. Walden Media, who were behind such films as Holes and How to Eat Fried Worms, have produced and released another film with similar concepts behind them, a charming little piece of celluloid entitled Hoot.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 30th, 2006
Synopsis
The film opens with the Senate pornography hearings of the 1950s, which cracked down on bondage-movie purveyor Irving Klaw. As Bettie Page (Gretchen Mol) waits to be called to testify, she flashes back to the events that brought her to this point. After an abusive childhood in Tennessee, a failed marriage and a gang rape, she flees to New York, where she becomes first a glamour model, and eventually the most highly sought-after bondage queen.
Posted in: Brain Blasters, News and Opinions by David Annandale on September 29th, 2006
Elizabeth Bathory (or, more properly, Erzsébet Báthory) is one of those historical figures just made for horror film. A Hungarian aristocrat, she, if the stories are to be believed, had some 650 young women killed, and would, it has been said, roar from her seat as she watched the torture. And did I mention she believed bathing in blood would keep her eternally young? Eventually, the authorities had at her, and though she was not executed, all the windows and doors of her castle were bricked up, imprisoning her in da...kness until the end of her life. I say, “if the stories are to be believed,” because there are, as one would imagine with this notorious a figure, many disputes (check out the Wikipedia entry and you’ll see what I mean). It has also been argued that she, and not Vlad Tepes, is the real inspiration for Stoker’s Dracula.
At any rate, this kind of tale is too gruesomely juicy to ignore, combining as it does slaughter and sex on an almost apocalyptic scale, and the fact that a woman is the perpetrator is, for good or ill, an added inducement to certain filmmakers and audiences. Bathory sprang to mind because there have been a couple of recent releases that use this figure, and so herewith, a very rough survey of a few of the Bathory films out there.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on September 27th, 2006
From Kotaku comes news that the Microsoft HD-DVD addon for the XBox360 will sell for $199 US. This includes a "Universal Media Remote," and for a promotional period will include King Kong as well. So - TCO for HD-DVD is potential as low as $499 (xbox core = $299, plus HD-DVD add on) - not a bad cost of entry and certainly competitive with PS3's blu-ray hoopla and the BR players on the market.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 27th, 2006
Synopsis
Adam Sandler plays Michael Newman, stressed-out workaholic who, overwhelmed by his job though he is, is allowing it to interfere with his family life. At the end of his tether one night, he sets out to buy a universal remote, but Christopher Walken (apparently playing Christopher Lloyd) sells him a truly universal remote.
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