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08.02.05 by ScottC @ 4:04 am  (Editor's Note: Sometimes I just like to give ScottC particular DVDs to watch him go off on them. It's like dumping chemicals together when the teacher isn't looking in chem class to see if you can make shit explode. This is Scott's 150th adverse reaction for the site. Come on. Grab some popcorn and let's celebrate by watching his head spin around. It's fun.) Film: Written by Jonathan Reynolds, based on a story by Bill Cosby Released by: Columbia/TriStar Home Video. My Advice: It's too late for me! Run! Save yourselves!  Leonard Parker (Cosby) is a spy's spy. An expert in practically everything, he's saved the world more times than you had hot dinners. So, following the rules of narrative, his personal life is a total mess. He's separated from his wife after she caught him frolicking with some blonde people and his daughter is involved with a much older stage director whose latest production has her baring all on stage. 'Bare' as in buck nekkid. With the aid of his trusty valet Frayn (Courtenay), Leonard is going to try to get his life in some sort of order. His old employer, the CIA, has other ideas. They want him to save the world again. Seems there's this mad vegetarian named Medusa Jones (Foster) who has the means to turn small animals into homicidal maniacs. She plans to release her secret formula into San Francisco Bay and revel in the slaughter. But Leonard is putting his family first. OK, let's say you're Bill Cosby. You've got a solid comedic acting career behind you and you're in the most popular sitcom ever. But the show isn't going to last forever. You want to make the transition to movies. So striking while your fame is at its hottest, you make… Leonard Part 6? Bill, um, Mr. Cosby, may I call you Bill? Thanks. So. Bill. WHAT THE FUCK WAS WRONG WITH YOU?! Now before you say that you warned people that this movie was terrible when it was released, think about this. You are credited with writing the story and you were a producer. That's means you were involved from the beginning. You could have stopped this. Come on, you're BILL FUCKING COSBY! Back in the day, your word was law. If the studio was forcing you to make shit, you could have walked. Or done something. Couldn't you see the signs? A mad vegetarian terrorist? A Gypsy fortune teller who can't speak a word of English? Driving the bastard child of an Abrams tank and a Porsche?  I'm sorry, but the only good explanation is that as a movie producer, Bill, you're a good comic. Did this start as some mad scheme to recapture your youth a la I Spy? Look, you're a pudgy middle-aged man. I'm not advocating the Cult of Hollywood Thinness and its Head Temple Whore Paris Hilton, but certain careers demand a flat stomach. Hooters waitresses, Chippendale's dancers, and international spies do not have a paunch. Unless you're in a comedy. And comedies kind of need to be, you know, funny. OK, that's enough. I can't really say any more bad things about this movie that hasn't been stated by many, many reviewers. And I'm not going to start about how this disc has no extras because what you put on here? A heartfelt apology from Cosby to the movie going public for releasing this abhorrent mix of bad farce and Coke commercial? So I'm just going to say that this piece of shit, Leonard Part 6, does not deserve to be bought or rented. In fact, if it's on the shelf of your local video store, you should complain to the manager. Buy it from Amazon...(US) Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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07.29.05 by Dindrane @ 3:27 am  Film: Original story by Toshihiko Tsukiji Features:
Dindrane's Anime Warnings:
Released by: ADV My Advice: Check it out if you like the harem genre or magical comedies.  In Maburaho, we meet Kazuki Shikimori, heir to a prestigious magical pedigree. He attends prestigious Aoi Campus, the type of place where "do not use attack magic inside the school" signs are common and where he will learn to use his awesome powers. In this magical world, a given magician can only use magic a set number of times before they turn into ash, and person's worth is determined by this amount. Alas, Kazuki's number is merely nine, whereas other characters have numbers up to 140,000 (average is 8,000), such as the school's female heartthrob, the powerful Kuriko. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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07.28.05 by Dindrane @ 2:59 am  Film: Written by Noboru Takagi, based upon the manga by Motoi Yoshida Features:
Dindrane's Anime Warnings:
Released by: Geneon My Advice: Check it out, but be aware of the theme  Koi Kaze is a unique kind of romance/drama, with a potentially disturbing central idea. Koshiro is in his late-20s, working a mediocre job at a "marriage consulting" (aka match-making) company; his depression is showing in his personal appearance, and his boss thinks he's too stubbly and smelly to deal directly with the clients. His perverted coworker only cares about meeting high school girls for nefarious purposes. Koshiro's just broken up with his girlfriend and took it rather apathetically. One day, he sees a cute, young girl and helps her recover her wallet that she's dropped on the subway. When he returns home to the house he shares with his divorced father, he learns that his much-younger sister will be coming to live with them, as their home is much closer to her high school and would cut her two-hour commute in half. Meanwhile, Koshiro goes on a "date" with the kind, young girl…who of course turns out to be his long-lost sister, about twelve to fifteen years his junior. Koshiro's stress and inner turmoil cause him to treat her with a little less than compassion at times, but anger might be his only defense against her love. The central idea of an incestuous love story seems fairly popular in anime, given the success of such stories as Angel Sanctuary, Ayako No Ceres, and the manga Hot Gimmick. The "forbidden" aspect of the show is not, however, the intended focus; it's simply a drama about how difficult love can be, and the choices we must make to be happy, or to make ourselves miserable when there are things we cannot help about our feelings. Koshiro's lady boss provides some moments of comic relief, as do Nanoka's friends, but they are only moments; the focus is always squarely upon Koshiro's difficulties. The visual quality is lovely; the art is watercolor soft with nice details and character designs. The backgrounds are kept simple, almost abstracted, to keep the focus upon the emotions of the characters. Nanoka's facial expressions, while usually a bit too mild and wimpy, have several instances of anger and frustration of her own. Nanoka's friends do a good job of reflecting the innocence and happiness of childhood that Koshiro has left far behind. The audio quality is also quite strong; the Japanese and English voices for Koshiro are quite similar, as are the voices for his boss. The Japanese voice for Nanoka has a little bit of that annoying shrieky, high-pitched quality that female anime voices have sometimes, leaving me to prefer the English vocals. The musical score, however, is simply lovely: understated, yet pregnant with feeling and not too overdone or maudlin.  The extras are simple: a clean opening, along with the original Japanese opening, and a small set of previews for other Geneon releases. While these are nice touches, it would of course have been splendid to have an art gallery, interviews with cast and/or crew, or a look at the creative process. Of course, comparisons with the original manga are always treasured. There are only four episodes on the disc, which is a shame. Regardless of your feelings about the central taboo, Koi Kaze is beautifully-written, with a gentleness about the benighted Koshiro that defies your expectations about the situation in which he finds himself. He is not the pervert you may expect, nor is Nanoka some kind of precocious Lolita. The series can be compared to Saikano, another show that challenged the characters (and the viewers) to make the most of seriously tragic circumstances. The series does not deal with the central taboo in a facile way, leaving viewers to make up their own minds about the ethics of the situation and what Koshiro and Nanoka should do about their illicit feelings. It truly is different than you think, and much higher quality, assuming you can handle the buckets of angst and convenient falls of cherry blossoms. Bully for Geneon for taking the risk. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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07.27.05 by ScottC @ 12:57 am   Film: Written by Allan Carr and Bronte Woodard Features:
Released by: Anchor Bay. My Advice: Rent Xanadu or Chicago instead. Jack Morell (Guttenberg) is a highly excitable composer and wants to write music for the world to boogie to. Unfortunately he has a singing voice that makes horny cats jealous. Fortunately, he is sharing a house with ex-model and free spirit Samantha Simpson (Perrine). Unfortunately...she can't sing worth a lick either. Fortunately and by an amazing coincidence, she knows several macho men who love to sing and dance and they hook up to perform Jack's songs. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the music industry is very hard to break into. Fortunately...she knows a music producer who still has the hots for her. Unfortunately he thinks the group, now known as The Village People, is too "out there." Fortunately, while all this drama is going on, Samantha finds herself with Ron White (Jenner), a handsome tax attorney. Unfortunately, his square ways are dying hard and this is crimping Samantha's style. Fortunately, his mother is hosting a fabulous event in San Francisco that The Village People can perform at and blow the world away. Unfortunately...(last one, I promise) they made a terrible movie about all this called Can't Stop the Music. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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07.26.05 by Dindrane @ 11:53 pm  Film: Directed by Koichi Mashimo Features:
Dindrane's Anime Warnings:
Released by: ADV My Advice: Get it if you like action movies or other Bee Train productions  The creators of Noir and .hack//SIGN bring us another tale of young girls doing the best they can to survive tragedy, deadly jobs, and difficult worlds. It opens with a child asking if a place where people do not desire, where they are just people, exists. Then we are taken quickly to meet Madlax, the mercenary assassin and agent who jumps out of helicopters, has big blue eyes, and knows no fear. The show revolves around the war between the tyrannical government and the Galza. It's never clear which side Madlax dropped in to assist, given that she is a mercenary and works for the highest bidder. However, when she befriends one of the rebels, she goes after the local government officials, in a quite lovely dress, and high-style gunfights erupt, all accompanied by Kajiura's emotionally rich music. The following episodes show Madlax take on other, similar jobs, as well as introducing the character of Margaret, a schoolgirl in a peaceful country who has visions that threaten to overwhelm her personality. All this, though the two lead characters have yet to meet, and the nature of their connection is as yet unknown. The overall tone of the show is very military; the only real relief from this is Madlax herself, as she discusses things she wants to eat for dinner when she's done with her work, which is, if you think about it, often what soldiers think about when they're out on classified assignments. Madlax seems to struggle with issues of making a difference and what her personal ethics should be. This makes a cool character into something even richer. Because this is a Bee Train production, you can be sure that things will not make sense right away and that they will be revealed when the director is ready to do so, rather than when you are ready to know them. The action is all very abstract, frequently mixing unexplained flashbacks with scattered pieces of exposition or character development. Reality is never something either Margaret or the viewers can be 100% sure about. The sound is solid; the "throwaway" extras have good voices, especially the supposed sugar transporters, who are really Galza agents. The sound effects and music have a good balance with the vocals. As with other Bee Train productions, the music is outstanding, again composed by Yuki Kajiura. The visuals are nicely done given the militaristic nature of the show--very dark with realistic designs for the most part and computer-designed images, such as skies, that blend well with the more traditional-looking elements. The subtitle options include an "everything translated" option, as well as a songs and signs only option.  The bonus bits are genuinely quite nice: the DVD insert has text interviews with the screenplay writer and the Japanese producer. These "staff talks" are quite interesting, and a lovely addition that more DVD companies should provide, especially given the relative inexpensiveness of providing such text-based bonuses. We also get a clean opening and closing, along with an interesting unused animation. Compare the one they used with the ones they didn't for some insight into what they wanted to emphasize about the characters and the show. We also get a selection of Japanese promo shots: very interesting and a nice way for benighted Westerners to get a feel for Japanese TV and pretend we were there. The riches continue with "Conversations with SSS," which is a series of outtakes/alternate dialogues. Depending upon your sense of humor, these will either seem lame or hysterical, but give them a chance. It's nice that they bothered, after all, and more voice actors are always good. Finally, a large selection of design sketches show off the quality art of the show. If you can be patient with the slow and sometimes weird pacing, as well as the mysteries that serve only to tease and at times annoy, Madlax is a good series filled with hidden depths and surges of action. If you enjoyed Noir, you'll like this similar show. Fans of action movies and military tales will also find something to appreciate, as will girls who enjoy seeing competent female protagonists. Just try to overlook the needlessly convoluted political plot and the truly awful names of both countries and people. It will take some patience and willingness to be confused for a while, but this is the sort of show that might pay off. Buy it from Amazon...(US)(CAN) Needcoffee.com Gabfest! Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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07.20.05 by ScottC @ 6:43 am  Film: Written by Steve Latshaw Features:
Released by: Artisan. My Advice: Avoid It.  The Amva space station is corporately financed and Russian built. With this dubious pedigree, it's no surprise that they don't detect the meteor storm until the big rocks are smashing into the station and crewmen are being sucked into space. Now the damaged station is falling to Earth and will suffer a fiery destruction. So of course it's up to the brave Americans of NASA to save them. And of course they just happen to have a space shuttle ready to go. A wrinkle appears when the NSA has a "request." They want one of their people added to the rescue mission to obtain data on an experimental energy technology on the station. Of course the rescue mission is riddled with complications: a damaged shuttle, trapped crewmen, and locked lifeboats. And of course the codes to unlock the lifeboats is in the hands of an evil CEO who only needs a moustache to twirl. So of course they send Ice-T to kick his butt. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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07.20.05 by HTQ4 @ 12:26 am  Film: Written by Michael McCullers, William Osborne, and Peter Hewitt, based on the television series by Gerry and Silvia Anderson Features:
Released by: Universal My Advice: If you've got young kids, they might enjoy it, but don't buy it unless you are absolutely forced to. We're talking with guns. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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07.15.05 by ScottC @ 4:56 am  Film: Directed by Chris Rodley Features:
Released by: BFS. My Advice: Get it at the library. Artists can take a normal situation (a woman sitting, a bowl of fruit, an outdoor scene), add their talent and inspiration, and create something more. So is Andy Warhol duly famous for making a bunch of soup cans into art or did he con the art world with attitude and bohemian eccentricity? He even called his own art studio "The Factory" and most of his work is photos transferred to canvas by silk-screening and slapping some color on them. So is it art or is it bullshit? Regardless of your answer, Warhol's efforts in art, music, film, and publishing still influence today's media. The documentary Andy Warhol: The Complete Picture tries to understand the man who used artistic pretension as a shield and his own self-image to hide behind. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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07.07.05 by Widge @ 3:46 am  Film: Written by David Webb Peoples & Janet Peoples, based on the film "La Jetée" by Chris Marker Features:
Released by: Universal. My Advice: Buy it if you don't have it already. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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07.07.05 by ScottC @ 3:37 am  Film: Written by John Kohn and Robert Bentley, based on the novel Faraday's Flowers by Jim Goddard Released by: Artisan. My Advice: Don't bother even if you're a Madonna fan. Faraday's Flowers is a legend that no one seriously believes in. In 1937, Walter Faraday (Freeman), the Opium King, was one step ahead of the Japanese army invading Shanghai. He had over 1100 pounds of opium to maintain his lifestyle. But because of circumstances and double-crosses too complicated to go into, the opium disappeared and has never resurfaced. One year later, Mr. Burns (Michael Aldridge) and Miss Gloria Tatlock (Madonna), administrators of a charity hospital, are looking for the flowers to use as painkillers for their suffering patients. They recruit Glendon Wasey (Penn) to help them out because of his fluent Chinese and his shady character, since they have to deal with some pretty shady characters in search of the Flowers. They run into baseball-loving gangsters, Imperial concubines, sadistic police, and enough double crosses to kill a vampire at fifty paces. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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