Posted on
01.31.06 by ScottC @ 4:28 am   Film: Series Created by Criss Angel Features:
Released by: A&E Home Video. My Advice: See his stage show instead. There is a movement among magicians to make the art more modern, more of an edge, more x-treme. Instead of a safe encompassing environment like a stage, they perform their tricks on the street in full view. Without a set audience or a backstage, some magicians feel that this "street magic" is more real for lack of a better word. David Blaine has been on the vanguard of this movement but there are others such as Criss Angel: Mindfreak. But Angel does more than perform feats of sleight of hand and mentalism. He pushes magic and himself to the edge with death defying stunts where he's set on fire, blown up, hung over a desert with hooks in his flesh and even hit with lightning. And you get to see all this in this new series. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
|
Posted on
01.23.06 by HTQ4 @ 7:43 pm  Film: Written by Paul W.S. Anderson Features:
Released by: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment My Advice: Rent it. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
|
Posted on
01.02.06 by Doc @ 11:43 pm  Film: Written by Clifton Ko and Raymond Fung Features:
Released by: Fortune Star/20th Century Fox My Advice: Skip it. If you want to see Lee in something, rent Rapid Fire instead. Brandon (Lee) is a fairly normal guy, with a fairly normal, if financially challenging, life. He works a couple of bullshit jobs to save for a future with his fianceé May (Kent) and maybe buy a motorcycle. Things go a bit south when Brandon's childhood friend Michael (Wong) decides he's interested in May, and frames Brandon for the murder of a meddlesome dirty cop that was making Michael's drug-dealing difficult. So off Brandon trundles to prison for eight years, while May, who now discovers she's pregnant, flees Michael's "amorous" advances by moving to, of all places, Brazil. While in prison, Brandon learns that Michael wasn't the friend he thought he was, and decides to get a little payback when he finally gets released. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
|
Posted on
12.28.05 by HTQ4 @ 3:29 pm  Film: Written by John Le Carré, based on his novel Features:
Released by: A&E Home Video My Advice: At the very least rent it. Hard core anglophiles will want to add it to their collection  George Smiley (Elliott) has been asked to look into a letter received by a friend of his. The letter is from a Mrs. Rode who states that she is afraid that her husband is trying to kill her. However, the first phone call looking into the issue discovers the fact that she's dead. So, Smiley and his friend Ailsa Brimley (Jackson) are off to Carne to investigate. It just so happens that the headmaster of the Carne school, Terence Fielding (Ackland), is the brother of a dead war buddy of Smiley and Brimley's. As the investigation continues, the murders keep happening. So it's up to Smiley, Brimley and the local constabulatory to solve the mystery. As is the case nine times out of ten, this BBC production is filled with some amazing performances and some incredible writing. The most unfortunate part of this whole affair is that this was one of Elliott's last performances. A quick check of IMDB shows he was active in his career up until the very end. He and Jackson play off each other very well and create a very deep relationship. Ackland is creepy as always, but he's more than just creepy this time. He creates a rather sympathetic character with more going on that's revealed at first. Bale is as moody as you'd expect from his work in earlier roles and he is very good with the relatively small role that he was given. Just to be clear, he's crucial to the story, but his role is written to be rather vague on purpose. It is also rather unfortunate that the DVD is not better than it is. The biographies provided are text-based only. Seeing as how this is a TV movie and they're not exactly known for being laiden with bonus bits--rather, we're just glad they're even available--I shan't beat A&E up too much for this. Of course, some sort of focus featurette on Elliott would have been nice, or even more information on Le Carré and adaptations of his work would have been nice. But ah well. However, if you are looking for a good murder mystery and are into the whole British TV thing (and who isn't?), you will definitely want to pick this one up. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
|
Posted on
12.25.05 by ScottC @ 7:45 pm  Film: Written and Directed by Bill Condon Features:
Released by: Fox Home Entertainment. My Advice: Rent it. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
|
Posted on
12.20.05 by Dindrane @ 4:07 am  Film: Directed by Hideaki Anno Features:
Dindrane's Anime Warnings:
Released by: ADV My Advice: A must-have.  Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most popular and famous anime series in history, and for good reason: the show combines mystery with science fiction and has both good writing and finely tuned characterization. The look of the show complements the near future setting and intended mood, and the soundtrack compliments all of this with skill and awareness of audience needs and preferences. Episodes 11-14 bring us over halfway through the series, and some mysteries have yet to be solved. The power goes off in Tokyo-3, and the three Children (born exactly nine-months after the all-important Second Impact and therefore capable of piloting the Evangelions) are sent to investigate. Asuka, of course, is her usual cocky self, and may cause the other Children problems because of this. When another Angel arrives in the power-dead city, the Evas have to be activated by hand. Next, in episode 12, the 10th Angel is heading for Tokyo-3, too, in order to crash-land and destroy the city. Episode 13 shows us some more diagnostics being run on the MAGI supercomputer, which sets up the 11th Angel and sets off another climactic battle. Finally, in episode 14, we get a kind of recap, as the members of SEELE review each Angel met thus far and question the use of the Dead Sea Scrolls as a source of planning. Meanwhile, Shinji is tested inside EVA-00 with disastrous results. One of the most interesting things about this show is the psychological depth of each character. Given that part of the show's creation was based upon Hideaki Anno's own experiences with therapy and the strangeness of the eventual ending, it is not surprising that each character has some kind of malady or form of depression, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder; commentators have suggested a number of explanations for the characters and their complex relationships, including the theory that Shinji, Rei, and Asuka represent the ego, superego, and id, respectively, or that Asuka is Shinji's burgeoning sexuality (mental Eros). It is up to the viewer to decide, when all is said and done, what it all actually means.  The audio is better this time around, with the English voice actors setting more into their roles and defining the characters. The Japanese voice actors continue to be more effective, however, and this will be true for several more years until some English seiyuu figure out what they're doing. A bit more stereo play would have been nice, but it's hard to engineer that where none existed on the original. The visuals are very nicely done, with no obvious problems, as befits an "ultimate" version. Features can't make up for bad transfer or faulty originals, but the quality here should please most fans. The features list includes another lengthy insert booklet. This time, we get more episode commentaries, images from the show, and detailed episode commentaries, but also a look at the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Angels and Eva-01. We also get another two commentaries from three different voice actors; too bad it's just not a very informative one. I would rather hear the director or writers talk about the meaning of the show elements than have the producers pay voice actors to say "wow, it was fun to do this" over and over. Of course, any commentary is better than none, but if you're going to pay for one, at least have them say something useful and worth the pay. The exception to this complaint is the commentary containing Shemwell, whose insertions are always interesting and valuable. Fans will enjoy hearing him talk about his procedure and experiences, though this makes the additional featurette about the remix process a rehashing of the same info. If the audio and visual quality won't convince you to buy the Platinum editions when you already own the series in another release, then these features should. In short, if you enjoyed the earlier volumes or indeed have ever enjoyed anime, you need to see Neon Genesis Evangelion. It is a classic of the art form and will truly entertain you, as well as giving you something to think about. Especially for science fiction fans, this series is a must-have. Between the engrossing plot, the rounded characterizations, and the attractive art, the show is, if not a masterpiece, at least one of the finest anime series in history that should be in everyone's DVD collection, right alongside Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Spirited Away. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
|
Posted on
12.13.05 by Widge @ 2:31 am  Okay, so the large furry guy is just about to arrive in cinemas. I pray that he will kick my ass through the back of the theatre. Let us hope I am correct in this, mostly because I have a running bet with Tobias about my reaction to the film. But enough about that. Let's talk about what's really important: stuff you can buy to supplement your giant ape experience. First up, know your history. I'm talking about the two-disc collectible tin-packaged edition. Along with the completely restored film, you've got commentary by Ray Harryhausen and Ken Ralston with Merian C. Cooper and Fay Wray providing comments via excerpts of interviews. It comes with postacrds, a reproduction of the souvenir program from 1933, a docu on Cooper, a gigantic seven-part making-of docu, and test footage with commentary by Harryhausen. Warner Brothers is definitely not screwing around with this one. For more info, check out the official site here.  If you want to then delve into the remake, then streeting today is something from Universal that will help you out: Peter Jackson's production diaries in a two-disc set. This impressive set, which basically gives you DVD bonus features for a film you're about to go into the cinema to see--sweet, boasts the production diary bits that Jackson posted to the official Kong website. From end to end, you get the whole tour of the behind the scenes process, plus a fifty-two page production memoir and some art prints. Are you hardcore? Then grab it.   Want to hear the movie once you leave the cinema? Fine, the soundtrack's available with a score by James Newton Howard. That also streets today. Twenty-one tracks and that hits from Decca Records. Still not satisfied and want to play the movie? Fine. The game has hit and is quite the experience. It uses some of the same CG that WETA put in the film, so you know that's got to be quality. You can play ass-kicking playwright turned action hero or you can play ass-kicking giant ape. Your choice. Either way you're immersed in game-play that's setup to be as close to the film as you can get. Audio, graphics and the interface (or seeming lack thereof) are all choice. Is it the end-all be-all of games? Nah. Is it worthwhile to nab to go galavanting about and breaking shit as Kong? Sure, go for it. Pictured is the Xbox 360 version, though it's available for the regular Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, PSP and PC. Buy the original on DVD from Amazon. Buy the game for the Gamecube from Amazon. Categorized as: DVD and Games and Headsup and Music
|
Posted on
12.11.05 by Dindrane @ 2:24 pm  Film: Written by Douglas Sloan and Ann Austen Features:
Dindrane's Kiddie Fu Warnings:
Released by: Buena Vista. My Advice: Buy it if you're in charge of inmates or perhaps simply hate your children and want them to mock you.  Yep, it's back, perhaps unleashing upon a sleeping world a cruelty the defenseless populace has never known. Just when you think you might be able to survive the show, that it's not really all that bad, someone attacks something or other, and you're reminded that you're not watching Degrassi but are instead watching the freaking Power Rangers. This franchise is either an insanely clever commentary upon the vapidity and emptiness of modern life, especially for children, or it is an evil being perpetrated upon American society which is so heinous, so diabolical and so twisted, that the Marquis de Sade, Stalin, and Commodus would all stand amazed at the creator's sheer cheek. The show opens with a bad guy commanding the requisite minions to find some person, and we are almost instantly transported to where that presumed person is all alone, fighting a hoard of armored ninja assassins in a jungle full of explosions. The fact that this poor actor has had a Brazilian wax job done on his chin is, one hopes, not his fault. Never mind why or how, but he and the very three teens in his school who know martial arts end up at a paleontology museum fighting evil critters. The kids each find a colored crystal (matching their outfits); the geek seems to turn metallic, the singer develops a sonic scream, and the jock gets super-speed and heinous kicks. Voila. A new Power Ranger team. Then there's some bits with color-changing giant metal critters, the requisite combined form that looks lamer than even P.T. Barnum could imagine, and bad guys who mug for the camera. At least the token girl Power Ranger isn't in a skirt this time. The high school is absolutely bizarre. It looks like a New Mexico mission, and is way too well-decorated for a real school. The principal is about twenty-two years old, hot, seems to hate children, and is probably a wicked queen or something in disguise. The Rangers-to-be are mostly the good kids, with the exception of the token kyoot soccer player with magic powers that would make Beckham quake in his Nikes. His name is Connor McKnight. He has to be good, right? Except that he's a sexist truant. We have all the necessary "archetypes" (read: cliché): hip singing alterna-chick, hip computer geek, hip womanizing jock, etc. The amazing thing is that the kids actually act better than the adults...aside from their amazingly, mind-bogglingly lame transformation sequences. They seriously over-telegraph their actions and motions when in costume, one assumes to make up for not having facial expressions, but the result is ineffective and just plain fake-looking. The sound of the show is good, all that you would expect from a contemporary television show, which is, given the idiocy of the plots and dialogue, not necessary a good thing: examples of battle cries include "Ptera Grips, baby," "I'm in it to win it," "Outta my face," and "I'm over you." A little muddled dialogue might have done wonders for the show. Okay, a few lines, especially from Ethan, are rather amusing. The visuals are equally modern and clear. The monsters look a little better this incarnation around—either that, or I'm going insane, which is entirely possible, given that I watched this entire DVD in one sitting, without standby medics. There's even a subtitle option in case you can't hear in English and don't want to miss a single precious word of dialogue.  Some of the fight choreography is not too bad, much as it pains me to admit it, but is of course entirely unrealistic and painfully campy. Each of the three main teens get their alternating moments in the sun, and even their mentor Dr. Oliver gets to have some fun. The jock of course warms up to his Flash persona and powers more quickly than the others. The bonus features include virtual trading cards that link to information about the characters and scenes from the shows. More cards will be available on future DVDs in the series. This could be construed as a threat. We also get a couple of tutorials from the sensei of the Wind Ninja Academy who teachers us two "ninja moves": knife hand kata and blade hand kata. The depicted "ninja" acting out the kata look like they know what they're doing, but, bless their hearts, the producers put them in badly fitting cotton ninja garb (complete with shiny satin tie belt). Finally, the DVD also includes two bonus episodes from the Power Rangers: Ninja Storm series. I have nothing to say to you if you watch them. This can be recommended to anyone who oversees a group of people they wish to torture—perhaps correctional officers who oversee and want to torture rapists, or just someone who works in a daycare for bratty rich little monsters. Anyone else will be left shaking their head in disbelief and dismay, and saying "God help me" over and over. One can only presume that this show is part of some diabolical plan form the Illuminati or maybe Rasputin to turn the brains of youth to mush. One hopes. Otherwise… no, the idea that this show was meant to be taken seriously or enjoyed is unthinkable. Must be the Illuminati. Maybe the Templars. Must be. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
|
Posted on
12.09.05 by HTQ4 @ 2:45 pm  Film: Written by David Titcher, David Benullo, and David Goldstein, based very loosely on the novel by Jules Verne Features:
Released by: Disney Home Video My Advice: Skip it  Phileas Fogg (Coogan) is a joke around scientific circles. He finds himself in the company of a rather unlikely group of friends: Lau Xing (Chan) who passes himself off as the French valet Passepartout and Monique La Roche (De France). They have taken on a bet whereby they must circumnavigate the world in no more than eighty days. If they do, Fogg gains the position as the head of the Royal Academy of Science, thereby unseating his arch-rival scientist (who also just happens to be trying to discredit him), Lord Kelvin (Broadbent). If they fail, Fogg must give up on science and all of his whacky inventions...forever. What a waste of film. As I was watching this movie, I couldn't help but wish that I had been a fly on the wall of the meeting where this idea was pitched. I can't imagine who could have thought it would be a good idea to take a classic novel by Jules Verne which is not really an action movie at all, cast Jackie Chan in one of the lead roles (to then give it some action) and then use the rest of the movie as an excuse for weird cameo appearances like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Owen and Luke Wilson (who play the Wright brothers), and John Cleese. It's just absurd and none of it makes sense at all. This movie absolutely pisses on the original material. What's sad is that you might think to yourself, "Well, at least I'll get to see Chan bust some moves." But they're not even really impressive moves. The goofiness of Coogan is not even worthwhile goofiness, especially since he--Fogg, the supposed lead--is cast behind Chan. You could have done something with the history of the time, thrown in some education with your "family fun"--but the gaffs in that department are too numerous to list here. It's just another example of Hollywood grabbing a "known property" for its name value and then destroying the adaptation. Not even cute, the last stronghold of bad family fare, is applicable.  The DVD is only slightly better than the film deserves. The first featurette is the kind of fluff that you would come to expect from a Disney DVD, i.e. it pays no homage to the original source material whatsoever. It's filled with interviews with cast and crew who sound more like they are defending the idea of making the movie in the first place rather than commenting about their work. The second featurette is worth watching, however. It's the one that focuses on Chan's choreography and what he puts himself through to get the stunts for which he is famous. If you've never seen one of these featurettes, I suggest you go rent another of Chan's movies and see it there. It's probably safer that way. Watching the deleted scenes, I found myself wishing that more of the film had found it's way here. It made me ponder the idea of having an entire movie reside in the deleted scenes section of a DVD. Perhaps that's a gimmick that someone can pull off on another DVD sometime in the future. Just remember, you read it here first, so when it happens, I want my cut. There is optional commentary from the director, but it's useless, as he basically says the same thing over every scene: "Well...uhh...we, uh, deleted this scene from the movie...and stuff." There is a music video on the DVD, but I'm not going to comment about it because I believe that music videos as bonus material actually only represents laziness on the part of the DVD producers. Oh hell, I guess that's a comment, isn't it? Finally, there is an audio commentary with the director and Steve Coogan. They got the right number of people for the commentary track, but they didn't get the right guy. The director actually admits that he hates recording these commentary tracks; he enjoys listening to other people's, but hates doing his own. He could have saved himself the time and embarrassment. I say that this movie is not worth the platic its printed on. Skip it completely and rent something better. Better yet, buy the novel and take the time to read it. It's a classic that shouldn't be missed. Buy it from Amazon. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
|
Posted on
12.06.05 by Dindrane @ 2:32 pm  Film: Written by Satoshi Kon and Katsuhiro Otomo, based upon the manga by Katsuhiro Otomo Features:
Dindrane's Anime Warnings:
Released by: Columbia TriStar My Advice: Get it fast.  Memories is actually three movies in one, each about forty-five minutes long. Magnetic Rose, based upon the manga by Otomo, is a science fiction tale where space workers detect a signal from the area of space known as Sargasso...what they receive is a piece of "Madame Butterfly" on the emergency channel. Maritime space law dictates that they investigate, and they do, only to discover a world created from space debris and the memories of a young woman with plans of her own for her rescuers. This take is not only frightening, but sad and haunting. The increasing claustrophobia and disorientation follows the increasing revelations about Eva and the temptations facing the spacefarers. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
|
|
|
