DVD Reviews

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Transhcan Sinatras – Midnight at the Troubadour
21 Jan 2007 at 10:50pm
Highly Recommended

THE SHOW:

Scottish quintet the Trashcan Sinatras has been one of my favorite bands since their first album came out in 1990. I lived in Southern California at the time, and their singles “Obscurity Knocks” and “Only Tongue Can Tell” were in regular rotation on KROQ and were even getting some airtime on MTV. Their music was beautifully melodic and the lyrics inspired debates among fans trying to untangle their clever, twisted wordplay. Sassy Magazine at the time even put them in their Cute Band Alert. Unfortunately, despite the artistic growth of their next two albums, they suffered from diminishing commercial returns. Their 1996 album never got released in the United States, and most people thought the band faded. I was among a small group of loyalists on the …Read the entire review

I Dream of Jeannie – The Complete Third Season
21 Jan 2007 at 10:50pm
Recommended

Always thought of as the slightly declasse cousin of tony, glamorous Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie was a bright, bouncy, colorful little comedy on NBC from 1965 to 1970, that told the story of astronaut Major Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman) and his real-life genie in a bottle, Jeannie (Barbara Eden). While Bewitched grabbed the critical and public acclaim for dreamy, romantic Elizabeth Montgomery’s trials and tribulations as a married witch living in the suburbs (with a husband who didn’t like her witchcraft), I Dream of Jeannie was often belittled for being a crude, blatant knock-off of the more successful witch sitcom (even though it was more closely based on the feature film, The Brass Bottle, with Tony Randall, Burl Ives, and Barbara Eden). I Dream of Jeannie never had the intial public adoration that Bewitched enjoyed during its network run (…Read the entire review

Captain N The Game Master – The Complete Series
21 Jan 2007 at 8:32pm
Rent It

The Show:

When gamers say that Nintendo dominated the late 1980’s and early 90’s they aren’t kidding. The Super Mario Brothers and Legend of Zelda got their own TV shows and The Wizard was released as a glorified commercial for Super Mario Brothers 3. It’s pretty hard to deny Nintendo’s ownership of the gaming industry (during that time period anyway) and as further proof of that today we’re looking at Captain N: The Game Master.

Running for a mere 34 episodes, Captain N wasn’t the smash hit that the producers were hoping for I’m sure. It began airing in September of 1989 and ended in 1991 with a total of three seasons under its Power Belt. Like many cartoons from this era this one was a 22 minute advertisement from start to finish. It was as if somebody took all of Nintendo’s hottest titles and paraphernalia, tossed them into a blender and pressed star…Read the entire review

Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back – 65 Tour Deluxe Edition
21 Jan 2007 at 7:07pm
DVD Talk Collector Series

THE MOVIE:

D.A. Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back, a profile of Bob Dylan on his 1965 British tour, is arguably the most influential rock ‘n’ roll documentary of all time, predating even the Maysles’ Gimme Shelter and Michael Wadleigh’s Woodstock. Thirty years later, Grant Gee pretty much orchestrated his Radiohead feature, Meeting People is Easy, note for note from Pennebaker. Ironically, given the movie’s title, Don’t Look Back is a film that deserves to be revisited every couple of years. While the movie has been on DVD since 1999, this new 65 Tour Deluxe Edition is a welcome upgrade in packaging and transfer.

Make no mistake, Bob Dylan in 1965 was one cool cat. Th…Read the entire review

I Trust You to Kill Me
21 Jan 2007 at 4:41pm
Recommended

The Movie

Musicians and actors have long drifted into and out of one another’s lives — the glare of Hollywood lights mingle with the intense heat of the nightclub spotlight, sometimes with good results (Kris Kristofferson has bounced between Tinseltown and the music industry successfully for decades) and sometimes with not-so-good results (30 Seconds to Mars, anyone?). I Trust You to Kill Me is a documentary with a few things on its mind, following “24″ actor Kiefer Sutherland around Europe for a couple weeks as he serves as tour manager for up-and-coming Los Angeles rock band Rocco DeLuca and the Burden, whose professional lives are also detailed, but with an almost detached air.

After wrapping up filming on the fifth season of “24,” Sutherland and his musical proteges packed up and jetted off for a series of dates in Europe over the Christmas holiday. From drunken par…Read the entire review

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Deal
19 Jan 2007 at 5:07am
Recommended

A provocative quote in the Atlantic Monthly stating “You can learn more about America watching one half-hour of Let’s Make a Deal than watching [CBS Evening News anchorman] Walter Cronkite for a month” probably was the inspiration for Deal (1978), a feature-length documentary on the iconically ’70s game show, where contestants dressed in wild costumes hoping for a chance to trade innocuous items (“from aardvarks to zithers”) for valuable merchandise hidden behind three curtains while avoiding “zonks” of worthless junk.*

Directed by E.J. Vaughn and John Schott, in collaboration with cinematographer Robert Young, Deal was described by Film Comment’s Amos Vogel as “hilarious, horrifying, apoplectic, bizarre, [it] attempts nothing less t…Read the entire review

Spacemen & Go-Go Girls Double Feature
19 Jan 2007 at 5:07am
Recommended

The Product:
You have to give Canadian filmmaker Brett Kelly credit. It’s not every struggling artist who would allow his less than successful efforts to see the light of day, let alone permit them to be marketed as clever, campy comedies. As a director, Kelly conforms to the 50/50 school of cinematic savants. On the one hand, he has made some excellent outsider efforts (My Dead Girlfriend, The Feral Man). But then there are those films that should have stayed under wraps (the rather weak Bonesetter series), viewed only by those with a real passion for the man’s past catalog. In this regard, Tempe has released The Spacemen and Go-Go Girls Double Feature, a DVD showcasing two of Kelly’s short schlock homages. While weak in execution, there is still something strangely likable about this pair of peculiar efforts.

The Plot:
When the planet Uranus runs out…Read the entire review

The Giant Majin Collection
18 Jan 2007 at 9:04pm
Recommended

The Movies:

The three Daimajin films that came out of Daiei’s studio in the late sixties are an interesting mix of period samurai drama and the type of monster mash mayhem that Kaiju fans enjoy. Unique in that they play around with Japanese folk legends rather than opt for a sci-fi style creature feature, the trilogy was set in feudal times and as such they were period films shot mostly on soundstages and sets. Although each of the movies would introduce various human elements, the real reason to watch these films was for the final act where inevitably the Daimajin or Giant Majin, would come to live and smite those who angered him.

AIP’s television department bought the American broadcast rights to the first two films in the series in the late sixties and had the films dubbed into English by professional voice actors so that they’d appeal to their target demographic kids. They were…Read the entire review

Wanderlust
18 Jan 2007 at 9:04pm
Rent It

Wanderlust, an IFC/Netflix documentary chronicling the “road picture” genre in movies, works in fits and starts, particularly when it sticks to letting actual clips from celebrated road films speak for themselves. But gradually, the documentary becomes less and less interesting as the generalities and cliches pile up, bogging down in its own one-sided aesthetic and political viewpoints.

Wanderlust works best when it lets the films discussed, speak for themselves. Generous clips from movies as diverse as The Grapes of Wrath, Detour and Vanishing Point more than get across their own points about America’s restless love affair with the road, with freedom, and with speed. Unfortunately, the directors of Wanderlust, Robert Pulcini and Shari S…Read the entire review

The Red Skulls
18 Jan 2007 at 4:36pm
Highly Recommended

The Product:
It’s about time that the mainstream recognizes the efforts of Luke and Andy Campbell. Since the late ’90s, these Ohio adolescents, working with a gang of pals under the Splatter Rampage Productions moniker (now Compound Films), have created some of the cleverest, most endearing homemade horror/comedy mash-ups in all of the outsider oeuvre. Beginning with their pro wrestling homage (the truly insane Splatter Rampage Wrestling) and working through a hilarious serial killer spoof (Midnight Skater) and a slightly more serious teen melodrama monster movie (Demon Summer), the boys have benefited from smart scripting, appealing amateur performances, and a real feel for how movies are made. Now comes their most ambitious project yet, the gang vs. zombie spectacle called The Red Skulls. Representing a real growth in the guy’s cinematic language, there is still …Read the entire review

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The Librarian – Return to King Solomon’s Mines
17 Jan 2007 at 9:38pm
Recommended

The nerve of TNT to produce a cheese-heavy action-adventure movie franchise and actually have it work.

“The Librarian” is the header for two made-for-basic-cable films now, and both of them have been wonderful surprises despite an inherent corniness that would make any sane viewer assume the worst. These movies are unabashedly fun, a breezy cocktail of dopey action and broad laughs, topped off with special effects that would have looked lame on an episode of “Xena: Warrior Princess,” but, you know, in a good way.

Both the original film, “The Librarian: Quest for the Spear,” and now its sequel, “The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines,” stars Noah Wyle as Flynn Carsen, a bumbling bookworm chosen to defend the world with his combination of bravado and smarts – a sort of Indiana Geek. He works for “The Library,” where hidden behind the stacks of reference volumes and Dan Brown novels i…Read the entire review

Memron
17 Jan 2007 at 9:38pm
Skip It

Nancy Hower’s “Memron” wants to be both a biting satire gnawing at corporate scandals and a showcase for its cast of improv comics. It fails to be either.

As you can guess from the title, “Memron” stabs at the Enron mess – here, the fictional megacorp of the title has laid off some 60,000 employees while the CEOs play golf at a minimum security prison. (The main CEO is named “Ken Clay,” which, along with the title, should clue you in on the filmmakers’ lack of parody prowess.) The ensuing mockumentary follows a support group for ex-employees as they bicker, whine, and then decide to start up their own business, selling clean air, ha ha. Meanwhile, after spending his couple of months in prison, Clay laments his house arrest-imposed ankle bracelet and argues with his trophy wife.

The complete lack of social satire is disappointing, making the title and set-up completely useless. This isn’t …Read the entire review

Lunacy
17 Jan 2007 at 8:11pm
Recommended

In his video introduction to his 2004 film Lunacy, Czech surrealist Jan Svankmajer declares that he has made a horror film, not an art film, because art is all but dead. He also states that it is nothing more than an “infantile tribute” to the works of Edgar Allen Poe and the Marquis de Sade. He is, of course, in the best surrealist fashion, playing with half truths and being a bit tongue cheek, and if you haven’t seen Svankmajer’s work before, it is a perfect set-up for his black sense of wit.

I entered Lunacy with a little trepidation. I, like most people, discovered Svankmajer via his stop-motion shorts. It was actually a long time before I discovered he’d made the leap to feature films in 1987 with Alice. While I enjoyed Conspirators of Pleasure, Alice, Faust, and Little Otik were long form films that left me a little cold. Particularly Otik, his…Read the entire review

Where Angels Fear to Tread
17 Jan 2007 at 5:07pm
Recommended

Cast: Rupert Graves, Judy Davis, Helena Bonham Carter, Helen Mirren, Barbara Jefford, Giovanni Guidelli.
Director: Charles Sturridge
1992, 112 minutes, PG

Like Henry James, E.M. Forster took the clash of cultures as an abiding theme, be it Brits wreaking havoc on the Continent or the Subcontinent, or upper-class English lording it over their less privileged countrymen. If James’ chief concern was psychological, Forster’s was social; he came on the scene a few decades after the Master at a time of thunderous industrial and economic change, and trained his gently searing eye on the essential insidiousness of the class system and the British sense of entitlement.

Forster’s elegant novels, written in the first quarter of the 20th century, went largely unfilmed until the 1980s, when he suddenly became a source as hot as Stephen King (albeit for a different audience). David Lean’s “A Pas…Read the entire review

Street Fight
17 Jan 2007 at 11:54am
Recommended

It’s no secret that politics is a dirty game, but Marshall Curry’s Street Fight (2005) offers us front row seats as a reminder. Our two combatants, Cory Booker and Sharpe James, were both running for mayor of Newark, New Jersey in 2002; unfortunately for the 32 year-old Booker, his opponent held the position for the past 16 years. Needless to say, James (“The Real Deal”, seen above) earned Newark’s trust over the years; at least enough to grant himself numerous pay raises while the city’s crime rates remained high…and if that weren’t enough, his “second job” as a senator pushed James’ salary closer to $300K. Booker saw this as one problem of many, so the young community activist and City Council member pushed for change from the ground up. Shaking hands, kissing babies and going door-to-door thro…Read the entire review

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Brokeback Mountain – 2-Disc Collector’s Edition
16 Jan 2007 at 6:40am
Highly Recommended

THE MOVIE:

It’s been about a year now since the Brokeback Mountain phenomenon. A year since the success, the hype, the awards and the backlash, and, of course, the endless string of punch lines. (The definitive reason I decided once and for all not to see Night at the Museum: the new commercial with Owen Wilson making a “Why can’t I quit you?” joke. Suddenly the backdated pop-culture humor in the Shrek movies feels timely.) To cap it all off, Focus Features is releasing a new two-disc special edition DVD, which forces one to ponder, has the movie survived it all?

Having watched Brokeback Mountain again last night, I’d have to say yes. The movie’s quality was more than enough to withstand the whirlwind of publicity that swirled around it,…Read the entire review

Yojimbo & Sanjuro: Two Samurai films by Akira Kurosawa
16 Jan 2007 at 12:01am
Recommended

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Criterion doubles back into its library to bring a pair of earlier releases ‘up to code’: Back in the first years of DVD they were re-purposing older transfers just like everyone else, and along with Fox and Paramount were late to commit to enhanced (squeezed) transfers. I wouldn’t call this double dipping, as seven years have elapsed since the first no-extras edition of Yojimbo, and the movie is certainly worth the special attention.

Criterion has retooled a number of its initial disc offerings, such as Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast, H. G. Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear, Fritz Lang’s “M” and Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. Hopefu…Read the entire review

Cannibal Campout
16 Jan 2007 at 12:00am
Skip It

The Movie

Back in 1987, self-proclaimed filmmaker Jon McBride gathered a bunch of enthusiastic — yet talent-free — pals into the woods to make a few movies. A few weeks back I saw one of these flicks (called Woodchipper Massacre) and I was amazed that something so outrageously amateurish could earn itself a nationwide video distribution — but then I remembered that back in the late ’80s you could have put out your own movie if you had a handycam, some willing friends, a few buckets of homemade gore, and a salacious title like Cannibal Campout.

Plot: A bunch of idiots go into the woods, butt heads with a ridiculous trio of sleazy cannibals, wander around a whole lot, get killed and get eaten. If there’s more to Cannibal Campout than that, I’ll have to take your word for it. Because there’s no way I could sit through even five seconds of it over again. Cheap and chintzy…Read the entire review

Unknown
16 Jan 2007 at 12:00am
Recommended

The Movie

If you are like me (and God bless you if you are), when you popped in the Clerks II DVD, you were confronted with the trailer for Unknown, and you thought to yourself, “Wow, that title sure is right! How have I not heard about this movie?” The film has a cast of instantly recognizable faces and the premise sounds very interesting — it seems as if it should have received more publicity. But, then again, this movie is from the Weinsteins, who, when they were with Miramax, were notorious for making movies only to have them released years later with little fanfare. Typically, once these films see the light of day, it’s clear why they were hidden. In the case of Unknown, which is making its way to DVD, the answers aren’t so obvious.

As Unknown opens, five men awaken in an industrial building. Unfortunately, due to a chemical leak, they have n…Read the entire review

Good Morning, World
15 Jan 2007 at 11:59pm
Recommended

I love vintage TV, but to be honest, after the second episode of Good Morning, World, I was ready to bail. There was something wrong with it that I just couldn’t put my finger on, but frankly, I was too bored to care about figuring it out. But, pressing on, after the fourth or fifth episode, I found myself perking up a little, with the characters starting to grow on me. The sitcom plots, while a tad silly, were aided by some clever lines, as well. While by no means a forgotten classic, Good Morning, World is a good, solid little show that deserved a few more years on TV — it was canceled after just one season.

Dave Lewis (Joby Baker) and Larry Clarke (Ronnie Schell) are smart, funny morning DJ’s for a small AM radio station in the Los Angeles area. Their act con…Read the entire review

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A Dead Calling
13 Jan 2007 at 7:12pm
Skip It

The Movie

It’s important for a movie to make at least as much sense as its title, and Mike Feifer’s A Dead Calling certainly accomplishes that task.

Noteworthy to horror fans in that it features some (rather unimpressive) work from Sid Haig, Bill Moseley and Leslie Easterbrook (reunited from The Devil’s Rejects, don’t forget) and for very little else, A Dead Calling is a schizophrenic little cheapie that has a possesses a few surprisingly good components — but not nearly enough to keep the thing afloat.

Alexandra Holden plays Elizabeth, a TV news-woman who’s only six months removed from the horrific murder of her boyfriend and just now ready to get her life back on track. Her mom and dad (Easterbrook and Haig) are sweet and supportive, but it turns out they also have a few skeletons hidden in the closet.

Anyway, the “dead boyfriend” stuff doesn’t really have a whole…Read the entire review

Spirit Trap
13 Jan 2007 at 6:24pm
Skip It

The Movie

According to Dictionary.com, the word “conventional” means “based on or in accordance with general agreement, use, or practice; customary; conforming to established practice or accepted standards; devoted to or bound by conventions to the point of artificiality; unimaginative; conformist. (I italicized the most important ones.)

If I told you that the British horror flick Spirit Trap was about five college kids who move into a disgusting old house, your first reaction would be “OK, so what’s the hook? Co-eds and a creepy house? That’s it? You gotta be kidding me.” And yet I’m not kidding. Basically, Spirit Trap is the cinematic equivalent of a glass half-filled with lukewarm water: You can swallow it with very little effort, but it sure isn’t very tasty — nor is it very memorable.

Frankly movies this basic make it pretty hard for a reviewer to expound upon th…Read the entire review

WWE – the Spectacular Legacy Of the AWA
13 Jan 2007 at 4:05pm
Highly Recommended

Believe it or not, there are some people who think Vince McMahon is responsible for professional wrestling – sorry, sports entertainment. However, the Spectacular Legacy Of the AWA will give viewers a brief lesson on a promotion that was responsible for some of the greatest wrestlers the sport, or the WWE, has ever seen.

When I started watching wrestling in the 70’s, I knew nothing about “territories”, “shoots/works”, “heels” or “kayfabes”. I was just a kid that enjoyed watching the nearly seven foot tall Andre the Giant demolish opponents. Since this was before the internet, the world was still a big place and I was blissfully unaware of the backstage politics, shenanigans and backstabbing …Read the entire review

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Volume 6
13 Jan 2007 at 10:53am
Recommended

The Movie:
I was too old and, at the age of thirteen (where I thought I knew absolutely everything), far too cool for the first incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so I never understood the big deal about them at the time, but like the Power Rangers, the Care Bears, and Strawberry Shortcake, the Turtles continue to delight each subsequent generation. Having stood the test of time, it is only fitting that the original cartoon series, which premiered two decades (!!) ago and ran for an impressive ten years and close to 200 episodes, is given a DVD release.

The “heroes in a half shell” fight to save the universe from the evil Shredder and his bumbling band of henchmen while at the same time celebrating with their favorite pizza dinner and managing to sound like cast members of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. They have human friends, like Zack, April…Read the entire review

Men Behaving Badly: The Complete Series
13 Jan 2007 at 10:25am
Highly Recommended

Yes, yes, yes. Finally, the 1996 NBC cult-classic sitcom, Men Behaving Badly: The Complete Season has been released on DVD. Never, ever in the Nielsen Top Thirty (while pallid, “safe” crap like Suddenly Susan, The Naked Truth, Fired Up, The Single Guy, and Ellen sat comfortably up there for 1996), Men Behaving Badly was one of those series that the few people who watched it, loved. It was like our little secret. And while we were dismayed that fewer people didn’t tune in (all the while knowing its low ratings doomed the show), we felt kind of proud of that fact. After all, isn’t that the innate appeal of cult TV? Its exclusiveness? That feeling that you’ve discovered something that other people (draw a box in the air and mouth the word, “squares”) just don’t get? And when the series started to generate bad publicity from the sta…Read the entire review

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Space Academy: The Complete Series
12 Jan 2007 at 1:03am
Recommended

The Series:

Continuing to dig deep and release semi-forgotten gems from the Filmation vaults, BCI’s Ink & Paint sub-label has rescued from obscurity the complete run of Space Academy. Running for two seasons on CBS between 1977 through 1979 (when sci-fi mania was at its peak thanks to Star Wars), the show only stuck around for fifteen episodes in total but in a sense, it was ahead of its time as it was on television long before the concept was borrowed for Space Camp and Star Trek: Star Fleet Academy.

Set in the year 3732, the series revolved around a three hundred year old man named Commander Isaac Gampu (played by the rather manic Jonathan Harris of Lost In Space) who was in charge of an elite school built into an asteroid in space. The purpose of this school was to gather the brightest young people in the galaxy so that they could be trained …Read the entire review

Coyote Ragtime Show, Vol. 1 – Fox Trot
12 Jan 2007 at 1:02am
Highly Recommended

The Show:

Coyote Ragtime Show is an interesting name isn’t it? When I first heard of it I had no idea what to expect though part of me for some reason was thinking it was going to be a comedy that include a bunch of random insanity. Fortunately that wasn’t the case. This is a futuristic space outlaw show that sticks to the formula and really draws inspiration from other popular titles.

On one hand this series reminded me so much of Cowboy Bebop. Sure the cast of characters were entirely different and the atmosphere was a little more juvenile but there was just something about it that did so. Maybe it was the way the crew of the Coyote worked together as outlaws or perhaps it was a particular scene where Pirate King Bruce points his finger upwards at the camera ala Spike. On the other hand there were elements of Outlaw Star tossed in here. Despite the fee…Read the entire review

Loving Annabelle
12 Jan 2007 at 1:02am
Highly Recommended

The Movie:
Simone is a teacher at a stuffy Catholic boarding school for girls. Annabelle is a rebellious, cocky Senator’s daughter. When she arrives on campus and enters Simone’s class, Annabelle is instantly attracted to Simone, however Simone resists due to the power imbalance she is after all, Annabelle’s teacher and the strict rules of the school that forbid a close relationship between teachers and students. Regardless, the two spend increasing amounts of time together as their attraction for each other builds, culminating on one rainy night that results in each woman’s life changing forever.

It’s difficult to know where to start with this film, as it works on so many levels. First of all, it is an absolute visual treat. Such care has been taken in filming, from the set design, to costuming, to the magnificent lighting, which helps to create a sense of hope and melanc…Read the entire review

A Dirty Carnival Special Limited Edition
12 Jan 2007 at 1:02am
Recommended

The Movie:

NOTE: Please be aware that this DVD is a Korean import and is coded for Region 3 DVD players. In order to view this DVD, you’ll have to have either a Region 3 coded or Region Free DVD player. [Recommended Region Free Players] It will not play in standard Region 1 North American DVD players.

Ha Yu’s A Dirty Carnival is an interesting take on what is essentially a fairly standard and straight forward rise and fall gangster story. The central plot focuses on Byung-du (Jo In-seong who won a Best Actor prize at the 2006 South Korean Film Awards), a man fast approaching his thirtieth birthday who has, for the last few years of his adult life, been working for a thug named Sang-chul (Yoon Jae-Moon of Antarctic Journal). When he’s not obliging his employer, Byung-du spe…Read the entire review

Joseph Campbell – The Hero’s Journey
12 Jan 2007 at 1:02am
Recommended

I haven’t read anything written by Joseph Campbell since college (right when he was at his height of popularity which, unfortunately, peaked after his death), and quite frankly, I had forgotten most of it. So the 1987 documentary The Hero’s Journey: A Biographical Portrait was a welcome reintroduction to the scholar and writer whose studies and works on universal myths captured the imagination of readers all over the world. Produced just prior to Campbell’s death, The Hero’s Journey: A Biographical Portrait incorporates footage of Campbell speaking with students and admirers, as well as archival material such as stills and paintings, to not only give a general bio of Campbell’s life, but also a sign-post overview of some of his major philosophical tenets.

Joseph Cam…Read the entire review

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Last Dispatch
9 Jan 2007 at 6:29am
Recommended

Fan of the band Dispatch? Then this’ll undoubtedly be enjoyable.

Never heard of Dispatch? That’s even better. The story of Dispatch’s rise and fall is an entertaining and inspiring story, whether a fan or not. Told through Helmut Schleppi’s documentary The Last Dispatch, this journey illustrates the band’s last week and a half leading up to their final concert, also known to be the largest independent film performance in history with well over 100,000 people attending. But this is more than a documentary; The Last Dispatch is a great portrayal of very well-defined personalities and how they mesh with one another. With fantastic stints of pure music for aural pleasure and terrifically personal conversations with the band members, The Last Dispatch raises above the typical documentary style chronology of events.


The Film:

Dispatch’s flavor of music embodies a …Read the entire review

Love Circles
9 Jan 2007 at 6:29am
Rent It

The Film:

There was a time in the early 80s when made-for-cable TV erotic features started pushing the envelope just enough so that they could look intriguing to the working male yet stay away from the risky XXX-zone. Looking back at these films, some thirty years later, I can not but smile.

The story behind Love Circles (1985), a cable production directed by Gerard Kikoine, is rather simple. A pack of cigarettes is being exchanged amongst a group of people until they finally return to the person who initiated its journey. Along the way a rather edgy orgy scene with sex idol Sophie Berger (Emmanuelle 4) and a less provocative but steamy enough rendezvous with former miss Bahamas Josephine Jacqueline Jones (Black Venus) become the focus of attention as they offer the bulk of what this picture was intended to deliver: passionate sex.

How successful …Read the entire review

Christina
9 Jan 2007 at 6:29am
Skip It

The Film:

The second installment from the Private Screening Collection, a little seen late-night cable-feature titled Christina (1984), offers a storyline that can quickly give you a headache of paramount proportions:

Christina Von Belle (Jewel Shephard) is a wealthy young heiress known as “The Playgirl Of The Western World”. She is also beautiful to look at and as we soon discover with a ferocious sex appetite. (Un)fortunately she is kidnapped by an evil gang of lesbian-commandos (!), led by no other than ex-mainstream-turned-adult starlet Karin Schubert (Black Emmanuelle), who take on the difficult task of satisfying Christina’s carnal yearnings. In the meantime the kidnappers also demand a large amount of money from their victim’s family.

After a series of steamy action scenes Christina finally manages to escape the lesbian-commandos only…Read the entire review

MI-5: Volume 4
9 Jan 2007 at 12:23am
Skip It

Known as Spooks in England, MI-5: Volume 4 (or perhaps more accurately: How I Learned to Start Hating America and Love the Terrorists) is a glossy, hollow, morally wishy-washy, politically correct spy series from the U.K. that’s been getting some notice here on the BBC America cable channel. Comparisons to Fox’s 24 are inevitable (24 premiered in 2001, seven months before MI-5), but MI-5: Volume 4 pales next to that super-charged rollercoaster ride. Whereas 24’s emphasis has always been on moving the story forward, and never letting its foot off the accelerator, MI-5: Volume 4 can’t seem to shake up its relatively pokey, predictable espionage plots. Equally disconcerting, at least for this reviewer, is the series’ almost pathological need to slam the United States of America every five minutes during an episode.

Read the entire review

Martin – The Complete First Season
8 Jan 2007 at 11:06pm
Recommended

THE SHOW:

Martin Lawrence’s self-titled sitcom, Martin, is best remembered as one of the strongest entries in the early days of the Fox Network. Debuting in 1992, Martin helped solidify the bawdy reputation the network had been earning since its debut in 1987, as well as continuing to blaze a trail for more opportunities for African Americans on network television (In Living Color started a few years prior, and Living Single would join Martin in the following season). Martin Lawrence had begun to create a name for himself with supporting parts in the House Party movies and Boomerang, but this was his first real showcase and would kickstart a successful film career that would continue on through the 1990s. …Read the entire review

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King and The Clown Special Limited Edition DTS
7 Jan 2007 at 8:57pm
Highly Recommended

THE MOVIE:

Wang-ui namja, a.k.a. The King and the Clown, was a sensation upon its release in Korea in 2005, becoming the country’s highest grossing film that year. In viewing the region 3 limited edition release of the movie, it’s easy to see why. This gripping costume drama is brimming with a unique charm, with original characters and a special setting that will likely be new to most viewers. Art Service has put together a three-disc DVD package that capitalizes on The King and the Clown’s popularity while also giving the movie the appropriate red carpet treatment.

The story concerns itself with two performers, Jang-sang (Woo-seong Kam, Spider Forest) and Gong-gil (Jung-gi Lee, My Girl), who are forced to leave their traveling tr…Read the entire review

Extras – The Complete First Season
7 Jan 2007 at 8:57pm
Highly Recommended

THE SHOW:

On the DVD for Extras – The Complete First Season, series creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant refer to the show as their “difficult second album.” It’s a music term, also called the “sophomore jinx.” It refers to how bands often step forward with a stunning debut full of material that was road-tested over years of struggle, whereas their follow-up record is created post-success, under the gun, and with the full expectations of an audience hungry for more. In the case of Gervais and Merchant, they are creating their first television effort since the conclusion of their highly successful UK series, The Office. That show became such a phenomenon, cleaning up at awards shows and spawning an equally successful US version (which Gervais and …Read the entire review

Two-A-Days – Hoover High – The Complete First Season
7 Jan 2007 at 8:57pm
Recommended

The Movie:

MTV has taken some hits over the past few years for the channel’s change in focus from music videos to reality television. However, the channel’s reality programming has reached new lows recently with shows like “My Super Sweet 16″ and “Yo Momma” (as for the later, nothing against star Wilmer Valderrama, but when a channel devotes entire half hours to “Yo Momma” jokes, it leads one to believe that they’ve run out of ideas.)

“Two-A-Days” doesn’t turn its focus on something that we haven’t seen before recently in films (“Varsity Blues”, more recently in the film and TV versions of “Friday Night Lights”), but its look at Hoover – a small town in Alabama whose entire focus (we see stores close up as everyone heads to the game) is on the local football team – is honest, occasionally tough and usually, pretty engaging.

“Two-A-Days” (named because players have to go thr…Read the entire review

Gridiron Gang
7 Jan 2007 at 8:57pm
Recommended

The Product:
It used to be one of the more meaningful motion picture metaphors: sports as a microcosm of life. All throughout the early days of cinema, when motion and action were mandatory to keep audiences interested in the fledgling artform, through the glory days of classic studio system films, athletes and the games they play have provided the backdrop for discussions of courage, leadership, discipline and self-discovery. But in the post-modern era, all that has changed. Championing the underdog, rooting for the good guys, using competition as a moralizing mannerism to determine the superior from the sad has become the order of the day. Without some adversity to overcome, a last act challenge to rise up to, and a god-like leader who provides tough love and selfless motivation within a context of team and trying, the current sports film is lost. These are the clich d confines that somethi…Read the entire review

Curse of the Fly
7 Jan 2007 at 12:51pm
Recommended

The third of three loosely-connected films based on George Langelaan’s famous short story, Curse of the Fly (1965) has gotten a bad rap over the years. The modestly-produced first picture, The Fly (1958), had been an unexpected hit for 20th Century-Fox, so much so that it spawned vastly inferior imitators like The Alligator People (1959) and The Wasp Woman (1960), as well as a quickie sequel of its own, Return of the Fly (1959). Where the first two pictures were shot on Fox’s lot in Beverly Hills, the unjustly maligned Curse of the Fly was produced in England for very little money (less than $100,000) and stylistically looks nothing like its predecessors.

All three movies deal with efforts to develop a machine that will transmit matter electronically, the ultimate aim to instantly teleport (a la the transporters on Star Trek) people and resourc…Read the entire review

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Factotum
5 Jan 2007 at 8:06pm
Recommended

THE MOVIE:

Watching Matt Dillon walk across a desolate city backstreet as the hulking Hank Chinaski early in Factotum, I was struck by the realization that this is the type of guy we see every day. Here in the city, there are multitudes of Hanks, all trodding along in an existence that most of us will never see. I’ve wondered before what these men (and women) do with their time, where they go. These are people who, by outward appearances, look like they could be right in the middle, just about as average as can be, and yet, maybe they aren’t. They are people who know things and see things others don’t, who can tell you every bar that is around every corner. Stop one of them some time and ask. I bet you there is a watering hole in your neighborhood that you nev…Read the entire review

The Cave of the Silken Web
5 Jan 2007 at 2:07am
Recommended

The Movie:

The third part in a series of four films that Shaw Brothers Studios produced based on the legends of the Monkey King from the book Journey To The West, The Cave Of The Silken Web is never the less a self contained story that shouldn’t be too inaccessible to those who haven’t seen the other entries.

The story for the film isn’t very complex in short, a trio of adventurers made up of Monkey (who looks like a monkey), Pig (who looks like a pig) and Monk Sandy are wandering around doing their thing when a monk is captured by some foxy spider ladies. Pig decides to move in and rescue the monk but he messes up and he too winds up being taken by the ladies who take their latest prize back to their home in the titular cave of the silken web.

Monkey, with the aid of Monk Sandy, know that if they don’t act quickly that the spider ladies will make a meal out of …Read the entire review

Silent Scream
5 Jan 2007 at 2:07am
Skip It

The Movie:

Originally titled The Retreat until the marketing wizards at Lion’s Gate bought the rights and the changed the title to Silent Scream for reasons that are only known to those who made the decision, this movie proves to be as uninspired and predictable as a bottom of the barrel slasher movie can get.

At any rate, the movie begins when Professor Barren (Peter Carey) invites a few of the students from his psychology class up to his cabin in the middle of nowhere for reasons that are never really properly explained. Let’s just assume it’s to get them away from school for a while to relax, because pretty much as soon as they arrive they all start humping one another. Once they’re done humping, they get knocked off one at a time by a mysterious killer in a big, puffy winter jacket in various moderately grisly murder set pieces.

Once the first batch of dumb te…Read the entire review

The Man Eater
4 Jan 2007 at 6:26pm
Rent It

Man-Eater (2004) is a Thai film based on a supposed true case of a serial killer who preyed on children back in the late 1940’s. When it comes to tales of killers, I don’t mind a film that tries to go deep and probe into the darker depths (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), and I don’t mind it when they aim straight for the pulp, the fanciful, the exploitative (Hannibal), or even healthy mix the two (The Untold Story). However, Man-Eater just treads shallow ground which results in a film that lacks both dramatic insight and exploitative thrills.

Li Hui (Long Duan) is a Chinese emigrant to Thailand. Literally fresh off the boat he stowed away on, Li Hui gets an unfriendly greeting, including a new name, Zee Qui, an Thai-i-fied version of his Chinese name. He’s deloused and placed in a dank, cramped holding cell while he is processed by belligerent, uncaring off…Read the entire review

The Impressionists
4 Jan 2007 at 4:13pm
Recommended

The Film:

The Impressionists arrives to North America advertised as the lavish BBC production seen on Public Television. And indeed this much-talked about 3-part mini series shown on cable networks throughout the United Kingdom is one surprisingly well-executed and for the most part convincing semi-documentary that sheds plenty of light on the impressionist movement.

The film opens up with Claude Monet’s (Julian Glover) recollections of the events that led to the rise of the artistic movement, those who were associated with it, and finally the works that symbolized the creative ideas behind it. In 19th century Paris Monet, Renoir, and Bazille are all friends sharing the same creative vision.

Their advanced ideas however prove difficult, at times even impossible, to justify in front of Parisian critics. Monet’s early sketches for example offer something that…Read the entire review

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Father Brown: Set 1
3 Jan 2007 at 11:44am
Recommended

Acorn Media’s two-disc set, Father Brown: Set 1, features the 1974 ATV series adaptations of the famous G. K. Chesterton detective, Father Brown. Starring Kenneth More as the taciturn, watchful, crime-solving Catholic priest, Father Brown: Set 1 is a solid offering of British mysteries, as well as an entertaining look back at 1970s British TV.

Chesterton, the early 20th century British poet, biographer, mystery writer, fantasist, literary critic, lecturer (and numerous other labels) has always intrigued me. I would imagine that his Father Brown stories are still widely read, but he had an incredibly prodigious and varied output of literary work. The contemporary of Shaw, Russell, and Wells, Chesterton’s personal beliefs in the spiritual worl…Read the entire review

Iluminados por el Fuego (Spanish Release)
3 Jan 2007 at 6:32am
Highly Recommended

The Film:

The Falkland Islands, 1982…

Argentine soldiers have landed on the islands and are preparing to defend what they consider to be an integral part of their country: the Malvinas. Men are running around, hectic orders are being followed, final preparations are being made.

Off the coast of Argentina Royal Navy ships are carrying British fighter jets that will soon enter the Malvinas air space. Backed by NATO and a neutral US government the British are poised to defend what they consider an invasion of British territory. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her ministers have given green light to the use of military force.

Back on the Malvinas three friends – Vargas (Pablo Ribba), Esteban (Gaston Pauls), and Juan (Cesar Albarracin) – are longing for the days when they made love to their wives. This is not their war! They are scared, cold, and u…Read the entire review

Drive-In Double Feature: Assassination in Rome / Espionage in Tangiers
3 Jan 2007 at 1:50am
Rent It

Dark Sky Films is such a fun label, and their Drive-In Double Feature line does a terrific job capturing the nostalgic flavor of that nearly-kaput form of movie exhibition that their titles in this line are hard to resist. You might, however, want to make an exception in this case. You might say Dark Sky did their job a little too well: drive-ins often played the worst films imaginable and this collection’s woe begotten pair of Euro-thrillers made in Italy makes for one especially dull night at the movies, much like real drive-ins often were. That both transfers are letterboxed but unenhanced doesn’t help.

In the 1960s and ’70s, the Italian film industry cranked out genre films with great abandon. When they stumbled upon an international hit in Hercules (1957), they churned out what seemed like hundreds of similar, usually bland peplum (pepla?), only to shift everything …Read the entire review

The Weeping Meadow
3 Jan 2007 at 1:50am
Rent It

The Film:

There is hardly another director in the annals of Modern Greek cinema as prolific and well-respected as Athens-native Theo Angelopoulos. Considered one of the last true European visionaries alongside Bernardo Bertolucci and Ingmar Bergman this remarkably gifted director is practically unknown in North America. Angelopoulos’ work has been accessible mostly through overused and second-hand VHS relics often either dubbed or severely pan-scanned for the viewing (dis)pleasure of the few brave enough souls willing to seek out his films.

With Trilogia I: To Livadi pou dakryzei a.k.a Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow (2004), the first installment of an ambitious trilogy which is meant to cover the history of contemporary Greece, Theo Angelopoulos …Read the entire review

To the Left of the Father
3 Jan 2007 at 1:49am
Highly Recommended

The Film:

Luiz Fernando Carvalho’s Lavoura Arcaica a.k.a To the Left of the Father (2001) retells the tragic story of a Lebanese-Brazilian family where a past incestuous relationship has forced Andre (Selton Mello) to run away from his parents. Determined to have his brother back Pedro (Leonardo Medeiros) embarks on a controversial journey with plenty of unknowns.

Based on the acclaimed book by Raduan Nassar To the Left of the Father is a long and heavy yet visually stunning picture that delves deep into Brazilian culture providing a look at a country with a rich history. Carvalho’s camera compliments Nassar’s story with the necessary emphasis on detail and the dialog hardly interferes with the picture’s desired indolent tempo.

Clocking in at approximately 3 hours however for some To the Left of the Father might prove rat…Read the entire review

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Metallica – The Videos 1989-2004
2 Jan 2007 at 2:15am
Recommended

The Videos

It’s something that’s happened to most of us and it’s never very pleasant. I’m talking about friends growing apart. Sometimes people who were once close simply find themselves seeing each other or communicating less and less until the friendship somehow dissolves. I’ve had similar dissolutions with musical groups such as R.E.M. and U2. There was a time when I would wait with baited breath for their new releases, but as time went on, it got to where I didn’t want to hear from them any longer (the new stuff at least). But, one of the most difficult relationships to break was with Metallica. In the late 80s and early 90s, I was a huge Metallica fan, and couldn’t wait to hear more from this group. However, with the release of “Load”, this devotion ended. Still, as someone who loves music videos, I wasn’t against checking out their compilation, Metallica: The Videos 1989-…Read the entire review

George Reeves Double Feature: Thunder in the Pines / Jungle Goddess
2 Jan 2007 at 2:15am
Recommended

Shrewdly cashing in on renewed interest in the life and death of George Reeves, the tragic actor who played the Man of Steel on Adventures of Superman and the subject of last year’s Hollywoodland, Kit Parker Films and VCI have paired two low-budget features starring Reeves, Thunder in the Pines and Jungle Goddess (both 1948) with a heaping helping of featurettes about the actor. Though there’s a minor issue with the audio on one of the features, both otherwise look terrific and Reeves’ likeable, breezy manner – soon to be carried over into the Superman show – is on display in both films, which are well-paced with running times scarcely more than an hour.

Jungle Goddess is a very routine, cliche-ridden jungle melodrama made palatabl…Read the entire review

Walt Disney Treasures – The Mickey Mouse Club Featuring the Hardy Boys: 1956…
1 Jan 2007 at 6:39pm
Highly Recommended

As part of the latest wave of Disney’s celebrated DVD line, the Walt Disney Treasures, The Hardy Boys The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 – 1957 showcases the popular mystery serial, The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure from the M. M. Club’s second season, along with a few extras to fill out the backstory on this well-remembered adaptation.

I’m not sure where The Hardy Boys series of books stand with young readers today, but when I was a boy, most everybody I knew had a few on their bedroom bookshelf. They were fairly obligatory Christmas and birthday gifts from parents and grandparents who wanted to pass along their own cherished memories of the stories, and school librarians always prominently featured them along the library book cases as …Read the entire review

Chestnut
1 Jan 2007 at 6:39pm
Rent It

The Movie:

From the producers of “Air Bud” comes this sugary sweet little feature starring Abigail Breslin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) and Makenzie Vega (“Family Man”, “Sin City”) as Ray and Sal, two orphaned sisters who, early in the film, spy a couple of thieves stopped on the side of the road. When the crooks dump a cute little puppy that happened to be in one of the boxes, the girls save it and sneak it back to their little orphanage in the country.

After having to experience watching many of their friends get adopted, Ray and Sal are finally taken in by a kind couple, Laura and Matt Tomley (Christine Tucci and Justin Lewis), who live in a giant apartment in New York City. The only problem is that their new father is allergic to dogs and the building has strict rules against them.

So, it’s no surprise that the girls get into all sorts of hijinks trying to keep their little …Read the entire review

Step Up
1 Jan 2007 at 6:39pm
Skip It

The Movie:

Let me say upfront that I am not the target audience for Step Up. I’m over the age of 16 (by a long shot), I’m male and I don’t think of Save the Last Dance as an art film. That said, however, I’d like to think I can appreciate even a teeny bopper dance flick if it’s done well.

But Step Up isn’t so much done well as well-done, as in overcooked. Its recipe is straightforward enough: Add two parts The Cutting Edge, two parts Dirty Dancing, one part Fame and stir briskly. The result is flavorless gristle. Being that this is the kind of movie where you know within the first 10 minutes every plot point that will follow, any subsequent entertainment value is going to come from appreciating the mechanics of how it’s done. How’s the chemistry of the leads? How’s the danc…Read the entire review

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The Simpsons – The Complete Ninth Season
30 Dec 2006 at 10:46am
Highly Recommended

The Series:

The Simpsons is a huge part of our collective pop culture. The longest running animated sit-com of all time has gone on to become as identifiable as The Flintstones or The Jetsons and the clever writing and interesting cast of characters ensures that the series is just as vital and popular today as it was when it first began to air a decade and a half ago. This ninth season was important for a few reasons, some of which did go on to impact the long-term continuity of the series the marriage of Apu to Manjula, for one but it also marked a departure into wackier territory. The earlier seasons had stronger characterization and more detailed family dynamics, and here we start to notice these qualities fading in place of crazier plotlines and more obvious, slapstick humor. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as far as most fans are concerned and the ratings w…Read the entire review

SpongeBob SquarePants – Season 4, Vol. 2
30 Dec 2006 at 10:46am
Highly Recommended

Writing a review for SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 4, Volume 2 is about the easiest assignment I’ve had all year. You see, I wrote the review for the first volume of Season Four, and this second collection of animated adventures is just as funny, just as silly, and just as addictive as the first volume. When the menus popped up, with pictures from the individual episodes, my kids immediately started screaming, “Oh that’s a great one!” “Let’s watch that one first!” “And that one is hysterical; let’s watch that one!” It’s amazing, but they knew every one by heart. It’s pretty clear that this little cartoon about a plucky little sponge is going to become a universal pop culture touchstone for people in the coming years, in the same way the brilliant Looney Tunes cartoons were for my generation. What I had to say about SpongeBob in my first review of this particular season still goe…Read the entire review

Putting It Together: A Musical Review
30 Dec 2006 at 10:46am
Recommended

Putting it Together: A Musical Review is a videotaped performance of the 1999 Broadway revival of lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim’s compilation of over thirty of his songs, taken from previous stage works. It stars Carol Burnett, George Hearn, Ruthie Henshall, John Barrowman, and Bronson Pinchot. This particular revival was taken from the 1998 Los Angeles production, which had also starred Burnett, Barrowman, and Pinchot. Originally, the review had been staged in 1992 in England, starring Diana Rigg, and was brought to New York City in 1993, starring Julie Andrews.

For someone versed almost exclusively in movies, I’ll be the first to admit that the thought of watching a videotaped version of a Broadway musical revue left me a little cold. I claim …Read the entire review

The Great Yokai War
30 Dec 2006 at 10:46am
Recommended

The blending of childhood innocence and mystical powers in an unknown realm should probably be a genre all on its own. For the majority, these films all bring something fresh and innovative to the table. With The Great Yokai War, this fresh element is the director, Takashi Miike. While Miike brings his resounded signature style and inane ability to craft wonderful performance from his players, this story is too familiar to maintain interest. Set amidst some stunning costume work and unusually appealing special effects, The Great Yokai War follows along a paint-by-numbers plot and dialogue that relies so heavily on Miike’s talent that the film doesn’t embody the heart and soul of its lessen-produced counterparts. Even with its faults, this film is a dazzling spectacle to behold.


The Film:

Set amidst the backdrop of a small Japanese town, Tadashi lives the typi…Read the entire review

Psychopathia Sexualis
30 Dec 2006 at 10:46am
Rent It

The Film:

I am not quite so sure what to make of Bret Wood’s latest Psychopathia Sexualis (2006). Here’s why:

Attempting to deconstruct the legacy of renowned psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing and his controversial studies on the nature of sexual perversity Pshychopathia Sexualis is certainly a film unlike anything you’ve seen this year. Sexual repression, vampirism, hypnosis, sadomasochism, lesbianism, and necrophilia are in the center of a fractured storyline where the only common element is the desire to explain the unexplainable.

Set amidst a sea of lush Victorian decors however and plenty of questionable sex scenes Pshychopathia Sexualis quickly becomes more of a softcore, late-night, extra-zesty soap opera than a worthy look at the work of a scientist and his findings. The too careful but sensationalist approach to Krafft-Ebin…Read the entire review

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Walt Disney Treasures – More Silly Symphonies
28 Dec 2006 at 3:05am
Highly Recommended

THE SHOW:

In the early years of the Walt Disney animation studios, while part of the company was focusing on building up the iconic characters that would earn Disney his reputation, another part of the studio was cranking out the Silly Symphonies series. These are short cartoons (generally about six minutes, but sometimes nearing ten) that are exactly what they sound like: humorous narratives set to music. Though these cartoons did not focus on recurring characters, some of the more famous Disney institutions sprang from them. Donald Duck got his start here, and the Silly Symphonies version of the Three Little Pigs still endures in the public consciousness as one of the more dominant renditions of the story.

There were seventy-five Silly Symphonies in all. This is …Read the entire review

The Slaughter of the Vampires
28 Dec 2006 at 3:05am
Recommended

The Slaughter of the Vampires (La Strage dei vampire, 1962) is a handsomely-made Italian vampire film whose first two-thirds is closely modeled after Hammer Films’ seminal Gothic, Horror of Dracula (1958). Energetically directed by screenwriter Roberto Mauri (The Invincible Gladiators, King of Kong Island), it adds little to the genre but is entertaining nonetheless. Dark Sky’s all-region presentation is excellent, and includes an “Interview with the Vampire” himself, German actor Dieter Eppler, featured in many krimi films, including Hand of the Gallows, The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse).

Walter Brandi stars as Wolfgang, a happily married man living with wife Louise (Graziella Granata) in a renovated castle, where the unnamed vampire-on-the-lam (Eppler) is hiding out in a wine cellar. Soon after the film begins, Louise falls under the vampire’s sexu…Read the entire review

The Illusionist
27 Dec 2006 at 7:45pm
Highly Recommended

The Product:
It was the year of magic at the movies, and not just the on screen, cinematic kind. Hollywood reconnected with prestidigitation in a big way, releasing two competing looks at slight of hand and the fine art of fooling an audience. One was Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed and wildly popular take on the Batman mythos, the other was an under the radar effort by an unknown filmmaker responsible for a well received docu-drama on the JFK assassination. When the box office figures were finalized, and all the journalistic opinions were tallied, one effort clearly came out on top. And it’s not the one you’d think. Indeed, while The Prestige raked in $52 million in receipts, it was offset by a $40 million budget. The Illusionist, on the other hand, seemed to get better notices (the Rotten Tomato ranking difference between the two is negligible however…Read the entire review

Rocco and His Brothers (Remastered Italian Release)
27 Dec 2006 at 7:45pm
Highly Recommended

The Film:

Determined to put an end to the misery that has been tormenting the Parondi family in the Sourthern village of Lucania Rosaria (Katina Paxinou) and her sons Rocco (Alain Delon), Simone (Renato Salvatori), Ciro (Max Cartier), Luca (Rocco Vidollazi) pack their belongings and head to Milan. There they will meet the only Parondi who has been living away from the family: Vincenzo (Spiros Focas).

Upon arrival in Milan, however, the Parondis quickly discover that making ends meet will be just as difficult. There are no jobs, housing is expensive, cold winter has seized the North. But Milan is a big city, a rich city! Someone, somewhere, must need an extra pair of hands!

Simone is the fist one to land a job. A local scammer offers the southerner a deal he can not resist: boxing for cash. Without thinking much the proud Parondi accepts and soon money start coming his way. And…Read the entire review

I For India
27 Dec 2006 at 12:41pm
Recommended

The Movie

I realize I’m probably setting myself up for a fair amount of crap by opening a review with a quote from Garden State, but for all of the not-so-transparent emotional manipulation director Zach Braff indulges in, there was one line of dialogue that’s stuck with me ever since I saw the film two years ago and not so coincidentally spoken by Braff’s character, Andrew Largeman: “You know that point in your life when you realize that the house you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore … all of a sudden, even though you have some place to put your shit, that idea of home is gone … or maybe it’s like this rite of passage … you will never have that feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, for your kids, for the family you start; it’s like a cycle or something … maybe that’s what family really is … a group of people that miss the same imagin…Read the entire review

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NHL: Philadelphia Flyers Greatest Games Set
26 Dec 2006 at 7:41pm
Recommended

The Games

Philadelphia’s pretty well-known as a town that loves its sports teams. Those fans are also known to be pretty raving, rabid and raucous on occasion, but hey, who goes to a football game and pretends it’s a ballet? Growing up the son on a Philadelphia firefighter, my youth was fairly coated with a non-stop deluge of Phillies, Flyers, 76ers and Flyers. I grew up to focus more on the football/baseball side of the equation, but for most Philadelphia sports families, the Flyers are like a religion. Seriously.

So it was with much enthusiasm that I sat down with WB’s new Philadelphia Flyers: 10 Greatest Games collection, a 10-disc set that’ll bring a tear to the eye of any old-school Orange & Black fan. No frills, no extras, just one classic hockey game per disc. Here’s what we get:

05/09/74 – Bobby Clarke scores an overtime goal to win a playoff game in Boston. (Flyers at B…Read the entire review

Dane Cook’s Tourgasm
26 Dec 2006 at 7:41pm
Rent It

The Series

“Reality TV” always seems to find a fresh “bottom of the barrel” whenever a new season rolls around, and if Dane Cook’s Tourgasm isn’t one of the very worst — it surely is one of the most disappointing. It’s as if HBO found themselves with the rights to the whole of Dane Cook, and instead of simply delivering a rock-solid comedy concert, they decided to stretch a generally worthless concept into a 9-episode series. They really, really shouldn’t have.

Full disclosure: I think Dane Cook is a pretty damn hilarious comedian. Based only on his comedy CDs and a handful of TV appearances, I definitely consider myself a fan of the guy’s work. So when I got a hold of the 3-disc Tourgasm set, I figured I was in for a pretty good time. Yikes.

Here’s what Tourgasm is: Dane Cook brings three old pals (all of whom fancy themselves professional comedians) on a tour of col…Read the entire review

Altered
26 Dec 2006 at 7:41pm
Rent It

The Movie

It’s been about six years since the “love it or hate it” sensation that is The Blair Witch Project hit the scene, but we haven’t seen a whole lot of directors Dan Myrick and Ed Sanchez since that time. Myrick’s follow-up (The Strand) hit video shelves last year, and he has a pair of horror flicks (Solstice and Believers) in the works. Sanchez’s second feature has taken equally long to get off the ground. It’s a sci-fi / horror indie called Altered and it’s kind of a mixed bag: Half chintzy and raw, half interesting and semi-creepy.

The flick opens with a decidedly different approach to the “alien abduction” idea: A pair of guys are seen high-tailing it out of the woods with lump buried inside a blanket. When they arrive at the house of an unhappy old friend, we learn what the blanket contains: an unconscious alien creature! One of the bastards who…Read the entire review

American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile
26 Dec 2006 at 3:42pm
Skip It

The Movie

It really is amazing how terrible a movie can be and yet still earn a big enthusiastic DVD release as if it were an actual piece of filmed entertainment that’s worthy of your time, money and effort.

Trust me on this one, people, and this is coming from a guy who lived through/survived the Wretched Teen-Sex Comedy Flood of the Mid-’80s: The Naked Mile is one of the lamest, laziest and most shockingly amateurish comedies I’ve ever seen. The fact that Universal wants to keep riding the “American Pie” gravy train is no big shock; that they put so little effort or creativity into these video sequels, well, it’s kind of a slap in the face. Just because someone’s looking for a mindless college comedy, that doesn’t mean that person is a mentally-deficient moron — but that’s precisely what The Naked Mile (and its equally pathetic predecessor, Band Camp) is: witless, wo…Read the entire review

Gunbuster
26 Dec 2006 at 11:33am
Highly Recommended

Background: Fans of anime are often grouped into a limited number of sub-categories based on their favorite shows and viewing habits. I tend to like a lot of different types of anime so my own tastes are difficult to define (having been raised on Americanized versions until the 1980’s; with Astro Boy, Speed Racer, Star Blazers, and Force Five, being among the titles I enjoyed over the years until then). Still, as the market expands, marketing niches make it easy for companies and reviewers alike to describe some of the tenants of a particular title in an easier form, noting that your mileage may vary considerably. One of my favorite mech-robot titles from the mid-1990’s was Neon Genesis Evangelion, a series that explored a darker version of anime, one where not only were things not as they seemed but even the good guys had serious inst…Read the entire review

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Searching for Bobby D
24 Dec 2006 at 11:01pm
Rent It

The Movie:

Low budget films truly are the backbone of the movie industry. Each year indie features are released that are greeted with one degree of success or another. 2005’s Searching for Bobby D is an example of one that connects with moderate success in what it attempts to do but for all intense and purposes falls short in the end.

The movie features a plot about an aspiring filmmaker getting his name out there and attempting to put together his opus. It’s supposed to be a comedy that showcases the plight of a struggling script writer with the backdrop of a mob-like atmosphere. It’s fun, sometimes witty, and entertains in spurts but ultimately the script feels shallow and the acting, even more so.

Johnny Argano (William DeMeo) spends his days and nights dreaming about starring in a film with Robert DeNiro. He wrote a script but hasn’t been able to make any conn…Read the entire review

The Black Dahlia
24 Dec 2006 at 4:34pm
Rent It

The Movie:

Brian De Palma is proof that being a great moviemaker doesn’t necessarily entail being a great storyteller. Ever since his ascent in the Seventies as a kind of Hitchcock Lite, De Palma consistently does his best work when he isn’t expected to make too much sense. But give the guy a big, juicy story to tell, and he winds up charred in a bonfire of his own bravado. The Black Dahlia, adapted from James Ellroy’s acclaimed crime novel and involving perhaps the most infamous unsolved murder in California history, ought to thrill and amaze.

Sadly, it mainly just disappoints.

Set in post-World War II Los Angeles, the saga follows straight-arrow police officer Dwight “Bucky” Bleichert (Josh Hartnett), an ex-prizefighter who is paired up with another boxer-turned-cop, Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart). The two become friends after an exhibition match to benefit the polic…Read the entire review

The Descent: Original Unrated Cut
24 Dec 2006 at 2:27pm
Highly Recommended

The Product:
It happens so rarely that, when it actually does, it is definitely worth noting. Critics rarely change their mind at least not a mere four months after their initial contact with an entertainment. No, it usually takes decades of differing opinions and considered scholarship before a hated movie becomes acceptable, or visa versa. But in this case, there is something about The Descent that rubbed this reviewer the wrong way back in August. Maybe it was the loud and obnoxious teens in the audience who were too busy text messaging each other to pay attention to the film. Perhaps it was the lousy projection levels, which rendering most of the movie’s cave scenes dark and indistinguishable. It could have been the unbearable hype, a machine that made the film out to be the second coming of horror. Whatever the circumstance, he came out unimpressed and angry at those who would p…Read the entire review

2006 Ghent-Wevelgem & Het Volk
23 Dec 2006 at 6:54pm
Highly Recommended

The movie

World Cycling Productions’ 2006Spring Classics series of professional bicycle racing kicks off withthe two-race set of Ghent-Wevelgem and Het Volk. These early-seasonraces are interesting not just for their own sake, but also as aglimpse of what the field looks like after the winter season oftrades, training, and team reorganization. The 2006 edition of theseraces turns out to be quite interesting, with some surprises in storefor riders and viewers alike.

While Ghent-Wevelgem gets topbilling in the set, it makes more sense to watch the Het Volk discfirst, as Het Volk is the earliest of the races on the calendar. This”semi-classic” race gets started in the chilly Belgianweather on February 25, with all the riders eyeing each other to seewho looks strongest. It’s not the first race of the year, but it’sthe first big …Read the entire review

Stained Glass (SBS TV Series)
23 Dec 2006 at 6:53pm
Highly Recommended

The Mini-Series

The 2004 Seoul Broadcasting System television series Stained Glass is a love story about three individuals who were connected on an emotional level at a very young age. Over the course of eighteen hour long episodes, their story is told. It has dramatic, romantic, and somber elements. It is a true K-drama and delivers an engaging story that is slow at times but nonetheless hard to put down. The characters are all likeable and their melodramatic situation will have you on the edge of your sit wanting more.

Stained Glass’s main plotline deals with three individuals and the sordid love triangle that ensues as two best friends pine over the same girl, who also feels conflicted about her relationship with each of them. Han Dong-Joo (Lee Dong-G…Read the entire review

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The Best Of Hootenanny
22 Dec 2006 at 6:28pm
Recommended

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

When Elvis entered the Army and left the airwaves to novelty songs, other Rock ‘n’ Roll holdovers and young Italian men from Philadelphia, a gap opened up in pop music. Before this vacuum could be filled with the surfin’ sound and the English invasion, America had a resurgence of folk music. Old folk-tradition hands such as the Weavers were joined by new voices Joan Baez and eventually Bob Dylan. Dozens of collegiate duos, trios, foursomes and entire families burst forward for recognition. The college circuit became a hot ticket for traveling singers. Not all offered renditions of Michael, Row the Boat Ashore …. only most of them.

Many of the new singing groups were young clean-cut types that sported clean short haircuts and ties, an image our parents would try to impose on us teens in the later longhair ’60s. By and large, the folk mu…Read the entire review

Pucker Up: The Fine Art of Whistling
22 Dec 2006 at 6:28pm
Recommended

It’s not often that I’m given a chance to see a whistling documentary, but Pucker Up: The Fine Art of Whistling (2005) is as catchy and entertaining as the subject it pays tribute to. Directed by the team of Kate Davis and David Heilbroner (who also helmed a segment of 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America), Pucker Up is a relatively straightforward but charming tale that revolves around the annual International Whistling Competition in Louisburg, NC. Our story introduces us to several colorful competitors from all walks of life, including an investment banker, a turkey hauler and a Dutch social worker. All share a passion for whistling, employing a number of unique styles to share their music with all w…Read the entire review

Time
22 Dec 2006 at 6:28pm
Rent It

The Movie:

NOTE: Please be aware that this DVD is a Korean import and is coded for Region 3 DVD players. In order to view this DVD, you’ll have to have either a Region 3 coded or Region Free DVD player. [Recommended Region Free Players] It will not play in standard Region 1 North American DVD players.

While Korean director Kim Ki-duk isn’t all that popular in his native land, he’s quickly becoming quite renowned abroad for his dark dramas and twisted human interest stories. His latest film, Time, finds him returning once again to the bleak, misanthropic world view that has been so integral to many of his better known pictures, but this time he takes a much quieter approach to the subject matter. The results are, sadly, rather middle of the road.

Pretty Seh-hee (Seong Hyeon-…Read the entire review

Moscow Elegy
22 Dec 2006 at 6:28pm
Rent It

THE MOVIE:

The final image of Moscow Elegy ( l gie de Moscou), Alexander Sokurov’s 1987 tribute to Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, is of a tree that Tarkovsky planted. It’s a fitting way for this documentary to close, as the movie itself is the cinematic equivalent of that tree, the product of a seed one artist had sown, the fruit it produced being the inspiration of another.

Tarkovsky is famous for such films as Andrei Rublev, Solaris, and Stalker, though Moscow Elegy largely concerns itself with his later work, after he left Russia to film in Europe, drawing most heavily from Nostalghia and The Sacrifice. Sokurov is best known in the U.S. as the director of Russian Ark. The influence of his subjec…Read the entire review

The Ripper Blood Pack
22 Dec 2006 at 6:28pm
Skip It

The Movie:
In a few of my reviews I’ve made mention of the direct to video titles that were prevalent in the eighties and early nineties. Some of them turned out ok, JR Bookwalter’s The Dead Next Door and Carlton Albright’s Luther the Geek come to mind. Most of them turned out to be horrible, the only redeeming quality being the video box art. One such example of this is The Ripper, a straight to video title that I remember seeing first in a drug store remember when you could rent titles at drugstores? They had the frames holding the flattened cases inside so you could flip through and see what you wanted? Anyone? Wow I’m old. So to move on, I first saw this title there and later on found it at a K-Mart for five bucks. I was elated; the cover was fairly cool, the back showed stills of gorily graphic kills, and it “starred” Tom Savini!!! I need see no more and I parted …Read the entire review

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Who can resist another run of? Jackass with Jackass 2 with it’s frat boy humor you are going to be laughing until new years day.? ?
Jackass Number Two
20 Dec 2006 at 10:58pm
Highly Recommended The Movie:

When Jackass: The Movie did big numbers at the box office, it only made sense that the guys would get back together for a sequel. While spin off television shows like The Wildboyz and Viva La Bam are decent enough, the chemistry and insanity of Jackass has ensured that it’s still popular even if the series itself is no longer with us. Jackass Number Two, once again directed by long time Jackass alumni Jeff Tremaine (the man behind the first film), does a great job of filling the void that has existed over the last couple of years and it delivers exactly what you’d expect from it stupid frat boy humor and completely retarded stunts.

There’s no real plot to discuss, no hidden meaning or social message to be found in the film. It’s simply more footage of the crew hurting themselves and performing stunts that no one in their right mi…Read the entire review

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We the have Brit spy kids movie with Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker maybe one to get from the video store to watch with the kids over the holidays??
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker
20 Dec 2006 at 10:58pm
Rent It The Movie

If you’re wondering what makes Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker notably different than stuff like Spy Kids and Agent Cody Banks, I’ll tell you:

Operation Stormbreaker has [tag-ice]British[/tag-ice] accents, whereas those other movies do not.

And while it’s true that Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider books may pre-date those other movies, the simple truth of the matter is that “underage espionage” is a sub-genre that’s really worn out its welcome in the past half-decade or so. And aside from the first Spy Kids, none of the flicks have been all that memorable.

So here’s another one: After his spy uncle is killed by a ruthless assassin, teenager Alex Rider finds himself sucked into the world of ultra-dangerous espionage-land, where ruthless assassins are only part of the problem. The dreamy young spy will also contend with nifty gadgets, freaky femme fatales,…Read the entire review

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The rather more controversial look at [tag-tec]Guantanamo Bay[/tag-tec] and what goes on their might be more your cup of tea although I doubt it ?

Gitmo: The New Rules of War
20 Dec 2006 at 6:42pm
Rent It In a memo regarding the interrogation methods used on detainees at Guantanamo Bay – namely the brutal practice of prolonged standing, in which a prisoner is required to maintain a single position for unbearable lengths of time – former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld had scribbled in the margins: “I stand 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to 4 hours?” That Rumsfeld, and many others in the current administration, fail to comprehend the complete idiocy of his own comment is a key factor in understand just how the war on terror has gone wrong, and just why torture is not viewed by those in power as the horrid, ineffective method it actually is.

This memo is just one of the many disturbing revelations in “Gitmo,” the latest in an ever-growing line of documentaries shedding light on the shadier side of current events. Like many in its genre, the film is not top-shelf cinema, but it is excel…Read the entire review

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Can you believe it the whole series of West Wing on DVD if you do nothing else this holidays make sure you sit and watch this amazing series I am assuming unless you have been on a deserted island some where this needs no introduction from me ?

The West Wing – The Complete Series Collection
20 Dec 2006 at 6:40pm
Highly Recommended INTRODUCTION:

The United States government is run by highly intelligent and fiercely devoted servants of the public good, and its presidency is occupied by nobl…Read the entire review

Finally if you can tear yourself away from West Wing this Masters of Horror might be worth a look although I think I would finish watching? West Wing first the ending is brilliant and? has you on the edge of your seat.?

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Masters of Horror – John Mcnaughton – Haeckel’s Tale
20 Dec 2006 at 6:40pm
Rent It The Movie:

Originally slated for director George Romero, this adaptation of Clive Barker’s short story, Haeckel’s Tale, wound up on John McNaughton’s plate instead. Considering McNaughton’s involvement in the horror genre is limited to the excellent Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer and the goofy The Borrowers, he might seem an odd choice to wear the ‘Masters Of Horror’ hat, but the problem with this production turns out to be Mick Garris’ script, and not McNaugton’s surprisingly strong direction.

The story begins when a scientist named Ernst Haeckel (Derek Cecil) fails in his attempt to reanimate the dead. After hearing stories of a man who can raise the dead from a grave robber, Haeckel soon winds up meeting Montesquino (John Polito), a necromancer who claims he can successfully bring the dead back to life. Heackel doesn’t believe that Montesquino’s abilities …Read the entire review

Have a great week and see you soon?

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If you thought [tag-tec]Borat[/tag-tec] was Sacha Baron Cohen’s first movie then think again although a rather different subject matter and? possibly more? British humor you might just enjoy? Ali G Indahouse: The? movie. This film has a plot so thin you could see through it but the humor might just appeal suggest a rental than buy type of movie.?
Ali G Indahouse: The Movie
18 Dec 2006 at 10:12pm
Rent It The Movie

A few years back I rented a copy of Ali G Indahouse: The Movie, not because I was a fan of Sacha Baron Cohen’s (suddenly & amazingly popular) character — but because I’d read somewhere that the movie was “theatrically unreleasable” in the United States, mainly because we Americans hadn’t yet caught on to Cohen’s patented brand of inspired madness. So now with the Ali G craze all but evaporated, and with the Borat buzzings (finally) dying down, I figure it would be a good time to give Ali G Indahouse: The Movie a second spin.

The plot (and to describe it as “bare bones” would be a compliment) goes like this: Ali G is one of those white boys who loves black culture so much that he pretends he is black. (Or a spoiled white kid’s approximation of “black culture,” anyway.) So already the comedy springs from the obvious stupidity of Ali G himself, but it also works as …Read the entire review

Next we Artie Lange’s Beer League which is good old American working class humor at it’s best again one to rent as I think one viewing will be enough for all but die hard Artie Lange fans.

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Artie Lange’s Beer League
18 Dec 2006 at 4:57pm
Recommended ?

THE FILM

If you’ve followed comedian Artie Lange’s ups and downs on the Howard Stern Radio Show, you already know that he’s a slovenly, punchline-friendly, “one of the guys” guys, cursed with an addictive personality that could make Tony Montana blush. So, it’s appropriate that Lange’s leading man debut would be a motion picture about a gang of blue-collar Jersey knuckleheads who prize only one thing higher than their summer softball league: [tag-tec]booze[/tag-tec].

Artie DeVanzo (Artie Lange) is a 35-year-old unemployed doofus who drinks too much, can’t keep a girlfriend, and lives with his enabling mother. He spends his days with his friends (including Ralph Macchio and Seymour Cassel) in their softball league, where losing is their daily bread. When rival Mangenelli (Anthony DeSando) works out a wager to have them thrown out of the league of they can’t finish first, Artie rallies the troops and …Read the entire review

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Lotna is about pre war Poland and I think that says enough to give you a flavor rent it if this kind of story floats your boat . Not? one for me? ..?

Lotna
18 Dec 2006 at 4:56pm
Rent It ?

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Polish director Andrzej Wajda is a world-renowned talent still mostly untapped by DVD; besides his war trilogy (A Generation, Kanal, Ashes and Diamonds) from Criterion, the only other Wajda offerings are from importer Facets Video. Innocent Sorcerers is a jazzy story of the new youth movement circa 1960. This color film returns to the subject of WW2 to honor a famous Polish cavalry unit that fell before the first wave of Hitler’s blitzkreig: The last official lancer battalion to fight in Europe.

Synopsis: A troop of Polish light cavalry raids alon…Read the entire review

DVD Reviews

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Back again with some more new DVD releases and I think there could be some pretty interesting especially if your DVD-R or TIVO has been on the blink..

Not exactly anything to lose sleep over if you missed it but some pretty good stuff never the less.

We start to day with 3rd Rock from the sun can this really have been going for 6 series since 1996? (apparently so..?)? this next one is only available as a region 3 DVD. If you have not moved upto multi region with your last DVD upgrade you might want to consider getting one as a back up.

I am still proudly able to boast ownership thanks to a trip to Malaysia a 50″ front projection tv? which plays 7 (i didn’t even know there were that many ) tv formats and for added bonus it even creates text in Chinese and Malay (ok not massively useful but a talking point in days gone by) and to get back to my point a multi region DVD player which plays every known DVD format known to man…

Without which I would have missed so many great movies ..

So multi region is without doubt the way to go if you are truly serious and not just watching the latest Hollywood blockbusters…

So where were we …

The next DVD is a Korean import in DTS (i knew there was a point to all that ) called City of Violence worth a look if you can get hold of it? or so it seems? Then if we could get further away than Korea and City of Violence we have Ellen Degneres with the complete series five which is good for a few laughs.

? Some might? prefer to think of this as the “coming out years “. On a? slightly different note we then have Touched by an Angel you will either love or loathe this series and I guess I stand on the loathe side but who am i to pass judgement.

Now we all have a pretty good laugh (never really been sure if Touched by an Angel? is supposed to be funny maybe it’s just me?) lets have some serious drama with Thin which takes head on full in the face the worring trend of eating disorders namely [tag-tec]anorexia[/tag-tec] , binging , size? 0 and a whole range of other mind provoking stuff .. if you are worried about some one having this problem watch this it’s pretty dramatic stuff and will open your eyes..

If not? go and treat yourself to a Mac and Fries (maybe we will look at Supersize Me another day!?
3rd Rock from the Sun: Season 6
30 Nov 2006 at 12:33am
Recommended The Sixth & Final Season

3rd Rock From the Sun is one of the richest and hilarious television comedies to air. The series first aired in 1996 and lasted for a total of six seasons. The show molds science fiction into a sitcom and the results are a blast. A team of aliens from Mars take on human form in Rutherford, Ohio and integrate themselves into the local populace. Their goal is to learn everything they can about humans in a couple of days. Of course, it turns out humans are much more complex than expected and the team of aliens decide to stay a while longer. For more details about this series and its cast, please refer to DVD Talk’s reviews of season one, Read the entire review

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The City of Violence Limited Special Edition DTS
29 Nov 2006 at 8:22pm
Recommended The Movie:

NOTE: Please be aware that this DVD is a Korean import and is coded for Region 3 DVD players. In order to view this DVD, you’ll have to have either a Region 3 coded or Region Free DVD player. [Recommended Region Free Players] It will not play in standard Region 1 North American DVD players.

Ryoo Seung-wan, the man behind Crying Fist, returns to the action genre he’s so well known for in his native South Korea with The City Of Violence, a fun and entertaining fight film that succeeds more on style than on substance but which entertains from start to finish.

The film begins when a detective named Jeong Tae-su (Jeong Du-hong) heads back to the small town where he grew up to attend the funeral of a man who he was close friends with during his years in high sc…Read the entire review

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Ellen – The Complete Season Five
29 Nov 2006 at 8:22pm
Recommended The Fifth & Final Season

In the first season of Ellen, the series was called These Friends of Mine. However, with the second season came many changes, including a different cast and title change. The third season introduces another cast change and continues the same episodic format as the past seasons that look into the crazy daily life of thirty something Ellen Morgan (Ellen DeGeneres) and friends. In season four, Ellen underwent a major lifestyle change in “The Puppy Episode” and declared that she was gay. Since Ellen’s coming out, the direction of the stories have changed, but the overall mood is same. What makes the stories different this season is how they are mainly about Ellen’s new lifestyle. But the comedy still feels like past seasons with Elle…Read the entire review

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Touched By an Angel – The Third Season, Vol. 2
29 Nov 2006 at 8:22pm
Recommended The Third Season, Volume 2

Touched By An Angel is feel-good television series about angels coming down from heaven and interacting in the world of man correcting wrongs in people’s life. Monica (Roma Downey) is an angel trainee working as a case worker. Under the guidance of another angel Tess (Della Reese), Monica sets misguided individuals on the right path. However another important aspect to this show is the development of Monica as she tries to understand the human way of life and her role in it. Another key character to this show is Andrew (John Dye). He is an angel of death and he helps the dying in their transition to the afterlife. He is a former case worker whose mentor was Tess. On more than one occasion he offers advice to Monica that prevents him from doi…Read the entire review

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Thin
29 Nov 2006 at 4:23pm
Highly Recommended The movie

Anorexia and other, related [tag-tec]eatingdisorders[/tag-tec] are one of the ironic curses of our rich and well-fed civilization. In the midst of available food, anorexics (usuallyyoung women) literally starve themselves, trying desperately to shape their bodies to meet a distorted image of & quot;thin and beautiful."No one really knows what causes anorexia; the best theory at themoment is that some combination of genetic predisposition,personality, family behavior, and cultural pressure triggers the [tag-tec]psychological disorder[/tag-tec]. One of the most insidious aspects of [tag-tec]anorexiais[/tag-tec] its ambivalent position in our culture: while we recognize that behavior like binging and purging or drug abuse to lose weight are disordered, we also exalt size-0 models and implicitly associate obsession about weight with the rich, famous, and emulated. Anybodywho’s ever thought that anorexia …Read the entire review

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WWE – Unforgiven 2006
29 Nov 2006 at 7:50am
Highly RecommendedThis year’s Unforgiven took place on September 17, 2006 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Air Canada Centre. In addition to Umaga’s first PPV appearance, we also see newly introduced tag team “the Highlanders” taking on the male cheerleaders for the championship belt. We’re also subjected to (what will hopefully be thefinal) match between DX and Vince McMahon. However, the best (and saddest) match out of them all is Trish Stratus’ final match.

Here’s the card:

Intercontinental Championship [Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy] - Johnny and Jeff put on a pretty good match with a lot of high-flying by Jeff and some good spot…Read the entire review

New Legend of Shaolin
29 Nov 2006 at 1:47am
Rent ItThe Film:
Jet Li’s Fearless, which was released theatrically in the United States earlier this year, is the crowning achievement in the career of the martial artist-turned-actor. Despite the fact that American audiences know him best for his more recent work in American and European productions like Romeo Must Die and Kiss of the Dragon, it has been Li’s work in Chinese and Hong Kong films — over 30 in total — that has made him one of the leading action stars in world cinema. Li was a child prodigy in the world of martial arts, winning his first championship at the age of 11. By the time he left the sport at 17, he was an international superstar, having spent five years as the All-Around National [tag-ice]Wushu[/tag-ice] Champion of China. His first starring role came in the 1982’s Shaolin Temple, a huge hit that catapulted Li even further into the role of international star.

Between 1…Read the entire review

Avenger
28 Nov 2006 at 11:43pm
RecommendedAny chance to see Sam Elliott be a badass for ninety minutes is fine by me.

The movie is “Avenger,” adapted from the novel by Frederick Forsyth for the TNT cable network. Its plot is merely an afterthought – aging mercenary tracks down Bosnian warlord, eluding CIA agents along the way – and is but a thread on which we hang the coolness that is Sam Elliott. Here he is in all his Sam Elliottness: craggy, leathery, his bass voice booming, ready to kick ass and take names, and never mind the names. We are asked to believe that this Vietnam vet can overtake a room full of thugs and outwit an army of government agents and cause many things to be exploding, and we cheerfully say, “why, yes, of course, it is Sam Elliott, he can do that.”

And when that is not enough, the screenplay (from Alan Sharp, scripter of “Rob Roy” and “The Osterman Weekend”) is kind enough to ask Sam Elliott to say somethin…Read the entire review

Mikadroid: Robokill Beneath Discoclub Layla
28 Nov 2006 at 11:43pm
Skip ItIf you’re anything like me – and I apologize if you are – then there’s no way you can see a title like “Mikadroid: Robokill Beneath Disco Club Layla” and entertain the slightest thought of passing it up. That’s a movie that begs, pleads, demands to be seen. The idea of a Disco Club Layla, where something called a “robokill” takes place beneath it? You have my attention.

Unfortunately, “Mikadroid” is the latest in a very long line of horror films that consists of an interesting title and little else. The film itself is generic slasher blandness in which the only notable feature is the use of what appears to be the Michelin Man as the killer. Which is not nearly as fun as it sounds.

We open in 1945, at the end of the war, where a crazed Japanese scientist has been creating genetically-enhanced super-soldiers. The project has been abandoned and the bunker ordered destroyed, but not before Dr…Read the entire review

Robin Hood – Most Wanted Edition
28 Nov 2006 at 7:54pm
RecommendedIt’s fantastic to see Disney cleaning up and re-issuing some of their classics. In a world of double and triple upgrades for DVDs, these animated gems always seem to be the most enjoyable and worth the pennies forked over. Packed in an embossed, puffy slipcover and adorned with the big grinning fox bearing the name, the Robin Hood: Most Wanted Edition DVD is another example of a spruced-up Disney classic. Even though Robin Hood is different from most other [tag-tec]Disney[/tag-tec] films in tone, it still bears a sense of charm and delight with each arrow shot and each coin jingled.

The Film:

From the narration of a good ole’ rooster minstrel comes the story of Robin Hood and burly bear Little John. With a familiar whistle and the strutting of the two protagonists, the film sets a laid back, friendly mood. Even though Robin Hood is the head thief in town, fear never stri…Read the entire review

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Pollyworld
26 Nov 2006 at 2:35pm
RecommendedThe Movie:
Much like the MyScene and Bratz DVDs, PollyWorld is a video tie-in to the popular girls’ toy, this one called Polly Pocket, which features tiny, plastic dolls with snap-on clothing. In this movie, Polly and her good friends, The Pockets, are getting ready to compete on their favorite reality show, “Roll Like That!” at the PollyWorld amusement park. Problems abound, however, when the girls must face down their mean, clique-ish classmates, led by insincere ringleader Beth. Polly is also ambivalent about her father’s impending marriage to her soon-to-be stepmother, Lorelai.

The opening of PollyWorld is almost exactly like the MyScene movie, so if you own that, it may be difficult to tell the two apart. That said, it is far less vapid, as it addresses very real issues to girls, such as getting along with other girls and creating identities outside of cliques. There…Read the entire review

Strawberry Shortcake: Cooking Up Fun
26 Nov 2006 at 2:35pm
Rent ItThe Movie:
You have to hand it to whoever thought up the irresistible idea of Strawberry Shortcake decades ago: little scented dolls with names like Apple Dumpling, Angel Cake, Orange Blossom, and Gingersnap, who live in a candy-shaped world and have pets named Pupcake and Honey Pie Pony. Like retro favorites such as The Care Bears and My Little Pony, the franchise has experienced a resurgence in the past few years, as an entirely new generation of girls has discovered the now-updated brand.Strawberry Shortcake: Cooking Up Fun follows the adventures of Strawberry Shortcake and her friends as they try to create a cooking show for television. Apple Dumpling, who is younger than the other girls, wants to help them cook, but she succeeds in making a mess and inadvertently undermining their efforts in the kitchen. When she falls asleep after being banished from the kitchen, she dreams she i…Read the entire review

Def Comedy Jam Classics, Vols. 1 and 2
26 Nov 2006 at 2:35pm
Skip ItThe Show:

I was momentarily struck by a Steve Harvey monologue featured in Def Comedy Jam Classics, Volume 2. Hosting a 1997 episode from Los Angeles, the comedian caught my attention when he explained that the typically New York-based HBO series had hit the road in an attempt to ease the whole divide between the Red and the Blue.

What’s this? I thought to myself. I didn’t think pundits had reduced the nation to a red/blue political divide until the 2000 presidential election and all the colorful electorate maps that accompanied it. But wait! The red/blue divide Harvey meant was the even dicier rivalry between street gangs, the Crips and the Bloods. Def Comedy Jam’s excursion to L.A., Harvey continued, was an attempt to reconcile the gangsta rap wars then brewing between the West and East Coasts.

My, how times change.

The divide between Red and Bl…Read the entire review

Savannah Smiles
26 Nov 2006 at 12:01pm
DVD Talk Collector SeriesThe Movie:
Savannah Smiles is, hands down, one of the best family films of all time, and as it tends to go out of print on a regular basis, you’d be wise to snap this one up before you’re forced to pay $75 for a bad copy of it on the internet. It was one of the first films I can remember seeing over and over again on a relatively new channel called HBO, which was part of the then-new phenomenon of [tag-tec]cable[/tag-tec] television, back when [tag-tec]]cable boxes[/tag-tec] were big and bulky and did not come with remote controls.

Filmed in 1982, Savannah Smiles is the story of a little girl who is neglected by her wealthy parents, only to run away from home and encounter two bumbling crooks, Alvie (Mark Miller) and Bootsie (Donovan Scott), who become surrogate parents to her. Because Savannah’s father is a political figure, it is assumed that she has been kidnapped, and a manhunt, led by legendary actor Pet…Read the entire review

The Premiere Frank Capra Collection
26 Nov 2006 at 11:22am
DVD Talk Collector SeriesTHE MOVIES:

“Of or evocative of the movies of Frank Capra, often promoting the positive social effects of individual acts of courage.” – the definition of “Capraesque,” as stated by the American Heritage Dictionary

“[Frank Capra] made you pay for those happy endings.” – Jimmy Stewart

I find that most -esques are misunderstood and misused as time wears on, so I was surprised to do a quick Google search on “Capraesque” and find the above definition at the top of the list. I would say that, based on the newly released Premiere Frank Capra Collection, it’s a relatively accurate summation of what makes a Frank Capra movie tick. Usually, when I see the tag bandied about, the intention is to suggest that a movie is overly optimistic, that it shows a…Read the entire review

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The King and I
25 Nov 2006 at 2:42pm
Highly RecommendedThe Movie:

Okay, confession time: I really enjoy a good musical. Yes,I watch a lot of SF, anime, and foreign films and I listen to rock music,the louder the better, but I also appreciate the big [tag-ice]Hollywood[/tag-ice] production numbers. Some of the best musicals around have been based on Rogersand Hammerstein[tag-ice]Broadway[tag-ice] plays and a very nice boxed set of films basedon their productions was released a few years ago. I snatched itup and was very pleased. Now Fox has revisited a few of these films,restored them, and added copious bonus items. The cream of the cropof these new releases, in my opinion at least, is The King and I. Presented for the first time with an anamorphic transfer and a wonderfullooking image, this is sure to please all of this film’s many fans.

Read the entire review

Evil Behind You
25 Nov 2006 at 11:45am
Skip ItThe Movie

Imagine that your local church group somehow sat down and watched Saw, only to come out the other side not offended or infuriated by the wholesale meanness, torture, and despair — but actively interested in making their own version! Yes, a mildly bible-thumping but clearly “Christian” version of Saw that steals everything from the premise to the flashback structure, only to leave behind the violence, excitement, and creativity of the “infamous” horror flick.

I’ll be brutally frank: I watched much of Evil Behind You with my jaw set on full slack. The thing would be hilarious if it weren’t so aggressively boring and inept, but here’s what I was able to discern as the “plot” of this truly bizarre amalgam of torture-style horror, New Testament peachifying, and astonishingly bad filmmaking:

Two young women awaken trapped inside a grungy room. Over on some gurneys…Read the entire review

You, Me and Dupree
25 Nov 2006 at 11:44am
Skip It YOU, ME AND DUPREE
2006 / 110 minutes / color / [tag-tec]widescreen[/tag-tec]
Starring: Owen Wilson, Matt Dillon, Kate Hudson, Michael Douglas
Screenwriter: Michael Le Sieur
Cinematographer: Charles Minsky
Editors: Peter B. Ellis, Debra Neil-Fisher
Music: Theodore Shapiro
Producer: Scott Stuber
Directors: Anthony and Joe Russo

I never have understood why they call it “high concept.” Believed to be first coined by Michael Eisner over at Paramount, “high concept,” the scourge of modern-day [tag-tec]moviemaking[/tag-tec], is a descriptive ter…Read the entire review
Devil Times Five
25 Nov 2006 at 9:07am
Rent ItThe Movie

Produced under the title People Toys and (somewhat) released under the name The Horrible House on the Hill, Sean McGregor’s Devil Times Five is one bizarre little mess of a movie. Clearly cobbled together from two distinctly different shoots, this one was a troubled production from the word “go,” and the flick still wears its myriad flaws on its clearly well-worn sleeve … but that’s not to say there’s no fun to be found here.

Borrowing more than a few pages from Village of the Damned, Devil Times Five is about a creepy quintet of ultra-pscyho kids who (somehow) escape from a horrific car accident, only to stumble upon a mountainside retreat in which three married couples (and a mildly retarded handyman) are spending a bicker-filled weekend of wheeling, dealing and alcohol consumption.

The grown-ups take the five freaks in from the cold, and be…Read the entire review

Godzilla Raids Again / Gigantis the Fire Monster
25 Nov 2006 at 3:18am
RecommendedThe first sequel to the seminal 1954 original Gojira rode the unstoppable wave of its predecessor’s phenomenal popularity, but otherwise Godzilla Raids Again (Gojira no gyakushu, 1955) is a decidedly minor Japanese monster movie. That said, it’s also so different from every other Godzilla entry — and its Americanization, originally titled Gigantis the Fire Monster so bizarre — that those interested yet unfamiliar with it will want to see both versions at least once. Classic Media’s supplement-packed presentation offers both incarnations of the film, an audio commentary track and other extras. (Full disclosure: this reviewer briefly appears on the disc’s commentary track.)

Read the entire review

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Baywatch – Season 1
22 Nov 2006 at 7:20pm
Rent It The First Season

In the late 1980s, a new television aired on NBC called Baywatch. The series did not do very well and NBC cancelled it at the end of its first year. The series went into syndication and individual funding sources helped keep it alive. In 1991, Baywatch started its second season. Afterwards, Baywatch grew in popularity and ran until 2001–its eleventh season with two hundred and forty-two episodes. The series has been herald as one of the most popular (in terms of audience numbers, not necessarily quality) [tag-tec]television series[/tag-tec] worldwide.

Baywatch, in its first nine seasons, takes place on the sunny beaches of California. The final two seasons followed Hasselhoff’s character relocating to the beaches of Hawaii. Baywatch ?

Rock Hudson Screen Legend Collection
22 Nov 2006 at 7:20pm
Rent It ROCK HUDSON: SCREEN LEGEND COLLECTION
1952, 1953, 1961, 1962, 1965 / color / full-screen, widescreen
Starring: Rock Hudson, Charles Coburn, Piper Laurie, Kirk Douglas, Dorothy Malone, Burl Ives, Leslie Caron, Charles Boyer
Directors: Douglas Sirk, Nathan Juran, Robert Aldrich, Robert Mulligan, Michael Gordon

I was very much looking forward to the Rock Hudson: Screen Legend Collection, from Universal’s terrific Franchise Collection line. Not only are the Franchise Collections fun, because they usually gather together quite a few titles for peanuts, but the transfers are, on the w…Read the entire review

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Jules Verne’s the Fabulous Journey to the Center of the Earth A.K.A. Where T…
22 Nov 2006 at 7:20pm
Skip It Billed as ripping, old-fashioned family entertainment, “The Fabulous Journey To the Centre of the Earth” is instead a big ol’ hunk of Euro-schlock, complete with poorly dubbed voices, on-the-cheap [tag-tec]special effects[/tag-tec], and a guy in a gorilla suit.The 1976 film – released as “When Time Began” in the U.S. – is a clumsy adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic fantasy yarn, a story that was already successfully translated into a movie, with the popular 1959 adventure starring James Mason and Pat Boone. Another film reworking of a Verne novel, the 1956 epic “Around the World in Eighty Days,” was a box office behemoth and earned a Best Picture Oscar. The influence of both films upon this “Journey” is evident from the opening frames, in which, like “Eighty Days,” we get clips from the M li s gem “A Trip to the Moon.” This time, these scenes are shown as part of a promise in which the film dedicates itself to…Read the entire review

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Mothra vs. Godzilla / Godzilla vs. The Thing
22 Nov 2006 at 2:02am
Highly Recommended Of the more than two dozen sequels to the original 1954 Godzilla, the best overall is Mothra vs. Godzilla (Mosura tai Gojira, 1964), better known in the U.S. under its original theatrical title, Godzilla vs. The Thing. It features some of special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya’s most accomplished visuals and one of composer Akira Ifukube’s best scores, but more importantly it blends to perfection the first Godzilla film’s warnings about the dangers of nuclear proliferation with a modern-dress parable-satire on greed and environmental responsibility, all in a slickly-made movie for the masses that even finds time for a musical number or two. As with its presentation of the 1954 Godzilla/Gojira, Classic Media’s excellent DVD offers both the original Japanese version with English subtitles and the slightly different American cut, along with some very good …Read the entire review

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Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
22 Nov 2006 at 2:02am
Rent It The Film:

February 1943, Munich.

Sophie Scholl (Julia Jentsch), a biology and philosophy student, is arrested and charged with illegally distributing leaflets undermining the Nazi regime. So is her brother Hans (Fabian Hinrichs). Robert Mohr (Alexander Held), a true patriot whose ties with the Nazis have served him well, is in charge with their interrogation.

As the story progresses we quickly learn that both Sophie and Hans are active members of the White Rose, an underground organization committed to fighting the Nazis, and that they are indeed “guilty”. It is only a matter of time before Sophie and Hans are officially sentenced to death.

On February 22, 1943 Sophie, Hans, and one of their assistants Christoph (Florian Stetter) are found guilty. Sophie has little time to bid farewell to her family and friends.

Written by Fred Breinersdorfer and dir…Read the entire review

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Alias: The Complete Collection: Limited Edition
20 Nov 2006 at 3:34pm
Highly Recommended

Body of Review
1. Introduction
2. Background
3. Characters
4. The First Season
5. The Second Season
6. The Third Season
7. The Fourth Season
8. Read the entire review

The Ant Bully
20 Nov 2006 at 2:14pm
RecommendedThe Movie:

Kids say the darndest things, even the animated variety. Leave it to a children’s flick like The Ant Bully to nicely illustrate a grim but universal truth of life. The movie begins with scrawny little Lucas Nickle (voiced by Zach Tyler from television’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender”) suffering a wedgie at the hands of the neighborhood bully. “What are you gonna do about it?” Lucas’ tormenter asks rhetorically. “Nothing, ’cause I’m big and you’re small.”

Almost immediately after the humiliation, Lucas releases his frustrations on an anthill in his front yard. He douses the insects with a squirt gun, boasting that he’s entitled to do so since “I’m big and you’re small.”

As a wise man once said, poop (this is a [tag-ice]kid’s movie[/tag-ice], after all) rolls downhill.

Based on an acclaimed [tag-ice]children’s book[/tag-ice] by John Nickle, The Ant Bully…Read the entire review

The Paul Newman Collection
20 Nov 2006 at 1:12pm
Recommended…Read the entire review

Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie – The Conqueror of Shamballa – Special Edition
20 Nov 2006 at 1:12pm
Highly RecommendedThe Movie:

This review contains some spoilers about the end of the series due to the fact that they are integral to the movie’s plot.

Fullmetal Alchemist was one of the most important anime to come along in recent years. It quickly became my favorite show because it presented a unique story, had interesting characters, and real emotion in ways that few shows could ever hope to achieve. Through thirteen volumes I sat enthralled and in case you are counting that’s 51 episodes that never skipped a beat. Due to this success I wasn’t surprised at all when I heard that a movie was being released.

Earlier this year we received Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa on DVD. I knew all along that a special edition was in the works so biting the bullet for the relatively barebones edition didn’t seem to make sense for real fans. Now that the definitiv…Read the entire review

The Double Life of Veronique – Criterion Collection
20 Nov 2006 at 7:21am
DVD Talk Collector SeriesTHE MOVIE:

Krzysztof Kieślowski’s 1991 feature, The Double Life of V ronique, is a mysterious little movie. While it does tell a story in a semblance of conventional narrative, it’s also an emotional jigsaw puzzle, a feat of storytelling agility that puts a lot of trust in its audience. Kieślowski is stingy with the exposition, instead asking us to follow and not to worry about where we are going. Our belief that he will get us somewhere will be its own reward.

Ir ne Jacob plays Weronika (pronounced Veronika), a Polish girl whose career as a pianist was crushed along with her finger in a car door. She is now in Krakow to pursue singing and by chance ends up earning an important seat on a famous choir. Her artistic pursuit comes with a price…Read the entire review

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Looney Tunes – Golden Collection, Volume Four
18 Nov 2006 at 7:03am
DVD Talk Collector Series

THE SHOW:

For four years now, Warner Bros. has given Looney Tunes fans an early Christmas Gift by dropping a new DVD collection in early November. Looney Tunes – Golden Collection, Volume Four has four discs with 15 cartoons on each DVD. They are arranged by theme and come replete with a cornucopia of extras.

The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series are both classics of American comedy and touchstones of animation that are likely to never be topped. Designed to show in theatres before the feature-length motion pictures, they were made to appeal to children and adults alike, as both would be in the audience. Thus, they look great and are chock full of gags that play on various levels, some being lowbrow sight gags and others being more clever parody, wordp…Read the entire review

Northville Cemetery Massacre
18 Nov 2006 at 5:14am
Recommended

The Movie

A forgotten relic from a freer (and somewhat goofier) era, Northville Cemetery Massacre is a surprisingly entertaining grindhouser that probably played really well across the drive-ins of the Midwest — especially if it was paired with something like The Wild Angels or another cheapie equally inspired by Easy Rider.

It’s a true-blue indie exploitationer, to be sure, but co-directors Bill Dear and Tom Dyke are smart enough to twist a few conventions and keep the action moving briskly along. The plot is a simple thing: A group of Detroit bikers are framed for a rape they didn’t commit (and framed by the cop who did the rapin’!), and before too long they’re being harrassed, pursued, and blown wide open by a bunch of trigger-happy lawmen, a great white hunter-type, and the justifiably irate father of the girl who got raped by one of the nastiest cop bastards ever c…Read the entire review

Western Double Feature – The Lonesome Trail & The Silver Star
17 Nov 2006 at 10:22pm
Rent It

Despite the presence of such B-movie favorites as John Agar, Lon Chaney, Jr., Edgar Buchanan, and Marie Windsor, Kit Parker’s latest Western Double Feature: The Lonesome Trail, is a pretty feeble offering for die-hard Western fans only. Though The Lonesome Trail and The Silver Star (both 1955) are 16:9 enhanced and reportedly mastered “from the original 35mm widescreen negative” the images are disappointingly grainy and rather dark. That said, those interested in such films will probably enjoy seeing them once, though it’s doubtful they’ll want to watch them again anytime soon.

Both were made by L&B Productions, a low, low-budget indie company formed by actor-producers Earle Lyon and Richard Bartlett. Lyon has the leading role in The Silver Star while Bartlett plays the main henchman in both films. Yet another actor, Ian McDonald, who has a prominent role in The Lo…Read the entire review

Her Best Move
17 Nov 2006 at 10:08pm
Recommended

THE FILM

Sara (Leah Pipes, “Pixel Perfect”) is a 15 year-old soccer phenomenon staring down an opportunity to try out for the U.S. National Team. Caught between what her domineering coach father (Scott Patterson, “Gilmore Girls”) wants for her future, and her newfound desire to actually enjoy being a love-struck, relaxed teenager, Sara has to find her priorities in life quickly before important decisions are made for her.

In the era of teen claptrap such as “Mean Girls” and any recent Hilary Duff product, “Her Best Move” is downright revelatory. Here is a teen girl-centered film that doesn’t define itself through mall couture or caricatures of high school cliques. Instead, “Move” uses a softer sense of intelligence and pubescent reality to pursue a clich d, but engaging tale of hopes and dreams.

While I’m hundreds of miles away from the intended demographic of “Move,” I appre…Read the entire review

Icons of Horror Collection: Boris Karloff
17 Nov 2006 at 10:08pm
Rent It

Boris Karloff’s most famous horror films were made at Universal, the scare studio of the 1930s, but he also worked elsewhere. Four of his films for little Columbia have been dusted off — in some cases, the dust must have been thick — for this boxed set from Sony, which starts off strong then unravels like the Mummy’s rags.

The four features, all making their DVD debuts and none longer than 70 minutes, fit on two single-sided discs, which are housed in slim packs inserted in a colorfully lurid box.

DISC 1

The Black Room (1935, aka “The Black Room Mystery,” directed by Roy William Neill, 70 minutes)
Karloff shows off some impressive acting chops playing twin brothers — one good, one evil — in early 18th century Germany (or Austria, or wherever they have burgomasters). A prophecy dating back to the Middle Ages says that if twins are ever born into the noble De …Read the entire review

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Home Alone: Family Fun Edition
16 Nov 2006 at 11:48am
Highly RecommendedMuch like A Christmas Story and even It’s a Wonderful Life, there aren’t many holiday film lovers that haven’t seen John Hughes’ wildly popular Home Alone (1990). This family film follows a simple formula: take one mischievous eight year-old boy and add a large, empty house. Stir in a few bumbling robbers, a scary old man and a liberal dose of Christmas cheer. Sprinkle generously with elaborate cartoon traps. It’s true that Home Alone doesn’t always aim high, but there’s something about it that makes the film pretty darn irresistible around the holiday season. The heavy-handed but heartfelt themes of family togetherness and growing up are a little thick at times, but the total package is still charming enough to hold our attention.

Here’s the setup, in case you need a refres…Read the entire review

New Love in Tokyo
16 Nov 2006 at 7:02am
Highly RecommendedCaution: This review discusses an explicit DVD explicitly. Reader discretion is advised.

New Love in Tokyo (Ai no shinsekai, or “Love in a New World,” 1994)** would make a great double-bill paired with Kenji Mizoguchi’s late-period classic Street of Shame (Akasen chitai, 1956). Mizoguchi’s film was a funny, sad, but mainly unjudgmental examination of the daily life of prostitutes in mid-’50s Japan, in Tokyo’s Yoshiwara Ward. New Love in Tokyo, made not quite 40 years later brings us up to date on the trade in a modern Tokyo (Shibuya this time) just as the country’s phenomenal economic bubble was bursting and just shy of the cellphone revolution – here all the prostitutes are still using pagers. Though it loses steam toward the end thi…Read the entire review

The West Wing – The Complete Seventh Season
16 Nov 2006 at 1:46am
RecommendedThe Seventh & Final Season

The West Wing is a television series that has been regarded with extremely high praise, whether it be in the form of a positive review or an award for a series as an outstanding drama series. For those unfamiliar with the series, The West Wing focuses upon the daily lives the President of the United States and several of his closest aides. More details about this series came by found by referring to DVD Talk’s reviews of season one, season two, season three, season four, Read the entire review

Nails
16 Nov 2006 at 1:46am
Rent ItThe Movie

It’s fairly common for me to admire what a movie is trying to do — even if I don’t actually get a whole lot out of the process. One such example would be Nails, a 60-minute mega-mind-bender from Russian [tag-tec]filmmaker[/tag-tec] Andrey Iskanov. The thing’s a full-bore freak show, complete with Lynch-style weirdness, random visual ugliness, a few healthy doses of gore, and more than a few head-scratching ideas along the way.

The nearly dialogue-free film tells the story of a retired hit-man who spends his time in a rather depressing apartment — when he’s not struggling against all his painful memories and the unexpected desire to hammer nails into his brain. Yeah. It’s a fairly vague and amorphous little movie, but Iskanov deserves commendation for his comment to, well, weirdness.

More of a cinematic Rorsarch test than an actual “movie” movie, Nails will appeal most probably to th…Read the entire review

Spooky House
16 Nov 2006 at 1:46am
Skip ItThe Movie

It’s always a little bit funny when a long-respected and heavily-awarded veteran actor shows up in a movie that looks like it was shot in someone’s backyard over a three-day weekend. Such is the case of a kooky curiosity entitled Spooky House, which has been sitting on a shelf for at least five years, and is now making its DVD debut to, what, maybe eleven people?

Anyway, we’ll get back to that. Here’s what I was able to glean, plot-wise, from the messy assemblage of footage that is Spooky House: There’s this gruff old magician who has a pet jaguar, and he reluctantly befriends a “adorable” bunch of neighborhood kids (one of whom is scheduled for the orphanage, natch) when a nasty gang of bullies and a bizarre crime baroness threaten to ruin the Halloween season.

Or something like that. Boasting the production value of a high-end Barney episode and featuring t…Read the entire review

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Hands Over the City – Criterion Collection
15 Nov 2006 at 2:26am
Highly RecommendedHere’s a movie idea you won’t hear being pitched to a Hollywood producer: “Corrupt politicians are in cahoots with greedy developers. They uproot families, tear down their tenements, and use public land to build high-priced apartments. No weepy personal stories, just city council meetings and back-room dirty dealings. And the politicians are played by actual politicians. Whaddya think?”

It’s a good thing director Francesco Rosi worked in Europe, not Los Angeles, because this premise would never fly as Hollywood entertainment, not even in 1963, when the movie capital was still at least attemtpting to make “social” pictures. But Rosi’s “Hands Over the City,” inspired by what he saw as the ruination of his hometown of Naples by rampant development, is great cinema and far from a pedantic civics lesson. The movie was Rosi’s followup to the controversial Sicilian true-crime drama “Salvatore Giulian…Read the entire review

The Thames Shakespeare Collection
15 Nov 2006 at 2:26am
RecommendedThe movie

There’s a reason Shakespeare isknown as "the Bard," with his work celebrated down thecenturies. No one has exhibited quite the mastery of the Englishlanguage as old Will – though many a phenomenal author has beeninspired by his work – but more than that, Shakespeare was justflat-out a great storyteller. He wasn’t above rifling existing histories, tales, and plays for ideas and plot outlines, but when hebrought them to life, they became something much more than the sum oftheir parts. Shakespeare’s plays are full of drama, intrigue, comedy,tragedy, violence, passion, revenge…. all infused with a keeninsight into human nature. So it’s no wonder that his plays have beenperformed and adapted more times than can possibly be counted. In theThames Shakespeare Collection, we get four of Shakespeare’s classic plays as produced by Brita…Read the entire review

Mermaid Forest Complete Set
15 Nov 2006 at 12:41am
Rent ItThe Series:

Though there may be a few anime fans that don’t recognize Rumiko Takahashi’sname, I doubt that there are many who aren’t familiar with her work. Known as the “Princess of Manga” she’s the woman behind such manga (andanime) series as Urusei Yatsura (also known as Lum), MaisonIkkoku, and fan favorite Ranma . She’s createdmany popular series over her 25+ year career, and is known for her humorousstories that have a lot of heart. But Takahashi is a very talentedartist, and she’s not limited to one story type as is shown with MermaidForest. Darker and less light-hearted than her other series,this story of immortals and monsters will surprise many of her fans. It’s very unlike her other works, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good.(For another look at this series, check out Don Houston’s reviews of theindi…Read the entire review

They Filmed the War in Color: France Is Free
14 Nov 2006 at 11:29pm
RecommendedVisit any video retailer with a war documentary section, and you’ll find a decent handful of discs promoting themselves as featuring footage of World War II in vibrant color. What’s important to realize is that it’s not the color (or lack thereof) of the footage that makes any war documentary good or bad, but the presentation itself. One of the better entries into this subgenre is Ren -Jean Bouyer’s series “They Filmed the War In Color,” produced for French television in 2000 and recently reworked for American television and video with a retooled English narration courtesy of Geoffrey Bateman.

Bouyer’s series breaks down into two ninety-minute chunks: “France Is Free!,” which details the history of the war from the French viewpoint, and “The Pacific War,” which focuses entirely on the American conflict with Japan.

“France Is Free!” makes for fascinating viewing, as it tells the story of t…Read the entire review

They Filmed the War in Color: The Pacific War
14 Nov 2006 at 11:29pm
RecommendedVisit any video retailer with a war documentary section, and you’ll find a decent handful of discs promoting themselves as featuring footage of World War II in vibrant color. What’s important to realize is that it’s not the color (or lack thereof) of the footage that makes any war documentary good or bad, but the presentation itself. One of the better entries into this subgenre is Ren -Jean Bouyer’s series “They Filmed the War In Color,” produced for French television in 2000 and recently reworked for American television and video with a retooled English narration courtesy of Geoffrey Bateman.

Bouyer’s series breaks down into two ninety-minute chunks: “France Is Free!,” which details the history of the war from the French viewpoint, and “The Pacific War,” which focuses entirely on the American conflict with Japan.

Being an American story told by and for the French, “The Pacific War” is a …Read the entire review

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DVD Reviews

Welcome back today we have some good some bad and some down right ugly movies reviewed today these include a classic looney tunes DVD ,The Next Big thing a sort of documentary about? Canadian comics need I say more.I suggest you give the Groovie Goolies DVD a wide bearth unless you are in to pain management as this is seriously hard going.

The final two reviews today are a Japanese Ultraman cartoon (maybe for kids or big kids) and finally my personal favorite today is [tag]Elvis Presley[/tag] the Ed Sullivan shows a must have for Elvis fans and also pretty good for? anyone as a? holiday gift unless they are under 20 or in to Trash metal.?

Hope you enjoy todays bag?

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Looney Tunes – Spotlight Collection Volume Four
13 Nov 2006 at 2:10am
Highly Recommended I distinctly remember my brother gravely intoning, “Arise! Sir Loin of Beef!” and then creasing me over my top plate with his metal Mod Squad lunch box. Ah, the glory years when nobody cared about kids, and they could watch whatever the hell they wanted. What more can be said in a review about the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoons? It’s a lot like a term paper I once had on Hitchcock’s Psycho probably the most written about movie in film studies. What do you add? Simply put, the shorts included in Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection Volume 4 are among a canon of animation that stands as the premiere American cartoons. I have favorites all over the animation map: I love anything Disney; Fleischer’s early Popeyes are works of genius; Harveytoons’ Casper is still a sweet, gentle childhood memory. But I would guess that the majority of cartoon fans would agree that th…Read the entire review?

Next Big Thing
13 Nov 2006 at 2:10am
Rent It The Show:Apart from hockey and beer Canada’s next biggest export is comics. At least that’s what you’d be led to believe if you had just watched The Next Big Thing. This reality TV-like documentary/show follows six comedians through a whirlwind tour of clubs and shows across a trio of cities. Since the back of the DVD states “6 comics. 3 Cities. 1 Dream.” I think you can pretty much figure out what this release is all about.

Depending on your level of awareness with up and coming Canadian comics you may recognize some of these contenders or you may not. I actually fell into the “not” category, though after watching I realized that I had seen Shaun Majumder before in Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (he only played a bit part as Kumar’s brother, but still). Despite not really being aware of who these people were, seeing them work the comedic strip and tak…Read the entire review

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Groovie Goolies: Saturday Mourning Collection
13 Nov 2006 at 2:10am
Skip It THE SHOWIf you’re of a certain age, you probably recall “The Groovie Goolies,” a cartoon series that originally aired in 1970-71 and was rerun for years thereafter. It featured Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Werewolf, the Mummy, and other no-longer-scary characters, all living in a castle together and cracking jokes, “Laugh-In”-style. They played in a band, too, and each episode featured a couple of musical numbers.

Maybe you’re smiling and nodding your head now, fondly remembering this classic cartoon from your youth. Those were certainly my impressions as I embarked on watching it again now. So it is with heavy heart that I must break the news to you: THIS SHOW IS SO BAD AS TO BE UNBEARABLE.

Seriously, I defy you to watch an entire 22-minute episode, let alone all 16 included on the “Saturday ‘Mourning’ Collection” just released on DVD. It’s a pun-based series, in case y…Read the entire review

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Ultraman – Series One, Volume Two
12 Nov 2006 at 11:21pm
Recommended Excitement that Ultraman (1966-67) – the seminal Japanese superhero/tokusatsu (“visual effects”) TV show of the 1960s – was coming to DVD was severely tempered by problematic, hugely disappointing transfers. Volume Two of this collection, featuring the remaining 19 shows, addresses some of the problems and though the collection is still far from perfect, these issues are less the major distraction that they were before.?

A follow-up of sorts to the Outer Limits/X-Files-like Ultra Q (1965), Ultraman (Urutoraman: Kuso tokusatsu shirizu, or “Ultraman – A Special Effects Fantasy Series”) follows the adventures of the Science Patrol, an elite quasi-police force/scientific investigation team whose futuristic…Read the entire review

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Elvis Presley – The Ed Sullivan Shows
12 Nov 2006 at 7:39pm
Highly Recommended When I received the three screener discs for Elvis Presley: The Ed Sullivan Shows, they were mailed to me without any packaging, so I had no idea what was on them; I just assumed they contained the three historic appearances Elvis made on the old The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956 and 1957. If somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered why a couple of five or ten minute clips from those three shows needed to be spread out on three discs, I’m sure I just assumed that a load of extras would round the presentation out. I was more than pleasantly surprised to see, after putting the first disc in, that these were the entire, complete Ed Sullivan episodes uncut, with all of the performers that appeared on the nights Elvis was scheduled, included. Now this is what vintage TV lovers have been waiting for: a [tag]DVD[/tag] release that respects what TV lovers want: more TV. We want complete…Read the entire review?

Get FREE SHIPPING and 5 DVDs for only $0.49 from Columbia House! Buy your favorite DVD’s and watch your top movies again and again.

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DVD Reviews

Hi guys back again with some more DVD reviews today I am bringing you The Suspended Step of The Stork a Greek film which if you could get hold of it you might quite enjoy?

Next we have the animated series of Sabrina (need I say more ?) , plus also on the cartoon or animation front if you prefer we have the classic Mickey Mouse where Mickey saves Santa well he always such a nice guy so why should that suprise us. Guess these are not for you? action movie fans but the kids might enjoy them for the holidays.

If you have not had your weekly fill of CSI with now three highly succesful series running CSI Miami, CSI Las Vegas and CSI New York. You will be pleased to know that the 6th Series of CSI (the original one) is relea\sed if you programmed the VCR or set up the TIVO chances are you didn’t miss any but again a nice stocking filler.

Finally today we have Little Britain if you are on the US side of the Atlantic some of the humor might go over your head as it is very english but David Walliams and Matt Lucas have a multi award winning? comdey series which has just lauched again so if you can get a copy give it whirl and tell me what you think??

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The Suspended Step of the Stork (Greek Release)
11 Nov 2006 at 3:39pm
Highly Recommended The Film:

Somewhere on the Greek-Albanian border Alexandre (Gregory Karr) is shooting a documentary about a group of immigrants willing to enter the European Union. Without legal papers or savings the men are desperately trying to survive. But there are hardly any jobs.

While shooting with his camera Alexandre sees a man who reminds him about a famous Greek politician (Marcello Mastroianni, La Dolce Vita) who has been missing for years. Convinced that he has found what no one else has been able to see Alexandre contacts the Greek politician’s widow (Jeanne Moreau, Elevator to the Gallows). Unsure what to make of Alexandre’s discovery the widow arrives at the border town where the first snow has already fallen.

A gritty tale about a group of people forgotten by the Greek authorities in no-man’s land To Μετέ&…Read the entire review?

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The Very Best Of Sabrina – The Animated Series
11 Nov 2006 at 1:31pm
Recommended The Movie:

One of the fairly small number of successful animated TV shows in recent years, “Sabrina: The Animated Series” ran from 1999-2001. While a lacking in originality, the series remains pleasant viewing that: kids can relate to, isn’t edited in a blender, actually tells a story and offers a message or two without being heavy-handed.

The animated series essentially offers a “reboot” of the popular live-action series starring Melissa Joan Hart. This time around, Sabrina (voiced by Emily Hart, Melissa’s sister)’s a 12-year-old dealing with all of the familiar problems that a teen deals with (trying to be popular, friends, homework) while managing to try and keep her witch status a secret.

The series has Sabrina living with (now a little *too* much younger, one of the show’s issues) aunts Zelda and Hilda (both voiced by Melissa Joan Hart), as well as her uncle Quigley (Ja…Read the entire review

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Disney’s Mickey Mouse Clubhouse – Mickey Saves Santa and Other Mouseketales
11 Nov 2006 at 1:13pm
Highly Recommended
2006 / 73 min.
Starring: Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Daisy Duck, Pluto
Director: Rob LaDuca
Producer/Screenwriter: Leslie Valdes
Voice Talents: Wayne Allwine, Tony Anselmo, Dee Bradley Baker, Corey Burton, Bill Farmer, Tress MacNeille, Russi Taylor
Exectutive Producer: Bobs Gannaway