The Final Word on Physical Media
Experimental film or not, Full Frontal was awful not because of the storyline, or the lack thereof, but it was downright dull and boring, a chore to get through. Steven Soderbergh wanted to do this movie as a counter product to the Hollywood system but while he flipped the bird to the studios, he also managed to do the same with audiences. I found nothing about the film or the characters engaging.
The Hoax is a well made docu-drama/comedy with strong performances from Richard Gere and Alfred Molina. The story is interesting and mostly unknown making for a gripping drama on the whole.
“Star Trek: The Next Generation” Season Three is a fantastic entry into the “Trek” universe with masterful storytelling, excellent character development and solid performances from the main cast… yes, even Wil Wheaton’s Crusher wasn’t as annoying as he had been the season before. The season featured some incredible episodes headlined by ‘Best of Both Worlds Part 1’.
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Teaching Mrs. Tingle was never my favorite film but with some biting dialogue and an amazing performance from Helen Mirren, challenging Meryl Streep in The Devil Wars Prada, this teen dark comedy has gathered a following over the years, far more than when it was released back in 1999.
Noon and Shanghai Knights are both fun movies if not a bit forgettable even with Jackie Chan’s amazing fight sequences and stunt work. Even so, as buddy comedies go, Chan and Owen Wilson share good chemistry making both film a breeze to watch on a slow Saturday afternoon.
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Broken City had so much potential with a stellar cast and an interesting foxhe, unfortunately it never really came together. The plot itself was convoluted and the performances kind of bland although slightly entertaining, leading to an all around forgettable flick. I’m not sure what happened, if it was with the script or while filming, but this should’ve been so much better.
Overall, I suppose if you have nothing better to watch on a Saturday night, you certainly could to worse than The Guilt Trip, plus if you’re a fan of either Rogen or Streisand, you might enjoy a bit more than I did. In the end, the movie does contain a couple of laughs and the pairing of the two stars was well done, but the script fails.
Jack Reacher is a well made suspense-thriller featuring a great performance from producer/star Tom Cruise and his supporting cast members. However, while the story starts off with incredible tension the ultimate motives by the villain came off as weak. Even so, this is an entertaining movie with great stunts and action scenes.
Not Fade Away certainly had potential with a respectable and hopefully on-the-rise young cast, a great actor in James Gandolfini and a wonderful writer in David Chase, but the story itself was dull, the main character, despite the best attempts by John Magaro, was an annoying brat, plot points going nowhere and an ending that not only felt tacked on but was obnoxious and pretentious as all hell.
Ruben Fleischer’s Gangster Squad no doubt blew the opportunity to be a special crime-drama and instead it stumbles trying to emulate other gangster movies in the past. Still, I couldn’t help but enjoy the movie especially the performances from Brolin, Gosling, Robert Patrick and Sean Penn that it makes for a worthwhile viewing even with its flaws.
Pawn is an acceptable mystery-thriller that has a respectable cast who unfortunately seemed to mostly phone it in except perhaps for Michael Chiklis who was having fun with his thick Aussie accent. Otherwise, as interesting as the story was and comparatively well done as the flash backs were, the movie falls apart at the end coming crashing down with an utterly unsatisfying finale.
Sexy Evil Genius is a fun low budget film propelled primarily on the cast and their interactions with one another than anything else. The story itself, though, does at least keep you on edge just trying to figure out what the main character’s ultimate goal is. I wouldn’t say this was a memorable film or anything, but it is worth a one-off viewing at least. The DVD itself has acceptable video/audio transfers while the features are underwhelming, though the commentary is enjoyable.
Crush was surprising in the fact that it didn’t completely stink especially compared with many other direct-to-video flicks that have come before. The plot is a slow in developing but with some decent charisma from Lucas Till, Crystal Reed and Sarah Bolger, it at least kept my attention for the duration.
The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia starts off on a sour note just with an incredibly stupid title trying to draw in those fans of the original film. However, what makes even less sense is the filmmakers didn’t even bother to make a connection with the first movie.
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This 25th Anniversary edition of Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a great set and includes all the features from the Vista Series edition but gets a boost from great audio/video transfers to go along with an all around fantastic movie that is just as good when I last saw it (probably a good 15 years ago).