Although I have developed a greater appreciation of Mel Brooks’ work through my reviews of The Mel Brooks Collection, I am also suffering from a bit of Mel Brooks fatigue.  I have also seen all three remaining movies I need to review, and am now deprived of the joy of discovery I had with films like To Be Or Not To Be and Silent Movie.

Next up was Robin Hood: Men in Tights, chronologically the last of the films included in the collection.  I had seen this shortly after its release on VHS (yes, you read that correctly), but had little remembrance of it.  I did remember that Cary Elwes’ referred to Kevin Costner losing his English accent shortly into his Robin Hood epic, but that was about it.  Was this a forgotten gem? Read the full story

Marked for Death was made at the peak of Steven Seagal’s popularity. The year it was released, it was one of 20^th Century Fox’s top grossing films next to Home Alone. It may not be Seagal’s best film, but looking back I remember it having its moments. However, after 20 years, does it still hold up?

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There are some shall I call them “suspense thrillers” that are good for only one viewing. Once you know the ending and how the plot twists are resolved, the film is spoiled for subsequent viewing. There are other suspense thrillers that are great no matter how many times you view them as you are continually pulled into the narrative by superior film making, whether you know the ending or not. One of the latter types of suspense thrillers is the subject of this review, The Illusionist. Read the full story

I always find family movies a bit of a challenge to watch.  As a grown-up, I don’t find certain things as interesting as kids do.  Conversely, I’m sure my kids wouldn’t find the societal subtext in A Clockwork Orange all that compelling.  They’d likely run screaming from the room, or sit bug-eyed with jaws agape.

This being said, I can at least watch a movie and determine if it is safe for parents to let their kids watch, and if it’s something the parents can stomach for the 90 minutes they’d maybe want to spend watching it with their kids.

At first blush, this film doesn’t look too promising.  It has an anthromorphized animal, Bindi Irwin (yes, Bindi the Jungle Girl, daughter of the late Steve Irwin), and a surprisingly slim Beau Bridges.  It is also the fourth film in a series that should have only been one movie long, and was direct-to-video.  So, can this movie rise above this dubious pedigree?  Read the full story

One of my most cherished Christmas presents as an adolescent was a boxed set of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.  To the fertile mind of a 12-year old, these were the best books ever, igniting a life long affinity for fantasy literature.  What made the books even more special is the prose used allowed a reader to form strong visions in their own mind of the characters, places, and action contained therein.

After reading the books, I was excited to discover that an animated version of the book existed, and lobbied hard to get my buddies to rent it when we were having a movie night.  And after we all sat back and viewed the movie, we looked at each other with the same expression on our faces: “What in heck was that?”

So the question is, after 28 years of watching various forms of animation, have I gained a new appreciation for Ralph Bakshi’s labor of love?  Does being on Blu-ray make the movie any better? Read the full story

Avatar is probably the most eagerly awaited Blu-ray release to date. After all, the film did $2.6 billion in worldwide box office receipts and features some stunning CGI and at the present time, represents the state of the art as what can be done with CGI, albeit it at an incredible cost. Well, Avatar has finally arrived on Blu-ray and I couldn’t wait to pop it in to see whether it has the reference audio and video presentations that we all expected. Read the full story

They say that truth is stranger than fiction and in the case of The Blind Side, that is certainly true. Had the book and the film been a work of fiction, we all would have rolled our eyes and said, you’ve got to be kidding me! What a tall tail! However, die to the confluence of too many improbable circumstances to count, The Blind Side is true. While it is a an enjoyable film featuring several wonderful performances, the question to be answered today is how well does it look and sound on Blu-ray? I guess you will just have to keep on reading. Read the full story

I was somewhat surprised to see the movie Halo Legends in my docket for upcoming review. As a long-time Sony and Nintendo gamer, I had never played any version of Halo, and saw no need to, based on my age-related dislike of first person shooter games. Really, my complete knowledge of Halo could be summed up as there was a green armored guy named Master Chief, and you use him to shoot lots of aliens.

As a general rule of thumb, movies based on video games tend to well, lets say, not quite meet expectations. Although there are exceptions to the rule (like Pokémon, or Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within), for each good movie there is three or four bad ones (like Street Fighter or Super Mario Brothers). Read the full story

Being one of the few people I know who is not a huge Star Wars fan, only seeing the original trilogy and The Phantom Menace, I was pretty bewildered when I heard that not only was there an animated film that was made to fit within the new trilogy, but there was an entire television series that predated the film… And this isn’t even that series! This is a new unrelated series that takes places throughout the Star Wars chronology at different times. Confused? Let’s see if it’s worth figuring out.

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For some time, Trailer Park Boys has been a guilty pleasure of mine.  Although I did not find the show appealing when it first aired, subsequent viewings made me a fan of its unique style of humor.  Although the show appears simply crude on the surface, there is a lot more going on with the characters than superficially appears.

However, no-one would compare Trailer Park Boys with M*A*S*H or The Simpsons.  Whereas the other shows became legendary for their subtlety, heart, and humor, the Trailer Park Boys possesses little of these qualities. 

And although this works in 30-minute slices on their TV show, can a feature length movie be carried by this sort of nihilistic and profane humor?  After its viewing I can say yes, but only if you are already a fan of the show and its “acquired taste” type of humor. Read the full story

As mentioned in my review for The Princess Bride, it is nice to see older titles now being made available on Blu-ray at attractive prices. Not only does it allow the collector to affordably upgrade their collection, it also allows them to fill in holes where they’ve missed a movie in a previous format.

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For reviewing Ben 10: Alien Swarm I enlisted the official kids of this movie reviewer.  Although I normally am very comfortable in critically watching youth-oriented fare, my complete ignorance of Ben 10 necessitated I call in the backup team. Read the full story

Half a century ago seems like a long time; but it was around that time that one of Hollywood’s most gifted and eccentric directors was in his prime; making classic films that would set the stage for today’s filmmakers. Alfred Hitchcock was one the kind of director that doesn’t really exist anymore; similar to Orson Welles, his films were carefully crafted masterpieces that were so layered that even today there are countless books and websites dedicated to analyzing his works. North by Northwest was screenwriter, Ernest Lehman’s attempt to create the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures, did he succeed? Read the full story

Michael Mann’s crime epic, Heat, is declared as one of the best heist films ever. Utilizing the chemistry between two superstars from the genre and containing one of the greatest shootouts in cinema history, Heat’s résumé definitely has all the right stuff for being an essential Blu-ray to own, but as with the recent Michael Mann film “Public Enemies” sometimes a poor sound mix or poor video quality might make the disc unworthy of a Blu-ray purchase. How does Heat stack up? Read the full story

In advance of reviewing JCVD, I had heard mostly positive things, especially about the acting of our eponymous hero, Jean-Claude Van Damme.  Although not expecting Shakespeare or high art, when the Blu-ray cover screams “He deserves not a black belt, but an Oscar” (this from a reputable source), one cannot help but be excited.  After all, we all enjoy seeing an actor surprise us with previously unseen ability and depth.  And what better character is there for any actor to play other than a caricatured version of themself? Read the full story

There is something strangely appealing about teen horror movies, though I am unsure if this appeal is from nostalgia for my teen years, or an admiration for the humorous and creative ways the movie characters die.

Regardless, when watching a teen horror movie, I expect to laugh out loud, remark on the stupidity of at least one of the lead characters, be disgusted by at least one “gut explosion”, and enjoy the requisite topless scene.  On all counts, “The Final Destination” did not disappoint. Read the full story

As the Blu-ray format has grown over the years, many changes have taken place throughout the film industry.  One recent studio trend has been the re-release of supposed classics onto this newly accepted format.  Although there may be a niche market for many of these obscure titles, one may argue against the need for a release on a high definition format.  Rockers made its way onto Blu-ray 30 years after its initial release.  We’ll explore whether it’s worth the possible upgrade from DVD. Read the full story