As a fan of animation, I’ve never been quite sure what to make of the newer stylistic animations coming from the DC Studios.  Part Totally Spies and part Akira, this style shares some familiarity with anime, yet has a more modern look, with especially strong styling for certain characters (like Batman).

Therefore, I was quite intrigued to receive a copy of Batman: Under the Red Hood, as this would give me an excellent opportunity to review a full length movie from DC.  Batman has been one of my favourites since childhood, and I was very curious to see if DC is continuing with the gritty modern-day Batman, or has reverted (at least in animation) to the somewhat lighter 70’s version. Read the full story

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

I must say that I find it amazing that a modest sci-fi movie hit from 1994 has spawned now three television series, from the original Stargate SG-1 to Stargate Atlantis to the subject of today’s review Stargate Universe. While I enjoyed the original film, I can’t say that I was a huge fan of SG-1 and have not liked Stargate Atlantis at all. How will Stargate Universe stack up against the prior two series? For yours truly, it is easily the best of the bunch and well worth a look. Read the full story

After reviewing the five Mel Brooks films in the collection I had not yet viewed, it was now time to revisit some old friends.  And first up was History of the World – Part I, a movie that I had first seen long before I was old enough to understand most of the jokes.

Before watching the collection, this film fully defined what I thought a Mel Brooks film was.  A musical number, genital-oriented humor, and an overall irrelevance for its subject matter would be what I thought of when I heard the words “Mel Brooks”.  However, after watching such treats as To Be Or Not to Be, Silent Movie, and even High Anxiety, I was curious to see if I remembered the movie correctly, and if it was truly as good as I thought it was. Read the full story

Movie trailers can be very deceiving. Far too often, you see a trailer at the theater and think, wow, that looks like an interesting film, only to find that the film sucks. Every now and then, a great trailer turns into a great film. The converse is also often true, a bad trailer proceeds a bad film.  Such is the case with the subject of today’s review… Cop Out. Read the full story

I can’t say that I have ever been a big fan of action films based upon early Greek mythology. Lord knows, I find the mythology fascinating and the sites in antiquity devoted to them incredibly interesting and must sees, belonging on anyone’s bucket list. It is just that the films made on the subject have been totally lame, for want of a better word. Unfortunately, the film that is the subject matter of today’s review, Clash of the Titans, is just another in a long list of weak and mindless films based upon this otherwise interesting subject matter. Read the full story

For my fourth movie in my review of the Mel Brooks Collection, I selected High Anxiety, Mr. Brooks’ loving spoof of Alfred Hitchcock movies.  Although I admire Mr. Hitchcock’s work, I can honestly admit it has been a few decades since I last saw one of his films (The Birds).

One challenge I anticipated with High Anxiety is that certain subjects like murder and suspense do not work well in comedy (like in Have you Heard About the Morgans).  Truly, the only way to make a thriller work with humour is to go way, way, way over the top, much like in the Police Squad series of movies.

However, my pleasant surprise at the quality of To Be Or Not To Be left me with some anticipation that this movie may also surprise me with its wit and charm. Read the full story

The packaging for a home video release can often be very telling, especially the movie reviewer quotes that are on the package. Generally, the few the quotes, the worse the film. Another rule of thumb is whether you have ever heard of the reviewers before. When there are only one or two short quotes from reviewers who are not exactly household names, well, look out. Even worse is when one of the actors in the film is not listed in the credits. Well all are in play with the release that is the subject of this review, When in Rome. Would it prove to be an exception to these rules of thumb? Read the full story

One of the joys of being a movie reviewer is that it forces me to sit down and watch classic films that I just never seem to have the time to watch.  Therefore, I was thrilled when assigned to watch Doctor Zhivago, the legendary Academy award-winning epic from Sir David Lean.  Little did I know that back in the 1960’s an epic meant many things, including an epically long run time (just over 3:15)!

More importantly, how does this film measure up against the “epics” of today, and how well did this translate to Blu-ray?  Although some films receive a loving restoration (The African Queen), how well would Warner Brothers treat this legendary film? Read the full story

Maybe it is just me but there seems to be a preoccupation with what I will call end of days philosophy in today’s media, whether it be books, TV shows or movies. It seems that every time I turn on the History Channel, there is some sort of show on about the Mayan calendar ending in 2012 or the predictions of Nostradamus about the end of the world or a show about a comet blasting life as we know it on the Earth right out of existence. While some of it can be thought provoking or even entertaining, most of it is hogwash. I bring this up as the film which is the subject of today’s review, The Book of Eli, fits it with the category of end of days media, as it deals with the aftermath of an apocalyptic war that almost destroyed life on Earth. Does the film rate as thought provoking, entertaining or just mere hogwash? Read the full story

With the World Cup starting this week in South Africa, I thought i appropriate to get back into the swing of things with a review of a film that is centered around another World Cup that occurred in South Africa, the Rugby World Cup in 1995 which was much much more that a sporting match and which helped reunite a county that had been torn by racial violence. That film is Invictus. Read the full story

Normally in my opening paragraph, I discuss my impressions of the film, possibly rekindle some old memories, and leave the reader with a question about the worthiness of the movie.  In my review for Shutter Island I am skipping this pretense.  If you like psychological thrillers with a touch of the supernatural, go buy this movie.  If you appreciate a haunting score that is as much a character as the actors, go buy this movie.  If you love to see films that are not made, but instead crafted, go buy this movie. Read the full story

The first Alvin & the Chipmunks film was a surprise blockbuster, especially to me. I remembered watching the cartoon as a child and then when they announced a live action film, I immediately thought that it was way too late. Who would want to watch these archaic characters? Flash forward to today, where I received copy of the blockbuster ‘s ‘squeakquel’… I decided to give it a shot, was I wrong to immediately put down the chipmunk trio?

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In the early 1980’s, I used to help my Dad do the off-hours cleaning of a major electronics store, with payment for my services being that I could play all the Atari 2600 I wanted.  Unfortunately, some days all of the Atari cartridges were locked up, and I was forced to find other diversions in the store.  This led me to the A/V department, and the original RCA Selectavision Video Disc player.

Although Star Wars IV was always my favourite, one day I found Escape from New York in my favourite Selectavision player.  I was suitably impressed (as most 14-year olds are) with the post apocalyptic artwork on the cover, so on went the player, and into my memory went one of my favourite movie memories of my preteen life. Read the full story

It has been since 2002 that Mel Gibson has had a starring role in a film. Rather than disappearing from view. Mr. Gibson has been active behind the camera. producing and directing two notable and controversial films Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto. However, Mel Gibson decided to make a return to the silver screen in the subject of today’s review Edge of Darkness. Mr. Gibson had previously indicated publicly that he would only return to the screen for a film that had an incredible script. Given that he has chosen Edge of Darkness as his returning vehicle, one can only assume that he thought it to be just such a script? Was he right? Read the full story

It is actually quite funny how often one would see Harrison Ford’s visage staring at them from a movie poster or a DVD cover during the late 90’s or early 2000’s.  Clear and Present Danger, The Devil’s Own, Air Force One, Random Hearts, and K-19: The Widowmaker all have a stern Mr. Ford affixing his steely glance on us from the poster/box art.

In many ways, I believe this is why I and many others overlooked this movie during its original release in 2002.  As a viewing audience, I believe we had hit our “Harrison Ford” and “Tom Clancy” saturation point by 2002, and a quick glace at the movie poster or DVD cover gave little indication that it was anything other than another movie of this genre.  That the movie had such a poor title likely didn’t add to its appeal, and it was ultimately a financial mess, failing to recoup its $100 million production budget. Read the full story

It is not often that one sees a movie as divisive as The Lovely Bones.  Criticism has focused on the subject matter, its presentation, the CGI, and Peter Jackson’s treatment of Alice Sebold’s book.  Others have praised the tenderness that was used in the treatment of the subject, how it was handled with real emotional intelligence, and the quality of the cast. Read the full story