For the penultimate movie in my review of the Mel Brooks Collection, I selected the classic Spaceballs, Mr. Brooks’ send up of science fiction movies.  Although I thought I had watched this movie previously, I was surprised to discover that I had only watched it in parts and not as a whole.

When viewing the film previously, I had been struck by its obvious wink to Star Wars, emphasized through characters such as Barf, Dot, Yogurt, Pizza the Hutt, and Dark Helmet.  As a long-term lover of science fiction films, Spaceballs was treading dangerous ground.  My question was, was this film sublime satire, or pure farce. Read the full story

When I was asked if I wanted a review copy of the film $5 A Day, I initially thought no as I had never heard of the film before. Then I looked into the film a bit and saw that it had some buzz at some independent film festivals. The story seemed interesting and the cast excellent. Given all of this and the fact that the film was directed by Nigel Cole, I thought, what the heck, give it a look. I am glad I did. Read the full story

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

There is no question that animated films have universally looked great on Blu-ray, whether they be computer based animation such as the Pixar films, hand drawn films or stop action animation. Unfortunately, the subject of this review, James and the Giant Peach is an exception to this general rule. Read the full story

Of the top three baseball based films of all time, only 2 have made their way to Blu-ray, Field of Dreams and The Natural, at least until now. While I love both of these films, the very best baseball themed film is Bull Durham, which fortunately, was finally released on Blu-ray this week. While I was more than pleased with the look and sound of The Natural, Field of Dreams was another matter altogether and was a disappointment in the video department. Would Bull Durham prove to be more like The Natural or more like Field of Dreams. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray release of Bull Durham is as disappointing as Field of Dreams. Read the full story

As I am constantly bombarded with trailers, posters and ads for Cats & Dogs: The Return of Kitty Galore, I found it interesting to go back and review the original film in order to make an educated guess on whether or not I should spend some money to see the sequel. I love animals and if the Pixar films have taught me anything, don’t judge a film just because it looks like a kid’s flick, so I figure there may be a chance I will enjoy this. Let’s see how the experience went.

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With the new Predators film in theatres now trying to reboot the franchise and bring the series into a more respectable light after the AVP failure, we are given the film that started it all on Blu-ray. Does it hold up well after all these years or do we need to wait for Predators to come out in order to see our favorite Stan Winston monster in all its Blu-ray glory? 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

We’re given two very different horror films in this double feature, one is a nineties slasher film that seems to emulate the formulas of the many slasher films of its time, whereas Otis seems to be an indie film that tries to be as different as possible. Unfortunately as it happens so many times, do these films’ reach exceeds their grasps?

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Harry Callahan is the forefathers of the modern action genre and in this double feature collection we’re given two sequels to the original classic that kickstarted the action/cop genre. Although the sequels can’t compare to the original Dirty Harry, how do Sudden Impact & The Enforcer stack up as a double feature.

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For my fifth movie in my review of the Mel Brooks Collection, I selected The Twelve Chairs, Mr. Brooks’ movie adaptation of an Old Russian folk tale.  This is a fairly obscure film, and one I likely would not have watched if it had not been a part of this collection.

As Mr. Brooks’ second directing effort (his first being the conspicuously absent The Producers), it would be interesting to see what his later work evolved from, and how much his early work was influenced by others.  Did the movie deserve its obscure status, or was it worthy of more attention as part of the Mel Brooks legacy? Read the full story

During the various debates on the issue of torture and its effectiveness in eliciting useful information to prevent impending terrorist attacks, the question of the ticking time bomb was often raised. Would you torture to prevent the the use of a nuclear bomb in an American city? Well, that is the central issue raised in the film that is the subject of this review, the suspense thriller Unthinkable. Read the full story

Sometimes you have to kill to do good things. That statement from General Pang in a nutshell summarizes the film The Warlords that is the subject of today’s review. The Warlords was recently featured on HDNet and HDNet Movies and I was curious to see whether the Blu-ray release of the film would be a significant upgrade in terms of picture and sound quality over the prior cable presentation. Read the full story