Into the Blu

Hot Rod

Posted on 06. Jan, 2009 by Kristina Kehler.

Hoping to make the jump from Saturday Night Live to the big screen Andy Samberg stars in Hot Rod, yet another film about an immature young adult following his heart without using his head. While for some of you these movies are wearing thin, they always seem to strike a chord with certain audiences, which usually include me. With all the talks of recession, bail outs and unemployment maybe we could use a stupid movie for some stupid laughs. My only concern is the ability of Samberg to keep me entertained for more than a three minute skit on Saturday nights. Those that have made the jump from SNL to the big screen have done it convincingly, but let us not forget the failures of Chris Kattan, Jimmy Fallon, and… well many others. So is this comedy going to be another run of the mill failure or supply some good laughs and physical comedy? [...]

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MirrorMask

Posted on 05. Jan, 2009 by Gregg Senko.

Our dreams are often distorted, sometimes twisted recollections of past experiences.  In other cases they are the work of our subconscious wandering down an unfamiliar path, conjuring events that have not yet occurred.  MirrorMask is a very unique and artistic film that combines both such concepts into this PG-rated work.  In the beginning of the film, we find a woman running the ticket booth of a circus she and her husband own and operate.  In a bit of haste before showtime, she abandons the duty to seek out her daughter Helena, a juggler in the show.   [...]

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Sharkwater

Posted on 22. Dec, 2008 by Gregg Senko.

Captain Planet.  That’s what some of my coworkers call me as I’m always on the lookout for discarded plastic bottles and aluminum cans that others throw away when the recycling bin is but a few steps farther.  Yup, champion of the environment.  That’s me.  So when I came across a documentary earlier this year about sharks, I was ecstatic.  To see sharks in their natural habitat in high definition would be a wonderful thing.  Without further ado, I made my online purchase of the film known as Sharkwater. [...]

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Meet Dave

Posted on 21. Dec, 2008 by Kristina Kehler.

It doesn’t seem like all that long ago that when Eddie Murphy released a movie people actually anticipated it eagerly. With a string of hits extending from the late 80’s well into the 90’s, there was a time that we couldn’t get enough of his antics. But in the last decade Murphy has been met with lukewarm reception at best, with every second movie almost making the grade, it just hasn’t been enough. But the potential is still there and not all of his outings as of late of been complete write offs. Here’s to hoping that Meet Dave is more like Nutty Professor than Norbit. [...]

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Stranger Than Fiction (Special Edition)

Posted on 21. Dec, 2008 by Kristina Kehler.

Like most of you, I have come to expect Will Ferrell in stupid comedy movies that no matter how ridiculous, will always be a guilty pleasure to watch. With Stranger than Fiction Marc Foster (Monsters Ball) broadens the horizon a bit, with a sweet and innocent take on a rather grim premise. The real question is can Will Ferrell escape the shackles of type casting and deliver a movie with feeling? [...]

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The Last Waltz

Posted on 16. Dec, 2008 by Ryan Keefer.

When it comes to ranking concert films, the best always seem to have The Last Waltz at or near the top of a very short list. For those unfamiliar with the production, the film centers around the farewell concert of The Band, the Canadian group who helped Bob Dylan transform and expand creatively in the ‘60s, and Dylan’s assistance in their album “Music from Big Pink” was retribution for this. The album continues to be widely regarded as a very influential piece of music decades after its release. The group continued to release albums and tour at a frenetic pace, until Robertson had finally grown weary of the pace in 1976. Rather than hold a simple farewell concert, which would have been the easy choice, The Band decided to make the event a celebration of their careers in a very pure sense. They decided to hold it on Thanksgiving at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom, where they held their first live performance seven years earlier. They fed the several thousand concertgoers before bringing them the group’s work. And little did the fans know they would be witness to one of the great live performances captured on film.

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Burn After Reading

Posted on 14. Dec, 2008 by Brian White.

Burn After Reading was written and directed by the Coen Brothers, Joel and Ethan. Do their names sound familiar to you? They should! The Coen Brothers walked away with the Oscar last year for No Country For Old Men. Burn After Reading features an all-star cast with such names as Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John Malkovich, J.K. Simmons, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton. The film opened up in the United States on September 12, 2008 to generally positive user reviews, but it received mixed critical reviews. [...]

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Immortal

Posted on 04. Dec, 2008 by Gino Sassani.

Style over substance, that’s the danger, really. As technology continues to get better, we are seeing filmmakers coming closer and closer to reproducing almost anything at all in a photorealistic manner. So far there are still enough limitations that there is little worry that the movie industry will abandon location and set shooting altogether. If you were worried and need any more reason to believe, just watch Immortal. [...]

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Get Smart

Posted on 03. Dec, 2008 by Kristina Kehler.

Nearly forty five years ago Mel Brooks and Buck Henry first aired a unique spin on the increasingly popular secret agent genre. Sure this was decades before my time, but I’ve heard all about the show and the 138 episodes it aired over five years, satirizing then popular programs like Mission Impossible and the budding James Bond franchise. Sure some years have gone by, technology has changed and some then popular gadgets have become common place, but one thing never grows old, laughter. With a sequel already planned and an impressive box office run I expect some great things out of Get Smart, will Steve Carell fit into the phone shoes of Agent 86? [...]

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Day of the Dead (2008)

Posted on 25. Nov, 2008 by Gino Sassani.

I’m a fan of the original George Romero zombie films. Let’s face it. These films have left an incredible mark and pretty much created an entire sub-genre of horror film. We get a lot of our zombie rules from these “Dead” films. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that finally the last of the original films has finally been remade. The original Night Of The Living Dead came first to the remake mills. It was a pretty faithful adaptation of the original material, even if it was somewhat updated. It didn’t hurt that Romero was involved as a producer and that original makeup man Tom Savini directed the affair. [...]

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Young Frankenstein

Posted on 30. Oct, 2008 by Gino Sassani.

As a fan of the Universal horror films from the 1930’s and 1940’s I have a deeper appreciation for Mel Brooks and his rather silly Young Frankenstein than most. If you watch the film without the references, I don’t think it holds up very well at all. The jokes are often repeated enough times that they lose any effectiveness they might have had. Just about all of the performances are over the top. From that quick look one might dismiss Young Frankenstein as a minor effort that was mildly amusing in its day, but without any real staying power. So, what is it that has made this not only the best film from the mind of Mel Brooks, but a perennial classic 30 years later? For the answer to that question you must return to that golden age of horror. [...]

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Interview with the Vampire

Posted on 24. Oct, 2008 by Kristina Kehler.

Bathing in blood and dominating Romania some six centuries ago, I assure you Vlad the Impailer would never have guessed his legacy would live on in this light. Rooting back to Bram Stoker’s original novel, our imaginations have been captivated by the blood thirsty creatures of the night, based in name upon Vlad, also known as Vlad Dracula. In film there has been a real hit and miss streak with the vampire genre, usually conforming to a teenage hack and slash plot and falling short of all expectations. But there have been a few gems along the way, 1922’s Nosferatu, 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1931’s Dracula, and of course, the topic of this review, 1994’s Interview with the Vampire. I’m not going to beat around the bush on this one, Interview with the Vampire is probably the best Vampire movie of the past twenty years, and I’ll tell you why. [...]

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Live and Let Die

Posted on 22. Oct, 2008 by Gino Sassani.

Live And Let Die wasn’t Roger Moore’s first brush with James Bond. It wasn’t even his second. When Saltzman and Broccoli first began assembling their team, Roger Moore was their second choice, after Cary Grant, to play the Fleming spy. Moore was doing television at the time and so was unavailable. He did, however, play the spy in a television skit spoofing the character, which is included in the special features of this release. When Sean Connery left the franchise for a second time, presumably for good, the search was on again to fill the role. [...]

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The Happening

Posted on 15. Oct, 2008 by Kristina Kehler.

Not long since his last disappointing release, M. Night Shyamalan hopes to bring some credibility back to his once reputable name with The Happening. Plagued with accusations of plagiarism and labelled as a one trick pony, bringing some credibility back to the table wouldn’t be an easy feat for anyone. But we have to hand it to Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense and Signs are easily classics in their genres, I’ll even give The Village a nod. But on the flipside, out of six major releases, only two have really hit it big, bating at one third and barely making back it’s budget I’m not sure I like the odds going into this one. [...]

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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

Posted on 14. Oct, 2008 by Gino Sassani.

Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Helena Bohnam Carter, and a 1970’s Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim about a barber with a penchant for truly close, and rather bloody, shaves. With these kinds of ingredients, you have a can’t miss recipe for Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. The finished product is a wickedly clever and most unusual movie experience. Tim Burton’s style blends so seamlessly with the dark humor of the original production. If I had any reservations going into the film, it was the casting of Burton’s go-to actors Depp and Carter. [...]

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Posted on 12. Oct, 2008 by Bill Geiger.

In many cases, you won’t find Jack Nicholson in a role that is bad. He is an actor who can play just about any part thrown at him and make it his own. He has been President in Mars Attacks, a crazed out writer in The Shining and in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Jack as McMurphy, a petty thief, hits a homerun easily in one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time. [...]

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The Godfather - The Coppola Restoration Giftset

Posted on 23. Sep, 2008 by Gino Sassani.

Paramount has made us an offer we simply can’t refuse with this HD on Blu-ray release of The Godfather Trilogy. I’m not going to waste any time here taking you through the Godfather Saga. Even if you’ve never seen any of these films, and I can’t imagine anyone hasn’t, you know the story and characters almost as much as if you had. For those of us who have seen these films, it has likely been an experience you have never forgotten. They are like potato chips in that you can not have watched them just a single time. For us these films are more than merely films. They are memories that we share as a culture. They have surely become a part of American mythology as much as Homer’s tales of conquering heroes and mighty gods were for the ancient Greeks. [...]

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