August 2006

Comic Book Shelf

/ / Comics

Hey there true believers!  Today marks our first Comic Book Shelf edition.  Want to know what’s getting released today at the old comic shop but too busy, or lazy (not that there’s anything wrong with that), to bother?  Well no sweat Bat-fans as we’ve got the scoop of what comics and graphic novels are hitting the shelves today. 

This week’s releases include new issues of The Flash, Ghost Rider, Hellblazer, Nightwing, Deadman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, , and more!

If your looking for graphic novels there’s Identity Crisis, Decimation: Son of M, Plastic Man Archives, Spider-Woman: Origin Premiere, The Ultimate X-Men Volume 6 and more.  For the full list check inside…

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New on DVD

/ / Home Video

We’re here to keep you informed on hot choices for renting or buying new DVD releases. Released this week: Scary Movie 4, RV, Hoot, Apocalypse Now (2 Disc Special Collector’s Edition) and Rome: The Complete First Season.

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Here’s what is getting released today on DVD:

Film:

Scary Movie 4 –  This year’s edition plays on the same Airplane style type of comedy (enhanced with the addition of Leslie Neilsen in a supporting role) with the body fluid and homosexuality jokes scaled back though we do get the obligatory Brokeback Mountain parody.  The star of this series remains the set designer for the level of detail recaptured in the different spoofs; I just wish the acting and writing was as consistent.  Get the rest of Alan’s opinion on Scary Movie 4. Don’t miss out on extras like Commentary by the filmmakers, 15 deleted and extended scenes, bloopers and many featurette.

RV –  Disconnected from his family and in trouble at work Bob Munro (Robin Williams) decides to gather his family, his teenage daughter Cassie (JoJo) and son Carl (Josh Hutcherson) and wife Jamie (Cheryl Hines), together and take an family vacation to Colorado (while secretly working on his proposal).  Since his family was set on a trip to Hawaii they aren’t too happy with the change in plans.

Of course in this kind of trip all kinds of bad luck befalls Bob including being stuck on the front of the RV as it tumbles out of control, the explosion of the waste management system, attack of a pack of rabid raccoons, and a extra-cheery RV family (Jeff Daniels, Kristin Chenoweth, Hunter Parrish, Alex Ferris, and Chloe Sonnenfeld) who even sing and yodel and I’m pretty sure you have to shoot and bury in the desert in unmarked graves to get rid of. Get the rest of Alan’s opinion on RV.

Be sure to enjoy the director’s commentary, gag reel, alternate scenes and a few featurette on this DVD.

Hoot – Carl Hiaasen’s award winning young adult novel is adapted for the big screen, and now your TV. Director Wil Shriner does his best, but doesn’t pull off much from his adult actors, luckily his young talents pulls out all the stops. Hoot has a few funny moments and some save the animals, owls specifically, moral notes. Kids will love it, but adults will be quite bored.

Special Edition:

Apocalypse Now (2 Disc Special Collector’s Edition) – Seriously, you’re not going to make me explain Apocalypse Now to you? If you don’t know what this film it about, then you are not alive. However, I will let you know what the 2 Disc Collector’s Edition includes. Just in case 2 1/2 hours wasn’t enough for you, now they have added a whole extra 50 minutes. They didn’t just add scenes, but expanded and re-edited scenes that charged the atmosphere of this gloomy time in history. “What else?”, you ask. Not only do you get the extended longer version, but both the 1979 and 2001 versions, never before seen segments, Marlon Brando’s, in full, reading of T.S. Elliot’s poem “The Hollow Men” and so much more. If your a fan, then this collector’s edition is certainly for you and if you only appreciate the film then get it for the man in your life, or woman, who loves it.

Rome: The Complete First Season – HBO ventures out to epic proportions; Rome starts with a bang, slows a bit in the center and ends with an explosion. Shot on location in Rome and on one of the most genuine replicated sets and costumes made with nothing but the real articles found in those days, Rome is one of the most expensive productions in HBO history. The story of Julius Caesar unravels with intriguing characters and great talent from Ciaran Hinds, Kevin McKIdd, Ray Stevenson, James Purefoy and many others. HBO hit another one out of the park, let’s see if they hold onto to it. If a complaint would be made about this series it would be not enough battle, a war would start and end within a 5 minute period leaving the audience wanting to see more. The disc includes 12 episodes on 6 discs; commentary on multiple episodes with different actors and director, a closer look at “The Rise of Rome” fight scene and an extravagant behind the scenes look at set design and costuming. Wait for it, there is more; actor’s boot camp, a featurette on the culture of ancient Rome, photo gallery and an eight-page character guide. Here’s a DVD set with a party included in it.

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This Week

/ / Film News & Trailers

So what’s out there this week?  Well today we’ll take a look at the films scheduled to be released on Friday.  They include Justin Long creating his own college, the Duff girls playing a pair of spoiled sisters (hard acting there!), and Samuel L. Jackson taking on Snakes on a Plane.  All that and a batch of films in limited release including Edward Norton as a magician, Rachel Leigh Cook’s unquenchable sexual desires on the eve of her wedding, Billy Crudup and David Duchovny screwing up their relationships, and new films starring Matt Dillon and James Marsden as well; read on…

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Here’s what’s scheduled to hit theaters this week.  Want to know more?  Just click on the title for film info including a full cast list.  Want a closer look?  Just click on the poster to watch the trailer.

Opening Friday:

Accepted

I’ve been a fan of Justin Long since his days on Ed.  Much like last year’s Waiting… this film puts Long into the role of a slacker who discovers deeper meaning to life by the end of the film.  Bartleby (Long) creates a fictional university, South Harmon Institute of Technology (notice the acronym?), when he’s rejected from every college around.  When other slackers enroll, his friends (Jonah Hill, Maria Thayer, Columbus Short, and comedian Lewis Black) help him to turn the farce into a real college, and win his true love (Blake Lively).  Check back on Friday for our review.

Snakes on a Plane

Samuel L. Jackson plays an FBI agent on a plane who battles hundreds of snakes, released by an assassin to kill an informant being transferred to testify.  Either you’ve been waiting impatiently for this one or you’ve been scratching your head all year about the Internet build-up.  Byron Lawson, Nathan Phillips, Julianna Marguiles, Rachel Blanchard, and Bobby Cannavale also star.  The film is directed by David R. Ellis (Cellular, Final Destination 2) which, surprisingly, hasn’t seemed to hurt the hype – seriously, Final Destination 2?  C’mon!  Check back Friday for our review.

Material Girls

Real life sisters Hilary and Haylie Duff play carefree, party all night heiresses (is one of them named Paris?) who lose all their fortune and fame in a scandal, forcing them to go out into the world and live a more simple life (sorry, I couldn’t resist).  Angelica Huston, Brent Spiner, and Maria Conchita Alonso also star.  Hey, should be better than Hilary’s next project.  TV director Martha Coolridge is behind the camera for the script penned by John Quaintance (Joey, Aquamarine) and first-timer Jessica O’Toole.  With this much “talent,” what could possibly go wrong?

Currently in Limited Release, Opening Wide on Friday:

Little Miss Sunshine

Boy, oh, boy.  When the youngest member of a dysfunctional family wins a spot in a beauty pagent the whole crew stumbles on board a VW bus and makes the trek to California.  Directed by the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Mr. Show), the off-beat script (by first-timer Michael Arndt) stars Steve Carrell as a suicidal gay man, Paul Dano as a Nietche lovin’ mute, Greg Kinnear as the emotionally inaccessible father, Alan Arkin as the smack addicted patriarch, and Abagail Breslin as the adorable Olive.  The film finally gets a wide release this Friday; You can check out my review here.

Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man

A new documentary by director Lian Lunson (Willie Nelson: Down Home) focuses on the life and music of singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen.  The film is compiled from interviews and performances, mostly from the tribute to Cohen in 2005 at the Sydney Opera House, by Cohen, Bono and the Edge from U2, Anthony Hegarty, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Linda Thompson, Anthony Hagerty, Anna and Kate McGarrigle, Hal Wilner, Nick Cave, Julie Christensen, and more.  The film has received mixed reviews as many feel the actual man is barely profiled in what appears to be more a celebration of his work than a true documentary.

Opening Friday in Limited Release:

The Illusionist

Edward Norton as a magician?  Hmmm…  A magician (Norton) uses his abilities to win the love of a noble woman (Jessica Beil) from the Crown Prince of Vienna (Rufus Sewell), who is determined to prove the magician a fraud with the help of his chief inspector (Paul Giamatti).  The big question here is can the film overcome the curse of Jessica Beil – who somehow always chooses the worst films to star in (Blade Trinity, Summer Catch, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Stealth, Elizabethtown).  Is there enough magic in the world to kill this curse?  Check back Friday for our review to find out.

My First Wedding

Rachael Leigh Cook plays Vanessa, a young woman struggling with sexual fantasies and desires just days before she is to be married.  She seeks solace in a confessional, only to bare her soul to carpenter (Kenny Doughtey) doing renovation at the church, who is so taken with her (a randy sex-crazed Rachel Leigh Cook, who wouldn’t be?!) that he can’t tell her he’s not a priest.  Caroline Carver, Paul Hopkins, Claire Brosseau, Elizabeth Whitmere, and Stefanie Buxton also star.  The film opens today in limited release, look for it at an art house near you in the coming weeks.

Trust the Man

Writer/director Bart Freundlich’s (World Traveler, The Myth of Fingerprints) latest is about a couple of friends (David Duchovny, Billy Crudup) and their screwed-up relationships with the women they love (Julianne Moore, Maggie Gyllenhaal).  The supporting cast includes Justin Bartha, James LeGros, Eva Mendes, Ellen Barkin, Dagmara Dominczyk, and Garry Shandling.  Despite a near year long run at various film festivals the film has brought neither high praise, nor marketable anger.  Looks like what you see is what you get.  The film is opening in limited release on Friday.

10th and Wolf

Returning home from the military, Tommy (James Marsden) finds himself back in the old neighborhood, his brother in prison, and entagled once again with his mobster buddies.  Marsden finally gets a starring role with a fine supporting cast including Giovanni Ribisi, Brad Renfro, Dennis Hopper, Piper Perabo, Lesly Ann Warren, Val Kilmer, Brian Dennehy, and rocker Tommy Lee.  I just wish the plot sounded as good as that list of actors.  Directed and co-written by Robert Moresco (who co-wrote last year’s Crash).  The film opens in limited release on Friday.

Factorum

Henry Chinaski (Matt Dillon), the fictional alter-ego of writer Charles Bukowski, wanders around Los Angeles barely making a living while indulging in his favorite pastimes – gambling, drinking, women, and writing.  Directed and adapted from the Bukowski novel by Norwegian director Brent Hamer.  The supporting cast includes Lili Taylor, Marisa Tomei, Adrienne Shelly, Karen Young, and Fisher Stevens. The film opens exclusively in New York and Los Angeles on Friday.  Look for a wider release in art houses in the coming months.

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Dancing Fools

/ / Movie Reviews

Yet another film about dancing.  Joy.  In this one, a thuggish young brute learns to love dance thanks to a beautiful girl.  How original!  I went into this film fully prepared to hate every frame, but despite it’s glaring errors (and it has more than a few) somehow I enjoyed myself enough to, marginally, recommend the film.  I think fans of this genre will be satisfied and enjoy themselves (and the dates they drag along may be able to enjoy themselves a little too).

Step Up
3 Stars

You’ve seen this before, we all have.  A girl falls for a guy from the wrong side of the tracks.  A classically trained dancer learns to use hip hop moves to create a new revolutionary routine that will get her into the big time.  Step Up is the latest dance film to recycle these themes.  There is little originality, and even fewer surprises, but the choreography and presence of the films leading lady make up for some, though certainly not all, of its flaws.

Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum, in a very accurate John Cena impersonation) is a thug who enjoys stealing cars, partying hard, destroying and vandalizing, and quitting anything that requires the smallest bit of effort, commitment, or time.  After breaking in and vandalizing a fine arts school with his friends, Tyler is sentenced to 200 hours of community service at the school.

While working as a janitor Tyler meets a young dance student, Nora (Jenna Dewan), in need of a partner for her showcase.  Discovering Tyler’s ability to dance the two partner up.  Nora begins to make Tyler believe more is possible, and as they work together…well, star crossed lovers from opposite sides of the tracks, you can guess where the film goes from here.

It is odd how every student in the film looks like a college graduate.  In fact the revelation that they are supposed to be high school students was shocking.  What, does high school in this area go up to the 27th grade?

Odd casting aside, the actors do their best with the roles.  Dewan is the stand-out, and based on her performance here I think we’ll be seeing much more of her in the future.

Tatum is fine as the ogre-like Tyler who spends half his time trying not to scrape his knuckles when he walks and the other half as a dance wiz.  Drew Sidora and Mario have a nice subplot (which is the only thing that feels teenage about the entire film).  And Rachel Griffiths adds some class as the stern but loving principal of the school.

The film marks the directing debut of Anne Fletcher who has worked as a dancer and choreographer in more than 30 Hollywood films.  The dance scenes are some of the best of the film.

It’s not a must see, but in terms of chick-flicks guys might be able to survive this summer, Step Up gives you more than you’d expect.  Hey, it’s got some good dancing, beautiful girls, and a good sense of humor about its subject.  The film does have some darker spots involving gangs, and violence.  These scenes don’t exactly mesh with the rest of the film but do help carry the storyline to its conclusion.  It’s Dewan’s spirit and personality, not to mention her tights-clad body in motion, that helps carry the film.  She reminds me a little of Susan Ward, and I’ll be interested in seeing where her career goes from here.

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World Trade Center

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: World Trade Center
  • IMDB: link

Let’s get this out of the way right now – the film does not, in any way, exploit the events of 9/11.  In a strange way, in fact, it celebrates the good that came out of such a horrific tragedy.  Oliver Stone and his cast and crew have rarely been better.  World Trade Center is one of the best movies of the year.

On an otherwise normal September day the unthinkable happens when a commercial airliner runs into the World Trade Center.  Sergeant John McLoughlin (Nicholas Cage) leads a group of Port Authority police down to help evacuate the towers.

As the team gathers supplies and travels by bus down to the towers they hear rumors of other planes hitting the towers and the Pentagon.  The information is sketchy, as is their role in this crisis.  As McLoughlin states, there is no plan for a tragedy this size.

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