Dancing Penguins

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Happy Feet
  • IMDb: link

happy-feet-poster

Happy Feet is a very average animated film with some brilliant animation.  Robin Williams does his thing, everyone learns an important lesson, and the world keeps on a spinin.’

Penguins mate by singing, if this animated tale is to be believed.  A penguin looks deep in his or her heart and finds the heartsong which will be sung and will attract a mate.  Two of the most musical penguins Memphis (Hugh Jackman) and Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman) come together in just such a moment.

Their son however is a disappointment.  Mumble (Elijah Wood) can’t sing, and has this odd habit of tapping his feet, and dancing to a beat that only he can hear.  He is in love with the lovely Gloria (Brittany Murphy) but without being able to sing a lick, he can’t win her heart or find a place in his world.

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Comic Book Shelf

/ / Comics

Hey there true believers!  Today the fourteenth issue of our Comic Book Shelf edition hits our newsstand.  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 The Flash: Fastest Man Alive, Iron Man, Birds of Prey, Deadman, Daredevil: Father, Claw the Unconquered, What If? Spider-Man, 52, Hellblazer, Ultimate Fantastic Four, and more!

If you’re looking for graphic novels you don’t want to miss Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis, Fury: Peacemaker, Hellblazer: Empathy is the Enemy, Marvel Westerns, Superman: Man of Steel Vol. 5, Squadron Supreme Vol. 1: The Pre-War Years (Premiere Edition), and more.

For the full list check inside…

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Bond Week Giveaway

/ / Contests, Theme Week

In case you’ve failed to notice, and if so you might want to get your eyesight checked, we’re running a special James Bond theme week here at RazorFine.  It’s cool and it’s exciting, but why should we get to have all the fun?

We’ve got prizes to give away and we’re looking for those who just love to get some free Bond stuff.  All you have to do is tell us what your favorite Bond film is, and why.  Simple right?  So c’mon and grab you chance to win a cool Bond hat, t-shirt, or poster!!

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New On DVD

/ / Home Video News 

Oh man, more DVDs?  How does that industrial Hollywood keep doing it week after week?

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It has clearly been far too long since any new DVDs have been released, so let’s just get started right away.

Film:

The Da Vinci Code: Special Edition – Sure, the idea of Forrest Gump, Amélie, Doctor Octopus and Richie Cunningham all making a movie together sounds great, but in reality it fell a little flat.  The myth the film centers on– that descendants of Jesus are alive today – is a fun one to think about, as well as the secret society that protects such relatives; but the script is just dull, lucky we have Ian McKellan to save the film from complete boredom with his fresh and energetic acting.  Da Vinci isn’t all that bad, but for a film that had promise and grossed $70 million on its opening weekend, we could hope for better.  Alan wasn’t exactly jumping off the wall in his review of the film either

John Tucker Must Die – It’s sort of a puzzle to me how high school comedies keep getting made – more so than in other genres, the movies just keep repeating themselves; and with rare exceptions like American Pie and Mean Girls, they don’t usually make very much money.  Still, 20th Century Fox decided to ignore the past of the genre and make John Tucker Must Die, and while you can’t exactly be happy that they took the risk in producing it, it’s not a deplorable film by any means.  I think I put it best in my review a few months back when I deemed it a really mediocre movie.

Strangers With Candy – It’s not for everyone, but Strangers With Candy just might be the funniest film in a year with Talladega Nights, Little Miss Sunshine and Borat.  Having never seen an episode of the television show on which the film is based, I walked into the movie clueless but walked out breathless.  The humor is so chock-full of intentionally stupid humor over-used story elements that it probably shouldn’t work, but thanks to joyously over-the-top performances from the entire cast, it burn your cheeks as you smile for the solid 97 minute running time.  Like the TV show, Strangers With Candy focuses on a middle-aged woman (Amy Sedaris) who re-enrolls in High School after she gets out of Rehab, only to rediscover the problems of popularity and the opposite sex.  Along for the ride is series regular Stephen Colbert, with celebrites Matthew Broderick, Ian Holm and even Philip Seymour Hoffman all stopping by for at least a few scenes.

I really can’t say enough about this largely ignored film; it’s like the production was given a few million dollars to make an after school special, and decided to spend half of the budget on marijuana, and the result was Strangers With Candy.  A true joy for anyone who takes pleasure in stupid movies.

Special Edition:

King Kong: Deluxe Extended Edition – Remember how every geek in the land of geekdom got excited when an extended edition of any The Lord of the Rings film was released?  Flash forward a few years, and the noise being made in apprehension for Peter Jackson‘s latest, the second remake of King Kong is noticeably less.  Maybe it’s because you’re only getting an extra 13 minutes this time around (as opposed to the 30+ minutes found in the extended Lord of the Rings installments,) or maybe it’s just because Jackson’s Kong was already an hour too long in theaters.

But fans of the film may find the purchase worth it – the three-disc set hosts a small army of special features, including eight part documentary of the film, design galleries which – if Weta is involved – is surely worth anyone’s time and, if for some reason you felt like it, you could watch an additional 38 minutes of deleted scenes on top of the already enlarged feature, totalling a 3 hour and 58 minute celebration of not knowing where to cut.

Oldboy: Ultimate Collector’s Set – I never quite understood the extreme adoration for Oldboy that is rampant on inter-net forums, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t still love it.  Following up Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance as the second installment of Chan-wook Park‘s Vengeance Trilogy, Oldboy was faster, more involving and gave off a vibe of being damn furious.  The now famous hallway scene where our main protagonist gets Hammer-crazy on dozens of henchmen is one of the most realistic and bad-ass fight scenes in recent cinema.  The film is hard-broiled, angry and intense, if not a tad too long.  Definitely worth a rental if you haven’t checked it out yet and are familiar with Asian cinema.

For being a three-disc set, however, this release of Oldboy could have done better.  Although it includes a copy of the first Old Boy graphic novel, none of the features on the discs sound too enticing.  Still, compared to the lacking first, single-disc release; this one makes for the better purchase.

Television:

Friends – The Complete Series Collection – I never, ever got Friends.  Sure, it was funny; even funnier than most of its bland sit-com competition.  But that didn’t make it that great of a show, it certainly doesn’t make it worthy of the heaps of admiration that’s been tossed onto its reputation by teenagers who were force-fed the countless Chandler one-liners that took about four seconds to conceive.  But hey, if you really feel like buying this 40-disc set with hours of comedy that you could watch every day in syndication for free, then by all means feel free to fork over the hundreds of dollars.  Could this set be any more pointless?

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This Week

/ / Movie Reviews

So what’s out there this week?  Well today we’ll take a look at the films scheduled to be released which include a tap dancing penguin extravaganza, a bit of raunchy humor and a little shaken, not stirred accompanied by a few serious, and not so serious, limited releases. This week’s films include Happy Feet, Casino Royale, Let’s Go to Prison, For Your Consideration, Fast Food Nation, Candy, Shut Up and Sing and Bobby.

C’mon in and let us get you ready for the week!

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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:

Casino Royale

Based on the first Bond book, “Casino Royale” written by Ian Fleming, the film gives us the creation of the top sexiest and lethal agent ever, 007 James Bond. Filling a pretty big pair of shoes left behind by Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig (Munich and Layer Cake) is sure to fit in and hit the ground running. I have a small confession to make, I’ve never been much of a Bond film fan; but I could see where Casino Royale might change things around a bit. Promising your typical Bond moves, gadgets and plenty of danger and let us not forget your typical Bond girls, one good and one bad and always one in his bed. Bond fans won’t be disappointed, 007 is out to bring down the terrorists network through their banker, Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) and to accomplish this he must beat Le Chiffre in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale (wonder where the name of the film came from).

He falls for the sexy Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), British Treasury official, and finds the two of them in danger (what a shocker) and has to save her life as well as his own. Good times, glad to see that no matter how good or how bad the Bond films get, they will never die; our grandchildren will see the 50th Bond film, I have no doubt. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action, a scene of torture, sexual content and nudity, maybe not the best family film, but certainly great for a night out between mom and dad or the buddies. Projected 3.5 out of 5 razors.

Happy Feet

Happy Feet boasts voice talents Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving and the list goes on; plus plenty of dancing animated penguins with a lot of singing. Oh, how sweet, it’s Rudolph, but with Penguins, in a far off way. Mumble can’t sing and what’s a penguin that can’t sing, but tap dances? He’s nothing and the leader of the penguins kicks him out to figure things out on his own. Mumble runs across some other outcasts and hunts down an all knowing Guru.

Between the Amigos and the Guru, Mumble figures out the most important thing there is, you must be true to yourself to really shine. He goes back to his family and the nation of Emperor Penguins to prove that he is as worthy as they. Good times for the whole family, plenty of humor and awe shucks moments. Rated PG for some rude humor. Great Casino Royale has torture and violence and it gets a mere PG13, but a little rude humor in a family animated film and it gets PG, what’s this world coming to? Projected 3 out of 5 razors.

Let’s Go to Prison

Starring Dax from Without A Paddle, one of the accidental funniest guys on film, Let’s Go to Prison promises to be an empty raunchy attempt at prison sex humor. Richy snob gets into a little trouble and finds himself in the clink and roomies with a career thug. He gets a few lessons, sold to the prisons big guy and enjoys (not) a little prison snuggles. Before the career thug knows it, richy boy turns the tables on him and starts controlling the game. Rated R for language, sexual content and some violence and drug material, Let’s Go to Prison is a guaranteed wrong time. A projected bomb all around.

Shut Up and Sing

Rock on Dixie Chicks. Spend a day in their shoes, see what it was like to be the country music’s lead female group to speak their minds against our noble president. Shut Up and Sing is a documentary that follows the Dixie Chicks lives through out the past 3 years of tours, marriage, death threats, family, political attacks and making music after the comment about Bush. I’m glad we are in another country fighting for their rights and freedom of speech (keeping women from being hidden and abused), but all along we are suppose to oppress our true believes and stay under an invisible veil in our own country.

What makes all of this wrong is not only the opposition the government took against these 3 young ladies, but what we as a nation did. What ever happened to freedom of speech and having our own beliefs? I must question, would the same exact interrogation had happened to a male who would have spoke the same way? Is it time for us to burn our bras again? Projected 4 out of 5 razors.

Opening Friday, in Limited Release:

For Your Consideration

Christopher Guest brings to the big screen another laugh out loud story about human’s infatuation about self-gratification. For Your Consideration has a few repeat players and a couple of new, a cast list that boasts Carrie Aizley, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley, Jr., Jennifer Coolidge, Paul Dooley, Ricky Gervais, Christopher Guest, Rachael Harris and on and on and on, how does Guest get so much talent in one film? The show is all about making an independent film and the award buzz that taunts the actors afterwards. Once again, Guest throws the obvious in our face and makes us look at the ugly beast in the eye.

Yes we are a greedy society that needs constant rewards and pats on the back for simply doing our job. Luckily he makes quite a farce of it and a completely enjoyable viewing experience. Projected 5 out of 5 razors.

Fast Food Nation

Here’s an insult to the best selling novel with the same name. The only saving grace for Fast Food Nation are the small parts that Greg Kinnear, Ashley Johnson and Catalina Sandino Moreno plays in the film. There are tasteless graphic scenes of animals being slaughtered and way too much content trying to be covered in a serious form. Too much is too much, why try to cover so many topics in a short 2 hours. Focus on one point of view and keep it simple, simplicity would have saved this film. Rated R for really disturbing images, strong sexuality, language and drug content.

Limited release only, just wait for it on DVD. Projected 1 out of 5 razors.

Bobby

Wow, the films out this week have some serious talent. Bobby, written and directed by Emilio Estevez (yeah, I wondered where he went too) has quite the list with Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Lindsay Lohan, Elijah Wood, William H. Macy, Helen Hunt, Christian Slater (he disappeared too), Heather Graham, Laurence Fishburne, Freddy Rodriguez…I’ll stop now. I’ve got to give it to Emilio; he has created a culturally and politically powerful film set around the night Robert F. Kennedy was shot. It focuses on 22 people who are all waiting for the arrival of Kennedy’s primary election night and the events that were set in history.

Many issues are covered from racism to women’s rights and each actor plays their part to bring the characters to life, most doing a brilliant job and a few a little rusty. It’s a well-written story and, for the most part, a well acted and directed one at that. Projected 4 out of 5 razors.

Candy

Heath Ledgerand Abbie Cornish star in this love story of two selfish and self-absorbed heroin addicts. Alan hated it, well hated might not be a strong enough word, despised might be more apt; you can check out his full review on Friday. The film was adapted from Luke Davies bes-selling novel and also stars Geoffrey Rush as an enabler and father figure for the lovers whose lives get slowly eaten up on drugs and madness. Boy, doesn’t that sound like the family film you’ve been waiting to take your kids to?  Doesn’t that sound like a beautiful love story? Oh wait, it doesn’t. A projected bomb all around.

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