Author: Jason Zingale (Page 139 of 154)

DVD shuffle: 02/28/06

New on DVD this week:

1) Walk the Line – BUY: The Johnny Cash biopic isn’t the greatest film of the year, but it’s certainly worth owning. The award-winning performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are more than enough reason to watch the movie more than once, but Fox has also slapped together a nice collection of special features. A word to the wise: save yourself the trouble and pick up the two-disc version.

2) The Ice Harvest – RENT: Director Harold Ramis is probably best known for his wacky comedies (like “Caddyshack,” “Stripes” and “Groundhog Day”), but his latest feature – a mix between that very style of humor and film noir – is a little different. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t check it out, but it’s certainly his darkest material to date.

3) Pride & Prejudice – RENT: Don’t get me wrong; I hate everything Jane Austen just as much as the next guy, but the latest film adaptation of the classic novel is just good enough to squeeze it’s way into the “rent” category. Your female friends will love it, and you’ll looking at Keira Knightley. Enjoy.

Also out this week is “Yours, Mine and Ours,” the Disney film “Lady & the Tramp,” and special edition releases of “Network” and “Dog Day Afternoon.”

Rapid Fire Rejects, Volume I

As films critics, we’re showered with hundreds of DVDs every year, and though that may sound awesome to some, a good lot of these movies are pure crap. In an effort to review said stacks of undesirable material, a new segment has been created that will be revisted with each replishment of bad DVDs. So, without further ado, I give to you a new series I like to call Rapid Fire Rejects:

“Demon Hunter”
Anyone crazy enough to invest in a direct-to-video movie called “Demon Hunter” should be committed. Immediately. And if that’s not enough reason to stay far, far away, just take a look at the summary of the film on the back of the DVD box, which features a reference to Satan’s secret ploy to “impregnate young Los Angeles prostitutes with his evil seed.” Yes, that was a direct quote.

“The Best of Youth”
The next time a six-hour (six hour!) Italian film arrives at your doorstep, try convincing me that you found the time to watch it, and then maybe I’ll start feeling a little guilty about not doing my job. There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s a fantastic piece of filmmaking, but I certainly won’t lose any sleep over it.

“The Pretender: Season 3”
It was probably a mistake to have missed the first two seasons of this series. In fact, I’m sure that they lend important character and story development to all of the events that take place in season three, but all of this means nothing if you’ve never seen the show. The sad part isn’t that the series is one giant rip-off of “Quantum Leap,” or that the lead actor is rubbish, or that it just plain sucks, but rather that it was produced four seasons by the very same network that thought it a wise choice to cancel “Arrested Development.”

“Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”
Just what we needed… another 1960s TV series revived on DVD by Fox. This must have been a popular show in its time, but it simply didn’t stand the test of time. The black and white picture looks sharp, but the writing is just atrocious.

We all fall down

Um, excuse me, Claudette? That was supposed to be taken figuratively, not literally. Oh well, I guess that it was bound to happen sometime. She did have lupus, and what better time for her to pass out then right after she got Kleevon to confess to all of the murders he’s been suspected of for the past year? Don’t count out Claudette too soon though; she’s an integral part of this series. Dutch, on the other hand, looks absolutely devastated – not because he was accused of knocking her down the stairs, but rather because he pushed her so hard to close the case. And now, he doesn’t have a partner. Maybe he should’ve taken that captain position after all…

Meanwhile, the Strike Team is working alongside the new Crime Unit on a case involving a murdered mother and daughter, and lots of stolen crystal meth. The man in charge of the unit, whom I believe to be Paul Reyes (the man that beat out Vic for the top job last season), offers Vic and his crew a spot on the team, but is later forced to withdraw the offer when he discovers just how deep the IAD investigate goes. No harm done, really, since there wouldn’t be a show if the Strike Team wasn’t working out of the barn. Still, it was a nice break from the usual week-to-week monotony, which doesn’t usually include blowing up the side of a house with C4 in order to save a hostage held at gunpoint.

In between all of this running around, Kavanaugh finds the time to interrogate the guys again, including Ronnie, who we discover has been perfect with his money management skills. Shane, on the other hand, isn’t as cool and composed, and it looks like Kavanaugh is finally getting under his skin – especially since he’s threatening to drag Shane’s personal life through all of this. It doesn’t help, of course, that Vic finds it necessary to tell Hot Lawyer Chick all about their past money skimming, and when the other guys hear about this, they decide that getting their own lawyers might better represent their individual needs; and simultaneously cause an even bigger headache for Kavanaugh.

By the way, what’s with Aceveda’s sudden interest in helping out the Strike Team? Is he really concerned about their futures, or is just out to save his own ass? Regardless of what happens from here on out, Aceveda is in the doghouse with Kavanaugh. The IAD agent is certain that he’s up to no good (even though he’s not), but that doesn’t change the fact that his past dealings with Antoine Mitchell will come back to bite him just as hard. Maybe Vic and Aceveda need to sit down and make a deal?

Oh, and for those wondering: yes, that was ex-NFL coach Jimmy Johnson in the cage at the Barn. When did he find the time to grow a beard?

DVD shuffle: 02/21/06

New on DVD this week:

1) The Weather Man – BUY: One of the more underrated films of the year, “The Weather Man” missed my Best Films of 2005 list by only one spot. The DVD is less-than-spectacular, but its definitely worth seeing for Nic Cage and Michael Caine’s performances alone. In fact, you’ll enjoy it so much that you’ll probably end up owning it.

2) Rent – RENT: We all saw that one coming, but seriously, the film adaptation of the award-winning musical just isn’t good enough to lay down twenty bucks for. The music is mostly hit-and-miss, but it’s nice to see that director Chris Columbus kept most of the original Broadway cast intact. A strong film you should see at least once, but nothing more.

3) First Descent – RENT: Since when have documentaries been considered for a mainstream theatrical release? Well, when you have a superstar sports teen like Shaun White starring in it. “First Descent” delivers gnarly snowboarding footage, but it goes for much too long. The DVD material isn’t all that great either, but this is a must-see for extreme sports enthusiasts and moviegoers with big screen TVs.

4) Domino: RENT: Ok, so maybe Tony Scott’s semi-biographical look at model-turned-bountry-hunter Domino Harvey wasn’t as great as it could have been, but fans of Keira Knightely will definitely want to check this out for her lap dance sequence. I could watch that on a loop all day long. Drool…

Also out on DVD this week are Special Editions of “All the President’s Men” and “Midnight Cowboy,” as well as the third seasons of “NYPD Blue” and “3rd Rock From the Sun.”

The cowboys are fine, but where has all my money gone?

To a little piggy bank in Box Office Heaven we like to call February. Four new candidates to rape you of your hard earned cash this week, including the romantic comedy spoof “Date Movie,” a movie that is apparently so bad that it wasn’t even screened for critics, the kidnapping thriller “Freedomland” that might as well have been called “The Forgotten 2: We Forgot We Already Made This Movie,” and the Disney based-on-true-events snow dog film, “Eight Below.” Sigh. The one glimmering hope of entertainment this weekend is in the semi-limited release of “Night Watch,” the first part of a Russian fantasy film that’s being hailed as Eastern Europe’s “Lord of the Rings.” A pretty hefty statement, but one that I’m excited to see nonetheless.

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