Category: External Movie DVDs (Page 39 of 74)

The 10 Worst Comic Book Movies

January 13, 2009 /

King-Mag.com put together a list of the 10 Worst Comic Book Movies.

Here’s a sampling:

9. Daredevil (2003)
Why’s it so bad? The director of Grumpier Old Men delivers a crash course in miscasting with Colin Farrell chewing the scenery as a cornball assassin and Ben Affleck in a skintight, red leather suit. What could be worse?

Aftermath: A modest hit, Daredevil managed to rake in over $100 million at the box office and gave Affleck his last taste of success before the career-killing streak of Gigli, Paycheck, Jersey Girl and Surviving Christmas. Turns out bad choices hurt him more than the Kingpin ever could.

It’s a pretty solid list, though they sort of throw “The Incredible Hulk” under the bus by mentioning it in the “Hulk” blurb.

Five years later the title relaunched with new stars (Edward Norton and Liv Tyler), a new director (Louis Leterrier) and similar results (disappointing box office, mixed reviews). Let’s hope Marvel doesn’t believe the third time’s a charm.

I didn’t think the first one was all that bad, but there’s no doubt that the second one was better. “The Incredible Hulk” got a 7.3 at IMDB.com, a 67% at Rotten Tomatoes, and according to Box Office Mojo, it made almost $263 million worldwide (on a budget of $150 million). I for one sure hope that they bring back Edward Norton for another chapter.

External Entertainment, External Movie DVDs, External Movies, Movie DVDs, Movies

The Garment Jungle

January 5, 2009 /

Two good directors are not necessarily better than one. This 1957 fact-inspired noirish black and white melodrama about union-busting gangsters in the clothing business was written by producer and veteran scribe Harry Kleiner and credited to classic-era directing mainstay Vincent Sherman, but the initial helmer was one of the most interesting younger mainstream filmmakers of his generation, Robert Aldrich — already a major talent, and with such classics as “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” and “The Dirty Dozen” still in his future. Apparently, Aldrich clashed with the film’s biggest name, Lee J. Cobb (“On the Waterfront”). Those on-set clashes might well explain the erratic quality of the acting from the usually outstanding Cobb as the driven head of a garment firm being undermined by Richard Boone (“Have Gun – Will Travel”) as his mobbed-up underling, while second-string swashbuckler Kerwin Matthews – just a year away from his career zenith in “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” – is actually better than usual in modern garb as Cobb’s idealistic son…while future “Dr. No” Joseph Wiseman gets to do a bit of overacting as a guilt-stricken worker, and a young Robert Loggia (Tom Hanks’ dance partner from “Big”) steals the movie as an idealistic union organizer…and Gia Scala (“The Guns of Navarone”) elicits sympathy and looks beautiful as Loggia’s tragedy-stricken wife. The only problem is, all my run-on fanboyish links of “The Garment Jungle” to far better known films turns out to be somewhat more interesting than this rather overblown, preachy, bit of pro-union agitprop — heavy on speeches (even if I happen to agree with them) and long on hard to swallow deus ex machina plot points.

Click to buy “The Garment Jungle”

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Ludwig

January 2, 2009 /

Heavy hangs the head of the repressed homosexual and opera fanboy that wears the crown in the final major work from director Luchino Visconti. Featuring an all-star international cast (who, following the usual practice, are all painstakingly dubbed into Italian), this 1973 biopic of the so-called “mad king of Bavaria” successfully mixes 19th century European history and perhaps more than a touch of autobiography from Visconti — himself an openly gay aristocrat with a lifelong attachment to opera. “Ludwig” stars the aging director’s final companion, 28 year-old Helmut Berger, as the sympathetic, self-involved king who winds up spending way too much of his time and his nation’s wealth on an unrequited fantasy female love object (Romy Schneider, “What’s New Pussycat?”), his passion for the music and poetry of Richard Wagner (Trevor Howard), and ridiculously opulent castles to house what may or may not be all-male orgies. Naturally, his reign doesn’t exactly end on a high note.

Considering that Visconti was considered the founder of the real-time loving neorealist movement, and that this director’s cut clocks in at just under four hours, it’s no surprise that “Ludwig” feels at least an hour too long, particularly in the opening and closing sections. Nevertheless, the middle portions amply reward our patience, once Ludwig’s problems begin in earnest as Berger gradually devolves from the perfection of youth to a sadly seedy monarch cursed with teeth that would frighten the most inbred of English nobility. This somber extravaganza requires some patience, but its tragedy, horror, and beauty makes it worth the investment.

Click to buy “Ludwig”

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The New Centurions

December 20, 2008 /

This entry in Sony’s amusingly vague new “Martini Movies” imprint stars George C. Scott (“Patton”) at the height of his early seventies fame as Kilvinski, a humane cop nearing retirement who bonds with his new partner, a would-be lawyer rookie partner (Stacy Keach) going through some big changes of his own. Adapted from a bestselling novel by ex-policeman Joseph Wambaugh, “The New Centurions” often foreshadows later cop dramas, particularly eighties TV groundbreaker “Hill Street Blues” — right down to earthy pre-patrol briefings and actor James B. Sikking sporting what appears to be the very same pipe he parlayed to semi-fame as the affected, egomaniacal Lt. Howard Hunter. Still, while familiar faces from lighter fare show up (Isabel Sanford of “The Jeffersons,” Erik “CHiPs” Estrada, and the eventually dickless William Atherton of “Ghostbusters”), 1972 was a year when grim was in and even the most mainstream of Hollywood films were often deliberately under-structured. Taking place over what appears to be several years, there is no particular “case” and this is not really a story about crime fighting; it’s an investigation into the effects of police work on vulnerable human beings. Written by Stirling Silliphant and directed by Richard Fleischer (“20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” “Soylent Green,” and “Mandingo”), “The New Centurions” is slowed by overly novelistic/episodic pacing and a few too many contemporary mannerisms (including a wah-wah heavy score by Quincy Jones) but it works more often than it doesn’t because of its two first-rate lead actors and a great deal of sincerity. The film’s benevolent view of the quasi-militarist seventies LAPD may be iffy, but its depiction of the bigger truth here feels true enough: policemen are nothing more than human beings doing a job that can be as seductively destructive as heroin.

Click to buy “The New Centurions”

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Tales of Phantasia

December 19, 2008 /

Based on the popular RPG video game franchise of the same name, “Tales of Phantasia” is essentially a two-hour, animated re-telling of the first title in the series. Originally released a year ago by Geneon, the full-length feature tells the tale of six survivors who band together to fight against an evil warlord known as Dhaos the Demon King when he’s released from captivity by a power hungry conqueror. In order to stop him from unleashing darkness throughout the land of Midgard, a young warrior and a beautiful cleric must travel back in time to recruit the help of a witch, a summoner, and a ninja to bring back to present day, while their archer friend Chester holds Dhaos off on his own. When Dhaos runs off to wreak havoc in the future, however, the band of heroes must follow him through space and time and put an end to his destruction before it’s too late.

Tales of Phantasia

Though the animation is sharp and the characters themselves are cool, “Tales of Phantasia” is executed very poorly. Because it’s based on an RPG (which are typically loaded with more plot than the average video game), the story has a tendency to jump around a lot without any explanation. This is done, of course, so that the creators can cram the entire story into one movie, but it doesn’t work as well as they think. As soon as Cress and Mint travel back in time, only to be immediately thrust into a giant battle where everybody already knows why they’re there, the audience loses interest in what’s going on. The same can be said of the characters, who are nothing more than tools to progress the story. It’s too bad that the original producers of the movie didn’t expand the story into an entire season, because “Tales of Phantasia” definitely deserves more attention than it received. As it stands, this is for diehard fans only.

Click to buy “Tales of Phantasia”

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