Category: Movie DVDs (Page 31 of 100)

A Chat with Dean Stockwell (“Battlestar Galactica: The Plan”)

October 30, 2009 /

Dean Stockwell is one of those generational actors, the kind who’s known for a different project for every decade that he’s been in the business…and since he was playing against the likes of Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly by the time he was ten years old, that’s a lot of projects. Maybe you know him from “The Boy with the Green Hair” or “Gentleman’s Agreement,” or perhaps from his work as Al on “Quantum Leap,” or as Ben in David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet.” In short, the guy gets around. As of late, he’s been picking up raves for his portrayal of the Cavil model of Cylon in “Battlestar Galactica,” a role which he has reprised for the new film, “Battlestar Galactica: The Plan.” We chatted with him about just how evil Cavil is, of course, but we also learned about his connection to Neil Young, his longtime friendship with Dennis Hopper, and that, once upon a time, there was actually a chance that a film entitled “Werewolf of Washington” could’ve been a classic.

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Actors, Battlestar Galactica, External Movie DVDs, Interviews, Movie DVDs, Movies, Sci-Fi Movies, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

Blood: The Last Vampire

October 28, 2009 /

Based on the anime of the same name, “Blood: The Last Vampire” isn’t exactly a terrible film, but it’s pretty bad considering it was actually given a theatrical release. Set in the 1970s, the story follows a half-human/half-vampire demon hunter named Saya (South Korean film star Jeon Ji-hyun, now going by the stage name Gianna) as she tracks down the head bloodsucker who murdered her father. When her undercover identity is blown by a military brat (Allison Miller), however, she’s forced to play babysitter as she prepares for the biggest battle of her life. I’m not exactly sure how Miller continues to get work, because although she has a much better understanding of the English language than her Asian co-star, she fumbles over her lines like she’s the one in need of a dialogue coach. That might be forgiven if the special effects weren’t so noticeably low-budget, but between the CG blood that sprays out of every character and the gargoyle-like creatures that the vampires transform into, this film has B-movie written all over it. So why the generous rating? Because in the right hands, this could have been a half-decent movie. The stylish swordfights alone make “Blood: The Last Vampire” more entertaining than it should be, but it’s still only worth seeing if you’re a fan of the anime.

Click to buy “Blood: The Last Vampire”

Action Movies, External Movie DVDs, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies

Triangle

October 22, 2009 /

“Triangle” is one of those films where the concept is more promising than the final product. Told in three 30-minute segments — with each one helmed by a different director — the movie stars Simon Yam, Louis Koo and Sun Hong Lei as a trio of drinking buddies who are down on their luck. But when a mysterious man approaches them one night with information about an ancient treasure buried underneath a government building, the three friends attempt to pull off the perfect heist. Unfortunately, just about everything that can go wrong does, and while that certainly makes for an engaging crime thriller, it’s also the film’s biggest problem. There are simply too many people with their hands in the pot, from the three directors (Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam and Johnnie To) to the six writers credited for the script. As such, the story is confusing as hell at first, testing the audience’s patience with very little background info and numerous subplots. By the time Lam’s second third has run its course, however, the pieces are all in place for a tension-packed final act that To masterfully directs with equal parts action, comedy and drama. “Triangle” isn’t one of their finest films, but fans of the directors will no doubt enjoy watching how it evolves in the hands of some of Hong Kong’s greatest filmmakers.

Click to buy “Triangle”

External Movie DVDs, Movie Dramas, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

October 22, 2009 /

Easily the best of the “Ice Age” movies to date, though there is still room for improvement. The main characters of Manny (Ray Romano), Diego (Denis Leary) and Sid (John Leguizamo) are still bland as waffles, as are “Ice Age 2: The Meltdown” returning characters Ellie (Queen Latifah), Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck). But the “Ice Age” gang gains one huge upgrade in the form of Buck (Simon Pegg) a daredevil weasel who also happens to be completely nuts, which of course wins Buck the instant affections of Crash and Eddie. They even worked dinosaurs into the mix without jumping the shark – they live in a secret world beneath the ground – though it did cause me to wonder how the other animals knew what they were, since they had never seen one before and presumably do not have history books. There is a hilarious tribute to ’90s action movies where Buck tries to save Manny and Diego from a meat-eating plant, and must choose between cutting the red root and the blue root. The Scrat subplot is still the best part of the movie, and is ramped up by a new love interest, the eyelash-batting Scratte. But the A-story is slowly but surely holding its own.

We cannot vouch for the 3D aspect of the movie, but considering the number of thrilling first-person chase sequences contained here, it appears they were quite generous with it. They were also quite generous with the extras, including every Scrat short film and a deluge of featurettes on drawing characters and coming up with the designs for Scratte and the dinosaurs. Why Fox decided not to screen this for us is a mystery, as the movie is quite good.

Click to buy “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”

Movie Comedies, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Video

Easy Virtue

October 16, 2009 /

Easy Virtue

Today we associate multi-talented playwright Noël Coward with witty repartee, a forgiving view of sexual peccadilloes, twenties pop standards by Cole Porter and Coward himself, and the heavy use of cocktails. The play, “Easy Virtue,” about a country household thrown into chaos when the family’s only son impetuously marries an American woman with a shadowy past, however, was a melodrama and the 1928 silent film version was directed by the none other than a young Alfred Hitchcock. 81 years later, Australian director Stephen Elliott (“The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”) and co-writer Sheridan Jobbins have taken a very different tack, modified the plot, and turned the drama into a mostly comedic confection filled with witty repartee, a forgiving view of sexual peccadilloes, the music of Coward, Porter and, er, Tom Jones and Billy Ocean, and the heavy use of champagne and wine — but hardly any martinis.

Elliott does a good enough job finding the material’s comedic possibilities, but his style doesn’t quite fit and he gets into trouble when he indulges in some annoying Baz Luhrmann-esque musical/stylistic flourishes. Still, the main problem here is that, while Colin Firth as the family’s alienated patriarch and Kristin Scott Thomas as the repressed mother do first rate work, and Ben Barnes (a.k.a. “Prince Caspian”) is able as the young husband, Jessica Biel, in the crucial role of the extremely non-ugly American, barely registers. Her colorless performance tips the film over the edge of being an enjoyable diversion and into mediocrity.

Click to buy “Easy Virtue”

Actors, Actresses, External Movie DVDs, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies, Reviews

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