DVD and HD DVD reviews

Not to be mixed-up with Saving Private Ryan, this juvenile comedy is yet another in a growing lean of spoiled movies to come out in recent weeks. It’s a shame, because upon viewing the trailer, I thought the movie looked pretty funny.

In Deliverance Silverman, Steve Zahn and Jack Dim play buddies who adjudicate to save their fellow pal (American Pie’s Jason Biggs) from the immorality clutches of his young girlfriend Amanda Peet. It seems that Peet is the ultimate puppetmaster, and enjoys running Biggs’ life.

Saving Silverman comes across as an improvised mess, that is just distressingly unfunny. The screenplay (if there is one) lacks focus, cohesion, and well-nigh importantly, humour. It’s likewise pretty misogynistic. Most of the female characters in this picture are either portrayed as nasty vixens or dimwitted morons. Peet (a beauty to lay eyes on) runs around in slinky outfits playacting like a bitch for no patent reason. Which is likewise bad because she’s wagerer than this (see her inspired comedic turn in The Unhurt Nine Yards), and it’s hard to figure out why she would want to do this food waste. First Whipped, now this. For the love of God, Peet’s agent should pull her head tabu and get this actress some better roles.

Zahn shows ginger and frenzied energy, but this is simply a variation of things we’ve already seen him do before. This is by all odds a step back for the hilarious Black world Health Organization was so good in High Fidelity and Jesus’ Son. Although this lacklustre film is hardly his fault, he should feature thought twice about doing it.

Biggs is on the biggest of down spirals. I’m not the biggest American Pie fan, but it’s Citizen Kane compared to Loser and this up-to-the-minute opus. Preservation Silverman does have one bright spot. The presence of R. Lee Ermey (the kick ass Marine in Full Metal Jacket). He gives this painting a much needed encourage. Finally, I should cite that Neil Diamond of all hoi polloi, shows up in a cameo. I can only guess he’s trying to make up for his universally panned performance in The Idle words Singer.

Saving Silverman was directed by ex-actor Dennis Dugan (The Howling), and he’s no slouch in the way of life of funniness having directed Happy Gilmore and Heavy Daddy. Unluckily, no sum of talent could save Saving Silverman, perhaps the worst of the recent parade of sub-mediocre films.

This watch up to the 2003 comedy approximately the expansive nuclear class of a down home minded football game coach finds the fellowship this time spending 1 last summer at a traditional lake haunt before the kids are all married and off upon lives of their possess. The inspired pairing of Steve Martin and Bonny Hunt as Tom and Kate Baker that made the original a marginally bearable celluloid experience is completely gaunt by director/hack Adam Shankman ( a "Shankman" should become a synonym for a godawful comedy - see Bringing Down the House, The Pacifier). A "Shankman" must contain at least one adult being vomited or urinated upon, asset being bitten in the crotch and/or humped by a frump - and several incidents of aforementioned adults slipping tripping flipping, fumbling stumbling bumbling and then landing on their head in a puddle of some kind of nasty gook. If a Shankman can be empirically identified, and then perhaps one day they can be outlawed. By the way Shankman did not send the original film.

Before leaving for the lake Tom and Kate are keeping their fingers crossed that an old high school touch of Tom’s (Jimmy Murtaugh) doesn’t by some opportunity show up at the lake this particular week. Hotheaded competitions between the families and old wounds being open always resultant role when both families befall to show up at the same time. Ah but they laugh it off, "come on - what are the odds? After all it’s been a few geezerhood since they’ve been there themselves" Naturally, he will be in that respect, what genial of Shankman would it be if he weren’t? Murtaugh is played unconvincingly by Eugene Levy world Health Organization is rude and arch without existence the least bit funny. Which makes it deuce Shankman’s in a course for the usually steady-going SCTV alum. (If we’re including "The Man" and presumptuous that his work in the straight-to-video Band Camp is no great shakes,) Not only is Levy’s Jimmy Murtaugh filthy rich, and clean a new trophy married woman on his arm in the person of Carmen Electra, just he’s purchased the palatial home just across the lake from the ramshackle shack where the Bakers traditionally stay put.

To add another element of conflict, there is a Romeo and Juliet scenario formation up betwixt one of the Baker girls - 12 yr old Sarah (Alyson Stoner) and a Murtaugh male child of the same age. I can’t really flaw all of these plot machinations, simply their execution has Shankman written all over them. The first thing to happen that really sticks in Martin’s craw is that his children actually like the Murtaugh kids, mainly because their place is loaded with toys. So alternatively of having this idyllic chance to bond with his older children 1 last time, they’re far more interested in head off to the other side of the lake where they can enjoy all the modern sidereal day amenities they are supposed to be getting off from. Of the tierce writers wHO worked on the original, only one is back for the sequel, and from what one would guess he wasn’t the funniest of the unchanging. The dialog is scarce lame and lackluster to the head where it’s not often clear what exactly is the cause of all the tenseness between Steve Martin and Levy en masse - aside from a thinly veiled envy of financial success.

I will give Steve Martin credit for a decent campaign - regular though most of what I mat was ruth for such a great comic doer trapped in this rickety vehicle chock full of cheap gags and no genuine drollery. Bonnie Hunting fares even better. The fact that her character is much less essential to the film allows her to stay extinct of the fray and just sort of survive in her own world. To be fair, in that location are some credible subplots about the children coping with puberty and few bright muscae volitantes of existent humor blended in with the bromide. Still Shankman sees to it that these few moments of quality are kept to a lower limit and that the vast majority of what transpires consists of tired slapstick stunts. I have seen too many jokes revolving around middle aged workforce trying to impress their children. Eugene Levy beatniks this equus caballus to death with his character and is wounding up so tight, that he loses any chance of approaching off as a veridical human beingness. Ironically, Carmen Electra comes off as the to the highest degree natural ostensible character among the adults. The competition at the end of the film only cements it as a vociferous rip sour of both The Great Outdoors and Summer Renting, two John Candy films that ar far superior. Still my biggest concern with the film was the health of Hillary Duff - they required to hold her down and force feed her some white potato salad, because she’s literally turning into a skeleton. Good ole Hollywood.

Where you been hiding this guy? I very a great deal enjoyed his observations. Though I think a C- is a bit generous. Perhaps it was just the fact that I was forced into beholding the picture show because of my kids, rather than actually wanting to see it. But compared to the original it was just homely terrible. I think a good solid D is about as high as I would be willing to go. Outlaw Shankman!

Any time Hollywood makes a movie that the whole mob can go and delight, whether or not it’s citizen kane, I still think it should be supported, which I did with my brood of

Action Kung Fu films are primarily a genre that should be judged on other terms: Taradiddle (to at least to some extent), buildup ( to heighten expectations for the final battle), stunts (the more grievous the better), choreography (the fighting mustiness be cool to look at) and the climax ( the baddie must be disposed of in a manner that will satisfactorily settle things once and for all, with maybe enough room for a sequel). This film, unfortunately makes the grade only in buildup and a few stunts.

War, a glorified by the numbers tale of a thieve (as usual hard nosed Jason Statham) out for revenge against an Asian hit valet (a unemotional person Jet Lighthorse Harry Lee)in the midst of a crew war. The film takes advantage of a great gritty scene - the streets and nightlife of San Francisco. But all but ruins it with a caboodle of concern inspiring jump cut editing and cinematography. The director as well feels the need to edit so quickly that we don’t get time to really take in anything beyond the most basic patch points. In other words this could be a much better film, simply from what we john manage to make out it’s precisely mediocre

The real disappointments here lie with the fact the you don’t fix much of a payoff in the end. Our two arch nemeses simply collide in the end and it lasts for only one sub-par minute. Unfortunately we spend the bulk of the motion picture wasting time with passing characters trying to give insight into some kind of cartoonish version of a crime world that does zero to bring forward the plot of ground. We get unnecessary flashbacks, boring dialogue and a few bare-breasted women for the manimal in us. And even with some well paced chase sequences you real don’t get enough bang for your buck in the end. If you’re going to make a paint by the book of Numbers Kung Fu Actioner, you’ve got to color the numbers, don’t expect the audience to paint them for you.

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Action Kung Fu films are primarily a genre that should be judged on other terms: Taradiddle (to at least to some extent), buildup ( to heighten expectations for the final battle), stunts (the more grievous the better), choreography (the fighting mustiness be cool to look at) and the climax ( the baddie must be disposed of in a manner that will satisfactorily settle things once and for all, with maybe enough room for a sequel). This film, unfortunately makes the grade only in buildup and a few stunts.

War, a glorified by the numbers tale of a thieve (as usual hard nosed Jason Statham) out for revenge against an Asian hit valet (a unemotional person Jet Lighthorse Harry Lee)in the midst of a crew war. The film takes advantage of a great gritty scene - the streets and nightlife of San Francisco. But all but ruins it with a caboodle of concern inspiring jump cut editing and cinematography. The director as well feels the need to edit so quickly that we don’t get time to really take in anything beyond the most basic patch points. In other words this could be a much better film, simply from what we john manage to make out it’s precisely mediocre

The real disappointments here lie with the fact the you don’t fix much of a payoff in the end. Our two arch nemeses simply collide in the end and it lasts for only one sub-par minute. Unfortunately we spend the bulk of the motion picture wasting time with passing characters trying to give insight into some kind of cartoonish version of a crime world that does zero to bring forward the plot of ground. We get unnecessary flashbacks, boring dialogue and a few bare-breasted women for the manimal in us. And even with some well paced chase sequences you real don’t get enough bang for your buck in the end. If you’re going to make a paint by the book of Numbers Kung Fu Actioner, you’ve got to color the numbers, don’t expect the audience to paint them for you.

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You know, it’s bad enough when studios feel compelled to give besides much away in a coming attractive force trailer, but then they have to go and make a film-maker edit out their cinema to the point where it’s menses is completely interrupted. Such is the case with All the Pretty Horses, the new film from Billy Bobsled Thornton.

In All the Pretty Horses, Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting) and Henry Seth Thomas (E.T.) play a couple of cowboy buddies circa the late 1940’s. Growing disenchanted with their lives in Texas, they decide to head out to Mexico, to receive the large ranch life. During their lengthy horse ride, they meet up with danton True Young Lucas Fatal (Sling Leaf blade), a gun for hire with a plethora of secrets. Upon arriving in Mexico, they find work at a ranch where Damon falls for the ranch owner’s daughter (played by Penelope Cruz). Earlier long, Damon and Dylan Thomas find themselves fighting for their lives when they are thrown in clink for a crime they may or may not have committed.

Obviously, there is a lot passing on in this image. Far likewise much, in fact, to make an under 2 hour moving picture work alone. Therein lies the trouble. Thornton has been forced to shorten so much from this film that it undermines the speech rhythm of the picture. True, Thornton does a masterful job with his actors. This flick is cast to perfection, and the actors make perfect chemistry. Thornton too has a true bent for this material. He seems to have a lot of insight into the agency of the cowboy and really knows how to shoot the scenery. Some of the film reminded me of Robert Redford’s The Cavalry Whisperer, only here, William Thornton is dealing with a richer story. The screenplay by Teddy boy Tally (Silence of the Lambs) is alive with realistic dialog featuring genuine cowboy patois and a sort of old fashioned western feel.

Damon and Thomas are lively and really appear to capture the flavor of their characters, as does a shining Black. Penelope Cruz is a beauty, but it seems that much of her storyline was cut and that hurts the celluloid tremendously. It’s hard to really see the love between these star crossed lovers because Thornton has been forced to edit out so much of the picture, that many things seem rushed and underdeveloped.

Long larger-than-life films pot work. Some of our greatest films of all time ar lengthy. It’s a shame that a studio would allow Kevin Costner to make the lame Postman. Sure, the guy proved himself with Dances With Wolves merely didn’t Thornton do the same with Sling Blade?

All the Pretty Horses is a beautiful film. It’s comfortably acted, comfortably photographed, comfortably written (what we have of it anyway), and well scored by country musician Madonna Stuart. I’m giving half a adept to the studio for not lease Thornton have his cut, I’m giving three and a half stars to what this film is, and I’m giving four and a half stars to what All the Pretty Horses should have been; a big, rousing, traditional western. The kind we don’t see anymore. Hopefully, we’ll get the real rendering on Videodisc!

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You know, it’s bad enough when studios feel compelled to give besides much away in a coming attractive force trailer, but then they have to go and make a film-maker edit out their cinema to the point where it’s menses is completely interrupted. Such is the case with All the Pretty Horses, the new film from Billy Bobsled Thornton.

In All the Pretty Horses, Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting) and Henry Seth Thomas (E.T.) play a couple of cowboy buddies circa the late 1940’s. Growing disenchanted with their lives in Texas, they decide to head out to Mexico, to receive the large ranch life. During their lengthy horse ride, they meet up with danton True Young Lucas Fatal (Sling Leaf blade), a gun for hire with a plethora of secrets. Upon arriving in Mexico, they find work at a ranch where Damon falls for the ranch owner’s daughter (played by Penelope Cruz). Earlier long, Damon and Dylan Thomas find themselves fighting for their lives when they are thrown in clink for a crime they may or may not have committed.

Obviously, there is a lot passing on in this image. Far likewise much, in fact, to make an under 2 hour moving picture work alone. Therein lies the trouble. Thornton has been forced to shorten so much from this film that it undermines the speech rhythm of the picture. True, Thornton does a masterful job with his actors. This flick is cast to perfection, and the actors make perfect chemistry. Thornton too has a true bent for this material. He seems to have a lot of insight into the agency of the cowboy and really knows how to shoot the scenery. Some of the film reminded me of Robert Redford’s The Cavalry Whisperer, only here, William Thornton is dealing with a richer story. The screenplay by Teddy boy Tally (Silence of the Lambs) is alive with realistic dialog featuring genuine cowboy patois and a sort of old fashioned western feel.

Damon and Thomas are lively and really appear to capture the flavor of their characters, as does a shining Black. Penelope Cruz is a beauty, but it seems that much of her storyline was cut and that hurts the celluloid tremendously. It’s hard to really see the love between these star crossed lovers because Thornton has been forced to edit out so much of the picture, that many things seem rushed and underdeveloped.

Long larger-than-life films pot work. Some of our greatest films of all time ar lengthy. It’s a shame that a studio would allow Kevin Costner to make the lame Postman. Sure, the guy proved himself with Dances With Wolves merely didn’t Thornton do the same with Sling Blade?

All the Pretty Horses is a beautiful film. It’s comfortably acted, comfortably photographed, comfortably written (what we have of it anyway), and well scored by country musician Madonna Stuart. I’m giving half a adept to the studio for not lease Thornton have his cut, I’m giving three and a half stars to what this film is, and I’m giving four and a half stars to what All the Pretty Horses should have been; a big, rousing, traditional western. The kind we don’t see anymore. Hopefully, we’ll get the real rendering on Videodisc!

Download free ringtones on our site!

Not long ago, legendary film-maker Allen Smithee retired. Thankfully, his cousin Lowell Thomas Lee will carry on his good name. If the modern film Supernova is whatsoever indication, Henry Lee is in for a long and fruitful calling.

Supernova is an improbably mesmerizing sci-fi journey that had me in awe. More intellectual than 2001, more adventuresome than Star Wars, and far more thrilling than Alien. And by the way. But KIDDING!

Supernova is a meandering, disjointed mess with big output values and even bigger actors. Obviously, Lee took over the project afterwards veteran Bruno Walter Hill bailed.

Supernova tells the story of a space gang that receives a distress signal from another vessel. While investigating the well-nigh deserted send, they regain an injured passenger and a strange mystical eyeball. Before long, it is discovered that the injured passenger has a hidden agenda, at which point all scheol breaks loose. At least that’s what it says in the ad.

Supernova really doesn’t make whatsoever sense. It’s as if large chunks of the plot make been sucked into a black hole–and what corpse pretty much sucks. Surprisingly, the film features such heavyweight actors as; Angela Bassett, Henry M. Robert Forster, Lou Diamond Phillips, and James II Spader, wHO actually gives a strong performance in a unthankful role.

In Thomas Lee’s defense, this is his first propose and he came aboard right in the eye of production. Better fortune next time Mr. Lee Yuen Kam. You’re gonna need it.

Leonard Cohen has always remained something of an enigma. Even if you haven’t heard of him, it’s likely that you’ve hummed along to a few of his songs in your day. I’m Your Human is an insightful biopic and concert film that serves as a lovely introduction for those world Health Organization aren’t as familiar with the man as they should be and a terrific tribute for those who ar. Cohen speaks candidly of his yesteryear, his decision to get a songster (along with his fascinating philosophy about what it is to be a songwriter) his loves, his daughter and a host of other fascinating things. What a serious handle this is, to catch a glimpse into the mind of this honey man, and to listen him talk over a broad range of topics with his singular intelligence and charm.

The documentary part is intercut with mesmeric concert footage, featuring a number of his gifted contemporaries offering their interpretations of his seminal work. The performers are perfectly suited to the labor and admit the likes of Rufus Wainwright and his bright sister Martha, as intimately as their venerable mother and auntie The McGarrigle Sisters, Nick Cave, Beth Orton, Mark Anthony from Antony and the Johnsons, Jarvis Cocker and Linda and Teddy Homer A. Thompson. The musical portion was inspiring to say the least, but I’d have to aver my deary came from that unknown androgynous creature Antony, his and the last performance where Dutch Leonard himself croons the title song with a little back up outfit known as U2.

Cohen was surprisingly clear about his infamous assignation with Janice Joplin, and his tea and oranges with the real "Suzanne." Among the many things I knowing during the course of the film is why he has always chosen to wear out suits, and that his songs total about from a yeoman like mould ethic much more so than momentary inspiration. In carefully worded and paced conversational speech he offers his significative anecdotes about his life freely. After deciding to pursue a life as a ballad maker he speaks of the process as a job with regular hours that he observes just like any other. The quantity of time he oft takes to perfect a song is legendary. Each word is tirelessly scrutinized and when he’s finished, as U2’s the Edge described it, "it’s like a man come down from the mountaintop with tablets of harlan Fiske Stone."

Through it all Cohen remains humble and self-deprecatory, cautious and a little bit sly - but for a gentleman who has always shied away from the calcium light and has been out of the public eye for decades this intimate and illuminating glimpse into the life of one of the most fearlessly brilliant manpower to ever so put parole to tune, is a rare thing.

Mr. Van Wyck Brooks attempts to put a fresh spin on the serial killer genre, merely mostly serves up a bowl of soggy leftovers. While the way the film taps into the mind of a psychopath is apt, it has been done before (Ron Howard used a similar technique to enter the mind of John Ogden Nash in A Beautiful Mind). Still, this uneven, overstuffed movie does have entertainment value.

In Mr. Brooks, Kevin Costner is the title fibre, a reputable working form gent with a deep, dark secret. It seems that this respected menage man has something of a surprising hobby - he likes to hit people. He isn’t a killer for hire or anything like that. No, Mr. Van Wyck Brooks needs to kill to feel animated. It’s more than simple recreation - it’s an addiction.

Brooks is able to kick his awful habit cold turkey, just after several months on the big Dipper, his alter ego (played by a wonderfully eccentric William Bruise) attempts to nudge him back into his wacking ways. Reluctantly, Brooks agrees to take out some other unsuspecting victim, with the strict understanding that it is to be his last. Alas, a inept misstep during the title, threatens to destroy Mr. Brooks’ life for good. This particular misstep all but forces the lone hand to squad up with Mr. Captain John Smith (played by slacker comedian Dane Cook), a seamy photographer with a to the highest degree unusual request. Adding to the already thickened plot is a game of cat and mouse between Mr. Van Wyck Brooks and Spencer Tracy Altwood (played by Demi Moore), a police ship’s officer with some serious personal issues of her have.

Mr. Brooks starts cancelled interestingly sufficiency. The way the celluloid delves into the domestic life of this grim individual is interesting, and Costner is able to convey empathy. We never really hate this cat even though he’s fabulously disturbed and in desperate need of professional assist. The way director Bruce A. Evans gets inside this guy’s head is also interesting. Whenever Mr. Brooks is experiencing a psychotic bankrupt, it is manifest in the form of William Hurt. World Health Organization better to play the evil side of Kevin Costner than one of the greatest eccentric thespians of our time?

That Mr. Brooks really falls apart as a motion-picture show, can be blamed in large function on the convoluted morass of the screenplay. Kind of than simply focusing on Brooks’ unwellness, this film opts to go into far too many zany directions. There’s the Dane Cook scenario which is silly and utterly implausible. There’s the completely tiresome and unneeded sub plot of ground with Demi Moore and all her insignificant problems. And lastly, there’s a bizarre bit of business with Mr. Brooks’ college bound daughter that suggests perhaps the apple may not have fallen whatsoever too far from the tree. Spell these assorted plot duds ultimately cross, they experience more gimmicky than organic. What’s more, things feel far to a fault convienently pat.

Kevin Costner has ne’er been one of my favorite actors. I prefer Cosnter the director (with the exception of The Postman) to Costner the actor. As a performer, he picks great projects to be sure, merely his wearisome, mundane line delivery has always fazed me. There are exceptions. He has been rattling in a few stand out performances (see Silverado or Tin Cup), and it’s difficult to not get teary-eyed eyed when he plays catch with dear old dead dada at the end of Field of Dreams, simply ultimately, Costner is more than of a personality than an doer. With Mr. Brooks, he’s found a happy medium. He isn’t exactly brimfull with life here, but the thing is, his personality fits the quality. Mr. Brooks is a blase individual so it works.

William Hurt is spellbinding and he brings undeniable tension to the movie. This guy wants to be the dominant force in Mr. Brooks’ psyche and when Hurt is pushing buttons, the movie truly comes alive. Dane Cook is…Dane Cook. Zero more, nil less. Accuracy be told, I like this guy wire and hoped for more than out of him. Sadly, there’s no real depth here. I wasn’t fazed by his character’s want of motivation, I just never saw anything beyond Cook in a function. Having aforesaid that, Cook’s Mr. Smith is an absolute book of Revelation when curvaceous up against Demi Moore’s bland Tracy Altwood. I never bought into her tough as nails persona at all, and in fact, I found this turn so boring, that I was constantly rooting for Brooks to goal her piteous existence. Granted, it’s not entirely fair to find fault Moore. This character simply should feature been omitted from the screenplay only.

Mr. Van Wyck Brooks ends interestingly enough. During the last moments, in that location is a cheap shot scare, but what follows suggests that maybe we haven’t seen the end of this peculiar private, but more than importantly, we haven’t seen the last of his dark side. If Mr. Brooks returns, let’s hope the film maker’s focus on the title fiber rather than the uninteresting people about him.

First things first. I adore Benni Street. Always have and always will. Whenever it’s on I try to watch it with my kids. It’s just a special show and in a misanthropic world, it’s a pleasant alternative to the legion other shows even children’s programming has to offer.

Through the years, Sesame Street has grown into a world wide phenomenon and is viewed in several other countries. The new documental The Domain According to Sesame Street is a fascinating geographic expedition into the lives of the originative teams that alter this show and it’s characters to represent the unique qualities of the various countries it now airs in.

Included in this insightful expose is a piece on the South African rendering of the show which stirred up quite a bit of controversy when they introduced Kami, an HIV positive muppet. Nigh immediately, deranged leftist politicians in the U.S. vented their disgust at the very idea that a TV. show would go in such a direction, and they did so without really looking at the true nature of the storyline. Thankfully, there were many U.S. figures (including Boche Falwell of all people) who did come to the show’s defense. I needn’t cue anyone that the acquired immune deficiency syndrome epidemic has had a huge encroachment there and, as sad as it may be, children in that country have to deal with it as an every day fact of life. Sesame Street has dealt with this subject subject in a sensitive manner. There’s goose egg exploitative or demeaning more or less it. Simply then that’s always been Sesame Streets main agendum. To civilize and to embrace.

The segment I was to the highest degree moved by in the film features the Sesamum indicum Street team courageously attempting to bring together Albanians and Serbs (who are currently at war) so that they might combine the children of iI struggling citizenry. Watching this portion of the pic unfold is both uncomfortable and fabulously hopeful as a diminished group of Serbs and Albanians work together to create this show for their children as their respective tribes engage in bitter and deadly racial conflict. Over again, this scenario displays in heartfelt fashion just what kind of show Sesame Street is. In a world where many of our lester Willis Young art taught to hate, Sesame Street’s goal is to spread messages of love and unity. The World According to Benne Street isn’t anything groundbreaking in price of documentary film qualification, but quite frankly, it doesn’t motivation to be. The film’s subject speaks for itself. Sesame Street is a wonderful show and continues to strain to make the reality a better place. It all starts with the children, and even though it may sound ideal and even a trivial naive, this movie, and more importantly the show that it documents, proves with flying colors that even a handful of people in a modest room can make a world of difference.