for home viewing
[Previous Week] | 31 July 2007 | [Next Week]
(click poster to purchase)
Firehouse Dog (2007) [PG] -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $12.50
Review-lite: With a generous running time of 111 minutes, the story of the Firehouse Dog is given ample time to develop and the artists involved time to endear themselves. The net result is a far more expansive and thoughtful film with good humor, good drama, and puppy love. Beginning with the assumed death by falling of the famed star of such mock films as Jurassic Bark, Rexx (the dog), the film follows the life of Rexx turned Dewey who is eventually recovered, covered in stinky rotten tomatoes from the truck that saved his life upon landing, by the son of the newly appointed fire chief of the Dog Patch Fire Station. Director Todd Holland handles the film exceptionally well, packing the film with a lot of punch. Josh Hutcherson is emerging as a fine young acting force for his generation, and the dogs in the film did an amazing job. (click for full details and complete review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
Firehouse Dog [DVD](2007)
Firehouse Dog (Widescreen Version) [DVD](2007)
(click poster to purchase)
Roving Mars (2006) [G] -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $10.00
Review-lite: Roving Mars is basically one big advertisement for NASA engineers. Our nation is in crisis when it comes to the number of scientists we are educating in the USA. Schools are doing a terrible job with science education—not that the teachers aren’t trying—with enormous class sizes, small budgets, and some teachers without access and support to get the proper training to do the job they really want to be able to do well. It is difficult to imagine how NASA will survive if the University of Illinois, for example, is graduating fewer engineering and physics majors each year than the year before leading to dwindling numbers. Hence, we get Roving Mars in IMAX® no less. This movie tells the tale of the creation of Spirit and Opportunity, two rovers designed to seek out proof of the existence of water on Mars, and their journey from drawing board to landing on the Red Planet. Honestly, this film is fun and the recreated footage a rush of pure adrenalin. I enjoyed it, and I think it might actually be able to convince some kids to consider careers in science to be a part of one of these exhilarating experiences like launching a probe to a distant planet. My only qualm was that I really didn’t think the movie took very much advantage of the IMAX® technology to deliver really powerful, huge, compelling sights and sounds. In that area, it was a bit run of the mill. Still, the movie is worth tracking down. You will find yourself cheering on the rocket scientists and the little rover robots as if they were human beings (jab at scientists intended given that I am a bio chem double major myself). The movie is inspirational in showing the potential for human innovation, invention, inspiration, and intelligence. (click for full review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
Roving Mars [Blu-ray](2006)
Roving Mars [DVD](2006)
(click poster to purchase)
Starter for Ten (2007) [PG-13] -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $9.50
Review-lite: James McAvoy plays a Bristol College student who tries out for the quiz team but doesn't make the team by a small margin which he willingly surrenders to Alice (Alice Eve) who takes his spot. Later, as he has success in the team, the rest of his life falls apart into chaos as he seems torn between his old life, his new life, and two girls. Lacking the technical spectrum of other great English films, this one seems a bit better than a made for tv film yet hardly of the caliber of films to which we've grown accustomed. While the central character does face some challenges and obstacles in his life, not of it qualifies as major motion picture worthy. The great star, James McAvoy cannot help but disappoint on the heels of his amazing role in The Last King of Scotland. (click for full details and complete review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
Starter For 10 [DVD](2006)
(click poster to purchase)
300 (2007) [R] -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $12.00
Review-lite: Frank Miller, the graphic novelist behind Sin City takes a decidedly different turn with a similar style in his historically spirited look at the famous battle of Battle of Thermopylae now the startling film 300 directed by Zach Snyder. The most amazing thing about the film is how it looks and feels--not dissimilar in some ways to the feeling of Sin City. For 300, that means a sunset glow for most of the sky with striking figures of Spartans and Persian soldiers battling in fluid motions with time frozen stops in the middle. The effect is visually breathtaking, though admittedly, historically inaccurate. Gerard Butler portrays the Spartan King, Leonidas, phenomenally while his archenemy, King Xerxes, does not fare as well under the guise of Rodrigo Santoro. The dialogue, acting, and storyline are nowhere nearly in the same league as the cinematic achievement resulting in a somewhat disappointing film overall. (click for full review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
300 [Blu-ray](2007)
300 (Widescreen Version) [DVD](2007)
300 (Special Edition) [DVD](2007)
300 [DVD](2007)
Related Films
The 300 Spartans [DVD](1962)
Epic fight scenes highlight this historical actioner, set in 5th-century B.C. Greece, which depicts the heroic doomed stand of a band of fierce Spartan warriors against overwhelming Persian forces during the Battle of Thermopylae. Richard Egan, Ralph Richardson, Barry Coe, and Diane Baker star. AKA: "Lion of Sparta." 108 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital stereo, Dolby Digital mono, Spanish Dolby Digital mono.
Last Stand Of The 300 [DVD](2007)
Originally airing on the History Channel, this documentary examines the real-life conflict hat inspired the graphic novel and film "300." Through newly produced re-enactments that combine live actors with digital animation and virtual sets, the truth about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.--in which 300 Spartan warriors led by the fearless King Leonidas stood their ground against seemingly countless Persian foes--is revealed. 91 min. Soundtrack: English.
(click poster to purchase)
Hot Fuzz (2007) [R] -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $12.50
Review-lite: A unique new brand of British comedy crosses the pond on the heels of the success of Shaun of the Dead and the talents of writer / director Edgar Wright and writer / actor Simon Pegg in the form of Hot Fuzz, a comedic murder mystery set in a small, English hamlet. The title refers to the police as in the rural police department where Sergeant Nicholas Angle (Simon Pegg) is relocated after his London assignment is burning him out. Angel arrives in the ordinary town to find the Stepford-style community may not be all that idyllic. His assigned partner is Danny (Nick Frost), a local beat cop with a penchant for sweets, pints, and American movies. The plot twist, unfortunately, has been recycled a few times already this year decreasing the novelty a bit. Nonetheless, Hot Fuzz is a fun and outlandish action film with great acting, devilish plot, and good humor. (click for full review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
Hot Fuzz [DVD](2007)
Hot Fuzz (Widescreen Version) [DVD](2007)
No comments:
Post a Comment