for home viewing
[Previous Week] | 18 December 2007 | [Next Week]
(click poster to purchase)
Movie Review of Balls of Fury (2007) [PG-13] -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $11.00
Review-lite: From the comedy minds of the Reno 911! guys Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon comes a new comedy patterned after the Kung Fu films of old supplanting much of the martial arts action with a mad skillz ping pong. Christopher Walken plays the evil villain, Mr. Feng, responsible for the death of USA Olympic ping pong hopeful Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) and now he's been recruited by the FBI to help them catch Feng by planting Randy in Feng's super secret private world ping pong competition. What Randy doesn't know is that it's a real celebrity death match. The film is surprising better and exceeded expectations than either the trailer or the previous year's outing by this comedy team, Reno 911!: Miami, would have enabled predictions. By far, neither the best comedy nor the worst of the summer of 2007, it has some good parts and some redundant. (click for full details and complete review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
Balls Of Fury [DVD](2007) DVD
Balls Of Fury (Widescreen Version) [DVD](2007) DVD
(click poster to purchase)
Movie Review of Once (2007) [R] -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $12.00
Review-lite: Irish singer songwriter and national treasure Glen Hansard plays Guy and Czech singer songwriter, Markéta Irglová, plays Girl in what amounts to a mock rockumentary about a guy who, in a week's time, of meeting a girl gets from her an infusion of lyrics, music, and confidence to professionally record his music and try to make it big by leaving home and going to London. Heralded as a modern-day "Romeo and Juliet" the film actually does not fit that description. The music is really what this film is about, and when it's good and not repetitive, the film soars, and when it's repetitive or there's too much focus on the rather mundane lives of the characters, it sinks. (click for full details and complete review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
Once [DVD](2006) DVD
(click poster to purchase)
Movie Review of Stardust (2007) [PG-13] -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $14.25Review-lite: Stardust, the wondrously imaginative new fairy tale film based on Neil Gaiman's novel and directed by Matthew Vaughn from his screenplay co-written by Jane Goldman, is a fantastical film somewhat out of place sandwiched between the testosterone blockbuster spectacles of July and the dramatic Oscar®-contending independent films of September. With enchanting characters and myth, Stardust puts some new spins on familiar yarns. Full of surprises, mystery, intrigue, and twists, Stardust rivals and, arguably, streaks past the other great fantasy film of 2007, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. When it comes to imagination and story, Stardust is a nearly perfect fantasy film with both comedy and heart. The special effects are grand, the costumes and sets lively and magnificent, the writing and directing well paced and pitched, and the acting is simply irresistible. If you enjoy fantasy films and a grand love story, you'll love this movie. (click for full details and complete review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
Stardust [DVD](2007) DVD
Stardust (Widescreen Version) [DVD](2007) DVD
(click poster to purchase)Movie Review of The Simpsons (2007) [PG-13] -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $12.75
Review-lite: Arguably, one of the obvious problems with the film is that they waited too long to make a "Simpsons" movie. The edge has dulled over time, and the former first family of tv social satire has been upstaged by "South Park" etc. Nonetheless, The Simpsons Movie is still a lot of fun, hilarious, full of good satire even if the main focus has been rendered nearly passé. This story finally forces Homer to grow up, and this is long, long overdue. It's a good film, but not quite the overall event probably most people were expecting. (click for full details and complete review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
The Simpsons Movie [Blu-ray](2007)
The Simpsons Movie [DVD](2007) DVD
The Simpsons Movie (Widescreen Version) [DVD](2007) DVD
(click poster to purchase)
Movie Review of Underdog (2007) [PG] -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $10.00
Review-lite: Disney's Underdog harkens back to a simpler time in the studio's history when these types of movies were the mainstay: relatively wholesome, simple in values, the kind of family film you can go to without worrying there will be unnecessary foul language, violence, or adult themes. Director Frederik Du Chau paces the film to capture a kid's attention span. The actors, except Alex Neuberger, adopt two-dimensional cartoon character personas. Peter Dinklage isn't half as menacing as the cartoon version of Barsinister, and James Belushi seems lifeless most of the film. As far as an end-of-summer kids movie, Underdog delivers on most levels. One has to wonder, though, if they might not have done better by making a new animated version, sticking more to the original storylines, and making more of an event picture rather than what turns out looking more like a slightly souped-up Disney® Channel presentation. (click for full details and complete review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
Underdog [Blu-ray](2007)
Underdog [DVD](2007) DVD
Related Underdog Titles
The Ultimate Underdog Collection, Vol. 1: Perils Of Sweet Polly [DVD] DVD
The Ultimate Underdog Collection, Vol. 2: Simon Says...Melt! [DVD] DVD
The Ultimate Underdog Collection, Vol. 3: Riff Raff's Greatest Hits [DVD] DVD
The Ultimate Underdog Collection [DVD] DVD
(click poster to purchase)
Illegal Tender (2007) [R] 108 minutes -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $11.25
Review-lite: Despite some glimpses of promise and a very good performance from Wanda De Jesus as Millie DeLeon, Franc. Reyes's Illegal Tender, needed a bit more work to make it a memorable and good film. Part of the problem was inconsistent character development in the pivotal character of Wilson DeLeon Jr. (Rick Gonzalez) which simply didn't add up well. The brazen tough guy with a wealthy mom and near Ivy League pedigree didn't jive. False tension and suspense didn't help the plodding and confusing parts of the plot. (click for full details and complete review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
Illegal Tender [DVD](2007) DVD
(click poster to purchase)
The Last Legion (2007) [PG-13] -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $12.00
Review-lite: While director Doug Lefler has not made a film destined to join the ranks of The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the area of fantasy nor Gladiator nor Braveheart in the area of ancient war battles; and, while The Last Legion might have made a more brilliant Australian mini-series instead of this feature, it entertains sufficiently to warrant a screening at early matinee prices. (click for full details and complete review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
The Last Legion [DVD](2007) DVD
(click poster to purchase)
Halloween (2007) [R] -- W.I.P. Scale™ Rating: $3.25
Review-lite: Rob Zombie's reboot of the Halloween franchise with this, the 9th movie in the series, is very well made. The story, however, has quite a few holes or incongruities to pass muster. Meanwhile, really, the story has been beaten to death, if not by the eight previous films, then by the countless clones and spoofs they spawned. While this film focuses more on the Michael Meyers character, we are still left with precious little knowledge of what makes him tick. The main theme of the film is watching him stealth around killing people with vigor. Hmm? Is that a very good story? Unfortunately, arguing that films of this genre are border line pointless falls on deaf ears of the people that funnel millions into their coffers, and these are the only people that go to see these films in the first place. (click for full details and complete review)
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
Halloween [DVD](2007) DVD
Halloween (Unrated Director's Cut) [DVD](2007) DVD
(click poster to purchase)
Hatchet (2007) [R]
Purchase from our Premier Partner moviesunlimited.com:
Hatchet [DVD](2006) DVD
Move over Michael, Jason and Freddy--here comes Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder)! This back-from-the-dead psycho killer stalks attractive, young tourists who invade his Louisiana backwoods home during Mardi Gras. Writer/director Adam Green's humorous shocker pays tribute to the "slasher" genre with its inclusion of gratuitous nudity and gory special effects. Joel Moore, Mercedes McNab co-star; includes cameos by Robert Englund, Tony Todd. 83 min. Soundtrack: English; audio commentary by Green, more; featurettes; "making of" documentary; outtakes; theatrical trailer.
No comments:
Post a Comment