05/19/08
Will Ferrell looks an awful lot like
Bill Walton, so it only made sense for him to appear in a basketball movie sooner or later. Fortunately for moviegoers (and for Ferrell's comedic tendencies), that basketball debut came in the form of Semi-Pro, a hilarious tale about a struggling fictional franchise during the ABA's final season. The ABA was all about showmanship, which fits Ferrell to a "T," and it hit its prime in the 1970s, an era Ferrell can pantomime with....
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05/18/08
With Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of
the Crystal Skull finally hitting the big screen this week, we knew it was time to refresh our memories of Indy's original travels before diving into his next (and presumably last) archeological adventure. The original Indiana Jones trilogy is an absolute classic, right up there with Star Wars, The Godfather and The Lord of the Rings, and as far as pure adventure franchises go, it easily tops the list. Needless....
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05/16/08
The delayed appearance of Next on Blu-ray
Disc was a victim of Paramount's decision to deliver high-definition titles exclusively on HD-DVD last fall. The move came mere weeks from Next's release date, meaning the title was likely ready to go on Blu-ray and simply shelved for future consideration. With Paramount's quick return to Blu-ray and the need for new inventory to fill shelves quickly, Next made for a logical -- and easy -- Blu-ray "debut." Next reads like....
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05/13/08
Early in Guillermo Del Toro's directorial
career, the then-young Spanish filmmaker explored orphaned children as troubled ghosts in The Devil's Backbone. Years later, Del Toro presents The Orphanage for young Spanish director J.A. Bayona, a film that explores an identical subject matter while borrowing heavily from classics like Peter Pan, Poltergeist and even The Others. The result is neither innovative nor memorable, but it serves as....
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05/01/08
The hard part about drafting a
film concept around cyber-crime fighters is their job doesn't translate well to the screen. These people peck away in front of a computer day in and day out, hardly the eye candy a filmgoer wants to fixate on for two straight hours. There needs to be a viable excuse for them to get up from their desk and stretch their legs until the credits roll. Otherwise their roles should be restricted to that of the geeky tech nerd dishing out comic....
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