Movie Info:
Writer: Oxide Pang Chun, Danny Pang
Director: Oxide Pang Chun, Danny Pang
Cast: Pawalit Mongkolpisit, Premsinee Ratanasopha, Patharawarin Timkul, Pisek Intrakanchit
Rating: R
Studio: First Look

Release Info:
Theatrical Release:November 24, 2000
DVD Release Date: August 5, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $8.49

Most film buffs are familiar with the Pang brothers in some way. Whether it is with their work personally or the American adaptations that come into play, films like The Eye and The Messengers manage to get their points across quite nicely. However, when you think of a writing/directing duo from another country, you generally expect that when the Americanized version of the film is coming here that someone else will be handling the undertaking. That is not the case with the Pang Brothers.

In 1999 the film, Bangkok Dangerous was made and eventually released in Thailand. At the end of this week, a new version of Bangkok Dangerous will be released with Nicholas Cage starring as the main character. The Pang brothers are responsible for both films. This review is on the first film, though I am sure we will be offering coverage on the new film at a later date, as well.

I came in watching this film with only one Pang brothers film under my belt. I have yet to see their version of The Eye, which I am told is much better than the US version. The only movie I have seen by the Pangs is The Messengers. When this movie landed on my desk, I didn’t even know it had been made prior to that moment. I thought the Nicholas Cage version was the only version. I suspect there are many people that might believe this, as well.

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Movie Info:
Writer: Eran Kolirin
Director: Eran Kolirin
Cast: Saleh Bakri, Ronit Elkabetz, Sasson Gabai, Khalifa Natour
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Sony Home Entertainment

Release Info:
Theatrical Release:May 19, 2007 (Cannes)
DVD Release Date: July 29, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon: $19.99

Most Americans consider the lives of Middle Easterners only as much as they have to. Sure, they hear about things going on in the Middle East daily, but that has nothing to do with really thinking about the people that live in those countries or how they live their lives. The Band’s Visit gives an interesting, albeit fictional, look into the lives of some of these people. While I could guess that the mundane parts of this movie would not hit high notes in the Middle East, in America it is interesting and enjoyable to watch.

There are moments when The Band’s Visit may move slower than other, similar, films. Considering this is going to be a movie with actors that the average American is unfamiliar with, I feel that this is an excellent first look into what these actors have to offer. Some good performances are given all around, which is even more impressive whan the story probably would not have been, had it been filmed with an American cast. This group not only makes the best of what they have, their performances end up being more entertaining than you could imagine, and they shine throughout.

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Movie Info:
Writer: Edward Neumeier
Director: Edward Neumeier
Cast: Casper Van Dien, Jolene Blalock, Stephen Hogan, Boris Kodjoe, Amanada Donohoe, Marnette Patterson
Rating: R
Studio: Sony Home Entertainment

Release Info:
Theatrical Release: N/a
DVD Release Date: August 5, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon: $16.99

Watching a direct to video movie when you haven’t seen the first two movies that came before it in the franchise can be interesting to say the least. Starship Troopers 3: Marauder is one of those movies that I would have never thought to pick up without the coercion of being a movie reviewer. How much you like this version of Starship Troopers 3 will depend largely on how much you like the franchise as a whole.

In most cases, the direct to DVD movie that is part of a franchise is a quick buck film. People that liked the first film are likely to watch it, which is ready made money for the studio that doesn’t have to spend a lot of time or money making the film. Generally, this means that the film is of a lesser quality, but if the first film was well made, this could lead to people watching the others regardless of the quality in hopes that they will live up to the first movie. Unfortunately, I cannot say how this Starship Troopers rates in comparison with the others that came before it, though I can say that in most cases the sequels are a poor representation of the first film.

The Starship Troopers 3: Marauder Plot
Colonel John Rico (Casper Van Dien) supervises the planetary outpost that holds the large bugs off with automatic fences. Soon Lola Beck (Jolene Blalock) and Dix Hauser (Boris Kodjoe) join him along with Sky Marshall Anoke who is somewhat like the celebrity of the group. Once everyone has met up the power goes out and things get a little crazy. In the midst of everything going out of whack, Lola, Anoke, and some others manage to escape, but when all is not well they have to perform a crash landing on a planet that is anything but friendly.

Holly Little (Marnette Patterson) and her tribe manage to get on Lola’s nerves a bit. Holly has a tendency to pray and sing too loud. Anoke knows how to play the game though and proclaims that this is the place of the one true God. Lola doesn’t care about God either way at this point, though she does notice that the bug attackers aren’t where they normally are and there is an unusually large, unspecified breed of insect in the desert area

After Dix saves Rico from the trouble he is in back where everything started. It is left up to them and a few others to go on what could be an impossible rescue mission. Using the Marauder weapons technology may be the only thing that will work against new and old races of giant bugs.

I don’t know what the first two movies were like, but this one didn’t impress me much. The acting was basic, if not annoyingly stale. The effects were borderline kindergarten, the director couldn’t direct his way out of a Happy Meal box. If that wasn’t enough, I’d have to say he couldn’t write (he wrote all three movies) a well received greeting on a card. This was an all around sad production and it leaves me scratching my head as to why Sony would even put their name on such loathsome garbage.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
Let’s ignore for a minute that the special effects were cookie cutter and that hurt the visual enjoyment significantly. All in all, the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen looked just fine. As a newer movie, there should be little compression errors, a color palette that pleases the eye, and no grain. All of these things were present or not as should have been the case. Like I said, it was the special effects that would have hurt the visual quality because the CGI was just downright pathetic and there is no nice way to put that.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 comes in both English and French languages. I have to admit, the visual quality worked out a lot better than the audio. Many of the special sound effects transferred ridiculously and you were unable to hear various sounds and dialogue as effectively as you should have. I heard people speaking, but I couldn’t tell what words were coming out of their mouths. In addition to the two basic languages, viewers can also take advantage of Closed Captioning and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
There are a few special features here, though in most cases they are nothing that I would bother writing home about. You can take your pick of commentaries from the filmmaker’s commentary and the commentary with Ed Neumeier and actors, Jolene Blalock and Casper Van Dien. The commentaries tell you some about the motivation for the movie though these are not incredibly informative for the most part. In some spots, the commentaries were actually better than the movie.

Starship Troopers 3 also offers two featurettes, “Evolution: The Bugs of Starship Troopers 3: Marauder” and “Enlist: Marauder’s Mobile Infantry.” Finally there is an extended version of the music video “It’s a Good Day to Die.” I am only thankful that there were so few considering the bad quality of this film. I honestly don’t think I could have sat through any more of them.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
I did not see the first two Starship Troopers movies and now I can say, if they were anything like this I never will. Only the hugest fan of this series is going to find this worth watching. I like Sci-Fi, but this was just a lower budget waste of film. The writing was poor, the effects were useless, and nothing came together like it should have. You’d be best to skip this one altogether.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Casper Van Dien, Jolene Blalock, Stephen Hogan, Boris Kodjoe, Amanada Donohoe, Marnette Patterson, Edward Neumeier, DVD, DVD Review, Sci-Fi, Giant Bugs, Starship Troopers, Marauder

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Writer: Scott B. Smith
Director: Carter Smith
Cast: Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Laura Ramsey, Shawn Ashmore, Joe Anderson, Sergio Calderón
Rating: R (Unrated)
Studio: Dreamworks & Paramount
Release Date: July 8, 2008

Just because a movie is in the horror genre doesn’t mean that it has to be filled with gore, terrible horror clichés and a dumbed-down story. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I sat down to watch The Ruins. I’ve seen some pretty awful horror in my day. I was hoping for something that wouldn’t make me feel as though I wasted my time watching this film. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that The Ruins was much better than I anticipated.

I believe that this movie has succeeded largely due to the amount of tension that was ever present thanks to good writing and a talented cast. I actually recognized most of the main characters in The Ruins. That’s rare for the majority horror films. It seems that many directors feel that horror can be carried on the story alone and they can sacrifice when it comes to finding quality actors. Unknowns may be cheaper, but they’re also going to affect the quality of a film. The Ruins didn’t seem to suffer from this problem.

Release Information:
The Ruins made its debut in U.S. theaters on April 4, 2008. While it debuted at #5 at the box office, netting $8 million during its opening weekend, the film didn’t stay in the top ten very long. I feel the movie was affected by less advertising than you’d expect for a horror movie that has the potential to make some cash. The Ruins has received mixed reviews from critics. It seems that critics either love it or hate it. I believe critics fall into three categories when it comes horror; those who like senseless gore with very little story behind it, those who like something more (gore or not) in the stories behind the horror they watch and those who just aren’t fond of horror period. This may affect the reviews for this movie merely because The Ruins is horror, but it is not dependent on mindless gore.

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Writer: John Hughes, Seth Rogan, Kristofor Brown
Director: Steven Brill
Cast: Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile, Ian Roberts, Owen Wilson, Lisa Ann Walter, Beth Littleford, Valerie Tian, David Dorfman, Alex Frost, Josh Peck, Danny R. McBride, Casey Boersma, Dylan Boersma
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Dreamworks & Paramount
Release Date: July 1, 2008

I like comedies that actually have interesting stories. Drillbit Taylor looked funny, but I wasn’t sure how interesting or particularly original the story was. Considering this was written by John Hughes, who has returned to the “high school” element he made so famous in movies I grew up with in the 1980s, I knew there had to be something redeemable about this movie and I was right. This isn’t as good as other comedies, but it isn’t horrible either. For a quiet, Saturday afternoon watching movies, Drillbit Taylor is perfect. Just don’t expect it to win awards through the Academy.

Originally, I didn’t know that John Hughes developed the idea for this film, which was also penned by Seth Rogan and Kristofor Brown. If anyone knows high school outcasts its Hughes, who made a living writing about them in the 1980s with such hits as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Weird Science, Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink. I’m kind of sad they didn’t cast Anthony Michael Hall or Molly Ringwald in cameo roles, which would have been awesome, but c’est la vie. The movie is still enjoyable and you’ll get enough laughs to get you through this comedy.

Release Information:
Drillbit Taylor was developed from a story idea by John Hughes. The reclusive writer is credited with helping to develop the story for this movie, though it is unclear exactly how much say he had in the actual film and the writing of the screenplay. Drillbit Taylor arrived on over 3,000 North American movie screens on March 21, 2008. The film debuted in fourth place during its opening weekend netting over $14 million. Since then, it has made around $50 million worldwide.

Paramount has released multiple versions of Drillbit Taylor, as of July 1, 2008. There is a standard DVD (widescreen), an Unrated Extended Survival Edition, and the Extended Survival Edition in Blu-Ray. You can pick up a copy of this movie wherever you purchase DVDs. Drillbit Taylor (widescreen) is available on Amazon for $19.99 as is the Unrated Extended Survival Edition. The Blu-Ray, which is what the review is based on, can be purchased at Amazon for $27.95.

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Writer: JD Zeik
Director: Roel Reine
Cast: Steven Segal, Lance Henriksen, Samantha Ryan Maisano, Renee Goldsberry, Lydia Jordan, Fernando Chien
Rating: R
Studio: Sony Home Entertainment
Release Date: March 4, 2008

Another direct to video film, comes with another groan as it’s popped in the player. The sign of a film that was not popular enough in idea to be put in a theater usually means it’s a movie that shouldn’t have been made. If it’s not an independent film and it doesn’t hit theaters it’s usually something that brings dread to me when it comes in the mail. That is exactly what Pistol Whipped is. Fresh to video with no release in the theaters, Pistol Whipped is a Steven Seagal film. With one or two exceptions, if you have seen one, you have seen them all. Oddly, or amusingly enough, these movies have not really changed one iota from the 90s when they were pseudo-popular.

Naturally, I tried to be objective here, but it only took a few minutes to realize this was going to be the same ol’ stuff. It’s not that Steven Seagal was the worst of the 90s action actors. He had his shining moments on occasion. It’s just the standard action movie. He’s there to save the day. There are big bangs and/or explosions. He faces insurmountable odds. And no matter what he manages to win. Even when they don’t win in these movies, the goal is met, so they still technically win. Once you’ve seen one, it’s just a change of scenery that separates it from all the others.
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Writer: Neil Gaiman, Roger Avary
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Ray Winstone, Robin Wright Penn, Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover
Rating: Unrated
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: February 26, 2008

I had been looking forward to reviewing Beowulf from the moment I heard it was set to be released on film. I’m a lover of classic literature. The story of Beowulf, has always been one of the most intriguing pieces of literature I’ve ever had the chance to read. The epic poem, of considerable length and originally written in Old English, is believed to be from between the 8th and 11th centuries. That alone should make the tale of Beowulf enough of a classic. Yet, there is depth and vision in the story, depicting authors with amazing creativity and imagination even in times where such things might still be considered somewhat improper.

It was with this mindset that I set out to watch Beowulf both at the theater and again, when it came out on DVD. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this to review and keep in my collection. While I do slightly enjoy this adaptation of the beloved story, this is only a surface emotion, due to the issues that arose during its adaptation and other small errors I simply am unable to overlook. Still, I feel that most critics are too harsh on Beowulf, so I must insist that you understand, my review of this shows that the film is average but not negative.

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Writer: Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, George Bernard Shaw, JM Barrie, William Wycherley, Christopher Hampton
Director: Anthony Page, Cedric Messina, Donald McWhinnie, Stuart Burge
Cast: Helen Mirren, Stanley Baker, Brian Cox, Peter Barkworth, Trevor Baxter, Nigel Davenport, Ian Ogilvy, Anthony Andrews, Bernard Cribbins, James Bolam, Charles Gray, Colin Higgins, Amanda Knott
Rating: Unrated
Studio: BBC
Release Date: February 19, 2008

Helen Mirren is a woman that has had a long and distinguished career. Of course, many of these roles were not anything that the average person in the US is privy to seeing. These roles dealt with plays and British movies and television, which ruled it out for the majority of Americans. Most of the people lucky enough to see these performances watched Public Broadcasting more than they do their cable. Others, admittedly like me, are just having the chance to watch them for the first time thanks to this set, Helen Mirren at the BBC.

Some of the best material on these discs comes from just listening to Helen Mirren speak. She is incredibly engaging and fun to listen to. She never gets boring as she speaks of one thing or the next concerning her films and the BBC. It is interesting to hear her speak about the BBC particularly and how they do not do Classical works like they used to do them.

It made me laugh some because, this set is far ahead of what we are used to in many respects on the American screen. I suppose this could be why the US and UK releases have different movies. Then again, it could be that the movies were meant to suit the specific audiences. The movies are discussed in more detail in the plot section. It should be noted that the sets are not vastly different. However, there are some differences that do exist between them.

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Writer: Various
Director: Various
Cast: Jack Lord, James MacArthur, Kam Fong, Herman Wedemeyer
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: January 22, 2008

I will admit that I have some mixed feelings about Hawaii Five-O. It’s not that it’s a bad show, because it’s not. It’s classic television. Fans of the show will love the third season. People that are only used to classic television through box sets like these may have more issues with the show. The problem is not the acting. It is the setup. A plotline and a way of building the show was set and once executives found a setup that fit the show, it seems like the show stopped stretching to reach new goals and instead remained rather stagnant in the character development department.

Despite the small flaws, if you like cop and crime dramas then you should enjoy Hawaii Five-O. The episodes are strong and the actors have settled into a groove that makes the show flow with ease. The thing that is interesting is that while the characters did remain in a lull, the storylines did not. There are a variety of tales here and none are really like another that you will see this season. Some are lighthearted and fun while others are more serious. The show will leave you guessing in this department, as you really do not know what to expect until it comes time to watch the next episode.

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