Reefer Madness DVD (1.0 Stars)

"Tell your children", that you smoke weed everyday. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rErrkuLYAvI

The film Reefer Madness deals with the dangers associated with smoking marijuana and shows how high-school students, after smoking a little pot, may easily commit rapes and other awful drug-induced activities. In later years, in a more marijuana-enlightened society, this film has become a comedic cult classic.

Reefer Madness was superpose to be a serious message about weed and how kids should stay the hell away from it, but Reefer Madness is filmed so hilariously bad that it came off extremely funny that it's hard not to laugh at.

The acting was dreadful, the music got on my nervous and the message to the story just came off advertising it when you think about it.

View the original article here

Poltergeist DVD (4.0 Stars)

Craig T. Nelson's Oscar-worthy performance makes a shaky DVD debut. Movie: 5/5

One of the biggest moments of my childhood was seeing Poltergeist for the first time at 7 years old. I saw it on a 4:3 set on a very old DVD in my parents' bedroom, after my mom had recently come home from the hospital after surgery. One night, my dad came home from the library with some DVDs, and one of them was Poltergeist.

I popped it into the DVD player without hesitation as I'd wanted to see it since I was 5. I knew from the moment it started, Poltergeist was going to be a great movie, but little did I know it would become my favorite movie of all time, and I'd want to experience it again and again.

Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams star in this classic as Steve and Diane Freeling, who live with their three children, 16-year-old Dana (Dominique Dunne), 8-year-old Robbie (Oliver Robins), and 5-year-old Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) in Cuesta Verde, CA, soon learn that their home is haunted, and that the spirits talk to Carol Anne through their television. Everything seems normal at first. Dana gives construction workers the finger and talks on the phone later than she's supposed to, Robbie is a huge Star Wars fan, and Carol Anne feeds her goldfish an entire tube of food. One night, a tree tries to eat Robbie, but they quickly save him. When the ghosts kidnap Carol Anne through the closet, they are forced to fight the evil spirit that holds their daughter if they ever want to see her again.

Well-acted, well-written, and well-directed, with great special effects, Poltergeist is, in my opinion, the greatest ghost story of all time.

Let's start with the acting. The performances are top-notch. The way lines are said, the facial expressions, body language, everything about the characters feels real. Craig T. Nelson's performance as Steve is the most real dad in a movie I've ever seen. JoBeth Williams' performance as Diane is the most real mom in a movie I've ever seen. Heather O'Rourke gives the best performance by a 5-year-old I've ever seen. Zelda Rubinstein is also great. It doesn't even seem like they're acting.

The special effects still hold up, because they still look real.

The plot is still very original, because it's set in modern suburban America, and it's about a normal family that loves each other, rather than an abusive husband and father.

Poltergeist is so well-written that nobody has to die, nor does it have to be gory to keep us on the edge of our seats.

Spielberg and Hooper keep it subtle by hardly showing the ghosts.

Poltergeist features a great plot, great acting, great directing, and great writing. I can't recommend Poltergeist enough. Poltergeist is a kid's movie, so it's not all that scary, though there are scenes that may scare you or creep you out, but you won't be scarred for life. In the end it really is a fun thrill ride. It's a movie every kid must see by the time they're 8 years old. For some reason, I find myself trying, sometimes unsuccessfully, to hold back tears every time I see it.

Transfer Quality

Video: 3.5/5

Poltergeist gets an okay video transfer on DVD.

Poltergeist is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 in 16x9. It should be noted that there's severe cropping on the left side when compared to the 25th Anniversary Edition DVD and Blu-ray.

Sharpness is pretty good except for the opening credits being slightly blurred, but readable. Grain is very present and sometimes blocks detail. Blacks are strong but don't really lose any shadow detail. It does occasionally look too dark.

The chair-stacking scene has an unnatural blue tint, and the cemetery scene has an unnatural orange tint. There are unnatural skin tones in some scenes, The "rescuing Carol Anne" scene has a black tint when it should have a blue tint, the "Carol Anne gets kidnapped" scene has an unnatural red tint. The colors are okay otherwise, but still.

I didn't find any MPEG artefacts. There is some aliasing, resulting in occasional interlacing. There are some film artefacts, but they're mostly kept under control, except for the "Carol Anne gets kidnapped" scene showing severe film damage at the top of the frame, and the "rescuing Carol Anne" scene showing some minor film damage at the top of the frame.

Audio: 3.5/5

Poltergeist sounds ever-so slightly better than it looks on DVD.

Poltergeist contains English Dolby Digital 2.0, French Dolby Digital 2.0, and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. I stuck with my native language, which is English.

Dialogue is clear, and at most times, natural except for one scene where JoBeth Williams shouts loudly, making the audio slightly distorted. This may or may not be a transfer issue. Audio sync is perfect.

Jerry Goldsmith's score fills the surrounds very well for a stereo mix. a good example of this is when the Poltergeist theme plays over the closing credits at the end of the movie.

The surrounds are used to a pretty good level, but being a stereo mix, it's limited.

The subwoofer is used decently.

Extras: 1.5/5

Just a trailer. It's a good trailer.

Summary: 4/5

Poltergeist is my favorite movie of all time, it truly is a great classic, and it still holds up after over 30 years as its message is still relevant today. Poltergeist tells the story of a family nothing can tear apart. It's a classic good versus evil story, a story of perseverance in spite of your worst fears coming to light, and holding it together in spite of everything seeming to fall apart. When I watched Craig T. Nelson, I saw my dad on that screen, and I see him on that screen even more now. When I watched JoBeth Williams, I saw my mom on that screen, and I see her on that screen even more now. Your experience might not be exactly like this, but there's no denying that this movie is awesome. I know you're probably worried because of things you've read online about it being scary, gory, or boring, but don't be. The violence is never gory. The occasional cursing never gets too bad. Despite everything that happens, there's a sense of hope that stays the entire movie. Let your kids see it. They'll thank you.

It looks and sounds okay, albeit far short of what Poltergeist deserves, and extras are nearly nonexistent. However, it's worth owning to see Craig T. Nelson's Oscar-worthy performance.

View the original article here

Kiki's Delivery Service DVD (4.5 Stars)

Hayao Miyazaki is like the Steven Spielberg of animated directors.

The story to Kiki's Delivery Service is about a young witch striking out on her own. At her mother's behest, 13-year-old Kiki sets out on a year-long apprenticeship with her black cat in tow. With a shaky command of her broom, she ends up in a charming little coastal town that looks like a cross between the French provincial and San Francisco. Unfortunately, the local hotels have a strict "no witches" policy and the police have taken a dim view of her recent aerial mischief-making. She's saved from the street by a kindly baker's wife, who offers her room and board in exchange for her delivering by broom the baker's wares.

While I still haven't seen Hayao Miyazaki other films yet as I'm slowly checking one out time by time, but the ones that I did watch from him has already amazed me and there's something about his films that makes me feel good about myself and I can't wait to watch his other films because this is hands down one of the greatest animated director of our generation. This guy hasn't disappointed me yet and his films is for everyone even little kids, yeah they might like it by the pretty looking colors, but I think adults can also lock on to this film has well. Hayao Miyazaki always gives you everything you always dreamed off in a anime and that's why it leaves you feeling happy and full of imagination and that most other animated films lack on. Kiki's Delivery Service is another fantastic film by him the master of anime himself.

The animation in this movie...now where do I even began with the animation. I've seen many animated films that blew my mind away with it's visually stunning effect's, but with this I think the animation in this movie and in Hayao movies do top other HollyWood animated films and it deserves to be viewed by everyone and not lifted in the shadow's. Have you every watched a Hayao Miyazaki film and got so sucked it only by the bright blue sky, there's always something about the blue skies in there's films that I could get lost in them (In a good way).

The main character Kiki was such a likable and understandable character that I already understood her and get what she's coming from. Her pet sidekick the black cat was so adorable and funny as well.

Now for the problems with the film: ...?

Overall Kiki's Delivery Service ( or Majo no takkyûbin ) is a fantastically stunning film with beautiful animation. I'm not going to give it the perfect and that's because to me this isn't like a 4/4 movie, but it's still a damn good film.

View the original article here

Suicide Kings DVD (4.5 Stars)

by Dane Youssef

"Tarantinoesque (adj) - referring to or reminiscent of the work of the American film-maker and actor Quentin Tarantino (born 1963), known for the violence and wit of his films." --Collins English Dictionary

Tarantino never set foot in a film school. He might not even have taken TV Media in high school. But... he started writing, directing and acting--and he still changed the genre. With "Reservoir Dogs," he was established. With "Pulp Fiction," he was God.

Hollywood is like high school. When one does something that really gets popular, it sparks... the trend. And all the others follow suit--following the leader like cult lemmings. And in film, influence can be essential. Or just sad and embarrassing. Tarantino inspired many--a lot of particular imitators. Some good. And... as for this one?

"SUICIDE KINGS" dares to spin a yarn of a quartet of wealthy privileged youngsters who dream up... and then try the most desperate and daring of schemes--they abduct an ex-Wiseguy.

The reformed mobster is on his way home one night after an invigorating evening out. There's an ambush, he's attacked. He comes to... only to find himself bound-and-gagged in a chair somewhere. What the hell's going on?

A hostage film. A mob-crime flick. And also eventually... kind of mystery "whodunnit?" thriller, the plot twists and turns--especially in the last quarter of the picture.

Just a bunch of boys having fun. Bein' boys--not unlike "Reservoir Dogs", "Pulp Fiction" and "Django Unchained."

"The Godfather in question" finds in a cabin somewhere surrounded by rich collegiate in nice suits who seem to fancy themselves their own independent Mafioso. He sees red--on someone's shirt, as it's covered in the Goodfella's blood. The whole plan goes as wrong as we'd expect and the spoiler richies panic--and then these dumb rich silver spoons all turn on each other.

There's a bit where they cut off the mobster's finger (remember the cop's ear in "Reservoir Dogs"?) The mob is infamous for this. There's a moment where two henchman talks about his shoes--White Nikes, Bruno Mackie's and Stingray Boots, (the discussion of Big Macs and McDonald's in Holland vs. America), these kidnappers are all in fine suits (Tarantino's henchman always were too).

The standard big-heist/kidnapping/robbery/caper genre picture has been a staple of cinema since before movies could speak. And in the '30's, the genre reached its zenith.

"SUICIDE KINGS" boasts one of those casts that we'd expect from the latest Tarantino picture. Christopher Walken, Laura Harris, Jeremy Sisto, Brad Garrett, Jay Mohr, Johnny Galecki, Sean Patrick Flanery, Henry Thomas, Laura San Giacomo and Dennis Leary.

OK, not quite the highest-of-profile names for the most part. But still, everyone does a worthwhile job. Only Walken, Leary and Galecki only really stand-out.

Christopher Walken confirms the belief that any scene he's in--just flat-out works. Even when the screenplay gives him the most ludicrous insights: "But I come from out there, and everybody out there knows, everybody lies: cops lie, newspapers lie, parent's lyin'. The one thing you can count on - word on the street... yeah, that's solid." Uh-huh. That's why so many schoolyard and water-cooler rumors are considered holy fact.

Denis Leary has the most fun in his role doing what I suppose can best be described as "the quintessential Denis Leary role." He's "Denis Leary in the mob." Ranting about his wife and his expensive footwear. Doing a good deed and then bring down his usual Biblical wrath.

Galecki is kind of fun as the rich worrywart nebbish whose family owns the place and seems a lot more concerned with mud being tracked on the floor, what happening to his father's favorite chair than the fact that a mobster is bound and he know everyone's name

All the other actors--they get a passing grade, but they don't quite stand out. And at times, "SUICIDE KINGS" is like that--hit-and-miss.

The whole abduction is so badly planned out--the movie itself even takes notice of this. At one point in the movie, Walken's character says to his captors: "You guys didn't think this through too good, did you?" Anyone with a handful of working brain cells will be thinking the same thing. I kind of wanted to ask the filmmakers this. The amount of obvious mistakes these guys make. Oh, they're clearly not professionals.

These guys kidnap a man with mob connections. They let him know who they are. They introduce themselves to him at the beginning. Really get to know each other. Of course they have to get to know each other, take their walls down and open up... it's integrate to films like these for male bonding--or rather, character development.

You'd think they would have blindfolded him, or be masked themselves. They drop their names. Surely they don't honestly believe they're going to get away with this. And then, is there really a possibility that... how Walken attempts to get out of this... or they do. Even in a god-dammed movie....

The movie's screenwriters Josh McKinney, Gina Goldman and Wayne Allen Rice take Don Stanford's original short story "The Hostage" from and heavily "Quentin Tarantino-ize it." Some thought they paid homage real proper. Some thought all this seems like something at best he might have in the bottom of his drawer--and forgot about forever. The scribes here don't seem to have quite that golden ear. It's not quite tin....

Director Peter O' Fallon has real flair and style. He certainly films this thing with a lot of energy to spare. The kind we've seen best in... well, you know where.

Heist/kidnapping movies that deal with "inside jobs" just gotta have that moment where the ship's going down in flame and the rats all turn on each other.

There's even the plot development where they all turn on each other, trying to find out who the traitor is, the mole feeding the cops the info is--remember the last act of "Reservoir Dogs"? Where all of the criminals go nuts, pull out their guns and...

"SUICIDE KINGS" is nice, fun and disposable. The most memorable thing about it is Walken taped down in a chair. And that's only of the best ways to get Waken. The filmmakers know that.

In the end, most of it is forgettable. Kind of fun (especially the comic stuff), but no, really nothing especially special. No must-see classic. Well, what do you expect from a designer imposter Tarantino?

I agree--a little too much (and I mean from beginning to end) is recycled from Tarantino. Except I don't think Q.T. himself ever rotoscoped.

And Tarantino himself admits to being a big-time movie imitator--one of the very best there ever was. But when he plagiarizes, he knows damn well how to make it feel fresh. He steals from the best of the old school. But he has that golden ear, that Beethoven savant.

"SUICIDE KINGS" is still worth a look for a slow night. Better than a lot of the merde being sh*t out of Hollywood's big uncreative anus. "Suicide Kings" doesn't beat the house and take the pot, but like poker, it's not a bad way to spend a slow night with your friends.

Oh come on, people. It's obvious why they're trying to make designer-imposter Quentin Tarantino. Hollywood is like high school. Show them something most'll get into and watch the trend spark. Before you know

Audiences are just like that--more of the same until they get really sick of it. Couldn't the real criminals here--the culpable screenwriters Josh McKinney, Gina Goldman and Wayne Allan Rice have maybe given this just one more re-write? Or honestly, maybe a few. Should've gotten an expert team of script doctors. Quentin got his personal style by stealing from a lot of different sources. The mistake here--they're just taking directly from Quentin.

But director O' Fallon gives a lot of wild-child style and so does everyone else involved.

I have to say... it is fun. It is a lot a fun. But it is kind of disposable. Better than the average throwaway movie you watch to fill or kill the time on a slow Tuesday night for a buck from Redbox. The picture does have a nice mood and atmosphere--Designer Imposter Tarantino or not.

And in the end... Well... Yeah, it's true. This is all pretty unbelievable. The ending however, is inevitable. And makes all the sense in the world.

It's funny how this movie bombed when it first came out. Maybe cause 1997 was the year of "Titanic," "L.A. Confidential," "Good Will Hunting" and "The Ice Storm." And a real Tarantino film--"Jackie Brown."

From "Reservoir Dogs" to "Pulp Fiction." Hey, if the writers and director had waited a little later, they could have pilfered a little from Quentin's "Jackie Brown" which came out later that year around Christmas. It is a real Hell of a wild ride, Tarantino-esque or not. Like Doug Liman's "Go."

See, for me--The Suicide Kings seems more like Jon Favreau's "Swingers" than the Reservoir Dogs. Hey, maybe that was another source of inspiration!

Walken sees how nervous they all are (who wouldn't be?) and attempts to get them to turn on each other. Seeing as it's a typical hostage situation with the victim being tied to a chair--he tries the usual of divide-and-conquer. "There's an inside guy. A mole," he tells them. "But who?" When they do finally start playing poker, Walken reads them easily.

You might have to see it more than once to really get it all straight. Take notes, if you have to.

Not to give anything away at all, but just to close it all on this one poetic line: "Sometimes the ends really do justify the means. Or at least define the meaning of the words 'karma' and 'justice'."

--Having Really Enjoyed It, Dane Youssef

View the original article here

Billy Owens and the Secret of the Runes DVD (2.0 Stars)

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

View the original article here

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Blu-ray (4.5 Stars)

Walt Disney Studios brings us another fantastic Marvel Cinematic Universe film. Frankly, in my opinion Captain America: The Winter Soldier tops every previous MCU film to date. Captain America lends his back story and his persona to the story arch that an overreaching government or powerful group can take control of a country to do no good. I love old spy thrillers like Three Days of the Condor and Marathon Man, and this film blends the superhero aspects and the spy thrillers brilliantly. Also having Anthony and Joe Russo direct the film with a more practical take on the action scenes is another nice throwback to those great 70s movies.

Now I will move onto the special features. Once again, Disney gives the fans the shaft. This is the easiest way to put it. Not only are the Combo-Packs with the DVD a thing of the past, they decided to force 3D into the mix. I personally could care less as I've already upgraded to Blu-Ray, but not everyone has done this yet, nor has their friends or family. I digress though. The special features include your basic deleted scenes and gag reel which total in about 5 minutes for both. The special features also include a nice featurette called "On the Front Line: An Inside Look at Captain America's Battleground". This is a nice behind the scenes look at some of the bigger action scenes from the movie. Sadly, it only runs at 10 minutes long. The other featurette is "On Set with Anthony Mackie: Cut the Check. This is not anything special, and to make it worst it only runs at about 3 minutes. The final piece is a look at Steve Rogers' Notebook, which is an interesting look into the many different versions of his notebook for the worldwide audience. This is a nice featurette which runs at about 3 minutes. Finally comes the big piece, and that is the audio commentary featuring Anthony and Joe Russo(directors) and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely(screenwriters). This is a very nice in-depth look at not only the film process from the Russo Brothers but, a nice look at how the story was crafted over a couple years. This feature easily steals the show but, that wasn't too hard. Overall, the special features are average, and that is only because the audio commentary saves the day. This is another poor effort from Disney, and there is no excuse for this widely popular film to have very limited special features.

This Blu-Ray also features the 7.1 Surround Sound, and it sounds amazing. This is personally one of the my favorites films to watch with my surround sound because of the added depth, and when the score from Henry Jackman starts rolling, it adds so much more to this amazing film.

Finally, this is really a must add Blu-Ray to your collection. Fans of the MCU will run out to buy this film probably needing no convincing of that, unless you are on the fence about the special features. While the special features are downright laughable overall, the movie itself warrants a buy because this film is just so damn good.

View the original article here

Batman: Assault on Arkham Blu-ray (4.5 Stars)

Every so often the DC animated department releases one of these animated films. This time around DC went away from their rebooted New 52 setting and instead decided to take a chance at making a film based on the very popular Arkham video game series that have been released over the recent years. While the tie in is not that deep that most will pick up on it, there are still some subtle notices of the video game areas that some of us are use to seeing. Now onto the special features.

I usually get very upset with the special features of many Blu-Rays these days, while this set really didn't make me mad like the previous DC animated film I reviewed did, it wasn't exactly a giant step in the right direction either. There are a few featurettes that come as special features(on the Blu-Ray only), for example the preview of the upcoming Justice League animated film "Justice League: Throne of Atlantis"(this is also on the DVD). While I wouldn't call this much of a special feature, it is nice to see what the future is for these films. That featurettes runs at just over 9 minutes. There is also a nice background featurette that features Harley Quinn(who has a major roles in this film). This feature has nice background of the character, and only runs at just over 13 minutes long. The big featurette of the Blu-Ray is a look at the background of Arkham Asylum from the comics to the video game. This is a nice feature, sadly they barely even mention the connection of this movie and the popular video games. Which is why I actually listened to the audio commentary for once. This commentary was very informative and is a much watch for those who feel let down by the other special features.The Arkham Asylum featurette runs at just over 27 minutes.

As usual with a Blu-Ray it comes with the top of the line sound and picture quality. While once again 7.1 surround sound is missing, 5.1 surround sound does just fine if you are watching on a home theater system. Hopefully though, with future releases that important update comes along.

The movie itself is generally very well done with some very exciting fight scenes. While I cannot say this film is better than the recent New 52 Justice League animated films, it sure feels on the same level in terms of quality. The good thing about moving away from the New 52 film is that legendary Batman voice actor, Kevin Conroy is back once again. When I was younger I grew up watching the animated television show, and to have him back is simply amazing. Troy Baker continues to voice The Joker, and if no one told you Mark Hamill had left the role a few years ago, you wouldn't even know there was an actor change. Baker is really something special the way he delivers those fantastic one liners throughout the film. Very good stuff.

In closing, this movie is a must own for the DC animated fans like myself. What this film also brings to the table is a reason for the Arkham video game fans to own it as well. Either way, this film was very good, although I'm still sort of letdown by the special features.

View the original article here