Week in Rewind Movie Reviews by Christopher Smith

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Charlie Wilson's War: Movie Review (2007)
2007-12-28 23:09:00
Fight on, playerDirected by Mike Nichols, written by Aaron Sorkin, 97 minutes, rated R.The new Mike Nichols movie, "Charlie Wilson’s War," takes us back to the Middle East, this time Afghanistan, where the mood is light in spite of the blood being spilled by the Soviet Army.Based on a true story and set in 1980, just after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, the film follows Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), the Democratic senator from Texas who finds himself being urged to help the Afghani people by one Joanna Herring (Julia Roberts), a right-wing Houston socialite whose claim to fame, at least at the time, is that she was the sixth richest person in Texas.That’s quite a distinction to have, and Roberts plays her accordingly — her Joanna is all arched eyebrows, cinched suits and blonde hair the size of the National Forest (though one assumes beneath all that hairspray, it would be difficult to find a renewable resource).Since her character also is Charlie’s part-time lover — he ha...
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OUR BIGGEST GIVEAWAY EVER! UNITED ARTIST 90TH ANNIVERSARY PRESTIGE COLLECTI
2007-12-26 22:05:00
Week in Rewind is thrilled to offer our biggest giveaway ever!It's the United Artist 90th Anniversary Prestige Collection, which features 90 classic movies on 110 discs! It's nearly a $900 value and it features some HUGE movies!They include: Disc 1: The Woman In The Window P&S Disc 2: Red River P&S Disc 3: The Barefoot Contessa P&S Disc 4: Marty P&S Disc 5: The Night of the Hunter WS Disc 6: Dance with Me Henry P&S Disc 7: The Killing P&S Disc 8: Moby Dick P&S Disc 9: Twelve Angry Men WS Disc 10: Paths of Glory P&S Disc 11: Witness For The Prosecution WS Disc 12: The Big Country WS Disc 13: The Defiant Ones WS Disc 14: I Want To Live! WS Disc 15: A Hole In The Head WS Disc 16: The Fugitive Kind WS Disc 17: Some Like It Hot WS Disc 1 Disc 18: Some Like It Hot WS Disc 2 Disc 19: The Alamo WS Disc 20: The Apartment WS Disc 21: Elmer Gantry WS Disc 22: Inherit The Wind WS Disc 23: The Magnificent Seven WS Disc 1 Disc 24: The Magnificent Seven WS Disc ...

And the Hatchet winners are...
2007-12-26 21:56:00
The winners of the Hatchet Giveaway contest are....Joe Williams, San Francisco, CADenise Cowan, Montreal, QuebecSteve Lang, Boston, MACongrats to all! You'll be receiving an email in a few minutes about when the items will be shipped!As we always do at Week in Rewind, we drew several other names from the thousands of Hatchet contestants to be added into future contests. Their names will be added an additional 10 times in future drawings for which they sign up (but they must sign up for them and remain a member of Week in Rewind). Using only the first parts of their email address, they are:jchoppeskdj617mjblytheAFidancegodanSo , congrats to you!Thanks for playing! More contests coming to celebrate the new year!Christopher
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Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street Movie Review (2007)
2007-12-25 17:17:00
A couple of cold meats--served hotDirected by Tim Burton, written by John Logan, 117 minutes, rated R.The new Tim Burton movie, "Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ," is bloody, yes--and it's also bloody excellent.Screenwriter John Logan based the film on Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's long-running musical, and what he and Burton have created is one of the year's best movies, a dark, violent musical that thrums with menace, mischief and malice. This highly stylized, great-looking film finds cinematographer Dariusz Volski draining it of so much color, the characters and sets take on the hues of a corpse. Throughout, the screen almost looks refrigerated--you'd swear that if you touched it, you'd be bitten by cold. Increasingly, things heat up with flashes of red, but that's only when someone's throat is slit and gruesome, gushing ribbons of crimson spray forth to warm up the screen.Decked out in a blowout fright wig that challenges anything he wore in Burton's...
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Balls of Fury: DVD, HD DVD Review (2007)
2007-12-21 13:29:00
“Balls of Fury ” DVD, HD DVDCuriously, this isn’t a sex comedy. Instead, it’s a movie about underground table tennis tournaments, which apparently are revered in the Asian community (somebody might want to clue them in on this), who take to the sport in ways that often are deadly for the participant--and, in this case, deadly dull for the audience.This fractured, mostly unfunny movie fails to meet even the lowest expectations. Dan Fogler is Randy Daytona, a hirsute, plus-sized rocker whose claim to fame is that he has the ability to turn ping-pong balls into balls of fury at the tennis table.After falling off the circuit years ago when he was defeated at the Seoul Olympics by a mincing German, he now is ushered back into the fold by FBI agent Rodriguez (George Lopez), who needs Daytona to get back into form so they can defeat the evil Feng (Christopher Walken).Echoes of "Karate Kid" ensue, with Daytona being guided by the blind ping-pong master, Wong (James Hong), as well as ...
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The Legend of Zorro: Blu-ray DVD Review (2007)
2007-12-21 13:27:00
“The Legend of Zorro” Blu-rayLegend? An overstatement, at least where this movie is concerned. This self-aware, overblown follow-up to 1998's entertaining "The Mask of Zorro" is a misstep, with Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones reprising their roles, albeit without the sexual snap that drove the first film. Set in 1850, the film finds Don Alejandro de la Vega (Banderas) and Elena (Jones), parents of 10-year-old Joaquin (Adrian Alonso), splitting when Vega, a.k.a. Zorro, decides he must help the people of California, who are about to be duped as they prepare for statehood. The actors look fetching, but there's the sense that they already know this, which turns the production inward. The film can be stultifying in its excess. Rated PG. Grade: C+
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National Treasure: Collector's Edition DVD Review (2007)
2007-12-21 13:25:00
“National Treasure : Collector’s Edition ”Just in time for the sequel comes the two-disc collector’s edition of John Turteltaub's "National Treasure ,” a ripe, ridiculous B-movie served up with generous helpings of cheese. Nicolas Cage is Benjamin Franklin Gates--insert groan here--whose family has been trying for generations to find the buried treasure of the Knights Templar.Allegedly, on the back of the Declaration of Independence is an invisible map that offers a series of clues that will lead Cage and his assistants to a colossal bounty. Since Gates wants that map before thieves get to it first, complications and machinations abound, only a few of which--remarkably--deal with the actual theft of the declaration itself. The action scenes in "Treasure" are passably entertaining and the movie doesn't take itself too seriously, but maybe it should have. Nothing here is extraordinary and nothing matches what Spielberg created in the "Indiana Jones" movies, which "Treasure" t...
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Rent: Blu-ray Review (2007)
2007-12-21 13:23:00
“Rent ” Blu-rayEvict them. Toward the nerve-jangling midpoint, when the story and its Bohemian-wannabe characters have whipped themselves into a froth, there's no question that we're dealing with a film that apparently broke a hip upon its leap from stage to screen.The movie is a mess, collapsing in ways from which it doesn't recover, though God knows it tries. Homelessness, death, drug addiction, sexuality, HIV and AIDS all are tackled, yet in spite of this, the movie packs the dramatic punch of a feather.Its problem is that it demands to be taken literally.In one scene, a character might be having a perfectly engaging conversation about the dangers of shooting up dope or the worry of not being able to pay the rent, and then suddenly be singing his heart out, setting trash cans ablaze and dancing on tables as if that'll keep on the lights. It doesn't. Rated PG-13. Grade: C-Read the full review here.
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The Simpsons Movie: DVD Review, Blu-ray Review (2007)
2007-12-21 13:21:00
“The Simpsons Movie ” DVD, Blu-rayIn "The Simpsons Movie ," Earth is at stake--nevermind just Springfield--and who better than Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie to come to its rescue?Okay, so it's best not to answer that question, particularly since it's Homer and his new pet pig, Spider-Pig, who ignite the crisis in the first place.Wearing its environmental heart on its sleeve, the film has a timely message in hand--the world is choking on our fumes, trash and pig poop, folks, and the future looks grim.Lisa (voice of Yeardley Smith) is on a campaign to raise awareness about how the careless actions of many are ruining Lake Springfield and, by extension, the planet itself. As she sees it, we're all faced with "An Irritating Truth" and it's time to do something about it. Trouble is, her father, Homer (Dan Castellaneta), whose relationship with his new pet pig borders on the questionable, if not the obscene, has unwittingly unleashed the sort of ecological blunder that changes...
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Stardust: DVD Review, HD DVD Review (2007)
2007-12-21 13:18:00
“Stardust ” DVD, HD DVDFeatures as many subplots as there are stars in the sky. Beyond the extra padding, the good news is that much of the movie is inspired fun. Ian McKellen narrates a movie that stars Charlie Cox as Tristan, a young man who lives within the enclosed hamlet of Wall, where he fancies an unpleasant young woman named Victoria (Sienna Miller), who suggests that if he wants her hand in marriage, he’ll bring her a star they watch fall just outside Wall’s walls.It’s a dangerous task--outside is a world fraught with dark magic--but Tristan agrees and soon, he’s off to find his star, which turns out to be the lovely Yvaine (Claire Danes), with whom he embarks on a string of romantic adventures. While none of this is as memorable or as good as "The Princess Bride," which remains a hallmark of the genre, "Stardust" has a strong enough cast to cast you above its unnecessary complications.The actors are, in fact, having such a grand time of it here, you might find ...
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Underdog: DVD Review, Blu-ray Review (2007)
2007-12-21 13:10:00
“Underdog ” DVD, Blu-rayOh, there's reason to fear--"Underdog" the movie is here, this time on DVD and Blu-ray. Frederick Du Chau's live-action remake of the popular '60s cartoon is a by-the-numbers disappointment, so much so that one has to wonder upon seeing the movie whether Du Chau and his screenwriters now are considered a dog's best friend. It's questionable. This fractured, frenetic movie stays true to its source material in that it finds Underdog speaking in hokey rhymes, which might appeal to the very youngest of children (newborns, for instance), but it falls short of capturing the original's corny charm, which admittedly always was best served in small doses.This isn't an awful movie--at least the animals are winning and Peter Dinklage is fun as a mad scientist--but from the gate, there's no question that its aspirations only were second-rate.Rated PG. Grade: C-Read the full review here.
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Can't Wait for This: The Hottie & The Nottie
2007-12-21 12:05:00
At first, I thought it was a joke. But no. This Valentine's Day, Paris Hilton stars in The Hottie & The Nottie. A preview of the movie is below.So wrong in so many ways.
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2007 Holiday DVD Gift Guide
2007-12-21 02:09:00
Shopping at the last minute? No problem. So, you've put off the holiday shopping until the last minute--perfectly understandable. If things have to come to push, shove and punch, which they will at this point, you might as well do it with the hardcore late shoppers. At least they're in it for real. Still, what to get now that you're in such a pinch? Socks? Frowns all around. Underwear? A bum gift--and that pun is intended. Mace? You might need it if your shopping really does begin today. The good news is that a DVD always makes a swell gift--and a quick, no-stress purchase to boot. Since the options can be overwhelming this time of year, included here are many newer releases, all of which come recommended and all of which can be found at local retailers for much less than the official retail prices listed below.TELEVISION SHOWS:Over the past several weeks, a slew of television shows have been released on DVD, with nearly every taste being served, though not always to su...
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Margot at the Wedding: Movie Review (2007)
2007-12-02 15:36:00
Queen Bee and WannabeesWritten and directed by Noah Baumbach, 93 minutes, rated R. The driving force behind Noah Baumbach's "Margot at the Wedding " is that Margot, played by Nicole Kidman in her yearly pitch for an Academy Award nomination, has come to the wedding of her sister, Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), to cause trouble. A lot of trouble. Margot is one sly little wrecking ball of devastation, and she's not afraid to swing that ball as far and as wide as her mood swings will carry it.In movies, of course, the trouble with trouble is that you can only take it so far before it starts to cause thematic trouble onscreen, particularly if nothing else in the movie--a character you come to care about, a storyline you follow with interest--is there to balance the bad feelings. "Margot at the Wedding " is a movie that feasts on bad feelings. It revels in them, it rolls in them, it splashes about in them until the screen become so thick with the murk of ill will, you're either exhau...
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In the Valley of Elah: Movie Review (2007)
2007-11-29 13:46:00
Fighting his own warDirected by Paul Haggis, written by Haggis and Mark Boal, 120 minutes, rated R.The new Paul Haggis movie, "In the Valley of Elah," stars Tommy Lee Jones in an Academy Award-worthy performance as Hank Deerfield, a Vietnam veteran and former military police officer who wakes one morning to learn that his son Mike (Jonathan Tucker) has returned home from a tour of duty in Iraq.Normally, this would be cause for celebration. Instead, it's cause for alarm, particularly since Mike is missing and the military is wondering whether Hank knows where his son is. Since he doesn't know, it's made clear to him that if somebody doesn't find Mike soon, he'll officially be charged with going AWOL.But not if Hank has anything to do with it.Launching into action, he packs his bags (crisp, neat, not a wrinkle in sight--this man is military to the core), says goodbye to his wife (Susan Sarandon) and leaves their Tennessee home for New Mexico, where Mike is stationed. It’s th...
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The Mist: Movie Review (2007)
2007-11-29 13:45:00
A mustWritten and directed by Frank Darabont, based on Stephen King's novella, 127 minutes, rated R.Two of the year's best horror movies have come from works by Stephen King, who knows a few things about the genre that Hollywood seems to have forgotten since losing itself to the entrails provided by directors Darren Lynn Bousman and Eli Roth.The year's first King adaptation was Mikael Hafstrom's "1408," a horror film that eschewed today's penchant for torture porn and got back to the basics by employing some effective old standbys--shrieking ghosts, scratchy sounds emerging from behind bleeding walls, a sense of claustrophobia that nibbled away at the screen like one of the rats in "Ratatouille."After the onslaught of Bousman's "Saw" and Roth's "Hostel" movies, "1408" proved a necessary throwback, a movie focused on building character, atmosphere and chills rather than on being merely a gory gross-out.Frank Darabont's "The Mist ," which Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption," "...
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Spice World: DVD Review (2007)
2007-11-29 13:40:00
"Spice World "A peculiar film about that peculiar British import known as the Spice Girls, which have since regrouped, have a new single out and a new world tour to promote, thus the re-release of their 1997 movie.While the good news is that recent photos and videos suggest that the girls have aged well, going back into time and seeing them as they were is something of a nightmare. There is a moment in this movie when all the girls--Scary, Baby, Posh, Sporty, Ginger--declare that they want a makeover and that they wish to rename themselves. Since all of the girls look like roughed-up street trade, it seems only natural that they would rename themselves accordingly. Surprisingly, Flat-On-Her-Back Spice, Leave-The-Money-On-The-Dresser Spice and Penicillin Spice weren't considered, a decision reflected in the film's final grade.“Spice World” is not a movie. It isn't even an extended music video, although it does feature some of the group's popular songs, which are badly lip-sy...
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Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy HD DVD Review (2007)
2007-11-29 13:39:00
"Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy : HD DVD"Local television news anchors and their newscasts are easy targets to skewer, so here, in the new HD DVD version of the popular Will Ferrell comedy, broad skewering ensues.The film is 91 minutes of tongue-in-cheek hair pulling, which is especially cheeky since the group getting its hair pulled would rather not have theirs touched, thank you very much. Set in the early 1970s, Ferrell is Ron Burgundy, the enormously popular, hirsute television anchor for San Diego's Channel 4, who loves his scotch and his lady friends almost as much as he loves being No. 1 in the ratings. Sure Burgundy is an idiot, but people like his macho bluster and they especially like the way he ends each newscast: "Stay classy, San Diego." But when station manager Ed Harken (Fred Willard) hires reporter Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) to add diversity to the newsroom, chauvinist Ron is forced to admit he might have met his match in a woman. With the he...
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Waitress: DVD Review (2007)
2007-11-29 13:38:00
“Waitress ”Home cookin' served with a side of bitters. Keri Russell is Jenna, a gifted pie maker and waitress in a small Southern town whose pies match her moods. Since she is stuck in a bad marriage with Earl (Jeremy Sisto) and recently learned that she's pregnant with his child, Jenna, who names her pies, makes such classics as "I Hate My Husband Pie," "Baby Screaming Its Head Off in the Middle of the Night and Ruining My Life Pie," "Pregnant Miserable Self-Pitying Loser Pie" and "Earl Murders Me Because I'm Having an Affair Pie," which runs blood-red with the syrup of mashed raspberries.About that last pie. Upon going to her gynecologist to address the unwanted situation of her "damn baby," as she calls it, Jenna finds that her doctor is phasing into retirement and that a new doctor, the studly Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion, "Serenity"), has taken over the practice.The relationship that steams between them is heated with reckless, comic abandon, with Jenna's co-workers, Da...
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Mr. Bean's Holiday HD DVD, DVD Review (2007)
2007-11-29 13:37:00
"Mr. Bean's Holiday : DVD, HD DVD"For those who appreciate the power of Bean in brevity, this "Bean" leads to too much bad gas.Once again, Rowan Atkinson assumes the role of Bean, who this time out is caught in an ongoing series of foibles that spring from his winning a video camera and a trip to Cannes, France.Naturally, it's all a set-up for disaster, with the clueless Bean bumbling out of England as he travels via train to his foreign destination.Along the way, he manages to separate a young boy (Max Baldry) from his father, with Emma de Caunes and Willem Dafoe joining in the forced tomfoolery.The ending is the best, most ingenious part of the show, though it comes too late to save it. As appealing as Atkinson is as Bean, he always has been best served in small doses. The movie is a banal riff on 1953's "Monsieur Hulot's Holiday."Rated G. Grade: C-For a full review, click here.
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I Know Who Killed Me Blu-ray DVD Review (2007)
2007-11-29 13:31:00
"I Know Who Killed Me : DVD, Blu-ray"But was she in rehab when she found out? Lindsay Lohan stars in one of the year's worst movies in what has to be one of the worst years of the young actress' life. So, at least she's being consistent. Here, Lohan plays two parts. First, she's Aubrey, a sweet young writer mauled by a serial killer who lops off two of her limbs, and who then leaves her in a ditch to die. When Aubrey awakens in a hospital, she's convinced that she's Dakota, a sleazy stripper who looks just like Aubrey (though she favors a pole to a pen), and who allows the film to consider its few dim angles. Is Dakota really Aubrey? Is Aubrey really Dakota? Could it be that's she Aubrey's secret twin sister? Or maybe she's part of Aubrey's imagination, blunted by trauma? By the time the movie comes through with its answer, some might want to take Dakota's pole and pierce it through the heart of the DVD itself. Rated R. Grade: D-
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Prison Break: Season One Blu-ray DVD Review (2007)
2007-11-29 13:30:00
“Prison Break : Season One: Blu-ray"Brotherly love gone berserk. The first season of Fox's popular show, now on high-definition Blu-ray disc, finds Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) purposely getting arrested for armed robbery so he can be sent to the Fox River Penitentiary. There awaits his brother Linc (Dominic Purcell), who was convicted of murdering the vice president's brother and who now awaits execution. But did Linc do it? Linc's lawyer and former girlfriend Veronica (Robin Tunney) knows otherwise and, thanks to her, so does Michael, who has devised a plan (tattooed on his body) to break his brother out of the big house before it's too late. What ensues is claustrophobic and kinetic, with the tension mounting nicely as the season blasts into its final episodes. Grade: B+
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Leading Ladies Collection, Vol. 2 DVD Review (2007)
2007-11-29 13:30:00
"Leading Ladies Collection, Vol. 2"From Warner, a set of five films, each worth revisiting for the power of the performances alone.In 1955's “I'll Cry Tomorrow," Susan Hayward is struck hard by the more melodramatic undercurrents of life--and survives (she's excellent); 1966's “Big Hand for the Little Lady” stars JoAnn Woodward trying her hand at poker after her husband (Henry Fonda) dies; and in 1967's “Up the Down Staircase," Sandy Dennis joins Jean Stapleton in a battle to make a failed public school system work. In 1981's “Rich and Famous," Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen star in George Cukor's last film, while in 1982's “Shoot the Moon,” Diane Keaton is paired opposite Albert Finney in a movie about their characters' unraveling marriage and messy divorce. Grade: B+
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Into the Wild: Movie Review (2007)
2007-11-19 03:44:00
But at what cost?Written and directed by Sean Penn, based on Jon Krakauer's book, 140 minutes, rated R.So far, two of the year's best films have been directed by two actors, each of whom have won Academy Awards--one for writing, the other for acting. The first film of note, "Gone Baby Gone," was directed and co-written by Ben Affleck, whose career was in serious decay until he decided to get serious and show us again why he should matter. He did so--powerfully.The second film, "Into the Wild ," is from Sean Penn, who wrote and directed the movie from Jon Krakauer's bestselling nonfiction book. It is an excellent, first-rate account of a story that, depending on your perspective, did or didn't end so well for Christopher Johnson McCandless (a terrific Emile Hirsch). Some will recall that McCandless was the young man from a wealthy Virginia family who in 1990 chose not enter Harvard Law School or the workforce upon graduating from Emory University. Instead, he gave away his life ...
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Hairspray: DVD, Blu-ray Review (2007)
2007-11-19 02:24:00
“Hairspray : DVD, Blu-ray”Far from a drag.Adam Shankman’s "Hairspray" is one of the year’s best comedies, which is a surprise given that Shankman directed "The Pacifier" and "Cheaper by the Dozen 2," each of which put a flop in the box office’s flip.Not so with "Hairspray."Based on the hit Broadway musical by way of John Water’s 1988 camp classic movie, the film is expertly conceived, fun and infectious.In the lead is newcomer Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad, the impossibly perky, plus-sized Baltimore lass whose beaming naivete and kindness are about to be challenged when, in 1962, the country nudges forward with the ramifications of segregation and integration.Those are serious subjects to explore, so it’s to the movie’s great credit that it manages to make you feel just how serious without ever sacrificing the film’s mischief and fun.Beyond Blonsky, whose unflagging energy should be canned by Red Bull, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley, Am...
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Live Free or Die Hard: DVD, Blu-ray Review (2007)
2007-11-19 02:21:00
“Live Free or Die Hard : DVD, Blu-ray”Len Wiseman's "Live Free or Die Hard " turns out to be that odd sequel that works more often than it doesn't.This fourth film in the "Die Hard" franchise offers exactly what you expect, only with more outlandish stunts, a bigger budget, and an older Bruce Willis returning as John McClane, the New York City cop who this time out finds himself up against his most formidable foe yet--the computer--which McClane admits he knows nothing about.It's here that the film offers its wink and a twist.Co-starring opposite Willis is Justin Long, the dude from the Apple Computer commercials, who goes a long way in making "Live Free or Die Hard" as enjoyable as it is.He's Matt Farrell, a New Jersey-based computer hack who has run afoul of the law and who McClane is ordered to bring to Washington, D.C., for questioning. Trouble is, Farrell also is wanted by some seriously stylish thugs who are out to destroy the U.S. defense system because of issues surro...
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Mission: Impossible--Complete Third Season (2007)
2007-11-19 02:19:00
"Mission : Impossible --Complete Third Season "With each show beginning with the lighting of a fuse, it's up to the writers, the director and the cast to sustain the excitement and tension inherent within. In the third season of this influential espionage show, which spawned a movie franchise, that proves true once again. Here, the world is reduced to the size of a postage stamp and we're all over it, with Peter Graves, Martin Landau, Greg Morris, Barbara Bain and Peter Lupus smoothly handling the most crafty of criminals. Entertainment is key here--gadgets abound--but so is credibility. The show does a fine job walking the tricky line each offers. Occasionally, when compelled, it also leaps off it. Grade: B+

Melrose Place: Complete Third Season (2007)
2007-11-19 02:16:00
“Melrose Place : Third Season ”Strife! Sex! Hit men! Bomb threats! This third season of the popular, long-running series introduced Kristin Davis (“Sex and the City”) as Brooke Armstrong, a not-so-sweet young lady who had nothing but trouble in mind for the glossy residents of Melrose Place , and who helped to push the series toward one mother of a cliffhanger. The show offers everything you expect from a nighttime soap opera--backbiting, infighting, greed, recklessness, people flat on their backs with others on top of them--and it does it well, as these things go, with one of the brighter high points being Heather Locklear as the conniving Amanda Woodward. It's tough to go wrong with Locklear, who rarely disappoints, and it's fun to revisit Marcia Cross before she became Bee on "Desperate Housewives." As a plus, the third season includes guest appearances by former porn star Traci Lords and game-show host Chuck Woolery. So, for fans of the series, naturally it's a must....
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Gilmore Girls: Complete Seventh Season
2007-11-19 02:15:00
"Gilmore Girls : Complete Seventh Season "With names like Sookie St. James, Luke Danes and Logan Huntzberger, you expect "The Gilmore Girls" to be soapier than it is. But with its core relationship focused on the lives of single-mother Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and her daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel), the storylines are steeped less in camp than in its privileged idea of reality. Quirky New England characters and old money round out the landscape of this final season in the series, which occasionally is too precious for its own good. Still, moments are mildly amusing, and this well-acted show, while hardly at its best here in spite of bringing Lorelai and Luke together, is wise enough not to hit us too hard over the heads about how difficult it can be to grow up, whether you're a child or an adult. Grade: C+

C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation: Complete Seventh Season DVD Review (2007
2007-11-19 02:14:00
“C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation : Complete Seventh Season ”Arguably, the series’ best season, with the miniature killer on the loose (thankfully, that isn’t as corny as it sounds) and, at season’s end, one key character’s life hanging in the balance. William Peterson, Marg Helgenberger and Jorja Fox return, with Liev Schreiber showing up in a supporting role as a questionable new cop on the scene (he's excellent). All make for a fine cast, with the storylines digging into the grisly aspects of investigative work in ways that reveal character through action, not exposition. This is a good reason why each show feels greased with drama, horror and, in some cases, wry humor and the tug of romance. Highlights include the episodes "Leaving Las Vegas," "The Good, The Bad and The Dominatrix," and "Empty Eyes," in which six Vegas showgirls are snuffed before their time. Their show might be over, but this show, on the other hand, nicely goes on. Grade: B+
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