http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com Movie, Game, and Hardware News and Releases http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15131.htm Can I even discuss this? Southland Tales? Richard Kelly? The Rock? Who cares? Barack Obama won. Sarah Palin has to go back to Alaska! Who would have conceived this possibility? Half a century ago, a black man couldn’t vote in many parts of this country. Now, a black man will be leading this country. Every attack they launched against him, every repetition proved fruitless. William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, none of it mattered. Because what they didn’t realize is that when the countr... Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15131 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15129.htm Oftentimes, if only to register shock on my father’s face, I like to point out that I’m not actually too big a fan of James Bond. I like to point out that I’m of the opinion that John Shaft could wipe the floor with James Bond anyday. Though I was pleasantly surprised with Casino Royale, the twenty or so Bond films don’t really transfer too well nowadays. However, Sean Connery did do something special with the role. He embodied the cool of that persona like no one else. And Thunderba... Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15129 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15128.htm I suppose this is some sort of throwback to the Roger Corman 60’s films full of fast rides and faster women. Those are definitely interesting movies to watch. Some are even halfway decent, like The Intruder. But mostly they’re all flash and no substance. But that was okay, because Corman was an original. However, when you do basically the same thing but 40 years later, that originality goes out the window, and all you’re left is bored. ‘Presented by Quentin Tarantino’ is a much more c... Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15128 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15124.htm This is a great movie. One of my favorites. I've probably seen it fifty times, and that's not including the 24 hour TBS marathon on Christmas. You've probably seen it as well. In my opinion, not seeing this movie is like spitting on the flag. And who wants to be spitting on the flag at Christmas time? This is the story of Ralphie, a ten year old growing up in 1940's Indiana, and his epic quest for the perfect Christmas gift. The object of his obsession is an authentic Red Ryder BB gun. Whe... Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15124 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15125.htm I’m glad these discs finally came in. I started watching Chuck recently, and kind of have been hooked since. I knew the basics of what had happened in season one, but now I’m much better informed. I know it’s only an adventure comedy type of show, but it still is pretty well written and layered, so it helps having seen season one. When Chuck (Zachary Levi) a twenty-something computer geek inadvertently downloads critical government secrets into his brain, his former college friend turne... Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15125 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15126.htm Abigail Breslin is the new Dakota Fanning. That’s right, there’s a new one. A cute little girl who can actually act is hard to come by. She was even nominated for an Oscar, which I did think was kind of weird. Anyway, here new movie is one for the whole family. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl . In the midst of the depression, 10 year old Kit lives in a boarding house her parents own in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has a passion for writing, and dreams of having something of hers put in the... Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15126 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15127.htm As the film opens, we see three women being interrogated by the police. In flashback, we see three years earlier. Bridget (Diane Keaton) lived a comfortable upper class life until her husband Don (Ted Danson) was fired from his position and sunk into debt. To make ends meet, Bridget takes a job at the Federal Reserve. On her first day, Bridget hatches a scheme to steal damaged dollar bills slated for destruction. For her team she chooses Nina (Queen Latifah), who works the dollar bill... Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15127 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15111.htm In his heyday of owning the planet, Steven Spielberg produced Poltergeist. He tapped Tobe Hooper, director of the ridiculously unsettling Texas Chainsaw Massacre, to make the PG rated Poltergeist. The youngest daughter of the Freeling family, Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke), seems to be connecting with the supernatural through a dead channel on the televison. It is not for long when the mysterious beings enter the house's walls. At first seeming like harmless ghosts, they play tricks and am... Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15111 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15112.htm did not enjoy Constantine. It is in the vein of super crappy satan films like Stigmata and End of Days. Keanu Reeves, one of the worst actors in Hollywood, is of course the star. He plays John Constantine. I think he's some sort of angel cast down to hell attempting to work his way back into heaven by killing a whole lot of demons. Rachel Weisz, an excellent actress, does a good job but it is pointless in a film like this. She plays Angela Dodson. Angela's sister committed suicide appare... Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15112 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15113.htm Romancing the Stone is a love story, and an Indiana Jones-esque adventure directed by Robert Zemeckis. Its an excellent film. It won the Golden Globe for best picture and Kathleen Turner won a Golden Globe for her performance. Critics love to use the words 'rip-roaring' to describe a film, and if any movie is rip-roaring, its this one. Kathleen Turner plays Joan Wilder, a romance novelist from New York. She discovers that her sister Elaine's husband was killed in Colombia, and Elaine is st... Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15113 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15114.htm The Jewel of the Nile is the sequel to Romancing the Stone. Its basically the same movie, which is good because Romancing The Stone was a good one. There's trouble in paradise with the romance between Colton (Douglas) and Joan (Turner). She wants to settle down and he wants to continue traveling around the world, seeking adventure. A wealthy Arab (Spiros Focas) invites Joan to travel to the Middle East. Jack bails out and chooses to sail around the Mediterranean instead. But of course ther... Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15114 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15102.htm Ang Lee’s Hulk was a disappointment to fans of comics everywhere, not just in the box office receipts. The Hulk is one of the flagship A-List comic book heroes, and although Lee’s attempt at the Hulk was certainly bold, it was too mired in Lee trying to be too artistic, whereas he could’ve left it at “Hulk Smash” and been good. Early this year, director Louis Leterrier (The Transporter) was hired by Universal and Marvel to do a reboot of the franchise. 2008’s The Incredible Hulk isn’t nece... Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15102 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15103.htm Drugs have had an unbelievable effect on America in the last fifty years. Crime is up. Murder is up. Everything's related to drugs. The heroin craze of the 50's, 60's, and 70's is an interesting story to tell. Mobsters in New York, junkies on the street, and Frank Lucas on top of the pyramid. Well, let's not get into how inaccurate this movie is technically. When it comes to history, American Gangster is all over the place. But when it comes to entertainment, this is one of the most exciting ... Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15103 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15104.htm David Croenberg’s follow-up to A History of Violence is an unflinching and brutal crime drama sure to be remembered for years to come. Viggo Mortnesen’s performance as the ruthless Nikolai in a world of brutal Russian gangsters is astounding. That performance, along with the excellent work of the supporting cast, the excellent script, and beautiful directing, are what drives this unrelenting and uncompromising film. Anna (Naomi Watts) is a British midwife who comes across the diary of an a... Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15104 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15106.htm In the recent tradition of slash and slash some more mindless horror movies, The Strangers arrives on dvd and Blu-ray with an unrated edition. This phenomenon has been seen since the “unrated” version of American Pie. It seems the studio purposely films a couple of scenes they know can’t make the cut, sometimes even not submitting them. That way, they can release a new unrated edition, even if it varies very little. This isn’t any different, in any substantive sense, from the version we s... Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15106 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15108.htm Casino is the third in Scorsese’s gangster series. Mean Streets and Goodfellas proceeded them. Mean Steets was about the bottom rung badguys. They were young punks, not making any real money at it. Goodfellas was about the workaday gangster, The guys that make money, live large, but are always working, always scheming. Casino is about the top of the latter. Its about the Mafia’s greatest feat, control of an entire city and an entire economy. Robert DeNiro stars as Ace Rothstein, a... Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15108 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15110.htm Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential is a crime saga of Los Angeles’s heyday in the 50’s. Based on James Ellroy excellent noir novel, it was robbed of best picture by Titanic. Damn James Cameron and that beautiful man Leonardo DiCaprio. It's 1953, and the City of Angels is in the grip of an unprecedented wave of violence. Cops on the take turn their backs on crimes. The jailing of a major mob boss leaves a vacuum of power that leads to a turf war. Then comes the Night Owl Massacre, whe... Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15110 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15115.htm Welcome to the Suck. War movies typically contain gunfire and battles? Right? People die in war movies? Right? Well, not in every war movie. Director Sam Mendes telling of Anthony Swofford's true life account of his time in the Persian Gulf is a war movie that is missing just that: war. Jake Gyllenhaal (The Day After Tomorrow) is Pvt. Anthony Swofford, a Marine Sniper and Scout who can kill a target at over 1,000 yards (ten football fields!); unfortunately, Swofford is a war, Desert Storm... Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15115 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15116.htm I'm a big Michael Mann fan. Heat is one of my all-time favorites, and I believe that Mann is one of the most talented filmmakers working in Hollywood today. He always turns out quality, and is a true professional, he knows his stuff. So, I went into Miami Vice with high hopes. I've never seen an episode of the show, it was a little before my time. There are some reruns on Spike TV occasionally, but they never really grabbed my interest. But seeing the show is not a prerequisite for watching t... Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15116 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15119.htm I suppose that once you have a few hundred million dollars or more, money sort of loses meaning. What doesn’t lose meaning is power. Being the man in Hollywood who can get the people flocking to see a movie, no matter what it is- has to be quite a rush. Spielberg and Lucas needed that power again. They needed the world to bow to them once more. They needed another Indiana Jones. I always enjoyed The Last Crusade. It seemed to be a suitable bookend and definitely made up for the trave... Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15119 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15120.htm Robert Downey Jr. has led an interesting and quite unstable career over his years in Hollywood. After coming onto the scene in the 80’s, he proceeded to spiral out of control into addiction, occasionally churning out an incredible performance. He spent some time in the slammer, drove down the street naked, and crashed on the bed in a stranger’s house. It would seem that his career was dead. Not true. He’s made quite an astounding comeback, and is now the star in what is sure to be a ridi... Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15120 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15101.htm Ang Lee is the last director anyone would expect to make a superhero movie. So, it was no surprise when he turned out an introspective and low key version of the Incredible Hulk, that was generally looked upon as a commercial failure, even though it made hundreds of millions of dollars. Many critics also were harsh to Lee's efforts. They were hurt that this wasn't Crouching Tiger, and they felt Lee didn't meet up to his potential. The comic book fans thought he was unfaithful to the source ma... Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15101 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15098.htm Seth Rogen is an incredibly funny comedic character, and a whole wave of this "new" brand of "loser" comedy that gets re-invented and redone every few years. I'm not saying that this is an unoriginal movie, I'm just saying that the whole idea of a leading man who doesn't look like a leading man and more realism and all that has been around since The Graduate and I really get tired of hearing all these dumbasses talk about real people in movies like its some kind of new thing. Yes, superstars ... Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15098 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15099.htm Steve Carrell is one of the most talented comedic actors working today. Taking up where Jim Carrey left off, Carrell is able to make us laugh in nearly any situation. He is just a natural in every sense of the word. His breakout hit was the 40 Year Old Virgin, where he plays a likable guy named Andy, who just never happened to get laid. It often seems that the R-rated comedy is dead, or the R-rated action film (see Die Hard 4). Studios are nervous about any film that would exclude their ta... Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15099 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15121.htm It’s a well known story. Michael Corleone, returned from war, rejoins his family. But the Corleone Family is actually a criminal organization run by Michael’s father Vito, the Godfather. Arguments rage about which film is superior, Godfather or Godfather 2. Of course the awful third installment is not in the discussion and should not even be in this box set. I’m fall on the side of the sequel. That’s not to malign the original, but Part 2 is quite possibly the greatest film ever mad... Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15121 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15097.htm Its hard to believe that Christopher Nolan could come onto the scene and so thoroughly revive a seemingly dead franchise. But he did it. This is arguably the best Batman ever produced. Some days I think it is, but other days I can't- if only because of Jack Nicholson. That being said, Batman Begins is undeniably an excellent action feature that leaves you wanting more. As the film begins, we see young Bruce Wayne. He travels around Gotham City with his greatly respected father, soaking up ... Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15097 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15075.htm As the Wachowski brothers (or sisters or whatever) continued their meteoric rise to the top, they couldn't help but look for a project that spoke to them. A project that exemplified their talents and grabbed the audience's attention. It would be quite a difficult task to top The Matrix, to top V for Vendetta, but they're up to the challenge. Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare yourself for a very strange remake of a boring and poorly animated Speed Racer cartoon. I really don't know what to ... Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15075 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15094.htm I've discussed remakes before. You know, how they're the bastard son of the unoriginal sequel and all that. Hollywood also loves a horror movie, at least one that they think is certain to make money. And why try an original idea when you can just retread an old one? To them, that's more likely to succeed. And it also doesn't require them to think. Therefore, we have Dawn of the Dead- a film that, despite my criticism of the remake, is actually pretty entertaining and a nice update to the orig... Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15094 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15095.htm George A. Romero finally satisfied his loyal fans and revived his famed zombie movie franchise. And it was definitely a satisfying experience, truly an example of the man's talent in the genre. This is a smart and entertaining action picture with a lot of real scares and entertaining characters. The film is set in the future, in a world that has been overtaken by zombies. The remaining humans of the earth have barricaded themselves inside a city to protect themselves from the flesh-eating ... Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15095 http://www.digitalaudiovideo.com/bluray_reviews_15096.htm The Thing is the excellent John Carpenter sci-fi horror action picture starring Kurt Russell. It is a remake of the corny 1950's classic, but its far superior to the original. This is a psychological roller coaster. No one knows who to trust, and neither does the audience. It also features mind-blowing special effects and excellent dialogue. It is a cynical film and can be quite a bummer, but its absolutely an amazing experience. This also remains an incredibly topical film that is still rele... Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT 15096