Hi, Bryan Here….

I remember playing ‘Battleship’ as a kid. I remember it being a little like chess, requiring determination, logic, strategy, and a bit of fun.  Unfortunately, the film ‘Battleship’ has none of that.  It’s a complete calamity on all levels, with the exception of some incredible special effects.  FACT: ‘Battleship’ has a run time of 131 minutes.  That’s over two hours, folks.  In that span of over two hours (which I’ll never get back), the film failed in storytelling, action sequences, logic, and character development.  The whole film was laughable and made no sense at all.  It’s as if a third grader made the film.  And that’s sad, because I like director Peter Berg.  He’s done some really good stuff like, ‘The Rundown’ and ‘Very Bad Things’.  But with ‘Battleship’, he missed the mark by a good 100 feet.

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Hi, Bryan Here….

‘Crooked Arrows’ might be the first feature length narrative film on the fastest-growing sport, Lacrosse.  ‘Crooked Arrows’ was inspirational and an underdog story at heart.  Now I know we have seen our fair share of underdog films, such as; ‘Rocky’, ‘Underdogs’, and ‘Remember the Titans’, but  where ‘Crooked Arrows’ differs is that it shows a sport not only from its physical aspect, but also its spiritual, artistic, and historic background.  While there is an overabundance of cheesy heart-felt moments in this film, ‘Crooked Arrows’ has enough character and inspiration to rise above recent sports films.

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David, Here….

Firstly, I just want to point out that I enjoy British comedy.  It just has such a different feel than most of what we get on this side of the pond.  So, when I got my hands on this, I was understandably pretty excited despite not knowing anything about the film.  After reading the back of the case and watching the trailer (included on the title screen of the DVD) I was even more excited, it just sounded so absurd!  And… it was.

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Hi, Bryan Here….

Sacha Baron Cohen returns to the big screen with another instant iconic character — Aladeen, ‘The Dictator’, and every religion, culture, and nationality is fair game for Cohen’s politically incorrect humor.  Cohen’s over-the-top offensive humor is not for everyone, but if you like tongue-in-cheek humor that plays off of every stereotypes and prejudice imaginable, you’ll be laughing hysterically as Cohen keeps crossing the line and reveling in his inappropriate jokes.  Cohen hit a home run with ‘The Dictator’, and I can easily say that this film is funnier than his Ali G, Borat, and Bruno characters combined.

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Hi, Bryan Here….

I’ve been a fan of Edgar Allan Poe for as long as I can remember, and I have always loved watching films about his life, tales, and poems.  I was particularly excited when I heard that James McTeigue was going to direct ‘The Raven’, a murder-mystery that posits a fictional explanation for Poe’s mysterious death.   Unfortunately, while the main idea for the story is original and had the potential to be one of the better murder-mysteries made, ‘The Raven’ was just a series of unexciting plot twists that made me quote, ‘Nevermore’.

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Hi, Bryan Here….

Zal Batmanglij’s ‘Sound of My Voice’ put a complete spell on me after only the first few minutes of watching.  This is Batmanglij’s first feature film and is supposed to be the first of a planned trilogy.  If this is what we can expect from Batmanglij and Brit Marling, then count me as a fan-for-life.  Not in a long time has a film captivated me, leaving me wanting more so badly.  ‘Sound of My Voice’ will definitely leave you sitting on the edge of your seat and wanting more!

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Dave, Here….

I had never even heard of ‘Halls of Anger’ until I popped it into my blu-ray player so I decided to watch the trailer first (the trailer is available on the main menu of the disc, see Extras below).  From the trailer, you get a look at what this movie is going to be about, but it was actually a lot more interesting than I though it was going to be.

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Hi, Bryan Here…

The Dukes of Hazzard, The Addams Family, and the A-Team are all television shows that have become feature films over the past several years. The latest television show to be remade on the big screen is the 60′s television series, Dark Shadows. With its dark humor, strange characters, and gothic set pieces, how could off-beat director Tim Burton resist?  Unfortunately, Dark Shadows proves yet again that even though you have an expansive budget, amazing set pieces, and good actors, you don’t necessarily get a quality film.  Dark Shadows fails to humanize any of the characters besides Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), and although it started off as a fun quirky film, it never improved or advanced after the first ten minutes.

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Hi, Bryan Here….

Morgan Spurlock hits a home run with his new documentary, Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope.  Spurlock’s previous documentaries are: Super-Size Me, Greatest Movie Ever Sold, and the FX series 30 Days.  In all of these documentaries, Spurlock conducts different social experiments, always putting himself in front of the camera as the guinea pig.  With Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope, he is not seen on camera but rather follows several different people as they attend the one, the only, San Diego Comic-Con.

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Hi, Bryan Here….

By the end of Alejandro Brugués’ foreign film Juan of the Dead, you’ll be chanting the film’s title over and over.  For the past ten years or so, the zombie genre has become a household brand and form of entertainment.  Each director of a new zombie film tries to find novel ways to portray the flesh-eating undead.  There are the comedic horror zombies of Shaun of the Dead and the scary-as-hell, running zombies in the recent Dawn of the Dead.  I’ve even seen African zombies,  stripper zombies, and nazi zombies.  With Juan of the Dead, we get a black- humor zombie film with a caricatured backdrop of modern-day political Cuba.

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