Archives for December, 2008
Directed By Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Starring Don Cheadle, Guy Perce
Did you ever see a film that you wanted to be great but it just wasn’t? Traitor is a very slick film with a fantastic actor in the lead role but it’s just missing that special something that would make it a great film.
The Movie
Don Cheadle plays a devout Muslim working in Yemen selling weapons and his own bomb making skills to the highest bidder. He appears to be a villain, and no doubt he’s doing villainous things, but he’s troubled by what he does. It appears that his troubled past effects his actions and he carries guilt over what he does. This type of personality is required for Cheadle who otherwise would just be unacceptable as a villain. …continue reading
![Band Of Brothers [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Wb5TwvL1L._SL75_.jpg "Band Of Brothers [Blu-ray]")
Directed by: Low Ngai Yuen, James Lee, NG Tian Hann, and Ho Yuhang
Asian inspired horror is still a huge draw for many genre fans and even casual movie goers. However, the source is always the best place to go for these films since Hollywood notoriously messes with the original vision of the director. With Japan dominating the Asian horror market, China and other countries are getting in on the action. In the Asian horror vein, we get the Malaysian horror anthology Visits: Hungry Ghost Anthology. …continue reading
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Directed by Saul Dibb
Starring: Keira Knightly, Ralph Fiennes, Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper
I enjoy “costume” or period dramas. Okay, that is not easy to say among my film fanatic friends as they give me a hard time for liking Dangerous Liaisons, The Age of Innocence, Howard’s End and many more. So, The Duchess looks like it has some beautiful period costumes and people that are miserable in their romantic lives, so will I like it? Paramount Home Video recently released The Duchess.
The Movie
Georgiana Spencer (Keira Knightly) is a young sixteen year old girl as the 18th century story begins. She is finding out that she is to marry William Cavendish (Ralph Fiennes) who just so happens to be the 5th Duke of Devonshire. His blood runneth blue, indeed! …continue reading
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (22.6MB) | Embed
Alan, Brian, and Stephen are at a Christmas Eve party so what do they do? Hit record and start talking about whatever comes to mind, which this week is mostly comics. There’s a bit more of this and that in the mix but the focus is on comics for sure.
Happy Holidays from the Official CineGeek Podcasters!
83 punk bands, 45 cities. A compilation of the 13th year of Van’s Warped Tour. This disc includes performances and interviews with Bad Religion, Coheed and Cambria, Fishbone, Chiodos, Killswitch Engage and several others.
The Movie
I’m not a huge punk fan. I don’t mean that I don’t like it that much I mean that I’ve just never waded out past the breakers and explored the genre in depth. Sure, I love me some Ramones, Social Distortion and Bad Religion, but who doesn’t. I only recognize a few of the band names on this DVD and could name tunes from even fewer. You could make an argument that I don’t have any business reviewing this DVD but I would disagree. If you know your punk then you probably already know what’s on here and if it’s a must have or not. What if your not a punk fan? Is this DVD worth picking up? Well read on. …continue reading
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Adam Freeman & Marc Bernardin, Writers
Bruno Redondo, Penciller
Sergio Ariño, Inker
Aaron Minier, Flashback Sequence
Published by: Wildstorm
I have to admit, I never grow tired of storylines featuring mutants, delinquents, or underdogs taken in by a secret government agency and trained to be assassins. Something about it appeals to me on a very primal level. Of course, I’m fairly certain that had I taken the right aptitude test in grade school, I would be a top government agent by now rather than an insubordinate misfit pondering ways to make money on the internet with a webcam.
The Book
I guess you would call the characters of Push, #1 mutants: pushers, changers, sniffers, movers, phasers, watchers (not like Buffy watchers, sorry), and bleeders. Each plays a critical part within the Division, the government agency that recruited them at very young ages, taught them how to foster their unique abilities, and trained them to be assassins. …continue reading
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Directed By Paul W.S. Anderson
Written by Philip Eisner
Starring Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neil, Kathleen Quinlan, Richard T. Jones
Event Horizon did one thing right away when I dropped the blu-ray into my Playstation 3; it made me wonder what happened to the epic space movie. It seems that the only space movies being made these days are those attached to a franchise such as Star Trek and Star Wars. It’s been way too long since a movie like Alien hit the big screen. Once upon a time Star Wars was just a movie, not part of a franchise. Projects are supposedly in the works, but they’ve been in the works for a very long time with no results. Supposedly, Orson Scott Cards modern classic Ender’s Game is coming, as is Isaac Asimov’s epic book series The Foundation Trilogy but there’s been no news on those projects in a really long time. …continue reading
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Brooke Williams returns to our merry band as Brian Curtis had to be away this week. She comes to an off the rails episode where the discussions go everywhere and nowhere! We try pita chips and discuss the 10 buzz words of 2008, the X-Men, the videogame awards, and the new Stargate series.
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Directed by : Todd Phillips
Starring: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, and Vince Vaughn
Old School is a movie in the teen sex comedy vein, but with adults trying to take part in the festive debauchery. If you are looking for upscale humor and dry wit, this is not the movie for you. On the other hand, KY Jelly wrestling and streaking happen in this film. Who doesn’t like that?
The Movie
Old School is the story of three middle age men trying to relive their college experience. Of course antics ensue involving girls and drinking. This movie tries to make an entry into fraternity comedies like Animal House. While nothing can live up to or surpass that classic film, Old School is definitely funny and when not compared to other films, is a funny romp. …continue reading
Directed By: Walter C. Miller
Starring: Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Kris Kristoferrson, Rita Coolidge, Steve Martin, Tom T. Hall, Anne Murray and Andy Cauffman
These two seventies Christmas specials, one filmed in Los Angeles and the other at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, are the perfect prescription for some nostalgic Christmas spirit.
The Movie
Each year is actually packaged separately but they are so similar it seemed silly to do individual reviews for them. They are each about fifty minutes long and they both feature a male and female guest and a comedian along with Johnny and June. Neither one is all that Christmasy, the both feel more like an hour long musical variety show with a few Christmas songs thrown in. That being said they both have a different feel. …continue reading
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Cinematic Titanic is Joel Hodgson, Frank Conniff, Mary Jo Pehl, Trace Beaulieu and J. Elvis Weinstein
Doesn’t it just make you happy to see Joel and the gang back together again? Cinematic Titanic, formerly Mystery Science Theater 3000, releases another DVD, this time riffing and revisiting Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, circa 1964.
The Movie
Joel and the gang have been down this path before. Mystery Science Theater 3000 once tackled this wacky piece of cinematic candy back in 1991. But, since it was a fan favorite, Joel and his co-conspirators thought it might be fun to re-visit this film again, especially since they had access to the unedited cut of the film. …continue reading
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Directed by Mark Lafferty
Starring Rob Corddry, Monica Potter, Eva Longoria Parker, Jason Biggs
Straight to video comedies, or any genre of movie, can be a gamble. Sometimes the bet pays off and you find an unexpected gem. Sometimes, you lose big. Which one is Lower Learning? Anchor Bay Entertainment recently released Lower Learning on DVD and I placed my bets and crossed my fingers as I put the disc in the player.
The Movie
Geraldine Ferraro Elementary School has got some big problems. Trust me, you haven’t seen a school like this. Teacher and Administration regularly drink, take drugs and swear more than any student ever dared attempt. …continue reading
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (34.2MB) | Embed
This week we get heated up about several news items including a news item about Spider-man, a new M. Night Shyamalan film and much more! This week we give Snow beverages a go with three flvors sampled throughout the episode!
Starring Mathew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Naveen Andrews, George Garcia, Josh Holloway, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Terry O’Quinn, Emilie de Raven, Elizabeth Mitchell
Created By J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse
I came late to the Alias party, having watched most of it on DVD and joining the live broadcast for the last couple of years once I had caught up. The show had so many reboots in the last few seasons that it was nearly unwatchable by the time the final few episodes aired. With that said, it did properly close up the two main characters. This is important because that series was a creation of J.J. Abrams, the man that would next bring us LOST. …continue reading
![Super 8 (Single-Disc Blu-ray Edition) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JFt1LlPoL._SL75_.jpg "Super 8 (Single-Disc Blu-ray Edition) [Blu-ray]")
Produced By: Christina Kindwall
Starring: Zane Lamprey
In the third season host, Zane Lamprey, and his companion the stuffed monkey Pleebus, travel to fourteen destinations on four continents sampling the local spirits and drinking customs. Not recommended for recovering alcoholics. …continue reading
