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Content by David C. Anderson
Commentateur n° : 31,185
Votes Utiles:
2
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Reviews Written by
David C. Anderson "fenrisbooks" (Baltimore)
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Snuff
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| DVD ~ Margarita Amuchástegui |
| Price: CDN$ 35.99 |
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| Availability: In Stock |
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Not what you're thinking, Jun 26 2003
Like many films that appeared in the early 70s and raised a stink for one reason or another - the publicity surrounding the Findlay's film Snuff is more interesting than the film itself. In fact, this film - which supposedly depicted the actual dismembering of a young girl - caused such a fuss when it played in New York that the mayor demanded that the perpetrators be captured and prosecuted. That is, of course, until the producers admitted that the film was a fraud and produced the dead actress for all to see. The thing is, Snuff films have always been the stuff of urban legends - and still are (that's probably a good thing). Clearly a reaction to the urban legend, this film is nothing more than a late 60s Hell's Angelsish biker movie with a tacked on ending in which the film's director disembowels a young blond girl. Not sexual, and hardly interesting - the snuff bit of the film is hardly impressive as far as either shock or special effects. Of course, you have to sit through a turgid tale of bikers and drug smuggling to even get to this bit - and it just isn't worth it. Maybe a movie to have in your collection as a conversation piece - but then you run the risk of a friend wanting to watch it, and you won't want to.
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Precollection
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| Price: CDN$ 11.99 |
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| Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 2 months |
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Sadly, 4 years in the making, May 21 2003
I never thought that I would be disappointed by a Lilys album. I even found much to recommend the Darla Bliss Out release featuring the band of a few years back - despite many fans being less than receptive. So, the way I figure it - even if lead singer Kurt Heasley was bad mouthing this album at shows as being a necessary release of an album to make a label happy - I would most certainly get something out of it. Or, I would grow to like it, warm up to it over time. Sadly, this is not the case. Fans have waited four years for a new Lilys album and unfortunately, they will most certainly have to wait a few more years for a good one.
Of course, the proof is always in the music - and the kernel of a new album is here - with the final track 365 giving a glimpse of what might have been. However, the record lurches to a rather weak start with the title track which sounds almost embarassingly like a Morrissey song from a decade back.
The second song, Melusina is much better - but it manages to just sit there like a lump of cold rice pudding - not doing very much. The third track, Will my Lord be Gardening, is much closer to having the potential of being a hit (or near hit) and I'm pretty sure that this is the track that will survive this album and be played live in years to come. There is little of the magic that made Better Can't Make Your Life Better such a spectacular achievement - no nannys or elevators or returns - or even anything as interesting as the 3-Ways better songs. It had to happen eventually, that the band would release an album that didn't live up to the incredibly high standards they had created for themselves. With perhaps a good (read acceptable) song here and there - there is a possibility that this album would make a good used purchase - but only the rabidly curious should buy it new. Wait until the (next) new album comes out. Keep your fingers crossed.
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The most fun you can have playing with yourself, April 25 2003
I rented this game because I was never much of a fan of the Rainbow Six series but people told me this game was good. They weren't wrong, this game is fantastic. Along the same lines as other sneak titles like Hitman and Thief, this game requires the player rely on stealth more than firepower. However, that isn't to say that it doesn't have its splendid moments of gratifying carnage. Let me put it into bulletpoints.
1) This game has some of the best AI I have ever seen in a game. The enemy actively searches you out and is excellent at taking cover and even at pinning you down. It even has the enemy work as a team at times - which can be frustrating yes, but always fun.
2) Graphics are top notch. I really can't emphasize this enough. I'm still astounded by the amount of care that went into designing this game.
3) There are so many ways to dispatch with your enemy - take your pick. Grenades, bullets, sniper rifle, various stun weapons, even a bottle to the head. There is definite replayability here.
4) Cool, cool gadgets. Including a nice pair of night vision goggles with an infared setting.
5) Decent cutscenes - they could have been better
6) The fact that you can take the enemy hostage and use him as a human shield was a definite plus.
7) Challenging, but not impossible. I usually end up getting frustrated and cheat with most games. Not the case here. The learning curve is perfect - always a challenge, but I never threw down my controller in disgust (okay, maybe once).
8) Convenient save points prevent you from getting too far and then dying - so you never need to restart from the beginning of a level. Best of all, its automatic.
While the game has its frustrations - sometimes mission objectives can be a bit muddy and there are levels where you can't kill anyone (including a super cool level in which you break into the CIA) forcing you to rely on arguably less entertaining non-lethal methods of dispatching with your foe - overall this is a solid game worth every gaming penny that you might spend. Although I finished the game in a little over a week of solid play, I will most likely buy it in the near future. I'm sure it will only get better the second time through.
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Darkness Falls
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| DVD ~ Chaney Kley |
| Price: CDN$ 14.95 |
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| Availability: In Stock |
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Not worth the time, April 21 2003
At a slim 86 minutes this negligible entry into the "stay out of the dark" subgenre of horror is so bad, its almost unwatchable. Any talent among the cast is squandered as they try and wrestle with a poor script and a monster that looks at times like a tattered garbage bag flapping in the wind. Where Pitch Black used the same premise to good effect by blending it with an at times cliche alien SF story, Darkness Falls squanders it with far too many jumpy moments that only serve to remind the audience that the film isn't quite as scary as it should be. Add to this a small boy that we should be rooting for but ultimately root against due to his line delivery - pronouncing r's as w's so that words like "dark" sound like "dawk" - and you have a film that comes short in nearly every category. Of course, if you have never seen the Fog or your horror memory laspses before 1996, then you might find something to like. For those horror fans with a fond recollection for horror cinema of a bygone era, this film is nothing more than an 86 minute cliche.
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Hitman 2, Oct 11 2002
I love this game. Its a nice mixture between the stealth of the Eidos game Thief and other F.P.S. with the key to success being stealth and problem solving ability. What I like most about this game so far is that (at least in the early levels) you have the option between carrying out your mission stealthily or by going postal and eliminating everyone who stands in your path (infinitely more satisfying). The game features one of the largest arsenals I have yet to see in a game and the weapons are incredibly realistic. The graphics overall are astounding and for a video game, the storyline isn't so bad. With three difficulty settings this game promises great replayability. Additionally, I can't stress how much fun it is to go back to a level you have already played and take out every living thing with a nice shotgun blast to the abdomen. Its about as satisfying as the best rampage in GTA ever gets and won't disappoint gamers, fans of the genre, or just your average sociopath. With a wide array of guns, gadgets, and missions that can be played any number of ways - this game is gaming money well spent.
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The Thing
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| Availability: Currently unavailable |
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My Thing Review, Sep 8 2002
First of all, as one of the biggest John Carpenter fans (I even kind of liked Ghosts of Mars) that I know, I was both eagerly anticipating and dreading this game. I knew that there was no way for it to live up to the 1982 film, but I was hoping that it would. I am both pleased and somewhat disappointed. As a Carpenter fan I enjoyed the way that the game managed to build upon the film. You do find out who was infected at the end of the movie (was is MacReady or was it Childs) and you get to look at the spaceship that Blair (A.k.a Wilford Brimley) was building - and all of this happens in the playable prologue in a visit to the site of the original film. The nice mood that the game builds up in this prologue (and trust me, its really creepy) eventually winds down into a rather average first person shooter. Now, as a fan of both half-life AND all of the resident evil games (yes, even survivor!) I like first person shooters as much as I like survival horror games - but this ends up being almost too much of the former. While much has been said here about all of the great aspects of this game, little has been said about what just doesn't quite work. Yes, the whole trust aspect of the game is interesting - but there are problems. Certain squad members only follow you so far during levels before they change into a version of the thing and attack you (i.e. they will change just before you fight a boss - they won't go any further - so whether you kill them when they are a thing or save yourself some health and just put a bullet in their head before it happens is up to you. I prefer the latter since it saves ammo and it usually takes off the top of their head in a nifty video game gore way.) Now, I have no problem with this - it was in the movie and so it should be here. However, I see no point in being able to test the blood of your squad if they change into the Thing whether or not the blood test comes back positive or negative. Why even put the blood test in the game? So far, I have had about 5 team members - all of whom who have changed into the monster despite my giving them blood tests in which they tested negative for being infected. So that's a problem.
Second, the real time weapon switching (as opposed to Resident Evil, in which you have to switch to an inventory menu) can be really frustrating. Espescially when you are looking for a weapon, scrolling through a list, and getting jumped by five of those hopping chicken things from half-life. I've been killed many times because I pulled up a sniper rifle instead of my shotgun. Also, the weapon icons are so small that its hard to tell the difference between weapons - and since I only have a 29" TV - it can be tough.
The controls are much nicer than the "turn and move design of resident evil - however, since (at least on playstation two) the same joystick you move with is also the crouch button, I often find myself trying to run from a particularly tough foe, only to find myself duck walking away in a crouch since I pushed down on the joystick nub while running.
All in all this game is great for the gamer who likes survival horror or for the fan of the Carpenter film who has never played R.E. or Devil May Cry or Silent Hill. However, it will never replace R.E. Code Veronica in my collection.
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The Thing
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| Availability: Currently unavailable |
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My Thing Review, Sep 8 2002
First of all, as one of the biggest John Carpenter fans (I even kind of liked Ghosts of Mars) that I know, I was both eagerly anticipating and dreading this game. I knew that there was no way for it to live up to the 1982 film, but I was hoping that it would. I am both pleased and somewhat disappointed. As a Carpenter fan I enjoyed the way that the game managed to build upon the film. You do find out who was infected at the end of the movie (was is MacReady or was it Childs) and you get to look at the spaceship that Blair (A.k.a Wilford Brimley) was building - and all of this happens in the playable prologue in a visit to the site of the original film. The nice mood that the game builds up in this prologue (and trust me, its really creepy) eventually winds down into a rather average first person shooter. Now, as a fan of both half-life AND all of the resident evil games (yes, even survivor!) I like first person shooters as much as I like survival horror games - but this ends up being almost too much of the former. While much has been said here about all of the great aspects of this game, little has been said about what just doesn't quite work. Yes, the whole trust aspect of the game is interesting - but there are problems. Certain squad members only follow you so far during levels before they change into a version of the thing and attack you (i.e. they will change just before you fight a boss - they won't go any further - so whether you kill them when they are a thing or save yourself some health and just put a bullet in their head before it happens is up to you. I prefer the latter since it saves ammo and it usually takes off the top of their head in a nifty video game gore way.) Now, I have no problem with this - it was in the movie and so it should be here. However, I see no point in being able to test the blood of your squad if they change into the Thing whether or not the blood test comes back positive or negative. Why even put the blood test in the game? So far, I have had about 5 team members - all of whom who have changed into the monster despite my giving them blood tests in which they tested negative for being infected. So that's a problem.
Second, the real time weapon switching (as opposed to Resident Evil, in which you have to switch to an inventory menu) can be really frustrating. Espescially when you are looking for a weapon, scrolling through a list, and getting jumped by five of those hopping chicken things from half-life. I've been killed many times because I pulled up a sniper rifle instead of my shotgun. Also, the weapon icons are so small that its hard to tell the difference between weapons - and since I only have a 29" TV - it can be tough.
The controls are much nicer than the "turn and move design of resident evil - however, since (at least on playstation two) the same joystick you move with is also the crouch button, I often find myself trying to run from a particularly tough foe, only to find myself duck walking away in a crouch since I pushed down on the joystick nub while running.
All in all this game is great for the gamer who likes survival horror or for the fan of the Carpenter film who has never played R.E. or Devil May Cry or Silent Hill. However, it will never replace R.E. Code Veronica in my collection.
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A funny movie that gets a bad rap, Aug 12 2002
I never saw this film in theaters. The reason I didn't was because the critics seemed to hate it so much I didn't want to waste my money. The other day, I rented it when I was standing at the video store and it was one of the only things left. I am so glad that I rented this film. I'll most likely go and buy it sometime next week. And here's why:
With a resin-caked genius, the guys in the comedy troupe Broken Lizard have made what is one of the most enjoyable and consistently funny films of recent years. It doesn't suffer from the third act unfunnyness that other comedies suffer when they sacrifice laughs and an established pace in favor of trying to wrap up a plot that wasn't that great in the first place. (A good example of this? How about the sometimes painfully bad ending to Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back - or any other movie where the plot and/or subplot love interest get in the way of comedy.) Here, although there is a love interest and there is a cohesive plot, one needent worry because these elements don't detract from the film at any point. Instead, the film keeps its spirit and pace going - never stopping to take ANYTHING seriously. There are very few gags here that don't work and if you're a fan of the aforementioned Jay & Silent Bob or Dude Where's My Car - this stoner comedy will most likely work for you. The film opens with a scene lifted out of Cheech and Chong's Up In Smoke - with a nice twist or two - and manages to maintain the energy throughout the film. Also, Brian Cox is brilliant as the head of the delinquent State Trooper post. So for fans of pot humor or films like Caddyshack or the original M*A*S*H* - this is surely a film you will enjoy. If you aren't a friend of the pot movies though - this film might make you wish you would have bought Serendipity instead.
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Great Film - bound to be an interesting DVD, Aug 8 2002
When I first saw this film in a theater with a broken heater suffering through a 103 degree fever, I believed that it was either a twisted flu triggered dream or one of the most delightfully insane films ever made. After all, could I attribute the presence of a mermaid Russ Tamblyn and a tabacco chewing talking cupcake to anything other than my own cooking brain. It seems that the filmmakers were under the same spell when they made this delightfully hilarious - yet horridly absurd film that has seemed to attract a legion of followers (and an equally strong army of detractors). Showcasing the talent of former Late Night with David Letterman regular Chris Elliot - fresh from the mixed success of his sitcom Get a Life (which managed to survive at Fox until a new head of programming decided he hated the show and vowed to cancel it despite decent ratings in even the worst time slots) - brought his charm to the big screen as a "fancy lad" who signs on as a cabin boy on a ship of crusty seamen after he manages to get the regular cabin boy (a great cameo by Conan O'Brien's own Andy Richter) knocked overboard and killed. Hilarity ensues as Elliot manages to upset the crew in every way imaginable - with absurd results. Full of cameos from favorites like David Letterman and Ann Magnuson - the film coasts through its 80+ minutes with ease, never stopping to try and take itself seriously. Full of extraneous bits of absurd humor and anachronisms galore - the film is like a live action episode of The Simpsons. While most Hollywood films pretend to try and make sense, its nice to have a film like Cabin Boy that completely defies sense. And Chris Elliot is so affable an actor that he manages to bring humor to even the most unfunny scenes. This is one comedy that grows in my esteem with each viewing and I never fail to find something new to laugh at.
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One of the better teen films of the eighties, Aug 8 2002
Before John Hughes put the sensitive teen film on the map, Bob Clark led another teen revolution in 1982 with his release of Porky's. Based upon his "real" experiences as a teen growing up in the 1950s, the film grossed a staggering 105 million in US rentals and secured its place as one of the most successful comedies of all time - it came in second to Tootsie that year. This DVD release restores the film to its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and provides a rich new print for future generations to enjoy. While not the first film in the teen gross out "genre" - it was certainly a defining film, and its easy to see why. At the time it set the standard for "gross" far outpacing the envelope pushing "Animal House" in terms of bad taste. Much like the influence American Pie had on nineties teen cinema, the influence of Porky's was far reaching.
It's sad then, that the sequel wasn't quite up to par. Clark insisted that the sequel was funnier than the first in interviews at the time, adding that the sequel was dealing with important issues while still maintaining the integrity of the original. Alas, while the morality of the first film remains - this time centered around miscegnation and indecency in a production of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream (the correlation to be made between the character's defense of the Shakespeare play against the upset moral majority and Clark's defense of the original Porky's is hard to miss) - the T & A that the first film deftly delivered to the pimply masses is missing. Subsequently, the moral message makes the film more preachy than fun, and the normally acceptable carbon copy sequel strategy doesn't work as a result. However, for the low price of 14.99, the DVD is worth purchasing for the guilty pleasure provided by the original - and the sequel can be enjoyed if only as a way to pass the time until the third film (a decent third entry in the tired series directed by newcomer James Tomack) is released.
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