January 2008 Archives

There has been a lot of criticism about The latest Fantastic 4 - Rise of the Silver Surfer. But I have to say that I liked it.

Maybe it's cause the characters are familiar.  Maybe it's just because Jessica Alba never fails to impress (especially in her outfit).

But seriously, I did enjoy the movie.   We got to learn a little more about the characters.  While character development was a little lacking, there still was some.

That's the problem with a lot of sequels (which I didn't find in this movie) - Character development goes out the door in favor of bigger special effects.

The movie is about how the Silver Surfer is going to destroy the world.  We soon find out, however, that he does so not because he wants too but because he has too.

Of course the Fantastic Four set out to stop him but in the mean time Dr. Doom manages to resurrect himself and he intercepts the Surfer before the 4 can get to him.

Oh David Fincher how you creep me the hell out....and I love you for it. Zodiac is one of those films that you think about way after it's done. I got my greedy hands on the special 2 disc Director's Cut and let me say that even if your not a fan of the film itself, if your into serial killers this 2 disc set is for you. The extra's on this disc are amazing, from a full documentary done on the killings to a chilling featurette on the suspected killer (Arthur Leigh Allen) you will be amazed by the depth and  quality of the speshul features as the Zodiac might call them. Some of the features include Commentary from the Director, Jake Gyllenhal, Robert Downey and more.

It also includes The Visual Effects of Zodiac, Previsulization of Zodiac and more.Make sure you check out the Visual Effects extra below. It's amazing how much of this film is not actually filmed where you think. However my favorite two extras on this disk are "This is the Zodiac Speaking" which is the feature length documentary about the case and "His Name Was Arthur Leigh Allen" which is the absolutely chilling  featurette about the prime suspect in the Zodiac case from the people who investigated him and his personal friends. My only complaints would be that it's all talking heads and they don't really mix in any footage or old photos of Arthur Leigh Allen so it gets kinda strange. Check out some of the behind the scenes below. And did I mention that it wins DVD packaging of the year award?

Final Score of a B+

- Dave

Some amazing special fx work on the blue screen of Zodiac.....this is how all behind the scenes should be. 

Now this is what I am talking about. You made a film about one of the world's most facinating conspiracies, so we should get here to from as many people as possible about alternative theories. This one is a doozy..Of course to see the rest of this go out and buy the DVD from PBS today. I give this Behind The Scenes footage a B + for it's craziness.

For such a good documentary these Behind The Scenes features are not that good. The one below I give a F. It's about as boring a talking head shot you will ever see. I mean at least cut to the footage as you talk about it....Yawn...



- Dave

I had the pleasure of reviewing a gem of a film today. The film was a documentary by PBS called "Oswald's Ghost" and is the story of Lee Harvey Oswald. The film poses a central question to the conspiracy behind the assassination of JFK. How could a man as inconsequential as Lee Harvey Oswald kill someone as consequential as JFK? The documentary was areal treat to watch, featuring excellent interviews with the likes of Dan Rather, Norman Mailer and other who were there when it happened. It also doesn't take the easy road of claiming it was a conspiracy by Cuba/CIA/Russia/Martians. Nor does it blame everything on Lee Harvey Oswald. Overall it's a very fair and balanced look at what happened and why American is still facinated about this event over 30 years later. Another plus for the film is the excellent musical scoring of all the scenes and credits. The music really helps the since of foreboding that runs throughout the film.



 The other plus for this film is that is featured some sweet archive footage, and of course, the granddaddy of all archive footage, the Zapruder film. To my shock the Zapruder film is still as disturbing as it was when I was kid (and probably when people saw it 30 yrs ago). It has to be seen to be believed and it's not for the weak hearted. Another reason this film really hit home for me was growing up in Dallas we regularly would drive past Dealy plaza and not think twice about the history behind it. Interesting how we become oblivious to the world around us sometimes..

All in all this was a great documentary and something you should really check out if your interested in History or even a minor conspiracy buff. As for the question the film asks, what do you think? Did he act alone?

I give it a final score of A

So there are a ton of DVD review sites out there, but none that cover what goes into making these films happen. That is where we come in. Not only do we review the film but we also review all the special features and behind the scenes featurettes that show you how these things are made. Also we don't just tell you about them we show you them...more to come on that in our first review......

- David and Rob

This is mind blowing......do you believe?