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Movie DVD Reviews

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The Ugly Truth
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G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
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The Taking of Pelham 123
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Whatever Works
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Nothing Like the Holidays
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"Miss March" has something to show you

The sexy comedy "Miss March," about a man who wakes up from a coma to discover that his high school sweetheart has become a centerfold, is headed to DVD -- and you can catch a special clip promoting the movie here. Enjoy!

Staff Pick

The Simpsons Movie
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A PG-13 rating gives the makers of “The Simpsons” carte blanche to do things they wouldn’t dream of trying to slip past the TV censors, and they take full advantage of it. Drug use? Check. Profanity? Check. Nudity? Checkmate. And amazingly, none of it feels forced or out of character for the parties concerned. Well, one moment was wildly out of character, but it was also strangely cathartic. (Staff Picks Archive)

DVD QuickTakes

QuickTakes Archive / QuickTakes Archive (pre-May 2008)

Blood: The Last Vampire

Based on the anime of the same name, “Blood: The Last Vampire” isn’t exactly a terrible film, but it’s pretty bad considering it was actually given a theatrical release. Set in the 1970s, the story follows a half-human/half-vampire demon hunter named Saya (South Korean film star Jeon Ji-hyun, now going by the stage name Gianna) as she tracks down the head bloodsucker who murdered her father. When her undercover identity is blown by a military brat (Allison Miller), however, she’s forced to play babysitter as she prepares for the biggest battle of her life. I’m not exactly sure how Miller continues to get work, because although she has a much better understanding of the English language than her Asian co-star, she fumbles over her lines like she’s the one in need of a dialogue coach. That might be forgiven if the special effects weren’t so noticeably low-budget, but between the CG blood that sprays out of every character and the gargoyle-like creatures that the vampires transform into, this film has B-movie written all over it. So why the generous rating? Because in the right hands, this could have been a half-decent movie. The stylish swordfights alone make “Blood: The Last Vampire” more entertaining than it should be, but it’s still only worth seeing if you’re a fan of the anime.

Click to buy “Blood: The Last Vampire”

Triangle

“Triangle” is one of those films where the concept is more promising than the final product. Told in three 30-minute segments -- with each one helmed by a different director -- the movie stars Simon Yam, Louis Koo and Sun Hong Lei as a trio of drinking buddies who are down on their luck. But when a mysterious man approaches them one night with information about an ancient treasure buried underneath a government building, the three friends attempt to pull off the perfect heist. Unfortunately, just about everything that can go wrong does, and while that certainly makes for an engaging crime thriller, it’s also the film’s biggest problem. There are simply too many people with their hands in the pot, from the three directors (Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam and Johnnie To) to the six writers credited for the script. As such, the story is confusing as hell at first, testing the audience’s patience with very little background info and numerous subplots. By the time Lam’s second third has run its course, however, the pieces are all in place for a tension-packed final act that To masterfully directs with equal parts action, comedy and drama. “Triangle” isn’t one of their finest films, but fans of the directors will no doubt enjoy watching how it evolves in the hands of some of Hong Kong’s greatest filmmakers.

Click to buy "Triangle"

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Easily the best of the "Ice Age" movies to date, though there is still room for improvement. The main characters of Manny (Ray Romano), Diego (Denis Leary) and Sid (John Leguizamo) are still bland as waffles, as are "Ice Age 2: The Meltdown" returning characters Ellie (Queen Latifah), Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck). But the "Ice Age" gang gains one huge upgrade in the form of Buck (Simon Pegg) a daredevil weasel who also happens to be completely nuts, which of course wins Buck the instant affections of Crash and Eddie. They even worked dinosaurs into the mix without jumping the shark - they live in a secret world beneath the ground - though it did cause me to wonder how the other animals knew what they were, since they had never seen one before and presumably do not have history books. There is a hilarious tribute to '90s action movies where Buck tries to save Manny and Diego from a meat-eating plant, and must choose between cutting the red root and the blue root. The Scrat subplot is still the best part of the movie, and is ramped up by a new love interest, the eyelash-batting Scratte. But the A-story is slowly but surely holding its own.

We cannot vouch for the 3D aspect of the movie, but considering the number of thrilling first-person chase sequences contained here, it appears they were quite generous with it. They were also quite generous with the extras, including every Scrat short film and a deluge of featurettes on drawing characters and coming up with the designs for Scratte and the dinosaurs. Why Fox decided not to screen this for us is a mystery, as the movie is quite good.

Click to buy "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs"

Archive

Complete Movie Archives

Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection
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Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection
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The Amicus Collection
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Billy Madison/Happy Gilmore Collection
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The Blues Brothers: 25th Anniversary Edition
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The Bourne Trilogy
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The Brat Pack Movies & Music Collection
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Elvira's Movie Macabre: Volume One
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The Fast and the Furious Trilogy
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Friday the 13th: From Crystal Lake to Manhattan
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Ghostbusters: Double Feature Gift Set
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Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection
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James Bond: Ultimate Edition
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John Ford / John Wayne Film Collection
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Kermit's 50th Anniversary Collection
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The Mel Brooks Collection
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Natalie Wood Collection
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Planet of the Apes: Legacy Collection
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Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection
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Star Wars Trilogy
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The Stephen King Collection
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The Ultimate Matrix
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