Fantastic Four,,,,July 8 !

The next big Marvel Comics movie hits theaters on July 8. This time its Marvels' first family the Fantastic Four. FF has always been a big fan favorite and just like the X-Men movies, Marvel has pulled out the big guns to get this done right. So far none of the trailers have been disappointing and the costumes look great. Michael Chiklis, who plays the ever-lovin blue-eyed Thing looks cool, but we will have to see how the costume holds up for the whole movie and in the action sequences. Jessica Alba makes her 2nd comic movie appearance this year (starring in Sin City a few months back) and makes that FF uniform really fill out. This is going to be a big SFX/CGI driven movie, but hopefully they do take the time to develop the characters and not drown us all in special effects. One of the big drawing points of the comic was the interaction between the characters. The relation between Reed and Susan always seemed strained (especially when Namor was around, and Johnny and Ben where always at each others throats while always remaining the best friends. The best FF character has always been The Thing. Just his personality and his dilemma of a man being trapped in a mutated body, but still being the most "human" of the whole group. I can't wait to hear those 3 magic words' "It's Clobberin Time".

King Kong Trailer Online !

The new trailer for the Peter Jackson helmed King Kong is now online. It is truly amazing and makes this look like another blockbuster for Jackson. Whats nice is that unlike other trailers that come out, Jackson pulls no punches with his first trailer and lets us see Kong right off the bat. I was a little surprised when the casting was announced, with Adrien Brody and Jack Black in starring rolls. Brody just didn't fit my view of a adventurer and I just can't see Black doing anything serious. But they both look good in the trailer. Naomi Watts is of coarse just gorgeous like she always is. Make sure to check the trailer out here.

New Release Tuesday and 1/2 !

I was looking through this weeks releases and there is not much worth covering, so I want to cover the good ones from last week that I didn't cover and 2 from this week.

Cursed Unrated Version : Kevin Williamson (the writer of Scream) and Director Wes Craven team up to bring us this modern teen-scene look at werewolves. Christina Ricci (who is very attractive in a way I just can't put my finger on) stars as a sister taking care of her younger brother after their parents die. A accident occurs (or is it) and they are both attacked by a werewolf and take on the curse. This is a interesting movie, and tries to scare you but also injects loads of humor and bloody eye-candy (created by SFX great Rick Baker). We even get to see Scott Baio play as himself. This is a definite see, but make sure you get the unrated version and not the PG-13 version. The disc contains 4 very entertaining featurettes.

Hostage : When you see Director Florent Siri's credits you see that his last job was directing the Splinter Cell video games. This might make you wonder about a feature film, and one that doesn't star a spy sneaking around. Rest assured, he does a good job with a great use of set design and lighting. Bruce Willis gives a solid performance as a retired hostage negotiator who is now a police chief in Ventura Co CA. He faces a major dilemma when a family is taken hostage in a house belonging to a accountant with ties to the mob, and then his own family is taken hostage by those same mob guys. This is a very good adaptation from the book by Robert Crais.

Also make sure to check out these other release:
The Jacket: Very moody film, but if you have seen Tim Robbins in Jacobs Ladder then you have seen this one already.
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Dangerous : Um Ok,,
OZ-Season 5 : One of the best shows on HBO comes back for another 3-disc set.

This week:

The Pacifier : Super tough guy Vin Diesel goes for his softer side in this PG kids-friendly Disney movie. Diesel is a Navy Seal who is sent to protect the family of a scientist, and of coarse then the mother must go out of town and leaves Vin to watch the kids all alone. Is this any way for Riddick to behave. It is a cute movie and Diesel has fun with it, even though it seems forced at points. The dvd has deleted scenes, bloopers and 3 featurettes.

Race With The Devil : This movie was released in 1975 and I remember being scared outa my pants watching this one night on late night TV as a kid. Peter Fonda stars in this tale of 2 couples out camping in their big RV and stumble across a satanic ritual in the woods. The rest of the movie is them running from these people, trying to get to safety. It also has one of the best surprise shock ending of its time.

Hello............I'm Baaaaaack!

After a week off I am finally back and at the computer. My wife and the girls went out of town on a church trip, so I took the opportunity to spend an entire week with my boy just doing guy stuff. So I took some time off work, packed away the lap-top and gave all my attention to him. And what a wonderful week it was, we traveled around to different places,had lunch twice at his new fav resturant Ruby Tuesday, built a 1969 Super-Bee car model, played video games and ate fattening sweets that Mom doesn't let us have and even went to see Batman Begins (review on that will be posted later). So I am sorry if anyone stopped by to look for a "New Release Tuesday" post and found a lot of nothing. I will have it posted tomorrow and also cover a few movies from last week. Also the new "Free DVD Giveaway" will be up this week for the month of July.

Happy Fathers Day.

I was sitting watching tv and it is funny how many commercials come on saying you should buy your dad this gift, or this gift, or even better this gift. I have learned over the years that the best gifts are those made with love from your family. Having 3 kids , I have a over-flowing box of home-made gifts from over the years. I never throw anything out that my kids give me, not even the smallest drawing. There have been times when I have pulled this box out and looked at things and remembered when the kids where small and how much each item means to me.

I can remember as a kid making things for my Dad. Little pictures or that "World's Greatest Dad" sign we always seemed to make at school. As a kid you don't really give much thought to where those items go after you give them. When my father passed away I was packing up some of his stuff in his workshop when I pulled open a drawer and was surprised to find it full of stuff I had made as a kid. In this drawer where the little pictures, the "Worlds Greatest Dad" signs and a little hand print in clay I had made when I was in kindergarten. I sat looking at these little gifts my father had received over the years and cried. Each little gift I had given him meant so much he had kept them safe all these years.

So, if you have kids and you are trying to think of a gift for Dad. Just sit them down and have them draw a picture, make that "Worlds Greatest Dad" sign or even a little hand print in clay. It will mean more to Dad then you will ever know.

Land Of The Dead...June 24th

A few months ago I posted about the upcoming release of George Romero's Land Of The Dead. Now we are only a week away from release and I can guarantee that every horror fan is chomping at the bit for Friday June 24th. It will be fun to see another Dead movie in the theaters. I saw Dawn and Day of the Dead in a packed and it is quite a experience. In fact Day of the Dead was one of the only movies I can remember where they actually checked peoples age before you entered the theater. The official website is up and active with some nice content. Movie-list.com has posted the new "uncensored" trailer in all its bloody glory and also a nice George Romero tribute video. Check them out and prepare yourself for what looks like one heck of a ride.

Duct Tape Voting Has Started !!!!

(06/28/2005 THE VOTING HAS OFFICIALLY ENDED AS OF MIDNIGHT. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO VOTED.)

I had to put this post in for my daughter. I was very skeptical when she told me that she was planning on making her dress and her dates tux out of duct tape for prom. But she dove right in and after 4 months of working on it produced an entire outfit from the tape. Not only did she create a beautiful dress,flowers and all (yes all those roses are red duct tape), she created the entire tux right down to the shoes, and even a duct tape pocket watch. Now I know I am being a proud father, but this is one of the coolest things I have ever seen done. The duct tape company hosts a contest and award scholarships to the top outfits. Also they just started a online contest where you can vote for your favorite and the winner wins a special prize. You can follow this link to the page and put in Indiana for the search by state box. My daughters picture is #3436 in the 2nd row. Please take some time to look and if you like her outfits as much as I do please vote for her, or any of the other wonderful outfits in the contest. You can tell that all the kids who entered worked hard.

Batman Begins.........Again.

Back in the 80's I was very excited to see the new Batman movie. Like everyone else I had my doubts about Michael Keaton, but he did a wonderful job and the movie was a monster hit. Batman Returns was just as good and the future looked bright for the franchise. Then suddenly everything started going down-hill. Between the Bat-nipples and Arnold the franchise died a quick and visually painful death. Now, with the impending release of the new movie Batman Begins, my hopes are once again lifted. Early reviews are praising this movie for its visuals and its story. Christain Bale is the perfect actor to fill the Bat-suit, being able to be the playboy Bruce Wayne and the brooding Bat. The previews I have seen look great, showing us action but also the building of the interesting backstory of Bruces' travels and struggles before becoming the Dark Knight. Katie Holmes is also added for eye-candy. I never really looked at her as much of a actress, so hopefully she is not the low point of the movie. I will be going to see the show this weekend at the IMAX theater in Indy with my son and will post some comments afterward.

"Off for another night chasing the Green Fairy!"

New Release Tuesday !

It always seems that the summer months run in spurts when it comes to the weekly releases. So this week is relatively small compared to what's coming next week.

Hitch : Will Smith stars as Alex "Hitch" Hitchens in this comedy/love story. Hitch is a dating consultant who seems to be able to help everyone but himself. Not much for content, but it does make a very enjoyable date movie.

Jaws 30 Anniversary Edition : Ok, I think that Jaws might have taken the lead for a single movie with the most edition. Here is another Anniversary edition. Once again there is no change to the movie itself, only the edition of 2 (that's right,,only 2) featurettes. The first is a new Making Of Jaws 2-hour documentary and the 2nd is a old featurette with a never-before-seen interview with Steven Spielberg interview. I love Jaws, it made me scared of the ocean for years as a kid, but come on,,,,,,,,enough is enough.

Man-Thing : Marvel Comics has had a great run with making some amazing comic book property movies with big hits like X-Men and Spider-Man,,,and that run ends here with the movie about the 3rd tier character Man-Thing. Now for any comic fan you know that Man-Thing was Marvels answer to DC Comics Swamp Thing (a much better character who also spawned 2 horrible movies). This movie was originally made for a theatrical release, but was considered a major flop and ended up on tv on the SCI-FI channel. The DVD is a R rated cut of the film. The film does have some cool visuals but nothing can really save this one.

Road Warriors-Life & Death : Ah,, wrestling. The soap opera for men.My wife picks on me every week when I watch WWE, but I tell her if I miss a week I won't know whats going on in the storylines. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. This dvd collects over 30 matches from one of the greatest tag teams of all time, the Road Warrior (also know as the Legion Of Doom). The is 2-disc set has matches form the AWA,NMA and WWF. The matches cover the early years right up to their last WWF matches before the death of Hawk. It is nice to see some of these early matches, some of which have never been seen before. Now that the WWE holds the rights to just about all the old wrestling films we should start seeing some interesting collections.

Highlander-The Raven : This Highlander off-shoot starred the uber-hot Amanda Derieux as the main character. it was a pretty good tv show, and followed closely the mythology put into play by all the past Highlander movies and series. This 9 disc set has all 22 episodes of the show.

I wanted to take a moment and apologize for the lack of a June Give-Away. The last 2 give-aways went great, but this month has just been too busy and it fell to the wayside. Also money has been a little tight after paying my daughters college tuition. The give-away will be back in July.

Halo Movie Gets A Studio,,,Or 2 !

The latest rumors around the long talked about Halo movie have reached fever pitch last week with the announcement that 2 of Hollywoods biggest studios would be joining forces for the Halo movie. It is rumored that Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox will split the production costs and distribution, with Universal covering North American release and Fox covering the overseas release. This could be great news, because the cash inflow from these studios could ensure that the movie is done right. Part of the proposed contract also states that the studios must adhere to the strict guidelines set by the game developers. this news came out just days after the script penned by "28 Days Later" scribe Alex Garland was delivered to studios. And of coarse Microsoft wouldn't do things the normal way, they had people dress up in full Master Chief armor to deliver the scripts to the studio. I would have loved to see the look on the face of the security guard at the front gate when they showed up that day. No director has been connected to the project yet, but it is said that Ridley Scott, who has already turned it down once, is looking at the project again.

Sin City DVD Announced.

The DVD of the hit movie Sin City has been slated for a Aug. 16th release. Robert Rodriguez has always been a big fan of DVD media and in the past has produced some of the best DVD content out there. The Sin City DVD sounds like it will not disappoint. Rodriguez has said that the 2-disc set will feature the theatrical release of the movie on 1 disc and the 2nd disc will contain a cut of the movie split into its individual stories. Since Sin City was made from the graphic novels written by Frank Miller, the 3 main stories where interwoven to make the released movie. Rodriguez says that this new cut will allow views to watch the individual stories in their entirety. So if you wanted to only watch the "That Yellow Bastard" story (which alone is 45 minutes) you could. Basically allowing the viewer to watch his own cut of the film in any order. Also additional scenes cut from the theatrical release will be added into the stories. This one will defiantly be on the top of my buy list come August.

Nintendo says "NOT TRUE" !

For the past few weeks the net and gamers have been buzzing with rumors that all of the past Nintendo game catalog would be free for download with the new Revolution game console. Well today Nintendo officially stated that this was false, and that the games would be available for a "as yet undetermined" fee. Which goes to show us once again that nothing is ever free. Still this is a good idea and is pretty cool to be able to play some of those classic games. I personally own about every game console from the 2600 Atari to XBOX all in working order, so I still have some of those games to play. But most people are not as big of a techno-geek like me so the Revolution should appeal to a lot of gamers, including those who in the past have ignored Nintendo as the "kids" console.

New Release Tuesday !

Sorry this is coming a little late today. Managed to get myself a raging case of poison ivy that I am trying to get rid of. Some good movies managed to be released today, which makes up for the slow last couple of Tuesdays.

Be Cool : I liked Get Shorty, so I was really looking forward to this sequel starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, The Rock, Andre 300o, Harvey Keitel and Vince Vaughn. Once again are main character is Chili Palmer (Travolta) who wants to get out of the movie business and try his hand at the music biz. The whole cast is great, with The Rock and Andre 3000 getting most of the laughs and helps show that The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) can be more than just a action star. Also it is great to see Travolta and Thurman out on the dance floor again like in the now classic Pulp Fiction. The dvd has a documentary, several featurettes, a gag reel and deleted scenes. Definitely one to go out and pick up.

Seed Of Chucky : After a few delays the 5th movie in the Chucky series finally hits dvd in what is being called a "unrated and fully extended" cut. It's nice to see that this series has finally done what it should have from the start, and that is to not take itself too seriously. Like the last move, Bride Of Chucky, this one injects more comedy into the mix. Chucky now has a slightly gender confused son who Chucky wants to follow in his footsteps. John Waters even makes a appearance just adding to the camp. This is just a guilty pleasure movie and makes a good weekend viewing.

Rescue Me-Season 1 : Always gruff Dennis Leary stars in one of FX channels best tv shows. The stories take place in post 9/11 NewYork around a crew of the local fire house. Leary is like the heart of the firehouse, but still must deal with the death of his friend, his affair with that friends wife, his drinking problem and eventually his own mortality. I never thought FX could produce another hit show, but Rescue me is right up there pushing the boundaries of cable tv, just likeNip/Tuck and The Shield.

Stripes-Extended Cut : Those who have read my posts in the past know that I do not always support re-releases of existing dvds into so-called special editions. Usually they are just repackaged with some new features and that's it. That is not the case with Stripes. Made in 1981, this was Bill Murry in his prime and was one of several movies made with director Ivan Reitman(Ghostbusters). This is a true Special Edition with over 18 minutes of new footage added to the film. And this is not just throw-away cuts, these are really cool and funy. Also featured are new interviews with the cast and a 1 hr documentary.

The Machinist : This film flew into and out of theatres under the radar due to other heavy-hitters that came out during the same time. Christain Bale stars in the very moody and dark drama. Bale is Trevor Reznik, a factory worker who hasn't slept in over a year. At one point the fatigue from his insomnia causes a accident which causes a fellow worker to loose a hand. The whole movie is filmed in shades of blue and gray, and Bale lost over 63 pounds for the main role. Great acting, layed over a mesmerising script makes this a definite must see dvd.

The Trailer Park !

A few new interesting trailer for this week. So lets dive right in............................

The Island : Ewan McGregor,Scarlett Johansson,Steve Buscemi,and Michael Clarke Duncan star in this new Michael Bay action/drama due out on July 22nd. Ewan plays a resident of a utopian contained facility during the late 21st century. Turns out that he and the other residents are actually clones and are waiting to be used for replacement parts for their real counterparts, and when they are picked to go to the Island(which is supposed to be a paradise) they are being sent to their deaths. The trailer looks very interesting and it looks to be a very promising summer movie.

A History Of Violence : I viewed this trailer for the first time the other day, and after reading the quick synopsis on the site this looks like a very interesting movie. Add in the acting talents of Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris and this could be a top movie of the year. Mortensen plays Tom Stall who lives his normal life in a small Indiana town until he foils a robbery attempt at his diner and in the process is forced to kill the robbers in order to protect his friends and customers. Tom is heralded as a hero and is thrust into the spotlight. Harris' character arrives in town after seeing Tom on TV and believes him to be a man who had wronged him in the past and seeks revenge.

Sky High : Disney sticks to the old adage,,if it's not broke, don't fix it. the new movie Sky High is like watching the Incredibles but as a live-action show. Kurt Russell,Lynda Carter,Bruce Campbell and Dave Foley star in this kid friendly movie. The children of super-heroes are sent to a school to teach them about how to use their powers and be heroes. The trailer is very funny and show much promise. Bruce Campbell (finally in a non-Sam Rami movie) plays the typical gym teacher/coach role and has a funny part in the trailer. This can be another super-hero hit for Disney and I am sure they will take advantage of as many tie-ins as possible. We can always use more Kurt Russell and Bruce Campbell action figures.

Attack Of The Show.

Does anyone else enjoy this show as much as I do? I was a big fan of the Screen Savers, but its new and improved incarnation as Attack Of The Show is wonderful. They have changed the look of the show and now it is even more of a laid-back atmosphere which really lets you sit back and enjoy the show. Kevin Pereira and Kevin Rose are a riot as co-hosts and Sarah Lane (as hot as always) brings us everything from a Damn Good Download to The Feed. Also this past week Adam Sessler from X-play has been co-hosting with Kevin. (anyone else hear that Adam got married recently,???, poor Morgan Webb) They still bring us great tech news, downloads and loads of inside info. If your a gamer, modder or gadget freak, then this is the show for you. Make sure to check them out on G4-TechTV or at http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/index.html

May DVD Give-Away Winner !!!

I had a total of 47 entries this month, not as good as last month but still a good showing. The winner this month is R5McMichael and your DVD will be in the mail ASAP. Thanks to all who entered and watch for a new give-away starting soon.

A Blast From The Past ! Knightriders

George A. Romero's name is associated with some of the scariest movies ever made. With the likes of Night Of The Living Dead, Dawn Of The Dead and Martin, Romero had cemented himself as a master of horror. But in 1981 he surprised fans by Knighriders to the big screen. Unlike is other films, this one had no monsters or zombies, really no horror aspects at all. It centered around a traveling troupe of performers who replicated the time of King Arthur and his Knights. All done from the back of a motorcycle. This was a leap for Romero who pulled it off with flying colors. One of the main reasons was the casting of Ed Harris as Billy, the leader of the troupe and King. Ed Harris, in my opinion is one of the greatest actors of our time, and his moody, conflicted portrayal of Billy just proves it. Billy is set on his ideals and the life he has chosen and fully believes in the Aurthurian ideals. But the lure of more money and a constant butting of heads with the Black Knight Morgan (Tom Savini) starts to tear the troupe apart.

Overall this is a very well written and acted out movie. Ed Harris is a anchor for a wonderful supporting cast which includes some Romero regulars like Tom Savini and Ken Foree. There are some impressive motorcycle stunts throughout the move as the troupe acts out jousting and sword play on bikes and hacks (a side-car type motorcycle). There are 3 main stunt/tournament sections in the movie, the last being the most involved and lasting a good 15 minutes. The movie runs just over 145 minutes, There are a few sections that could have been cut for time, but the overall movie would have suffered from any deletion.

If I had to give this movie a rating I would say 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. It is well worth the 2 hrs plus you would give up to watch it, and it is one of those movies you can sit and watch multiply times. It is a little difficult to find at some movie rental stores, but can be found online at netflix.com and Blockbuster.com.