SUPERHERO MOVIE (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

“When you see the ‘from the guys who brought you SCARY MOVIE and THE NAKED GUN, you pretty much know what kind of film you’re going to get.  So, it’s all about watching these movies with an open mind.  Fortunately, among the similar-related movies by these creators, ‘SUPERHERO MOVIE’ is probably the most entertaining of the lot.”

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FILM:  SUPERHERO MOVIE

COMPANY: DIMENSION HOME ENTERTAINMENT

DVD INFORMATION: Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC

RATED: PG 13

DURATION: 82 minutes

PRODUCED BY Robert K. Weiss, David Zucker, Craig Mazin

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Craig Mazin

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein and Mathew Stein

STARRING: Drake Bell, Christopher McDonald, Sara Paxton, Kevin Hart, Brent Spiner, Jeffrey Tambor, Robert Joy, Reginal Hall, Pamela Anderson, Leslie Nielsen, Tracy Morgan and Marion Ross.

THE TRAILER:

Spider-Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four will never be the same after this outrageously funny spoof of your favorite comic book movies!  Drake Bell (Drake & Josh) stars as a nerdy high school student bitten by a genetically-altered dragonfly.  He stumbles hilariously through the process of becoming a crime-fighter and as his new powers grow, so do the laughs.  Sara Paxton (Aquamarine) and Christopher McDonald (Spy Kids 2) costar as the clueless damsel in distress and the comically intense super villain, along with Pamela Anderson and Leslie Nielsen.  Going from superzero to superhero has never been this much fun!

For the week of Halloween 2008, I decided that there will be no horror movie marathon.  This week, I will watch the various comedy films that typically feature on the front of the DVD “from the guys who brought you SCARY MOVIE and the NAKED GUN”.

I pretty much know what I’m getting into with these films and know you have to have an open mind because although many scenes will have its funny moments, you can expect your share of really idiotic moments as well.

I know people who can just laugh and know what to expect with these films but some who have never seen these type of films and just feel the wasted their time watching it.  So, with that being said, enjoyment of this film depends on your take of these type of movies.

“SUPERHERO MOVIE” is a film that parodies the first “Spider-Man” film, “Fantastic Four”, “X-Men” and “Batman”.

The film revolves around Rick Riker, a nerdy high school teenager who loves his classmate but bullied quite a bit in his school.  Things go from bad at worse at a school trip when he accidentally spills a chemical which attracts animals to him and somehow he ends up being bit by a radioactive dragonfly.

Riker develops special powers and next thing you know, the Dragonfly is born.

Marion Ross and Leslie Nielsen play the aunt and uncle of Rick Riker.  In true Leslie Nielsen fashion, if you watched the “Naked Gun” films, you know what to expect for his role.  Marion Ross of “Happy Days” fame was quite interesting as the aunt who has a major flatulence problem and just can’t stop farting.

Tracy Morgan plays a Professor X type of role, trying to help Riker learn his new powers and show him the school of teens who have powers.  Pamela Anderson plays the role of Invisible Woman who has been caught messing around with Professor X by Mrs. Professor X.

One of the highlight scenes is when Riker and the girl of his dreams, Jill Johnson are about to share a kiss but his aunt Lucille (Marion Ross) sleeping right next to them leashes continuous farts that just sound so horrible.  Fart jokes can be funny and the manage to include a hilarious gassy scenes in which Jill who really wants to kiss Riker, uses her tampons to put up her nose to avoid smelling the fart. Fart jokes are gross but when done well, you can’t hep but laugh.

Of course, probably the coldest jokes are the ones on physicist Stephen Hawking.  The gags on his character featured getting his head accidentally stuck in a beehive and not able to get out of it because of his disability.  And of course, using his vocoder device to simulate Hawking screaming profanities. For a film to really make fun of his disability to get some cheap laughs is just very cold.

There are so many gags in this film with those type of gags, some quite funny and some that are just idiotic but I found this film more to the funny side fortunately.  But with jokes such as the Stephen Hawking (which there are numerous scenes with this character), I can see many finding it tasteless and some to find it so funny knowing it’s so wrong.

AUDIO & VIDEO:

Truthfully, I wasn’t paying too much attention towards the quality of the film and as for the audio, the film is strictly dialogue.  Not much need for special audio effects.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The extended version features the alternate ending, deleted scenes, two featurettes and a theatrical trailer plus a commentary.  The regular version only features the alternate ending (which was so dumb, I’m glad they didn’t use it), deleted scenes and the theatrical trailer.

There are three versions of this film on DVD in the US.  The regular version which is only 74 minutes long and has only the alternate ending, deleted scenes and theatrical trailer, while the extended version which is 82 minutes long and has the additional commentary track and featurettes.  The third version is a Blockbuster exclusive which features additional deleted scenes.

So, far of the movies within this genre and created by the same creators of “SCARY MOVIE” and “NAKED GUN”, of the more recent films, “SUPERHERO MOVIE” was probably the funniest compared to the others. Again, this is comparing to the other related films by the same creators.

There is a lot of funny jokes throughout the film but there are also a good number of idiotic jokes as well.

I enjoyed the superhero film parodies on this film and although there are a few well-known talent who made cameos on this film, I’m just glad many of their segments were quite short.  In fact, I’m glad that the film was quite short.

In the end, I definitely didn’t find myself disliking it.  I suppose it’s because I enjoyed the superhero parodies on the film and I haven’t seen a film go so far to do a parody based on superhero films in this magnitude.

All in all, a fun film if you come watching with an open mind.

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A BROKEDOWN MELODY (a J!-ENT Surfing DVD Review)

“Absolutely beautiful!  One of the best surf films to feature awesome cinematography all on 16MM but also a surfing film with substance and just all out enjoyment of surfing not just from popular surfers featured on this film but the people from those countries that embrace the surf life but in their own way.  Awesome!”

FILM: A BROKEDOWN MELODY

FILM RELEASE DATE: 2004

DISTRIBUTED BY: Woodshed Films

RATED: NOT RATED

DURATION: 55 minutes, EXTRA FEATURES: 45 minutes

Directed by Chris Malloy

Produced by Emmet Malloy and Tim Lynch

Co-Producer: Kelly Slater

Creative Director: Dusty Lynn

Director of Photography: Dave Homcy

Edited by Clark Eddy, Dustin Lynn

Art Direction: Dave Lively and Chris Malloy

A Film by Chris and Emmet Malloy

Starring:

Mark Cunningham

Jack Johnson

Gerry Lopez

Rob Machado

Kelly Slater

A BROKEDOWN MELODY follows swell through South America, Polynesia and Jamaica documenting in 16mm film the surfing of Kelly Slater, Gerry Lopez, Jack Johnson, Mike Todd, Mark Cunningham, C.J. Hobgood, The Wilmots, The Malloys and Rob Machado.

Music from Jack Johnson, Eddy Vedder, Beta Band, Kings of Convenience, Doug Martsch, Kruder and Dorfmeister, Astor Piazzola, Mikey Einziger, Johnny Osbourne, M. Ward, Matt Costa, Culver City Dub Collective, Todd Hanigan, Xocoyotzin Moraza and more.

THE TRAILER:

I remember purchasing this video and just stoked about watching popular surfers such as Kelly Slater to legend Gerry Lopez and also to see singer/surfer Jack Kohnson and many others together in a surfing film.   Oh, and my favorite surfer Tom Curren also stars in this film and many others who are not mentioned on the back cover.

Granted, you see many surfers from different surfing companies in various films but this one, rarely are you going to see a surfing film with Kelly Slater, Gerry Lopez, Jack Johnson, Rob Machado and a few others together like this.

But what I enjoyed this film is just the incredible videography that I’ve watched it so many times over the years because it’s not so much about watching these legendary surfers surf, it’s about the environment, the life and embracing the location and the people in the area.

Watching the surf team from Jamaica to these kids using broken boards to surf to the Jamaican Surf Team, that was just so cool to see.  Overall, this film was truly a cool surfing experience with one of the coolest visual experiences of a surf film that I’ve seen (and I’ve watched many surfing films).

I don’t know if I would call it a classic but I really enjoyed the film, it wasn’t so much in your face but it was about substance and surfing as a way of life and the people who live in South America, Polynesia and Jamaica.  So, all in all, I truly digged “A BROKEDOWN MELODY”.

VIDEO:

For a surfing film, I felt the video on 16mm was just a fantastic way to document this film.  The colors looked vibrant and just overall, it had a look that wasn’t to crispy clear, had that edge and noise with some of the dust that you would expect to see.  Visually, the colors and overall look were very cool!

AUDIO:

Although this film is more of a surfing/documentary style and a lot of dialogue, the focus on audio is primarily the cool music by Jack Johnson, Eddie Vedder and many other talents.  Music definitely gave a great ambience throughout the film.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

This DVD comes with several special features.  Extra surf segments is pretty much nearly 27-minutes worth of extra footage.  This extra footage are just in par with the actual film, I’m guessing was cut out for pacing reasons but still watching the cut footage is actually better than a lot of stand-alone DVD’s that are twice as long.

For “Moonshine Videos”, you get the music videos for Ben Harper’s “With My Own Two Hands” and “Diamonds on the Inside” and you get the “Taylor” outtakes which is a short segment featuring actor Ben Stiller pretending to talk surf lingo with two guys.

For “Surf Aid International”, pretty much a five minute segment about what the organization is about and how it helps people in other countries that are less fortunate and how they bring doctors to help people affected by malaria.  Pretty much focusing on a guy named Dave who is a doctor who was surfing in another country and went to a nearby village to see how he can help people in the village and learned that they really needed his help.  He quit his high paying job, sold his house to help the villagers and use low-cost vaccines and education to help the villages.

“A BROKEDOWN MELODY” is just a fantastic film.  Not too long and not boring at all.  It’s just visually appealing and the various cuts and editing featuring the beautiful waves, the landscapes and the people from that live near the area just enjoying the surf along with the surfers was just incredible to see.

So, pretty much, I felt that I got more for my money with this surfing DVD.

Surfers looking for aerials or big wave surfing, this is not the video you are looking for.  For surfers that just want to enjoy surfers like Kelly Slater, Tom Curren, Gerry Lopez, Jack Johnson and others surfing in South America, Polynesia and Jamaica and just enjoy the overall scenery and to hear not just from the surfers about the experience but also the villagers, you don’t really see that in a surfing film.

Definitely worth owning!

 

TV Talk: Thursday Musings – October 30, 2008 – Smallville, Ugly Betty, Real Housewives of Atlanta

Hi everyone, another TV talk for Thursday, October 30, 2008.

I have to say that there is something crappy going on with the CW in terms of programming in my area. It happened on Tuesday while watching and the video would cut off (no sound or video, just black screen) and all my other channels were working.

So, tried to catch this “Lois and Clark” episode of “Smallville” on the CW and what do you know…for the whole hour….no show. Maybe once I saw the feed comeback for 10 seconds and then it disappeared. So, not sure if this is a national thing but if it’s a local problem, I’m very disappointed.

Fortunately, “Ugly Betty” on ABC was on. In episode 6 for season 3 titled “Ugly Berry”, tthings start to ramp up between the hostility of Betty and her frienemy Kimmie (Lindsey Lohan). In this episode, we get to see Daniel’s (Eric Mabius) plan revealed to take back his family’s company from Willhelmina (Vanessa Williams). But of course, the main storyline of how Betty, Marc and Amanda concoct a plan to get Kimmie fired. Video was from last week’s episode but wanted to show how Betty and Kimmie are just like oil and water.

Caught a replay of the latest episode of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Atlanta”. DeShawn Snow (wife of Cleveland Cavalier’s basketball player Eric Snow) has a charity auction event which doesn’t go quite well. A very good episode but I can tell that the next episode is when the fireworks flare up! Whoah!

Then it was “Gray’s Anatomy” which I had to DVR, wife watched her favorite Food Network show “Ace of Cakes” and later in the night, I ended up watching “Late Night with David Letterman” episodes I missed for the week. You just gotta love the appearances of Regis Philbin on Letterman. The two are friends but their banter with each other is quite fun to watch.

Btw, anyone have that moment where you noticed that you have only so much space left on your DVR and you take too much time to figure out what to delete and what to keep?

 

TV Talk: Wednesday Musings, October 29th – Ghost Hunters, Real Housewives of Atlanta

On Wednesday, I started off my TV early evening with “Ghost Hunters” on the SCI FI Channel. There is something about this show that I can’t stop it. Pretty much the show is about a group called TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) led by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson that visits haunted establishments and with their high tech equipment, try to see if they can find out if the place is haunted or if there is supernatural activity.

In this new episode (Season 4, episode 22), the team and actor Colin Ferguson from the SCI FI channel show “Eureka” (who joins the team in the search for the supernatural) investigate the USS Hornet which many crewmen feel they have experienced supernatural activity.

Definitely have to give Colin Ferguson some props for actually being a part of this investigation and really into it. Was great to see that!

I also caught more of “The Real Housewives from Atlanta” on Bravo. Yikes! I’ve missed quite a few episodes but I’m guessing unlike Orange County in which the women are friends (or at least friendly to each other), some of the women on these show don’t care for each other. But I’ll probably need to catch up on these shows…but what’s up NBC, put more of the complete Bravo episodes up on hulu.com.

That was pretty much the extent of my TV watching as Wednesday’s TV is dedicated for the wife solely for “Top Model” and “America’s Top Model”.

 

manga review: Cat Eyed Boy

In a recent manga review for the Daily Yomiuri, Tom Baker wrote:

“The story, characters and incidents mentioned in this publication are entirely fictional.” Thank heavens Viz Media decided to make this clear, even if only in tiny print on the copyright pages of the English-language version of Cat Eyed Boy, a collection of horror stories by Kazuo Umezu, a mangaka who is best known for his series The Drifting Classroom.

Just imagine how much more terrifying it would be to see the results of a mad scientist’s attempt at a brain transplant between a man and a leopard if such an event were real. Imagine the chill you would feel if the howling song of the shaggy, one-eyed creatures known as Tsunami Summoners really could bring doom to an entire town. Imagine how your heart would stop at the sight of a severed human leg coming to life and sprouting teeth.

Such are the types of creatures and incidents encountered by the Cat Eyed Boy, the nomadic hero of this series of stories. “Wherever I appear, something frightening happens,” he says, in one of several asides directed at readers.

The frightening events are rarely his fault, but he usually gets blamed for them. This is true even when he tries to help humans who are threatened by monsters. Once the danger passes, the people whom Cat Eyed Boy has saved turn against him.

Driven from town to town, he begins to profess that he does not care about helping humans, but his comments are no more true than Rick Blaine’s declaration in Casablanca that “I stick my neck out for nobody.”

Cat Eyed Boy looks basically human–aside from clawlike nails and enormous feline eyes–but his lineage is a bit murky. In his origin story in Volume 1, we see dozens of grotesque supernatural beings gathering around a mountainside grotto at night to await the prophesied birth of a mighty cat goblin. (The similarities to a Christian nativity scene may not be entirely coincidental.)

 

Grand Theft Auto IV hits Japan

Stephen Taylor of the Daily Yomiuri wrote:

It would be easy to write about how much fun the violence and crime is in Grand Theft Auto IV, but that’s not the only aspect of the latest installment of the phenomenonally successful game series, which does make shooting and stealing very engaging.

While many gamers in Japan will have already enjoyed the delights of gratuitously blowing away Liberty City’s law enforcers through imported copies of the game, the official Japanese version was finally released yesterday.

Originally created by Dave Jones, the first GTA game was released in 1997 by Dan and Sam Houser, two brothers based in Scotland who established Rockstar Games, the company responsible for developing most of the series.

On the surface, GTA appears to be based on a simple shoot-’em-up scenario with little or no ethics, with the controversy that surrounds the series in Britain and the United States testimony to its apparent ease at offending public sensibilities on both sides of the Atlantic.

As a complete newcomer to not only the fourth version of the game but the entire concept of GTA, I approached a recent press demonstration of Grand Theft Auto IV with an open mind, though aware of the reputation that preceded the game.

more

 

Leona Lewis perfoms at the Official Opening Ceremony of Westfield Shopping Mall

PicApp: LONDON – OCTOBER 30: Leona Lewis perfoms at the Official Opening Ceremony of Westfield Shopping Mall on 30 October, 2008 in London, England. (Photo by Tim Whitby/Getty Images)
Content © 2008 Getty Images. All rights reserved.

 

Pussycat Dolls – Whatcha Think About That (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

“The second CD single from the Pussycat Dolls second album ‘Doll Domination’,  ‘Watcha Think About That’ featuring rhymes by Missy Elliott a banjo playing in the background with cool beats.  A slower tempo and not as fierce as ‘When I Grow Up’ but nevertheless, a catchy song overall.”

GROUP: Pussycat Dolls

CD SINGLE: Whatcha Think About That

LABEL: Interscope

DURATION: 7:24

RELEASE DATE: October 21, 2008

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

1. Whatcha Think About That (Urban/Club Remix)
2. Whatcha Think About That (Ron Fizzle Mix)

Another catchy and enjoyable dance track from the Pussycat Dolls.  I’m definitely enjoying the music that’s coming from their sophomore album “Doll Domination”.  One thing that we have seen are some changes with the roster decrease for the Pussycat Dolls which are now down to five members Ashley Roberts, Nicole Scherzinger, Jessica Sutta, Melody Thornton and Kimberly Wyatt.

And also, with the music of the Pussycat Dolls.  You get a good sense of everyone gel’ing and a sense of confidence with their music.

With the success of their first single from the album “I Wanna Grow Up” which was certified platinum, the group released “Watcha Think About That” in September to the digital retailers and the single was officially released on October 28th.

Although the song did not charge on the Billboard Hot 100 for its release, I would expect to see it go up as the women are now actively promoting the song.

I really enjoyed the song and sure it wasn’t as fierce and in-your-fae like “I Wanna Grow Up” but I really enjoyed Nicole Scherzinger’s vocals on this song.  Sexy as usual but overall, a definite catchy Pussycat doll track!

I have to admit that I thought there was a Japanese koto playing in the background but it happened to be Lissy Rosemont of Junior League Band playing the open back banjo through the entire track.

There are two releases, the US CD single which features a total of five tracks and the digital release which features two tracks.  The main vocalist is Nicole Scherzinger with the primary background vocals by Melody Thornton.

The digital release features a pretty tight urban club remix of “Watcha Think About That” featuring Missy Elliott.  I personally feel that Missy Elliot’s rap definitely made the CD single much more enjoyable as well.

The second CD single features a “Ron Fizzle Mix” which sounds much cleaner and different beat and no rhymes by Missy Elliott.

Sidenote: The music video features the Darkchylde Remix featured on the CD single version.

,

Personally, I enjoyed the song a lot.   This song as seen on their music video definitely showcases the women’s sexiness and to have Missy Elliott bustin’ some rhymes is a pretty cool thing as well.

Definitely enjoyed the banjo playing in the background and overall both songs are good remixes with the second track not having any Missy Elliott, if you had to choose one for your money to download, definitely get the urban club remix.

All in all, a sexy cool track from PCD!  Check it out!

Check out more of our reviews at J!-ENT’s World Groove

Buy this CD Single:

 

TAKE A LEAP OF FAITH BEFORE MIRROR’S EDGE HITS RETAIL STORES IN NOVEMBER WITH DOWNLOADABLE DEMO!

This week gamers can ‘take a leap of Faith’ with a special demo for Mirror’s Edge™, available at the PlayStation® Store on October 30th and on Xbox LIVE™ Marketplace on October 31st. The demo will feature the prologue of the game, a tutorial and a segment of the single-player story mode. Now is your chance to experience the action that has GameSpot saying “Unlike anything we’d ever played before.”

Players who pre-order the game* will also receive an unlock code for exclusive access to the Time Trial mode. Time Trial is an addictive mode that challenges players to use their speed and best moves to find the fastest routes throughout the city. Gamers can upload their best time to the Mirror’s Edge online leaderboards for their friends to download and compete against. Players can see their friend’s ‘ghost’ run as they race to the top of the leaderboards.

For more information about pre-order incentives, please visit www.mirrorsedge.com.

 

THE BEATLES INSPIRE NEW MUSIC VIDEO GAME; APPLE CORPS LTD., MTV AND HARMONIX COME TOGETHER FOR UNPRECEDENTED DEAL

Exclusive Agreement Set to Bring The Beatles Music to Fans for the First Time in Interactive Form Here, There and Everywhere in 2009

New York, NY – October 30, 2008 – The Beatles’ extraordinary music and phenomenal legacy is set to rock across the universe in the form of a video game through an exclusive partnership between Apple Corps Ltd., Harmonix and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

This partnership marks the first time that Apple Corps, along with EMI Music, Harrisongs Ltd, and Sony/ATV Music Publishing, has agreed to present The Beatles music in an interactive video game format. Published by MTV Games and developed by Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game company and creators of the best-selling Rock Band®, the game will be an unprecedented, experiential progression through and celebration of the music and artistry of The Beatles. The game was creatively conceived with input from Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, and enjoys their full blessing. In addition, Giles Martin, co-producer of The Beatles innovative LOVE project, will provide his expertise and serve as Music Producer for this groundbreaking Beatles project.

“The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of The Beatles and their music. I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out,” Sir Paul McCartney said.

“It gives me great pleasure to be part of The Beatles / Apple and Harmonix / Rock Band partnership,” said Ringo Starr. “The Beatles continue to evolve with the passing of time and how wonderful that The Beatles’ legacy will find its natural progression into the 21st century through the computerized world we live in. Let the games commence.”

“It’s cool. I love it and hope it will keep inspiring and encouraging the young generation for many decades,” said Yoko Ono Lennon.

“People are having so much fun playing Rock Band. Combined with The Beatles tracks, it is a great way to either listen or participate,” said Olivia Harrison. “If you like the music, it doesn’t take much persuasion to get you to play.”

“Introducing the genius of The Beatles to a whole new generation of music lovers through original and inspired ways is extremely exciting to us at Apple Corps,” stated Jeff Jones, CEO, Apple Corps. “We are truly pleased to be working with the innovative forces at MTV and Harmonix as they embody our mutual passions for music and creativity.”

“Many of us have been part of a generation that has long enjoyed an enduring love affair with The Beatles and now we’re looking to extend that love affair for future generations to enjoy,” said Van Toffler.” “Our inspiration for this project comes from a keen sense of history and a place of utmost reverence and respect for the band, their music and their heritage.”

“The impact of The Beatles is forever ingrained in the hearts, minds and souls of millions the world over,” said Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO of MTV Networks. “The Beatles are the reason many of us are WHERE we are, and some of us are WHO we are.”

“We are honored to be part of this new way for people to discover the timeless music and art of The Beatles – the most creatively and commercially successful, critically acclaimed, and influential band in the history of popular music,” stated Paul DeGooyer, MTV’s Senior Vice President of Electronic Games & Music.

“By presenting their music and artistry through the creative filter of a groundbreaking video game, we are giving legions of fans and music lovers all over the world a profound, new way to experience The Beatles,” said Alex Rigopulos, CEO and Co-Founder, Harmonix. “This game will be a celebration of the Beatles undeniable legacy.”

A replay of today’s Apple Corps and MTV announcement will be available beginning at 1:30pm ET through Tuesday, November 4. To access the replay, dial 1-888-203-1112 (U.S.) or 719-457-0820 (International) and enter the passcode 7847158.

A satellite feed with art and video assets will be offered today from 12:00pm – 12:30pm ET.

CIRCUIT PATH: ER 1515->AMV Gateway Via 05->Gateway UPLK

Satellite Space: Horizon 2 K/19
12140 Downlink Vertical
14440 Uplink Horizontal

 

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