Charlie’s Angels (a J!-ENT DVD Review)
September 27, 2003 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
MOVIE COMPANY: Columbia Tristar
CAST: Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Bill Murray, Sam Rockwell, Crispin Glover, Tim Curry and more.
DIRECTED BY: Joseph McGinty Nichol
WRITTEN BY: Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts III
RATING: PG-13
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0160127
TYPE OF MOVIE: Action, comedy
DURATION: 98 minutes
King and Jack are experts in finding lovers of first love for their clients. One day, a young guy, a man of concealed identity, and Taiwan’s richest business tycoon ask King and Jack to look for their first lovers. To King and Jack’s astonishment, the women all look like the same ……
DVD EXTRAS:
• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
PLEASE NOTE: Warner and Columbia have recently added a Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE) to Region 1 titles like the The Patriot and The Perfect Storm. Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called “region-free” DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Director and Cinematographer Commentary
• Featurettes:
• Fashion Featurette
• Set Design Featurette
• Martial Arts and Stunts Featurette
• Special Effects Featurette
• Director McG Featurette
• Wired Angels – Special Effects Deconstruction
• Deleted and Extended Scenes
• Outtakes and Bloopers
• Music Videos by Destiny’s Child and Apollo Four Forty
• Widescreen anamorphic format
KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): Three Easter Eggs
Hidden scenes:
Select the “Special Features” option at the main menu. Highlight the “Getting G’d Up” option and press Right. A box will appear on Cameron Diaz’s waist. Press Enter to view the scene.
Select the “Special Features” option at the main menu. Highlight the “Wired Angels” option and press Left. A box will appear on Bill Murray’s jacket. Press Enter to view the scene
Select the “Special Features” option at the main menu. Advance to the last screen in the special features section. Highlight the back arrow and press Right. A square will appear over Sam Rockwell’s eyes. Press Enter to view the scene.
DVD REVIEW:
A fun movie to watch and a fun movie to watch if you grew up in the 70′s during the Charlie’s Angel phenomenon.
One of the problems with this movie when it debuted was that some people loved it and some people hated it. Those who hated it, didn’t like the MTV look of the film and how the film wasn’t serious. Some may say it’s more eye candy for the male fans.
Perhaps. But you maybe asking why buy this DVD? Well, it’s kind of hard to convince you if you hate this movie but if you enjoyed it, then the reasons why to buy this DVD is because it’s jam packed. Note: If you have a multi-region player, this DVD may not play.
The video quality is very cool. Since they experimented with different ways to film the movie, colors are brilliant but at times I felt that the colors were over saturated (note: Beach scene, look at the reds). The audio was nice but for some reason I felt that I got more from my digital 5.1 from the trailers. (Yes, the trailers are in 5.1 except Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).
As for DVD special features, a small featurette for the director, the action-stunt coordinator, fashion/clothing, for the movie, extended scenes, deleted scenes, outtakes (the ending of the film without the credits), director’s commentary, two music videos and trailers that are in digital 5.1 (including a sneak peak of the highly anticipated CGI film, “Final Fantasy”).
So, if you enjoyed the movie, you will be in for a treat with the special edition DVD.
THE MOVIE: B-
THE DVD EXTRAS: A-
THE DVD OVERALL: B+
there’s something about mary: Special Edition (a J!-ENT DVD Review)
September 27, 2003 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
MOVIE COMPANY: Twentieth Century Fox
CAST: Starring Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller, Lee Evans, Chris Elliott and more.
DIRECTED BY: Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly
PRODUCED BY: Frank Beddor & Michael Steinberg and Charles B. Wessler & Bradley Thomas
RATING: R
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0129387
TYPE OF MOVIE: Comedy, Romance
DURATION: 119 minutes
Thirteen years after a humiliating high-school episode of prom datus interuptus, angst-driven Ted (Ben stiller) is still crazy in love with Mary (Cameron Diaz). Hoping for a second chance at wooing the girl of his dreams, he hires sleazy private dick Pat Healy (Matt Dillon) to track her down. However, after taking one look at Mary, Healy decides he wants her for himself. Before long, Mary’s suitors are engaged in a “hair-raising” battle for her affections, and soon, the fur really flies…right out the window!
So, grab your hair gel, get ready to sing along with Puffy and enjoy another helping of “Franks and beans” in this outrageous special edition of the raunchy romantic comedy that’s still a gut-blasting blast!
DVD EXTRAS:
• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen
• Commentary by directors Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Outtakes
• Music video
• Karaoke music video
• Widescreen letterbox format
KNOWN DVD SECRET(S):
Production credits:
Highlight Mary’s dress at the main menu. Press Enter to view the credits for the disc’s production.
DVD REVIEW:
“there’s something about Mary”… one of the best comedy’s I have ever seen. This is a kind of movie that really makes you want to bust a gut. Many people have seen this movie, so I don’t need to get into how hilarious this movie is. Awesome! Is that gel?
As for the DVD, the audio was superb. The sound was 5.1 but it’s a dialogue movie, so don’t expect much from this DVD in terms of audio. As for special features, the highlight for me is the gag outtakes. That was so funny…especially when you see what Cameron Diaz does with that umm…big tongue of hers. Hey..what’s Stiller tasting?
Also included is commentary by the Farrelly Brothers, a music video and a karaoke for that ending with help from Puffy.
This DVD is still expensive in some stores…almost close to $30. Look hard and you can find a great deal.
Recommended!
THE MOVIE: A
THE DVD EXTRAS: B+
THE DVD OVERALL: A-
Being John Malkovich (a J!-ENT DVD Review)
September 23, 2003 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
MOVIE COMPANY: Universal, Gramercy Pictures, Propoganda Films/Single Cell Pictures
CAST: Starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, Orson Bean, Mary Kay Place and John Malkovich.
DIRECTED BY: Directed by Spike Jonze
PRODUCED BY: Michael Stipe and Sandy Stern, Steve Golin and Vincent Landay
RATING: Rated R
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0120601
TYPE OF MOVIE: Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-fi
Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is a struggling street puppeteer. In order to make some money, Craig takes a job as a filing clerk. One day he accidentally discovers a door…a portal into the brain of John Malkovich (played by John Malkovich)! For 15 minutes, he experiences the ultimate head trip–He is being John Malkovich! Then he’s dumped on the New Jersey Turnpike! With his beautiful office mate Maxine (Catherine Keener) and his pet-obsessed wife (Cameron Diaz), they hatch a plan to let others into John’s brain for jus $200 a trip. See what all the critics are talking about.
DVD EXTRAS:
• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby, AC-3
• Theatrical trailer(s), TV spot(s)
• Documentaries
• Interviews
• Photo Gallery
• Widescreen anamorphic format
KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I could find but there is a section called “There’s nothing here” that I wonder about..hmm…
Hidden songs:
Choose the selections from the main menu to go to various option screens and hear songs from the movie’s soundtrack.
Dummy option:
Select the “Special Features” option at the main menu. Advance to the second screen and select the “Don’t enter here, there’s nothing here” option.
DVD REVIEW:
I bought this DVD when it first came out. People were talking about it and Roger Ebert said some really good things about it such as “The best film of 1999″. Wow! It must be a good movie and a good movie it is!
First, I don’t always agree with the Academy Awards. “American Beauty” is a good movie but for something to get a lot of nominations, it better be good. And yes…it is very good but I’m sorry to those who love this film to death…it’s not the best. I give it credit that it’s unique and that you won’t see many movies like this but to be the best? I don’t know. I don’t think “American Beauty” was the best either. I feel both are good movies but both don’t give me the feeling of…”Damn! I need to watch it again tomorrow!” But I’m not trying to slam this movie because it is very good!
You have to have a very open mind when watching this movie. About being controlled and think of a puppeteer and the puppet. This movie is very weird but yet interesting. I like David Lynch weird and this one is pretty good.
The way each trip changes people’s minds are interesting but the jealousy in the movie was something that really made me think….man, how screwed up. Lock her up with a chimp! Eh?
The Special features makes this DVD shine. There are a lot of cool stuff! Of course, the 7 1/2 Floor Orientation and the American Arts & Culture Presents were pretty cool. Also, there are a lot of guest stars in this movie which made it worth watching…Charlie Sheen and Brad Pitt in this movie. Oh yeah! And a lot more….
The other extras like the interview with Spike Jonze (not the African American btw) and the interview with the extra of the movie is really interesting. The color and sound are very well done and this DVD is highly recommended. The DVD is great! The movie is something else. I loved the unique spin that the TV series “Twin peaks” had…and this movie is the same. Unique and different and quite brilliant!
THE MOVIE: A
THE DVD EXTRAS: A
THE DVD OVERALL: A
