All Articles by Ben Begley

17 Again DVD Review

Posted: August 31st, 2009 at 7:34 am

When this film came out I had no desire to see it.  I thought it looked like a repeat of “Big” mixed with “It’s a Wonderful Life,” only lame and for tweeny boppers.   I will be the first to admit I was wrong, this movie is a cocktail of both those films, but keeps things fresh and has a hell of a lot of laugh out loud moments.  I typically shy away from the more “family friendly” films that come out because they have a tendency to talk down to the audience or over-sentimentalize things, but in my opinion “17 Again” is a comedy first, family film second.  There are enough nerd humor, “adult-themed” jokes, and snappy dialogue to keep even the most avid naysayer smiling throughout. More after the jump:

HOME Blu-ray Review

Posted: August 24th, 2009 at 9:12 am

“Home” is a documentary that actually deserves the Blu-ray facelift, because it contains what might be some of the most beautiful imagery I’ve ever seen on film.  The film was shot by award winning aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand and narrated by Glenn Close.  It covers the birth of our world from small bacteria and algae in hot springs to how human and animal life began and what we have done to disrupt the fragile balance of our planet.  It is an environmentally aware film, but one that doesn’t beat you over the head.  There aren’t interviews with dozens of celebrities giving their opinions on “Green” topics, just facts about how our urban lifestyles are severely damaging the planet and we get to see all of this in devastatingly beautiful birds-eye aerial shots. More after the jump:

REAPER Season 2 DVD Review

Posted: August 4th, 2009 at 12:19 pm

“Reaper” is hands down one of the funniest shows on television.  The cast is fantastic, the writing is really sharp and entertaining, pretty much everything about this show works.  Coming into its sophomore year, which can make or break some shows, has proven that Sam and the boys are even better the second time around.  You may have missed this show because it’s hidden amongst a lot of garbage on The CW, in fact I would venture to say that it’s the only show with personality and charm on the entire network, the rest of the programming seems to focus on vacuous pretty people in remakes of shitty 90′s shows (Melrose Place anyone?).  After the jump is my review:

FAST & FURIOUS 2 Disc Special Edition Review

Posted: July 30th, 2009 at 6:01 am

Right off the bat, if you expect anything out of this movie other than awesome cars, hot girls, and several sporadically placed kick ass race and chase sequences; then you’ve just rented or bought the wrong DVD.  The entire “Fast and Furious” franchise (try as they might) has never been based on intricate plots or well-defined characters, it’s kind of like watching porn, but instead of sex there’s car racing, most times you just want to fast forward and get to the “real action.”  And when the action comes up in this film it delivers, with some really kick ass sequences, my favorite is a high-speed illegal street race through downtown LA.  The characters are stiff and boring, but the cars are both fast and furious and that’s really all you should expect. But my review is after the jump:

THE SKY CRAWLERS Blu-ray Review

Posted: July 28th, 2009 at 11:44 am

Right off the top, this is not an action/anime/bloodfest, so if that’s what you were hoping for, then you are barking up the wrong tree.  This is a “thinking man’s” anime about war and peace and the expendable youth that takes part in it.  I was actually pretty blown away by how deep a “cartoon” could be, but that’s maybe because the only anime I typically watch involves vampires getting chopped to bits or non-stop gunfights with an unstoppable hitman or awkward animated nudity, haven’t really found much depth before.  But that’s what happens when you wander into Mamoru Oshii’s territory.  He shows with this film that he is not afraid to tell a story and let it breath, the action is there too, but highly secondary. Continued after the jump:

ENTOURAGE The Complete Fifth Season DVD Review

Posted: July 9th, 2009 at 10:39 am

You would think that after five seasons of a show about an actor that’s the next “big thing” and his buddies that mooch off/help his career would get tired and worn out, but as this season proves Vince and the gang still have a few tricks up their sleeves.  This season has just the right amount of golden Ari blow-up moments, random gratuitous nudity, and celebrity cameos like Martin Scorsese, Stellan Skarsgard, and Seth Green to name a few, that I’m down to stay another season with this Entourage (that might be the cheesiest thing I’ve written in recent memory, but true nonetheless). My review is after the jump:

FAMILY GUY Volume 7 DVD Review

Posted: June 21st, 2009 at 10:26 am

Let’s get started by saying I’m so happy that DVD sales resurrected this series and brought it back to television and that it’s still dominating Sunday nights.  “Family Guy” is a rare gem of a cartoon that combines satire of current events and celebrities with movie homages, random flashbacks, and completely illogical bits of humor.  It is a perfect blend of high and lowbrow comedy in one animated anarchic structure.  Volume 7 of the show doesn’t seem to be losing steam at all, if anything Seth MacFarlane and Company still have a lot of hilarity and “what the f*@k?” laugh-out-loud moments in their arsenal.

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD Blu-ray Review

Posted: June 17th, 2009 at 10:58 am

There was quite a bit of buzz around this film when it first came out and I just couldn’t bring myself to go to the theaters and watch a suburban couple rip each other a new one for two hours.  So I waited, let the buzz die down a bit and then attempted to watch it with a clean slate perspective upon its Blu-ray release.  I’m really glad I did this.  The film’s buzz had raised my expectations, but by giving myself time to forget all the critical hoopla I was able to sit back and appreciate it from my own perspective, not anyone else’s that had been crammed down my throat during awards season.  Although bleak and pretty damn depressing, is a very well made and interesting portrait of suburban married life in the 50′s.

24 Season 7 DVD Review

Posted: June 14th, 2009 at 2:47 pm

“24″ was one of the major casualties of the writer’s strike for me, because seeing Jack Bauer kick some terrorist ass each year is a key to my happiness and 2008 was void of the “Jack Bauer Power Hour” as I like to call it.  Some shows got axed after the WGA mess, while others like “24″ took a ridiculously long hiatus and had time to make the show better than ever!! Not only that, but the “24″ peeps even squeezed in a prequel movie putting Jack in Africa last November to tide us rabid fans over, which not only added to the season, but proved to be a great stand-alone two hour piece of Jack Bauer awesomeness!

FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF Blu-ray Review

Posted: May 29th, 2009 at 8:51 am

If you grew up in the 80′s you remember the terrible clothing, the cheesy hair bands, the awesome cartoons, and Ferris Bueller being the coolest kid on the planet! He was cooler than Van Wilder and like a less vulgar member of the Apatow crew.  He was the kid I wanted to be when I got to high school; needless to say I was never as cool as Ferris.  I remember trying to fake being too sick to go to school, but unfortunately my parents weren’t quite as gullible as the Buellers.

DEFIANCE Blu-ray Review

Posted: May 28th, 2009 at 1:43 pm

“Defiance” is the new powerful true story brought to life by the usually very capable filmmaker Edward Zwick (who brought us films like “Glory,” “The Last Samurai,” and “Blood Diamond”).  The real-life story is amazing; the film is unfortunately just pretty good.

UNDERWORLD: Rise of the Lycans DVD Review

Posted: May 11th, 2009 at 2:15 pm

I’m a big fan of vampire movies.  In fact, it takes a really craptastic film involving vampires for me to not at least enjoy myself a little.  There’s something sexy, badass, uber-violent, and just ridiculously cool about the whole mythology of vampires.  And who wouldn’t want to be immortal?  Or maybe that’s just me going through an existential crisis about my own mortality right now, but I think being immortal would kick serious ass (even if you had to “feed” on the occasional human, the world is filled with douche bags).

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