KNOWING NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie The Knowing from imdb

A teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.


Here is a review for the movie The Knowing from dvdtalk

While "I, Robot" was a massive moneymaker for all participants involved, I don't know of anyone who exited the theater ecstatic with the results. Well, director Alex Proyas is back on the sci-fi chain gang, this time tackling the apocalyptic thriller "Knowing." A broad, leisurely jumble of Alfred Hitchcock-style suspense architecture and a dreary, paint-by-numbers Sci-Fi Channel Original, "Knowing" only seems to extract two reactions: nail-biting and eye-rolling. Proyas misjudges the material to both frightening and facepalm results, leaving "Knowing" a frothy brew of pleasing chaos and absolute absurdity.

Dealing with the heavy psychological burden of spousal loss, MIT professor John (Nicolas Cage) watches over his young son Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) carefully, protecting him from life's social demands. To commemorate the unearthing of an elementary school time capsule buried 50 years earlier, each child is handed a drawing from the tube to study. Caleb is entrusted with a sheet of seemingly random numbers composed by a disturbed girl, triggering John's curiosity. Figuring the numbers to be a cryptogram that has successfully predicted the world's worst disasters for five decades, John sets out to prevent the last three codes on the paper from realization. Trying to save lives while seeking out the author's offspring (Rose Byrne) for answers, John races against the clock to prevent a worldwide disaster from becoming a reality.

While I walked out of "Knowing" semi-disgusted with the film and with Proyas's shallow bag of tricks, I will readily admit that the feature shares a few wonderful moments of unpolluted suspense. Clearly motivated by Hitchcock's distinguished timing, Proyas finds amazing inspiration within the picture's disaster set pieces, in which John's frantic decoding takes him to the sites of plane crashes and subway collisions -- events he's attempting to prevent. Proyas, ever the meticulous visual stylist, knows how to the twirl the tension knobs with skillful camerawork and a blaring Herrmannesque score from composer Marco Beltrami to accompany the havoc. The scenes connect, even with a few special effect blunders (John can apparently walk through fire unscathed), because they plug directly into the film's cracking premise as a chest-tightening disaster film. The ingenious ticking clock here is the code sheet, making "Knowing" a startlingly tight thriller when it boils down to the essentials of John identifying patterns and racing to save the day. Sure, plot holes and drastic leaps of logic swarm the picture, but all that can be forgiven when the film snaps to attention. "Knowing" has a few of those superlative moments.

However, "Knowing" also hungers to be a sci-fi extravaganza, populating the second half of the film with shadowy "whisper people" and reoccurring symbols of otherworldly recognition. To write that "Knowing" lost me with this detour is an understatement; the film positively croaks reaching for a more philosophical conclusion, seemingly embarrassed with the exhilarating coding clockwork that's come before. Proyas has always fumbled plot mechanics in his previous efforts, and "Knowing" is not immune to the director's butterfingers. What easily could've been a tight, swell 80-minute-long joyride of a motion picture is flooded to 120 cumbersome minutes, force-feeding a frenzied climax that doesn't fit the tone of movie at all. To spotlight more of the script's screwy direction would be sprinting into spoiler territory, so I'll leave it dangle here. Suffice it to say, "Knowing" should've left well enough alone. To fatten the experience just to play to Hollywood blockbuster rules dilutes the tension and humiliates the cast.

Proyas attempts to sand down the blunt ends using Beethoven's mournful Symphony No. 7 and an unrealistically redemptive ending, but it can't cover the mistakes of the final product, which reaches further into lunacy with a masturbatory staging of a Roland Emmerich-style mass destruction derby to please the nervous executives. "Knowing" is 40% greatness and 60% hot air, which is especially maddening when, for a moment or two at least, the movie was perfect.

Here is the direct download for the movie The Knowing.

12 ROUNDS NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie 12 Rounds from imdb

Detective Danny Fisher (John Cena) is about to have the worst day of his life. A nearly untraceable internationally-known terrorist named Miles Jackson (Aidan Gillen) has kidnapped his girlfriend Molly Porter (Ashley Scott) and forced him into "12 Rounds" of dangerous games carefully plotted throughout the streets of New Orleans. Danny struggles to keep focus while the obvious ticking clocks and crude consequences that accompany each one of these "rounds" do their best to derail him from rescuing the love of his life before it's too late. The movie is 108 minutes long. [D-Man2010] A New Orleans police detective's girlfriend is kidnapped. WWE champion John Cena is New Orleans Police Detective Danny Baxter. When Baxter stops a brilliant thief from getting away with a multi-million-dollar heist, the thiefs girlfriend is accidentally killed. After escaping from prison, the criminal mastermind enacts his revenge, taunting the cop with a series of near-impossible puzzles and tasks 12 roundsthat Baxter must somehow complete to save the life of his fiancée. [D-Man2010]

Here is a review for the movie 12 Rounds from dvdtalk

John Cena made his feature film debut with 2006's "The Marine," a dumb-as-rocks actioner lacking sufficient style and kinetic energy to help digest its rancid helpings of explosions and ghastly screenwriting. It certainly played to the primary color level of a professional-wrestler-turned-actor like Cena, but the whole experience was intolerable, failing to join the ranks of the numbing, trigger-happy schlock cinema it was aping. "12 Rounds" returns Cena to the big screen and this time under the guidance of director Renny Harlin, a tattered but venerable action craftsman who knows a thing or two about hokey line readings and fireball evasion.

When a FBI sting to capture notorious Irish terrorist Miles Jackson (Aidan Gillen, "The Wire") goes horribly wrong, New Orleans cop Danny Fisher (John Cena) is caught in the middle, accidently sending Jackson's girlfriend to her death during the melee. A year later, Jackson has busted out of prison and kidnapped Danny's wife (Ashley Scott), setting up a twisted game where the detective must survive 12 violent challenges to retrieve his loved one. Quickly mired in the series of lethal situations, Danny finds little help from vengeful FBI agents (including Steve Harris), leaving his raw police skills and love for his wife as his guide to navigating this twisted contest.

Actually, it turns out Harlin is absolutely no help here. Let's get the obvious out of the way early: "12 Rounds" is implausible, wretchedly scripted junk food that cares more about bursting the limits of absurdity than it does about telling an engaging action story. Of course the film is garbage. With wrestling powerhouse WWE producing, chances are the statement, "Guys, this just doesn't make any sense," never came up during a script meeting. I can't fault "12 Rounds" for being dumb. However, I will criticize "12 Rounds" for being awful.

Even as a cheesy, blow-em-up distraction of the lowest possible order, "12 Rounds" fails to capture the same deliciously machismo orchestrations the Schwarzeneggers and Stallones of the world used to churn out by the bucket load. Most of the fault lies with Harlin; it's a cruelly agitated directorial job fixated on a specific zoom-laden chaos that plunges the audience into the middle of the madness along with Danny. I view it more as a cheap ploy to generate a false sense of excitement to cover the ridiculous screenplay, but Harlin seems assured that continuous camera movement equals surefire stimulation. Hey, if it keeps the focus off of Cena's wooden acting, I'm all for it. Still, it doesn't take long for the visual toxicity to become unbearable.

"12 Rounds" is a stunt-happy picture, and that's the one element I feel comfortable praising. Structured litigiously like "Die Hard with a Vengeance," "12 Rounds" rarely stops to breathe, always on the hunt for a dilapidated New Orleans location to blow up or to find a fresh way for Danny to barely escape assured doom. The titular games permit Harlin a chance to concoct a few compelling action set-pieces, all of them swiftly ruined by the camerawork, the dialogue, and the acting. "12 Rounds" is about bigness and furious action beats, and for a few moments here and there it feels like the Renny Harlin of old has returned. The sensation is fleeting, especially when Cena, Harris, and Gillen feel they must open their mouths and kill the tension with words. That's what "12 Rounds" needed less of: words.

After two movies, I still don't spot a single reason John Cena should be a movie star. He's virtually free of charisma, and to find stunning actors that would make him appear gifted would require more money than what the WWE is willing to part with. "12 Rounds" is the second strike on his celluloid career. If Cena's not careful, one more of these stinkers and it's nothing but DTV potboilers with Hulk Hogan.

Here is the direct download for the movie 12 Rounds.

RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Race to Witch Mountain from imdb

The movie opens with a vignette talking about UFO's and conspiracies. It then opens to a scene where a group of government agents track a flying object that flies into Earth's atmosphere over Las Vegas. Henry Burke (Ciaran Hinds) gives the orders for his fellow agents to follow where it crashed and get whatever information they can. Meanwhile, in town, cab driver Jack Bruno (Dwayne Johnson) picks up a couple of dudes in Storm trooper outfits, who speak in robotic voices to take them to the UFO Convention at Planet Hollywood. He takes their plastic rifles and points to a sign in his cab that says "NO WEAPONS". Meanwhile, back in the desert, Burke and his men examine footprints, while something unseen rustles in the bushes, watching them. Through further analysis from his right hand man Matheson (Tom Everett Scott), they've taken humanoid form. Burke slowly backtracks how the two managed to get out of the desert overnight (the analysis is done when they get back to the office) and discover the two of them, disguised as teens, snuck onto a senior citizen's tour, headed right into Vegas. Jack gives a ride to Dr. Alex Friedman (Carla Gugino), who's in town for the UFO Convention as a theorist investigating life on other planets. She can tell that Jack doesn't really believe in them from his description of the "nut jobs", but gives him a pamphlet anyway in case he changes his mind. That night, he goes back to his hotel, but can't sleep because of all the noise coming from the room next door. To pass the time, he beats up a punching bag. The next morning, he heads to his cab to prepare for work, but two thugs pull up in a truck. It turns out they work for a local crime boss, and he wants Jack to come back to work for him. Jack explains he's out, but the thugs get in close, trying to say he's not. He slams them down on the hood. When a cop comes threatening to give them a ticket for their parking job, they leave, promising Jack that it isn't over. Jack gets back into his cab and suddenly discovers Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig), the teens, in his back seat. They explain that they're in a hurry to get out of there, and show a huge wad of cash to Jack. He accepts the job, but gets slightly irritated by Seth's details in where they're going, since he's giving coordinates. He prefers Sara's simple approach of "that way". After accessing cameras throughout the city, Burke discovers that the kids hopped into Jack's cabs, and orders cars to give pursuit. The cab is now driving through the desert, where Jack is analyzing the situation with the kids. He thinks they're runaways. However, Sara interrupts when she notes that three trucks are in hot pursuit. Jack thinks they're just passing, but uses his evasive driving skills when they try to box him in. Jack thinks they're with the crime boss the thugs came from earlier and attempts to outrun them. They try to box him in again, but he escapes, leading to two trucks veering off the road. A third is still in pursuit. Seth gives his sister Sara a certain look, and she says, "don't". He disappears through the seat and stands on the road, and the truck, not seeing his sudden appearance, crashes right into him. It cracks into pieces and lands on the road, and Seth doesn't have a scratch on him. Sara uses forceful powers to reverse gears on the cab and hit the accelerator pedal to back it up. The agents think they're going to ram them, but it stops just shy of doing so. Seth gets back in the cab without opening the door, unbeknownst to Jack. Still, he gets out, crowbar in hand, saying he's going to end this. He tells the agents, including Burke, that he said he is out and he means it. Burke assures him he has no idea what he's getting into. A flustered Jack gets back into the cab and drives away. Hours later, he gets the kids to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. They give him the cash and leave, going into the cabin. He looks at the cash and realizes they overpaid him (with money stolen from an ATM, again, not known to Jack). He gets out and slowly enters the house to catch up with them, and they're crouched down, using some kind of sensor to find something. Seth locates it and activates a switch on a fridge, and it opens a secret panel. The kids go inside, and Jack follows, not knowing that a weird dude in a space suit is watching behind him. They go into an inner area that looks like an atrium. Seth finds some egg-shaped thing and sets down another switch. He reaches inside and pulls out a sensor of some kind, and him and Sara are both excited. However, their excitement is short lived when the space suit guy charges after them with a laser cannon. Jack tries to hold him off, but gets knocked down. Soon, everything in the atrium is set ablaze, and Seth is knocked unconscious. Jack bewilders the space guy and gets the kids out of there as everything is blowing up around them. He gets in the cab and drives off with them in tow. He stops and asks what the heck just happened out there. The space suit guy is in hot pursuit in his spaceship, shooting at them with everything he's got. Jack drives into a train tunnel and narrowly avoids the hunter's sensors, and the trio thinks they're safe. Seth insists that he shouldn't tell Sara the truth, as humans are untrustworthy. Sara disagrees. Jack starts to drive over a bridge, and the hunter reappears, shooting at them with lasers. They enter another tunnel, and Jack discovers that a train is coming from the other way, with the spaceship in hot pursuit. Sara makes the taxicab go faster, and it manages to escape a collision while the spaceship is totaled. Back at the lab, Burke and the others know about the explosion surrounding the cabin and want it checked out. He also knows about the train collision and the possibility that someone else is in pursuit of the kids. No matter -- he wants the kids first. Jack pulls over the cab and the kids spill the beans. They are in fact aliens, sent to Earth to retrieve something. He doesn't believe them, insisting that aliens are like little green men. To convince him, Sara levitates several objects in the cab. It freaks Jack out a little, and he agrees to help, driving the cab off. It's in bad shape after the multiple encounters it's been through. Meanwhile, we discover that the space guy survives the impact from his ship, and is slowly repairing his suit... The cab makes its way into the small town of Stony Creek. Jack asks a local mechanic (Cheech Marin) to fix it, but he says he's closed. Sara uses her mind reading ability to slowly convince him, and Jack offers cash as well. While he's doing repairs, the trio head to a local restaurant to cool off. Sara is worried that Jack is going to ditch them, as she has telepathy powers and can read his mind. Seth is still annoyed by the fact he can't trust humans. Thanks to the LoJack tracking on the cab, Burke and his men catch up to Jack. They surround the restaurant that the three of them are in, and he calls him to give him an ultimatum. Instead of turning them in, however, Jack gets the attention of a local sheriff and his men, saying that armed men are about to come into the restaurant. He slowly gets the kids to cover near the back, as the government men and the sheriff's team draw guns on each other. A local waitress, who helped clean the kids up earlier, lead them to a shaft where they can get out through the roof. Jack thanks her, while the government agent convinces the sheriff that he's with higher authority. They put their guns away. Jack can't open the shaft door, as it's locked from the outside. Seth reaches up, slipping his hand through the metal and unsnapping the hinge from the outside. It opens right up, and Sara explains that Seth can molecularly manipulate items. They go across the roof as the agents close in on them and land in a neighbor's yard, where an angry dog confronts Jack. He thinks he's going to get attacked, but instead, it licks Sara in the face and shows compassion to her. She understands it. They get into the cab (after paying the mechanic) and drive off. The agents try to give pursuit, but Sara uses her powers to electrically blow the engines on their cars as they pass. Burke tries to get a shot off, but the dog bites him in the arm and runs away. As the cab's about to leave, Sara makes it stop, and the dog climbs in. It then speeds away into the night. The cab stops later on, after Jack has a discussion with the dog (through Sara), as it needs to go to the bathroom. He's not sure what to do now; since he's unable to help the kids find what they're looking for. However, Sara's mind reading brings up the name of Alex Friedman, the person Jack picked up earlier. So, they head back to Vegas. They arrive at Planet Hollywood, where Jack has the valet park his cab. Meanwhile, one of the thugs he ran into earlier is on the phone, saying Jack just showed up and it's a big mistake. The three of them catch up to Friedman, who just got humiliated with her technical space discussion being laughed at by sci-fi fans. They go into a Mars exhibit, where Jack tells her the whole story. She doesn't believe it until her laptop drops on the floor, and Sara saves a collision by lifting it with her powers and handing it back to her. Seth then activates a special screening device, showing them the whole universe. Sara admires Alex for pointing out a "smudge" on her readings -- it's actually their ship. They explain what they're doing there. Their parents were trying to research Earth to find resources for their dying planet, and want to inhabit it peacefully. Other people think that forceful invasion is the answer, including the space man that's in pursuit of the kids. So they need to get back to their planet with the proof -- the substance taken from the egg in the cabin -- or the planet may be doomed. Alex thinks she can get help from a colleague, and they go to see him. The colleague is Dr. Donald Harlan (Garry Marshall), and after a discussion with two of his right-hand men, they lead the group to his trailer. Harlan explains that the only place they could possibly store their space ship, which is of tremendous size, is in a hidden base called Witch Mountain. It's a heavily fortified base and a suicide mission, but Jack relents and says he's taking them. Harlan wishes them luck and gives them maps. Alex goes up to get her stuff, as she insists on coming along with Jack and the kids since she wants to prove her theories. Sara detects that she likes Jack, and he feels the same. The kids run off for a sci-fi display, and Jack begins looking for them. However, the two thugs jump him and drag him away, with guns hidden to his back. He then sees the two Storm trooper guys he mocked earlier in the cab, grabs their toy guns, and beats up the thugs. He runs off, looking for the kids. Meanwhile, a cheesy sci-fi show is going on, with B-movie actors on the stage. This fascinates the kids, even though they think they're being made fun of. What they aren't aware of, however, is that the bounty hunter is in the group, ready to blast them. Sara lowers a light fixture on the space dude, crashing him through a monitor. Just then, Burke's men show up after they tracked Jack's cab through his license plate. The three of them get away, and the bounty hunter creeps off as Burke's men remain in hot pursuit. Just when they think they have Jack and the kids surrounded by slot machines, Sara sets them off so they spew a whole lot of money. Crowds flock to gather it, and the three of them escape, along with Alex, coming back from her room. The cab speeds off down the city streets, with Burke's men in hot pursuit. They stop and surround it, only to find Harlan behind the wheel with his two friends in the back. They've taken Harlan's SUV, and are headed up to Witch Mountain. As the kids sleep, Alex and Jack get to know each other. Alex has always been about science, while Jack wants nothing more than to buy a '68 Mustang, like the one featured in the movie Bullitt. She's never seen it. They arrive at Witch Mountain, surveying the entrance, which is five miles away. They slowly make their way towards it, unaware that a security camera is tracking them. As they climb down a ridge, Sara and Seth are both taken down by tranquilizer darts. Burke and his men capture them. Jack tries to put up a fight, but is subdued by two guards. Burke explains that he could go back to jail if he resists, and that Alex's seeking the truth won't do her any good, since no one believes her anyway. Jack simply refuses to fight any further, and this shocks Alex. As Jack and Alex ride in a Jeep with two soldiers, she still can't believe he's given up. She slaps him, and it distracts the two soldiers long enough for them to get thrown out. Alex takes control, and Jack wonders when she knew that he wasn't giving up on the kids. (It was a ruse.) She says he hasn't given up on them so far. They make their way through a tunnel access system into the base, after just narrowly escaping getting incinerated. Meanwhile, Burke is about to run some tests on the kids, even though his associates aren't sure about their body structures. He insists the work get done. Jack and Alex make their way inside, but their presence is soon known with an internal alarm system. As the others (including Burke) go to look for them, they sneak into the lab, subduing the other scientists and slowly awakening the kids. However, Jack and Alex aren't the only ones infiltrating the base. The bounty hunter is also there, shooting back at the soldiers and forcing them to fall back. Jack, Alex and the kids make their way around the base until they locate the ship. Alex makes the scientists leave (by explaining it's under Burke's orders), but they're stopped short of entering by Burke and his men. They inadvertently fire on them, but Seth's powers bounce off the bullets, and they manage to get on board. They activate a computer panel and get the ship's engine revving as the bounty hunter enters the lab. He shoots at the men and notices the ship leaving, but not until it runs right into him, head on. The ship flies through the corridors as Burke orders the base to be shut down. With the doors closing, the kids fly the ship at high-speed and.it escapes into the night! However, a stuck-open air lock seems to be dragging the ship down. Jack says he'll take care of it if the kids can fly the ship. He goes back trying to fix the airlock, only to run into the bounty hunter guy. They have a huge fight, and Jack eventually knocks off his helmet, revealing the alien dude's ugly face. Seth goes to help Jack while Alex sits in the passenger seat, unsure how to drive the ship with Sara. The manual airlock door opens, revealing a glowing energy source at the bottom of it. The helmet falls in and is completely vaporized. The hunter and Jack continue to fight until Jack falls in, just narrowly landing on a ledge next to the energy source. The hunter comes down to finish him off, but Seth distracts him and almost makes him fall in. Jack grabs the hunter, only to pull him up, punch him in the face, and make him fall into the source. BLAM! Vaporized. The two climb out of the chamber and the ship flies straight on. Back in the lab, Burke receives a call from the higher-ups in Washington, with obviously not-good news. It lands back by the SUV, where everyone says their goodbyes. Seth apologizes to Jack for not trusting humans. They also give them a transmitter, so they can find them wherever they go. Sara gives Jack a hug goodbye, asking him to take care of the dog (Junkyard) and that he's a good man. The kids take off as Jack and Sara watch. The ship flies away at lightspeed. During the credits, it's revealed that Jack and Alex collaborated on a book, and is a huge success with the sci-fi crowd. They walk through happy autograph seekers and past Harlan and his crew (who were glad to be a part of the story). A cab is waiting for them, only to pull away and reveal a suave '68 Mustang. Jack, Alex and Junkyard climb inside, but before they drive off, Alex discovers the transmitter going off, meaning the kids are coming back. The car drives out of Las Vegas.

Here is a review for the movie Race to Witch Mountain from dvdtalk


People say that movies these days lack character development, but what they lack is personality. There are lots of characters in Disney's new big-budget update Race to Witch Mountain, including a cab driver with a sketchy history, a geeky scientist who believes in aliens, a stone-faced Department of Defense agent hot on their heels and two aliens themselves, schooled poorly in Earth lingo. Yet they all rattle around this hollow spectacle like bits of plastic inside a broken action figure, without a single bit of cinematic life among them.

More like a third sequel than a remake, Race takes place in the Nevada desert outside Las Vegas, where Henry Burke (Ciarán Hinds) and his agents (Christopher Marquette and Tom Everett Scott) scowl at a hole in the ground. It was left by aliens Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig), who have crashed on Earth looking for data to prevent the planet from being destroyed. All of this is bad luck for Jack Bruno (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, in his continuing shift to family-friendly movie star), who finds them (literally) as passengers in his cab. He takes them where they ask to go, only to discover black SUVs ominously following their every move and an alien assassin hot on their tail.

I'm sure writers Matt Lopez and Mark Bomback would argue that Jack Bruno has plenty of character. He's holding a legit job after working for a Las Vegas crime lord. He's always been sort of a 'no' man, but he's working to say 'yes' to a 1968 Camaro he's always dreamed of. And he doesn't believe in aliens, which makes the appearance of two of them an emotionally complicated experience. These elements are developed over the course of the movie in what would most certainly be called a character arc, yet none of these things develop Jack beyond the stock Everyman on the page. It certainly explains things, such as his driving skills and why he goes against his gut to help Seth and Sara out, but it never affects his mindset or changes his reaction to anything. He's as bland as his name, and it's disappointing. The same goes for both the cosmically underutilized Carla Gugino and both Robb and Ludwig as the mildly annoying aliens, who insist on speaking using irritatingly stilted terminology the entire movie.

Unfortunately, my fellow critic Brian Orndorf's assessment that this is "the loudest Witch Mountain" is accurate. Director Andy Fickman doesn't seem to know what makes an action sequence exciting, so he resorts to terrible shaky-cam and a ridiculous number of explosions to cover it all up (it seems like at least fifty explosions even before the second act, and parents may want to know that there are a surprising amount of guns). The visual effects range from acceptable to awful, which is a shame: one of the few elements of the original that I liked was the old-school trickery. Many of the action sequences are also created by contrivances in the plot designed to waste time or hold the characters up, such as those thugs tracking Jack, who add less than nothing to the film and vanish without a trace: all "character", no personality.

Although my recent experience of the original was the first time, the little touches for fans struck me as pretty endearing: the creature sent to kill them is named Deranian, a Winnebago works its way into the trip, and best of all, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann pop up for cameos, and they actually get stuff to do, rather than just quickly disappearing (random appearances by Cheech Marin and Garry Marshall don't fare as well). That's where the cleverness ends, though. The film wants desperately to take a self-referential jab at both itself and its audience, but it doesn't understand either. Scenes at a sci-fi convention and The Rock's constant feel scripted and fake, especially the conventioneers. There are a lot of Stormtroopers, and the worst fake "movie" stage show ever, but nothing incisive or understanding. I'm all in for a good jab at sci-fi nerds, but you have to "get" them before you can make one, and these are just lame caricatures.

When I saw the trailer for Race to Witch Mountain, I thought it looked really good by Disney live-action standards, but a friend of mine who liked the originals thought it looked too overproduced, like a big, Hollywood version of something that was better left old-fashioned. At first, I thought the original was too old-fashioned, but unfortunately, she was right: it leans on a mediocre sense of pop-culture humor and the spruced-up spectacle is decidedly dull. "Too smart by half" is a term Roger Ebert likes to use in his reviews to describe something too clever for its own good. Race to Witch Mountain is more like too savvy by one half, too uninspired by the other.

Here is the direct download for the movie Race to Witch Mountain.

NEW MUSIC CD: NICKELBACK DARK HORSE

Here is the Amazon summary for the Music CD Dark Horse from Nickelback

Nickelback have established themselves as one of the biggest rock bands in the world. With over 26 million albums sold worldwide they have made their mark in rock and roll history. Their new album, 'Dark Horse', is one of the most anticipated releases this year. The band brought in legendary producer Mutt Lange to produce the record with Nickelback and longtime collaborator Joey Moi.

Here is the tracklist for The Dark Horse from Nickelback.

1. Something In Your Mouth 2. Burn It To The Ground 3. Gotta Be Somebody 4. I’d Come For You 5. Next Go Round 6. Just To Get High 7. Never Gonna Be Alone 8. Shakin’ Hand 9. S.E.X. 10. If Today Was Your Last Day 11. This Afternoon

Here is the direct download for the CD The Dark Horse from Nickelback(NEWZBIN Site).

MUSIC CD: NICKELBACK ALL THE RIGHT REASONS

Here is the summary for the CD All The Right Reasons From NickelBack from Amazon

Throughout their nine-year career, Nickelback have stayed true to their roots, releasing five CDs of straight-up, unapologetic rock & roll. So how have things changed for the Canadian boys since the massive success of Silver Side Up and The Long Road? Well, brothers Chad and Mike Kroeger still live in the Great White North, and they still write hook-laden rock songs. The only difference now is that they have the satisfaction, 10 million CDs later, of smugly knowing that even some of their biggest naysayers will guiltily admit to singing along with Nickelback's catchy hits. On All the Right Reasons, one track definitely ranks high up in hum-ability: the first single, "Photograph," reminisces about the bittersweetness of high school in a small town--once again reconfirming frontman Chad Kroeger's ability to write memorable hooks. Regarding the rest of the disc: standard rock topics like love, lust, jealousy, and breakups abound, with riff-y delivery that longtime fans will love. The guilty pleasure bunch will also find what they need within the grooves, on the ballad "If Everyone Cared," the riff-heavy "Fight for All the Wrong Reasons," and the Metallica-inspired "Savin' Me." The disc's most impressive and simultaneously surreal moment, however, exists on "Side of a Bullet," a passionate revenge tale written about the killer of Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, which features one of the late Abbott's guitar solos as donated by Pantera bandmate and brother, drummer Vinnie Paul. --Denise Sheppard

Here is the Tracks on the CD All The Right Reasons From Nickelback.

1. "Follow You Home" - 4:20
2. "Fight for All the Wrong Reasons" - 3:43
3. "Photograph" - 4:19
4. "Animals" - 3:06
5. "Savin' Me" - 3:39
6. "Far Away" - 3:58
7. "Next Contestant" - 3:35
8. "Side of a Bullet" - 3:00
9. "If Everyone Cared" - 3:38
10. "Someone That You're With" - 4:01
11. "Rockstar" - 4:15

Bonus Tracks

1. "We Will Rock You" (Queen cover) (Bonus track on Japanese Edition)
2. "Someday" (Live/Acoustic) (Australian Edition)

Here is the direct download for the full CD of All The Right Reason from Nickelback (Newzbin site).

PUSH NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Push from imdb

A group of young American ex-pats with telekinetic and clairvoyant abilities are hiding from a clandestine U.S. government agency. They must utilize their different talents and band together for a final job enabling them to escape the agency forever. Written by Anonymous

Here is a review for the movie Push from dvdtalk

It's clear to me that Dakota Fanning is the real deal. Free of any remaining child-actor stigma, I found myself strangely drawn to her in Push, Paul McGuigan's sporadically-effective sci-fi/action/superhero hybrid. She's got whatever it is that movie stars need: the right combination of mystery, talent and charisma that can carry a movie. Too bad Push is a bit of a lark; it's sound and fury, signifying a sequel. The movie wears its desire to start a franchise on its sleeve in a way that's inherently unsatisfying, and while Dakota Fanning may be popping up in any number of projects in 2010, I doubt any of them are going to be Push 2.

In the world of the film, there are three major types of special abilities (well, there are more, but elaboration is rare). Movers can move things with their mind, Seers see the future, and Pushers can get inside your mind and make you believe whatever they want. Not surprisingly, these types correspond to the three main characters characters. Nick (Chris Evans) is the Mover, Cassie (Fanning) is the Seer, and Kira (Camilla Belle) is the Pusher. They're being tracked by Division, led by Agent Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou), who wants the syringe Kira stole while escaping from Division's science lab. Division is an organization which exists to turn these people into weapons, and they've been injecting gunk meant to enhance the powers into everyone they can pick up. The downside is, it's fatal.

These days, everybody's trying to birth a franchise, and Push is no exception. Plot threads are purposefully left hanging, ideas feel underdeveloped, and various possibilities are skimmed over, leaving a movie that basically just has holes in it, and watching it is like eating a Hot Pocket with nothing but sauce inside. On top of that, the script is its own brand of frustrating, bordering on both annoying and dopey but never quite tipping over, leaving the audience to simply wish at all times that it was better. I wasn't bored by Push, but I was never sucked in either.

Director Paul McGuigan surprised me with his last feature Lucky Number Slevin, which took a familiar set of tropes and goosed some life into them with snappy writing and sharp performances. Sadly, lightning does not strike twice, and only spurts of the action and mayhem on display are particularly entertaining. McGuigan unfortunately succumbs to the modern desire to overcut everything, tossing some used Tony Scott-style burned-out flashbacks and a dash of shaky-cam in for good measure. Even when the movie looks nice, François Séguin's colorful production design or DP Peter Sova probably played as much a role in it as McGuigan. The 111-minute runtime could also lose a little fat -- you could probably trim out ten minutes without losing a single scene.

It pays to know what kind of movie you're making, and only Fanning gets it right. While she takes the film on exactly the right terms, her co-stars are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Camilla Belle often feels flat and somewhat maudlin, like she's taking the concept very seriously, while Evans is almost too aware he's making a goofy movie, with some audience-pandering smarminess showing around the edges. Their romance is an even bigger miscalculation: Belle and Evans have no chemistry whatsoever. Luckily, we have Fanning to fall back on, who has a deadpan charisma without hitting the audience over the head with the movie's complicated mythos. Among the rest of the cast, it's nice to see Evans' Sunshine co-star Cliff Curtis pop up as a man who can transform objects, and I liked seeing Nate Mooney, one of the terrible McPoyle brothers on "It's Always Sunny in Phiadelphia", in a far less lecherous role. As the villain, Hounsou is barely there, and he fails to be as menacing as he should be when he decides to appear (with his mostly silent Alan Tudyk/Paul Bettany clone Neil Jackson in tow).

By chopping out select bits for the sequel, McGuigan and co. leave an already silly movie spread too thin, hurting both the film that exists and the one they're hoping to make next. Watching Push turns the audience into the monkey on the exercise bike with the banana dangling in front of it: the filmmakers promise you the banana, but only if we pedal Push to box office success. Fans of Dakota Fanning should be fairly satisfied, but everyone else can get a glimpse of a future where they stay home, and save their money.

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TWILIGHT NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Twilight from imdb

Bella Swan has always been a little bit different. Never one to run with the crowd, Bella never cared about fitting in with the trendy, plastic girls at her Phoenix, Arizona high school. When her mother remarried and Bella chooses to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she didn't expect much of anything to change. But things do change when she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen. For Edward is nothing like any boy she's ever met. He's nothing like anyone she's ever met, period. He's intelligent and witty, and he seems to see straight into her soul. In no time at all, they are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance - unorthodox because Edward really isn't like the other boys. He can run faster than a mountain lion. He can stop a moving car with his bare hands. Oh, and he hasn't aged since 1918. Like all vampires, he's immortal. That's right - vampire. But he doesn't have fangs - that's just in the movies. And he doesn't drink human blood, though Edward and his family are unique among vampires in that lifestyle choice. To Edward, Bella is that thing he has waited 90 years for - a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. Somehow or other, they will have to manage their unmanageable love. But when unexpected visitors come to town and realize that there is a human among them Edward must fight to save Bella? A modern, visual, and visceral Romeo and Juliet story of the ultimate forbidden love affair - between vampire and mortal. Written by http://www.summit-ent.com/

Isabella Swan moves to gloomy Forks to live with her father. As she starts her junior year in high school she becomes fascinated by Edward Cullen who holds a dark secret which is only known by his family. Edward falls in love with Bella as well but knows the further they progress in their relationship the more he is putting Bella and those close to her at risk. Edward warns Bella that she should leave him but she refuses to listen and to understand why he is saying this. Bella learns his secret. He is a vampire, however she is not afraid of his blood-thirsty needs and the fact he could kill her at any moment. Bella is afraid of losing him, the love of her life. The thrill begins when a new vampire finds it a challenge to hunt Bella down for her irresistible blood. The game is on and James will not stop until she is killed. Written by courtney

Bella Swan is a clumsy, kind hearted teenager with a knack for getting into trouble. Edward Cullen is an intelligent, good looking vampire who is trying to hide his secret. Against all odds, the two fall in love but will a pack of blood thirsty trackers and the disapproval of their family and friends separate them? Written by LadyN1

Here is a review for the movie Twilight from dvdtalk

If you are a teenage girl, in love with the romance genre, then Twilight is your Citizen Kane. Not since Stanley Kubrick locked Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise in a room together for hours and hours in Eyes Wide Shut have we seen more screen time devoted to the relationship of just two people. Based on the best selling novel by Stephanie Meyer, Twilight tells the story of the deep attraction and constantly unconsummated relationship between two high school students, Bella and Edward. These two star crossed lovers would have little standing in their way were it not for the unavoidable fact that Edward is a vampire. This conflict, "Will he lover her or will he eat her?" is the core of Twilight, everything else feels tacked on to fill out the movie. On paper this makes Twilight a fairly superficial and thin film. Ancillary characters, like Bella's father, are thinly drawn and only exist to bridge the gaps between scenes with Bella and Edward. Sub plots involving rival vampires and mysterious murders are completely throw away and again, only serve to connect us to scenes between the two lovers. What Twilight lacks in depth it more than makes up with passion. There's enough passion in Twilight to fill up an entire series of films. So much so, I fully expect teenage girls to literally swoon after seeing this film. Robert Pattinson, who is sure to become a 'teen idol', plays Edward as a wonderfully pained and brooding character. Pattison's performance seems to be inspired more by Hamlet and Romeo than Dracula and Angel and his character feels oddly un-vampiric. Kristen Stewart does a solid job playing Bella, the every girl grappling with the attention of a boy so captivating she can't help but become obsessed with him. In many teen oriented romantic films issues of high school politics, popularity, social circles and just 'fitting in' tend to dominate.. With Twilight the issues are much more internal. Bella is less concerned with fitting in and more concerned over whether or not she's done something to keep Edward from loving her. This internal struggle of self confidence in relationships is sure to strike a deep chord with the intended audience especially combined with the deep level of complex and unconsummated teen love. As a vampire movie, Twilight reinterprets the traditional vampire myth through almost superhero eyes. In the Twilight universe vampires don't have fangs, aren't effected by garlic (even a golden one) and don't burst into flames in the sunlight. The Twilight vampires have more in common with The X-Men than they do with Buffy The Vampire Slayer. At times Edward seems almost celestial despite his constant proclamations to the contrary. But summing all this into a recommendation is extremely difficult. Twilight is one of those movies where film criticism really doesn't matter all that much. Odds are audiences are going to make up their minds to see this film based on the novels or at least the popularity of the novels. It's just one of those movies so connected to the book series there's no way to really un-teather it. For my part, I feel that Twilight does one thing well, it captures a passionate romance between teenagers and embodies the highs and lows of that experience. Beyond that I think the film is a little weak. But for the target audience I think it's going to be more than enough and I anticipate that it'll be the kind of movie that gets a large number of repeat views in theaters and builds quite a dedicated following. I've seen much worse than Twilight, but as a parent bringing my pre-teen to a movie I found that it was engaging enough not to be a miserable moving going experience (something I can't say for many of the films aimed at her demographic).


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STREET FIGHTER THE MOVIE 2(2009) NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Street Fighter 2 from imdb

The movie opens with Chun Li narrating her experience growing up aspiring to be a concert pianist. As a child, she moves from San Francisco to Hong Kong with her family. There, along with piano, she learns Wushu from her father, Xiang, who is a well connected businessman. One night, her home is attacked by Bison and his henchman. Chun Li's father fights them off until Balrog grabs a hold of a young Chun Li, forcing him to surrender. As Bison and his men are leaving with Xiang, Chun Li's mother tries to stop them. Balrog just punches her.

Years later, Chun Li grows up and becomes a talented concert pianist. At the end of one of her concerts, she receives a scroll written in Ancient Chinese text. On her way home, she sees a mysterious homeless man getting assaulted by street thugs. After the thugs leave, Chun Li tends to him and notices a spiderweb tattoo on his hand. Meanwhile, Xiang is shown working for Bison as a prisoner. In return for his services, he is allowed to view pictures of his daughter all grown up. Back home, Chun Li's mother finally loses her battle to cancer as Chun Li and her servants mourn her loss at a funeral

Elsewhere, we see Nash and Maya investigating a murder of several heads of criminal syndicate families in Bangkok. Chun Li on the side is meeting with a wise old lady in town who studies the scroll and tells her to find a man named Gen in Bangkok, revealing to her an image of the same spiderweb she saw tattooed on the homeless man's hand. With a new goal in mind, Chun Li leaves her home and heads to Bangkok. After weeks of searching for Gen without any luck, she sees a man being assaulted in an alley by thugs. Chun Li comes to his rescue and fights them. After a long battle ended by finishing them with a Bike Rack Drop Ultra move, Chun Li collapses in exhaustion. There, we see Gen pick her up to take her to his home.

Gen tells Chun Li that he knows how to find her father and that Bison has him, but that she also needs anger management. In response, she goes to an internet cafe and logs onto shoryuken.com to find out more about Bison, who is now holding the families of property owners hostage in order to force them to sign their property over to him. Upon leaving, one of the owners is asked to hand over the rights to a docking harbor, allowing the shipment of the "White Rose". Chun Li overhears this. Meanwhile at Interpol, Nash figures out that Bison's headquarters are right across the street from the Police Station.

Later that night, Cantana, one of Bison's secretaries, goes to a nightclub. Chun Li spies on her and notices her jocking the girls in the club. Chun Li moves in and seductively dances with her before casually walking away into the bathroom. Cantana, sex driven, follows her and locks the bathroom window. There, Chun Li beats her into giving out the location of the White Rose. Cantana's bodyguards come back and Chun Li escapes after a brief shootout.

We are then told of Bison's origins. He is the son of Irish missionaries. He grew up an orphan having to steal fish from people in Thailand. In order to lose his conscience, he forced his daughter out of the womb of his wife prematurely. This somehow transferred his conscience into her. Back at Gen's home, Bison's henchmen come after Gen and Chun Li. Gen fights them off until Balrog blows up his house with a rocket launcher. With Gen gone and nowhere to be found, Chun Li runs off. She is then attacked by Vega, who she defeats soundly and hangs upside down since his claws weren't sharp enough to cut rope.

Chun Li then heads to the harbor and interrogates an employee into telling her the arrival time of the White Rose. Later that night, this turns out to be a trap as several Shadaloo soldiers capture her. Chun Li is then taken back to Shadaloo headquarters and is reunited with her father. Bison tells her that Xiang outlived his usefulness and breaks his neck, killing him. Bison and Balrog leave Chun Li to the henchman to finish off. Chun Li however escapes when they try to swing her around from the ceiling like a pinata. As she runs away, she is shot in the arm by Balrog. Before Balrog could recapture her, the crowd begins throwing durians at him. This scares Balrog as he drives off in his Benz. Chun Li meanwhile, is rescued again by Gen, who survived the explosion.

Chun Li approaches Nash and tells him she needs backup to take down Bison. Nash and Maya oblige as Chun Li approaches the dock employee who set her up last time. The employee tells her that he was forced into deceiving her and tells her the real arrival time. Chun Li doubts him at first, but he points to the white board at the arrival time, proving that it is true. At the dock later that night, Interpol agents engage in a shootout with Shadaloo soldiers. On a ship, Chun Li finds a girl asking where her father is. Meanwhile, Gen fights Balrog and kills him by stabbing him with a pipe spraying nitrogen. We later find out that the girl is Bison's daughter and her name is Rose, making her the White Rose. Bison takes her in and welcomes her warmly.

Bison walks into his office where he is ambushed by Gen. Gen however is no match for him. Sensing his daughter in danger, Bison goes back to his daughters room, where he finds she is gone. Gen shows up again and ambushes Bison, getting beaten up again. Chun Li then comes in and fights Bison. After a long battle, she hits him with a bamboo pole a couple times and drops some sandbags on him, making him dizzy. She then charges up a Kikoken and shoots it at him, knocking him off the scaffolding they were fighting on, then jumping on his neck and twisting it, killing him.

Back home, Chun Li is settled down as Gen pays her a visit. He shows her an ad for a Street Fighter tournament, telling her about a Japanese fighter named "Ryu something". Chun Li declines, saying that she's home for now.



Here is a review for the movie Street Fighter 2 from dvdtalk

If memories could be dialed back to the dark ages of the mid-1990s for a moment, recall that the last time the "Street Fighter" video game empire was adapted for the big screen, it concerned a cartoonishly costumed Jean-Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue trying to save the world from the demonic clutches of an infirmed Raul Julia. Unsurprisingly, the film tanked. Now 15 years later, a new challenger has arrived with "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li," and this production is armed with a few clumsy television actors, Chris Klein, and a member of the Black Eyed Peas. This is not progress.

A criminal mastermind of the highest order, Bison (Neal McDonough) rules the streets of Bangkok with his right hand man Balrog (Michael Clarke Duncan), along with assassin Vega (Taboo) and corporate vixen Cantana (Josie Ho). With Bison's vicious Shadaloo syndicate placing the city into a state of panic, it's up to a highly trained warrior, Chun-Li (Kristin Kreuk, trying for earnestness and failing), and her unwavering dedication to justice to infiltrate Bison's underworld and battle to save the city. On Chun-Li's trail is Interpol agent Charlie Nash (Chris Klein), a man equally driven to stop Bison, rising above the law to join the lady brawler as she sets out to squash evil.

The pie crust of the "Legend" failure was shaped early on by the producers when they hired Andrzej Bartkowiak to direct this fresh attempt to merge the video game world with big screen heroics. Here's a list of the director's achievements: "Doom," "Exit Wounds," "Romeo Must Die," and "Cradle 2 the Grave." Not the most inspiring of filmographies. Certainly the new, hardened tone for "Street Fighter" requires a visionary who once helmed three DMX motion pictures, but his limitations as a storyteller and architect of foot-first action once again crumbles a promising feature film. However, Bartkowiak's numerous directorial blunders are only but a toe dipped into the pool of "Legend" futility.

With only a few characters and elements adapted from the video game series that began its reign of quarter munching over 20 years ago, the new "Street Fighter" picture is a distinct departure from the 1994 event movie failure, removing an overall cartoon atmosphere for a grittier tone concentrating on straightforward revenge scenarios, Eastern mysticism, and adding a dab of verisimilitude to once colorful characters. The screenplay by Justin Marks is surprisingly straight-faced, aggressively attempting to assign new mythos to these famous characters that will generate a sprawling fight saga to be feasted upon over several sequels and assorted gaming tie-ins. The ambition is brave, but the execution is the pits, turning the beloved "Street Fighter" legacy into a cruddy, smalltime Sci-Fi Original production, perhaps too serious for its own good.

While I do use the word "serious," "Legend" is far from Masterpiece Theater. At its core, the picture is still a crude martial arts demonstration reel, only Bartkowiak fumbles the heated encounters with ripsaw editing and clumsy choreography that exposes the actors counting off the moves in their head. It's impossible to kick back and embrace the violence when it's all made a blur, occasionally punctuated by a famous "Street Fighter" finishing move or special effect. The action is largely routine, PG-13 filler, but so is the entire movie, lamely lurching from conflict to conflict in a programmed manner. At this point, I'm positive Bartkowiak wouldn't know nail-biting tension even if it came up and bit him on the nose.

The only joy of "Legend" is watching the actors struggle to rise above the mundane details, only to spectacularly fail without assistance from behind the camera. Chris Klein takes the cake here, assuming a strange mix of Clint Eastwood and metrosexual pedophile as he swaggers around the locations trying his damndest to come across as a tough guy. It's hilarious to observe his cheese, especially in the presence of the other actors, who I swear are holding back giggles. Neal McDonough also deserves a fair share of raspberries for his acting, slipping on a goofy Irish accent to play pure Bangkok evil. Of course, why an Irish baby orphaned as an infant in Bangkok would retain a thick brogue in his adulthood is not explained, but very little of the film is, preferring the catchall Eastern locations to play ball any way it likes.

"Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" is more numbing than awful (though a lesbian dance-off sequence with Chun-Li and Cantana pushes the needle into the red), and with a lack of gaming tributes and spectacular brawling, it's difficult to understand why the feature was even made in the first place. The end promises a sequel that appears to right several wrongs, but after this installment, I doubt enough audience members will be eager to endure another round with this mishandled franchise. I'll take Jean-Claude Van Damme and his powder blue beret any day over this insipid, clunky, and joyless motion picture.

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BOLT (GOOD QUALITY) NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie Bolt from imdb

Bolt, an American White Shepherd, has lived his whole life on the set of his action TV show, where he believes he has superpowers. When separated from the studio by accident, he meets a female alley cat named Mittens and a hamster named Rhino. Along the way, he learns that he doesn't have superpowers and that the show is not real. Written by jcsmarchesi

Bolt tells the story a dog who plays a heroic dog in a hit TV show and has some trouble recognizing that he doesn't even have superpowers. This becomes something of a hindrance when he is accidentally shipped from Hollywood to New York City. From there he has to make his way home with the help of a manky old cat and an overweight hamster in a plastic ball. Written by wolf_stoned

Here is a review for the movie Bolt from dvdtalk

Emerging from Disney's wounded in-house animation arm, "Bolt" is as routinely arranged a tale as the Mouse House is capable of telling. However, the lack of screenwriting imagination is offset by the inherent charm of the picture, resulting in a pleasing arrangement of CG-animated action set-pieces and slapstick comedy to push "Bolt" beyond the repetitive family film norm.

Bolt (voiced by John Travolta in a winningly playful performance) is a Hollywood canine action star, only he doesn't know it. As the lead in a hit television series, Bolt spends his day defending "his person" Penny (Miley Cyrus) from a stream of bad guys with his heat vision, karate-chops, and super bark. Accidentally separated from the show, Bolt finds himself shipped to New York City, making it his mission to return to California and soothe a worried Penny. Taking a street cat named Mittens (Susie Essman) as his prisoner, Bolt is forced to confront a world where his "powers" are on the blink. Befriending an enthusiastic admirer in Rhino the hamster (Mark Walton), the trio trek across the country, with Mittens teaching Bolt the realities of life as an average dog.

"Bolt' is a nice change of pace from the Disney Animation Studios norm. Coming after the misguided antics of "Chicken Little" and "Meet the Robinsons," "Bolt" settles into more comfort food tones, showcasing the antics of cute animals against a backdrop of pure Americana. Directed by Byron Howard and Chris Williams, the picture contains a lovely momentum, shifting between threads of comedy, slick action (emphasized outrageously in Disney Digital 3-D), and heartache with minimal fuss throughout most of the running time, hitting expected notes of mass-consumption gaiety that will surely amuse younger audience members.

Trouble is, there's no real bite to "Bolt" in either plot or emotion, leaving behind a frustratingly shallow movie that's much too quick to lay the melodrama on thick in an attempt to reach out to the viewer. Bolt's arc from superdog to confused canine is a point belabored into ground by the filmmakers, who whip the straightforward plot point over and over, reducing the movie's pace to a crawl at certain critical junctures. The sympathetic goo is extended to Mittens and Penny as well, who get their own overscripted cross to bear, again, stopping the movie cold in the name of derivative manipulation.

"Bolt" is breezier as a road movie, watching the group cross the country on their way to Los Angeles, with Mittens giving Bolt pointers on primary pooch pleasures, such as begging for food and car riding smell opportunities. The performances lend the movie an interesting spin, as Travolta and Cyrus are the only real stars of the movie. The rest of the cast is made up of character actors (including Greg Germann, Diedrich Bader, and James Lipton) cast more for vocal quality than star power. It's a nice change of pace, especially with the likes of Walton, who puts his heart into interpreting Rhino's Bolt fan spasms and plastic-ball-encased heroism, gorging on slapstick to become the film's comedic highlight and the lone character not burdened with an irritatingly gloomy backstory to overcome.

More admiration for "Bolt" is revealed with the film's soundtrack, employing Jenny Lewis (a musical performer of staggering serenity and crushing grace) to provide a mid-movie montage with a bouncy, folksy song entitled "Barking at the Moon." Further surprise arrives at the end credits, with John Travolta returning to his "Let Her In" musical roots to duet with Cyrus on the tune "I Thought I Lost You."

Filled with explosive canine derring-do, gorgeous animation with a pleasing fixation on Midwest panoramas, and a hilarious psychotic hamster rolling around stealing laughs, it's easy to appreciate "Bolt" as a nontoxic entry in the CG-animation sweepstakes. Perhaps the film isn't endowed with a glop of Pixar preciousness, but "Bolt" gets by on a heady froth of charisma and a few surprises where it counts the most.

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BLUES BROTHERS NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie The Blues Brothers from imdb

After the release of Jake Blues from prison, he and brother Elwood go to visit the old home where they were raised by nuns. They learn the church stopped its support and will sell the place to the education authority, and the only way to keep the place open is if the $5000 tax on the property is paid within 11 days. The brothers want to help and decide to put their blues band back together and raise the the money by staging a big gig. As they set off on their "mission from god" they seem to make more enemies along the way. Will they manage to come up with the money in time? Written by Sami Al-Taher {staher2000@yahoo.com}

Here is a review for the movie The Blues Brothers from dvdtalk

The Movie

I was very lucky to be born in the early 70s, and here's why: I grew up with two busy parents and a big sister who wanted very little to do with her movie-addicted and perpetually annoying little brother. Which means that when my afternoons weren't filled with softball games, action figures, and trips to the mall with the neighborhood families -- I was being babysat by some of the most wonderful folks imaginable.

If I were actually able to sit down and calculate how many times I've seen Animal House, Caddyshack, The Jerk, Meatballs, 1941, Airplane!, Trading Places, Stripes, Ghostbusters, and of course The Blues Brothers -- let's just say I'd end up pretty embarrassed by the final tally. Rainy Sunday? Time for another visit with Seems Like Old Times. Bored friends stopped by with nothing to do? That sounds like a job for Vacation or Fletch. Nothing good on TV? I had a well-worn tape that boasted the can't-miss triple feature of Three Amigos, Spies Like Us, and Foul Play.

Belushi, Aykroyd, Martin, Chase, Murray; these guys were like gods to me when I was just a formative little movie geeklet. And every single time The Blues Brothers came on TV (which was fairly often), you'd know where you could find me: plastered in front of the TV, tapping my toes to the wonderful music, chuckling at the oh-so-dry jokes, and widening my eyeballs at the astonishingly cool car chases.

For the longest time, The Blues Brothers ranked at the very top of my Favorite Comedies list. I made everyone watch it. Mom, Dad, disinterested sis and her eye-rolling pals ... heck, I even had my grandmother watch the thing with me when it hit HBO -- and she loved it.

The very first (and still the very best) movie to be inspired by Saturday Night Live characters, The Blues Brothers is an absolute joy to behold. It's silly and smart; it's chaotic and cracked; it's full of brilliant musical sequences and amazing car chases. Basically it's one of the most "fun" movies I've ever seen. And I've seen it about 25 times.

The story couldn't be more simple: Jake, fresh out of a stint in the pen, and his brother Elwood decide to reunite with their old band in an effort to raise the funds needed to save their old orphanage from foreclosure.

Sounds pretty simple, right? Wrong.

Turns out that Jake & Elwood are, by their very nature, inherent troublemakers and amazingly consistent chaos-magnets. What should be a rather easy task (find the old pals and play a packed gig) turns into a fiasco of truly epic proportions. In their travels, Jake & Elwood manage to infuriate various law enforcement officials, a group of neo-nazi bastards, an unpleasant country western band, and a mysterious woman with a penchant for powerful weaponry.

And all that really matters to these guys is:

1. Play the gig.

2. Get paid.

3. Get the money to the orphanage.

Everything else is remanded to the rear-view window. The brothers drive a magical car, cheat death numerous times, destroy more public property than Godzilla, and end up hunted by the army, the coast guard, and a SWAT team -- all to save a grumpy old nun and her needy orphans.

Easily of the most ebullient and smoothly enjoyable musical comedies ever made, The Blues Brothers boasts a roster of musical talent that must be heard to be believed: Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, James Brown, and John Lee Hooker, all legends of the music industry, had their careers earn a well-deserved shot in the arm from their appearances in The Blues Brothers. And the musicians hired to play Jake & Elwood's band? Top-notch artists across the board. The flick's basically one-third blues music, one-third character-based comedy, and one-third car chase -- and all of it's grade-A prime American Comedy, brewed in the vintage year of 1980.

Everything in The Blues Brothers is larger than life. The lead characters, who are on a "mission from god," are seemingly immortal ... or at least unstoppable. The stunts, the tunes, the set pieces, the non-stop chaos that is the finale; it's all a part of the "bigger is better" school of comedy, which in many ways makes The Blues Brothers the more highly regarded cousin to Steven Spielberg's equally insane war comedy 1941.

Although the show belongs mainly to Belushi, Aykroyd, and the dazzling array of musical guest stars, The Blues Brothers is also built with a foundation of great little character parts: Kathleen Freeman as a hilariously intimidating nun; Henry Gibson as an "Illinois Nazi" with a score to settle; Carrie Fisher as a murderous mystery woman; Charles Napier as a fuming country crooner; plus keep your eyes peeled for folks like Frank Oz, John Candy, and even Steven Spielberg! Small contributions by these guys, but each one earns a few laughs.

The Blues Brothers was produced with a then-considered-mammoth budget of $27 million, but it also went on to gross over $115 million worldwide -- and that's just the initial theatrical run we're talking about. Since its debut in 1980, the film has become a bona-fide comedy classic of the most beloved kind. Every time I pop the movie in, it feels like I'm slipping into an great old pair of slippers -- and woe is the poor fool who tries to get me on the phone or drag me out of the house before the "Jailhouse Rock" finale pipes through my speakers.

Notes on the "extended" version - Overall, I'm a "theatrical cut" kinda guy when it comes to The Blues Brothers. The original (and now out-of-print) Universal DVD did not offer the theatrical cut of the movie, which left me little choice but to "get to know" the extended cut, which runs about 15 minutes longer than the 133-minute theatrical version.

On the plus side, the long version includes a lengthier cut of the supremely rousing "revelation at the church" sequence. Indeed, nearly all of the classic set pieces (Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher," Aretha Franklin's "Think," and the Blues Brothers farewell concert) are made a little bit longer in the extended version. There's also a cool gas station explosion and a few new chuckles, but...

...the longer version is also packing some dead-end sequences that add virtually nothing to the movie -- aside from extra running time. Elwood's "explanation" on how the Bluesmobile gains it magical powers and several droplets of dialogue have been reinstated -- but they don't really help the movie in any discernible way. (OK, it's cool to see where Elwood originally got the goop he used to sabotage the police car tires ... but is it this bit really necessary?) Perhaps it's simply because the theatrical cut is the version I grew up with, but I'll side (say, 60/40) on the side of the original Blues Brothers.

But that's part of the beauty in this re-release. Fans can finally choose which version they want to enjoy. On side A you'll find the extended cut; flip the disc over and there's the theatrical. (I'd have preferred Universal do this release in a full 2-disc delivery, but that's a minor gripe, all things considered.)

The DVD

Video: Regardless of which version you choose, you're getting a Widescreen (1.85:1) Anamorphic presentation, and the picture quality is pretty darn solid. You'll obviously notice some grain and minor source flaws (especially in the darker scenes), but overall the movie looks quite grand.

Audio: Now here's a minor annoyance: The extended cut comes with a fantastic Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track -- while the theatrical cut warrants no better than a Dolby Digital 2.0 treatment. Hmph. (Alternate language options - French & Spanish - are offered only on the 2.0 theatrical cut.) Both audio tracks are quite good, but obviously the 5.1 brings the tunes home in truly vibrant fashion. Optional subtitles are available (on both versions) in English, Spanish, and French.

Extras

Fans who purchased the first Blues Brothers DVD should be happy to know that the 56-minute (and really excellent) Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers has been carried over to this new release. Full of anecdotes and recollections from Dan Aykroyd, director John Landis, producer Robert Weiss, executive producer Sean Daniel, editor George Folsey, cinematographer Stephen Katz, and perhaps a dozen others (including several of "the band!" members), this is a fantastic retrospective featurette that gives the fans precisely want they want: the scoop on how the flick came to be, how so many great musicians were lined up, how that massive "mall chase" was done, etc. This might not be a new supplement, but it's one that's definitely worthy of a second visit.

As far as new goodies are concerned, you'll get a 22-second Introduction to the Film by Dan Aykroyd, a 7-minute mini-concert called Going Rounds: A Day on the Blues Brothers Tour (which is actually a somewhat embarrassing display by Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd), a 15-minute "look back" featurette entitled Transposing the Music (which offers some new interviews with Aykroyd, Landis, Jim Belushi, John Goodman, composer Howard Shore, and John's widow, Judy Belushi-Pisno), and a 9-minute Remembering John tribute, in which several of the aforementioned folks share their favorite "Belushi" moments and memories.

Rounding out the double-sided package are a handful of text-based production notes, the original theatrical trailer, and a rather pointless menu option called Musical Highlights -- as if you couldn't just flick to your favorite tunes by using the normal "scene selection" menu.

Offered on the previous DVD but missing from this one are some rather pointless filmographies and a huge, healthy photo gallery.

Final Thoughts

The Blues Brothers is loud, chaotic, indulgent, and crazy -- but it's also got a sly attitude and a palpable sense of love and respect for the blues classics. Frequently over-the-top and aggressively raucous, it's one of my very favorite comedies -- and musicals.

Hard to believe that after 25 years, not one movie has been unable to unseat The Blues Brothers as the grade-A #1 SNL-inspired comedy flick -- but then again we're talking about movies like Superstar, It's Pat!, and A Night at the Roxbury ... flicks that don't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as The Blues Brothers.

Here is the direct download for the movie The Blues Brothers 1 of 2.

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HIS NAME IS JASON DOCUMENTARY NOW AVAILABLE

Here is the summary for the movie His Name is Jason from imdb

In spirit of the upcoming (reboot? remake? re-imagining?) of Friday the 13th comes a ninety-minute retrospective of the series thus far. What the fans get is a mixed bag of interesting interviews and fascinating tidbits of one of the largest franchises and yet critically maligned series in the history of cinema. pros: The cast/crew that they gathered is very impressive, covering a good portion of the series. Anchor bay, the DVD's distributor, was able to use footage from all of the films, so it's fun to view the footage as it's being talked about. The whole experience is nostalgic for die-hard fans and for others as well. cons: The documentary itself comes off as tacky at times. One would wish they would stick to a topic instead of going off on a few different rants all at the same time. Tom Savini's hosting was just fine, but the whole 'ride' device was distracting and unneeded. The funnest bits end up being the extras on the two-discs. Ultimately, it's enjoyable for what it is: an hour and a half reliving the history of Jason Voorhees and thirty years of his body count.
Here is a review for the movie His Name is Jason from dvdtalk

"I have found that a movie I really didn't give two cents for in the beginning has brought me into the world and into the lives of people
who have viewed it in a very special way."
- Betsy Palmer

For Friday the 13th fans, patience is a virtue wearing thinner by the second. It wasn't until 2004 that any DVD bonus features were created for the franchise, but they proved to be a disappointment. Five years later, "deluxe" editions of the first three films were also underwhelming, and a little repetitive. But hopes remained high for the documentary His Name Was Jason, partly because Paramount wasn't responsible for it. Featuring interviews with 97 people--including cast, crew, horror journalists and "famous" fans--it comes closer than any other effort to taking a more comprehensive, all-encompassing look at the series and its iconic villain. Sadly, that isn't saying much.

Co-written and co-produced by Anthony Masi (who held the same responsibilities for the similar Halloween retrospective 25 Years of Terror) and directed by Daniel Farrands (who wrote Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers), the film is hosted by special effects maestro Tim Savini and is divided into 10 sections, some of which overlap. After an introduction gives a quick overview of each film's plot, the attention turns to uncovering Jason's mind and motivation. That's followed by a slasher formula breakdown, discussion of memorable kills and how they were created, exploration of Jason's look and back story, a tribute to the survivors, a look at how some of the victims were butchered by Jason and the ratings board, a lighthearted chat about some of the series' inconsistencies, how Jason has infiltrated pop culture (Nintendo!) and a preview of the 2009 reboot.

Anyone expecting an in-depth look behind the scenes of each film is going to be disappointed. The documentary recites far too much plot and other obvious ideas, along with previously shared stories. It's a glossy character study, a commentary on the franchise with a focus on the popularity of the man behind the mask. Friday addicts will be familiar with a lot of the information presented here (the film is more appropriate for casual horror fans), with a lot of the material stretching our tedium tolerance (like this "revelation" from actor John D. Lemay: "There has to be teenagers having sex and getting killed while they're having sex").

You'll also become frustrated by the film's tone, exacerbated by the sometimes smart-ass demeanor of some contributors. His Name Was Jason frequently comes across like an episode of VH1's I Love the '80s. The film's biggest mistake is giving so much screen time to the so-called "expert" fans and horror journalists (not all of them are a waste of airtime).

You get genre directors like Adam Green (Hatchet) and Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2); writers/journalists like Seth Grahame-Smith (How to Survive a Horror Movie), Dread Central's Steve Barton, comic book writer Jeff Katz and genre screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick; and completely random people like Jared Rivet (who has one screenwriter/producing credit to his name), actress Felissa Rose (better known as Angela from Sleepaway Camp), and actor/producer Seth Green (along with Robot Chicken cohort/Freshmen comic co-creator Hugh Sterbakov). Perhaps the oddest addition is Psych actor James Roday (?!). I'm guessing he's just a big fan, but it's never addressed.

By and large, these contributors don't add much to the proceedings. The ones that try to be cute and clever fail miserably with their stand-up schtick. They're not funny--and even worse, they frequently show a lack of knowledge about the franchise (or intentionally dumb themselves down for the sake of a laugh). Either way, it's a big insult to fans and a waste of valuable screen time. Here's just a sampling of the lazy (and sometimes inaccurate) observations that had me groaning:

• Says Katz of Jason in Part 3: "That's the one where he runs! Jason's a bit of like a manic hillbilly in [Part] 3, still got a little of that left over. After that, he becomes sort of the slow, methodical stalker." Huh?! No Jeff...Jason runs in Part 2 and Part 4.
• Lynch shares that he "didn't have sex until I was 30 because of Jason. That motherfucker was the best contraception that a guy like me could have." I call shenanigans on you, Joe.
• Rose notes of Part 2: "That shish kebob scene is so original!" (The emphasis is hers, not mine.) Uh, Felissa, did you see Bay of Blood?
• Of the "final girls", Grahame-Smith says "whether it's Alice or it's Ginny or it's Chris...they usually have some common characteristics--the most important is their chastity." Wrong again! Alice refers to sex with Steve in Part 1, Ginny had sex with Paul in Part 2. This is a misconception often cited by critics who haven't seen the films, not the so-called fans.
• Green adds fuel to the fire: "It was usually the good girl, the one who didn't smoke pot, the one who didn't have premarital sex. She was always the one who was able to take him on." Remember the strip Monopoly game? Alice took a toke.
• Green also talks about Jason Goes to Hell: "The best part was when he was this little worm thing and he went into the girl from Buck Rogers...is that who she was? Yeah! He went into her pussy and that was awesome." Really, Adam?! Setting aside the 12-year-old language, I'm still bothered by the faux fact check: Any franchise fan knows the actress was Erin Gray, and also knows damn well that she was in Buck Rogers.

Couldn't these people have brushed up their brains before sitting in front of the camera? Throw a few discs in the player and do your damn homework! Author Peter M. Bracke, who knows his shit, is unfortunately given very little time to talk, leaving it up to the amateurs to try and impress us with their frat-boy speak. There's an ever-present "boys club" mentality to much of the fanboy segments, with "dudes!" and "oh mans!" thrown into comments about breasts and getting laid, all interspersed with random cuss words for good measure [Barton notes that "it's like (Jason) takes your sexual energy and then he fucks you with his machete!"].

And something just doesn't feel right when Green describes the death of Debisue Voorhees in Part 5: "The hedge clippers to the eyes...that girl had the best rack, the best death and her last name had Voorhees in it." The comment seems even less tasteful (is that possible?) given the presence of Voorhees in the documentary (uh, Adam...she's right there. Show some class!).

Savini's script for the interludes--where he walks through the Crystal Lake Cabin at Universal Studios' Hollywood Horror Nights attraction--doesn't help. The generic statements come straight out of a bad high school essay, and are accompanied by cheesy scenes that play out in front of him (including some gratuitous breast flashing): "For some of us, the problems we have as adults go back to our mothers. In the case or Jason, truer words were never spoken." Or how about this deep thought: "If there's one thing we've learned, it's that escaping Jason is a rarity. In fact, it's clear that Jason has done more than take Manhattan: I'd say he's conquered he world."

So much time is wasted, and it's aggravating considering all of the ingredients are here for something much better. Where His Name Was Jason excels is in the stories from the cast and crew--why the filmmakers didn't hand the narrative over to them is a mystery to me. Get rid of all these bozos that don't have anything unique to share and let us hear from our favorites. How can you screw that up? (They've rounded up so many of them, and that's the hard part!)

You'll get an adrenaline rush from seeing a lot of the talent, especially the actors that haven't contributed to previous extras. I was particularly giddy to see Lauren-Marie Taylor, Russell Todd, John Furey, Camilla and Carey More (love their attempts at reciting the "Ki-ki-ki! Ma-ma-ma!" chant), Lawrence Monoson, Kevin Spirtas, Catherine Parks (who no one had an update on in Part 3's previous audio commentary), John Shepherd (who shares some of the more interesting thoughts), Bill Randolph, Paul Kratka (he did contribute to Part 3's commentary) and Judie Aronson, who--along with Jensen Daggett and Taylor--has aged beautifully (and in the interest of equal time for all attractions, so have Spirtas, Monoson and Todd).

And the usual greats like Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Amy Steel and Lar Park Lincoln are also here, and as fabulous as ever--I particularly loved hearing about Steel's idea for a "survivors" installment, something I've dreamed about for decades: "If they were to ask me to do sort of the Friday the 13th survivors take on Jason, would I do it? Hell yeah! Wouldn't it be great if the strong women of the series came back to take him on?" King, Lincoln and Daggett are equally enthusiastic: "I would probably go back and do another Friday the 13th...if nothing else than just to make my boys happy," says Daggett, later adding: "This was the best first acting gig I could have gotten, because when you have a knife coming at you, you really learn how to hit your mark."

There are also a few odd moments, like Monoson talking about how he got stoned for his death scene (can someone tell me why they created a dummy for that shot in Part 4?), and Peter Mark Richman expressing his disappointment about his boner being edited out of Part 8: "I was very keyed up...they didn't show any of that and I was pissed off! I was really having it effect me!"

But so many of the actors (including a lot I didn't mention) are given so little time, it's pointless--they flash on and off the screen in the blink of an eye. His Name Was Jason is far more concerned with style than substance. Why bother putting Randolph in front of the camera if he's just given seconds to talk?! This is the more interesting stuff, but the documentary wastes the opportunity. (Randolph's co-star Stu Charno doesn't even appear until 84 minutes in!) Some of the funniest moments come in the closing credits, where we get random clips of the participants having fun: Spirtas can't recite a line without laughing, Larry Zerner is reunited with Parks...this is what we want to see!

I've come to the conclusion that has a Friday freak, I may never be satisfied with any bonus features or documentaries--maybe they'll never be good enough for me. In my dream world, Dana Kimmell and Kimberly Beck would be here, along with Jeannine Taylor, Harry Crosby, Mark Nelson, Tracie Savage, Peter Barton, Thom Mathews, Jennifer Cooke, Melanie Kinnamon, Susan Jennifer Sullivan...the list goes on.

But there's still a lot to rejoice over, including comments from all of the Jasons (save for Dan Bradley, who had one scene in Part 6) and all of the directors (save for Steve Miner and Ronny Yu). The documentary picks up a little steam near the 40-minute mark, and some of the more interesting observations are shared--including how some of the Jason actors got into character: "When you out that costume on, you really project it," notes C.J. Graham, whose shirtless pic leaves no doubt he wears the "Sexiest Jason" label. "And the projection had to be through the body--100 percent through the body. Just a simplistic little movement would create fear. As soon as the mask comes down, it's very simple to get into the character." Ken Kirzinger also talks about replacing four-timer Kane Hodder: "They were big shoes to fill, but I'm a big guy."

It's also great to hear from Part 4's Ted White, who initially was embarrassed by the role but has since come to embrace it. And Part 2's Steve Daskawisz also shares some fun stories. In the director chairs, the biggest catch is Part 5's Danny Steinmann. He hasn't directed since, so it's nice to see him return--and his mention of 47 seconds of cut footage will further frustrate fans eager to see it (including the infamous alternate Violet kill: "Almost every kill was either off camera or minimized."). We also get a brief attempt at uncovering who came up with the hockey mask idea, a mystery that isn't really solved (3-D supervisor Martin Jay Sadoff and Richard Brooker have different takes).

But overall, the documentary still stands as a disappointment. Once you get past the novelty of seeing so many of your favorite cast members on camera, there's surprisingly little substance left to maintain your interest. Short on fresh insights, His Name Was Jason is more of a tease than anything else. Friday fans are getting closer to seeing what they want...but it's not quite there yet.

"He's become iconic in our lives...Jason has no expiration date." - Diana Barrows

The DVD

Video:
Presented in an anamorphic 1.78:1 presentation, the documentary is decent yet very (intentionally) dark. Some of the black levels aren't even during Savini's segments, and the image isn't quite as sharp as it could be.

Audio:
The 5.1 track is underwhelming--but what do you expect from a DTV documentary? The voices are always crisp and clear, which is all you can really ask for.

"It's this seeking righteous vengeance that defines the Jason character, and also separates Jason Voorhees from all the other horror icons." - Ari Lehman

Extras:

While the documentary itself is a underwhelming, some of the bonus features on this two-disc set make the package far more attractive. Up first is the only extra on Disc 1: The Men Behind the Mask (46:41), a collection of 11 interviews with the men who have played Jason (save for now highly acclaimed stuntman Dan Bradley, who had one memorable scene in Jason Lives). Like most of the interviews presented as bonus features, this is leftover footage, with some clips re-used from the main documentary.

The best segments include Steve Dash/Daskawicz (4:21), who marvels at the character's popularity and talks candidly about the confusion many people have with his role: "I had no idea for 25 years that anybody even knew who I was. I had no idea that Warrington Gillette was running around to all of these conventions saying that he was me, that he did the stunts. He was getting all the credits, he was on the NECA toys, he got all the hoopla for everything that I did." Daskawicz speaks with refreshing candor, as does Ted White (5:17), perhaps my favorite clip of the bunch. White was initially embarrassed of the role, but has since changed his tune (we love 'ya, Ted!). He talks about how he wanted Jason to move differently, and mentions how he never got along with director Joseph Zito. He also shares some hysterical comments about Corey Feldman that are worth the price of the DVD ("I wanted to kill him desperately...").

Also providing great listens are the three enthusiastic Jasons: C.J. Graham (5:20), Ken Kirzinger (4:27) and newbie Derek Mears (7:05). These are the three most likeable guys you'll find, the ones you'd want to hang out with over a beer. Graham has always spoken fondly of the experience, and talks about the camaraderie on set; Kirzinger speaks about the pressure he faced from Kane Hodder fans: "I think Kane has come to terms with it..." (more on that in a second!); while Mears is a riot--he makes a great Daniel Craig/James Bond analogy, and when forced to pick his favorite Jason goes with White (the new Jason is in excellent hands!).

Dick Weiand (3:03) has a few interesting thoughts, and notes how he wanted to do more behind the mask (his "Dick head" gag made me laugh), but his counterpart Tom Morga gets only 55 seconds of screen time, far too little. Richard Brooker (2:21) shares some boring makeup thoughts, while Ari Lehman (3:39) shares the same stories we've heard before; ditto Gillette (3:42), who doesn't address Daskawicz's claims.

And then there's Kane Hodder (6:22), an interesting guy who talks about his makeup for each of his four films and about getting into character: "I'm kind of maybe a violent guy inside...to get to those violent points didn't take long." While I appreciate some of the touches he gave to the character (love the deep breath!), I'm tired of the whole "Cult of Kane" that insists he is the best Jason ever. Hodder (and plenty other "experts" in the documentary) proves he's still sore about not getting the role in Freddy vs. Jason. Like some of his pals in this 2-disc set, he comes across a little too bitter: "After seeing the movie, I guess I was kind of hoping that I would see a scene to say, 'Oh, that's why!'...honestly, there's nothing in the movie that I saw that I wouldn't have been able to do. I think I would have put a little more energy into most of the killings." (Keep in mind that Hodder has worked with Kirzinger, who was a stunt coordinator on Part VIII.)

So no, Ken...Kane is not over it, and neither are many of his fans. Far too much time is given to the issue in the documentary and the extras, and it gets tiring to listen to. Coming from a longtime franchise fan who knows just as much about the films as the "journalists" and Hodder's friends who voice their Kane-mania here (including Hodder's directors, John Carl Buechler and Hatchet's Adam Green), y'all need to chill. Freddy vs. Jason wasn't Citizen Kane. He didn't miss out on the role of a lifetime. Kirzinger did a fine job, so lay off him. And while Hodder was in four franchise films, three of them sucked big time and are easily the worst of the series--The New Blood is the only one that matters (and even that I'd only place as eighth-best). Graham has always been my favorite Jason, with Brooker, White and Daskawicz also standing out--so everyone just needs to relax and stop whining.

Leading the way on Disc 2 is Final Cuts (1:17:38), a collection of interviews with all of the franchise directors save for Steve Miner (Parts 2 and 3) and Ronny Yu (Freddy vs. Jason). Sean S. Cunningham (8:10) has long professed that his vision was more for money than art; he doesn't show the same passion for the series that most of the other directors do. But he always helps out with the extras, so you gotta love him. Most of what Cunningham shares here we've heard before (in the bonus footage for the DVD releases of Part 1), but it's interesting to hear him address the so-called influence of Italian filmmakers, primarily Mario Bava's Twitch of the Death Nerve/Bay of Blood. Cunningham says that not only had he not seen the film, he wasn't even aware of it. As for the influence Friday the 13th had: "People often sort of imitated my mistakes rather than the stuff I got right...I think it was meant to be flattering."

Joseph Zito (11:45) has a nice energy, and talks about how thrilled he was to take a stab at the franchise. He talks about how he wanted to tackle his version, including Jason and the teenagers--and also notes that he motivated his actors to take the work seriously. He shares some funny ideas that didn't make it into the final cut, although the brief mention of unseen extra footage (like Sam's death) will just frustrate fans who want to see it. Zito never talks about his relationship with White, or the infamous argument the two had over the treatment of actress Judie Aronson.

Perhaps the most interesting watch is Danny Steinmann (3:38), mostly because of his awkward comment about Jason (I don't dare spoil it here). Of all the directors, he's the one I wanted to hear from the most. But he doesn't share much in his brief screen time, so it's a lost opportunity for those wanting some insights into his vision for Part V (and will just make fans angry that Paramount hasn't given us the 47 seconds of deleted footage).

Like Graham, Jason Lives director Tom McLoughlin (14:27) is enthusiastic, and has passion shows. He talks about his influences (gothic horror, classic Universal monsters) and purpose with the film. He's the best listen here, whether he's talking about his stamp on the franchise or his work researching serial killers for other films. He also talks about his initial idea for the ending of Part 6, which initially had a different name (apparently studio execs didn't think "Jason Has Risen" was in good taste; I think it's hysterical).

John Carl Buechler (8:49) spends a lot of time talking about being raped by the ratings board, and his clash with a producer who hated some of his ideas. He also hops on the bitter Hodder bandwagon, noting it was disappointing that Hodder didn't get the role in Freddy vs. Jason, denying fans the "ultimate battle" with "the" Jason. Yawn!

Rob Hedden (6:08) was one of the few contributors on Paramount's 2004 box set "From Crystal Lake to Manhattan", so his segment doesn't feel as fresh. Adam Marcus (11:34) notes that he was right out of film school and "didn't know one thing" about making a major film, calling the franchise "the cinematic equivalent of mac and cheese." He shares a nice story about Hodder and a young child on the set, and notes that he wishes they could have pushed the envelope more in his film. He has a nice energy, and notes how he loves that people care enough to still talk about Jason Goes to Hell and the franchise, regardless of their opinion.

James Isaac (7:52) talks about how seriously Hodder took his role, and notes that many scrip changes dampened the final product: "I should have fought harder for the script I fell in love with originally." Finally, Marcus Nispel (5:04) talks about the mythology of the series and how he wanted to tackle a more modern take on it for the 2009 version.

Now it's time for another rant: It's a real shame that Steve Miner has steadfastly refused to take part in the DVD extras for the first three films, and for this documentary. He directed Parts 2 and 3, which are highly significant to the franchise--they gave birth to Jason as a killer and introduced the iconic hockey mask. It would have been wonderful to hear how he and the writers went about crafting their stories and continuing the series. But Miner clearly isn't interested in talking about the films that made his directing career possible. I guess he's too busy making crap like the direct-to-video Day of the Dead remake to care. Thanks for being a good sport and thanking the fans, Steve!

The screenwriters are up next in From Script to Screen (31:12). Victor Miller (8:28) has been a frequent contributor to Friday extras, so you'll be familiar with a lot of his comments. But I always love his bluntness, primarily in admitting how the original ripped off Halloween and Carrie (of the film's jump ending: "It's almost shot for shot. You can call it an homage, I call it a theft: Grand Theft Cinema."). Barney Cohen (7:36) talks about how he tried to make Part 4 stand out, while Todd Farmer (6:15) notes that the magic was rewritten out of Jason X, and talks about a scene left on the cutting room floor ("How do you let somebody who grabs Jason's dick not die?"). Finally, Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (8:49) discuss both Freddy vs. Jason (it got "too cartoony"; they wanted Betsy Palmer; Jason isn't afraid of water) and about their 2009 reboot. The two play well off each other and offer a few comedic musings.

Dragged from the Lake (20:50) is a collection of 13 quick interviews with various contributors about completely random tidbits, most of which aim to be funny. They range from the hysterical (Amy Steel and Adam Green muse about "Rat Pee") to mildly amusing (Adam Marcus talks about "Homoerotic Shaving" and giving female viewers their due; Dana Kimmell gets skewered in "Worst Monologue Ever") to the serious (Adrienne King shares more about "The Stalker"). Also interesting is hearing Judie Aronson talking about the infamous "Hypothermia" she experienced in the raft scene ("In retrospect, it probably would have been a good idea for the crew to not let me drive home that night, because I have no recollection of driving home"). But there are a few duds, especially when DreadCentral's Steve Barta goes on a pointless "I'm a Proud Freak!" diatribe that's more for his own well being than our entertainment.

Closing the Book on The Final Chapter (12:37) is a Part 4 set visit by director Zito and actor Erich Anderson (Rob), who walk through the Jarvis cabin (watch for the framed John Wayne letter!) and through the woods to tell some stories, while Fox Comes Home (3:47) has Part 3's Gloria Charles (who has a nice sense of humor and looks great 25 years later!) visiting the ranch set.

The rest will lose your interest fast. Four fan films are included: "Freddy vs. Jason in 30 Seconds with Bunnies" (:41) is cute but you've probably seen it; "The Angry Video Game Nerd: Friday the 13th Episode" (7:52) has James Rolfe trashing Nintendo's awful game (it's amusing but gets old, especially when he feels the need to explain some of the humor); "Jason Hurts" (1:59) is a mock commercial for the drug Voorexia; while "Rupert Takes Manhattan" (3:28) looks at Jason's forgotten brother.

Friday the 13th in 4 Minutes (4:06) is a snoozer summary from Joe Lynch, Steve Barta and Adam Green, who continue the annoying Kane Hodder whining: "Everyone knows that he was the best Jason that ever was," Green says, later complaining about Freddy vs. Jason: "It wasn't Kane Hodder as Jason anymore, and that kind of sucked." Adds Barta: "For the last 10 fucking years, all we wanted to see was Robert Englund fight Kane Hodder...and we didn't get that." Really, guys? You're still harping on that? Please make it stop!

Jason Takes Comic-Con (4:24) is a set of interviews for Dread Central with some of the people involved with the 2009 release, while The Camp Crystal Lake Guide (4:31) has various people providing helpful hints to stay alive at Camp Blood. It's mostly pointless, but two people made me laugh: Judie Aronson ("Never show your breasts!") and Elizabeth Kaitan ("Always use the buddy system. Also, make sure that your buddy is slower, weaker or dumber than you are...").

Inside Halloween Horror Nights (7:00) has creative director John Murdy walking us through the Universal Studios Friday the 13th haunted house, while Shelly Lives! (2:16) is a mock commercial for attorney Sheldon P. Finklestein. It's stupid--until Catherine Parks joins in at the end and proves she has a great sense of humor.

Two Easter Eggs also await on the main menu of Disc 2: If you highlight the two triangles flaking the nose on the hockey mask, you'll get clips of Ari Lehman and Stuart Charno singing (neither is entertaining).

Final Thoughts:
Sigh...so close, yet so far away. When this documentary lets the Friday the 13th actors and directors just talk about their thoughts and experiences, it's an entertaining watch. But these people flash by far too quickly and are wasted in favor of plot recitation, cheesy interludes and the musings of some "expert fans" who are trying too hard to be cool. His Name Was Jason is more of a character study than a behind-the-scenes look at the making of each film, and plays like an installment of VH1's I Love the '80s; it's more concerned with style than substance. But the moments with the cast and crew are worth a look, and some great extras make the package more attractive. Recommended, but only for Friday freaks.

Here is the direct download for the movie His Name is Jason.