“Ice Age 3,” “Wrong Turn 3″ — Russo DVD, Blu Ray Reviews
November 5, 2009 || Category: DVD Reviews | Leave a Comment
Reviewed by: Joe Russo (Filmmaker & SoSF Movie Critic)
If you enjoy subjecting your youngsters to mindless entertainment, Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is a safe bet.
Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Russo Rating: 5/10
While the Ice Age series has never been known for classy storylines, the third installment, Dawn of the Dinosaurs took [...]
Variety has their review of this weekend’s opening of “A Christmas Carol.”
Shortchanging traditional animation by literalizing it while robbing actors of their full range of facial expressiveness, the performance-capture technique favored by director Robert Zemeckis looks more than ever like the emperor’s new clothes in “Disney’s A Christmas Carol.” Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella and screen [...]
Thicker Than Water: A Slice of SciFi Review
October 29, 2009 || Category: Film Reviews | Leave a Comment
Reviewed by: Summer Brooks (Slice of SciFi Producer)
Thicker Than Water: The Vampire Diaries Trilogy, Part 1
Written and Directed by: Phil Messerer
Starring: Eilis Cahill, Devon Bailey, Jo Jo Hristova, Michael Strelow
IMDb: http://imdb.com/title/tt1305766/
Official Website:: http://bloodjunky.com/
Lara’s Blog: http://larabaxter.blogspot.com/
Slice of SciFi Rating: 3.5 out of 5.0
Lara and Helen might be twin sisters, but they’re as different as [...]
“Battlestar Galactica: The Plan” DVD — A Slice of SciFi Review
October 26, 2009 || Category: DVD Reviews | 11 Comments
Reviewed by: Michael Hickerson (Slice of SciFi Editor)
Actors: Edward James Olmos, Dean Stockwell, Tricia Helfer, Michael Hogan
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Studio: Universal
DVD Release Date: October 27, 2009
Run Time: 95 minutes
Slice of SciFi Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0
A must-see for “Battlestar Galactica” [...]
“Where the Wild Things Are” — A Variety Review
October 12, 2009 || Category: Film Reviews | Leave a Comment
Variety has weighed in on the upcoming movie version of “Where the Wild Things Are.”
Fleet of foot, emotionally attuned to its subject and instinctively faithful to its celebrated source, “Where the Wild Things Are” earns a lot of points for its hand-crafted look and unhomogenized, dare-one-say organic rendering of unrestrained youthful imagination. But director Spike [...]
“Snow White” Diamond Edition BluRay — A Russo Review
October 5, 2009 || Category: DVD Reviews | Leave a Comment
Reviewed by: Joe Russo (Filmmaker & SoSF Film Critic)
Director: David Hand
Producer: Walt Disney
Original Film Debut Date: 1937
Voice Actors: Adriana Caselotti, Roy Atwell, Eddie Collins,
Pinto Colvig, Billy Gilbert, Otis Harlan, Lucille LaVerne, Scotty Mattraw & Moroni Olsen
Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD Release Date: October 6, 2009
“Revolutionizing the medium, Snow White is one of Disney’s most memorable and [...]
“Stargate: Universe” — A Slice of SciFi Review
September 28, 2009 || Category: TV Reviews | 76 Comments
With the arrival of “Stargate: Universe,” the franchise takes a turn for a darker look into the universe of the Gate and also offers a series that could be more character driven than the previous two installments. It still has elements of that won over a legion of loyal “Stargate” fans, but it so far it appears that this entry isn’t willing to play it safe with the viewers or the characters.
“Zombieland” — A Hollywood Reporter Review
September 28, 2009 || Category: Film Reviews | 4 Comments
Bottom Line: A bloody, disgusting blast.
Falling closer in tone to “Shaun of the Dead” than “28 Days Later” or the George Romero movies, “Zombieland” has its tongue planted firmly in its rancid cheek while still delivering the visceral goodies.
It’s an admittedly tricky balance that’s pulled off with energetic panache by first-time director Ruben Fleischer and [...]
Reviewed by: Bill Gibron of Filmcritic.com
Director: Jonathan Mastow
Producer: David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Max Handelman, Elizabeth Banks
Screenwriter: John Brancato, Michael Ferris
Stars: Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Ving Rhames, James Cromwell
MPAA Rating: PG-13
FilmCritic.com Rating = 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars
Delivers a surprisingly dense deconstruction on how hazardous getting lost inside technology can truly be.
Virtual reality and artificial intelligence [...]
Variety has a review of Thursday’s premiere of “Flash Forward”
“FlashForward’s” bold leap into the future would benefit from an ability to erase the past, or at least eradicate memories of all the “Lost”-like concepts — dense, heavily serialized and generally short-lived — that foundered long before they could be resolved. Strictly grading the pilot, it’s [...]
Variety has a review of tonight’s debut of “Eastwick” on ABC.
The comparisons are obvious — “Desperate Witches?” “Hexing Housewives?” — but ABC’s episodic adaptation of John Updike’s novel-turned-1987 movie “The Witches of Eastwick” does conjure up some interesting possibilities. Three women in the hamlet of Eastwick — “the gifted ones,” as the opening voiceover intones [...]
“Warehouse 13″: MacPherson (Season Finale) — A Slice of SciFi Review
September 22, 2009 || Category: TV Reviews | 14 Comments
Review by: Michael Hickerson (Slice of SciFi Editor)
Written by: Jack Kenny
Directed by: Stephen Surjik
Air Date: September 22 at 9 p.m. EST
Network: SyFy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
A can’t miss episode to end the first season
In the excitement of the broadcast networks kicking off their fall season, it might be easy to overlook the fact that [...]
“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”/Vol 3&4 — A Russo DVD/Blu-ray Review
September 18, 2009 || Category: DVD Reviews | Leave a Comment
Reviewed by: Joe Russo (Filmmaker & SoSF Movie Critic)
Director: Gavin Hood
Writers: David Benioff & Skip Woods
Actors: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins & Dominic Monaghan
MPAA Rating: PG-13
“While X-Men Origins: Wolverine certainly disappointed the legions of Marvel fans out there, the Hugh Jackman action vehicle fared well at the box office….”
Twentieth Century [...]
“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — A FilmCritic Review
September 17, 2009 || Category: Film Reviews | 1 Comment
Reviewed By: Bill Gibron - for Filmcritic.com
Directors: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Producer: Pam Marsden
Screenwriters: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Voice Actors: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, Neil Patrick Harris
MPAA Rating: PG
FilmCritic Rating = 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars
“Formulated as a spoof of famous disaster films and executed with plenty of [...]
Variety has a look at tonight’s season premiere of “Fringe.”
Toeing the line between creature-of-the-week procedural and an overarching storyline that foretells apocalyptic nastiness, “Fringe” returns for a second season with a greater sense of purpose. If only the bosses at the FBI would stop interfering with the gang’s mission, the faster everyone at the Harvard [...]
“Doctor Who: Image of the Fendahl” — A Slice of SciFi DVD Review
September 10, 2009 || Category: DVD Reviews | 3 Comments
Reviewed by: Michael Hickerson (Slice of SciFi Editor)
Actors: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson
Format: Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC, Color
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Studio: BBC Warner
DVD Release Date: Sep 1 2009
Run Time: 95 minutes
Slice of SciFi Rating: 4 out of 5
An overlooked classic
Before he went on to produce and write many of [...]
“The Vampire Diaries” — A Slice of SciFi Review
September 8, 2009 || Category: TV Reviews | 2 Comments
Reviewed by: Michael Hickerson (Slice of SciFi Editor)
Network: The CW
Pilot Air Date: September 10, 2009
Actors: Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder
SoSF Rating = 3.0 out of 5.0 Stars
While it’s not reinventing the wheel, the series does show promise thanks to the talents of Ian Somerhalder and Kevin Williamson.
It would be easy to dismiss the CW’s [...]
Variety has posted a review of the long-delayed movie, “The Road.”
This “Road” leads nowhere. If you’re going to adapt a book like Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 bestseller, you’re pretty much obliged to make a terrific film or it’s not worth doing — first because expectations are high, and second, because the picture needs to make it [...]
“Doctor Who: Delta and the Bannermen” — A Slice of SciFi DVD Review
August 31, 2009 || Category: DVD Reviews | 1 Comment
Review by: Michael Hickerson (Slice of SciFi Editor)
Actors: Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford
Directors: Chris Clough
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Video / Warner Bros.
DVD Release Date: September 1, 2009
Run Time: 73 minutes
Slice of SciFi Rating: 1 out 5.
“Delta and [...]
“The Final Destination 3D” — A FilmCritic.com Review
August 28, 2009 || Category: Film Reviews | 1 Comment
Reviewed by: Bill Gibron of Filmcritic.com
Director: David R. Ellis
Producers: Craig Perry, Warren Zide
Screenwriters: Eric Bress, Jeffrey Reddick
Actors: Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Nick Zano, Haley Webb, Mykelti Williamson
MPAA Rating: R
FilmCritic.com Rating = 2.0 out of 5.0 Stars
“If all you care about is gory deaths delivered in a cheesy, B-movie manner, The Final Destination 3D delivers.”
They [...]
“Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin” — A Slice of SciFi DVD Review
August 27, 2009 || Category: DVD Reviews | 1 Comment
Reviewed by: Michael Hickerson (Slice of SciFi News Editor)
Actors: Tom Baker
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1
Number of discs: 1
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Warner
DVD Release Date: September 1, 2009
Run Time: 94 minutes
A classic that earns the distinction and is a crossroads for classic “Who”
Robert Holmes’ 1976 masterpiece “The Deadly [...]
Review by: Bill Gibron of Filmcritic.com
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Producers: Robert Rodriguez, Elizabeth Avellán
Screenwriter: Robert Rodriguez
Actors: William H. Macy, James Spader, Jon Cryer, Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings, Trevor Gagnon, Leslie Mann
MPAA Rating: PG
FilmCritic Rating = 2.5 out of 5.0 Stars
“….Shorts doesn’t even pretend to be a quality family film.”
Robert Rodriguez is a true commercial schizophrenic. Whenever he [...]
Reviewed by: Chris Barsanti of FilmCritic.com
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Producers: Peter Jackson & Carolynne Cunningham
Writers: Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tachell
Actors: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Vanessa Haywood, Eugene Khumbanyiwa, Mandla Gaduka & Kenneth Nkosi
MPAA Rating: R
FilmCritic.com Rating = 3.0 out of 5.0 Stars
“District 9 has an admirably grungy, guerrilla aesthetic about it that keeps the script’s [...]
“I Love You, Man” — A Russo DVD/Blu-ray Review (I know it’s not Sci-Fi, but hear me out)
August 12, 2009 || Category: DVD Reviews | 2 Comments
Reviewed by: Joe Russo (SoSF Film Reviewer)
Director: John Hamburg
Writers: John Hamburg & Larry Levin
Producers: Anders Bard, Jeffrey Clifford, Donald De Line,
Andrew Haas, John Hamburg, Bill Johnson, Tom Pollock & Ivan Reitman
Actors: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones (& a whole host of SNL alum)
Russo Rating = 8 out of 10 Stars
”
Why should a Sci-Fi fan, [...]
“G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” — A FilmCritic.com Review
August 7, 2009 || Category: Film Reviews | 4 Comments
Review by: Chris Barsanti of Filmcritic.com
Director: Stephen Sommers
Producers: Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Bob Ducsay, Stephen Sommers
Screenwriters: Stuart Beattie, David Elliot, Paul Lovett
Actors: Dennis Quaid, Christopher Eccleston, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Sienna Miller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Said Taghmaoui, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Rachel Nichols, Byung-hun Lee, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Arnold Vosloo
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Premiere Date: August 7, 2009
FilmCritic Review Rating [...]
“Race to Witch Mountain” — A Russo DVD/Blu-ray Review
August 7, 2009 || Category: DVD Reviews | Leave a Comment
Reviewed by: Joe Russo (SoSF Guest Fim Reviewer)
Russo Review Rating = 6 Stars out of 10
“Identity crises and mediocre special effects aside, the performances are what carry Race to Witch Mountain.”
There is no doubt about it; Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a movie star. And the physically imposing actor’s star shines the brightest when he [...]
A film review by Chris Cabin of Filmcritic.com
Director: Sophie Barthes
Producers: Daniel Carey, Elizabeth Giamatti, Paul S. Mezey, Andrij Parekh, Jeremy Kipp Walker
Screenwriter: Sophie Barthes
Actors: Paul Giamatti, Dina Korzun, Emily Watson, David Strathairn, Katheryn Winnick, Lauren Ambrose, Boris Kievsky, Oksana Lada
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Premiere Date: August 7, 2009 (Limited Release)
FilmCritic.com Rating = 3.5 out of 5.0 [...]
On this week’s Slice of SciFi, we’ll be talking more about the eagerly anticipated release of “District 9.”
If you can’t wait until Saturday to find out more, a couple of reviews are starting to hit the Internet.
First up is the review from trade paper, Variety.
Upon the ashes of his aborted “Halo” vidgame adaptation, producer Peter [...]
“Echelon Conspiracy” — A Russo DVD/Blu-ray Review
August 4, 2009 || Category: DVD Reviews | 1 Comment
em>Reviewed by: Joe Russo (SoSF Film Reviewer)
Director: Greg Marcks
Writers: Michael Nitsberg & Kevin Elders
Actors: Shane West, Edward Burns, Ving Rhames, Martin Sheen, Yuriy Kutsenko, Sergey Gubanov, Steven Elder, Sandra De Sousa & Greg Donaldson
Russo rating = 6 Stars out of 10 Stars
“Directed by young, up-and-coming filmmaker Greg Marcks, Echelon Conspiracy not only boasts [...]
“Torchwood: Children of Earth” — A Slice of SciFi DVD and Blu Ray Review
August 3, 2009 || Category: DVD Reviews | 2 Comments
Reviewed by: Michael Hickerson (Slice of SciFi News Editor)
Actors: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd, Peter Capaldi, Paul Copley
Directors: Euros Lynn
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 2
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Warner
DVD Release Date: [...]
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