Each week DVDs come out. Some of them are worth your time and money and some aren't. Some of them are movies I've seen, and some of them aren't. Regardless, I give you my opinion on the big releases of the week. If the releases sound like something you want to buy, just click the link to go to amazon.com and youíll support Cinema Blend with a few pennies. Take it or leave it, here ís the DVD Blend.
Constantine
Neo returns as the Matrix is threatened by demon spawn... huh? This isn’t a Matrix film? Are you sure? Hmmm, okay, Keanu Reeves acts a lot like Neo as he battles demons as John Constantine in this movie based on D.C. Comic’s Hellblazer comic book series. Despite visually being quite similar to the Matrix films, Constantine manages to get some stuff right (particularly some impressive visuals) although as a whole I felt it lacked cohesiveness. It also takes on some questionable interpretations of that Good Book that so many people seem to love. While it wasn’t a smashing success in theaters, I predict it will probably will have more popularity on DVD, most likely eventually gaining official “cult” status that will somehow garner the need for sequels Highlander style.
Click to purchase Constantine (Full Screen Edition)
Click to purchase Constantine (Widescreen Edition)
Click to purchase Constantine (Deluxe 2-Disc Edition)
The Crow - Wicked Prayer
Speaking of Highlander style sequels, here’s the fourth movie in the unneeded Crow franchise. The first Crow movie was a nice, touching film despite being a movie about a spirit of vengeance coming back to avenge wrongful deaths by creatively slaying the murderers. Maybe it had something to do with the ill-timed, ironic death of star Brandon Lee. Since then the spirit of The Crow has returned in two other movies and a television series, none of which managed to capture what made the first movie work so well (notice the exact similarity to Highlander here?). Can Wicked Prayer recapture the feel of the original? One only has to look at the cast for an answer: Edward Furlong hasn’t found success since Terminator 2, David Boreanaz is better known as a television good guy then a big bad, Dennis Hopper would add promise if he were in the bad guy role, and Tara Reid... well, check please!
Click to purchase The Crow: Wicked Prayer
Earth 2
Everybody loves “LOST” these day, but few people seemed to take to this show in the mid-90s, which was essentially “LOST” on another planet. Think about it: eclectic mix of character actors (Clancy Brown, Antonio Sabato Jr., Rebecca Gayheart, and Sullivan Walker) traveling through an unknown land that seems to possess powers no-one understands. You even had cute annoying kids like “LOST” has, and background characters who would come to the foreground long enough to die. Hell, Terry O’Quinn even appeared from time to time on “Earth 2”. Alas, even guest appearances by actors like Tim Curry wasn’t enough to get “Earth 2” sufficient ratings, and the show was canceled after one season. Until Firefly, I thought “Earth 2” was the show with the biggest potential and deserved a movie follow up to answer all the questions posed by the show. Oh well, at least we can enjoy the DVD of the series, although the bonus materials are slim, primarily serving the purpose of promoting Universal’s other sci-fi tv series coming out this week, “Sliders” and “Cleopatra 2525” (see below for more on those).
| Other titles released this week that might be worth your time: | |||
| Row 1 - Cell 0 | Man of the House - Tommy Lee Jones lives the universal male dream by moving in to a sorority house in this film, not to be confused with the Chevy Chase/Jonathan Taylor Thomas film of the same name (which has nothing to do with a sorority house). The combined ages of the female costars probably don’t add up to Jones’s, so while it makes the movie pretty unbelievable, it also makes all men out there salute Jones. We’re talking real respect there. | Row 1 - Cell 2 | Ice Princess - Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s younger sister discovers that while she can’t kill Vamps, she can ice skate thanks to her secret mathematical formula in the latest from Disney. You can tell it’s a Disney live action film because the word “Princess” is in the title, in the Mouse House’s continuous effort to cash in on dreams of little girls everywhere. Coming soon: Snow Princess, Surf Princess, and Fashion Princess. That last one is actually about a boy, in an effort to catch the “Queer Eye” audience. |
| Row 2 - Cell 0 | |||
| Row 3 - Cell 0 | Cleopatra 2525 - There really are only two appealing things about this show, T&A. Sorry to put it bluntly, but it’s true. Well, actually the theme song remake of “In the Year 2525” wasn’t too bad either. Still, if you want campy sci-fi tv, this is it. I’d much rather see a DVD release of “Cleopatra”’s partner show “Jack of all Trades” (with Bruce Campbell), but for now, fast music and hot women rule supreme... hmmm, show your child this after Ice Princess to really screw up their perspective on women in entertainment. | Row 3 - Cell 2 | Sliders - 3rd Season - The third season of “Sliders” was the beginning of the end for the show. Yes, I know the show ran for five years, but this is where the show truly began to go downhill. The third season saw the eventual departure of John Rhys-Davies, and the end of the show’s run on Fox. As the show moved to the sci-fi network the effects had a noticeable drop in quality, as did the writing. I suggest leaving this one alone and enjoying the first two seasons of the show (already on DVD) when it was worth watching. |
| Row 4 - Cell 0 |
| Other titles released this week that aren't worth your time: |
| Row 0 - Cell 0 |
