Bill Murray has tackled some interesting films in the past four years, from The Royal Tenenbaums to Lost in Translation to his most recent adventure, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. True to Murray?s Saturday Night Live background, these films are all sprinkled with comedy (at times rather dark), but it?s the characters that make the films what they are. Life Aquatic, which just released on DVD, is a perfect example, so while fans of Murray?s slapstick shtick will be left disappointed, those who have appreciated his … [Read more...]

Treasure hunting never gets old. Just ask George Lucas, who released the Indiana Jones trilogy on DVD last year, or Jerry Bruckheimer, who was responsible for Pirates of the Caribbean and, now, National Treasure. Indiana Jones is the penultimate adventurer, and if you ask anyone in Generations X, Y or Z to name a treasure hunter, his is the name most likely to come up. With Pirates of the Caribbean, the ?treasure? was quite literal, although the movie?s charm relied as much on the original swashbuckling yarn as it did … [Read more...]

Say what you will about Johnny Depp?s eclectic roles, his abandonment of Hollywood life for the well-steeped streets of Paris or his distinct fashion sense, but one thing is certain: he?s on a hot streak. Since Pirates of the Caribbean (read DailyGame?s review), Depp has ridden a wave of good fortune, the most recent being his outstanding performance as James M. Barrie in Finding Neverland. Barrie, as you may recall, is the author of the children?s classic Peter Pan. Hollywood has had its fair share of Pan productions, … [Read more...]

It?s fair to say Pixar is one of the best computer-animation houses around, if not the best, and The Incredibles is the latest film to show why the Midas-like studio has that reputation. From animation and sound to story and character development, The Incredibles definitely deserved the Oscar for Best Animated Feature this year. Some, including director/writer Brad Bird, would argue that the movie should?ve been a contender for overall film of the year, and I wouldn?t disagree. Some will also argue that tomorrow?s DVD … [Read more...]

As a rule, there are three reasons to buy or rent a DVD. The first is because you missed the movie in the theater and want to check it out. The second is because you saw the movie in the theater, fell in love with it and absolutely need to see it again. The third incorporates the reasons in number two, then adds your compulsion to watch the DVD extras. Yet Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow adds a fourth reason: because the DVD release is the only way to see the one aspect of the film that?s worth watching, the bonus … [Read more...]

For a while, M. Night Shyamalan seemed to be slipping. The Sixth Sense, his breakout and still most-memorable film, vaulted him to immediate stardom. His next film, Unbreakable, was a decent outing but proved that the writer/producer wasn?t as unbreakable as the title indicated. And Signs, Shyamalan?s would-be sci-fiction film, was a disappointment altogether. But with The Village, which releases Tuesday on DVD, Shyamalan returns to his twisty ways in a film that shows not only his return to complex characters, but his … [Read more...]

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you Exhibit A in Disney?s case against all other animators: the ?Aladdin Special Edition? DVD. As you will see in this DVD set, ?Aladdin? is undoubtedly the way animated DVDs were meant to be produced. Top-notch music. An outstanding mix of traditional and computer-generated animation. Impeccably re-mastered surround-sound audio. An engaging story. And more bonus features than Abu could fit in his kleptomaniac?s jacket. Our first component of Exhibit A is the music, which … [Read more...]

I?ve been a sucker for South Park since Cartman got an anal probe. Start talking about your Patrick Duffy leg or Chef?s chocolate salty balls, and I?ll laugh for hours. So when Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the animated but oh-so-adult South Park series, took aim at last year?s ?The Passion of the Christ,? I was intrigued to see whether they?d succeed in making me laugh just as hard or stumble in their attempt to capitalize on a hot film. The setup sounds great: a DVD comprised of three 30-minute episodes: … [Read more...]

With the veritable lifetime supply of Disney feature-length films in existence, it?s surprising to think that the three most-popular characters, Mickey, Goofy and Donald Duck, hadn?t all appeared in a feature-length film before the all-new ?The Three Musketeers.? Sure, they?ve had their featurette, movie-short and TV success stories, but never a full-length film. Naturally, then, when Disney fanatics hear the mantra of ?first film together,? they?re bound to race to the store and pick ?The Three Musketeers? off the … [Read more...]

There exist certain undisputable truths of Hollywood, one of which being Quentin Tarantino as a love-him-or-hate-him director. ?Pulp Fiction,? depending on whom you talk to, was sensational or swill. ?Reservoir Dogs,? same story. ?Kill Bill Vol. 1,? with its gore and action-oriented design, was much the same. But as we all learned in spaghetti Westerns, laws were meant to be broken. And the recent release of ?Kill Bill Vol. 2? on DVD will shatter what you think a Tarantino film is supposed to be. ?Kill Bill Vol. 1? was … [Read more...]