Run Fatboy Run (2008)

A film set in Britain with mostly British actors but co-written by an American and directed by an American - who would this film be written for? Well, not surprisingly, it would be American audiences! I went into this film excited because Simon Pegg was a co-writer and star in the film, but instead I got a bland sitcom-like film stretched over around 90 minutes.

The film features Pegg playing Dennis, a father of a boy born to his ex-fiance. Dennis runs away from her (Thandie Newton) at the altar and then spends the next five years trying to make amends. When we catch up with him five years after ditching his wedding, he now finds that his ex is dating an American businessman, Whit (Hank Azaria). The film then follows as Dennis tries to prove to his son and ex that he is not quitter and a better man than Whit. Dennis enters into the same marathon as Whit and you will have no problems guessing what comes next.

There is nothing edgy, surprising or exciting in this movie. It did get a few chuckles and perhaps one chortle from me, especially from the "best friend" Gordon (Dylan Moran) who was my favorite character of the film.

I expected something more clever but instead found it to be a predictable, soft romantic comedy. (100 minutes)
Michael Worley

Amazing Stories (1985 TV) DVD

Ok, by raise of hands how many of you remember watching Amazing Stories? This Universal production was a series of non-episodic episodes utilizing the Universal back-lot and all the actors under their wing. In this DVD set for Season 1, you'll find over 10 hours of Amazing Stories. The great thing about these shows is they have great production value, each one is like a mini film. The whole series is produced by Steven Spielberg, according to the credits most of the stories were his idea.
This set of DVD's isn't packed as full of bonus features, just some deleted scenes. The thing I like about deleted scenes is, you get to see why they were deleted! Most of the time they would have slowed the story down, or just unnecessary back story.
24 storys, and all kinds of fun, the casts of this series was awesome, to name a few, Kevin Costner, Kiefer Sutherland, Gregory Hines, Milton Berle, Dom DeLuise, Seth Green, Charlie Sheen, Mark Hamill, Tim Robbins and many, many more. Thats right, Seth Green is in the mix, he was like 10 in the episode he was in, it's pretty funny. This DVD set is a must have, it took me a while to find a copy but I managed to buy it for too much at a store, so check Half.com, Amazon has it for a bit more.
Matt Worley

Short Circuit 2 (1988) DVD

In our adventures at Fry's we also picked up a copy of Short Circuit 2 for the low low price of 5 bucks. Not bad for a classic like this. The DVD comes with a short Featurette about the lead actor in this film, No not Johnny 5 but Fisher Stevens who plays Ben Jahrvi, The funny thing about this character is who plays it, you may recognize him as George Minkowski from lost. Yup a white guy plays an Indian guy, its even funnier now that i know that! The tragic story of Johnny becoming more human and coming to understand how cruel humans can be. As Ben and his new business partner Fred Ritter played by Michael McKean, strive to grow their toy business, they call Johnny in to help with the work. Little do they know beneath their feet a tunnel into a bank vault is being dug, the premise of which is set up early in the film and is revisited through out. Basically though the movie revolves around Ben's love story, and his interest in becoming a citizen of the US.
As a sequel to Short Circuit, this film stands on it's own, with minimal call backs to the first one. It was an enjoyable ride I think anyone would like. It is rated PG, there is some language, and a brutal scene where Johnny gets the living battery fluid beaten out of him.

Matt Worley

The Black Hole (1979) DVD

The Black Hole, a Disney Classic, though they don't seem too proud of it. This was disney's first foray into the Sci-fi realm. Lets start with the DVD Case, they went with a Glossy black case, which looks and feels really slick. Bonus features include an extended trailer and a featurette about the making of they film with one of the VFX artists.
The film funs 98 minutes, just a tad long for a Broadcast showing. Looking at the cast was pretty impressive Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowall, and Slim Pickens. In the first 10 minutes you will notice that they didn't pull a George Lucas on this one and try to digitally touch up the whole film, Thank Goodness! What I mean is you will see the wires from the weightless shots all the edges on the matte paintings and no CG. Anthony Perkins is just about as creepy in this as he is in Psycho. The sound track of this film is pretty cool, it was scored by John Barry who has done some other cool sound tracks. For those of you who don't recall the story line, think of it as 20,000 leagues under the sea, in space. A mad man in charge of a space ship wants to be the first to traverse a black hole, and he wont let anyone stop him. A pretty dark film, I don't want to give any spoilers. So go rent it or better yet, buy a copy.
Matt Worley

Alice in Wonderland (1985 TV) DVD

Ok, so my wife and are were on an adventure at Frys Electronics, you know the place where you better know what you are looking for and where it is before you go or you are screwed? I digress, so we were looking at DVD's in the TV section and stumbled across this rare gem, Alice in Wonderland the live action TV version. I remember when it was on TV and I watched it as a child, lets see I was 6, and I remember that show scared the crap out of me. Now I just laugh at the production value. It is told in the slowest possible form, with a running time of 187 min, I'd love to say it is loaded with bonus material, but alas, it has not a one. The cheesy effects are something to be seen. If by any chance you remember seeing this as a kid or young adult or as an old person, chances are it wont be on TV again. But really, it has a killer cast from the mid 80's and it is a classic worth owning. So check it our or rent it on NetFlix.
Matt Worley

Semi-Pro (2008)

So the other day, I was working a gig at the Disneyland Hotel. We got all our gear set up early and had a few hours to kill. So we went to the AMC theater there and look for a film that fit out time frame. The only one was Semi-Pro staring Will Ferrell and Woody Harrelson. Going in with the lowest of expectations, I found this film had it's moments. As for story line, well think The Bad News Bears meets White Men Can't Jump. Yet another Harrelson film. The film has no nudity (bet you would have thought other wise), a minor fully clothed sex scene and more gratuitous language then a sailor drunk on shore leave. Sorry I don't have any evidence to prove how much language a sailor really uses to prove my point.
Will's character Jackie Moon is the owner of a semi-pro team, in a series of franchises that are about to be purchased by the NBA. As the story goes, they want to be one of the teams that is absorbed, but of coarse they are not. So they fight for 4th place, a nodal cause for any under achiever. This is one of those films you should wait to see on broadcast TV fully edited. Really. Save your $10 and go buy some used DVD's at Blockbuster! Not that I am supporting Blockbuster, but really get a NetFlix account.
Matt Worley