“"Space," it says, "is big. REALLY big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the street to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space. Listen...” and so on.” -- The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy
Stargate, the Ark of Truth, a Stargate SG1 feature-length adventure, was released March 11, 2008. It should not disappoint die-hard Stargate fans. While it’s definitely not a stand-alone movie…most viewers will not care. Writer-Producer-Director Robert Cooper and the cast made this one for the fans. The Ark completes the Ori story arc, leaving few threads unraveled. There are several Bonus Features.
Before watching the movie, I started with The Road Taken: Prelude to The Ark of Truth. Its nine-minute capsule of brain jogging scenes begins with Cam Mitchell joining the team, and continues with a few germane Vala snippets, such as her spawning of the Orici, Adria. Moving into the Merlin story line, and Adria’s ascension; it concludes with the shared Asgard upgrades, and Cam Mitchell stating that they need a new plan, “a damn good one.” If, as you’re reading this, you say, “what is she talking about,” then don’t bother to watch The Ark of Truth until you’ve seen at least some of the Season 9 & 10 SG1 episodes. This Prelude reminds us how we (SG1 & fans) got here, but certainly won’t do much to enlighten non-series fans. Pardon me if this doesn’t bother me too much. I’ve been waiting for this DVD, and pre-ordered my copy from Amazon. Short and sweet, the Prelude sets the tone for The Ark feature.
Slight Spoilers
Spoilers may be contained from here on: Proceed at your own peril. However, if you want extensive spoilers, go here.
The Ark of Truth opens in an Alteran (aka Ancients) underground meeting long ago, with scientists arguing about, and ultimately deciding not to use, the Ark of Truth. This Ancient device can apparently cause people to believe whatever is programmed into it. The Alterans are considering utilizing it to disabuse the regular folk into believing that the Ori are gods. In the latter part of the movie, Vala seems to reveal that the device can only brainwash people into believing that which is true.
We skip on into present day Dakara, with Michael Shanks returning as Daniel Jackson, Christopher Judge as the inimitable Teal’c, and Claudia Black as Vala Mal Doran, searching for the Ark of Truth. Daniel has been experiencing visions of Merlin, whose non-corporeal appearance is believed to be caused by Daniel-Merlin’s residual memories. Those grail-ish visions provide clues to the Ark’s location. Daniel and Vala are bickering about how to open a chest believed to contain it. Sam and Cam are guarding the perimeter with an SG contingent. Teal’c says, “Quiet! As Daniel and Vala turn to him in surprise, Tomin and an army of soldiers for the Ori overtake them. With the aid of the Ori dampening device, SG1 prevails, and gains a convert in Tomin. This sets the proverbial stage for the quest for The Ark of Truth.
Tom Guinee, who portrays Ori commander Tomin as well as Vala’s nearly ex-husband in the series, is key in two intense scenes. The first is an interrogation scene between Tomin and Marrick, Woolsey’s IOA replacement. Marrick is played with fanatic intensity by first-timer Currie Graham. Marrick starts out with an ultra-soft query about Tomin’s position…and ratchets it up to hysterical emotions when he asks Tomin how many innocent people he has been responsible for slaughtering. It’s a little over the top, but without this hysteria, we might not find Marrick’s continued prominent and nefarious role as believable. This scene, in turn, sets up the second emotional scene with Tomin and Teal’c, who, for the first time, tersely addresses living with his own blood-soaked history as Apophis’ First Prime.
The physical quest for The Ark involves taking the Odyssey, souped up with Asgard technology, through the SuperGate to Ortus Mallum, with Marrick in tow. When Cam reluctantly takes the Captain’s chair after a verbal altercation with Marrick, a momentary nod is given to their own SG1 200th episode and to Star Trek Next Gen when Cam says, “Weapons to maximum” and “Make it go.”
Sam (the irreplaceable Amanda Tapping) and Cam (the irrepressible Ben Browder) must leave Daniel, Teal’c, Vala, and Tomin on Ortus Mallum (Place of Origin), while they return to the Odyssey. Marrick has activated the Asgard core, creating a signature the Ori can use to locate them.
Our old friends, the Replicators are back, courtesy of the IOA.
Meanwhile, back on the planet, Teal’c is shot, and the others captured by the Ori and taken to Celestis, creating a two-front crisis for the split team of SG-1. Teal’c has some incredible scenes crossing snowy mountains and arriving at Celestis. Robert Cooper credits Teal’c as being the hero of the story. He does INDEED have a very significant role to play. He also has some interesting assistance from an Ancient.
Julian Sands cameo as the Ori chief Prior Doci in Celestis is small, but Sands is a past master at portraying wickedness in all its varied forms.
IOA idiocy nearly scuttles the quest/mission in a spectacular manner. There are a few surprises here and there in this epic, but IOA’s misjudgement is just business as usual!
A Terminator homage is included, and it’s all really good fun.
More BonusFeatures
The “Uncovering the Ark of Truth” making-of-the-movie video segment is worth the watch. I didn’t get through the additional entire blow-by-blow audio commentary with Robert Cooper, but I will at some point. I know audio commentary has become a staple, but I wish they had compressed it a bit, as there are long moments as each scene comes along and sometimes; there just isn’t a lot to say. The information, when it does come, is fascinating.
We learn that Christopher Judge did his helicopter-shot mountain vista scenes in person, with no stunt double. We hear Cooper talking about the danger they unwittingly created for Judge in their ignorance of the helicopter’s maneuvering to accomplish long camera shots. Ben Browder apparently takes a punch so much better than most, that they structured scenes to cameo it in conjunction with their Terminator moment.
The Ark of Truth, Stargate at Comic-Con is highly amusing, especially for someone like me, who has yet to be able to get into an actual convention panel at DragonCon to see them. (okay, so I don’t like to get up before dawn to stand in line for a panel, my bad). They take questions, and answer them with humor and aplomb.
The soundtrack was impressive. Composer, Joel Goldsmith uses the original Stargate movie theme, by David Arnold, as a familiar springboard into a new epic movie score.
Overall, I thought The Ark of Truth was well done. It was shot in 35 mm, instead of HD, to give a more cinematic feel and texture to the story. It works for me. I can’t be entirely objective, because I have always been a fan of Stargate SG1.
I followed the transition from “old school” with Richard Dean Anderson to “New School” with Ben Browder, Claudia Black, and Beau Bridges. One of the highlights of The Ark of Truth for me: The “new” characters that struggled a bit during SG1 season 9, and who were just getting comfortable in Season 10, were fully realized in this feature. There wasn’t a single moment of “Cam-Crichton” in the entire epic, cross my heart. I say that as a certifiable Farscape fan.
The characters have always been the magic in SG1 for me. I’m glad I stuck it out. In the next feature, “Continuum,” Jack O’Neill returns to rescue his former team. I look forward to his return even more than I would have, now that the “New School” characters are comfy in their universe.
I’m not a sports fan. That’s why I didn’t bother to watch the Super Bowl. I knew that I could see the cool commercials today. I kinda wish I’d watched it after seeing a couple of ‘em. Here are the ones I liked.
I’m starting to change my mind about the Iron Man movie. I looks like it might actually be good. If he spends more time in the suit than he does as Tony Stark it could be great.
Looks like George Clooney is finally getting back to what he does best, comedy. Not just that, but period comedy like the best movie he ever made O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
Guess who else is going back to comedy after making some depressing crap…
Adam Sandler! Woooo! Goofy characters with weird accents. This could be the character he was born to play, or it could be crap. You can never tell with an Adam Sandler movie.
Looks like they took Nightcrawler, from the X-Men, and made him less blue and fuzzy. Probably a lot less interesting too.
Other Commercials
If you want to see the rest of the commercials, including a couple more movies that look kinda crappy, then head over to the 2008 Commercial Bowl powered by Spike and iFilm.
I was looking forward to seeing Rob Zombie’s version of Halloween. I even wrote a post about how excited I was. I thought Rob Zombie was good enough to take on a classic slasher flick and do it justice. Boy was I wrong.
Chaz Michael Michaels, played by Will Ferrell, is the bad boy of figure skating. When Chaz gets into a fight with Jimmy MacElroy, played by Jon Heder, his life is changed forever. Both Chaz and Jimmy are kicked out of Men’s Figure Skating for life.
Thanks to a crazy stalker and a has been coach Chaz and Jimmy might have a shot at gold again. It turns out that the lifetime ban is only in Men’s Singles, and there’s nothing in the rules that says 2 men can’t skate in Pairs competition.
My Opinion
In Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Will Ferrell played a Nascar Driver. In Blades of Glory Will Ferrell tackles another borderline sport. This time he’s playing a figure skater. Much like Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory is surprisingly funny.
For some reason Will Ferrell is always a lot more entertaining than I expect. Admittedly, I don’t expect much. I just don’t think trailers and commercials can really capture the kind of humor Will Ferrell delivers.
Will Ferrell isn’t the only surprisingly good performance in this movie either. Everyone does a great job. The romance between Jon Heder and Jenna Fischer is sweet and awkward. The sibling bond between Will Arnett and Amy Poehler kinda made my skin crawl, and I didn’t know they were married until I watched the special features. Craig T. Nelson is always great.
Even the real figure skaters did a great job in this movie, but most of them didn’t have to do much. There are lots of cameos. Watch very carefully though, because some of ‘em are very fast. I saw three cameos in less than 2 seconds during the hearing. I don’t know if they were originally supposed to get more screen time or if this is a treat for attentive skating fans. I’m left wondering…
What would Brian Boitano do?
DVD Extras
The extras on this disc are great. There are some behind the scenes stuff, several interviews and even a music video. Out of all the special features I think my favorite is the interview with Will Arnett and Amy Poehler. They’re funnier in the interview than they are in the movie. They’re kinda creepy in the movie.
Music Video
One of the extras I really liked was the music video. The song that Will Ferrell and Jon Heder sig in the movie is sung my Bo Bice. You can also hear the song on the closing credits. You can also watch it below.
Verdict
I’d recommend this movie. It’s strange and funny, like a lot of Will Ferrell’s stuff. Everyone involved did a great job.
I really liked this movie. It’s definitely worth a rental. Shoot, I may end up buying it.
Shrek the Third isn’t going to be a huge surprise. If you’ve seen the first 2 then you know what to expect. If you haven’t seen the first 2 Shrek movies yet you should be looking for those instead. They’re both great, but the first one is the best.
Shrek the Third does suffer from sequel-itis. It’s not quite as good as the previous movie, which wasn’t quite as good as the first movie. That’s really to be expected though. We know the main cast, but nothing new is introduced.
Movie
In this movie we get to know more about Fiona’s home, the land of Far Far Away. Fiona’s dad is ill and Shrek is filling in as king. Things do not go well. There’s a great sequence that shows how some of the royal functions Shrek performs turn disastrous. During all of this Shrek just wants to go home to his swamp.
Shrek learns that if he wants to avoid being the King of Far Far Away he has to bring back Arthur, the only other person in line for the throne. So he sets off to drag Artie back. While he’s gone Prince Charming, who has been planning revenge, makes his move.
All in all it’s pretty good. It’s not the best Shrek movie, but it has it’s moments.
Moment of Pure Awesome
This is a Shrek movie, so you know there is going to be at least one moment of pure awesome. For me, this clip, and the following sequence, was it. This is what happens when you mess with Snow White.
Special Features
Basics
Like all the Shrek DVDs there are some pretty cool features. I’ve always liked the CGI bloopers. It’s kind of cool to see some of the weird things that go wrong when trying to make a CGI animated movie.
Arthur’s Yearbook
One cool extra on this DVD is Arthur’s yearbook. You get a good idea of what life was like for Artie when he was in school. It’s filled with characters that are only briefly glimpsed, or not in the movie at all. Most, if not all, of them are historical or legendary figures like Arthur Pendragon himself. That makes a few of ‘em even more amusing if you’re a fan of Arthurian legend.
Verdict
I’d recommend this movie. If you’re a fan of Shrek, you won’t need a recommendation though. If you’re not a fan then why did you read this review?
All the old familiar faces return and they’re a welcome sight. Joining the crew of the Black Pearl in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End are an assortment of new faces. Chow Yun-Fat plays Captain Sao Feng, and steals almost every scene he’s in. Taking command of a scene when you’re on screen with the likes of Geoffrey Rush’s Captain Barbossa is more than impressive. That’s damned good acting.
At World’s End resolves the Pirates of the Caribbean storyline, and it does it in just under 3 hours. Ouch. That’s way too long. Especially when nothing really seems to happen for the first part of the movie. Oh, there’s plenty of action sequences, but what little storytelling there is could be done in much less time.
The ending is satisfying. It just seems right. If only they could have gotten to it a bit quicker.
Oh and for the ladies…
There’s more Depp than you can shake a pair of panties at.
DVD Extras
The extras are almost non-existent. There’s a gag reel, and that’s it. The bloopers are good, but not good enough to be the only special feature. No behind the scenes, no “making of”, no nothin’. That really sucks. I would love to see a making of documentary for this movie. C’mon! Would one interview with Keith Richards hurt the sales of the premium DVD that much?
I have no doubt that there will be a special collectors premium edition that contains the special features that should have been on this disc. Would I buy it? No way. Not a chance. I doubt I’d even rent it. Ok, maybe I’d rent it if it has that Keith Richards interview.
Verdict
This wraps up a trilogy, so if you’ve seen the others rent this one. If you haven’t seen the first 2, you’re not missing anything.
As for buying it…
I’d only recommend purchasing this DVD to fans of the series. If you have to add this one to your collection, wait. In a couple of months there will be a DVD that has the special features this one should have had.
I wrote a post about Superbad about the time it came out in theaters. I didn’t get to see it on the big screen, but I rented the unrated and extended edition. Here’s my review.
The Movie
Superbad is about three high school friends and is set couple of weeks before graduation. These guys are geeks, no two ways about it, but thanks to a fake I.D. they have a chance to finish high school in style. They set out on a quest to buy booze for a party.
Seth and Evan need the booze to impress the girls they’re interested in. They want to make the most of their time before they go their separate ways in college. They also want to go to college with at least some experience, and I ain’t talking about band camp. That’s pretty damn important at that age.
The adventures of Fogell, A.K.A. “McLovin” played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse, is where most of the humor is. McLovin tries to use his crappy I.D. to buy the booze. The store gets robbed and the cops are called, he’s just unlucky I guess. Or is he?
The cops seem to believe the fake I.D. or just don’t care that it’s fake. They offer him a ride to the party, but get caught up in other things. Things like getting drunk and shooting street signs. Along the way they offer him advice on life. Bad advice. Bad cop, no donut!
DVD Special Features
All the normal extras are here. Commentary, deleted scenes, a gag reel and previews. There are a couple of interesting extras.
I’m reviewing the unrated and extended edition of Superbad. I don’t know if the extras on the, no doubt numerous, other versions are similar. I’m thinking that theatrical version is missing a few of these.
Line-O-Rama
A lot of the dialog is very creatively foul and apparently ad-libbed. Line-O-Rama shows you the different versions that didn’t make it into the movie. Some of ‘em are lame, but others are hilarious. I enjoyed the different ways Jonah Hill, who plays Seth, described his choice of porn.
Cop Car Confessions
The Cop Car Confessions are a few short scenes with the cops talking to different people who are in the squad car. I enjoyed all of these a lot, but my favorite was the guy busted for drugs. He was just makin’ his famous pancakes for his buddies and the cops broke in and arrested him for possession. Happens all the time.
I don’t know why these didn’t make it into the movie, maybe they were filmed especially for the special features.
The Vag-Tastic Voyage
This is the porn site Seth talks about in the movie. They’ve included the full scene of the fictional site as a special feature. From the initial pick up to the closing shot, the entire thing is a spoof of a real porn site. It’s pretty darn accurate too. Ummm… Not that I would know.
Verdict
This is definitely worth renting, it’s a great movie with some really cool extras. Superbad is an old school raunchy teen movie in the spirit of Porky’s and the first American Pie.
Ok, I know I said I’d be doing book reviews, but I have to get a few DVDs out of the way first. A handful of movies I’ve been wanting to see have come out on DVD. I was able to snatch up a few of ‘em on release day for a change.
So I’ll be reviewing the following DVDs next week, hopefully.
Superbad
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Shrek the Third
Blades of Glory
As you can see, I haven’t had time to read a book this week. I’ve been too busy watching movies. Oh, and obsessing over the last episode of Heroes.
I’ve been a Stephen King fan for almost as long as I could read. That’s my sister’s fault. She’s a fan of his books, so I was introduced to his stories as a kid. I could relate to his books because I was a kid. A lot of the main characters in his stories are kids. Even more often, the monsters are things that scare kids. So his stories made a lot of sense to me.
The long and short of it.
Stephen King can write huge books. It and The Stand are pretty good examples of his longer works. He also writes some damn good short stories. The best example of those are probably in Skeleton Crew. That’s his second collection of short stories. Don’t get me wrong, his other short story collections are great. I just like Skeleton Crew.
“It’s digging in to what Steve King does, and trying not to screw it up.” — Frank Darabont, Director of The Mist
One of the longer stories in Skeleton Crew was The Mist. That is a creepy story, and a good example of the kind of childhood fears he uses so well. You never know what’s out there when a thick fog rolls in. Of course a child’s imagination, and Stephen King’s, will populate that unseen world. Some things are best left unseen.
The Mist by Stephen King has been made into a movie. As much as I gripe about stories I love being butchered on the big screen, I’m not too worried about this one. Stephen King, and his fans, have been blessed when it comes to film adaptations of his work. Some truly great movies have been made from his stories. I’m really looking forward to it since I watched a video of the director talking about Stephen King films on the movie’s site. That guy knows what he’s doing.
Check out the site and watch the trailer. This movie looks like a Stephen King story. It can’t get better than that.
Today we’re taking a look at horror with a review of Prison of the Psychotic Damned from Red Scream Films LLC. Some of the best horror films of all time are independent works. It makes sense. Horror movies deal with some things that make the big names nervous. Horror also has a tendency to get slapped with ratings that the studios don’t like.
Story
Prison of the Psychotic Damned follows a small team of documentary film makers as they investigate the shocking past of an abandoned train station in Buffalo, NY. The station was built with a bright future ahead of it, but that all came crashing down when the depression hit. Eventually the station was turned into an asylum for the criminally insane. Corruption among those running the institution resulted in horrifying conditions among those who were unlucky enough to be inmates. As bad as that is, it’s only part of the dark history of the place they’ve come to explore.
Execution
There are some great moments and a couple of decent scares.
The filmmakers responsible for Prison of the Psychotic Damned show some real potential. There are some great moments and a couple of decent scares. As they improve their craft they’ll be making some very good movies. Prison isn’t one of them.
From the beginning of the film they made some choices I don’t agree with. It opens with a scene that I think is supposed to be disturbing, but falls far short. Once that is over we get right to the action, or about as much action as we’ll see for most of the movie. The crew is on their way to spend the night in the station and do some filming. We get a rundown of the history of the place and a brief explanation of why they’re going there. The scene drags on far too long. The rest of the movie follows suit.
The Biggest Problems
With the exception of a handful of cool scenes this movie is more suited to being an audio book. It’s filled with exposition. The characters talk about creepy stuff, but we don’t see it. There are numerous “artistic” quick shots and underlying audio that is apparently meant to put the audience on edge. All it does is irritate. Luckily the sound effects are so overused that before long you won’t even notice them anymore. It’s too bad the same can’t be said for the disjointed images that flash on the screen.
Verdict
This film had a lot of potential. There’s a good story in there somewhere. The unfocused execution and the maker’s choice to talk about the story instead of showing it to us ruined it. You might find something you enjoy in Prison of the Psychotic Damned if you’re a fan of bad horror.
Allan’s World Music - This is an indie music blog where Allan, Joe, Kevin and Noah talk about music they really like, do album reviews and talk about concerts they’ve been to or want to see.
and Cam are guarding the perimeter with an SG contingent. Teal’c says, “Quiet! As Daniel and Vala turn to him in surprise, Tomin and an army of soldiers for the Ori overtake them. With the aid of the Ori dampening device, SG1 prevails, and gains a convert in Tomin. This sets the proverbial stage for the quest for The Ark of Truth.
The physical quest for The Ark involves taking the Odyssey, souped up with Asgard technology, through the SuperGate to Ortus Mallum, with Marrick in tow. When Cam reluctantly takes the Captain’s chair after a verbal altercation with Marrick, a momentary nod is given to their own SG1 200th episode and to Star Trek Next Gen when Cam says, “Weapons to maximum” and “Make it go.”
We learn that Christopher Judge did his helicopter-shot mountain vista scenes in person, with no stunt double. We hear Cooper talking about the danger they unwittingly created for Judge in their ignorance of the helicopter’s maneuvering to accomplish long camera shots. Ben Browder apparently takes a punch so much better than most, that they structured scenes to cameo it in conjunction with their Terminator moment.
I followed the transition from “old school” with Richard Dean Anderson to “New School” with Ben Browder, Claudia Black, and Beau Bridges. One of the highlights of The Ark of Truth for me: The “new” characters that struggled a bit during SG1 season 9, and who were just getting comfortable in Season 10, were fully realized in this feature. There wasn’t a single moment of “Cam-Crichton” in the entire epic, cross my heart. I say that as a certifiable Farscape fan.
