Shakefire.com - Edward James Olmos

Academy Award® winner Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg lead an all-star cast in 2 Guns, an explosive action film that tracks two operatives from competing bureaus who are forced on the run together. But there is a big problem with their unique alliance: Neither knows that the other is an undercover federal agent.

For the past 12 months, DEA agent Bobby Trench (Washington) and U.S. naval intelligence officer Marcus Stigman (Wahlberg) have been reluctantly attached at the hip. Working undercover as members of a narcotics syndicate, each man distrusts his partner as much as the criminals they have both been tasked to take down.

When their attempt to infiltrate a Mexican drug cartel and recover millions goes haywire, Trench and Stigman are suddenly disavowed by their superiors. Now that everyone wants them in jail or in the ground, the only person they can count on is the other. Unfortunately for their pursuers, when good guys spend years pretending to be bad, they pick up a few tricks along the way.

Tags:

2 Guns,

Mark Wahlberg,

Denzel Washington,

Paula Patton,

Baltasar Kormákur

The Green Hornet

Matt Rodriguez — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:49:25 +0000

FOR THE KIDDIES

This is Seth Rogen's first live action film not to be rated R.

The Green Hornet is a franchise that spawned a successful radio series, television show, and even two film serials. Now it has finally been made into a full length motion picture with Seth Rogen taking up the green mask and becoming the vigilante crime fighter.

Britt Reid is the son of a successful newspaper publisher who spends his days squandering his father's money. One day, after suddenly dying from an allergic reaction to a bee sting, Britt becomes the sole head of The Daily Sentinel. It is then that he meets his father's long time mechanic, Kato (Jay Chou), a skilled martial artist who does a whole lot more than just fixing cars. The two instantly connect and, after some late night vandalism turns into them saving a couple from gangsters, they decide to take on alter egos and become superheros. Thus, the Green Hornet was born.

Seth Rogen is most known for his comedic roles and The Green Hornet is no different. He's the lovable party man with no responsibilities. Even when staring down the barrel of a gun, Rogen manages to crack a joke. At times he's funny but his act gets old rather quickly. I was rather hesitant about seeing Rogen take on the role Van Williams is most known for. He's definitely not the Green Hornet we're used to but I enjoyed the fresh new look on a classic character, even if he can be dumb as a brick sometimes.

His partner is crime, Kato, is a whole other story. He's the brain and the muscle of the team and is primarily the one responsible for getting Reid out of danger. Jay Chou lives up to the role that the legendary Bruce Lee held. He's definitely got the martial art skills to back him up, easily taking down four or five armed thugs at a time with little to no effort. I was, however, turned away by the method where time would slow and you'd see Kato's plan of attack sort to speak, highlighting weapons and enemies. It felt unnecessary and tacked on. Chou clearly has the fighting skills so it would have been better just to see him lay the smack down on some bad guys rather than watch it all in 300-style sequence. Chou isn't all about fighting though as he also manages to crack a few jokes every now and then. Let's also not forget his creative genius when it comes to modifying the Black Beauty.

James Bond may have his Aston Martin but that has nothing on the armored Chrysler Imperial Kato creates. This car has everything; bullet proof glass, rocket launchers, machine guns, and even an old school record player. If that doesn't scream Green Hornet then the green tinted headlights and custom license plate will. As its name describes, the car is a thing of beauty. It's also worthy of some insane car chases that probably end up destroying half of the downtown city area.

The Green Hornet isn't your typical hero movie. With Seth Rogen, it comes off more as a comedy in which some random guy attempts to become a hero and has no knowledge of what he's actually doing. That's primarily how everything plays out, with Rogen usually getting lucky in his attempt to end crime. It's not something that should be taken serious. If you do, you'll most likely be disappointed. Give The Green Hornet a chance, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Want another perspective of the film? Read Lee Roberts' review!

Follow me on Twitter @Majiesto

The Green Hornet

Review:

Theatrical

Exclusive?:

Grade:

2.95

Tags:

Talent(s):

Starring:

The Green Hornet

Matt Rodriguez — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:49:25 +0000

The Green Hornet

In Theatres:

Jan 14, 2011

Starring:

Studio(s):

Director(s):

Genre:

Comedy,

Action/Adventure

Running Time:

110 minutes

Tags:

Peter Oberth — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 10:19:52 +0000

Photos:

(Posters Images)

Movie:

The Green Hornet

Exclusive?:

Tags:

Talent(s):

Battlestar Galactica: Season 3 (BLU-RAY)

Jeremy Hunt — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:44:21 +0000

Battlestar Galactica is one of the best sci-fi series to ever appear on TV. It’s not a perfect show, but its collective strengths far outweigh its weaknesses. Terrific acting, great storytelling, and awesome special effects all combined to make BSG a powerful and compelling experience. Season 3 was a pivotal one, as plotlines began to converge and a number of the mysteries of the show were slowly answered (or almost answered). Shifting allegiances and relationships…for a sci-fi show, it made for some terrific drama. Oh and this season also featured one of the coolest uses of "All Along The Watchtower." Ever.

QUALITY:
Fantastic. This show shines in the Blu-Ray format. The production values and special effects BSG were two of the many things that elevated this show above most of the standard Syfy fare. It looks awesome here, standing toe-to-toe with the best that TV has to offer.

BONUS FEATURES:
It’s an embarrassment of riches on the special features front: deleted scenes, commentaries, an extended edition of the episode “Unfinished Business,” and the list goes on. Chances are good you’ll spend almost as much time with the bonuses as you will with the episodes themselves.

Definitely a strong purchase possibility, especially if you’re collecting the seasons one by one. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense if you have or are considering buying the series box set obviously. But if not, this is a no-brainer.

Review:

TV on Blu-Ray

Exclusive?:

Grade:

3.94

Tags:

Battlestar Galactica

Season:

Talent(s):

Starring:

Battlestar Galactica Season 3

Jeremy Hunt — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:44:21 +0000

Battlestar Galactica

Season: 3

Starring:

On Blu-Ray:

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Discs:

Tags:

SyFy,

Science,

fiction,

drama,

Battlestar,

Galactica

Battlestar Galactica

Peter Oberth — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:15:36 +0000

Battlestar Galactica

On DVD:

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

On Blu-Ray:

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Starring:

Studio(s):

Genre:

Running Time:

67 Hours

Discs:

This is a massive set, the largest blu-ray set I have seen to date and, in fact, the largest I could find in existence. Aside from sets that were pieced together by studios (action, comedy, etc) that are merely single releases thrown together, this easily exceeds the previous largest set, Neil Young's 10-disc "Archives" set.

Tags:

Battlestar Galactica,

Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (BLU-RAY)

Peter Oberth — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:15:36 +0000

AND IT STUCK

The phrase "so say we all", which is used as a ceremonial affirmation in the series, was ad-libbed by Edward James Olmos in a speech given by Commander Adama in the mini-series.

QUALITY:
First, I will start on a good note. The sound quality is absolutely incredible. The explosions are rattling, the dialogue is crisp and the whispers are surprisingly audible. Now, the picture. Unfortunately, it's not the greatest. The picture is grainy. First, when I put in season 1, I was assuming it was probably because it was a few years old but when I popped in the final season, it was the same. The darks aren't dark and the rest is grainy. Not the worst I've seen but certainly far from the best.

BONUS FEATURES:
Extended version of Razor, Deleted Scenes, Featurettes, Commentary, Extended Episodes, Interactive Guide to characters and ships.

PACKAGING:
Cool, at first. The large box is, well, large and very solid. On top, you will find a well-made Cylon action figure, not the cheap kind usually associated with box sets (I'm looking at you anime). A cool addition would have been to put foot pin holes on top so you can display the figure solidly.

You pull up on the top tier and, instead of coming off, it locks in the up position revealing characters from the show on each side and, under that, individual packages encasing each of the four seasons. That's where the "coolness" factor of the package stops. When you open up the boxes, it is suddenly a little cheap. The discs are simply slid into cardboard slots that are a little difficult to get to. Althought I can't say for sure, in the future, this may lead to scratching of the discs and ridiculously extreme frustration.

OVERALL:
I never got into this series when it aired. One reason is because I'm not really all that big on space sci fi (I know, that's a huge sci fi foul), and I just figured it would be canceled before it had a chance to finish. Now that it got to finish of it's own accord and, after all the huge acclaim and near forcefullness of friends to watch it, I finally decided to sit down and give it a go (also helped that it all in one neat little package on blu-ray). Excuse the cliche sci fi pun, but the show is light years ahead of it's Sci Fi Channel counterparts in the quality category, with a much higher production value than even that of the recent Firefly. The price tag is a bit hefty for 4 seasons (retail, it comes to $87.50 per season) but you are also paying for the all-inclusive and pretty impressive packaging and action figure. I also got to take a peek at the standard DVD edition and, aside from a blu-ray stripe, it's exactly the same. The quality is noticeably more clear on the blu-ray edition so if you are a true fan, you may want to pick this one up. Otherwise, I'd go with the standard edition or just individual seasons (which aren't all available yet on blu-ray).

Review:

TV on Blu-Ray

Exclusive?:

Grade:

3.43

Tags:

Battlestar Galactica

Talent(s):

Other Pictures:

Starring:

Battlestar Galactica: Season One (HD-DVD)

Peter Oberth — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 05:00:00 +0000

In an amazing sign of things to come, Universal has unleashed the popular yet underutilized sci fi rehash Battlestar Galactica on a massive 6-disc HD set. After the first-run of the original show went in such a cheesy route that never captured the magic of the movie, the announcement of comeback from the always-cheesy original programming of Sci Fi Channel, the hopes weren’t high for this show, leading to initial low ratings that slowly built and peeked just before it’s untimely demise. Now, those that never had the chance to watch it in it’s original run or those that just want to watch it all over again finally have the chance to catch it all in glorious high definition.

QUALITY:
Astounding. Sci Fi Channel is just now starting to get into the high def game on cable stations across the country (Comcast will be adding it to my lineup at the beginning of the year) so for BSG to make it’s way onto HD-DVD so quickly in the format’s life is a welcome surprise. The picture is flawless and the sound is absolutely rattling, if your settings are correct of course which does have to be slightly different than blu-ray if you are switching back and forth.

BONUS FEATURES:
Commentaries, deleted scenes, art sketches, featurettes and a few other things don’t amount to the greatest of special features and the packaging, which looks cool at first, isn’t the most accessible with the hard to manage plastic and the nearly glued-in DVDs as opposed to the normal plastic holders to keep it safe.

Review:

TV on DVD

Exclusive?:

Grade:

3.85