List Price: $28.98 Our Price: $23.18YOU SAVE $5.8!
Buy it
DVD Constantine (Full Screen Edition)
In the grand scheme of theological thrillers, Constantine aspires for the greatness of The Exorcist but ranks more closely with The Order. Based on the popular Hellblazer comic book series, and directed with nary a shred of intelligence by music video veteran Francis Lawrence, it's basically The Matrix with swarming demons instead of swarming machines. Keanu Reeves slightly modifies his Matrix persona as John Constantine, who roams the dark-spots of Los Angeles looking for good-evil, angel-devil half-breeds to ensure that "the balance" between God and Satan is properly maintained. An ancient artifact and the detective twin of a woman who committed evil-induced suicide (Rachel Weisz) factor into the plot, which is taken so seriously that you'll want to stand up and cheer when Tilda Swinton swoops down as the cross-dressing angel Gabriel and turns this silliness into the camp-fest it really is. The digital effects are way cool (dig those hellspawn with the tops of their heads lopped off!), so if you don't mind a juvenile lesson in pseudo-Catholic salvation, Constantine is just the movie for you! --Jeff Shannon
A cross between the Exorcist and John Waters' Pink Flamingoes
So bad its funny adaptation of the Comic book Hellblazer is such a multi-car wreck that it's almost too bad to watch. Keanu Reeves is so bad in the role that he should be a comedian instead of an actor because almost all of his scenes in this film are funny. His deliveries of his lines are so bad that you can come up with better lines before he's able to say the dialog. He demeanor borders on stupidly and he's even upstage by the special effects, which are not very good to begin with. It also does not help when you have a script that is so unfocused and so badly written that you as a audience member can't suspend disbelief on what is going on right in front of you while you are watching it. It's tries to be a cool version of the Exorcist but ends up being more like John Water's Pink Flamingoes but with out the camp or the humor that movie had. There is a transsexual angel that causes the horrible climax of the movie to happen and a homosexual demon that has a grudge with our dumb hero but by the time we are introduce to him, almost everybody in the audience would have a personal grudge against Keanu character for how bad the movie has turn out.
Surpassingly, there is some good to be found in this film and that's mainly coming from the performance of Rachel Weisz, who is so good in this film that you end up wondering on why the movie turn out so bad in the first place. Weisz is such a strong and talented actor that she even kinds of makes you buy on what is going on with the story but that's a uphill battle even for her great talent to succeed giving the fact that her co-star can't act if his life depended on it and the fact that the screenplay does not do her performance any justice. She's the only rose in this big pile of crap that is worth watching and that's pretty sad considering the fact that if you had a screenplay and a leading man to compliment her performance, this movie would have been much better off that it is now.
A Hell of a good time. . .
"Cats are good. Half-in, half-out anyway."
For fans of theological thrillers or graphic novels, there is something incredibly enticing about the character and adventures of John Constantine in the cult favorite comic Hellblazer. Seen by some as a powerful magician fighting against demons, and by others as a smarmy con-man out for a quick buck, the world behind the world that he inhabits is one ripe for a good mystery with a healthy dose of the bizarre.
The movie adaptation helmed by director Francis Lawrence and starring Keanu Reeves is more of an extrapolation of some of Constantine's comic adventures rather than an adaptation of the exact world and character. John Constantine is now a dark-haired american living in a demon-infested Los Angeles (mmmm, irony) instead of the snarky blond Brit that rowls the comic pages. However, the important things about his character remain largely unchanged. He retains the same pitch-black sense of humor and "screw you" attitude to the minions of both heaven and hell, and Keanu himself does an admirable job in the role. Perhaps it's just that John Constantine can be such an emotionally dead character, but Keanu does what is easily his best work since donning his trenchcoat and shades in the original Matrix.
The story for John is fairly simple; he sees dead people. Or rather, John Constantine has the rare ability to spot the semi-demons and quasi-angels (termed "half-breeds") that live among the human population. As a child, it drove him insane and desperate to the point attempted suicide. However, it didn't quite work, and now, knowing that he's destined to burn, Constantine acts as something of a bouncer for the city; whenever a demon tips the balance between good and evil by stepping too far outside the line, he deports them back to hell. he does this not for the sake of doing good, but in the forlorn hope that it'll buy him back into the good book.
This grabs the attention of Racheal Dobs, a detective who can't believe that her Catholic sister would comit suicide. Suspecting foul play, she enlists the unwilling help of Constantine, and the two start down a road to unravel an unholy mystery involving the Spear of Destiny, psychic powers, and ancient prophecies.
The story for the film is solid enough, but it's really the visual style and the supporting cast that make it enjoyable. Francis Lawrence creates a brilliant atmosphere for the film, along with some geniunely disturbing images of Hell, and does a great job of fitting each scene to its mood, whether it's being defined by performances or music.
As for the supporting cast, they're all incredibly enjoyable. Gavin Rosdale and Tilda Swinton provide great contrast as Balthazar and Gabriel, and Djimon Honsou does a great mystery man as the militantly neutral Pappa Midnight. Even the usually annoying Shia LeBeouf is palatable, and in actually adds a lot to the character of John Constantine. As author Niel Gaiman proved in The Books of Magic, Constantine is most enjoyable to watch when he has a young charge to act as his foil. And watch for a scene-stealing performance from Peter Stormare as the Morning Star himself.
Overall, the film isn't meant to be much more than an exercise in entertaiment with a heavy dose of the macabre, but it manages to be very good at what it does. With very effective use of effects and visual style, along with solid performances, if you like your supernatural thrillers with a touch of the hellish, this is where you should look.
And the two-disk DVD is easily the best deal if you're planning on picking the film up. It has all the special features that the one-disk edition comes with (including some deleted scenes that actually might have improved key points of the film), but also a full second disk of extras looking into the making of the film. It also comes packed with some selected Hellblazer comics, for a look at the original vision of the Constantine character.
Constantine has a different sort of feel overall than something more fun and self-aware like Hellboy, but it's certainly worth a look if you enjoy films like The Devil's Advocate or The Exorcist. Just come in expecting something. . . different.
Reeves is still dying his hair black
You know Keanu was OK when he was a kid with his 'Bill and Ted' stuff, but starting with Speed, I thought of him as nothing much more than a buffoon. I just find him annoying.
Well this flick is about angels and devils and how neither can enter our world but can only 'whisper in our ears'. Well Keanu attempted suicide as a boy, went to hell for two minutes and then came back to life. Now supposedly he's doomed to hell because suicide is a cardinal sin in the Catholic Church. So no matter what he does in his life he's going to hell. You will hear this no less than 20 times in the movie. So he's trying to buy his way into heaven by sending demons back to hell through exorcisms.
Well we get a lot of explanations like how the Bible in hell tells a different story in Revelations. You got Satan's son being born, Gabriel trying to kill it, demons made of flies and snakes, and a voodoo witch doctor bar owner who stays neutral.
If I may put forth a little bit of opinion. The dude who played Satan was the worst movie Satan I've ever seen. An old bald man is bad enough, but why was he dressed in a white? Like a heavenly white? I wasn't expecting horns, a pitchfork, and a red suit, but this is supposed to be Satan for crying out loud. With the money they spent on special effects, they could have at least delivered a frightening Satan. His demons were fifty times scarier than the Prince of Darkness himself.
Well in a nutshell, Keanu still can't act and special effects carried the movie.
Brutal and breathtaking, Sin City is Robert Rodriguez's stunningly realized vision of Frank Miller's pulpy comic books. In the first of three separate but loosely related stories, Marv (Mickey Rourke in heavy makeup) tries to track down the killers of a woman who ended up dead in his bed. In the second story, Dwight's (Clive Owen) attempt to defend a woman from a brutal abuser goes horribly wrong, and threatens to destroy the uneasy truce among the police, the mob, and the women of Old Town. Finally, an aging cop on his last day on the job (Bruce Willis) rescues a young girl from a kidnapper, but is himself thrown in jail. Years later, he has a chance to save her again.
More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 16 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.99 Your Price: $14.99YOU SAVE $5!
Buy it
Batman Begins discards the previous four films in the series and recasts the Caped Crusader as a fearsome avenging angel. That's good news, because the series, which had gotten off to a rousing start under Tim Burton, had gradually dissolved into self-parody by 1997's Batman & Robin. As the title implies, Batman Begins tells the story anew, when Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) flees Western civilization following the murder of his parents. He is taken in by a mysterious instructor named Ducard (Liam Neeson in another mentor role) and urged to become a ninja in the League of Shadows, but he instead returns to his native Gotham City resolved to end the mob rule that is strangling it. But are there forces even more sinister at hand?
Co-written by the team of David S.... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Christopher Nolan DVD Release Date: Released the 18 October 2005 This item is currently not available.
List Price: $30.98 Your Price: YOU SAVE $30.98!
Buy it
Like a Hardy Boys mystery on steroids, National Treasure offers popcorn thrills and enough boyish charm to overcome its rampant silliness. Although it was roundly criticized as a poor man's rip-off of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Da Vinci Code, it's entertaining on its own ludicrous terms, and Nicolas Cage proves once again that one actor's infectious enthusiasm can compensate for a multitude of movie sins. The contrived plot involves Cage's present-day quest for the ancient treasure of the Knights Templar, kept secret through the ages by Freemasons past and present. Finding the treasure requires the theft of the Declaration of Independence (there are crucial treasure clues on the back, of course!), so you can add "caper comedy" to this Jerry Bruckheimer... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Jon Turteltaub DVD Release Date: Released the 03 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.99 Your Price: $17.99YOU SAVE $2!
Buy it
Ending the most popular film epic in history, Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith is an exciting, uneven, but ultimately satisfying journey. Picking up the action from Episode II, Attack of the Clones as well as the animated Clone Wars series, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), pursue General Grievous into space after the droid kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).
The Star Wars Family Tree (click for larger image)
Even skeptical fans of the Blade franchise will enjoy sinking their teeth into Blade: Trinity. The law of diminishing returns is in full effect here, and the franchise is wearing out its welcome, but let's face it: any movie that features Jessica Biel as an ass-kicking vampire slayer and Parker Posey--yes, Parker Posey!--as a vamping vampire villainess can't be all bad, right? Those lovely ladies bring equal measures of relief and grief to Blade, the half-human, half-vampire once again played, with tongue more firmly in stone-cold cheek, by Wesley Snipes. With series writer David S. Goyer in the director's chair, the film is calculated for mainstream appeal, trading suspenseful horror for campy humor and choppy, nonsensical action. The franchise still offers some intriguing... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Wesley Snipes - Kris Kristofferson - Dominic Purcell - Jessica Biel - Ryan Reynolds Director(s): David S. Goyer DVD Release Date: Released the 26 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $29.95 Your Price: $22.46YOU SAVE $7.49!
Buy it
