FilmCrunch 041: The Number 23, Shut Up & Sing

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: New Line, Weinstein Company, Documentary, Drama, Political, Thrillers, DVD Reviews, Full Episodes, Theatrical Reviews, Videocasts,

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep are back with another full episode of FilmCrunch. This time they are reviewing The Number 23 and Shut Up & Sing.

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FilmCrunch 039: This Film Is Not Yet Rated DVD Review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: IFC Films, Documentary, DVD Reviews, Short FilmCrunch, Videocasts,

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review This Film in this episode of FilmCrunch:

The MPAA, a lobbying organization for the movie industry, maintains a rating system first implemented in 1968 by longtime president Jack Valenti. This system, with its age based content classification using letter grades G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 (formerly X), has become a cultural icon. But behind its simple façade is a censoring process kept entirely secret. Board members are anonymous; deliberations are private; standards are seemingly arbitrary. Thus, the trade organization for the largest media corporations in America also keeps a trademarked lock on content regulation over our most unique and popular art form. Filmmaker Kirby Dick asks whether Hollywood movies and independent films are rated equally for comparable content; whether sexual content in gay-themed movies is given harsher ratings penalties than their heterosexual counterparts; whether it makes sense that extreme violence is given an R rating while sexuality is banished to the cutting room floor; whether Hollywood studios receive detailed directions as to how to change an NC-17 film into an R, while independent film producers are left guessing; and finally, whether keeping the raters and the rating process secret leaves the MPAA entirely unaccountable for its decisions.

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FilmCrunch 037: Sherrybaby DVD Review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: IFC Films, Drama, Independent, DVD Reviews, Short FilmCrunch, Videocasts,

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review Sherrybaby on DVD in this episode of FilmCrunch:

Three years after entering prison for robbery as a 19-year-old heroin addict, Sherry Swanson begins her first day of freedom, clean and sober. A model prisoner who has undergone personal transformation, she immediately sets out to regain custody of her young daughter Alexis, who has been cared for in her absence by her brother Bobby and his wife Lynn. Unprepared for the demands of the world she’s stepped back into, Sherry’s hopes of staying clean, getting a job, and becoming a responsible mother are challenged by the realities of unemployment, halfway houses, and parole restrictions. Bobby and Lynn’s concerns about Sherry’s ability to care for Alexis, and her inability to prove them wrong, threaten to destroy the already delicate relationship she has with her daughter, as well as her newfound sobriety. Disillusioned and haunted by wounds from her childhood, Sherry is eventually confronted with life-altering questions about her own survival and what it means to be a good mother. Ultimately she learns that as the harsh realities of life often get in the way of her best intentions, sometimes it’s best to take life one small step at a time.

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FilmCrunch 034: Letters from Iwo Jima, This Film is Not Yet Rated, Movie Theater Etiquette

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: DreamWorks, IFC Films, Warner Bros, Adaptation, Documentary, Independent, Period, Short FilmCrunch, Theatrical Reviews, Videocasts,

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep are back with a full episode of FilmCrunch. In this show, expect a review of Clint Eastwood‘s Letters from Iwo Jima, along with a DVD review of This Film is Not Yet rated.

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FilmCrunch 033: The Oscars, Smokin’ Aces, Sherrybaby

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: IFC Films, Universal, Action, Drama, Comedy, Awards, DVD Reviews, Full Episodes, Theatrical Reviews, Videocasts,

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep are back with another full episode of FilmCrunch, this time focusing on The Oscars, Smokin’ Aces, and Sherrybaby on DVD.

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FilmCrunch 032: Dreamgirls, Pan’s Labyrinth, Employee of the Month, The Illusionist

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Lionsgate, Picturehouse, Paramount, Adaptation, Drama, Foreign, Musicals, Period, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, DVD Reviews, Full Episodes, Theatrical Reviews, Videocasts,

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep are back with another full episode of FilmCrunch. This time they review the theatrical releases of Dreamgirls and Pans Labyrinth, as well as the DVD releases of Employee of the Month, and The Illusionist.

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FilmCrunch 031: The Da Vinci Code DVD Review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Columbia Pictures, Adaptation, Mystery, Religious, Thrillers, DVD Reviews, Short FilmCrunch, Videocasts,

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review The Da Vinci Code:

Famed symbologist Professor Robert Langdon is called to the Louvre museum one night where a curator has been murdered, leaving behind a mysterious trail of symbols and clues. With his own survival at stake, Langdon, aided by the police cryptologist Sophie Neveu, unveils a series of stunning secrets hidden in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, all leading to a covert society dedicated to guarding an ancient secret that has remained hidden for 2000 years. The pair set off on a thrilling quest through Paris, London and Scotland, collecting clues as they desperately attempt to crack the code and reveal secrets that will shake the very foundations of mankind.

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FilmCrunch 028: An Inconvenient Truth Review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Paramount, Documentary, Political, DVD Reviews, Short FilmCrunch, Videocasts,

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review the DVD release of Al Gore’s eye-opening film, An Inconvenient Truth, in this episode.

A look at former Vice President Al Gore’s commitment to expose the myths and misconceptions that surround global warming and inspire actions to prevent it. Gore, who, in the wake of the defeat in the 2000 election, re-set the course of his life to focus on an all-out effort to help save the planet from irrevocable change. With 2005, the worst storm season ever experienced in America just behind us, it seems we may be reaching a tipping point—and Gore pulls no punches in explaining the dire situation. Interspersed with the bracing facts and future predictions is the story of Gore’s personal journey: from an idealistic college student who first saw a massive environmental crisis looming; to a young Senator facing a harrowing family tragedy that altered his perspective; to the man who almost became President but instead returned to the most impassioned cause of his life—convinced that there is still time to make a difference.

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FilmCrunch 027: Casino Royale, The Da Vinci Code, An Inconvenient Truth

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Paramount, Sony, Adaptation, Documentary, Political, Comedy, Thrillers, DVD Reviews, Full Episodes, Theatrical Reviews, Videocasts,

Neil and Veronica are back with another full episode of FilmCrunch, this time reviewing Casino Royale, The Da Vinci Code on DVD, and An Inconvenient Truth. Neil also gets into some detailed feelings on the movie Borat, putting all the people out there looking to sue the makers of the film in their place. Oh, and he also doesn’t wear glasses this time around. Can it get any better? Quite honestly…no, it can’t. Check out the video to see for yourself.

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FilmCrunch 025: Monster House DVD Review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Columbia Pictures, Adventure, Animation, Family, DVD Reviews, Short FilmCrunch, Videocasts,

Neil Estep and Veronica Santiago review the DVD release of Monster House in this episode of FIlmCrunch.

Twelve-year-old DJ Walters, who is caught in that awkward moment between childhood and the onset of puberty, has too much time on his hands and has taken it into his head that there’s something weird about old man Nebbercracker’s house across the street. Things keep disappearing into the dilapidated structure: basketballs, tricycles, toys and pets. Come to think of it, whatever happened to Mrs. Nebbercracker? It’s the day before Halloween and DJ and his candy-friendly pal Chowder have a run-in with Mr. Nebbercracker after their basketball wanders onto his lawn and is mysteriously swept into the house. When the house tries to swallow their new friend Jenny and no one believes the frightened trio’s claims that the house is up to no good, it’s up to them to investigate. They turn for his advice to the only person on the planet who might even remotely understand what’s going on, the wise one they call Skull, a 20-something slacker pizza chef and master of the arcade machine who once played a video game for four days straight on one singly quarter, a gallon of chocolate milk and an adult diaper. “I have heard tell of man-made structures becoming possessed by a human soul,” Skull tells them. You mean the house is alive? Yikes! Skull tells them the only way to stop the house from gulping down everything in sight is by striking at its heart, which the kids figure out must be the perpetually-fueled furnace in the basement. They come up with what seems to be a foolproof plan—a vacuum cleaner disguised as a human dummy filled with cold medicine. The kids offer up their bait to the house, figuring that once it’s asleep, they can sneak in and put out the furnace with their squirt guns. Their little plan goes awry, though, and when the house starts chasing them down the street—that’s right, chasing them down the street!—they must join forces to once again make the neighborhood safe for trick or treaters.

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