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 Saga Of A Crew
01/04/2007. Region 1 DVD. Daniel R. Christopher Productions, PO Box 1119, Lebanon ME 04022, USA. Time: 69 minutes. Price: $11.95 (US only cos of music use restrictions.
 Sahara: Frank's Take
01/05/2005. There’s no doubt that the action-adventure Sahara will leave a parched sensation in one’s dry throat, says Frank. Director Breck Eisner (son of Disney head honcho Michael) helms a predictable and half-baked harried suspense thriller that settles for flashy B-movie mediocrity.
 Saw: Frank's Take
01/01/2005. It’s routinely easy to conjure up sensationalized cinema that’s considered overwrought in its creepy conventions. But it’s certainly difficult to transcend that element of a frightfest and turn it into something that’s solidly bankable in its grisly greatness.
 Saw II (Frank's Take)
01/12/2005. It's quite interesting to see how fast the filmmakers decided to whip up another grisly instalment of Saw, says Frank, after only a mere year of making the raw rounds just around Halloween 2004. Well, things apparently haven't changed THAT much since Saw II wants to desperately emulate its predecessor by accomplishing a few similar feats.
 Saw III (Frank's Take)
01/12/2006. Consistency is the key to discipline ... at least according to Frank's personal philosophy. If anything, give credit where credit is due in terms of Saw III sticking to its sick-minded cinematic agenda. For starters, director Darren Lynn Bousman is back at the creepy controls in his effort to helm another macabre mincemeat sideshow.
Scary Movie 3
01/12/2003. It’s that dubious time once again to indulge in another spoof-starved Scary Movie installment. Sadly, Frank discovers more of the same.
 Scary Movie 4 (Frank's Take)
01/05/2006. Yeah, muses Franks, we know the deal in terms of the predictable reactions that most movie reviewers and moviegoers will respond differently regarding the stale comedic crassness of yet another Scary Movie entry. See how the mean-spirited critics tear down the spoofing outrageousness of yet another tiring movie franchise that has all the durability of a stick of butter on a scorching Arizona concrete sidewalk.
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
01/05/2004. America's favorite cowardly canine and his crime-fighting cohorts are back for round two in the meager follow-up film, Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. They would have got away with it too, if it wasn't for you damn meddling cinema goers!
Screamers Reviewed
01/08/2000. Our Geoff has been down the video shop in search for new releases (well, as least as new as they get in the UK's sleepy county of Somerset). What he found was a real Screamer! (or should that be howler - Ed)
 See No Evil (Frank's Take)
01/06/2006. In Gregory Dark's generically drab and diluted horror flick See No Evil, the raw-looking wrestler Glen Kane Jacobs grimaces as he revels in the manufactured mayhem courtesy of Dark's lackadaisical connect-the-dots direction.
 Seed of Chucky: Frank's Take
01/01/2005. Do you know what the REAL frightening thought is behind the emergence of Seed of Chucky? Well, it’s certainly not the fact that a demonic doll gets its perverse kicks from the self-destructive tendencies it cherishes so gleefully.
 Serenity and Universal Studios - Hero and Goat
01/10/2005. In the course of three days Universal Studios managed to take the prize for being Big Damn Heroes and bottom of the barrel scum. Aleta Vinas reports from the Hollywood premiere of the science fiction movie Serenity.
 Serenity (Mark's Take)
01/11/2005. TV's series Firefly - cult and cancelled - comes to the screen not as a glorified episode of the series but as a finish to the series and that ties up the loose ends, notes Mark. While the film may be a little terse and telegraphic for people who were not fans of the series, those familiar with the series will be quite please that there were some interesting ideas behind the fun adventures.
Series 7: The Contenders
01/12/2003. Six people hunt and kill each other in a futuristic satire of today's 'reality TV'. But Mark reckons this movie comes off a little phony, exploiting the violence it appears to condemn.
 Seven Swords (Mark's Take)
01/12/2005. Tsui Hark tells the story of seven defenders of justice standing against the minions of an evil ruler of the Qing Dynasty. An evil mercenary general named Fire-Wind has killed hundreds in support of the Qing Emperor's ban on martial arts. Now seven peasants, each a great martial artist, ban together to defeat the evil Fire-Wind. Yada, yada, yada. The story is just as comic-book-ish as it sounds with some interminable battle scenes. Your enjoyment will be limited by your capacity to watch people try to carve each other up.
 SF: Episode I (Samurai Fiction): Mark's Take
01/06/2005. With its light touch, this is the most enjoyable samurai film that I have seen in years. It is a deft and slightly daft story of a valuable sword stolen by a by an enigmatic but unstoppable swordsman. The unready son of the rightful owner is forced to chase down an enemy whose fighting skills are far superior to his own.
Shark Tale (Frank's Take)
02/11/2004. DreamWorks tries awkwardly in their blind ambition to continue the delightful digital-animated ditties in the celebrated spirit that has been previously so vastly successful at the box office. As a result, the DreamWorks creative machine conjured up a spry but uneven underwater adventure in the derivatively upbeat animated feature Shark Tale.
Shark Tale (Mark's Take)
02/11/2004. Dreamscape's latest animated film is set in a sort of undersea urban environment and should entertain the whole family. The story is familiar but the jokes come in a rapid fire.
Shaun of the Dead (Frank's Take)
02/11/2004. The devilishly dandy flesh-eating farce Shaun of the Dead certainly fits the bill as a monstrously subversive parody that delivers the ghoulish goods. With its British-oriented sense of stinging wry wit coupled with some truly genuine gloomy gumption, Shaun of the Dead is a delightfully sick-minded yet spry frightfest that captures the twisted imagination.
Shaun of the Dead (Mark's Take)
02/11/2004. This film is like a crossbreeding of George Romero and Mike Leigh. Oblivious lower-middle-class Londoners slowly become aware that the dead are returning at trying to eat the living. This satire laughs at the tropes of the zombie movie, but even more at the foibles of English life today. The first half is very funny and the second half is at least witty.
 Shoot 'Em Up (Frank's take)
01/10/2007. Writer/director Michael Davis is gleefully at the helm as he concocts an outrageously impish (if not unconventional) boisterous anti-gun action-thriller that embraces its preposterous presentation, says Frank. In the testosterone-driven live action "cartoon" Shoot 'Em Up, Davis swings for the frenetic fences as his convoluted comic-crime caper regarding ricocheting bullets and other manic mayhem packs a wincing wallop.
Shrek 2: Frank's Take
01/06/2004. In Shrek 2, we are gleefully reunited with the amiable pot-bellied giant and his colorful crew of supporters that include his new wife Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and his old sidekick Donkey (Eddie Murphy).
Shrek 2: Mark's Take
01/06/2004. There is distinctly less magic and fun in Shrek 2 as the title ogre has problems becoming accepted by his in-laws. All the same cast is back with the same voices, but the tone of the film is darker and we don't learn a lot more about the characters that we liked in the first film.
Signs
01/09/2002. In this UFO horror flick, Mel Gibson must protect his family from something real or imaginary that has not shown its face, but has seemingly left signs of its presence around the world, causing international anxiety. Hey, who burned those blinking weird circles in my lawn!
 Sin City: Frank's Take
01/05/2005. Frank Miller’s Sin City is a swaggering and ultra-violent flashy film noir with a sordid imagination to match its surreal imagery, says Frank. The film is based on a series of dark-oriented graphic comic novels.
Sin City: Mark's Take
01/05/2005. The flash is exaggerated and the plot has minimal importance in this hyper-noir crime story based on Frank Miller's graphic novel. To take a phrase from the script, it is "loud and nasty." Mark has more respect than affection for this admittedly successful effort to give a film the feel of a graphic novel.
Six Lost Worlds: The Dramatic Adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Novel
01/03/2004. Mark imagines a place so isolated from the world that it was beyond the reach even of the forces of evolution ... where on one plateau deep in the Amazon rain forest there is a land that has withstood the ravages of time. Bring on those dinosaurs and prehistoric proto-humans.
Sixth Day Interview
01/11/2000. Roger Spottiswood, 6th Day film director, interviewed about Bond, Arnie and his crazy life in fantasy film making.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Frank's Take)
02/11/2004. In the stylistically ambitious sci-fi fantasy Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Conran concocts a colorful creation dripping with cheerful arty set designs armed with a refreshing old-fashion storytelling sentiment that drives this opulent noir to its creative core.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Mark's Take)
02/11/2004. The Art Deco future as it was seen from the late 1930s is the background for this super-paced sci-fi adventure. The plot is just a chain of action sequences, one leading to the next, and the characters are one-dimensional. Even the artwork is a little too dark, but the images are genuinely exciting and they are what make the film worth seeing.
 Slither (Frank's take)
01/05/2006. Writer-director James Gunn's slimy showcase Slither is indeed the epitome of hokey B-movie horror hedonism, says Frank. Instinctively, Gunn incorporates the necessary ingredients that triggers a wry and spry gross-out session: comedic chaos, stilted dialogue, both cheesy and inventive special effects, a convincing and over-indulgent ooze display, gleefully stereotypical yokels, and guilty pleasure blood-curling banality.
 Snakes on a Plane (Frank's Take)
01/09/2006. It's rather tempting to see what all the fabricated fuss was about in reference to the high altitude horror show Snakes on the Plane, says Frank. Unless you were hiding under a rock on some disclosed island getaway, the Internet-based buzz about this particular movie was running rampart months before the revered reptiles took off on the runway of entertaining speculation.
So just what planet was he from, then?
01/04/2000. FILM REVIEW: What Planet Are You From? PLOT: A male life form from another planet populated entirely of highly evolved males is sent down to Earth in order to impregnate a woman and save his own planet.
Solaris
01/09/2003. Video: 20th Century Fox 24283S. 94 minutes. Price: £10.99 (UK). Stars: George Clooney, Natascha McElhone, Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis and Ulrich Tukur.
Solaris (Frank's Take)
01/01/2003. Franks plonks himself down for another movie, and discovers the Soderbergh-Clooney collaboration continues to roll along, as they serve up an ambitious but intermittently uneven science fiction love story in the visually stimulating space opera Solaris.
Solaris (Mark's Take)
01/01/2004. An alien planet gives George Clooney a perfect facsimile of the wife he lost on earth in SOLARIS. The philosophical film has some engaging ideas, but viewers expecting romantic sci-fi will probably be disappointed and perhaps even bored. This is dense, introspective, and intelligent science fiction as distinguished from entertainment.
Sold Down the Riverworld
01/05/2003. Philip Jose Farmer's interesting premise of adventures set on a strange life-after-death-world is squandered on a fairly commonplace barbarian-planet story that appears to be the pilot for a most uninteresting and humdrum TV series.
 Son of the Mask: Frank's Take
01/03/2005. It had been well over a decade since 1994’s The Mask arrived on the scene in its merry and manic state. Of course this was one of the zany vehicles that propelled Jim Carrey into the comedy stratosphere. Enter director Larry Guterman’s sequel Son of the Mask, a messy and meandering frantic farce that dissolves quickly into its foolish-minded feyness.
 Sorry, Haters: Mark's Take
01/04/2006. In this film, Mark discovers a woman, who for no apparent reason, twists people's thoughts and actions intentionally trying to cause a disaster. The idea could and previously has been done well, but here it makes for a thoroughly unpleasant film experience.
Spider-Man 2 - Frank's Take
01/08/2004. In director Sam Raimi’s explosively action-packed superhero saga Spider-Man 2, he picks up the pleasurable pace of the web-slinging wizard. Tobey Maguire is back in full form as the angst-ridden crime-fighting cobwebbed crawler. Lost in a perpetual haze of conflict and courageousness, Maguire’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man is a harried hero with a tainted blue-collar badge that he proudly dons.
 Spider-Man 3: 2 Disc Special Edition
01/11/2007. region 2 DVD: pub: Sony Pictures CDR 44954. 133 minute movie packed with extras. Price: £ 9.95 (UK) if you know where to look) - stars: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco and Thomas Haden Church.
Spider-Man (Geoff's Take)
01/01/2003. Video: Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment CVR32161. 116 minutes plus 20 minute 'Making Of Spider-Man' film. Price: £12.99 (prices vary so shop around). stars: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst & Willem DaFoe.
 Spiral 1: episodes 1-5
01/04/2007. region2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films. FUN72001. 1 DVD 115 minutes 5 * 25 minutes episodes plus extras. Price: £16.99 (UK). Dual Language: English, Japanese, Japanese with English subtitles.
 Spiral 2: Disarming Fate episodes 6-9
01/09/2007. region2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films. FUN72002. 1 DVD 100 minutes 4 episodes plus extras. Price: £15.99 (UK).
 Spiral 3: Shooting Falling Stars episodes 10-13
01/09/2007. region2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films. FUN72003. 1 DVD 95 minutes 4 episodes plus extras. Price: £15.99 (UK).
 Spiral 4: Sharpening Wit episodes 14-17
01/09/2007. region2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films. FUN72004. 1 DVD 125 minutes 4 episodes plus extras. Price: £15.99 (UK).
 Spiral 5: The Melody Of Logic episodes 18-21
01/09/2007. region2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films. FUN72006. 1 DVD 110 minutes 4 episodes plus extras. Price: £15.99 (UK)
 Spiral 6: Notes Of Truth episodes 22-25
01/10/2007. region2 DVD: pub: Revelation Films. FUN72007. 1 DVD 120 minutes 4 episodes plus extras. Price: £15.99 (UK).
Spirited Away
01/10/2003. Frank finds Spirited Away an opulent and emotionally moving Japanese children's animated adventure that's sure to capture the intrigue and imagination of moviegoers of all ages.
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
01/09/2003. The third installment of the immensely popular kiddie secret agent series. While the previous two editions were joyful enough to behold, our Frank reckons Game Over feels mightily labored and lean.
Star Trek Nemesis: Frank's Take
01/01/2003. Frank asks will diehard and casual Trekkers come out the woodwork to check out the tenth Star Trek feature at the local box office? Does a Klingon need a facelift? Somehow there's a sense of urgency for trekkies to revel in the experience that is the legendary Star Trek franchise.
Star Trek: Nemesis (Mark's Take)
01/01/2004. As the "Star Trek" series seems slowly to lose steam, Mark finds the movie contains one late - uncharacteristic - burst of life and energy, a science-fictional examination of the nature-nurture question. Picard and Data each meet physically identical copies of their former selves and each must deal with the similarities and differences. The question faced is, what makes a person who he is?
 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith: Frank's Take
01/06/2005. It’s hard to believe that nearly three decades ago, innovative filmmaker George Lucas thrust upon a movie-going global landscape a dynamic cinematic vision that would become to grow into a hysterical pop cultural phenomenon. There’s no doubt that the illustrious film franchise known as Star Wars has captured the escapist imagination of a generation of enthusiastic sci-fi thrill-seekers.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith: Mark's Take
01/06/2005. The last "Star Wars" film bursts on the screen in an explosion of high melodrama. The final piece of the story falls smoothly into place as the origins of the 1977 film we saw become clear. As the episodes go, Chapter III seen this year is second only to the impact of Chapter IV as seen from 1977.
Star Wars II: Attack Of The Clones (Geoff's Take)
01/01/2003. Video: 20th Century Fox: 22545S. 136 minutes. Price: varies from about £12.99 so shop around. Stars: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiamid, Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee.
 Star Wars Trilogy
01/01/2005. 4 DVD boxset. pub: 20th Century Fox 27233HMVDVD. Price: £45.00 (UK) but prices vary so shop around for the best deal. Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and loads of other fine actors.
 Stardust (Mark's take)
01/09/2007. With little pre-release fanfare, Neil Gaiman's Stardust, directed by Matthew Vaughn, comes to the screen as a first-class fantasy film, one - says Mark - of the best. The story is convoluted but not really confusing. A young man from our world on a quest to win his love ends up being the fulcrum in a battle for the rule of a kingdom in a magical world. Gaiman is a fresh and a different voice in fantasy writing so the film is full of surprises and some genuinely funny jokes.
 Stargate SG-1 Season 7 DVD Boxset
01/05/2007. region 2 DVD: pub: MGM 10005026 M21. 6 DVDs 18 hours 21 episodes with loads of extras. Price: £24.97 (UK) if you shop around a bit). stars: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge and Don S. Davis and many guest stars.
 Stargate SG-1 Season 8 DVD Boxset
01/08/2007. region 2 DVD: pub: 20th Century Fox/MGM MDRP 2846. 6 DVDs 20 hours 33 minutes 20 episodes with loads of extras. Price: £23.89 (UK) if you shop around a bit) stars: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge and many guest stars.
 Stargate SG-1 Season Five
01/05/2006. DVD: MGM Home Entertainment 24318DVD MZ1. Price: £21.97 (UK) 22 episodes plus extras. time: 15 hours). Stars: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Don S. Davis and assorted guests.
 Stargate SG-1 Season One
01/06/2005. DVD MGM Home Entertainment 23735DVD MZ. Price: £20.97 (UK) 21 episodes. time: 15 hours).stars: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Don S. Davis and assorted guests.
 Stargate SG-1 Season Three
01/09/2005. DVD MGM Home Entertainment 24317DVD MZ1. Price: £20.97 (UK) 22 episodes plus extras. time: 15 hours)stars: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Don S. Davis and assorted guests.
 Stargate SG-1 Season Two
01/07/2005. DVD MGM Home Entertainment 24316DVD MZ1. Price: £20.97 (UK) 22 episodes. time: 15 hours.
 Starman (1984)
01/06/2007. region 2 DVD. pub: Columbia Tristar E-10682-UK-S. 110 minute film with extras. Price: £ 3.97(UK) if you know where to look. stars: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith and Richard Jaeckel.
 Stealth (Frank's Take)
01/08/2005. Stealth strives to be a Top Gun knockoff for the millennium ages, says Frank. Filmmaker Rob Cohen pushes all the necessary buttons in trying to stimulate the jingoistic vibes regarding this disjointed and hyperactive military melodrama. If your preference for fast planes and other arbitrary gadgets appear somewhat appealing to your cinematic needs, Stealth will probably satisfy your adrenaline rush as a boisterous thriller stuck in an overwrought and aimless mode.
 Steamboy: Mark's Take
01/04/2005. A total surprise, this refreshing and enjoyable alternate history anime film packs quite a lot of action and adventure in one film. Particularly for fans of Jules Verne this film is a solid pleasure.
 Stingray DVD Boxset
01/11/2006. DVD Region 2. pub: Granada 37115 012563. 975 minutes 39 * 25 minute episodes with loads of extras. Price: £59.99 but you can pull it for £42 if you know where to look (UK).
 Superbad (Frank's take)
01/10/2007. There are a lot of things in this complex world that cannot be easily dismissed, muses Frank, such as taxes, cheating spouses, high mortgage payments and yes...the ubiquitous presence of the American Pie-style high school romp.
 Superman (1980, Telugu language): Mark's take
01/06/2007. A man is able to fix his family's problems when Hanuman gives him super powers. This 1980 Tollywood film is an ultra-cheesy rip-off of the DC Comics character Superman. It was a blockbuster in an India at a time when busting blocks must have been extremely easy.
 Superman Returns (Frank's Take)
01/09/2006. Could Bryan Singer's big-budgeted comic book odyssey that looks to mark the return of the Man of Steel capture the imagination once again for starved audiences looking to welcome back the Caped Wonder, muses Frank?
Superman Returns (Mark's Take)
01/07/2006. Brandon Routh steps into the cape of Superman for the first film in the series in nineteen years. Though it does not seem to hurt the film's box-office prospects, the writing of Superman Returns is full of holes and the film is poorly edited, finds Mark. Audiences may respond to the film's look at Superman's personal life, still superficial, but at greater depth than in the past. The film's subdued colours just do not work for a Superman film.
 Suzuka Vol. 1
01/12/2007. DVD Region 2. pub: Revelation Films B000OIOJDM. Price: £15.99 (UK) 125 mins.
 Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Mark's take)
01/01/2008. Sweeny Razorhands. One of Broadway's best and most controversial musicals comes to the screen as a vehicle for the Tim Burton and Johnny Depp team. This version glories in the gory, says Mark. Depp's singing limitations rob the character of Sweeney of his all-important contagious savage fury. Burton shows the audience a lot that could not be shown on stage, not all of which was a good idea to show.
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