Today, DVD Verdict posted reviews of BILL HICKS LIVE: SATIRIST, SOCIAL
CRITIC, STAND-UP COMEDIAN, CATWOMAN, FOUL PLAY, HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO
WHITE CASTLE: EXTREME UNRATED EDITION, LOONEY TUNES: GOLDEN COLLECTION,
VOLUME TWO, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (2004), MILES ELECTRIC: A DIFFERENT
KIND OF BLUE, PAPARAZZI, THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT, SHORT
CUTS: CRITERION COLLECTION, SILVER STREAK, and SPIDER-MAN 2:


BILL HICKS LIVE: SATIRIST, SOCIAL CRITIC, STAND-UP COMEDIAN (reviewed by
Dan Mancini, overall score 91/100):
"Despite his sometimes confrontational content, the comedian's delivery
is so breezily casual it almost seems like he's riffing off the top of
his head as opposed to working written bits. His style stands in stark
relief to the canned, phony, and forced deliveries of the masses of backed-by-a-brick-
wall comics on TV at the time."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/billhickslive.php

CATWOMAN (reviewed by Brett Cullum, overall score 79/100):
"It seems the movie is a misfire in almost every department. It lacks in
story, direction, visual effects, and acting. The feminist angle is shot
within minutes. Catwoman fights against an evil cosmetics company in a
push-up bra with tons of lipstick on. And killer cold cream? Come on!
How about explosive tampons while we're at it?"

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/catwoman.php

FOUL PLAY (reviewed by Patrick Naugle, overall score 73/100):
"The film is most notable for being Chevy Chase's first big screen role
after his departure from Saturday Night Live. It was also the first time
Chase paired up with then 'it' girl Goldie Hawn."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/foulplay.php

HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE: EXTREME UNRATED EDITION (reviewed
by Mitchell Hattaway, overall score 83/100):
"Two roommates get high one Friday night, see a commercial for White
Castle hamburgers, get a craving for some sliders, and embark on a
stoner odyssey. And, uh, Doogie Howser snorts coke on a half-naked
chick's butt. C'mon, you know you wanna see that."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/haroldkumar.php

LOONEY TUNES: GOLDEN COLLECTION, VOLUME TWO (reviewed by Patrick
Bromley, overall score 90/100):
"Unlike the Disney universe, when a hunter takes a shot at an animal in
a Looney Tunes cartoon, no one ends up orphaned. They provide a world
without boundaries, not governed by rules (or, at least, not any rules
that apply to the tangible physical universe); they are the originators
of the kind of cartoon violence that Marge Simpson so vehemently opposed
-- you know, the kind we now save for our video games."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/lo...nesgolden2.php

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (2004) (reviewed by Steve Evans, overall
score 93/100):
"Demme's film and Frankenheimer's classic original make fascinating
bookends around the last 40 years of U.S. politics."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/ma...didate2004.php

MILES ELECTRIC: A DIFFERENT KIND OF BLUE (reviewed by Bill Gibron,
overall score 92/100):
"Like Bob Dylan before him, Miles Davis dared to do the unthinkable
within his own musical circles. He fell under the spell of lady
electricity, plugged in, and never looked back at the conventional
acoustic concept of his adopted sonic form. And like a giant wand had
been waved, decades of influence and following were magically
forgotten."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/mi...ferentblue.php

PAPARAZZI (reviewed by David Johnson, overall score 68/100):
"Paparazzi is thrill-free thriller that jettisons a potentially
entertaining premise and opts to do too much at once, without doing any
of it right."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/paparazzi.php

THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2: ROYAL ENGAGEMENT (reviewed by Diane Wild,
overall score 57/100):
"Mia shops for an eligible husband, deciding on truly nice and truly
boring Andrew Jacoby (Callum Blue, Dead Like Me). If you believe the two
of them live happily ever after, you haven't seen enough romantic
comedies."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/princessdiaries2.php

SHORT CUTS: CRITERION COLLECTION (reviewed by Patrick Bromley, overall
score 100/100):
"If The Player showcased Altman picking up steam, then Short Cuts finds
him at a full sprint -- he is at the absolute height of his creative and
technical abilities, working with a similar canvas but painting with
finer tools."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/shortcuts.php

SILVER STREAK (reviewed by Brett Cullum, overall score 82/100):
"Pryor was not originally cast in the role, and it seems amazingly
serendipitous that he was finally asked to be in it. Wilder and Pryor
are gold together, and their chemistry is what makes the film
interesting even thirty years after it was released."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/silverstreak.php

SPIDER-MAN 2 (reviewed by Dennis Prince, overall score 93/100):
"The question now being bandied about is whether, with the migration
to the land of big-money blockbusters, Raimi has cashed in himself --
and sold out his vicious verite roots. Many will contend that it's
still the same old Sam at work here, yet it's clear he has deferred
to more than one 'executive directive' (it's obvious from the
content, style, and pacing of these Spider-man epics). He still
delivers decent entertainment, but it's clear -- to my perception,
anyway -- that he's moved away from his friends in the old
neighborhood to truly make it big."

FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/spiderman2.php

Mike Jackson
Editor & Webmaster, DVD Verdict
www.dvdverdict.com