Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 6th, 2006
This is the first Woody Allen film I’ve ever seen.
Something always put me off about the guy. Maybe his infamous personal life plays a part in my not wanting to explore Allen’s cinematic offerings, but I would chalk up my ignorance to Allen’s physical appearance. Shallow, I know. But he’s a little nub of a man who has self-indulgently cast himself as the romantic lead in most of his films. But whatever, he’s a respected filmmaker and the responsibility of being a film buff requires me to keep an open mind -...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 6th, 2006
Not having much appreciation for (or just being an aficionado of) the film noir genre, I could probably do one better and say that even if noir was induced on me subliminally, there may be a good chance that I wouldn't even recognize it. So I don't know how cool things like The Blackboard Jungle or some other films are and I can't really rule them out of hand. So when I got House of Strangers to review, I had to give it a try.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 6th, 2006
OK, so I've gotta admit that I'm a little bit of an uncultured boob who is not that familiar with the writings of Russian Anton Chekhov. In fact I know a little bit more about Andrei Tarkovsky (Solaris) then anything else, and that Chekhov was (and still is) an influential force in dramatic works today. Well, he has to be if his work "The Three Sisters" gets adapted into a play by Richard Alfieri, then into a film starring a capable and recognizable cast, right?
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on July 6th, 2006
Discussing the old school DVD’s that still sound and look great in the era of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD technology.
Hello all. Another week and another time-sensitive demo disc to discuss.
Last week it was Superman: The Movie just as Superman Returns hit the theater.
With Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest coming out this week, I figured it would be worth going back and re-watching selected scenes from the original film to see whether or not it’s still one o...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 5th, 2006
Synopsis
Anthony Michael Hall steps into Christopher Walken’s considerable shoes as Johnny Smith, a man who wakes up after years in a coma to discover that not only has life moved on without him, but he has psychic powers, and with them comes visions of politician Greg Stillson (Sean Patrick Flanery, taking on the role essayed by Martin Sheen in the Cronenberg film) bringing about some kind of apocalypse. Smith’s struggle against Stillson makes up the central arc of the series, and this season...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 5th, 2006
Synopsis
Paul Gross plays Geoffrey Tennant, a once celebrated actor who had a meltdown during a performance of Hamlet. Now he’s trying to mount The Tempest at the head of a broke company about to be evicted from its premises. Meanwhile, his former mentor, Oliver Welles, has just mounted a dispiriting version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the New Burbage Theatre, and very shortly thereafter dies. Tennant is brought in as the new artistic director, and his attempts to stage Ha...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 5th, 2006
Synopsis
Paul Gross plays Geoffrey Tennant, a once celebrated actor who had a meltdown during a performance of Hamlet. Now he’s trying to mount The Tempest at the head of a broke company about to be evicted from its premises. Meanwhile, his former mentor, Oliver Welles, has just mounted a dispiriting version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the New Burbage Theatre, and very shortly thereafter dies. Tennant is brought in as the new artistic director, and his attempts to stage Ha...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 4th, 2006
The career transformation that Clint Eastwood has endured over the last several generations can be called nothing short of extraordinary. After all, we are talking about a guy who made a steady name for himself in action films of the late '60s and '70s, first appearing in the spaghetti western films of Sergio Leone, then moving onto the Dirty Harry films of director Don Siegel, before moving on again to more of a directing role. Some of his works were hits and others were plain misses.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 4th, 2006
I admit, when I received this film in the mail for review, I was extremely suspicious of it. I am not a conspiracy theorist, and though I am interested in the facts surrounding the 9-11 tragedy, I am not one that buys into all the theories surrounding the day. The cover of this disc, and the fact that it came to me by itself in a plain brown envelope, made me believe that I was in for another crackpot theory.
When I started to watch the film, however, I realized that this was going to be a film that was much ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 4th, 2006
Fox has done a really great thing with their Fox Film Noir line. There are tons of great film noirs from the 40's and 50's, and Fox has done an excellent job of grabbing those classic films and presenting them in great new affordable editions for modern viewers to experience for the first time. I Wake Up Screaming is one of 18 films currently in the series, and I am sure that number will only continue to grow over time.
Betty Grable shows up here in a starring role that is a departure from her u...