Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 5th, 2006
Synopsis
Knowing that Stormy Weather is the title of a song that helped vault Lena Horne (The Wiz) into celebrity fandom, I had very little other ideas about her. But the cool thing that I discovered while watching the film is that, for the age of this film, it’s better than anyone would possibly think.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 3rd, 2006
Harry Belafonte stars as an ambitious young politician, who refuses to fear the white majority that holds a foothold over his island home, in Island in the Sun. Along the way, he strikes up a romance with Joan Fontaine. Incidentally, we are supposed to believe Ms. Fontaine’s character is younger than Belafonte’s, despite the fact that she looks ten years older. Dorothy Dandridge also stars as a pharmacy clerk, who falls in love with the white aide to the island’s governor. If this seems like it’s all over the ...lace, that’s because it is. While the film was ahead of its time in factors such as race relations (with the two interracial romances above to speak of), it took a huge leap back when it came to the old standbys of narrative logic and a well-developed plot. But while I clearly did not enjoy this film, I will admit it has its values when viewed in the proper context.
The role of Island in the Sun as a classic is largely dependent on its subject matter and the time period in which it was released. A drama tackling interracial love in 1957 was hardly something that would go unnoticed, or be easily forgotten. However, when dissected by today’s audiences, the film proves to be pretty lightweight. For one, affection between interracial couples was limited to only the occasional embrace. In no way could the couples share an on-screen kiss, even if it were simply a peck on the cheek. Secondly, the story wanders about with no real plot to speak of. It’s as if the filmmakers had some ideas of what they wanted and forged ahead without the security of a well-constructed script – truly disappointing for a motion picture considered so groundbreaking. You can tell this film had Oscar aspirations. It simply didn’t realize how important a story was to achieve such lofty goals. Of course, today such omissions would not disqualify it, so long as it had an Academy-friendly agenda to support. However, there were higher standards in those days, and producer Darryl Zanuck relied on his message – and an admittedly incredible cast – to do all the work for him. The results are mediocre at best.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2006
I would be a fool if I downplayed Tracey Ullman’s talent. She is a woman with anomalous abilities that most performers couldn’t dream of acquiring. She is an accomplished singer, a chameleon-like comedienne, and a serious actress – all in one unbelievable package with a multitude of awards to verify her capabilities. She’s also quite attractive when the light hits her a certain way, but she has a knack for too often burying that beauty under clever disguises. All these features result in a performer, who can do just ...bout anything she’s asked to do. But with all that said, I couldn’t bring myself to like this show. With each vignette (every 30-minute episode carries about three-to-five), I know I should be bursting with laughter, but for some reason, the material doesn’t move me. I do, however, realize a talent like Ullman’s is bound to attract fans aplenty, and to those people, I say this: I can understand your love for shows like Tracey Takes On… – but I cannot share it.
Of course, fans will be pleased to know all of the old favorites are here: the Chinese donut shop owner, the Casanova cab driver, Linda Granger, Hope Finch, Fern Rosenthal, and a large selection of other amazingly performed Tracey Ullman creations. Also, guest stars Alfred Molina, Tobey Maguire, Hugh Laurie, Danny Woodburn, and George Segal, add a degree of welcome familiarity to Ullman’s unorthodox humor. For fans of the show, this set is a must buy. It features all ten episodes of season one, which cover topics ranging from Romance to Nostalgia to Death to Fame. Each episode has clever moments. However, for me, the laughs were consistently absent. But just like some viewers are unable to rally behind Seinfeld (I’m NOT one of them), I cannot force myself to get on board with Tracey Takes On…. However, I’m certain Mrs. Ullman’s overwhelming talents and huge fan base will help her overcome the blow.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2006
In the era of the popularity of documentaries, it seems that everywhere we look a new documentary is coming out about another subject. From Michael Moore’s look into the Bush administration’s ties with the Sauds in Fahrenheit 911, to the recent look into the world of penguins in March of the Penguins, each documentary holds something special as they bring us to a world we may have never known if it not for these filmmakers. One of the more special documentaries in recent time is an extremely powerful na...ure documentary called Grizzly Man.
Grizzly Man deals with a man named Timothy Treadwell who, for 13 summers, spent his time living in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Reserve investigating grizzly bears. The film is like no other documentary I have ever seen. It has a certain level of power that is unheard of. The director of the film Werner Herzog, nor the actual documentary, approve of what Treadwell is doing. It’s also not too concerned with presenting the animals as marvelous creatures. The film was assembled by Herzog from some 90 plus hours of video that Treadwell shot in the wild directly interacting with these bears. Treadwell never showed any fear, despite Treadwell knowing and once saying ”If I show weakness, I’m dead. They will take me out, they will decapitate me, they will chop me up into bits and pieces---I’m dead. So far, I persevere.” Low and behold, this is exactly what does occur to Treadwell and his girlfriend.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 1st, 2006
Synopsis
I never thought that a 90 minute documentary surrounding one joke could be so entertaining. And for all the praise that critics have heaped onto The Aristocrats, I was curious to see what the hype was. The film’s creators, comedians Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller) spend the time interviewing many different comedians, and all of them share their thoughts about the joke. But it does a little more than that. Along with various versions of the joke, there is a deconstruction...of it from a realist’s point of view, but it takes on a deeper meaning. The joke perhaps is a larger metaphor for those who decide to go into comedy, giving them an idea of just how difficult it can be.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 1st, 2006
I will be honest and inform you that I have yet to like a video game based film since 1995’s Mortal Kombat. It seems that no matter how closely they try to follow the story based on the game, the director always fails. One of the more famous director’s in the video-game to movie based series is director Uwe Boll, who has brought us The House of the Dead and the recent Bloodrayne, These movies, as the popular consensus agrees, were extremely awful. They lacked anything redeeming, despite the orig...nal source material being pretty good. When I heard of a film being made on the game series Doom, I began to worry as I figured it would follow the typical trend of terrible video-game based movies. Can Doom reverse the horrible trend of terrible video-game based movies? Read on to find out
Doom begins with a fly in shot over the red planet Mars. We move in more and see the Olduvai Research Station, which is a remote scientific facility on Mars. And that is the last scene we see of the planet Mars. For a movie based on a game that takes place on the red planet Mars, we never fully see the planet except for the opening scene. Maybe this is me wanting what I saw in the game series. But every film director has to take a few creative liberties right? Well, I am very disappointed to report to that director Andrzej Bartkowiak and Universal seem to have taken a few too many creative liberties when making this film as the film is nothing like the game at all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 1st, 2006
Synopsis
Disney has released a DVD that appears to be part of a compilation, and provided some karaoke subtitles and marketing it as a sing-along entitled “You Can Fly”. With animated (but dated) introductions by Disney characters, the songs featured are from such films as Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, Mary Poppins and Dumbo.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 1st, 2006
If you aren’t familiar with what Roll Bounce is, you will be pleasantly surprised by some of the tricks this small coming-of-age film pulls out of its hat. I expected horrendous acting, a poorly written script, and a story that cared more about racially motivated laughs than honesty. What I got was just the opposite. First of all, the film’s success begins and ends with a top-drawer screenplay that perfectly captures teen angst as well as the fears and traumas of growing up. Not something one would expect abou... a young boy and his wisecracking friends, who seem to care about nothing more than boogie-oogie-oogie’n down at their local roller rink. Admittedly, the device of roller-skating does get a bit silly, but the interpersonal relationships draw the material away from farce.
Other strong points are the performances of virtually everyone with a speaking role – also not expected for a film whose two major stars are Bow-Wow and Nick Cannon. The relationship of Xavier (Bow-Wow) and his father (Chi McBride) skyrocket every other aspect of this feature, turning Roll Bounce into a much better effort than anyone could have ever expected. And the laughs – while not taking center stage – are certainly present, thanks in large part to the interplay among Xavier and his friends and the scene-stealing performances of Mike Epps and Charlie Murphy as the smart-mouthed garbage men. Last but not least, the story more often than not takes the road less traveled, and that keeps everything fresh and interesting. While competition films simply cannot end in a non-cliché method, this one avoids predictability up to the conclusion.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 31st, 2006
Yesterday is a powerful tale of the title character’s struggle to survive AIDS long enough to see her young daughter Beauty start school. Yesterday – named by her father because, in his opinion, yesterday was much better than today – lives for her young daughter. Her husband works in the mines of Johannesburg and carries a deadly secret, which, by the start of the film, has already entered his wife’s bloodstream. Through it all, Yesterday keeps bright spirits and a smile across her face. She only loses it when...she has to, and it’s through her powerful attitude the audience connects with the central plight, and pulls for her to in some way find peace out of turmoil.
The story is often heartbreaking, and never focuses too tightly on the behavioral causes of the disease, thus illustrating the horror of what AIDS is in a manner that everyone can connect with and feel sympathy for. The point of Yesterday is to illustrate that a disease with so many heavily attacked stigmas attached to it claims plenty of victims, who are complete Innocents, and should be fought to the fullest extent of our capabilities. It is without doubt a horrible disease and claims as many victims like Yesterday as it does the junkies with their dirty needles or the chronically promiscuous with their alley-cat morality and lack of regard for others’ feelings. It affects flesh-and-blood people of all kinds, and Yesterday personalizes the disease in such a way you have to care, so long as a heart beats in your chest. You can’t look away, and the film is so touching you won’t want to.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on January 31st, 2006
Paramount Home Entertainment will finally release the Special Collector's Edition of the Tom Cruise action flick Mission: Impossible on April 11th. This disc will be presented in an anamorphic widescreen transfer, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. Extras will include seven featurettes ("40 Years of Creating the Impossible," "Explosive Exploits," "Spies Among Us," "Catching the Train," "International Spy Museum," "Generation: Cruise," & "Agent Dossiers"), a Stanley Kubrick Award f...r Excellence in Filmmaking Acceptance Speech, a photo gallery, trailers, and an easteregg.
