Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 20th, 2004
Synopsis
Barbarians is The History Channel’s box set of a series of four interesting documentaries. Each chronicles the rise and fall of one or another of history’s famous “Barbarian” tribes – from their generally agrarian origins, to their bloody warlike height and eventual gradual decline or precipitous fall. Four groups are covered in this box set, on two discs:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 20th, 2004
I can only imagine what it might have been like to be a child during the heyday of Disney’s live films division. Going to see The Parent Trap or Mary Poppins as a young girl must really have been exciting. Experiencing Pete’s Dragon or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the theater must have been a thrill for young lads.
Unfortunately, Disney has not lived up to those high standards in its later days. Part of the wonder of those films was that they were not children’s films, as much as s...andard feature films that were easily accessible to children. While there is nothing wrong with films such as Angels in the Outfield, The Mighty Ducks or George of the Jungle, they just don’t have the same classic quality that the older Disney films had. The genre grew into a direction that made these modern films a little more sterile, and a little lower quality than your average Hollywood production.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 20th, 2004
MGM keeps rolling out the Best Picture award winners. A few weeks ago it was Mutiny on the Bounty, this time it’s The Great Ziegfeld . I think Ziegfeld belongs in the category of those Best Picture winners that aren’t necessarily the best films for that year (Driving Miss Daisy?? C’mon). I actually prefer Frank Capra’s Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Gregory La Cava’s seminal screwball comedy My Man Godfrey (starring Ziegfeld’s own William Powell). The Great Ziegfeld al...o picked up Best Actress for Luise Rainer. She has excellent presence, some nice moments (the phone call scene, most famously), and those eyes. But for my money, I would’ve given it to Carole Lombard for My Man Godfrey. The Academy has always been a sucker for Big Emotion, and Rainer gives the audience spoonfuls of it. But then there are the well deserved Oscar Winning dance sequences by Seymour Felix.
The story follows the rise and fall of Flo Ziegfeld, broadway producer extraordinaire. We see the highs of lows of Ziegfeld’s life in “biz” and in love. It’s a Hollywood bio-pic, so you know some events will be glossed over. And the clichéd ending is, of course, completely ridiculous. But Powell’s portrayal of Ziggy tries to reflect some of the flaws in this “diamond” of a man. It’s a nice well rounded performance. If you enjoy his work, check out Criterion’s excellent DVD presentation of My Man Godfrey. And there are the Thin Man films, of course.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 18th, 2004
MTV is getting used to productions about provocative love affairs. Just look at Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson at this year’s MTV produced Super Bowl. So in their production of a modern updating of Emily Bronte’s novel “Wuthering Heights”, MTV throws in everything but the nipple.
“Wuthering Heights” is a benchmark of Gothic Romantic literature. It tells the tale of a doomed and frenzied love between the two protagonists, Heathcliff and Cathy. “Wuthering Heights” has been adapted for film and tel...vision umpteen times, in different styles and different languages. The most notable adaptation is probably the first in 1939, with Larry Olivier and Merle Oberon in the title roles.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 17th, 2004
Ah….Armand Assante…what happened to your career. You were so brilliant in Sidney Lumet’s Q & A (rent it, people). I guess things happen. You have bills to pay. A family to raise.
Consequence is a made for cable HBO film. The opening voice-over, in classic film noir tradition, sets the table for a lurid crime melodrama. Unfortunately, Assante’s awkward southern accent makes the voice over, like the film itself, a bit off putting. The story involves a dentist (Armand Assante) who decides...to start a new life by impersonating his long dead brother. Facial surgery and dental records all come into play here. There are other plot twists involving money, double crossings, mistaken identities, and murder. Oh and there’s a “dangerous woman”, played with forced sensuality by Lola Glaudini. Rick Schroder also comes along for the ride, as the corrupt “best friend” (when is Silver Spoons – Season One coming out on DVD by the way).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 16th, 2004
I generally don’t care for those hour long Teen Sci-Fi Romantic Dramas that are so prevalent on the WB. They all just seem a little too “I’m 18, and I’m mad at my parents” for my tastes. While there’s no doubt that Roswell certainly has a measure of that teen angst, there is just enough X Files included, too. Most of the melodrama in this show is tied in with the sci-fi aspects of the story, which makes the show not only watchable, but a bit of a guilty pleasure.
The basic premise of this show...(namely, that three aliens from the urban legend spacecraft landing in Roswell, New Mexico are now teenagers, and going to High School there) it pretty hard to swallow. Granted, I have seen my share of far-fetched plots in my day, but for some reason, this one is particularly unbelievable. Once viewers get past a few episodes, however, and the premise is accepted for what it is, the characters are afforded more room to grow into interesting directions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2004
“I’ll Be There” is different from most romantic comedies in that the main relationship is between a father and his daughter….wait a minute, that didn’t come out quite right.
The story revolves around Paul Kerr, an aging rock star who ends up in a hospital following a drunken ride on a motorcycle inside his own mansion. There is a concern that he may have thoughts of taking his own life. And then to top it off Paul learns about a daughter that he sired during a relationship that he had with a groupie 16 ye...rs ago. Unlike other “relationships” that rock stars have with groupies, this one actually did mean something to them both, but destiny kept them apart until now.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2004
A number of great films have come out of Ireland over the past decade (or so). A few titles that come to mind are In the name of the Father (1993), My Left Foot (1989), In America (2002), The Boxer (1997), and definitely The Commitments (1991). The one factor that differentiates The Commitments from the rest of these great films is that it centers around music rather then turmoil (whether it be personal, family, or country turmoil). The Commitments is a great tale t...at uses a perfect blend of comedy, drama, and music to tell its oddly uplifting story. The casting/acting is perfect, the music is wonderful, and the storyline is very entertaining. For those of you who are a fan of international cinema, this film is a real treat.
The Commitments follows the story of Jimmy Rabbitte, an unemployed music junkie who decides to start a band with a mission… to bring soul to Dublin. Jimmy assembles a rag-tag group of musicians, and the journey to create a “soulful” band in the streets of Dublin begins. Amongst the numerous personality conflict and musical differences, The Commitments bring hope to the down and out community, and start to make beautiful music. Unfortunately, there roller-coaster ride of success implodes before it really gets started.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2004
Synopsis
Danny (Greg Kinnear) and his wife Jennifer (Lauren Holly) are a happily married couple. They have reached the point in their marriage that they are now ready to start a family. The only problem is that for whatever reason, they are unable to conceive. Jennifer goes to her physician for a work up and is found to be healthy and able to conceive. Therefore she concludes that the couple problems are due to Danny. She tricks Danny into going a fertilization clinic to be examined. It turns out tha... his boys are the reason for the couple’s baby making problems. They then try IVF (in vitro fertilization) given that the likelihood of success is low but still higher than the good old fashioned way.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 14th, 2004
If Sofia Coppola hasn’t redeemed herself from the whole The Godfather, Part III debacle by now, then it simply can’t be done. Lost in Translation is a beautiful film, the likes of which are rarely seen on this side of the Atlantic. (Of course, to be fair, the film was filmed entirely on location in Tokyo.)
Shot on a shoestring budget, Coppola has definitely made a mountain out of a molehill with this film, taking her small story of two ships that cross in the night, and making that night as br...ght and colorful as Vegas on New Year’s Eve. The result is a character study that is delicate and subtle, yet it stands out sharply against the chaos that surrounds it.
