Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 8th, 2004
Synopsis
Adam Sandler is a Hawaii-based veterinarian and swinging bachelor, seducing one touristafter another. His pleasure in short-term flings comes to a crashing end when he meets DrewBarrymore, who is physically incapable of anything but a short fling: she has no short-termmemory, and begins every morning with no recollection of the day before. Sandler, however,is smitten, and puts himself through all sorts of contortions to win the girl of his dreams. Againand again and again.< ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 8th, 2004
Synopsis
Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon are Sean McNamara and Christian Troy, plastic surgeons.Sean is the suave ladies’ man, who has ethics only when convenient and/or profitable. Christianis the better surgeon and the (by no means perfect) family man. Neither man is a prize (they areplastic surgeons, after all), but Christian at least tries to be better than he is. Models, gangsters,porn stars, and transsexuals are but a few of the characters whose live intersect with thesurgeons.
...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 7th, 2004
Synopsis
This is the story of the tragic arc traced by the relationship of three friends. Kevin Bacon isa cop, Sean Penn is a shady grocery store owner, and Tim Robbins is a hollow man, irreperablydamaged after being kidnapped by paedophiles as a youth. The three had grown apart, but theirlives intersect fatefully when Penn’s daughter is murdered. Bacon investigates the case, andRobbins cannot satisfactorily account for his actions the night of the murder, much to themounting distre...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 4th, 2004
Synopsis
Joe Orton was at least as controversial (if not more) for who he was than for the plays hewrote. Stephen Frears’ film (say its title aloud and fast and you’ll hear the rude pun) begins withthe murder of Orton (Gary Oldman) at the hands of his lover Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina).Then, as biographer Wallace Shawn sets about reconstructing Orton’s life, the tales of friendsand relations (particularly agent Vanessa Redgrave) lead us into extended flashbacks, showingthe move...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 4th, 2004
Synopsis
Set in France in 1918, What Price Glory centres on a company of marines headedby James Cagney. He and his more conventionally military First Sergeant (Dan Dailey) arequickly at loggerheads over the same woman, an omnipresent theme in the recent releases of theFox War Classics series. Equally obligatory, it seems, is the presence of Robert Wagner, whoseromance is a side-story here. So is the war, which really doesn’t play much of a part until the lastact. Most of the ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 4th, 2004
Synopsis
Crack torepedo-boat Captain Tyrone Power is detached from his beloved fast ships andassigned as second-in-command to Dana Andrews on a submarine. Power complains about thetransfer a little bit, but then sucks it up -- duty, don’t you know. Tensions between the two menmount over the same woman (haven’t we had enough of that particular plot?), but they put asidetheir differences as they tail a Nazi freighter to a hidden base. There are good special effects here,but the romant...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 3rd, 2004
Synopsis
Robert Mitchum is veteran pilot Major Cleve (Iceman) Saville. Beyond cool under pressure,he takes charge of a squadron during the Korean War. He has two difficulties to deal with. Onoeis Robert Wagner, who is too undisciplined for his, or anyone else’s, own good, despite hisprowess in shooting down MiGs. Lee Phillips can’t hit an enemy jet to save his life, but he doeshave a pretty, ignored wife (May Britt) with whom Mitchum falls in love.
The soap opera elements pl...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 2nd, 2004
Synopsis
Here are 20 animated shorts, in styles that range from the stick-figure drawings of DonHertzfeldt (“Billy’s Balloon” and the three pieces the introduce and conclude the collection), tocomputer animation (“The Cathedral”) to claymation (“The Adventures of Ricardo”) to paintings(“La Course à l’Abime”). Three are Oscar nominees (one of which, “Das Rad” [The Rocks”], isnothing short of brilliant). The tone is a sampling of everything, from the hilarious (“FiftyPercent Grey”) to...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 2nd, 2004
Synopsis
It might have seemed like it was never going to happen, but SCTV is finally getting the DVDtreatment. According to the accompanying booklet, legal rights involving the music is what heldthings up for so long. At any rate, this first release is not Season 1 -- it represents a fairly lateperiod in the ensemble’s history. Here are the 90-minute NBC episodes that began broadcastingin 1981. A lot of the material is repackaged older fare, but that’s just fine. All your favouritec...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 2nd, 2004
Synopsis
Tupac Shakur narrates his own life (almost, it would seem, from beyond the grave), taking usfrom his birth (and even before -- he discusses his gestation inside his imprisoned activistmother) to his childhood, and then through the ups and downs (emotional, legal and otherwise)of his career. Personal beliefs, politics, and the whole nine yards are laid out for us.
The editing is very clever, and one notes this particularly in the opening. Immediately afterthe sound o...
