Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 23rd, 2003
Synopsis
We begin is the 1930s, as the forces of Fascism are rising on the European continent.Convinced that Communism is the hope of justice for the future, Cambridge University gradsKim Philby (Toby Stevens), Anthony Blunt (Samuel West), Guy Burgess (Tom Hollander) andDonald Maclean (Rupert Pehry-Jones) become Soviet agents. We follow their lives over thecourse of twenty years, as they rise (in no small part due to the British class system) to everymore important positions ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 23rd, 2003
Synopsis
Brittany Murphy is the orphaned daughter of rock star parents. She has been living a fairy-tale existence in Manhattan, and hasn’t had the slightest need to grow up. When her lawyerabsconds with her 100 million bucks, however, she is forced to find work, and becomes the newnanny for the uptight, precociously mature Dakota Fanning. Murphy will learn to grow up, andFanning will learn to be a kid. There will be a little bit of tragedy tossed in along the way.
Ut...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 22nd, 2003
Synopsis
In what Stiller himself describes as a misfired precursor to the Gary Shandling Show,the central conceit here is that a fictionalized version of Stiller gives us a behind-the-scenes lookat the series between skits, an gradually reveals himself to be the Boss From Hell. The skitsthemselves are in the Mad TV/SCTV vein, parodying rockumentaries, movie trailers, and so on.There is some clever stuff, but I’ll confess that I seem have some kind of a jinx when it comes...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 22nd, 2003
Synopsis
Our quartet continue to get laid, or not, depending on the ups and downs of decreed by thefates. There is a baby among them now (whose baptism or not is a point of contention), andCarrie gets a book deal. As the appeal of this series remains utterly mystifying to me, I shallrefrain from further comment.
Audio
The audio is in 5.1 and 2.0, but hardly strains the capabilities of either format. The music getnice treatment, but it is virtually the...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 21st, 2003
Synopsis
Jamie Lee Curtis is the harried big-name therapist with the bestselling book. Lindsay Lohanis her teenage daughter going through the meat-grinder of high school. They are at each otherhammer and tongs, neither understanding the stresses of the other’s life. Then, of course, theywake up one Friday in each other’s bodies, and the fun begins. Not only must each survive inthe other’s environment, but two major events loom: Curtis’ marriage and Lohan’s band’saudition. Pos...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 20th, 2003
Synopsis
A group of college friends head off into the woods for a holiday in a remote cabin. They havean bloody encounter with a gruesomely sick stranger, and he passes his infection on to them. Oneby one, they fall ill, and their friendships are violently torn asunder as they uninfected try toquarantine, by any means necessary, the infected.
Riddled with references to other horror movies, mostly from the 70s (the theme song fromLast House on the Left keeps pla...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 20th, 2003
Synopsis
The Earp brothers, Wyatt (Henry Fonda), Morgan, Virgil and James, are herding their cattlepast the town of Tombstone, Arizona. The cattle are stolen and James is murdered. Ex-MarshallWyatt suspects the Clanton family, but lacks proof. He becomes Tombstone’s lawman, biding histime, waiting for the Clantons to make a mistake. While he waits, he strikes up a pricklyfriendship with the cynical Doc Holliday (Victor Mature). The tension between the two men isintensified by...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 20th, 2003
Synopsis
In a lost valley of Siam (which looks strangely like Southern California), an archaeologicalteam breaks open the ancient tomb of the Scorpion. Young Billy Batson doesn’t like thedesecration and turns away. Because he does not join in, the ancient wizard Shazam appearsbefore him and blesses him with incredible powers. Now, whenever Billy says “Shazam!” he isbecomes the Superman-clone Captain Marvel. Meanwhile, a hooded villain (the Scorpion, ofcourse), has designs on ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 18th, 2003
Synopsis
In 1930s Hong Kong, down-on-his-luck Jackie Chan buys a rose from flower seller, whopromises the rose will bring him luck. No sooner has she said this than our hero winds up smackdab in the middle of a gang war, and the next thing he knows, he’s become the new boss. Inbetween difficulties with a rival gang, Chan rewards the woman to whom he attributes his changein fortune by setting her up in a grand hotel so she can impress her daughter, who is arriving fromShanghai...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 18th, 2003
Synopsis
Jackie Chan and partner Yuen Biao are in Tokyo, tracking down a bent Hong Kong cop. Thisvillain has teamed up with a Yakuza boss and his army of Ninjas, and Biao is captured. Indesperation, Chan gets hold of his superior officer and asks him to assemble his childhoodfriends. As these losers are all petty criminals, Chan reasons that they’ll be able to get close to theYakuza without being suspected.
If the above logic sounds a little shaky, it is. The storylin...
