David Annandale

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Stay Hungry

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 26th, 2004

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Synopsis

Jeff Bridges plays the black sheep of an aristocratic Southern family. Shiftless and callow,he is involved in a shady real-estate deal headed up by Joe Spinell (ex of The Godfather,later to gain notoriety as the title character in Maniac). In order to complete the deal,Bridges has to buy out a fitness club, populated by such characters as gym instructor Sally Field,would-be Mr. Universe Arnold Schwarzenegger (now there’s casting against type) and hishappy-go-l…
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Prime Suspect 6

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 26th, 2004

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Synopsis

Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) is now a Detective Superintendent, with 24 murder casesunder her supervision. The most recent one is that of a young Bosnian woman. Tennisonbecomes directly involved with the investigation, which reveals the presence of a protectedBosnian war criminal in London. Tennison’s obsession with the truth, as well as some mistakesof her own, threaten to derail her career, destroying her life’s work.

As with the other entries in this series, the …
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Company, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 25th, 2004

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Synopsis

The Company deals with a fictional season in the life of the Joffrey Ballet ofChicago. In between elaborately filmed ballet numbers, we see the behind the scenes strugglesand preparations, injuries and heartbreaks. The principle characters are Neve Cambell as a dancerwhose moment in the spotlight has finally come. She has attracted the attention of flaky artisticdirector Malcolm McDowell, and finds relief in arms of restaurant chef James Franco.

In some ways,…
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Creeping Flesh, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 25th, 2004

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Synopsis

In 1893, scientist Peter Cushing returns home with a remarkable find: a giant skeleton, whichturns out to belong to a being that was the very incarnation of evil. Where water touches thebones, flesh regenerates, and Cushing isolates the blood cells that contain evil. Obsessed withprotecting his daughter from the insanity that destroyed his wife, he attempts to inoculate her.His experiment goes horribly wrong, and also attracts the attention of half-brother and scientificriv…
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Prey for Rock & Roll

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 23rd, 2004

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Synopsis

Gina Gershon, leader of the Clam Dandys, is about to turn 40, and still hasn’t had her bigrock & roll break. She is insecure about aging, and can’t maintain a relationship with either menor women. Also in her band are Lori Petty (guitar teacher by day), Petty’s lover Shelly Cole (thevery young drummer), and the drug-and-booze-and-loser-boyfriend addled Drea De Matteo (thebass player). Then two things happen: there is the possibility that the band might finally get itsbreak,…
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Funny About Love

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 23rd, 2004

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Synopsis

Gene Wilder is Duffy Bergman, a “controversial” cartoonist (though the brief glimpses ofhis cartoons fail to explain his wild success). After a traditional romantic comedy “meet cute,”he and Christine Lahti fall in love and marry. When Wilder’s growing obsession with having ababy meets with frustration, the marriage cracks apart.

Let us consider the subject matter of Nimoy’s directorial track record: Baby Boom.Three Men and a Baby. The Good Mother>. This piece. Bit of a trend, wouldn’tyou say? At any rate, this effort is nothing to write home about: unfunny comedy andmanipulative tear-jerking. Yawn.

Audio

The sound arrives in both 5.1 and 2.0, but one has to wonder why anyone went to the troubleof creating a 5.1 mix, when the result is essentially undetectable. There is virtually no surroundto speak of, except when music is playing — all sorts of obvious opportunities for envelopingsound effects (as when Wilder and Lahti are in a taxi stuck in New York traffic) are wasted.

Video

The picture gets off on the wrong foot, with a very grainy and dirty opening. The picturequality improves after the credits, but dirt and specks continue to show up sporadically. Theblacks, flesh tones and colours are fine. An acceptable transfer, then, but the print could be inbetter shape.

Special Features

None.

Closing Thoughts

Late-career stuff for Gene Wilder. In other words, steer clear.

Back to the Beach

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 23rd, 2004

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Synopsis

Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello essentially play themselves. Once a teen surf idol andMouseketeer, they are now, respectively, a stressed-out car salesman and a neurotic housewife.Their son is a leather-bedecked punk who addresses the camera directly to itemize the failingsof his parents. A trip to LA revives aging pair’s youthful spirit, however, thanks also to cameosfrom everyone from Bob Denver (in Gilligan outfit) to Pee-Wee Herman.

Nostalgia is one thing, …
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Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 21st, 2004

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Synopsis

Directed by Nick Broomfield and Joan Churchill, this is the follow up to Broomfield’sAileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer. This summarizes some of what was dugup in that film, particularly the sleazy attempts by all and sundry to capitalize on theirconnections to Wuornos and her case, and the corruption of justice that ensued. The newnarrative picks up with Wuornos’ final appeal against the death penalty (which fails), and theninterviews her (and the people…
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Saving Private Ryan

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 20th, 2004

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Synopsis

The plot is as simple as that of any 40s or 50s World War II movie: in the immediateaftermath of the D-Day invasion, eight men (led by Tom Hanks) are sent on a dangerous missionto find the only surviving son of a decimated family and send him home.

On this simple framework, Spielberg hangs the most viscerally intense evocation of theSecond World War yet committed to film. The exhausting Omaha Beach sequence that opens thefilm has been justly celebrated, but there ar…
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President’s Analyst, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 20th, 2004

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Synopsis

James Coburn is Dr. Sidney Schaefer, a rather self-satisfied analyst. His ego is given anenormous boost when he is assigned a new patient: the President (who is never seen). Barely hashe begun his new job when he realizes that he is being watched, and his paranoia goes throughthe roof. But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you. And they are.Every spy agency imaginable, foreign and domestic, wants Dr. Schaefer — either alive to get hissecrets,…
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Easy Riders, Raging Bulls

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 19th, 2004

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Synopsis

The collapse of the studio system was followed by the rise of the independents, and the late-60s to the early 70s saw what is sometimes termed the American Renaissance. This is the era thatsaw the rise to prominence of Dennis Hopper, Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola, MartinScorsese, and Sam Peckinpah, among other, along with, most fatefully, Steven Spielberg andGeorge Lucas. Based on the book of the same name, Kenneth Bowser’s film narrates the rise and(often drug-fu…
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Prince Valiant

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 18th, 2004

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Synopsis

Robert Wagner (yes indeed) is Prince Valiant, son of a deposed Viking king. Sent toCamelot, Valiant has a run-in with the treacherous Black Knight, and sees him conspiring withother Vikings (the bad ones) to conquer Britain. Valiant doesn’t see the evil knight’s face. Couldhe be one of the knights of the round table? Could he possibly be the arrogant and shifty-eyedJames Mason? Hmmm. Valiant trains for knighthood under Sir Gawain (hopeless miscastSterling Hayden), but in hi…
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Paycheck

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 18th, 2004

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Synopsis

Ben Affleck is a brilliant reverse engineer. He is hired by different companies to puzzle outand improve on their competitors’ technologies, then has his memory of his work wiped so hecannot divulge what he knows. His current job is something big. In exchange for a couple ofyears of his life, he will be granted huge stock options. But when he collects his paycheck, all hegets is a collection of mundane objects in a manilla envelope. And then everybody is trying tokill him. …
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Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 18th, 2004

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Synopsis

Brigitte (Emily Perkins), having dispatched her werewolf sister in Ginger Snaps, isnow living with the fact that the wolfsbane antidote concocted in the previous film is not a curefor lycanthropy. It can merely hold the transformation painfully at bay. Mistaken for an addictto more traditional drugs, Brigitte is picked up and placed in combination drug rehab centre andburn ward (don’t ask). She needs to escape, as she is being stalked by a werewolf who seeks amate. B…
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Sweet Violence (Douce Violence)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 16th, 2004

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Synopsis

Welcome to the French Riviera, 1962. The youth are beautiful, aimless, and amoral.Searching for meaning in his life, whiny mope Olivier meets the sweet Barbara. These two mighthave something together, but Olivier must take a wide detour on the way to true love, as he firstfalls in with a pack led by Philippe and Elke (played be, you guessed it, Elke Sommer).

All sorts of hilarious stabs at decadence ensue, as imagined by director/co-scripter MaxPécas, a very conserv…
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Osama

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 16th, 2004

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Synopsis

We are in the midst of the Taliban’s brutal rule of Afghanistan. The total suppression of allwomen’s rights means that a widow is on the brink of desperation. She cannot work, or evenleave the house without fearing retribution, as there is no male relative to accompany her. Hermother hits upon a solution born of desperation: the 12-year-old daughter will have her hearshorn, will wear male clothing, and so become “Osama,” a young boy. The subterfuge works. Atfirst.

Bubba Ho-Tep

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 14th, 2004

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Synopsis

Welcome to Mud Creek, Texas. In a depressing nursing home, senior citizen Elvis (BruceCampbell) is sleeping away what remains of his life. Some led gets put back into his pencil,however, when he and “JFK” (Ossie Davis, who else?) realize that an ancient mummy is killingoff the residents of the home. Barely able to walk, they nonetheless decide to fight thesupernatural evil.

As you might guess from the above description, and especially from the casting, this is prett…
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Monster

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 14th, 2004

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Synopsis

Charlize Theron doesn’t play Aileen Wuornos, she incarnates her. At the end of hertether, highway prostitute Aileen meets 18-year-old Selby (Christina Ricci) when she accidentlywalks into a lesbian bar. They click, and suddenly, Aileen has a reason to live. She tries to turnher life around, but with the implacability of Greek tragedy, her attempts end in failure and shereturns to turning tricks. One date goes turns ghastly, and she kills the brutal john in self-defense…
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Girl with a Pearl Earring

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 14th, 2004

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Synopsis

Scarlett Johansson plays Griet, a young girl who enters into service in the home of painterJohannes Vermeer (Colin Firth). She catches his eye, partly because of her beauty, but even morebecause she has an intuitive understanding of art, and he takes her under his wing, much to thegrowing suspicions and jealousies of his wife. Ultimately, she becomes the model for theeponymous painting.

This is a film of looks and silences. In many ways, the story is constructed bet…
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Office, The: The Complete Second Series

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 13th, 2004

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Synopsis

We’re back at the open plan offices of Wernham-Hogg in Slough, which have now mergedwith the branch at Swindon. This spells disaster for manager David Brent (Ricky Gervais). His(erroneous) self-image of popular, entertaining boss is dealt a mortal blow by the arrival of theSwindon employees and their genuinely smart and funny manager, who becomes Brent’simmediate superior.

The style, as in the original series, is mockumentary, with a fly-on-the-wall handheld camera…
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Pink Panther Cartoon Collection, The: Jet Pink

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 13th, 2004

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Synopsis

Eight Pink Panther cartoons from the late 60s are offered here. See the cool cat deal with apersistent cuckoo clock, get caught in a jet fighter, drive a house painter mad, etc. Laid backcartoon fun, hardly in the same league as, say, the Looney Tunes, but appealing all the same. Thefrequently minimalist backgrounds add some visual interest to the efforts.

Audio

The sound is mono, and gets the job done. Given that the sound consists entirely of music…
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Three of Hearts

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 13th, 2004

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Synopsis

Kelly Lynch is distraught after girlfriend Sherilyn Fenn moves out, claiming she “needs somespace.” Lynch hires male escort William Baldwin (who is having troubles of his own with aviolent past acquaintance) to be her date at her sister’s wedding, and then hits upon a scheme: shewill hire Baldwin to seduce Fenn and break her heart, thus sending Fenn running back to Lynch.But matters take an unexpected turn.

That last sentence is a lie. Things play out safely and pre…
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Walt Disney Treasures: Walt Disney on the Front Lines

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 10th, 2004

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Synopsis

During World War II, Walt Disney threw the resources of his studio behind the war effort.The result is what we see here: a massive collection of animated shorts serving to boost morale,educate and propagandize, plus a feature-length argument for long-range bombing. I’m assumingI know have your attention.

Disc 1 breaks its short features down into three categories: “Propaganda and EntertainmentShorts,” “Educational Shorts” and “From the Vault.” The familiar Disney ch…
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Cooler, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 9th, 2004

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Synopsis

William H. Macy, he of the hang-dog eyes, is perfectly cast as Bernie Lootz. A terminal sadsack, Macy is a man whose luck is so bad it’s contagious. He works off a massive debt owed tocasino-manager Alec Baldwin by spreading his bad luck. He has almost finished his term ofservitude when he meets Maria Bello, and everything changes, including his luck. This luck isstill contagious, however, much to Baldwin’s displeasure.

The premise is presposterous, of course, but m…
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Enemy Below, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 9th, 2004

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Synopsis

The crew of jaded Robert Mitchum’s destroyer is bored. Their craving to see some action,any kind of action, is answered when they encounter a U-Boat captained by the disillusioned CurtJurgens. From this point on, the entire film consists of the battle between the two brilliantcaptains, each one anticipating the other’s moves.

The fact that Jurgens, thoroughly sick of the war and the Nazis, is so sympathetic has an oddeffect on the film’s suspense. On the one hand, t…
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