Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 2nd, 2002
Synopsis
Twenty years ago, there was a mining disaster. The only survivor wreaked bloody revengea year later. Nineteen years later, he seems to be back, and the usual bunch of kids is in trouble.Neat looking killer, cool setting, and some unintentionally hilarious acting and dialogue are theorder of the day. The killings aren’t as graphic, sadly, as some of the publicity stills. The moviewas cut prior to release, and this is still not the restored version. Who know if we’ll ever see...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 1st, 2002
Long before tough cop Dirty Harry made our day, Clint Eastwood defined the modern western with his Spaghetti Westerns. It is no surprise that a Western would define Clint Eastwood as an Academy Award winning producer and director. Unforgiven is unlike any movie Eastwood has ever done. It is loaded with extraordinary actors surrounding his own stellar performance. Names like Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, and Richard Harris are rarely found in such supporting roles. Unforgiven also sets itself apart from Eastwood’s previous films in the way it portrays the West that Eastwood glorified for so many years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 25th, 2002
Pixar, with the smashing success of the Toy Story films, works its enchanting magic yet again with the wonderful Monsters, Inc. It’s fitting that Disney acquired the creative team that more than any other filmmakers embody what Disney had been for half a century. Monsters, Inc. is the new standard for computer animation. Sully’s generated hair is nothing short of amazing. What makes this movie worth buying is its incredible rewatchability. The attention to details means there’s always something new to see with each v...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 22nd, 2002
We find out early in the film that the term Last Orders is an English tradition along the lines of a last will and testament. There’s really nothing very complicated about this film. There are some wonderful moments of acting particularly by Bob Hoskins. The major complaint is that there are actually four stories being told from four different timelines making it extremely confusing at times.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 15th, 2002
Synopsis
This is the story of four obnoxious roommates: a hippy, a yuppie, a poseur and a punk. Theygradually demolish their flat and visit violence on each other, all the while yelling at the top oftheir lungs. Though nicely weird at times (check out the talking rats), this often deliberately badcomedy is very much in the acquired taste department.
Audio
Not too much to report here. The TV series was mono, and so is the DVD. It gets the jobdone, and is clea...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 15th, 2002
Synopsis
The story opens with the total disintegration of the Dolls, an all-girl rock band. Not only arethey fighting each other hammer and tongs (some nicely edited moments here), or coma-drunk,but someone in the basement is dead. We then flash back to chart their rise and fall. This isenthusiastic, if raw, work.
Audio
Don’t expect miracles here, not at this kind of a budget. There is a fair bit of buzz on thedialogue, though the music sounds fine. There ar...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 10th, 2002
Synopsis
Frankie Muniz is the liar of the title, and so is already in plenty of trouble. Then he meets someone even worse than the truth than he is: Paul Giamatti, playing a completely sleazy Hollywood producer, who steals Muniz' creative writing paper and makes a movie from it. Muniz and best friend Amanda Bynes head off for Hollywood to exact revenge -- some of which, I must confess, is pretty damn funny.
Audio
The music sounds terrific, as does the dialogue (no distortio...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 7th, 2002
Nicholas Cage did this film in 1989, long before most of the more famous films he places high atop his resume. He admits this is a film he would not be able to do today but is damn glad he did. Director Robert Bierman was also pretty much a novice when he created this quirky dark comedy.
To be honest I never saw the film when it was originally released and approached the DVD with a lot of skepticism. Most of the performances are way over the top and the cinematography is simple, often resorting to what Hollywood calls "stolen shots" (filming done without any set-up in a public area using real people.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 7th, 2002
Synopsis
Stockard Channing is top-flight executive, and has been in the game long enough to become a hardened, battle-scarred veteran. When Julia Stiles arrives late, screwing up a presentation, Channing initially comes down on her like a ton of bricks. Later she apologizes, and the two, becoming friends, plot revenge on a mutual acquaintance who has apparently done them both wrong. But there are plenty of twists ahead (some easier to swallow than others).
Audio
This isn't ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 3rd, 2002
Con Express is, at its heart, a low budget Die Hard / Speed hybrid. Terry Cunningham shows off his love for the high impact thrillers, but unfortunately not always his respect. There are times when you don't notice the millions missing in the budget. The story, while it is a bit contrived, carries well throughout the entire film. My only complaint is that Cunningham saw fit to interrupt the film each time it started to flow with a senseless wraparound story of the hero being interviewed to take over the Customs office in Alaska. In an action film pacing is everything and the element most missing from Con Express.
