Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 21st, 2005
Synopsis
When the economic boom in Japan leads to massive deforestation, the raccoons find their habitat threatened. They band together and mount a campaign to stop the destruction of their world by humans. They learn to shape change, and wreak merry havoc with construction crews. Some of their stunts simply frighten the people off, but some of the sabotage is deadly, too.
The packaging and the “From the Creators of Howl’s Moving Castle” might be a bit misleading in this case. Studio...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 12th, 2005
Synopsis
Model Jessica Alba heads off to a party in the country with her current boyfriend. The house is owned by the members of a once-popular rock band, and there are creepy dolls and a deaf-mute young woman about. Alba wakes up the next morning abandoned by her boyfriend and imprisoned by the family. The only person who might be able to help her is the obscene caller who’s been causing her so much grief.
This is one of those movies that you forget even as you watch it, because almost eve...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 11th, 2005
Synopsis
Tim Allen was fortunate enough to ride a couple of trends and nurture them into a steady paycheck without really having to do anything. He was a stand-up comic in the mid ‘80s and early ‘90s and was pretty good at it. And like many other stand-ups during the time, he was given a sitcom with which to basically recycle his act onto a smaller stage. And to his benefit, the public enjoyed it, and Allen’s pet project Home Improvement was a smash hit, and would later go on to enjoy eight seasons o...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 7th, 2005
Synopsis
Lately various studios have been releasing films with Gene Hackman onto DVD, films like Scarecrow and Twice in a Lifetime. And after a run in 1983’s Uncommon Valor, he teamed with Matt Dillon (The Flamingo Kid) in 1985’s Target, the proverbial Cold War spy thriller.
Directed by Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde) Walter (Hackman) and Chris Lloyd (Dillon) are a father and son who don’t get along very well, as Walter wants Chris to do something with his ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 1st, 2005
Synopsis
Think of this as the John Waters version of Grease, with everything that that entails. The setting is the fifties, and kids are divided between the Squares (so clean-cut and conformist they make Ward Cleaver look like Marlon Brando) and the black-leather-clad Drapes. The leader of the Drapes is Cry-Baby Walker (Johnny Depp), and his posse includes the likes of Ricki Lake (BEFORE she became a talk-show host) and Traci Lords (AFTER... well, after). Square Amy Locane is drawn to Depp an...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 1st, 2005
Synopsis
In the 1950s, Blue (Nina Siemaszko) travels from town to town with her itinerant jazz musician father (Tom Skerritt). When Dad is killed, Blue winds up under the thumb of brothel madam Wendy Hughes, and after some initial difficulty, assumes her new identity. But she pines for the boy (Brent Fraser) she met before her life went to hell, and she eventually fights to leave the addictive world of decadence she has entered. Escape will not be easy.
Writer/director Zalman King gave us t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 30th, 2005
Synopsis
The frustrating thing in watching Gas is just how familiar it is to The Cookout, Barbershop, Beautyshop, and other films that involve groups of African-American men getting together in the neighborhood and having fun, and getting the most successful family member in touch with their roots. What’s next, Sunday Church? Or Night at Silver Diner?
There are even a couple of parallels to The Cookout in this film. While Damien in this film is played by “Flex” ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 28th, 2005
I remember a couple of years ago when MTV produced The Real World Movie: The Lost Season. I was sitting at home on a Saturday, and didn't know exactly what I had tuned in to. At first, I was just watching the show as if it were any other first-episode of a season of The Real World. It wasn't long, however, before I realized that something strange was going on. Once I realized that the “documentary” was an elaborate hoax, I promptly changed the channel. Let's be honest... reality shows are manipulated en...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 27th, 2005
It’s another case of mistaken identity that gets our boys (Abbott and Costello) in trouble, this time with a couple of gangsters. I’ve always been an Abbott and Costello fan but somehow missed this 1948 film over the years. It’s possible that because it was one of only a few pictures the duo did outside of Universal it did not enjoy the wide release their other works had. A few gems from the boys’ routines can be found. Look for the “horse eating his fodder” and “I’ll bet you you’re not here”. There is none of the Big Band Era song and dance routine to slow this film’s pace.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 27th, 2005
The Naked Truth is a 1958 British farce that benefits most from an excellent performance by Peter Sellers. Sellers plays Sonny Boy MacGregor as a comedic Lon Chaney. Each of Sonny’s characters is a complete package from the makeup to the accents. Moments of the inspired genius that would be better displayed in The Pink Panther films make this average production something more. The comedy is decidedly European in flavor and probably not for everyone. Most of the film slows when Sellers is not on the scene
