Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 20th, 2005
Synopsis
Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a resentful teen under therapy, and supposed to be takingmedication for his borderline schizophrenia. When a giant demonic bunny (Jimmy Stewart neverhad to deal with the like in Harvey) takes him out of the house just before a plane enginesmashes into his bedroom, life becomes even more strange. Reality becomes rubbery, and thefact that Donnie survived has more and more significant effects on the world around him.
David Lynch...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 20th, 2005
In the world of television spinoffs it is rare that the newer material will live up to that which spawned it. All In The Family holds the record for number of spinoffs and coincidentally produced the most memorable. Frasier was an instant hit after Cheers. But how many of you remember After-MASH or Beverly Hills Buntz?
Angel, to anyone living under a rock, dates back to the pilot episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I recently took another look at that maiden appearance. Who says vampires don’t age? This i...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 19th, 2005
Until September is soap opera/romance that lacks sizzle. Karen Allen, of Raiders of the Lost Arkfame plays Mo. Mo is a plucky American girl who falls in love with Parisian named Xavier (played by Thierry Lhermitte). Mo misses her plane and is stuck in Paris. She meets cute with Xavier and an affair begins. However, complications ensue: Xavier has a wife and family.
The Paris locations are nice, but the lead couple lacks any chemistry whatsoever. Karen Allen is cute as a button, but Th...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2005
Many seem to rule surfing out of hand as some sort of pastime for burnouts, potheads, or life’s free spirits. But Bruce Brown helped shine a light onto the sport with his release of 1966’s The Endless Summer, a landmark release that still is highly revered by people to this day for the revolutionary photography and its ability to capture the awesome feats of nature. And where some studios put out near-annual sequels, Brown waited 28 years to get his done, appropriately titled The Endless Summer II, repr...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 16th, 2005
The barometer for those interested in Robert Altman’s Short Cuts is usually whether or not they liked Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. Hell, it’s the question I posed to my fiancée when we were trying to figure out what to watch over the Thanksgiving holiday. The comparisons are pretty conventional; both are large ensemble films with intertwined plotlines set in California, both have a 3 hour runtime. Both even have Julianne Moore in predominant roles.
Based on short stories by Raymond Carver...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 16th, 2005
Synopsis
Hilary Duff is the small-town girl who aspires to attend a summer music camp in LosAngeles. Keith David is the gruff father who stands in her way, but only because he loves her somuch. Poignancy is added by the car-accident death of her supportive older brother in the earlygoings. Anyway, off goes Duff, thanks to mother Rita Wilson and cool aunt Rebecca De Mornay,and she has to struggle against the evil sophisticates and snobs to prove herself, but she has helpfrom new frie...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 15th, 2005
Synopsis
Passed over for promotion to manager, SpongeBob SquarePants is ticked at Mr. Krabbs, butnot to the point of wishing him dead. That is the fate that awaits his employer, after he is framedby Plankton for the theft of King Neptune’s crown. SpongeBob and Patrick must brave no endof dangers on their long journey to Shell City to recover the crown. On the way, they encountereverything from a hit man named Dennis (voiced by Alec Baldwin) to monsters, to DavidHasselhoff (as himsel...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 13th, 2005
I may have been late to the rapidly growing bandwagon of admirers of the TV comedy Arrested Development, though it was kinda cool to see David Cross (Mr. Show) get onto a network show that would have appeared to been lucky to stay around for a whole season, in a sitcom where the main character was played by Jason Bateman. I mean, Jason Bateman! A guy who was known as Justine’s brother who bounced around from sitcom to sitcom and was virtually off the radar, playing bit parts in other harmless comedies. ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 12th, 2005
Arguably the last funny member of Saturday Night Live has picked some strange movies to be in since leaving the sketch comedy show. Appearing first as a co-star in Old School and then later in the kid-friendly (but cute) Elf, Will Ferrell took his time in getting to what fans wanted, a good PG-13 or better comedy for him to stretch his comedic talent.
By and large, Anchorman does deliver on that, though occasionally Ferrell himself isn’t the one causing the laughs. As 1970s San ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 10th, 2005
Films like Crimson Tide, Hunt for Red October and U-571 have tried on their own ways to take their place as the definitive modern submarine movie, but Das Boot still stands as King, over 20 years after its release. I remember hearing about this film growing up, and as a lad of 10, wasn’t into foreign films, or war films, as I am now, which may not be saying much. In seeing it when the Director’s Cut first came out in 1997, many people snapped up the 5.1 soundtrack, and Director’s Commentar...
