Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 1st, 2004
Synopsis
Lili Taylor essays another of her trademark depressed wallflower roles as Evie, a woman who hates her job, her town and her life. She becomes obsessed with local rock star and pseudo-philosopher Drumstrings Casey (Guy Pearce), to the point of carving his name in her forehead (backwards, since she was looking in a mirror). This brings her to the attention of Pearce, and both of the to the attention of the media, and so begins a prickly, off-kilter relationship.
We’ve certainly been ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 30th, 2004
Peep Show is a 9 minute award winning short film. It’s about a private “peeping booth” for females. But the women don’t see anything sexual. The male performers say exactly what a woman wants to hear. Well…what we think they want to hear, “I want to commit, can I wash your hair, etc”. It’s an amusing sketch and just the right length. Since we’re told what the “joke” is fairly early on, and since there’s no surprise or twist, the film ends before things get stale. The performances are on target.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 29th, 2004
Synopsis
It’s all just so heartwarming. Spirited single-mother Virginia Madsen (what in Heaven’sname is she doing in this?) struggles to make ends meet flipping waffles, while spunky, talenteddaughter Lindsey Haun longs to attend The Haverty Conservatory of Music and Dance. WhenMadsen becomes aware of Haun’s dream, she moves mountains for her daughter. You canpredict the rest.
Mother and daughter wuv each other sooooooo much, you just want Jason Voorhees to stepin and stag...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 29th, 2004
What’s the dealio with Boy Meets World,? It was a television series that ran from 1993-2000. And the reruns seem to be on TV all the time! But maybe that’s just me. Now we have the second season on DVD. So for all you Boy Meets World fans, your wish has come true.
It stars Ben Savage (Fred Savage’s brother) as Cory Matthews. The show centers on life in the “real world” and the struggles of growing up in a high school setting. It’s a pretty sanitized journey, as the show doesn’t delve in...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 26th, 2004
Synopsis
A back-stage accident knocks New Yorker Jill Schoelen out and into her earlier incarnationas a 19th-Century opera singer in London. Madly in love with her is the Phantom (RobertEnglund), a composer who sold his soul (and his face) to the Devil in exchange for musicalimmortality. Englund coaches Schoelen and eliminates anyone who interferes with her career. Hewill also stop at nothing to ensure that he and Schoelen are united forever.
We’re a long way from Andrew Llo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 24th, 2004
Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern are the last-word in star-crossed lovers. Pursued by theminions of Dern’s psychopathic mother Diane Ladd, they engage in a nightmarishly picaresquejourney across the American south, encountering one grotesque after another (most memorablyWillem Dafoe’s deeply creepy Bobby Peru). The over-the-top sex and violence is held togetherby a narrative that is a dark remake of The Wizard of Oz.
This was David Lynch’s follow-up to Blue Vel...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 23rd, 2004
Synopsis
Many years ago, a mystical peach holding the secret of eternal life was stolen. Now, aftertraining since childhood at the Shur-Li Temple (get it?) under the tutelage of Master Card and thelike, a hero arises to recover the peach: Art Chew. He arrives in Vancouver (played by SanFrancisco, in one of the film’s cleverer conceits), and is joined on his quest by such friends asRoy Lee, who has seen a great many kung-fu movies, but is completely incompetenthimself.
This is an g...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 21st, 2004
Synopsis
Audrey Hepburn is the long-suffering daughter of incorrigible art forger Hugh Griffith. Whena phony Cellini sculpture Griffith has loaned to a museum is going to be subject to anauthenticity test, Hepburn decides to save her father by stealing their own statue. She enlists theaid of Peter O’Toole, whom she believes to be a professional burglar. The stage is set for anelaborate heist at the highly secure museum, not to mention a little bit of romance along theway.
...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 20th, 2004
Everybody’s favorite guy in a construction hat is back. No, not Sully from Sesame Street It’s Bob the Builder! He stars in Snowed Under: The Bobblesberg Winter Games. To join in on the fun, Bob has his favorite buddies along too, Lofty, Scoop, Muck, Roley, Travis, Spud, Wendy, Dizzy. And there’s even a new character to the crew, Benny. What trouble does Bob have to fix this time? Well…let me tell ya kids. It’s the Bobblesberg Winter games and the course is snowed under. And it’s up to Bob and h...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 19th, 2004
There have been umpteen movie adaptations of the Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol”. Some of my favorites include the Alastair Sim version, the Henry Winkler version (yes, the guy who played Fonzie), the Bill Murray version, the Muppet version, and the Mister Magoo version. This 1997 version of A Christmas Carol is an animated feature featuring the voices of Tim Curry, Whoopi Goldberg, Ed Asner, and Michael York. It’s a story that we all know well.
But what makes this different from the other ve...
