Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2003
Synopsis
The setting is an exclusive college, and the action covers one school term. We move fromone party to another (very little education of any kind takes place here, what with the professorsstoned or absent), and see the intersections of doomed romantic hopes. These hopes belong toSean Bateman (brother of American Psycho Patrick), who longs for the virginal Lauren, and is inturn longed after by Paul. Lauren, meanwhile, is saving herself for Victor, who doesn’t evenknow she exis...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 2nd, 2003
Film
“In the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the District Attorneys who prosecute the offenders …” Law and Order is an example of a bygone day in network television. In the 1990-1991 season this first year program ranked 62nd of all television programs. In addition to its poor performance, NBC lost revenue from countless sponsors pulling their advertisements because of the controversial nature of t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2003
Synopsis
Nick Nolte, hulking and brutal, is a top NYC cop. The first thing we see him do isassassinate an unarmed man, then plant evidence to cover up his guilt. Timothy Hutton, a newassistant to the district attorney, is given the job of closing what is supposed to be a simple caseof self-defence. Naturally, he finds all sorts of loose ends and hints of top-level corruption. Whilethe romantic subplot is pointless, the investigation is gripping, and Nolte, Hutton, ArmandAssante (as ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 27th, 2003
Synopsis
The Miss Daisy of the title is played by Jessica Tandy. After she wrecks her car, her son (Dan Aykroyd) hires a chauffeur (Morgan Freeman) for her. Miss Daisy is fiercely resistant to the supposed loss of independence this represents, but she eventually lets Freeman do his job. A strong friendship grradually develops between the two. In the background, we catch glimpses of the changing American South as the film moves from 1947 to 1972. Prejudice, both racial and anti-semitic, lurks just und...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 23rd, 2003
I wouldn’t say The Last Man was the worst film I ever saw, but that’s only because I did see Battlefield Earth and Event Horizon. If there’s a category below B film this is a great example. The whole film has the feel of community theatre at its worst. Dan Montgomery delivers such a bad performance that it would be funny if it didn’t hurt so much to watch. The story rambles on for 93 minutes that will feel more like 3 hours.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 19th, 2003
Synopsis
Two young friends move from Tennessee (where one lives in dysfunctional household andthe other in a deeply conservative one) to Hollywood, where they dream of making films. Theolder of the two gets there first, and is making a film about people who have delusions aboutmaking films (got yer postmodern hall of mirrors thing happening here) and, of course, hisfunding dries up. There isn’t much here that hasn’t been done before, but the execution is nicelydone, and the performa...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 17th, 2003
Film
M. Night Shyamalan, the brilliant director of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, comes through again with his latest film Signs. Buena Vista has given Shyamalan his due respect by adding Signs to their Vista Series of DVD’s.
Synopsis
One morning on their farm in Buck’s County, Pennsylvania the Hess family wake up to find a 500 foot crop circle in the corn fields in their back yard. Watching the news brings them reports of similar circles showing up ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 16th, 2003
Synopsis
It is 1821. Napoleon is in exile on St. Helena, but not for long. His exact double is found,and the two men switch identities. Napoleon, now disguised as Eugene Lenormand, makeshis way back to France. The idea is that, once the real emperor is in Paris, the double will exposehimself, and the people will rally around the returned ruler. But Eugene decides he likes beingemperor. Napoleon is now stuck in the role of a poor man. Naturally, this being a romanticcomedy, there are...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 15th, 2003
Film
Bad Influence, while not a bad film, is certainly not a good one either. Try as I might I could not bring myself to really care about any of the characters. The film tries to portray Rob Lowe’s influence on James Spader as, well … bad. It’s not like he was a great guy to begin with. There is an incredible irony within the film when Lowe gets Spader out of a marriage he is dreading by slipping the family a copy of the groom-to-be having sex with another woman. Lowe, of course, had a real life video tape episode and Spader dealt with the same thing in Sex, Lies, and Video Tape.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2003
Synopsis
Five Gen-X yuppies (yup, they’re old enough to be that now) reunite for the funeral of oneof their friends. What ensues is a parody of The Big Chill, complete with bad 80s music. Thenmysterious bugs that disintegrate in bright light start infesting them one by one, turning them intomurderous zombies. So far, so eccentric, and the satire is sometimes very funny. The FX are sobargain-basement, however, and the plotting so loose, that the film loses direction and winds uupjust...
