Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2003
Harrison Ford is the top selling actor in Hollywood these days. He owes this distinction in no small part to a couple of trilogies he did early in his career. While Star Wars might have been a chance for Ford to break out, Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels defined his abilities. Indiana Jones is the perfect hero. He’s strong, intelligent, and above all moral. Unlike the stereotypical hero Jones is also vulnerable and at times flawed. Credit Steven Spielberg for the iconic stature Indy occupies today.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 20th, 2003
William Shatner refused to reprise his role of Kirk in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home without a promise to write and direct the next film in the franchise. Against their better judgment Paramount agreed, and to this day wish they had not. The story is absolutely silly and the direction very one-dimensional. The truth is, however, that there still are some very endearing Trek moments in the film. DeForest Kelly gives a superb performance as McCoy must face his past decision to allow his terminal father to die.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 16th, 2003
“Say hello to my little friend!”
This is just one of the many cultural references that have come out of Brian DePalma’s 1983 epic film, Scarface. Al Pacino plays Tony Montana, a Cuban refugee that arrives in the United States with nothing, and leaves with everything. It’s a story about the American Dream, about excess, and about ambition. A fantastic supporting cast (including Michelle Pfeiffer, F. Murray Abraham and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), and a script by Oliver Stone makes Scarface one of the...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 13th, 2003
Synopsis
This is, of course, the familiar tale of miser Ebenezer Scrooge (voice of Simon Callow) andhis conversion thanks to his encounters with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-To-Come. This version has a few alterations, though: Scrooge’s lost love (Kate Winslet) is still verymuch around, and is trying to get in touch with him; there’s a new subplot involving a hospitalfor poor orphans that shuts down because of Scrooge; and Scrooge’s only friends are two mice,who sca...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 6th, 2003
Often family Christmas movies, while ambitious, often miss the mark with a weak story or bad acting. I was worried that a Muppet Christmas movie would follow in these footsteps. Additionally, some of the previous Muppet movies fell short of the comedic styling that resonated within a generation of kids like myself whom grew up with the Muppet Show. Thankfully I was disappointed on both accounts.
It’s a Very Merry Muppet Movie holds it’s own against the best of the family Christmas movies and in my mind riv...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 6th, 2003
I had never heard of this movie before and when I first saw it I thought, well here’s a Steve Martin comedy that I’ve never heard of (probably because it is really bad…). However, Steve Martin plays this role straight and in doing so brings a lot of presence to the screen. Leap of faith tells the story of a con man named Reverend Jonas Nightengale who has made a career of separating the poor and uneducated from their money. He is in the midst of a tour when his tour bus breaks down in the backwater town of Rustwater,...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 5th, 2003
Synopsis
There are five episodes here, going all the way back to arrival of Santa’s Little Helper (in“Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”) and featuring such classics as the “Mr. Plow” episode.Admittedly, that one has more to do with snow than Christmas itself, but what the hell. Sure, thisis pure marketing (and don’t bother if you’re already buying the complete seasons in boxed sets),but there’s plenty of comic gold here too.
Audio
The sound is 2.0, a...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 3rd, 2003
Synopsis
The pilot episode lets you know immediately that this is going to be a bit different from thebucolic Smallville stories we might be familiar with. The spaceship containing the child Kal-El(soon to be Clark Kent) doesn't arrive on its own: it is accompanied by many fragments of theplanet Krypton, which smash destructively into Smallville, killing the parents of Lana Lang (andalmost putting paid to a young Lex Luthor). Flash forward to the present, and we follow ClarkKent thr...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 2nd, 2003
Synopsis
Harrison Ford is the veteran cop whose runs a real estate business on the side (and businessisn't good). Josh Hartnett is his young partner who is thinking of givine up police work in favourof acting. Their current case involves a massacre at a night club, where the members of an up-and-coming rap group were gunned down. They investigate while trying to keep their alternatecareers going. More trouble lurks in the form of Internal Affairs investigator Bruce Greenwood,who has...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 30th, 2003
Disney has done a very good job bringing the children’s novel Hoels to the big screen (or little screen for this DVD release). This film contains a good story with some solid moral values being taught to the young viewers. The story and acting are both quite good, creating a film that can be enjoyed by both children and adults.
