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Barbie As The Princess and the Pauper

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 7th, 2004

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“Long ago and far away…”

So begins the latest direct-to-video CGI-animated Barbie movie, Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper. Based on Mark Twain’s classic tale, this video/DVD is a modern-retelling of the story. It’s Barbie’s first musical, and it does a fantastic job of both entertaining kids and giving them something to think about.

At the same moment, two identical baby girls were born. One, Princess Anneliese, had everything, while Erika, born to a poor village family, lived a li…
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Day After Tomorrow, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 26th, 2004

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Synopsis

Storms both freakish and intense devastate the planet. Climatologist Dennis Quaid realizesthat the world is on the brink of a sudden new ice age. As a freezing hurricane descends uponthe US, Quaid must struggle through the snow and killing cold to reach a crippled New YorkCity, where his son (Jake Gyllenhaal) is huddled with other survivors in the Public Library.

The science is preposterous rubbish from start to finish, the dialogue is laughable, and theplot…
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Felicity – Junior Year DVD Collection

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 24th, 2004

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Synopsis

Season Three is the junior year for Felicity, and her initial plans to move in with twogirlfriends take a turn when, on the spur of the moment, she rents a run-down apartment for herand Ben. Other storylines revolve around Richard’s sexuality (is he gay or just very shy?) andSean’s medical condition (which reaches a climax in the episode titled, with macabre humour,“One Ball, Two Strikes”).

In retrospect, what with the flood of box sets hitting the market, a series …
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Garfield – The Movie

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 24th, 2004

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Synopsis

Garfield goes about his happy existence, scarfing lasagna, tormenting the neighbourhooddog, and taking advantage of fellow cat Nermal’s stupidity. Chaos arrives when Jon (BreckinMeyer), hoping to impress vet Liz (Jennifer Love Hewitt) adopts Odie the dog. Garfield doesall he can to remove Odie from the home, but when Odie actually is kidnapped by an evil animalshow host, Garfield heads off to the city on a perilous rescue.

Other than Garfield’s look and an appropria…
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Lost Treasure

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 22nd, 2004

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Synopsis

An art-museum heist leads to the discovery of a map pointing the way to a treasure hiddenby Christopher Columbus. Two groups wind up on a remote island, racing each other and aferocious storm for the treasure. One group is a collection of criminals and crooked cops, eagerto kill our heroes in the second group (Stephen Baldwin, Nicolette Sheridan, and assorted comicrelief).

The director of this dead duck is supposedly someone named “Jay Andrews,” but withinmoments it is pa…
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Heir to an Execution: A Granddaughter’s Story

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 20th, 2004

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Synopsis

Ivy Meeropol is the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed fortreason at the height of the McCarthy era. Their case is a controversial one to this day, andMeeropol sets out to learn as much about who her grandparents were as she can, while peoplewho knew them are still alive. The series of interviews she conducts are fascinating looks backinto a dark period of American history, but there also flashes of the human comedy as well (suchas when former Ro…
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Walking Tall

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 4th, 2004

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Synopsis

Returning to his home town after eight years in the Special Forces, Chris Vaughn (The Rock)finds that everything has changed. The lumbermill has shut down, and in its place a casino hasarisen, dispensing drugs and sin on all sides. Beaten and left for dead by casino hoods, Chrisfights back, eventually replacing the sheriff and cleaning up the town by cleaning clocks.

This remake is loosely inspired by the life of Sheriff Buford Pusser (who was actually a prowrestler…
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Angels in America

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 2nd, 2004

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Synopsis

A sprawling tale/fable/meditation centred on the early AIDS plague and the American dream,Angels in America is set in 1985, and traces hypocrisy and courage, disillusion and faithin the face of the disease. Prior (Justin Kirk) reveals to his lover Louis (Ben Shenkman) that hehas AIDS. Louis leaves him, and takes up with lawyer (Patrick Wilson), who, as a Mormon, ispretty damn closeted. His wife Harper (Mary-Louise Parker) spirals into depression. Meanwhile,spectacula…
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Hidalgo

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 14th, 2004

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Synopsis

Depressed by the US government’s genocide of Native Americans, Frank T. Hopkins (ViggoMortensen) is drinking himself into oblivion while working for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.His horse, a Mustang named Hidalgo, has been called the world’s best endurance racer, whichdraws the ire of an Arabian shiek, who feels his horse owns that title. Honour challenged,Hopkins travels to the Arabian Desert to take part in a gruelling 3,000-mile race.

Having gone out of its way …
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Girl Next Door, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 12th, 2004

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Synopsis

On the cusp of graduation, honour student Emile Hirsch’s quiet, orderly life is thrown intochaos when he falls in love with girl next door Elisha Cuthbert, who turns out to be a porn star.Hirsch’s reaction to this revelation drives a wedge between the couple, and pushes Cuthbert backinto the industry. Hirsch’s attempts to redeem himself lead him into deeper and deepertrouble.

This is not another would-be American Pie (though apparently the script started out…
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Reality Bites

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 29th, 2004

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Synopsis

The title says it all as far as our principle characters are concerned. They are coming of age ina world so inimical to them (thank you, Baby Boomers) that their survival response is cynicismand disengagement. The leads are Winona Ryder as a would-be filmmaker in a humiliating job,Ethan Hawke as the slacker who can’t express his true feelings for Ryder, and Ben Stiller as thecareer guy who also courts Ryder. Also here are friends Janeane Garofalo and Steven Zahn asequally c…
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Global Effect

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 23rd, 2004

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Synopsis

A madman with a dream of cleansing the planet steals a ferociously deadly virus and kidnapsMadchen Amick, the only scientist who potentially knows how to create a vaccine for thedisease. A multinational special forces squad is sent to find the bad guys and rescue Amick.Meanwhile, our villain begins the spread of the virus, and a trigger-happy National SecurityAdviser wants to nuke all of Africa. Erstwhile mummy Arnold Vosloo is the scientist at theWashington HQ urging calm.

Detonator

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 21st, 2004

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Synopsis

A powerful bomb explodes in downtown LA law office. The authorities suspect terrorism,but former FBI agent (now officer for the Bureau of Postal Investigation) Randall Batkinkoff hashis doubts. Politics interferes with his investigation, but he gradually becomes involved asanother bomb goes off. Evidence points to violent survivalist, but is he really the right man?

The rebellious investigator who’s always right. The politically-motivated chief investigatorwho hamstrings th…
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Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 16th, 2004

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The mid-nineties Fox Spider-Man was hands down the best animated series of the time. It was one of the first series to use a Japanese animation company to produce a regular Saturday morning series and the Japanese influence was immediately striking. The brightness and depth of colors as well as the consistency of the animation blew away everything else that was available on TV at the time. The stories were outstanding in that they borrowed heavily from classic comic stories and adapted them for viewers that may not b…
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Barbershop 2: Back in Business

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 12th, 2004

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There is an interesting trend that seems to be going on in Hollywood right now. Contrary to the record of history, sequels are starting to turn out better, not worse, than their original productions. X2 was better than X-Men, Spidey 2 was better than the first, and each installment in the The Lord of the Rings trilogy built upon the previous episode to an eventual Best Picture climax. I am thrilled that this is the case, since there are more sequels being made now than ever before.

Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 6th, 2004

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Synopsis

Cody Banks (Frankie Muniz) is training at a CIA summer camp. A midnight drill that resultsin the flight of the camp leader turns out not to have been a drill at all. It turns out that the man isa villain (so why did the CIA let him run the camp at all?) and he has absconded with a mind-control device. Muniz is sent to England to track him down, where he hooks up with fellow teenspy Hannah Spearritt and adult-yet-childlike handler Anthony Anderson.

The idea of a CIA …
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South Park – The Complete Fourth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 6th, 2004

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South Park had peaked with Season 3. The film was a huge hit and some of the best stuff came out that year. Season 4 would become a more up and down year. It’s obvious that the Stone and Parker team decided to push the envelope a bit further. This is also the year we got wheelchair bound Timmy. I liked Timmy at first, but he just gets old fast. One of the highlights of this season is the last episode. Another Mr. Hanky Christmas episode has the boys creating a special computer Christmas card called “The Spirit of Chr…
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Gacy

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 5th, 2004

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Synopsis

John Wayne Gacy (Mark Holton) is a typical, if rather slobbish, middle-class family man. Heis the local organizer for the Democrats. He also has a bad stench emanating from the crawlspace beneath his house, and the neighbours keep complaining. Gacy has his work cut out forhim dealing with the stench, since it is caused by the rotting bodies of the young men he hasmurdered.

The lurid qualities of Gacy’s crimes mean that this film could have been an unwatchableexercise in b…
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Inhabited

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 5th, 2004

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Synopsis

Megan Gallagher and family move into a new house, and very soon things start to go wrong.It seems that there is a race of little creatures, the “Huldre,” living under the earth, and they playincreasingly nasty pranks. Their central target is Gallagher’s young daughter, who at first isdelighted to befriend the creatures. Malcolm McDowell, slumming for another paycheck, plays apsychiatrist who sees the child’s case as his ticket to glory.

The plotting is sloppy, the character…
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Dragon Fighter

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 2nd, 2004

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Synopsis

Dean Cain arrives at a secret base in California to take over as head of security from hisRussian predecessor. (Why is the other guy Russian? Because the movie was shot in EasternEurope.) He arrives in time for a DNA cloning experiment conducted by the chief scientist/chiefweasel (whose accent sounds more like Moscow than the Chicago of which he supposedly anative). The experiment results in the Jurassic Park-style resurrection of a fire-breathingdragon.

What follo…
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Dreamers, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 29th, 2004

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Synopsis

May 1968. Paris is about to explode. Moving at the periphery of events that made whathappened at the same time in the States look like a mild-mannered debate are our threecharacters. American student Michael Pitt is a film buff, religiously attending the screenings atthe Cinémathèque Française. When that institution is closed (an event that helps ignite thepolitical powderkeg), Pitt falls in with two fellow buffs: twin siblings Eva Green and LouisGarrel. When the twins’ parents lea…
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Monk – The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 20th, 2004

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It is nearly impossible to escape the common comparisons between Monk and Columbo. But don’t get this show expecting it to be at all like the well-loved bumbling detective played for decades by Peter Falk. The two characters are nothing alike. The comparisons are made because we haven’t had a detective show since Columbo where the quirks and personality of the character himself were more important than the cases he solved.

Tony Shalhoub’s Adrian Monk suffers from a long list of phobias from germs to drink…
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Complete Sixth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 24th, 2004

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Following what may be one of the best season finales ever (i.e. Buffy sacrifices herself for her sister Dawn) Buffy is raised from the dead by the ever increasing powers of Willow. She returns disoriented just in time to battle a horde of motorcycle riding demons hell-bent on turning Sunnyvale into their own personal property. It is during the opening two episodes that it becomes clear that secrets are going to play a major role in the sixth season.

Buffy’s friends believe that as a result of the events of…
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Samurai Jack – Season One

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 24th, 2004

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Easily the best animated series to hit the airwaves over the past decade, Gennedy Tartovsky’s Samurai Jack has developed a devoted following owing to it’s superior storytelling and cinematography (if you can call it cinematography when it’s on TV).

It follows the story of Samurai Jack – a time displaced samurai looking to restore order to the planet by destroying the demon responsible for his, and the earth’s predicament. Aku, a powerful demon attacked Jack’s village destroying his home and family. Jack sw…
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Prince Valiant

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 18th, 2004

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Synopsis

Robert Wagner (yes indeed) is Prince Valiant, son of a deposed Viking king. Sent toCamelot, Valiant has a run-in with the treacherous Black Knight, and sees him conspiring withother Vikings (the bad ones) to conquer Britain. Valiant doesn’t see the evil knight’s face. Couldhe be one of the knights of the round table? Could he possibly be the arrogant and shifty-eyedJames Mason? Hmmm. Valiant trains for knighthood under Sir Gawain (hopeless miscastSterling Hayden), but in hi…
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