Dolby Digital 2.0 (Spanish)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 11th, 2003

Synopsis

Dick Van Dyke, the unaccountably American father of two very English children and theson of the equally English (and doddering) Lionel Jeffries, retools an abandoned early-1900s racecar into the gleaming, flying Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Off they go on a series of adventures,most particularly involving the imaginary kingdom of Vulgaria. Based on a book by Ian Fleming,the creator of James Bond, the film is produced by Albert Broccoli (who also produced the Bondseries) and fea…
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X2: X-Men United

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 10th, 2003

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X2:X Men United is the follow-up film to the original X-men film from 2000. The original film did a good job of setting up the universe of the X-men and introducing us to the core characters that the comic books have always centered around. This film expands on this universe and brings along some of the coolest characters from the comics, this being Pyro, a brief glimpse of Juggernaut and lets not forget Nightcrawler. In this film we see the good and band mutants joining forces to defeat a common enemy. This is a little disappointing as we get to see cool new good characters but not really any super new baddies, but it also keeps the storyline fresh instead of it just being the good mutants versus the bad mutants.

Sopranos – The Complete Fourth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 31st, 2003

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Not since the height of the American Western has there been a film genre where we find ourselves rooting for the bad guys and booing the good guys. Yesterday’s Jesse James and Billy The Kid have become Michael Corleone and Tony Soprano. Add to the mix that The Sopranos have totally revolutionized the face of the television drama. It’s no fluke that this show dominates nearly every Emmy category there is. The cinematography is feature film quality. The cast is high end and the writing is gutsy and tight. Make no mistake about it.
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Adventures of Indiana Jones

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2003

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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.
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L’Auberge Espagnole

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 22nd, 2003

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Synopsis

Romain Duris plays a young man who wants to get a good job in the French bureaucracy, andneeds to improve his Spanish. In order to do this, he leaves Paris to live for a year in Barcelona,much to the chagrin of his girlfriend (Audrey Tautou). After navigating the red tape (a realplague in France, and hilariously, mercilessly satirized here), he’s off. Once in Barcelona, hewinds up living in an apartment that he shares with other students from England, Germany,Belgium, Italy…
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X-Files – The Complete Eighth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 19th, 2003

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The eighth season of the X-files brought major changes to one of Fox’s strongest running series. And whenever major changes occur there is always a concern about what is going to happen to the integrity of the show. By the end of the 7th season the worries about what David Duchovny was going to do left fans of the show in limbo. Luckily, the creative team behind the X-files (one of the best in television history) was up to the task.

The season opened with the introduction to Agent Fox Mulder’s replace…
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Scarface

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 16th, 2003

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“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…
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SpongeBob SquarePants Christmas

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 14th, 2003

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Synopsis

Nine more SpongeBob episodes, including the double-length “Christmas Who?” Not all theepisodes are Christmas, or even winter, related. “Procrastination,” for instance, showsSpongeBob desperately trying to write an essay (amusing enough, but not a patch on RichardCondie’s animated short “Getting Started”). All in all good-humoured fun, though I keep beingreminded of Ren and Stimpy with the edge removed.

Audio

The sound is much the same as that on the…
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Christmas Carol – The Movie

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 13th, 2003

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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…
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It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 6th, 2003

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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…
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Christmas with the Simpsons

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 5th, 2003

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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…
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Holes

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 30th, 2003

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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.

28 Days Later

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 23rd, 2003

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Synopsis

A terrible virus called Rage (which just happens to be the French word for rabies, thatdistinctly English fear) gets loose and ravages the population of Britain. 28 days after the initialrelease, Cilian Murphy wakes up in a deserted hospital. He wanders around empty London,wondering where everyone has gone, until, come night, he is attacked by a horde of the infected,who move like George Romero zombies on speed. He is rescued by Naomie Harris, and togetherthey then hook up …
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Alias – The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 14th, 2003

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Alias might well be the first TV series better on DVD than its original broadcast. I tried to get into this show when it began two years ago. Fans could have warned me that any attempt to join this series mid-season is a big mistake. Each episode ends in a cliffhanger and the plots are complicated enough that it can be hard to keep up with the intrusion of preemptions and repeats. These DVD’s allow you to watch the show in a logical order without fear of missing an episode which could leave you completely lost.
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In a Glass Cage

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 13th, 2003

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Synopsis

Klaus (Gunter Meisner) experimented on children during WWII, and he continues his terriblesexual crimes in Spain for years after the war. Consumed by self-loathing, he throws himself offthe roof of a tower. His suicide attempt fails, but he is confined to an iron lung. A mysteriousyoung man named Angelo (David Sust) arrives at his home, and insinuates himself into thehousehold as Klaus’ nurse. Klaus’ wife Griselda (Marisa Paredes) is distrustful, but his youngdaughter Rena …
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Nicholas Nickleby

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 10th, 2003

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Synopsis

At the at of 19, Nicholas Nickleby loses his father. He, his sister Kate and their mother go toLondon to seek the help of a rich uncle, played with villainous gusto by Christopher Plummer.Plummer packs Nicholas off to be teacher at a hellish Yorkshire boarding school, while keepingthe women in London under his thumb. At the school, Nicholas befriends the crippled Smike,and soon begins to stand up against the tyrants. So begin his adventures, during the course ofwhich he gat…
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Solas

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 9th, 2003

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Synopsis

Maria is at war with the world, and one can hardly blame her, given her life. Her mother,Rosa, arrives in the city, accompanying her abusive husband, who is undergoing surgery. Mariaunenthusiastically puts Rosa up at her dingy apartment. Maria’s life continues to get worse,thanks to a relationship with a cruel truck driver, but her mother’s quiet dignity and absolutegoodness gradually begins to win her over. Then there is the Maria’s older neighbour, who isthe first kind ma…
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C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2003

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Make no mistake about it. CSI is not your father’s Quincy. The idea of forensic science on drama is not really a unique one. CSI makes its mark with an incredible style not seen before on TV or even in films. The cases are always engaging and the characters and writing remain strong. This second season set is far superior to the initial outing. Paramount finally got the message and released this set in widescreen and with a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. The packaging, however, is the same awkward and flimsy design offered in year one.
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Men With Guns

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 8th, 2003

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Synopsis

In an unnamed Latin American country, an elderly doctor decides to leave the city to visitseven former students. He had trained them for work in the countryside, with the idea of bringingmodern medicine to the underdeveloped regions. His journey becomes one of disillusionment, aseach student he seeks turns out to have been killed by “men with guns” (the army). As he movesfurther and further into the countryside, he witnesses more and more evidence of barbaritysanctio…
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Bend It Like Beckham

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 7th, 2003

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Synopsis

Parminder Nagra is at odds with her family, who want her to follow the traditional path foran Indian woman. She wants none of that, and dreams instead of becoming a professional soccerplayer. Kiera Knightley is already playing on a female team, but has her own familial issues, witha mother (Juiet Stevenson) who despairs of what she perceives as her daughter’s lack offemininity. Knightley sees Nagra playing soccer in a park, and recruits her for the team. Thoughthis i…
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Dancer Upstairs, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 7th, 2003

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Synopsis

The setting is an unnamed country in Latin America. The time is the recent past. Amysterious terrorist organization, led by someone called “Presidente Ezequiel,” launches a seriesof baffling and increasingly deadly attacks. The government responds with more and moredraconian measures. Caught between the terrorists and a corrupt regime is honest cop JavierBardem, desperate to salvage what democracy his country still has. As he tracks Ezequiel, hisinvestigation…
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Stitch! The Movie

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 3rd, 2003

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Synopsis

Stitch the lovable alien of mass destruction is back with 625 of his closest relatives ready to wreak havoc on the Hawaiian Islands. Captain Gantu has kidnapped Dr. Jumba and brought him to his evil partner Dr. Hamsterviel, they want the other 625 experimental aliens of mass destruction that Dr. Jumbo created. Lilo and Stitch find them and decide that they don’t want to give them up as they are part of the family, so in order to keep them they must rescue Dr. Jumba.

Video

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24 – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 1st, 2003

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24 is one of the most ingenious television plots ever devised… a real-time day in the life of a Counter Terrorist Unit. Like the first season, this second season contains twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat, never knowing what will happen next. Kiefer Sutherland has resurrected his career with this series, and I could not picture another actor more suited to his role. This show is wonderfully casted, magnificently written, and flawlessly executed. If you have never seen this show… now is the p…
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Down With Love

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 25th, 2003

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Synopsis

The time is the 60’s. Renée Zellweger is Barbara Novak, freshly arrived in New York Citywith a barnstormer of a book about to be published. The book is Down With Love, and itturns into an instant bestseller, turning gender relations on their heads. Womanizing CatcherBlock (Ewan McGregor), hotshot writer at Know Magazine, is determined to bring downthe woman who has spoiled his skirt-chasing lifestyle. In disguise, he sets about seducing Novak.Neither ch…
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Angel – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 18th, 2003

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Angel: Season Two (a spinoff from the wildly popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer) follows the continuing adventures of Angel (David Boreanz), the vampire who searches for redemption while battling otherworldly demons and spirits on behalf of man. Angel and his team of modern day Ghostbusters find ways to track down trouble before it gets out of control, giving each episode an action-packed and imaginative flair, with numerous long-term story arcs running throughout the season. The overall theme of the en…
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