Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 4th, 2005
Synopsis
The thing that surprised me about this animated version of Spider-Man was not that it ran for over 60 episodes during afternoons in the early ‘90s, but that there was a decent level of voice talent on the show. Ed Asner (Elf) is the voice of J. Jonah Jameson, Roscoe Lee Browne (King) does Kingpin, and the voice of the Venom character is done by Hank Azaria (The Simpsons). And they put together a fairly decent storyline also.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 4th, 2005
Synopsis
Among the more unjustly ignored performances was Jack Nicholson’s turn as Union boss Jimmy Hoffa in Hoffa. Fox finally decided to put out the Danny DeVito directed, David Mamet written film on DVD. Mamet’s script seems to romanticize Hoffa, portraying him as more of a Union man, as one who was forced to make deals that could compromise his integrity, but he overlooks his integrity in order to help benefit the American working man. The story is told in the point of view of Hoffa aide Bobby Ci...ro (DeVito), a fictitious character whose flashbacks are used to help us see how Hoffa perhaps should be viewed, as opposed to the punchline in some jokes we may make now.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 24th, 2005
Synopsis
After the suicide of his wife, psychologist De Niro takes his traumatized daughter Dakota Fanning off to a house in the woods to recover. Fanning begins to exhibit strange, hostile behaviour associated with her imaginary friend, Charlie. Then, as the violence escalates, De Niro realizes that Charlie might well be real after all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 23rd, 2005
Synopsis
The setting is a prestigious black college, and the set-up is along the lines of what you would expect in a college-set musical: conflicts between the black-uniformed frat brothers and the political activists (of which the leader is a young Laurence Fishburne), gender wars and misunderstandings right, left and centre, and plenty of music. It’s all very lively, but not nearly as funny as Lee clearly thinks it is (see notes on commentary below). The bigger question is whether the satire and po...nted politics are able to survive the knockabout gags, and whether the movie actual works as a cohesive whole.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 20th, 2005
Synopsis
The superbly obnoxious Ben Stiller plans to have his Globo Gym take over and destroy the building that houses the apathetic Vince Vaughn’s Average Joe’s. Unless Vaughn and his friends raise $50,000.00 before the end of the month, all will be lost. Their only hope is to win a dodgeball championship. They’re no damn good, but help comes in the form of psychotic ex-dodgeball champ Rip Torn and Christine Taylor as an accountant with a killer throw.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 2nd, 2005
Man on Fire is a stylish thriller with excellent performances at the heart. Denzel Washington plays Creasey, an ex CIA/assassin who is too tired of the killing. Now out of the game, Creasey sticks to drinking in Mexico City. Enter Rayburn, an old buddy (played by the wonderful Christopher Walken). He has a potential job for the down and out Creasey. A string of abductions and kidnappings in the city (Mexico City is the real life kidnap capital of the world) forces a young industrialist (Marc Anthony)and h...s wife (Radha Mitchell)to hire Creasy as a bodyguard for their 10 year old daughter Pita (played by Dakota Fanning). Well...let's just say...the bodyguarding doesn't go too well. And Creasey needs to find Pita before it's too late.
Man on Fire is directed by Tony Scott. Scott is a stylist, and the movie definitely has stylistic excess. But this is the man who invented stylistic excess with Top Gun. But Scott is more successful when he has great actors to inhabit his stylish canvas, True Romance and Crimson Tide are great examples. Scott has become more "modern" with his use of jump cuts and freaky camera angles. It's a dizzying experience, but thankfully this over the top effort is fleshed out by the excellent performances of Denzel and Dakota Fanning (she will be a star one day). The movie is way too long (2 and a half hours for a genre thriller??). But the peformances and the script (by Mystic River's Brian Helgeland) hold Scott's over direction in check.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 31st, 2005
We now have the full I, Robot experience with this new “All Access Collector’s Edition”. We have more a lot more supplements but, unfortunately, the movie is not improved. It’s still a fun couple of hours though. I, Robot follows the story of Will Smith (and his character name, if that matters, is Detective Spooner) as he tries to solve the murder of a robotics scientist (James Cromwell). Smith must overcome his prejudice against robots, as he tries to solve the case.
There are a lot of “c...ol” scenes, and I really enjoyed the universe created by Alex Proyas. One of Proyas’ previous films, Dark City, is a startling work of imagination. The special effects are very modern, but the story is as creaky as an old rocking chair. We’ve seen all this before: the chases, the one note characterizations, the one-liners, the Will Smith-ism. This is ain’t Bad Boys. The movie is caught between an intelligent futuristic tale and a Will Smith vehicle. The two cancel each other out. What’s left is a watered down film that’s only “suggested” by Isaac Asimov’s original work. Fans didn’t seem to mind though. The excellent box office summer receipts proved that Will Smith is still a force to be reckoned with. I enjoyed I, Robot, but I took it for what it was…and not as it should be.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 23rd, 2005
As is the trend for today, this is the Special Edition re-release of The Day After Tomorrow tagged as the All-Access Collector's Edition. As much of this set is the same as the original release, pieces of this review will be taken from our prior review of The Day After Tomorrow.
Storms both freakish and intense devastate the planet. Climatologist Dennis Quaid realizes that the world is on the brink of a sudden new ice age. As a freezing hurricane descends upon the US, Quaid must struggle through the snow and killing cold to reach a crippled New York City, where his son (Jake Gyllenhaal) is huddled with other survivors in the Public Library.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 21st, 2005
Kinsey, starring Liam Neeson, is a film that seems more relevant today. Albert Kinsey, known to his students as Prok, had to fight societal conservatism to get his work published and recognized. The movie is part biography/part sociological study. The director/writer Bill Condon traces Kinsey’s life from early childhood to older age. The flaws of the film are a matter of narrative clarity: in two hours, Condon tries to pack too much in. However, Kinsey sports a strong cast, which makes the two hou...s fly by. This is one of best films of 2004.
Liam Neeson is perfectly cast as the complex “Prok”. Neeson seems so natural in these “important roles” (think Oscar Schindler). He has the detachment of a scientist, but we know the heart is raging underneath. He is seduced by a male colleague (played by the stellar Peter Sarrsgard), and the scene is electric. There is also a scene later in the film where Kinsey feels the guilt for opening up this “Pandora’s Box”. Neeson has a breakdown that is perfectly believable. Laura Linney (in her Oscar Nominated role) is equally as watchable as Kinsey’s wife “Mac”. Linney captures the complexities of this character as well; she’s torn between unconventional morality and her love for “Prok”. In the film’s final touching scene, Prok and Mac emerge as a couple that really does need each other. There is a depth and subtlety to their relationship that words cannot express. Kudos to Condon for bringing such a modern, mature relationship to the screen. Rounding out the cast is Peter Sarrsgard, Timothy Hutton, and an excellent John Lithgow (as Kinsey’s father). In a nice bit of type casting, Lithgow plays a conservative preacher (Footlose anyone?), but his final scene with Kinsey is a heartbreaker; one is reminded that Mr. Lithgow needs to leave the 3rd Rock more often.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 11th, 2005
For those of you who think that all foreign films are drab and dreary, Los Debutantes may reinforce that belief. Written and directed by Andres Waissbluth, it tells the story of two brothers in Chile who celebrate Victor’s (the younger brother’s) birthday by going to a strip club. He falls in love with one of the dancers there named Gracia and attempts to pursue her (even during her day job, when she is the attendant at an adult theater), despite the feelings his older brother Silvio has for her.
The...story shows several different points of view in 30-40 minute periods, first you see the Victor’s, then Silvio’s, then Gracia’s, followed by the dramatic and violent ending the film seems destined for. Granted, the plot twists are familiar to other nonlinear films like Rashomon or Pulp Fiction, but the characters, particularly Gracia, dream of lives beyond their current state, and look to do better. Victor goes to school, while Silvio works to make Victor’s life easier.
