Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 2nd, 2006
Kathy Bates and the late Jessica Tandy star in Fried Green Tomatoes, a wonderfully surprising film about four strong women finding friendship, loyalty, and strength in each other. Sounds boring, right? I thought so, too, until I actually sat down and gave the extended anniversary edition a chance. The film, based on Fannie Flagg's novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, is really two stories in one. Bates plays an unhappy Southern woman stuck in a marriage routine, which doesn't favor her n...eds at all. She is underappreciated, despite her calm, sweet demeanor, and routinely thrown out of her husband's aunt's room at the nursing home. It's during one of these rejections that she meets Nanny Threadgoode (Tandy), a positive old woman determined to get her house back, and eager for the chance to talk about her past.
But it isn't her own life that Nanny wants to tell her new friend about - it's the friendship of two women, Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker), whom Nanny used to know, that gets the old woman talking. Be forewarned. There are some hanky moments, but they're all handled with great care. Also, the racial elements of the backstory and an intriguing murder mystery amp up the drama to a reasonably tense and captivating level. Director Jon Avnet keeps the film from ever getting too hoky or melodramatic, though I will say it can't escape predictability. There are some pseudo-surprises you should see coming from a mile away, and even a touch of morbidity toward the film's conclusion. But it all works, thanks in large part to great source material, a strongly adapted script, and the amazing performances of all four women.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 1st, 2006
Synopsis
In 1930, the animation department at Warner creates three characters: the Warner Brothers and their sister, Dot. The siblings run riot, however, and are finally caught and imprisoned in the Warner water tower. Flash-forward to today, when they escape to once more wreak havoc.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 31st, 2006
Synopsis
Jon Voight is a rogue director in the National Security Agency. When politician Jason Robards stands in the way of dangerous bill that would give the NSA almost unlimited powers, Voight has him killed. The murder is captured on tape, and a disc containing the incriminating evidence winds up in the hands of attorney Will Smith. The next thing he knows, his life is turned upside down as Voight sends high-tech minions after him. He seeks the help of retired surveillance whiz Gene Hackman.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 30th, 2006
Synopsis
I’m probably one of the few remaining “critics” that wasn’t familiar with the Showtime original series Weeds, and when Mary-Louise Parker (Fried Green Tomatoes) won a Golden Globe for Best Actress, like some other people who haven’t seen it, my response was “what the hell for?”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 29th, 2006
While V For Vendetta certainly met with some backlash when it was released in theaters earlier this year, having now seen the film myself, I am shocked that it didn't meet with even more opposition; especially from the White House. Of course, if the White House had come out against the film, it would not only have spurred greater ticket sales, but it also would have placed the government in the position of the film's villain. To speak out against this film would be to be to speak out against basic American values.
Set in the near future, this film tells the story of V, a terrorist that rallies against an unjust government. He is something of a modern-day Che Guevara, except he bases himself on a 17th century activist named Guy Fawkes, who was foiled in an attempt to destroy the English Parliament. Among other acts of terror, V plans to succeed where Fawkes failed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 28th, 2006
Synopsis
Benchwarmers at first glance appears to be a stupid comedy. Produced by Adam Sandler (Big Daddy) and starring Rob Schneider (Deuce Bigalow), the movie’s 85 minute existence appears to be an aberration in the space time continuum, something that should not be discussed or hinted at for all eternity. Now, I’m not in this to bash Schneider, God, every critic has done that already, and I can’t add any new material. But in his role as Gus, he just isn’t believable.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 28th, 2006
Synopsis
Will Patton is the owner of the Black Pelican, a road house where he will tolerate no nonsense, and particularly no drug dealing. This doesn’t please local slimeball Jake Busey, and when Patton refuses to sell, Busey (through dirty fighting, of course) beats Patton to within an inch of his life. Patton’s nephew is Johnathon Schaech, undercover DEA agent, and he arrives in the boondocks to take over the bar and set things straight.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2006
Synopsis
In 1908, an inbred hillbilly (played by, who else, Newhart’s William Sanderson) had decapitated a family member, and is brought to a spooky asylum. A maniacal intern realizes that the face-like deformity on the man’s back is actually intelligent, and his obsession with cracking the mystery unleashes all sorts of horrors.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2006
Synopsis
Geena Davis is the Vice-President who was chosen as running mate by the Republican President because she would balance out the ticket (she’s an Independent) and help him with the female voters. When he is felled by a stroke, the possibility that she might become President fills the powers that be with dread, and her resignation is demanded so that the hard-right Speaker of the House (Donald Sutherland) can step in instead. Davis refuses, and the series follows her struggles as the first woma... to be President of the US.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2006
Not being a big fan of Black Hawk Down, I can't really tell you how many releases of the feature this makes from Sony. I know it's a title, which has seen at least two prior offerings. There is nothing new here to recommend the extended cut over the previous three-disc monster edition; however, it may be the way to go if you've yet to add this Ridley Scott war film to your collection. I'll be the first to admit that Scott does some of his finest work as director in this gritty combat picture; but his style is ...lso the reason why I feel Black Hawk Down fails to deliver, and pack the same emotional punch of a Saving Private Ryan or We Were Soldiers. Most of the young stars involved in this film, and in the grisly fighting, stay masked under a thick layer of dirt and grime throughout the 152-minute running time. While that contributes largely to the chaotic and confusing authenticity during battle scenes, it hinders the audience from getting attached to any of the characters.
I know character development needn't be sacrificed on the altar of battle realism; yet that's exactly what happens in Black Hawk Down. It's the kind of film, which needs Mark Bowden's book on which it was based to fill in the gaps left by the dramatization. The contemporary war efforts mentioned above are proof this sacrifice is an unnecessary one. Still, as disorienting as the film is, you can tell Scott is a seasoned director, who knows his way around a camera. And who knows? Perhaps his style creates some of the most realistic battle scenes known to film. And if this is all he wanted to accomplish, then Scott's film succeeds. But I can't imagine a director actively indifferent towards how his audience feels about the characters. And if this assumption rings true in Scott's case, then he can't look back on Black Hawk Down pleased with how it all turned out.
