Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 21st, 2005
This is the story of the most successful porn film ever made. While the documentary's claim that Deep Throat has made over 600 million dollars has been challenged, there is no denying that it WAS a huge success, and was a cause c�l�bre. We meet all the major players in the making of the film (minus, of course, the late Linda Lovelace), its distribution, and its prosecution. There are also plenty of interviews with cultural commentators of one sort or another, ranging from Annie Sprinke to Camille Paglia to Erica Jong to Wes Craven and Hugh Hefner.Though the directors make their feelings pretty clear in the commentary, to their credit, they leave some room for argument in the film (in other words, there is a level of ambiguity and unanswered questions of the non-rhetorical variety that Michael Moore would find intolerable). There are times when I felt a bit frustrated, where I wanted some issues explore a bit more fully, but any film that leaves me thinking as hard as this one does deserves serious plaudits. There are also some truly hilarious moments - the interviewees are a right lot of characters, all right. All in all, a vital document of the ongoing culture wars in the US.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 20th, 2005
Synopsis
In the rural south of the 1930s, a black man is charged with the rape and beating of a white woman. Defending him is Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), and the events surrounding the case are seen through the eyes of Finch’s two children. The film is thus just as much about children’s fears (embodied by Boo Rradley [Robert Duvall], the boogeyman next door) and perceptions of the world as it is about race and unequal justice.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 19th, 2005
Synopsis
Robert Redford is a small-time con man who swindles a runner working for big-time gangster Robert Shaw. When Redford’s partner is killed in retribution, Redford swears revenge, and hooks up with Paul Newman, a veteran at the con game who has fallen on hard times. They put together a veritable army of operators, determined to bring Shaw to his knees in the ultimate con.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 17th, 2005
Synopsis
Seth Brundle (David Goldblum) is on the cusp of perfecting an functioning teleporter, a device that will transform the world. Eager to share his creation with someone, he strikes up an acquaintance with science journalist Geena Davis. She is initially skeptical, but is soon converted, and as the work progresses, the two fall in love. Then, in a fit of misplaced jealousy (he believes that Davis is seeing ex-boyfriend John Goetz), Goldblum teleports while drunk, not knowing a fly is also in th... machine with him. Their DNA is fused, and the man slowly starts transforming into a fly, his relationship and his identity crumbling along with his flesh.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 16th, 2005
Fever Pitch is an American-ized version of the Nick Hornby novel and subsequent British Film. American-ized usually means “watered downâ€, and there’s no doubt a lot of the bite from the original source material is missing. But I am a big fan of the movies High Fidelity and About a Boy. Instead of soccer, the protagonist’s obsession, in this Fever Pitch is baseball (in particular the Red Sox). This obsession gets in the way of having healthy relationships. I think the change of...sport still works; pitch is an apt baseball term. And the correlation between heartbreak in love and heartbreak in Red Sox fans is also relevant. But how is the movie?
Well, the movie is directed by the Farrelly Brothers. So there’s the typical physical and gross out humor one might expect from the fraternal duo. But this is a more, shall we say, “mature†work? The Farrelly’s are really subdued here (sometimes bordering on tepid). Shallow Hal this ain’t. But the material doesn’t lend itself to their hi-jinks. Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore are the stars of this truthful romantic comedy. After the embarrassing Taxi, Fallon shows some range here. Barrymore also surprises with the degree of emotional truth in some scenes. The movie gains steam as it goes along, much like a baseball season, and the combination of smarts and schmaltz (from veteran writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel) did win me over in the end. And I’m a Red Sox fan.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 14th, 2005
Synopsis
Val Kilmer is found, shot in the head and near death, outside the middle-of-nowhere desert town of Blackpoint. When he comes to in the hospital, he has total amnesia. But as flashes of his memory return, he becomes convinced that an attempt will be made to kill the President. No one believes him, including Neve Campbell, who shows up claiming to be his fiancee. No one, that is, except perhaps Sheriff Sam Shepard, who wonders if there might not be something to this man’s beliefs after all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 14th, 2005
Synopsis
John Cusack had done the 80’s adolescent romantic comedy thing to death. In one fashion or another, The Sure Thing, One Crazy Summer, Better Off Dead and Hot Pursuit had some mix of smooching and laughs to them, and Cusack was the main character. So why did he decide to do another in Say Anything, the directing debut for Cameron Crowe?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 13th, 2005
Synopsis
The orphanage where brothers Jake (John Belushi) and Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) grew up is going to be expropriated unless back taxes are paid, and our heroes are resolved to help. The nun in charge won’t accept any of their ill-gotten gains, however, and so they embark on a frenetic cross-county chase to reassemble their old band for a benefit gig. Cue many famous music cameos, and massive car chases.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 13th, 2005
Synopsis
After the events of the first film, Naomi Watts and her young son are starting a new life for themselves in a small town. But the curse of Samara reaches out to them, as not only are there more victims of the lethal videotape in this town (thus driving home Watts’ guilt for having copied the tape herself), but Samara strives to possess Watts’ son.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 11th, 2005
Synopsis
There are a good number of people who have labeled Oliver Stone as a fan of conspiracy theories, out to destroy foundations of conservative ideology, while at the same time re-visiting 60’s nostalgic icons. Despite the jokes and the stereotyping, one has to admit that, as a filmmaker, he has helped bring to screen some of the most talked about cinematic experiences of our time, including Midnight Express, Scarface, not to mention Conan the Barbarian. As a director, his works, s...ch as The Doors, Nixon, JFK and Natural Born Killers, have generated discussion both within and aside from the technical merits. Platoon was his most personal work, and is widely regarded as one of the defining films of the Vietnam War.
