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...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2005
I didn’t think that Scarlet Johansson had an active eye or ear for drama films, that she does different stuff and has generally been incredibly lucky. Apparently, she’s got a good knack for appearing in films that have good stories also, as she had been attached to this film for quite some time.
Based on the novel by Ronald Everett Capps, A Love Song for Bobby Long tells the story of Pursy (Johansson), who has recently found out her mother died, so she travels back to New Orleans and meets Bobby Long...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2005
Synopsis
Aaron Jacob Estes’ film Mean Creek has been favorably compared to films like River’s Edge and in a sense, Lord of the Flies, for obvious reasons, and that’s not a bad thing. Written and directed by Estes, the film begins with Sam (Rory Culkin, Signs), who “borrows” a camcorder owned by George (Josh Peck, Spun), and gets beaten up for it. Sam’s brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan, The Patriot) steps in as the protective, bigger brother and does a little scheming.>
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...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 29th, 2005
Guilt’s a bitch. It can drive you down the road to insanity, and turn your life upside-down. The Machinist is an interesting story that leaves you guessing right until the end. The story moves a little slow, but the performances are impressive and the cumulative tale is well done. Watching Christian Bale portray lead character Trevor Reznik is both impressive and disturbing. Bale looks like a shell of himself; shedding an astounding 63 pounds to play this role. Bale is so thin that you can see every rib ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 27th, 2005
Fascination is a potboiler without a pot. It loosely follows the plot of Hamlet. Adam Garcia plays Scott Doherty, a spoiled young artiste who sulks more than Anakin Skywalker. Scott's father dies (played by James Naughton) under mysterious circumstances, and his wife (played by the "still a hotty" Jacqueline Bisset") returns from a cruise with a new beau (Stuart Wilson). Scott smells something fishy, and with the help of a new stepsister/lover (Alice Evans), he tries to get to the bottom of this crime. So...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 27th, 2005
Synopsis
Irritable, repressed Sylvia Stickles (Tracy Ullman) is conked on the head, and the concussiontransforms her into a sexual dynamo, one of the followers of sexual healer and prophet Ray-Ray(Johnny Knoxville). The streets of Baltimore are the battleground of a culture war between theanti-sex Neuters, led by Sylvia’s mother-in-law Big Ethel, and the forces of the polymorphouslyperverse. The result is a little bit like a George Romero zombie movie, where getting headingthe bonked transf...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 27th, 2005
Synopsis
Little Tim is convinced the boogeyman is in his closet. He’s right, and it gobbles up his dad.Fifteen years later, after many years of therapy devoted to convincing him that he didn’t reallysee a monster that night, Tim (Barry Watson) is still afraid of closets and is haunted by terrifyingvisions. When his mother dies, he returns to his home town for the funeral, and decides to stay atthe old house in order to confront his demons. Big mistake.
The basic set-up is no...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 25th, 2005
Much like previous con films before it like Matchstick Men and The Grifters, Criminal tells the story of a veteran taking a young inexperienced rookie under his wing and showing him the tricks behind the money, and the con artist philosophy.
Based on the Argentinean film Nine Queens, Richard (John C. Reilly, Magnolia) spots Rodrigo (Diego Luna, The Terminal) trying to hustle drink money in a club. He hustles Rodrigo out, and discovers Rodrigo is doing this to earn m...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 24th, 2005
White Noise borrows much from the successful cycle of modern horror films. There is a tremendous likeness to both The Ring and FearDotCom. The use of a television screen for eerie f/x and a few shocks reminds us of the former, while the torture of the kidnapped victim in industrial and dank surroundings is taken right out of the latter. White Noise has some wonderfully disturbing moments. The atmosphere is rank with just enough possibility to be truly scary at times. Michael Keaton adds that element of respectability and believability which carries a weak script much farther than it deserves. I should also point out that the cinematography is simply brilliant.
