Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 12th, 2003
Synopsis
Set during that vison from Hieronymous Bosch known as spring break in Fort Lauderdale,this is a return to the Annette Funicello-Frankie Avalon beach movies of the 60's, right down tothe PG rating. People stopped making those movies for good reasons, but that didn’t stop theproducers of this effort. Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, playing characters with their ownfirst names (groan) meet, fall in love, but have their romance undermined by Clarkson’s blondbitch of a...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 11th, 2003
Popular culture aficionados and entertainment critics alike have been saying for quite some time now that the last ten or twelve years of television has seen some of the worst shows in the medium’s history. The nineties were filled with more flashes in the pan than an Iron Chef marathon, and even the longer running shows seem to be forgettable tripe the further away they get in our collective rear view mirrors. It’s mindboggling to think a show like Mad About You ran the better part of the decade, isn...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 9th, 2003
Synopsis
Twenty-two years ago, Billy Bob Thornton killed a cashier in a botched robbery. He hasdwelt on this crime ever since, and doesn’t want to be released from prison. He is, though, and re-enters society very much adrift. His life begins to take on a sense of direction when he meetsand strikes up relationships with an embittered preacher (Morgan Freeman), a young woman onauto-destruct (Kirsten Dunst) and the sister of the man he killed (Holly Hunter). Low key,gorgeously photogr...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 9th, 2003
Synopsis
Dee Wallace is an intrepid TV reporter who tracks down a serial killer, and is almost killedfor her troubles. Traumatized, she withdraws to a rural resort, which at first seems idyllic.Gradually, evidence mounts that she is in fact staying in the middle of a werewolf colony. Stillone of the more satisfying werewolf films yet made (though Ginger Snaps has arguablycaptured the crown for best ever), Joe Dante’s film is a delight not only for the grislytransformations, b...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 7th, 2003
Extreme sports films come in two flavors first there are the sport specific show off films and then there are the documentary like Ultimate X that show what extreme sports are about. Keep Your Eyes Open rides the line between these two types of films, it looks at six of the wildest sports out there by looking at the athletes. We get an understanding of what motivates them, how they got into it and we also get lots of footage of them doing what they do. Starring Marc Frank Montoya and Mike and Tina Basich (snowboardin...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 6th, 2003
Synopsis
Our two heroines head out to the Dutch countryside for a holiday. They run into car trouble,and blunder into The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or so the available evidence would haveone believe. They stop at the wrong gas station, and it isn’t long before first one, then the otherare prisoners of a deranged family and their masked, hulking youngster. You’ve seen this before,and done so much better.
Audio
Both 5.1 and 2.0 soundtracks are available,...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 2nd, 2003
Synopsis
An early Rob Reiner film, The Sure Thing features a young John Cusack as a collegefreshman. Tired of having no luck with the ladies at his East Coast college, Cusack is lured onwest by the promise of hooking up with the titular sure thing (Nicolette Sheridan). Hiscomplicated road trip is further complicated by his having to share the journey with DaphneZuniga, a classmate who wants nothing to do with him. You can probably guess where this isgoing to go, but it gets t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 1st, 2003
Piglet has finally moved from supporting cast of the Winnie the Pooh crew to lead in Piglet’s Big Movie. In the fashion that made the Winnie the Pooh stories so popular, Disney has created another Pooh adventure that is sure to entertain children all around the world. This film is not at the same level as Disney’s blockbuster animated features such as A Bug’s Life or Finding Nemo, but it will hold it’s own in the children’s DVD market.
”It's Piglet's first m...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 31st, 2003
Synopsis
Welcome to the world of Julie (Deborah Foreman) and Randy (Nicolas Cage). Randy is apunk, and Julie is the eponymous Valley Girl, she of the instantly recognizable slang (“totally,”“grody,” “gag me,” etc.). Theirs is a light-hearted Romeo and Juliet story, as they fall in lovedespite the disapproval of peers. Don’t be expecting the outrageousness and excess of somethinglike American Pie. Rather, this is a sharply observed comedy, driven more by characterthan by slaps...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 30th, 2003
Synopsis
Chaplin’s career was a long one, and the four films here cover a good span. Chaplin is bestknown for his silent work, and that is represented by Modern Times and The GoldRush. Though the former is also technically his first talkie, it is still primarily silent. Thelatter comes in two versions: the original 1925 release, and the 1942 re-issue, which featured afew new scenes, and the intertitles replaced by Chaplin’s narration (though the film remainsbasically a...
