Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2002
“You will believe a man can fly” was the promise on a movie poster that tempted this teenager into the brand new multiplex to see Superman - The Movie. Did the film deliver? Let’s just say there were no lawsuits for breech of contract. What teenage kid could help but be swept into the air with Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. Brando had also been a hero of mine and who better to play Superman’s dad than the Godfather himself. No film had to that point ever accomplished the feat of putting a human in flight that rivals the abilities of today’s digital effects. Hell yes, I believe a man can fly.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2002
“Can you summon your talent at will?” This is a question from Satan himself in the The Devil’s Advocate. For Al Pacino I would say the answer is a resounding yes. Pacino has been making us offers we just couldn’t refuse for 30 years. Just a list of his exceptional films would require more space than I have here. You’ll find this film to be one of his more underrated gems.
Synopsis
Kevin Lomax (Reeves) is a hot young lawyer with an uncanny ability to pick a winning jury; in fact he’s never lost.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 9th, 2002
Intro
I have been hearing about this film for quite some time now… and now that I have had the pleasure of viewing it, I can honestly say it is a great film. If you like British style films (Lock Stock, Snatch, Gangster No. 1)… you will thoroughly enjoy Sexy Beast.
Synopsis
“Jonathan Glazer, the award-winning director of advertisements and music videos, presents his feature film debut with this lushly photographed, expertly written, and brilliantly performed convention-defying ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 9th, 2002
Intro
In this world of political correctness it’s a breath of fresh air to revisit this classic film from 1976. Sadly, it’s been given a completely lackluster DVD release.
Synopsis
A washed up former minor league baseball player (Walter Matthau) is given the task of taking a hapless group of kids and turning them into a team. With the help of his secret pitching weapon (Tatum O’Neal) they take a run at the pennant.
Audio
Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Mono. Gi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 7th, 2002
What is the Matrix? That’s the question everyone’s looking to answer in this sci-fi spectacular from Wachowski brothers. One thing it was -- groundbreaking both in the spectacular special effects that we’ve since taken for granted even in tv commercials and in actual ground (the tons of concrete) broken in the film itself.
Synopsis
Computer hacker extraordinaire Neo (Reeves) has this gut feeling that life isn’t all that it seems to be. Turns out he’s right in a big way. A group of revolutionaries l...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 3rd, 2002
Intro
Based on a true story, unfortunately, the story is just average and the DVD release is on the same par.
Synopsis
American Rhapsody tells the story of a Hungarian families (Nastassja Kinski, Tony Goldwyn) escape from their country during Communist rule. Because of the danger they must leave their baby behind and circumstances prevent her from coming to America for another six years. Once she becomes a teenager (Scarlett Johansson), the young girl knows something is missing from h...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2002
Intro
A labour of love…the director (Gillian Grisman) has taken home movie and live performance footage to create a compelling documentary about the friendship between her father (David Grisman) and the late Jerry Garcia.
Jerry Garcia best known as the lead guitarist of the Grateful Dead and the lesser known, at least in my musical knowledge, mandolin maestro David Grisman could easily have been separated at birth. The “twin” musicians have a sound all there own and even if the music isn’t to your...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2002
"Imagine where you will be and it will be so". That was how Maximus comforted his troops before battle. If you imagine yourself in Rome during the days of the Gladiator then Ridley Scott makes it very easy to do. Russell Crowe plays the role of a lifetime as Maximus. I have often heard film lovers state that they don?t make classics anymore. Whether Gladiator is the exception that proves the rule or proof against the rule is uncertain. What is sure is that Gladiator will become a true classic.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 30th, 2002
Written By Kelly Stifora
Intro
Arliss Howard narrates this piece of child-oriented Americana (in the vein of Stand By Me and The Wonder Years) about a group of 1962 youngsters, their obsession with baseball, and the gigantic dog that lives over the left field fence.
Synopsis
Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry) is the new kid in town. Regarded as a geek by the boys who hang out at the local sand lot playing scratch baseball for his inability to throw or catch, Scotty wants nothing more than for his inattentive step dad (...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 29th, 2002
Intro
This is the new film from writer/director Scott Reynolds, who brought us The Ugly, a stylishly weird psycho-thriller from a few years back.
Synopsis
Radha Mitchell runs a diner and a motel by herself in a middle-of-nowhere little town. One morning, she opens her diner and strange young man comes in. He’s been stabbed in the gut, and he needs her help. He’s terrified of a group of surfers who arrive shortly after him. He says they’re after him. Should Mitchell believe him?
I...
