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Dolby Digital 5.1 (English)

Big Fish

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 15th, 2004

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Synopsis

Billy Crudup learns that father Albert Finney is dying, and returns home. He has feltalienated from his father because of the latter’s never-ending tall tales of his life. Crudup wouldlike to hear something true for once in his life, while Finney maintains that he IS telling the truth.Finney tells the tales again, mostly to Crudup’s fiancee, and his improbable life unfolds beforeus, with Ewan McGregor as his younger self. In his quest for his true love, he encounters amysti…
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Paul McCartney: The Music and Animation Collection

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 15th, 2004

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Synopsis

Here are three cartoons that Paul McCartney backed and scored. They are all lovinglycrafted, even if they don’t always work at the narrative level. “Tropic Island Hum” and “Rupertand the Frog Song” are the weakest (though again, they look stunning). They are little more thanvisually lush excuses to set up underwhelming musical numbers (which tend to reinforce theimpression that McCarney is a creatively spent force in this department). The former apes thelook of classic musical shor…
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Passionada

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 12th, 2004

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Synopsis

Sofia Milos has been widowed for years, but still refuses to start dating again. Her daughter(Emmy Rossum) tries to set her up, but with disastrous results. Jason Isaacs is a slightly seedybut charming-in-his-own way gambler who falls for Milos when he sees her sing. His clumsypursuit appears doomed to failure, until Rossum makes him a deal: if he teaches her how to countcards, she’ll help him win Milos.

Nothing in this film can really be said to be surprising. Once…
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Velocity of Gary, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 11th, 2004

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Synopsis

Vincent D’Onofrio plays Valentino, AIDS-stricken former porn star who is the centre ofa subcultural social whirl in NYC. He splits his affections between male prostitute Thomas Janeand in-your-face-and-then-some waitress Salma Hayek. As the disease takes its toll, Jane andHayek must overcome their differences to support D’Onofrio. Then there’s the fact that Hayekis pregnant…

The film is very affectionate toward its collection of flamboyantly non-mainstreamcharac…
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Carly Simon – Live from Martha’s Vineyard: The Classic Concert

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 10th, 2004

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I hate Carly Simon. However, I feel that as I am supposed to be an impartial reviewer, so I should get that out of the way right here at the start. I have never liked her, though I am not really sure why. Maybe it is her freakishly large mouth. Maybe it’s that fact that “You’re So Vain” really is about the person who thinks it’s about them. Whatever the reason, I just can’t help it. She makes me cringe.

The good news is, now that I have viewed this disc, I have plenty of valid reasons to hate her. Ob…
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Schindler’s List

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 9th, 2004

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Synopsis

Liam Neeson is Oskar Schindler, ladies man with an eye for the main chance. He makes afortune in German-occupied Warsaw, staffing his factory with the cut-rate labour provided bythe Jews. As the Nazi persecution of the Jews becomes more and more murderous, Schindler’sconscience is awakened, and he eventually becomes intent not on making money through cheaplabour, but in saving the lives of his employees.

Shot in black and white, with the disturbing exception of a li…
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Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 8th, 2004

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Come join the Baker family (all twelve of them) for a fun, entertaining and albeit crazy ride through their life. While trying to manage twelve kids and a job Tom and Kate Baker (Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt) manage to do it all, while still staying somewhat sane.

With a great cast of Hollywood veterans and up and comers “Cheaper By the Dozen” offers something for kids and adults of all ages. The dynamic between Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt presents a real sense of family togetherness and even the idea that a…
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Master and Commander – The Far Side of the World

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 5th, 2004

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Master and Commander is an epic tale that is adapted from 2 novels of a 20 novel collection by writer Patrick O’Brian. This Napoleonic-era story follows the escapades of Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) and his intrepid crew aboard the British war frigate HMS Surprise, as they try to hunt down and capture or destroy the French warship Acheron. The Film gets off to a fast start as Capt. Aubrey and crew are ambushed by the Acheron and decimated in short order. This initial attack is well done and well acted …
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C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation – The Complete Third Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 3rd, 2004

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CSI continued to improve into its third season. The stories are as crisp and innovative as ever. Surprisingly, the show did not suffer from the addition of its fine but inferior Miami cousin. Minor characters like lab tech Greg are put to much better use. The f/x get better also, and a strong cast of guest stars doesn’t hurt the mix either.

Audio

This Dolby Digital 5.1 sound once again reinvents TV sound. Highs and lows both exhibit dynamic performance. Dialogue is crisp and always clear. …
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Undefeated

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 2nd, 2004

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Let’s face it… when it comes to boxing movies, there’s Raging Bull, and then there’s everything else. Rocky (and the subsequent cash driven vehicles) is a great film, but not really a great film about boxing. Even Daniel Day-Lewis’ The Boxer is more about the man than the sport. It’s hard to make a great boxing film. Not only is it extremely difficult to capture the action authentically, but very few actors have the physical ability to pull off such a role.

Well, I don’t know how easily…
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Meet Me in St. Louis

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 1st, 2004

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Synopsis

The story begins in summer of 1903, some seven months before the World’s Fair arrives inSt. Louis. The film is then divided up into the seasons as we follow the life of the Smith family.At the centre is Judy Garland as Esther Smith, backed up by a very young Margaret O’Brien aslittle sister “Tootie.” In terms of plot, nothing much happens: Garland falls in love, and there issome tension when it seems that the pater familias has landed a job in New York and the familywill ha…
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S.I.C.K.

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 31st, 2004

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Synopsis

Ken Hebert (lead actor and film’s producer) invites three friends out to his cabin in thewoods. Oddly, these friends are either people he hasn’t seen in years, or barely knows. Along theway, they pick up another young woman who’s been having some hitch-hiking problems. Thatnight, the stranger tells a gruesome story about a killer clown. And wouldn’t you know it? Oneby one, the cast starts being killed by that very figure.

It’s amateur hour, folks. Looks like a bunch…
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King of New York

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 30th, 2004

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Synopsis

Crime kingpin Christopher Walken is released from prison, and immediately reasserts hiscontrol over the underworld. All sorts of rivals are dispatched messily. He is also at odds withthe police, who are determined to bring him down. Our ganglord isn’t all bad, though: he hasall sorts of impressive community projects in mind.

This last detail is perhaps the most telling point: we are in the realm of full-on fantasy here.Director Abel Ferrara and long-time screenwrite…
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Wild Things 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 30th, 2004

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Synopsis

Susan Ward, presumably cast because she’s a dead ringer for Denise Richards, is a sad littlerich girl at one of those beachfront high schools populated, to judge from the evidence on hand,by porn stars. In between slow-motion beach volleyball games, her life seems to be falling apart.Her mother died years go in the Louisiana swamp. Her rich stepfather is first threatened by agangster, and is then killed in a plane crash. Not only is Ward’s inheritance pitiful, but queenbitc…
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Friends – The Complete Seventh Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 30th, 2004

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Synopsis

Having exhausted just about every other romantic combination involving the ever-popularcast, the writers finally settled down to make a wedding actually happen. The preparations forthe wedding and all the associated complications form the backbone of the season, while variousother subplots (Rachel’s hunky new assistant, roommate musical chairs, etc) weave in and out.We are also asked to believe that a) Rachel is only turning 30 now; and b) this is a HugeDeal.

100 Mile Rule

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 29th, 2004

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The 100 Mile Rule, as a corny salesman puts it, means that when you are more than 100 miles from your wife, cheating doesn’t count. It is some kind of moral loophole used by salesmen who travel frequently, allowing them to be unfaithful to their wives. While the phrase is quite original, the film is made up of parts belonging to other movies, a kind of Frankenstein if you will. Not to say that 100 Mile Rule resembles that monster, because it is actually quite enjoyable. However, you will need to get past the m…
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Something’s Gotta Give

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 29th, 2004

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Synopsis

Inveterate bachelor Jack Nicholson (playing, essentially, himself) arrives at a beach housewith his latest young conquest, only to run into her mother (Diane Keaton, also play, essentially,herself). Shortly thereafter, Nicholson has a heart attack, and is forced to remain in the Hamptonsunder the reluctant care of Keaton. A bond inevitably grows between them, even as she is beingromanced by the much younger Keanu Reeves.

It says something about our movie-conditioned…
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Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 29th, 2004

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Hot on the heels of The Great Race, Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines was a bit of silliness and fun for 20th Century Fox. The Monty Python-styled opening credits set the tone for this British humor film, also known as How I Flew From London To Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes. If the film suffers at all, it is the length. At almost 2 1/2 hours, it takes quite a while to get to the race. It’s almost 2 hours before the meat of the film begins. While there are many clever and memorable…
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Gothika

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 28th, 2004

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Gothika starts out with tremendous promise. The story appears that it will be more original and rewarding than most horror/thrillers. Halle Berry certainly rises above the usual B-list acting. Even Downey, Jr. seems suspiciously at home in the film’s prison setting. The trouble begins for the audience shortly after it does for Berry. Soon the film begins to get predictable and ordinary. Only the terrific cinematography and convincing atmosphere save the film from sinking to the depths of the many who have gone before…
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Shattered Glass

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 26th, 2004

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Hayden Christensen is the very incarnation of smarm as Stephen Glass, hot-shot writer for The New Republic. His stories are all fabulous, seemingly too good to be true. Which is, in fact, the problem. His tissue of lies begins to unravel when Steve Zahn, reporter for Forbes Digital, tries to follow up one of Christensen’s articles, and can’t find a single legitimate fact. Peter Sarsgaard is Chuck Lane, Christensen’s editor, and he begins to smell a very big rat.
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Heart of Me, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 23rd, 2004

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Synopsis

In 1934, Helena Bonham Carter comes to live with sister Olivia Williams and her husband,Paul Bettany. Bonham Carter is the bad girl, always rebellious, while Wiliams is very proper andsomething of a cold fish. Williams wants to fix her sister up with a man, but she clearly didn’tcount on that man being her husband. Bettany and Bonham Carter begin a furtive affair, whichtakes a sudden turn when she becomes pregnant. Flash forward to 1946. Bettany appears to havebeen killed i…
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Pink Panther Collection, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 22nd, 2004

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Synopsis

Though not Blake Edwards’ best films, these are the movies with which he is most stronglyidentified, and the role of Inspector Clouseau was a career-defining move for Peter Sellers. Attheir best, the movies are fine exemplars of inspired slapstick.

The Pink Panther started it all off, and no one knew what a phenomenon Clouseauwas going to turn out to be. Edwards and Sellers (the trivia track informs us) rewrote the partlate in the game to turn the character i…
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Brother Bear

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 22nd, 2004

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Brother Bear is the story of a boy who becomes a man by becoming a bear. Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) is a young man set on revenge against a bear he feels is responsible for his brother’s death. Going up against the beast and winning the battle, the great Spirits who guide Kenai transform him into a bear himself. As Kenai tries to undo the spell placed on him by the spirits, he meets Koda (Jeremy Suarez) a young cub who was separated from his mother. As the story unfolds Kenai becomes more find of Koda and “adopts…
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 20th, 2004

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Synopsis

In 1973, a group of Young, Beautiful People are on the way across Texas to a rock concert.They pick up a hitch-hiker: a terrified young woman who commits suicide when she thinks she isbeing driven back to the place she just fled. Seeking help in a nearby house, our heroesunfortunately come into contact with Leatherface and his clan, and the slaughter begins.

Though there are some variations, the plot, in is broad lines, is very close to the 1973original. And therein…
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Panic Room

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 19th, 2004

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Not that there was anything wrong with the picture and sound of the previous Superbit release. But now Panic Room returns in a package that truly contains every imaginable extra, and then some.

Synopsis

The set-up is elegant and simple. Jodie Foster and daughter Kristen Stewart move into their new home in New York. The previous owner built an impregnable panic room in the upper floor. During Foster and Stewart’s first night, three criminals (Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam and Jared L…
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