Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 17th, 2004
Back in the day, the Looney Tunes were irreverent, violent, and created with an adult audience in mind (much like South Park is today). Somewhere along the line, however, values changed, and they became standard kids faire. Now, that’s not to say that there wasn’t still plenty in there for adults to enjoy as well, but they just didn’t carry with them the same humorous social commentaries that were prevalent in the days of old.
Well, the Tunes are back! The appropriately-titled Looney Tunes - Back ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 2nd, 2004
Synopsis
Sharon Stone and Dennis Quaid decide that Big Bad NYC has simply become too much. Shetakes a year’s leave of absence from her high-paying job, and the couple moves with their twoyoung children to rural New England, buying a huge old house at a rock-bottom price. Nevera good idea. In the house are still all the possessions of the previous owner, and Quaid, adocumentary filmmaker, is both fascinated and disturbed by what he finds, including photos thatpoint to distinctly unhe...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 26th, 2004
For years different TV shows and movies have speculated not as too whether there is life on other planets but, what are they doing on earth. Some shows like the X-files play out that the powers that be have sold us down the river to ensure their survival with a hostile alien race, or like in ID-4 and the Alien series are here to kill everyone and use the planet for their own will.
Director Steven Spielberg has looked at aliens and their involvement with the human race in a number of his films and with the...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 22nd, 2004
Synopsis
Meg Ryan plays Manhattan English teacher Frankie Avery. When parts of a dismemberedyoung woman are found in her back garden, Ryan is questioned by Detective Mark Ruffalo.Ruffalo asks Ryan out, and before long they’re at it hot and heavy. But the day of the murder,Ryan was in the same bar as the victim, and witnessed, in the shadows, a man being fellated.That man had the same tattoo as Ruffalo, and Ryan begins to fear that her new lover is, at best,a liar. At worst...
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2004
A number of great films have come out of Ireland over the past decade (or so). A few titles that come to mind are In the name of the Father (1993), My Left Foot (1989), In America (2002), The Boxer (1997), and definitely The Commitments (1991). The one factor that differentiates The Commitments from the rest of these great films is that it centers around music rather then turmoil (whether it be personal, family, or country turmoil). The Commitments is a great tale t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 14th, 2004
If Sofia Coppola hasn’t redeemed herself from the whole The Godfather, Part III debacle by now, then it simply can’t be done. Lost in Translation is a beautiful film, the likes of which are rarely seen on this side of the Atlantic. (Of course, to be fair, the film was filmed entirely on location in Tokyo.)
Shot on a shoestring budget, Coppola has definitely made a mountain out of a molehill with this film, taking her small story of two ships that cross in the night, and making that night as br...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 28th, 2004
Synopsis
Ed Harris is the coach of a small-town high school football team in 1976. He takes an interestin Cuba Gooding, Jr. after the mentally challenged young man is tormented by some of thethoughtless players. Harris takes Gooding under his wing as a kind of team mascot (orsomething). A friendship grows between the two men, and Gooding gradually blooms. Thoughnot quite as gruesomely “inspirational” as the trailers implied, this still comes very close, like anafter-school TV specia...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 12th, 2004
Synopsis
Gérard Depardieu is a Catholic priest and doctor with a dark secret in his past. Working inBrazil, he deals with the case of Sarah (Élodie Bouchez), a Carmelite nun who suffers all thesymptoms of appendicitis without actually having it. He is gravely concerned for her health, butthe Carmelites are very protective of Sarah. In fact, they are clearly hiding something.Meanwhile, in Paris, Sarah's twin sister Gäelle is about to be released on parole after serving tenyears of a ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 11th, 2004
Legends of vampires and werewolves are almost as old as time itself. Long before Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney defined these creatures for Hollywood, the myths persisted. Cave drawings in South America depict stories of changelings and blood suckers that were told 5,000 years ago. Underworld offers a refreshing spin on both tales. What if the clans of Vampires and Werewolves were at war for over a thousand years? The dark, seedy “Underworld” is visually compelling. Let’s not even talk about Kate Beckinsale. The wonderfully photographed blend of Gothic and modern settings owes much to the European locations.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2003
There have always been directors that have stood out in the public consciousness. Scorsese. Spielberg. Hitchcock. Lynch. These are all directors that have a specific vision. With very few exceptions, if you came across one of their films on television on an average Saturday afternoon, it wouldn't take too long to figure out who the director was. They each have a very unique cinematic style, usually based in dramatic films.
Oddly enough, Rob Reiner also fits into this category. His light comedies all have a ...
