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Making Love

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 9th, 2006

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Michael Ontkean and Kate Jackson play a married couple dealing with the ramifications of the husband’s newly discovered homosexual behavior. Right off, I’ll say these two seem too happy from the beginning to make the sudden turn believable. Also, the ending [SPOILER ALERT, kind of] is too predictable and cliche to be the least little bit effective. The “I’m okay/You’re okay” resolution, where everyone moves on and everyone’s okay with who they are, and the world is once more a wonderful place, is pure Grade-A drivel …
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Fallen Angel

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 28th, 2006

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Synopsis

Dana Andrews was never an actor who radiated warmth, and here he is perfectly cast as a hardboiled con artist on the lookout for number one. He arrives in a small town and falls hard for sultry waitress Linda Darnell. She is holding out for marriage, but marriage with financial stability, which Andrew can’t offer. So he sets about seducing Alice Faye with the idea of fleecing her of her fortune.

Director Otto Preminger’s follow-up to Laura had Andrews doing fine work again, …
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House on Telegraph Hill

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 28th, 2006

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Synopsis

Valentina Cortesa plays a survivor of the Belsen concentration camp. She has lost everything in the war. Her best friend in the camp is a woman whose infant child is being looked after in the USA, and when this woman dies shortly before liberation, Cortesa decides to adopt her identity, since no one alive would remember what she looks like. Once in the States, she meets and falls in love with Richard Basehart, the guardian of her “son.” Moving into their home in San Francisco, she sense host…
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A-Team – Season Three

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 23rd, 2006

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My name’s trouble… and you got some of it lady.

I admit, I wasn’t even a big fan of The A-Team back in the day. I mean, I was a boy, and Mr. T was cool and all, but the show itself never really grabbed my attention. Even at a young age, the whole thing just felt a little too unbelievable. I mean, if these guys are a group of deserters and felons who are wanted by the government, then how is it that everybody knows who they are? Plus, Mr. T isn’t exactly inconspicuous wearing 832 gold …
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Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 16th, 2006

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Synopsis

Audrey Hepburn is Holly Golightly, a young woman to her name born. Flighty, hopping from party to party, she waits for her life to match her ideal. Into her apartment moves writer George Peppard, who is certainly not the millionaire our heroine imagines will sweep her off her feet. Peppard himself is a kept man, and his keeper is Patricia Neal. Peppard does have a more realistic view of how life works, in the long run, and that is a lesson that Hepburn must learn before romance can follow it…
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Julia

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 13th, 2006

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Synopsis

Jane Fonda plays Lilliam Hellman. She is living in a beach house with Dashiel Hammett (Jason Robards), struggling with a play (The Children’s Hour, though the film is ridiculously coy about mentioning its title). She is also worried about her childhood friend Julia (Vanessa Redgrave), who is caught up in the struggle with the rising tide of fascism in 1930s Europe. Hellman loses contact with Julia, but on a trip to Europe in the wake of her play’s success, she is contacted by friends …
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Cary Grant Box Set, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 8th, 2006

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Synopsis

Though they span a mere five years of his career, these are some of Cary Grant’s best films. They are also among the directors’ best films. Viewers wanting to see comedy from Hollywood’s Gold Age at its best and most sophisticated will be amply rewarded by spending a few evenings with this collection.

Holiday (1938) sees Grant engaged to the snobbish Doris Nolan. The real prize in her family is Katharine Hepburn (natch), who will ultimately break from her families more stult…
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Stormy Weather

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 5th, 2006

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Synopsis

Knowing that Stormy Weather is the title of a song that helped vault Lena Horne (The Wiz) into celebrity fandom, I had very little other ideas about her. But the cool thing that I discovered while watching the film is that, for the age of this film, it’s better than anyone would possibly think.

Horne plays Selina Rogers, a beautiful talented singer who was dating the head of an entertainment show that came through New York. She catches the eye of Bill (Bill “Bojangles” Robin…
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Pinky

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2006

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Obviously, the idea of making a film about mixing races in 1949 was a topic that was quite taboo. Nobody can fault Pinky for being groundbreaking in its subject matter. However, this is the very definition of a timely film. Being viewed almost 60 years later, it comes across as silly, almost like a midnight viewing of Refer Madness. Just as the kids in Reefer are obviously not under the spell of some horrible mind-altering herb, so Jeanne Crain is about as convincingly “colored” as Bill Gates on …
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Alfred Hitchcock – The Masterpiece Collection

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2006

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Last year, Warner Brothers put out a great ten-disc set of all of the Hitchcock films in their catalog. While not the ultimate Hitchcock collection, it was still an excellent representation of the Master’s work, including many films that have received a well-deserved second look as a result of their inclusion in the set. It was especially rewarding to be given the opportunity to see Montgomery Clift’s amazing portrayal of a Priest caught in the middle of a murder scandal in I Confess.

Not to be outdo…
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Godsend

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 9th, 2006

I think that the studio knew they had a problem with Godsend before it was released in theaters. Sometimes a film can look like a great idea on paper, but the final product is just a mess. The thing is, after the studio has invested millions in a bad property, they have to try to recoup the money somehow. In the case of Godsend, the strategy was to put a well made trailer for the property on every Lions Gate DVD product for months and months. In this way, the studio hoped to build up enough word-of-mouth through minimal promotion to have a big opening weekend; big enough to make back some of the film’s budget before the word got out about how bad the thing was.
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Next Stop, Greenwich Village

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2006

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Synopsis

Lenny Baker is a young Jewish lad (based on writer/director Paul Mazurksy himself) who dreams of being an actor. The time is the early 1950s, and Baker moves from Brooklyn to Greenwhich village to make a name for himself. Every conceivable element of Beat life in the Village is present, and Baker encounters all sorts of characters (including a young Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum). He must also deal with complications in his relationship with girlfriend Ellen Greene, and his domineerin…
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The Bad Sleep Well

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 7th, 2006

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The Bad Sleep Well reminded me a lot of The Godfather. Both films begin with a large wedding, where the story behind the wedding is more fascinating than the event itself. Both films are also about corruption, what it means to be loyal, and what happens if you do favors for the wrong people. The Bad Sleep Well is particularly meaningful to our modern society, as instead of the subject of the film being gangsters, the focus is on the new heavies on the block… corrupt corporate heads. In the wake of the scandals at Tyco, Worldcom, Enron and others, this 1963 film carries new weight for American audiences.
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Rock ‘n’ Roll High School

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 6th, 2006

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Synopsis

Welcome to Vince Lombardi High School, where new principal Mary Woronov (coming on like a cross between Miss Jean Brodie and Ilsa) is determined to stomp the student body into submission. In order to do this, she wants to banish rock music. Her chief antagonist is PJ Soles, a huge fan of the Ramones, and she eventually enlists the band itself to help defeat Woronov and her fascistic hall monitors.

The chaos may reach epically destructive proportions (KABOOOM!), but this is all in g…
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Thunder and Lightning

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2005

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Synopsis

David Carradine headlines yet another Roger Corman-produced action comedy. Here he’s the good seller of moonshine, up against the bad seller of same, who also happens to be the fater of Carradine’s girlfriend (Kate Jackson). Daddy is in bed with the mob, and is cheerfully selling rotgut on the streets (some of which as been fermenting in a tank with a car battery – blechhh). A battle for supremacy ensues, complete with many boat and car chases and plenty of fisticuffs.

Well, it ain…
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Big Bad Mama

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 23rd, 2005

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Synopsis

Angie Dickinson is a single mother of two teenage girls (whom the film very explicitly characterizes as “ripe” – boy howdy, they don’t make movies like this anymore). Money is tight during the Depression, and after a fiasco of an interrupted wedding, mother and brood hit the road to seek their fortune, and before you know it, they’re robbing banks.

A low budget, tongue-in-cheek variation on Bonnie and Clyde (minus Clyde), this is a nicely produced bit of period sleaze. The d…
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Death Race 2000

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 22nd, 2005

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Synopsis

In the year 2000, the United States (and much of the rest of the world, it seems) is under the dictatorial rule of Mr. President, and the masses are kept passive with the Transcontinental road race, where the competitors must not only race from the remains of New York to the remains of LA in record time, but kill as many pedestrians as possible. Chief rivals are fan favourite Frankenstein (David Carradine) and the villainous Machine Gun Joe Viterbo (Sylvester Stallone).

You know yo…
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Fame – The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 21st, 2005

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The kick in the nuts that was Fame the television series is now the kick in the nuts that is Fame – The Complete First Season on DVD. And let me tell you, it hasn’t become any better over the course of time. Based off a film of the same name, this mess of a TV show follows the lives of students at New York’s High School for the Arts. Most of the dialogue and situations are beyond predictable, and the cheesy early eighties soundtrack is as green and moldy as a block of Colby left out in the sun too long. As far as the students themselves are concerned, there’s Danny the comedian;
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Zaman: The Man from the Reeds

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 17th, 2005

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In the light of today’s world – all the changes that are going on in Iraq, and with hostilities toward America for our involvement being the naturally derivative baggage – I fully expected a piece of anti-American propaganda with Zaman: The Man from the Reeds. However, I was pleasantly surprised upon the discovery that director Amer Alwan, regardless of his political feelings, has instead told a simple, sweet story of love and sacrifice.

Spirituality does play a part of Zaman’s character, but keep in mind before any rushes to judgment that Zaman’s family is very poor.
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McLintock!

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 11th, 2005

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Synopsis

G.W. McLintock (John Wayne, True Grit, Rooster Cogburn) made most of his money by being a cattle baron. He made so much money in fact, the film’s fictional town was named after him. How cool is that? But all is not milk and honey in McLintock’s life. He has an estranged wife who does not live with him (Quiet Man co star Maureen O’Hara), and now wants a divorce.

Those hostilities are put aside when their daughter Becky (Stefanie Powers, Hart to Hart) returns hom…
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Stargate

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 11th, 2005

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Stargate is something of a cult phenomenon among sci-fi buffs. It is so popular, in fact, that it produced not one, but three spin-off TV shows. It is amazing that the big business of the Stargate franchise started with a quirky little film. Now there are some big fans of this movie that will surely have strong words of disagreement for me, but this is really not a very good film. The premise alone is enough to make most moviegoers roll their eyes.
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King Kong

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 9th, 2005

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Synopsis

We all know the story, even if we haven’t seen the film. Risk-taking (and potentially criminally irresponsible) documentary maker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) charters a ship and sets off for an uncharted island. On board are first mate Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) and Ann Darrow (Fay Wray), the woman Denham has tapped for the lead in his film. They arrive at Skull Island, and before long, Ann is kidnapped and offered as a sacrifice to Kong. The giant ape falls for Ann, and a romantic trian…
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Tales of Hoffmann, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 7th, 2005

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Synopsis

Three of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s fantastic tales were made into an opera by Jacques Offenbach, and that opera was in turn transformed into this 1951 film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Robert Rounseville takes the lead as a fictional version of Hoffmann himself. While pining after a ballerina, whose love is being stolen from him by an evil aristocrat, he spins three tales of unrequited and doomed love, where in he falls in love first with an automaton, then a soul-stealing (literally) c…
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Missouri Breaks, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 5th, 2005

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Missouri Breaks starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson is an overlooked, under-appreciated western, which succeeds where most films fail — as first a character study, and last an action piece. Set in Montana, Missouri Breaks tells the story of a fun-loving outlaw (Nicholson) and his comrades (including a much younger Randy Quaid and good old Harry Dean Stanton), who set out on a crime spree as a means of payback against an evil land baron responsible for the death of one of their friends.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 5th, 2005

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Yes, I dreaded this one like the plague. Call it a pure hatred for reality television. But honestly, after starting these episodes, I found myself lending a begrudging respect to it all. If you’re unfamiliar with this enormously popular program, here’s a brief education. Home interior designers Ty Pennington, Michael Moloney, Constance Ramos, Paul DiMeo, Tracy Hutson, Preston Sharp, and a slew of others, who have made appearances here and there, get together and help some needy family realize their dream home in just seven days.
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