Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 26th, 2005
Synopsis
Satisfaction is a transitional project in so many ways. This was one of the first American films of Liam Neeson, who would go on to mildly excite the world as Henry Ducard in Batman Begins. Before Mystic Pizza came out, the world was exposed to Julia Roberts as Daryle.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 23rd, 2005
Aliens have sent super machines to Earth. The intent is obvious. They want to remove the human infestation and relocate from their own dying world. Independence Day, right? Wrong. Almost 50 years before Rolland and Emerich pitted mankind against killer aliens, George Pal brought us a wonderful interpretation of the famous H.G. Wells novel, War of the Worlds. Although not as faithful to the source material as a Wells fan might have hoped for, Pal created a classic film with groundbreaking f/x for the 1950’s. It’s a bit of a shame that this edition is hitting stores primarily because of the Spielberg version, also soon out on DVD. I like Steven Spielberg. I really do. I have to say, however, that I was disappointed in the “remained” version of the film. Purists will say there are moments that are closer to the Wells story, but they are wrong. How can you have War of the Worlds without Martians? George Pal gave us a wonderful milestone in science fiction history; it should be truly admired with this newly mastered DVD.
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 21st, 2005
Synopsis
During the crippling drought of the 1930s, con man Burt Lancaster arrives in a small town, promising to make it rain (for, of course, a small remuneration). Present here too is Katharine Hepburn, apparently doomed to spinsterhood. She will blossom under the care of Lancaster’s charming rogue.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 16th, 2005
Viva La Merte (1970) was surrealist playwright and all-around provocateur Fernando Arrabal's feature film debut. Set during the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, this is the deeply autobiographical (no matter how bizarrely presented) story of the a young boy whose father was betrayed by his mother to the security forces of the Fascist General Franco. Oedipal nightmares, extreme violence and brutal eroticism are present in force.These elements are present in the other two films as well. I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse (1973) has a man suspected of killing his mother flee into the desert, where he falls in love with a holy man, and when the two return to society, our hero is disgusted by what he finds.
The Guernica Tree (1975) is arguably the most brutal of the three films, which should come as no surprise, given the subject matter. We are back in Spain again, during the Civil War, and the action shifts from a backwards provincial town to the doomed Gernica.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 13th, 2005
Synopsis
Lee Van Cleef, often a villain, incarnates a sneering hero in Sabata (1969). He uncovers skullduggery at the highest levels in a small town, and proceeds to blackmail the crooked, sadistic, and rather effeminate Colonel at the head of the criminal racket. Plenty of gadgety gun battles are involved.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 10th, 2005
Synopsis
Frustrated by vicissitudes of Depression-era life, Dorothy wishes she were somewhere else. She gets her wish in ways she couldn’t have imagined, as a tornado drops her into the magical world of Oz. Accompanied by the brain-free Scarecrows, heartless Tin Man and cowardly Lion, she sets out on a quest to return home. In order to be granted that wish by the all-powerful Wizard, she must first defeat the Wicked Witch of the West.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 9th, 2005
Synopsis
Alain Delon is a cool-as-ice contract killer. After pulling off his latest contract, he is picked up by the police on suspicion, but is released for lack of evidence. The gangsters who hired him consider him a liability, however, and attempt to have him killed. He must now evade the police long enough to track down his killers before they get him.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 28th, 2005
Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney are a couple whose marriage appears to be reaching its end. They travel through France, which was the scene of so many other memories, and they (and we) experience, through interlocking flashbacks, the history of their relationship.From the moment the animated credit sequence and Henry Mancini score begin, one is clearly watching a Stanley Donen film from the peak of his career (the presence of Hepburn is yet another reminder of Charade from just a couple of years prior). The flashbacks-within-flashbacks structure might initially seem daunting, but the film is light on its feet, and is never confusing. Finney's character is sufficiently cranky even in the early stages of the relationship that one might be forgiven for wondering what Hepburn ever saw in him, but the scenery is pretty and the dialogue zings.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 20th, 2005
Synopsis
Two playwrights argue over whether life is inherently tragic or comic. To illustrate their point, they each tell the tale of Melinda (Radha Mitchell) who unexpectedly bursts in on a dinner party, creating all kinds of romantic complications. The film then alternates between the two stories. The set-up could hardly be more utterly Woody Allen, simultaneously pretentious and shallow. One story is comic (with Will Ferrell taking Allen’s usual role), the other is tragic, but you’d be hard-presse... to tell the difference. All the characters spout the same kind of incredibly stilted and self-conscious dialogue, which is neither funny nor revealing. The result is a halfway interesting idea with a talented cast outgunned by their God-playing director. Based on the evidence at hand, it turns out that life is, in fact, inherently boring.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 14th, 2005
Synopsis
At a gathering of all the gangs of New York City, the messianic leader proposing a unification of all the organizations is gunned down, and the Warriors are unjustly accused. They must make their way from the Bronx to Coney Island with every gang in the city out for their blood.
