Disc Audio

Charade

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 26th, 2003

At a time when the women’s liberation movement was picking up steam, Hollywood was changing the kinds of stories they told, and some of films most beloved personalities were aging and leaving the spotlight, the stars aligned perfectly for Stanley Donen to make the incredibly charming “Charade”. Both a send-up of James Bond films and a genuinely engaging mystery, “Charade” was the perfect film at the perfect time.

The story revolves around a young woman (played by the graceful and immensely likeable Audre…
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Fatboy Slim: Live on Brighton Beach – Big Beach Boutique, Vol. 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 25th, 2003

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You don’t necessarily have to be a fan of Big Beat or Electronica music to enjoy this DVD, but it probably helps. Luckily for me, I’m a fan of the genre, and I’m an especially avid fan of Norman Cook, A.K.A. Fatboy Slim. He is an artist that has an uncanny appeal to young and (hip) old alike. Even still, I had my doubts about just how interesting it could be to watch other people dancing and having a good time, while a DJ spins records.

Lucky for me, this DVD follows the same “just have fun” attitude that …
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Forever Knight – The Trilogy, Part 1

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2003

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Forever Knight was a CBS attempt to provide original drama broadcasting in the late night slot. This was, of course, before Letterman came along. After two seasons it was jettisoned and the USA network picked it up. USA retooled the show and ran it for just one more year for a total of three: Thus the Forever Knight Trilogy. The concept was quite intriguing. Knight would strongly emulate the popular Ann Rice universe of vampires, combining these gothic images and stories with a modern police drama. Each episode had a trademark dual storyline.
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Battlestar Galactica – The Complete Epic Series

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2003

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Most sci-fi fans have a very warm place in their heart for Starbuck, Apollo, and the rest of the crew of Battlestar Galactica. At over $1 million per episode, it became the most expensive show in network history. Star Wars master Jedi f/x man John Dykstra utilized many of the techniques he developed for the Lucas enterprise. George Lucas claimed they were so close he was forced into a failed effort to sue the show for copyright infringement. Sci-Fi channel is about to relaunch this revered franchise, but the results appear so far underwhelming.
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U2 – Elevation Tour 2001 – Live from Boston

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 24th, 2003

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The biggest band in the world did something completely revolutionary on their 2001 tour… they took a step back.

In the eighties and nineties, U2 was a band that became big. Huge. Their shows grew from arenas to stadiums, incorporating massive special effects, a giant lemon-shaped disco ball, and the largest video screen ever. As the productions grew, however, so did the costs, until the band was barely breaking even on the road, despite enormous audiences and absurd ticket prices. After some time off and a…
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It Runs in the Family

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 24th, 2003

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It Runs in the Family is a film that combines three generations of the Douglas family – patriarch Kirk Douglas, son Michael Douglas and grandson Cameron Douglas (Michael’s son from his 1st marriage). It’s not clear how much this movie resembles their real-life problems but chances are the emotions involved are quite similar.

The movie follows the story of the Grombergs. Mitchell Gromberg (Kirk Douglas) is the founder of the law firm that his son Alex (Michael Douglas) works at. Alex is quickly involved in…
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Hulk

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 23rd, 2003

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It has taken years to finally get a block-buster Hulk film produced, and the outcome has received mixed reviews. Grossing $132 million in the domestic box-office is usually nothing to sneeze at, but considering it cost $150 million to make the Hulk, it must still be looked at as disappointing. Many would argue that the animation was unrealistic, other would argue that it was amazing… each to their own. I, myself, found the film quite disappointing. I found the animation far too overdone, and the story to be lack…
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Charlotte Sometimes

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 23rd, 2003

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Synopsis

Michael Idemoto plays Michael, an introspective bookworm and mechanic. His tenant isEugenia Yuan, who has a boyfriend, but spends most of her evenings with Michael. Theirrelationship is platonic, but Michael clearly has strong feelings for her. Then he meets Darcy(Jacqueline Kim), a distant but alluring young woman. In fact, Darcy is Yuan’s sister Charlotte.Our protagonist is a man of few words, and the same can be said of the movie. The mostimportant elements are the thing…
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Avril Lavigne – My World

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2003

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Go up front and live with one of music’s fasting rising young stars. Then follow her behind the scenes and find out what she is like in real life.

Video

The fullscreen live concert footage on this DVD is of pretty decent quality. Overall we have a nice sharp image with good dark level delineation, there are some problems with red in the crowd shots and you notice a fair amount of over saturation. The image as a whole is nice and crisp. When we look at the behind the scenes footage it is noticeably softer with a fair amount of grain.

L’Auberge Espagnole

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 22nd, 2003

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Synopsis

Romain Duris plays a young man who wants to get a good job in the French bureaucracy, andneeds to improve his Spanish. In order to do this, he leaves Paris to live for a year in Barcelona,much to the chagrin of his girlfriend (Audrey Tautou). After navigating the red tape (a realplague in France, and hilariously, mercilessly satirized here), he’s off. Once in Barcelona, hewinds up living in an apartment that he shares with other students from England, Germany,Belgium, Italy…
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George of the Jungle 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2003

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Synopsis

George and all his pals return for this second installment in the George of the Jungle Series…

King of the Hill – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2003

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The Hills are back! Hank, Peggy, Bobby and Luanne have returned for more down home shenanigans. After a successful first season that followed in the footsteps of the Simpsons, King of the Hill was a surprising hit from the creative mind of Mike Judge, formerly responsible for the heavy metal antics of Beavis and Butthead. The second series picks up where series one left off albeit with improved writing and further exploration of the characters. I particularly like the characterization of Hank as a true redneck – …
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Terminator 3 – Rise of the Machines

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 21st, 2003

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Many people would argue that T3: Rise of the Machines should never have been made; a new director, an unknown storyline, and a new actor playing John Connor. Others could not wait to see Arnie suit up as the Terminator one last time. Sure, the Rise of the Machines plot is somewhat questionable, but you sure do get a bunch of action packed into this film.

Arnold Schwarzenegger reprises his role of the big, bad, funny (yet not knowingly) terminator… but this time he is in for his biggest challenge yet, fa…
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Warner Legends Collection

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 21st, 2003

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Synopsis

The titles and the stars speak for themselves: Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone and Olivia deHavilland in The Adventures of Robin Hood; James Cagney in Yankee DoodleDandy; Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Of the three,Yankee Doodle Dandy, a musical biopic of singer/dancer/songwriter George M. Cohan,is the one that has been treated the least kindly by the years. Its front and centre flag-waving canbe a bit much, though Cagney’s trem…
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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 20th, 2003

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William Shatner refused to reprise his role of Kirk in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home without a promise to write and direct the next film in the franchise. Against their better judgment Paramount agreed, and to this day wish they had not. The story is absolutely silly and the direction very one-dimensional. The truth is, however, that there still are some very endearing Trek moments in the film. DeForest Kelly gives a superb performance as McCoy must face his past decision to allow his terminal father to die.
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Complete Are You Being Served? Collection (Series 6-10)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 20th, 2003

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This wonderful British comedy comes to DVD once again… this time in a Vol. 6-10 box set. If you are not familiar with this outrageous show, it ruled BBC airwaves from 1972-1985, and continues to entertain today on DVD. Taking place solely on a single floor of a department store, this show covers the lives and misadventures of the staff who are employed there.

Audio

Not much can or should be expected from an aging British television audio track such as this. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono …
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Evening with Kevin Smith, An

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 19th, 2003

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Synopsis

At first glance, a 3 1/2 hour spoken word documentary is probably not something the average person would care to sit through, and certainly not the kind of thing the average DVD aficionado would want to purchase. However, this is not just any DVD set, and the speaker is not just any run of the mill personality. This is an intimate evening with actor/filmmaker Kevin Smith.

This brilliant two-disc set follows Smith to five different American universities, where he simply hosts a que…
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X-Files – The Complete Eighth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 19th, 2003

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The eighth season of the X-files brought major changes to one of Fox’s strongest running series. And whenever major changes occur there is always a concern about what is going to happen to the integrity of the show. By the end of the 7th season the worries about what David Duchovny was going to do left fans of the show in limbo. Luckily, the creative team behind the X-files (one of the best in television history) was up to the task.

The season opened with the introduction to Agent Fox Mulder’s replace…
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Portishead – Roseland New York

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 17th, 2003

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Just before the release of their eponymous second album, Portishead gathered at the historical Roseland Ballroom for their first ever performance in New York City. The band brought a film crew along for this special concert. It was a show that featured not only the first performance of much of the new album, but also the added attraction of playing with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The result is a brilliant and haunting presentation of all things Portishead. This legendary disc should be required viewing for …
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Christmas Storykeepers, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 17th, 2003

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Synopsis

Though there is a intro that summarizes who’s who and what’s what, if you’re not familiarwith the Storykeepers cartoon, you might well find this a bit confusing (I know I did). Anyway,in 64 AD, a group of Christian orphans and their protector are on the run from the evil EmperorNero (who has henchmen with such subtle names as “Nihilus”). They flee the burning Rome,but do find the time to sit down and hear tales of Christ’s nativity and the like. The animationis primitive, a…
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Scarface

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 16th, 2003

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“Say hello to my little friend!”

This is just one of the many cultural references that have come out of Brian DePalma’s 1983 epic film, Scarface. Al Pacino plays Tony Montana, a Cuban refugee that arrives in the United States with nothing, and leaves with everything. It’s a story about the American Dream, about excess, and about ambition. A fantastic supporting cast (including Michelle Pfeiffer, F. Murray Abraham and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), and a script by Oliver Stone makes Scarface one of the…
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Freezerburnt Christmas, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 16th, 2003

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“Let’s go kick some Christmas butt!” When these are the climactic words spoken by Santa Claus prior to his Christmas Eve trip using a flying ice cream truck instead of his sleigh, you know you’re in trouble. A Freezerburnt Christmas is easily the worst Christmas movie I have ever seen and would challenge any reader to find a worse holiday film. Even though it is only 22 minutes long, I was frustrated by the fact that I’m never going to get those 22 minutes back. This was a stop-motion cartoon but let’s face it – the…
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Christmas Wish, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 16th, 2003

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Synopsis

Jimmy Durante and his family, penniless circus performers, move into a run-down rentalhome. Also living in the house is Rupert, a trained squirrel (brought to life primarily throughstop-motion animation). The miserly owner of the rental is stashing money in his walls, and asfast as he can do this, Rupert halls the money out and dumps it into the rental living room.Durante’s wife (Queenie Smith) sees money floating down from the ceiling, and thinks it is theanswer to her pra…
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Cronos

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 15th, 2003

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Synopsis

Hundreds of years ago, alchemist Fulcanelli created the Cronos device, a contraption thatlooks like a silver Faberge egg. This device conveys eternal life, but at a price, as a kindlyantiquarian (Federico Luppi, who also starred in The Devil’s Backbone) discovers. Hebecomes younger, but also monstrous, and develops a thirst for blood. He must also battleRon Perlman, thuggish henchman of a dying millionaire who also wants the device. Then there’sthe bond Luppi has wit…
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Cracker – Series One

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 15th, 2003

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Synopsis

Robbie Coltrane plays Fitz, a criminal psychologist as brilliant as he is hard to take: gambler,smoker, drinker, lousy husband and father, he’s no prize. But he is also very good at what hedoes. These three stories feature an amnesiac serial killer, a misfit couple of murderers, and mobviolence. Coltrane is superb in the lead, but is backed up by equally strong performances by thelikes of Christopher Eccleston. With luck, the other episodes will follow shortly. If they do, br…
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