Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 6th, 2004
Synopsis
The storytelling is oblique in the extreme, but as near as I can discern it, the film tells the story of a young woman (Gong Li) who, after reading a collection of poems by Chen Ching (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) called Zhou Yu’s Train, attempts to imaginatively recover the experience of Zhou Yu (Gong Li again). Zhou Yu is an artisan who travels vast distances by train twice a week to keep up an increasingly troubled romance with Chen Ching. The other major figure is a veterinarian (Sun Hongle...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 6th, 2004
Despite season two's unquestionable quality, Smallville's third season is probably its best -- and with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel now completely off of television, it's pretty much the only thing around that can fill the whole supernatural Scooby gang void.
Of course, one of the big reasons that Smallville helps fill that spot so well is because it has a lot of the same ingredients that powered Whedon's universe along in its prime: that is, it has a ton of supernatural special effects, and a heal...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 5th, 2004
Synopsis
The McGuffin here is the titular Blood Orchid, a plant that blooms only once every sevenyears, and which seems to hold the secret to eternal youth. A team is dispatched by amultinational drug company, but the expedition arrives in Borneo (where, as numerous reviewshave already pointed out, anacondas do not exist) at the height of the rainy season, andeverything goes wrong very quickly. Soon our heroes are slogging through the jungle, beset bypoisonous spiders, treachery from within...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 5th, 2004
Synopsis
Drifter Billy Burke’s car breaks down near the town of Lost Junction. He accepts a ride fromNeve Campbell, and very quickly is drawn into a web of mysteries that surround her. Why is sheliquidating her bank account? For that matter, where is her husband? Caught, Burke may bemystified, worried, and threatened, but he cannot tear himself away. Before he knows it, he’s onthe run with Campbell, pursued by the authorities.
The characterizations are quirky, and there is a...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 4th, 2004
Synopsis
Chris L. McKenna plays Sean, who seems, at first, to be a typical slacker, working nothingjobs. He is hired by Daniel Baldwin (doing a very fine dissolute turn) first to watch atroublesome city hall accountant (whose wife -- Kari Wuhrer -- McKenna falls for), then to killhim. McKenna agrees with surprisingly little reluctance. He has a falling out with Baldwin andhis associates (including a brutal George Wendt), and they beat him to within an inch of the life,the idea being to indu...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 4th, 2004
Synopsis
A yakuza is charged with eliminating his violently unstable mentor. On the drive to do thedeed, said mentor is (apparently) accidentally killed. But then his body vanishes from the car ofour hero, who is then charged with finding the corpse and making absolutely sure the man isdead, or else. His search takes place in a town populated entirely of grotesques, from a man whohas the same repetitive phone conversation day after day, to another whose face half plaster-white, to a...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 3rd, 2004
Synopsis
Jean-Hugues Anglade plays Zorg (yup, that’s his name), a handyman living in a beach-front house, scribbling away quietly in his spare time. Not so quiet is his tempestuous affair with Betty (Beatrice Dalle), whose passions overwhelm both of them. First she moves in on him with no warning. Then, when she discovers his writing, she decides that they must move to Paris so he can have a career as a writer. To make sure Zorg complies, she burns his house to the ground. Once in Paris, her plans fo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 3rd, 2004
Synopsis
This is the life story of Howard Hughes, as told by the man himself. Literally. Sort of. Michael Ferreri is the voice of Hughes, and he narrates his life from birth to death. This narration is intercut with interviews with Hughes’ surviving friends and widow. The visuals are a lively mix of footage and animated stills. Though the case boasts a running time of almost three hours, this is when all the extras are factored in. The actual feature is only 56 minutes long. Though the effort is alwa...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 2nd, 2004
Things were pretty much over the peak when Voyager warped into Season 5. The Seven Of Nine tension was begin to feel played out by now. The prominence of the girl Naomi I found to be a bit irritating. This would also be a year of rebellion as quite a few crew members cause Janeway more than her fair share of grief. The Borg continue to be the master villains and account for the bright spots in an otherwise mediocre season. Season 5 does bring us to that magical 100th episode with “Timeless”. “Dark Frontier” would be...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 2nd, 2004
Venus Risingis a laughably bad movie advertised as “in the tradition of Johnny Mnemonic”. Maybe the two movies are in the same ballpark, theme-wise, but quality-wise they’re not even the same sport. Audie England and Costas Manylor play two fugitives who escape from a desert Island. Eve and Vegas, however, are still controlled by drugs from the Pacifica Corporation. The drugs also enable the characters to achieve a “virtual reality” state of mind. Fantasy sequences occur, flashbacks etc. It’s just an exc...
