Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 28th, 2003
Synopsis
Bank teller Lee Remick returns home one night to be grabbed in her garage by a terrifying,asthmatic killer. She will do as he says, he tells her, and rob the bank, or she and her sister willdie. Remick seeks the help of the FBI, and agent Glenn Ford is soon locked in a cat-and-mousegame with the killer. Rightly seen as anticipating the films of Brian De Palma and JohnCarpenter, Experiment in Terror combines police procedural with lurking menace, andhas a sequence in ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 27th, 2003
Synopsis
The revolution inspired by Paul Atreides has soured, turning into a galaxy-spanning crusadethat is not necessarily liberatory. Intrigue and conspiracy abound as various factions try toundermine Atreides, control him, or destroy him and his children. Combining the two books wasa smart move, since Dune Messiah on its own would be a rather unsatisfactory viewingexperience, and a bit of a downer. Combining the two makes for a much more completenarrative.
Audio< ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 27th, 2003
Synopsis
I presume a synopsis of Cheers would be redundant, because if you’re not familiar with theshow, than this review would hold no interest. Anyway, this first season sets up the bar and thecharacters, in particular the feuding love-hate relationship between Sam (Ted Danson) and Diane(Shelley Long). In fact, in the pilot episode, we see how Diane gets hired in the first place.
Audio
The sound (in 2.0) breaks down pretty much into three categories. The mus...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 26th, 2003
Synopsis
Ana (America Ferrera) is 18. She has just graduated from high school, and wants to go tocollege. For the summer, though, she is going to have to work in the garment factory with hermother and sister. Her mother (Lupe Ontiveros), meanwhile, is determined to make her fit thetraditional role of a Latino daughter, and Ana rebels. Body image, tradition versus youth, theLatino experience in the US, sweatshops: all these themes are skilfully braided together.
Audio< ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 26th, 2003
Synopsis
Good Burger has been serving the community’s fast food need for years, but now, across thestreet, comes the colossal building that houses Mondo Burger, a mega-chain set on wiping outthe little guy. To Good Burger’s doubtful rescue come its employees, led by the clumsy Dexter(Kenan Thompson) and the sublimely stupid Ed (Kel Mitchell).
Audio
The stereo mix is in both 5.1 and 2.0 surround, and is very lively, especially when it comes tothe music. Thund...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 26th, 2003
Synopsis
The Millennium Building in New York has a problem: its central express elevator hasdeveloped a mind of its own, and is killing people. Even as horror movie concepts go, this ispretty preposterous, but what saves the film is its very awareness of its own preposterousness,and its willingness to go insanely over the top. So, on the debit side: the plot makes virtually nosense at all, with a great many threads left dangling; the post-synch voices are often ratherawkward, with t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 26th, 2003
Milo and company return in the follow-up to Disney’s Atlantis. In the original film Milo and company find the lost city of Atlantis and Milo stays behind to help rebuild it. Here he returns to the surface world to help with ancient creatures that are threatening that world. Follow along as they battle an ancient see monster, a coyote windstorm and an ancient Norse god and along the way discover the true power of the Heart of Atlantis.
Video
As is the case with most of the new Disney animate...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 26th, 2003
Originally released in 1977 this is the first time that the original The Rescuers has been released on DVD. Follow the adventures Bernard and Miss Bianca of the mouse based Rescue Aid Society as they try and rescue orphan Penny. Penny has been kidnapped by the evil Madame Medusa and taken to the swamp of Devil’s Bayou to find a long lost pirate diamond.
Video
Disney has done a wonderful job of restoring the film for this disc. There is very little film grit visible and it is free of any ar...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 25th, 2003
Synopsis
Timothy Bottoms plays Hart, a first-year law student at Harvard. His existence centresaround a class taught by Kingsfield (John Houseman), a brilliant but utterly ruthless professorwho consistently humiliates his students, yet somehow acquires their unswerving loyalty. Hartalso begins an affair with a Susan (Lindsay Wagner), who turns out to be Kingsfield’s daughter.Though the film is never less than compelling, it does lack a centre. The characters are almostall cyphers or...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 25th, 2003
Synopsis
Gary Cooper, unusually cast as an atomic scientist, is sent to Europe by the OSS to rescuescientists being forced to cooperate with the Nazi atom bomb project. During his mission, hehooks up with the Italian resistance, falling in love with the feisty Lilli Palmer. Though Langoriginally shot his 1946 thriller with more emphasis on the dangers of atomic power, WarnerBros. re-edited the flick, and most of that theme is now lost, reducing the nuclear angle to a mereHitchcockian McGuff...
