Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 30th, 2003
Black Mask 2 doesn’t really seem to have anything to do with the first film. Instead what you get is a cheesy Japanese version of The X-Men. With the help of less than special effects, professional wrestlers change into hilarious creatures that are more loony tunes funny than actually dangerous. It doesn’t help that newcomer Andy On has the large fists of Jet Li to fill. Even fans of the original won’t find too much to like about this odd sequel.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 30th, 2003
We are all familiar with the so called “great wars” of American history. Hollywood has supplied more hours of World War II film than the actual war itself. From classics like Torra Torra Torra to Saving Private Ryan, we have gotten to know every inch of those wars. Vietnam became a popular subject by the mid 80’s with films like Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. “Peace-keeping” missions like the U.N. directed effort s like the one in Somalia in the 1990’s isn’t the “stuff” of heroes it seems. Leave it to Ridley S...ott to change all of that forever. One of the most intense missions in our military history occurred without a full scale war when a Black Hawk helicopter went down in a hostile neighborhood in Somalia. We lost 19 officers and thousands of Somalians lost their lives. This film never lets up. Once Black Hawk goes down, the action literally never ceases until the end credits. Credit a well-cast collection of actors and this film is one of the best.
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 30th, 2003
Brad Johnson plays Jake Grafton, one of the top A-6 Intruder pilots, stationed on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam in 1972. He is frustrated by the useless missions he is constantly sent on, fruitlessly bombing trees. His frustration turns to rage when his bombardier is killed during one of these missions. He is subsequently paired up with borderline rogue bombardier Willem Dafoe, and before long these two cowboys decide to perform their own unilateral mission into the heart of Hanoi, whatever their commanding officer (Danny Glover) might think. Based on a novel by Stephen Coonts (who deserves better), and produced by Mace Neufeld, Flight of the Intruder has the same handsome production values that grace Neufeld’s Tom Clancy movies. There are some nice flying sequences, but the plot meanders far too much, and the climax is so silly it comes dangerously close to the Hot Shots films, wiping out any trace of tension.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 27th, 2003
In the dying days of World War II, a German submarine torpedoes a British ship off the coast of Venezuela, and machine-guns all the crew. Sole survivor is Murphy (Peter O’Toole), who istaken in by coastal villagers. Driven by thoughts of revenge that have less and less to do with the wider war, Murphy sets as his one goal in life the destruction of the German sub, by whatever improvised means possible (including repairing a reconnaissance plane and learning to fly it himself). The action sequences are quite impressive, though the flying scenes are rather overlong.The characters of Murphy and those played by Philippe Noiret and Sian Phillips are potentially interesting, but never given a chance to develop beyond that potential. Still, there’s enough quirky yet bang-up action (U-boat VS barge??!!) to make this pretty solid entertainment, if not much more.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 26th, 2003
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 24th, 2003
Synopsis
Charlie is a hairdresser with a mob boss for a step father; Booker is his best friend and a bumbling idiot. Together they find themselves in the outback of Australia after hitting a kangaroo and loosing $50K of mob money. They need to recover the money from the kangaroo or they are dead. They meet a cast of interesting characters along the way to catching the kangaroo (who they have dubbed Jacky Legs) and manage to get themselves in and out of all kinds of funny situations.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 23rd, 2003
Charlie Kaufman is a neurotic, narcissistic, self loathing writer who is hired to adapt Susan Orlean’s novel The Orchid Thief into a film. The only problem is that he is suffering from writers block, add in a twin brother who is also writing a screenplay and his inability to interact with people and hang-on for a wild ride. Charlie tries a number of different approaches to writing the script and suddenly finds himself being written into the story. What starts out as an adaptation of a book into a film turns into a completely different story all together. It turns into a tongue and cheek story about movie making in Hollywood and a person’s ability to adapt and change to fit their surroundings.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 23rd, 2003
In 1939 Warsaw is invaded by Nazi Germany, Wladyslaw Szpilman is performing live on a radio station as it is dive bombed by the Luftwaffe. He continues to play until he is almost killed. This opening scene sets the tone for the story of a man so driven by his passion for music even in the face of adversary. As the film continues we watch the establishment of the Warsaw ghetto and the beginning of the reign of hate towards the Jews by Nazi Germany.
The Warsaw ghetto is full of stark contrasts we watch as people die in the streets from hunger and others prosper by bribing guards and importing goods, we see Germans helping Jews escape from the ghetto and Jews who join the ghetto police in an attempt to save themselves. At one point in time the ghetto contained over 500,000 people, as the war continues Wladyslaws family and most of the residents of the ghetto are loaded onto trains and shipped off to concentration camps never to be seen again. Those who are left over are formed into work camps by the Germans and start an uprising. Threw all this Wladyslaw survives even when he comes face to face with a Nazi officer who finds him hiding in their headquarters. The officer knows that the war is almost over as the Russian army is fast approaching and brings him food in exchange for listening to him play.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 23rd, 2003
Converting Tom Wolfe’s classic book The Right Stuff was undoubtedly a difficult task. The original 7 Mercury astronauts were epic figures in American history. Perhaps the last of Earth’s true explorers, astronauts are the stuff that every kid’s fantasies are made of. It seems nearly impossible to capture such incredible bravery and charisma in the scope of even a 3 hour movie. Philip Kaufman somehow achieved the impossible. It starts with one of the most dynamic casts since The Godfather. Names like Jeff Goldblume, Dennis Quaid and Ed Harris were all relative unknowns at the time. Kaufman also paid great attention to detail. The crafts and locations brought the audience directly in contact with a world long gone from reality. Chuck Yeager’s technical input provided a solid foundation to the spectacular set designers and location scouts. Many members of this cast have since gone on to become acclaimed actors, a true testament to the casting job done on this film. You simply cannot be an American and not see this film at least once. It should be required viewing in every junior high school in America.
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 22nd, 2003
Synopsis
