Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 19th, 2004
What do you when you are in your mid 20’s and are diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and only given a short amount of time to live. Do you move home and surround yourself with those who you love or do you enlist your friends to help you rob a bank and see if you can go out in a blaze of glory. This is an interesting film with a somewhat original storyline, there is a nice little twist at the end that you can see coming but overall it was an entertaining watch.
Video
The 1.33:1 full ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 18th, 2004
Synopsis
Robert Wagner (yes indeed) is Prince Valiant, son of a deposed Viking king. Sent toCamelot, Valiant has a run-in with the treacherous Black Knight, and sees him conspiring withother Vikings (the bad ones) to conquer Britain. Valiant doesn’t see the evil knight’s face. Couldhe be one of the knights of the round table? Could he possibly be the arrogant and shifty-eyedJames Mason? Hmmm. Valiant trains for knighthood under Sir Gawain (hopeless miscastSterling Hayden), but in hi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 2nd, 2004
Synopsis
The Rock plays Beck, would-be restauranteur, but currently bounty hunter in thrall to a mobboss. If he takes one more job, his obligations will be cleared, and he can open his restaurant.The job entails tracking down the gangster’s son (Seann William Scott) in the Amazon. Nothingis simple for our poor hero, as it turns out that Scott has located a priceless statuette, and TheRock is soon caught between the forces of gold mine overlord Christopher Walken and thenatives rebel...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 28th, 2004
Synopsis
After being stripped of his title by Norman baron Jeroen Krabbe, Saxon Robert Hode(Patrick Bergin) becomes Robin Hood, outlaw. He soon leads a large band of the dispossessed,and the battles with Krabbe become more and more pointed. Robin has also tumbled for MaidMarian (Uma Thurman), but she is promised to the evil Jurgen Prochnow.
In other words, all of the familiar incidents and story elements of the Robin Hood legend arepresent and correct. The film is grittier t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 27th, 2004
Synopsis
When archaeologist Billy Connolly disappears, and his glasses and a parchment with hiswriting on it turn up in a ruins dating back to 1357, son Paul Walker and friends realizesomething weird is going on here. It turns out that weasel entrepreneur David Thewlis hasaccidentally tapped into a wormhole that permits time travel to that area of France, and in thatyear (smack in the middle of the Hundred Years’ War). Walker, Frances O’Connor, GerardButler and others travel back to...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 27th, 2004
Synopsis
King Xerxes of Persia marches on Greece with his vast army. Greece’s city states are asquabbling, disunited bunch, but Athens and Sparta lead the way to co-operate against thecommon enemy. King Leonidas of Sparta (Richard Egan) must hold the pass of Thermopylae,but Spartan politics mean he has but 300 men to stand against Xerxes’ thousands. So begins oneof the most famous battles of antiquity.
The battle scenes are entertaining and easy to follow, though hardly eart...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 13th, 2004
Synopsis
Tribes in the Amazonian rain forest have been sabotaging American oil concerns in an effortto preserve their home. Heroine Gabrielle Anwar is reporting on what is supposed to be asuccessful compromise, but finds herself in the middle of a war. It seems the compromise is alie, and the State Department is using Rutger Hauer and his mercenaries to ethnically cleanse thelocals with genetically modified killer bees. As if this weren’t enough, a case of bees winds up ona plane. Among the...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 5th, 2004
Master and Commander is an epic tale that is adapted from 2 novels of a 20 novel collection by writer Patrick O’Brian. This Napoleonic-era story follows the escapades of Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) and his intrepid crew aboard the British war frigate HMS Surprise, as they try to hunt down and capture or destroy the French warship Acheron. The Film gets off to a fast start as Capt. Aubrey and crew are ambushed by the Acheron and decimated in short order. This initial attack is well done and well acted ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 28th, 2004
Often, the success of one film in theaters will bring on a wave of classics on DVD with a similar theme. In this case, the new films are Pirates of the Caribbean and Master and Commander. These modern box office successes have prompted 20th Century Fox to release some classic films about the high seas onto DVD. One such film is A High Wind in Jamaica.
There are quite a few problems with this film, but most of them lie within the narrative. The technical aspects are all handled well, wit...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 26th, 2004
It’s funny how little film subgenres evolve over time. For instance, slasher flicks have become a specific part of the realm of horror films. Likewise, teen gross-out movies have evolved within the comedy genre. In the case of Lady Jayne - Killer, the subgenre is the fraternity favorite, girls with guns.
There have been quite a few films that fit into this subgenre (the wonderful La Femme Nikita and the horrid To The Limit, just to name a few), and this film follows in that same shamele...
