Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 15th, 2004
Synopsis
Spencer Tracy arrives in the research department of the “Federal Broadcasting Company”to install a computer. He is sworn to secrecy by the president of the network, however, and soresearch head Katherine Hepburn and her co-workers assume they are to be made redundant.Sparks are clearly flying between her and Tracy, however, even if this romantic tension remainsvery much an undercurrent to their witty banter. Also on the scene is Gig Young, Hepburn’srather callow and thought...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 13th, 2004
I applaud any film that dares to push at the boundaries that envelop it, be those boundaries artistic, traditional or cultural. That is precisely what is so much fun about many Criterion Collection titles. They have a complete disregard for the filmmaking conventions and social morays of their time, and instead the director creates exactly what he wants, convention be damned.
Marilyn Monroe movies, however, have never really fit into that category. In fact, she was notoriously typecast as the sexy dumb blon...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 12th, 2004
Synopsis
Sofia Milos has been widowed for years, but still refuses to start dating again. Her daughter(Emmy Rossum) tries to set her up, but with disastrous results. Jason Isaacs is a slightly seedybut charming-in-his-own way gambler who falls for Milos when he sees her sing. His clumsypursuit appears doomed to failure, until Rossum makes him a deal: if he teaches her how to countcards, she’ll help him win Milos.
Nothing in this film can really be said to be surprising. Once...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 12th, 2004
Synopsis
Carlo (Stefano Accorsi) and his live-in girlfriend (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) aren’t married,and he has no inclination yet to change this. She is pregnant, however, and the spectre of totalcommitment sends him into a blind panic. Also freaking out over adulthood and responsibilitiesare his buddies. Meanwhile, Mezzogiorno’s mother (Stefania Sandrelli) is dismayed by the ideaof becoming a grandmother, and, feeling rejected by her distant husband, seeks to revive an oldromance of ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 11th, 2004
Synopsis
Based on stories by Damon Runyon, Bloodhounds of Broadway traces the would-bezany antics of a large group of characters in New York, on New Year’s Eve, 1928. Some of thethreads we follow are: Randy Quaid as the terminal loser who sells his body to a maddoctor, payment due by dawn, only to have his luck change radically and flapper Madonna fallfor him; Rutger Hauer as The Brain, a soft-spoken ganglord who is stabbed, and spends the restof the night being hauled fruitl...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 8th, 2004
The 80’s were full of fun, campy comedies. Weird Science, The Money Pit… even Funny Farm had a certain charm. Unfortunately, for every Stripes there were as least six films like our feature presentation.
Walk Like a Man stars Howie Mandell, the 80’s version of Carrot Top. He’s an annoying hack, yet somehow he remained in the public spotlight. The film’s plot is a simple one; Bobo (Mandell) is a boy that was raised by wolves, and now he must learn to fit into society, or el...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 29th, 2004
Synopsis
Inveterate bachelor Jack Nicholson (playing, essentially, himself) arrives at a beach housewith his latest young conquest, only to run into her mother (Diane Keaton, also play, essentially,herself). Shortly thereafter, Nicholson has a heart attack, and is forced to remain in the Hamptonsunder the reluctant care of Keaton. A bond inevitably grows between them, even as she is beingromanced by the much younger Keanu Reeves.
It says something about our movie-conditioned...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 29th, 2004
The 100 Mile Rule, as a corny salesman puts it, means that when you are more than 100 miles from your wife, cheating doesn’t count. It is some kind of moral loophole used by salesmen who travel frequently, allowing them to be unfaithful to their wives. While the phrase is quite original, the film is made up of parts belonging to other movies, a kind of Frankenstein if you will. Not to say that 100 Mile Rule resembles that monster, because it is actually quite enjoyable. However, you will need to get past the m...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 28th, 2004
Synopsis
Amoral would-be dance star Roxie Hart (Ginger Rogers) is convinced by her agent and areporter to take the blame for a murder. The thinking is that no woman has ever been convictedof murder in Chicago, and the attendant publicity will do wonders for her career. Truer wordswere never spoke, as the cynical dance of lawyers and media begins.
Many readers will, of course, have seen this story recently in the musical Chicago.Here you get the story with none of the ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 22nd, 2004
The 1970’s and 80’s brought a ton of teenage angst films where coming of age simply meant having sex. Just One Of The Guys attempts to be a bit more original, but while the premise was, the film is certainly not. I know there was a bit of a cult following for the film, but it was mostly lost in the barrage of superior films of the year. It’s no wonder that Columbia saw fit to release this disc with so little care. Fellow herpers will take delight in one character who brings in a different reptile to school each day. ...
