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Comedy

M-3D The Movie / The Playmates

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 6th, 2004

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Synopsis

M-3D purports to be a parody of MTV, which is hardly likely, given that the film, inits original form, was made in 1976. Actually Lollipop Girls in Hard Candy, this is apainful slog combining aphrodisiac lollipops with extra footage involving ancient Greek soldiersdoing sad Three Stooges routines. No, it makes no sense. No, it isn’t funny. And with obviouscuts to the sex scenes, the waste of your life is complete.

The Playmates is even more resi…
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Take This Job and Shove It

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 6th, 2004

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Synopsis

Robert Hays is a rising corporate star at a major brewery. The company, headed by EddieAlbert, has just taken over some smaller competitors. Hays is sent to streamline one of them,which happens to be in his home town. The city mouse hooks up once again with all his oldcountry mouse friends, and sho’ nuff begins to transform, losing the will to be the corporate hitman he was sent to be.

Did anybody ever find this type of comedy funny? Somebody must have. Now it looks…
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Without a Clue

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 4th, 2004

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Synopsis

It turns out that everything we thought about Sherlock Holmes is wrong. He is, in fact,hammy actor Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine), hired by Dr. Watson (Ben Kingsley) to be thepublic face of his own detective work. The relationship between the two men is fractious at best,and they part company. But when Watson discovers that Professor Moriarty is behind amysterious crime, he realizes he needs Kincaid so the police will allow his investigation toproceed.

The premi…
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Dawg

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 3rd, 2004

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Synopsis

Denis Leary plays Doug Munford a wheeling dealing ego maniac skirt chaser who must get the women he has betrayed to forgive him so that he can inherit a million dollars. Elizabeth Hurley plays the lawyer who must accompany him done the road to redemption and cash to ensure that he doesn’t cheat. Along the way Doug finds out that he had a daughter with one of the women who is now dead and decides that maybe he needs to change his life. Ho hum can we throw a couple of more clichés in this one,…
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Chump Change

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 3rd, 2004

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Synopsis

Stephen Burrows plays Milwaukee Steve plays a northern from Milwaukee who heads off to LA to seek fame and fortune under the bright lights. He lands his first job in a jock itch commercial and quickly becomes famous for this. Unable to land anymore work he decides what he needs to do is fake his own death and then make a miraculous return.

First he decides to go on “Wheel of Fortune” and becomes notorious when he is sued by the Merv Griffin Corp. Suddenly everyone wants him and se…
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Reefer Madness

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 2nd, 2004

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Synopsis

A hectoring principal tells his audience of concerned parents the story, in flashback, of thetragedy that befalls Bill and Mary. The All-American couple is destroyed through the actions ofa drug ring that seduces high school kids with the Devil’s Weed. Marijuana, as portrayed here,works like a combination of LSD, crack and Spanish Fly. When tragedy strikes, and Bill isbrought up on murder charges, the drug ring goes into hiding, but their own addictions threatento break the…
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Daddy & Them

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 25th, 2004

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Billy Bob Thornton is a strange ranger, even by Hollywood standards. He is a self-made man, resulting from his breakthrough role as writer/director/star of Sling Blade. With Daddy & Them, Thornton returns to his role as a triple threat, and the result is a film that is not only funny, but features more stars than a stint in rehab. The list of notables includes Thornton, Laura Dern, Dianne Ladd, Kelly Preston, Jim Varney, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Affleck, Brenda Blethyn, musician John Prine and even America…
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Love at the Top

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 24th, 2004

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Synopsis

Jean-Louis Trintignant is Nicolas, a quiet, put-upon bank teller. On impulse one day, he seesa pretty young woman (Jane Birkin) and puts a very unsubtle move on her. It works. Thistransforms Trintignant’s life, especially once he confides to his crippled writer friend (Jean-Pierre Cassel). The latter begins to live vicariously through Trintignant, directing his every move.Our hero is soon sleeping with one woman after another, and through them making theconnections that see…
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Herod’s Law (La Ley De Herodes)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 23rd, 2004

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Synopsis

After the mayor of a tiny hamlet is decapitated by an irate populace, the Powers That Be(mindful of an upcoming election) decide to appoint a total moron as temporary mayor. Thetheory is that an idiot won’t get himself into trouble. The idiot they find is Juan Vargas (DamiánAlcázar), who arrives with his wife and a head filled with plans to do good things for thecommunity. We all know what is paved with good intentions, though, and confronted with acomplete lack of funds, o…
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American Wedding

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 22nd, 2004

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The third and hopefully final entry in the American Pie series, American Wedding keeps with the sweet charms and gross out comedy of the first two movies, but can’t live up to the humor of the original or its sequel. Average Joe Jim, (Jason Biggs) and former band geek Michelle, (Alyson Hannigan) are now engaged to be wed and must decide whether raucous Stifler (Seann William Scott) should be invited to the wedding. Shenanigans ensue involving a night out at a gay club, a bachelor party, pleasing the in-laws, and pubi…
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Stupids, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 22nd, 2004

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The Stupids are a family with, as you can guess, a below-average intelligence. I think this might be due to inbreeding. The plot is fairly simple, more a series of vignettes: the family gets into some mess because of a mistake they make, and then get out of it in some silly manner. It sort of comes together in the end, but that’s how the whole movie goes.

The Stupids is a kid’s movie, and it was made with that exact audience in mind. It’s not really there to entertain adults and…
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Belles on their Toes

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 16th, 2004

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Synopsis

The tale is told in flashback as Myrna Loy witnesses the graduation of her youngest daughter.In this flashback, we see Loy, now recently widowed, struggling to keep her family together,even as various forces try to separate the twelve children. The sequel is even more sentimentalthan the original, and so even harder to take. So heartwarming, it makes The BradyBunch look like The Wages of Fear.

Audio

Urgh! Nasty audio. Not only do we ha…
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Cheaper by the Dozen

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 16th, 2004

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Synopsis

Efficiency expert Clifton Webb is the pater familias of 12 children. He runs his family ratherlike an industry, and is simultaneously loving, stern, eccentric, pompous and goofy. He moves hisbrood from Rhode Island to New Jersey, and we follow the family as they adapt to their newsurroundings, and the new surroundings adapt to them. The film is about as family-friendly asyou could possibly imagine, and is so determinedly warm-hearted it pursues the audience withthe implacab…
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Commitments, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2004

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A number of great films have come out of Ireland over the past decade (or so). A few titles that come to mind are In the name of the Father (1993), My Left Foot (1989), In America (2002), The Boxer (1997), and definitely The Commitments (1991). The one factor that differentiates The Commitments from the rest of these great films is that it centers around music rather then turmoil (whether it be personal, family, or country turmoil). The Commitments is a great tale t…
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I’ll Be There

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2004

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“I’ll Be There” is different from most romantic comedies in that the main relationship is between a father and his daughter….wait a minute, that didn’t come out quite right.

The story revolves around Paul Kerr, an aging rock star who ends up in a hospital following a drunken ride on a motorcycle inside his own mansion. There is a concern that he may have thoughts of taking his own life. And then to top it off Paul learns about a daughter that he sired during a relationship that he had with a groupie 16 ye…
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Smile Like Yours, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2004

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Synopsis

Danny (Greg Kinnear) and his wife Jennifer (Lauren Holly) are a happily married couple. They have reached the point in their marriage that they are now ready to start a family. The only problem is that for whatever reason, they are unable to conceive. Jennifer goes to her physician for a work up and is found to be healthy and able to conceive. Therefore she concludes that the couple problems are due to Danny. She tricks Danny into going a fertilization clinic to be examined. It turns out tha…
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Dust to Dust (Por La Libre)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 12th, 2004

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Synopsis

Osvaldo Benavides and Rodrigo Cachero are two very different cousins. One is clean-cut, theother is a stoner. They hate each other’s guts, much to the despair of their grandfrather (XavierMasse). But the old man is wily, even in death, and thanks to his will, the two cousins musttravel together to Acapulco to scatter Masse’s ashes in the sea. This is yet another instance ofhow lively and vibrant contemporary cinema is. Neatly observed characterizations all round.

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Once Upon a Time in the Midlands

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 10th, 2004

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Synopsis

When the kind but dull Rhys Ifans proposes to girlfriend Shirley Henderson on a Sally Jesse-style TV show, she turns him down. He is hurt, but still hopeful. Unfortunately, this show wasseen by Henderson’s first boyfriend: small-time crook Robert Carlyle. A flame reignites inCarlyle’s heart, and he comes to town with all the outlaw swagger and mystique that Ifans can’thope to beat. But he will certainly try…

A very likeable, if slight, film. The cast appear to be …
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Under the Tuscan Sun

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 8th, 2004

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Fresh off of her Oscar nominated performance in Unfaithful, Diane Lane now takes on a somewhat lighter role in Under the Tuscan Sun. This film, which contains aspects of romance, comedy, and drama, is perfectly suited for Lane. Her beauty shines, and is framed perfectly with the amazing Tuscan countryside. The film is pretty good for what it is… it has a number of captivating moments, but also has a few lull’s in its pace. Take away a few of the over-the-top cheesy scenes, and you are left with a good dramatic ro…
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Fighting Tempations, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 8th, 2004

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I must admit that going into my screening of this DVD, I was anticipating a horrible film. With Jerry McGuire as the exception, I have hated Cuba Gooding Jr. as an actor; and let’s face it, Beyonce is a much better singer then she is an actress. That all being said, I was surprised that I actually enjoyed The Fighting Temptations. It was not the story or acting that led to my enjoyment… it was the music. This film is a fun film that is full of some great gospel music. Not only does Beyonce lend her voice …
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Down Periscope

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2004

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Synopsis

Well – this qualifies as one of the most bizarre examples of casting and scripting that I have ever seen in my life. Kelsey Grammer plays what is supposed to be a near-unemployable submarine captain whose insane antics are about to get him kicked out of the naval submarine command program. The movie chronicles his “return,” so to speak, as he overcomes insurmountable odds in a naval war game exercise to win a respectable submarine to command. His weapon – a WWII sub against the modern Americ…
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Dear God

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 1st, 2004

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Synopsis

Extremely small-time con Greg Kinnear is caught and sentenced to a year of employment,which turns out to be in the Dead Letter Office of the post office. Opening a letter addressed toGod, Kinnear accidentally winds up answering the letter-writer’s prayers, thus setting off a chainof events that see his reformation and many people helping other people.

The flick is supposed to be some kind of heart-warming comedy of the human spirit, but it’sreally just flat and irri…
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Marci X

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 30th, 2004

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Timothy Olyphant, in the movie Go, refers to the comic strip The Family Circus in this manner: “it’s always there, in the lower right hand corner, just waiting to suck.” This is one of my all-time favorite movie quotes, and it applies quite nicely when discussing Marci X. Completed in 2000, this is the film that the studio put on the shelf, all the while knowing that eventually they would have to do something with it, because there it was, looming in the corner, waiting to suck.

Finally…
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Scorched

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 25th, 2004

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Scorched follows in the tradition of Guy Ritchie films such as “Loch Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch” from the perspective of having a group of characters that don’t have too much in common except for fate brining them all together at the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time.

Scorched follows three main characters who all work at a bank and have the same idea, although thought of independently, to rob the bank – all on the same weekend. Sheila (Alicia Silverstone) has been dating …
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Le Divorce

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 21st, 2004

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Synopsis

Kate Hudson arrives in Paris to visit sister Naomi Watts. Hudson is the drifter, while Watts,the poet married to the painter, appears to be the success story. But Hudson arrives just as Watts’husband walks out on wife and daughter. While trying to be the supportive sister, Hudsonmeanwhile falls into an affair with one of Watts’ married in-laws.

As with all Merchant-Ivory films, this looks great, in terms of both cast and scenery. Butthere’s a rather stilled, coffee-…
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