Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 7th, 2007
Pacino and Depp in a mob drama about an undercover fed and his unknowing Mafioso mentor? Fuggedaboudit.
Donnie Brasco is based on the true story of F.B.I. agent Joe Pistone (Johnny Depp, Blow), who spent six successful years undercover in the New York Mafia, as one Donnie Brasco. The film opens with Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino, Heat), an aging made man, connecting with Donnie about a diamond ring. Donnie’s cover is he’s in the jewelry “business”, and Lefty wants to unload a ring some guy ...ave him as payment for a debt. When Donnie insists the ring’s a fake, Lefty goes back to see the guy, bringing Donnie along. The guy still claims it’s the real deal, but Donnie asks for a minute to “talk to him.” Permission from Lefty granted, Donnie smacks the guy around, threatens murder and makes the guy give up the keys to his Porsche.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 6th, 2007
Synopsis
Gary Cooper is a writer who hit it big with his first book, but has been mechanically producing more of the same ever since while he and his wife booze it up in New York high society. When his publisher rejects his latest tossed-off effort, Cooper and wife (now dead broke) retreat to his old family home in the country. There he gradually falls in love with the daughter (Anna Sten) of his Polish neighbour. She herself is engaged (unhappily) to another man. The budding relationship is thus fra...ght with many perils.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 1st, 2007
The Butcher Boy, originally released in 1997 and based upon the 1992 book of the same name, has found its way to DVD. The film has been the recipient of numerous awards, with critics hailing it as a dark comedy unlike any other. To be completely honest, I had never heard of this picture before today, but I’ve always enjoyed these little Great Britain pictures, so here’s hoping it’s as good as some say.
Francie Brady (Eamonn Owens, Breakfast on Pluto) appears to be your typical schoolboy, spend...ng his days hanging out with his best lad, Joe. Until he gets home, at least, where things are rather atypical; his father is an abusive alcoholic and his mother is a self-loathing, suicidal woman. Amidst the dysfunction, Francie seems for the large part to be unaware of all the problems surrounding him and continues his days as if nothing fazed him. Things are put in perspective one day when the mother of a boy he bullied, Mrs. Nugent, verbally attacks his mother and calls his whole family a bunch of pigs. Shortly after this comment, Francie walks in on his mother attempting suicide, and he promises he will never let her die. This is where his obsession with the Nugents begins, already blaming them for his problems. Finally fed up with his father’s actions, Francie runs away and spends some time in Dublin where he becomes quite streetwise and spends most of his time thieving. Upon his return to his home there is a funeral presiding, and he soon finds out his mother has taken her own life. This fuels more hatred for the Nugents and things really start getting out of control; Francis becomes hallucinogenic and borderline psychotic.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 31st, 2007
Synopsis
I’m one of the few who hasn’t experienced the magic of Robert Cormier’s novel “The Chocolate War”, and I was surprised to hear that it was the most banned book for a time (and still might be). When the film came out, not only did I not hear about it, but in 1988 I was in the middle of high school, and I (along with many other people) sure as hell could have used this film back then, not to say that all the John Hughes films weren’t a welcome breath of air into my life.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2007
Every so often a film comes along and completely takes me by surprise. I had heard good things about Lost in Translation before viewing the title a few weeks ago. Critics hailed this as Bill Murray’s comeback as he played a genuine man who simply didn’t know what to do in life anymore. While critics may have been overly generous to the film (not quite four stars), I will admit that I didn’t expect anything at all from this one. In the end, I came away shocked and completely absorbed by the material in front of...me.
The basic premise of Lost in Translation runs along the story of Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) meeting while visiting Tokyo for completely opposite reasons. Bob is shooting a new whiskey commercial, while Charlotte is playing tag along with her photographic husband (Giovanni Ribisi). The two soon develop a friendship that finds the two putting themselves in situations very foreign to each other (meeting citizens, laughing about events that might seem odd). This leads the two to ultimately discover that the definition of life is never set in stone, as it can change at the oddest moment.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2007
Life of the Party is little known movie which was released in 2005 where it has since gone mostly unnoticed. I know the first time I’d heard of it was just a few days ago where I first saw it in my hands. It didn’t look half bad, a few cast members were recognizable, and as the movie actually went on I saw quite a few familiar supporting faces.
Michael Elgin (Eion Bailey, Band of Brothers) is a functioning alcoholic with a close-knit group of friends and a loving wife Phoebe (Ellen Pompeo, Old Scho...l, Grey’s Anatomy). But he starts putting strain on all these relationships as a result of his excessive drinking, most affected is his wife who asks for a separation. We soon learn that his work life is suffering as well; he has no goals or motivation to continue on everyday, which is where the bottle comes in. As he continually puts strain on these relationships, topped off with the fact that after a night of drinking and adultery he crashes his best friends dream car, everyone who cares about him comes together and plans an intervention.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 29th, 2007
Synopsis
It always feels good when you go into a film with very little expectations. Such as the case with Griffin and Phoenix, other than Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding), who is apparently in every fricken movie that involves the words “romantic” or “comedy”. While Griffin and Phoenix is a mite bit romantic and its story is hardly new, its execution makes things a bit more pleasant.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 29th, 2007
Synopsis
It always feels good when you go into a film with very little expectations. Such as the case with Griffin and Phoenix, other than Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding), who is apparently in every fricken movie that involves the words “romantic” or “comedy”. While Griffin and Phoenix is a mite bit romantic and its story is hardly new, its execution makes things a bit more pleasant.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 28th, 2007
Prior to Top Gun with Tom Cruise and long before The Guardian with Ashton Kutcher, An Officer and a Gentleman was the film about a hot-headed hotshot military trainee headed for glory or self-destruction.
Starring a youthful Richard Gere (Chicago), An Officer and a Gentleman follows the journey of Zack Mayo, a young man looking to find his place in the world, and to prove he can defy his chaotic, depraved upbringing. His avenue of choice is to become a navy jet pilo..., which means he must first survive officer training under hard-as-nails Gunnery Sergeant Foley (Lou Gosset Jr., Diggstown). Between the tough training and weekend romps with girlfriend Paula (Debra Winger, Shadowlands), a local townie hoping to marry a pilot-to-be and escape her dead-end life, Mayo has a hard time holding on to his selfish, loner persona, and he fights the battle on internal and external levels throughout the film. It takes him a long time to realize he can change, open up to others and actually succeed. It’s a no man is an island story, and while you’re probably familiar with aspects of it from the likes of The Guardian, this film tells it in a more realistic and thus more satisfying way.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 23rd, 2007
Thieves Like Us was never one of Robert Altman’s better known films. It did rather poorly at the box office in 1974, and I suspect it will fare little better on DVD. Certainly there is a bit more interest in Altman’s films with his recent passing, but Thieves Like Us is not a great representation of his work. It is a wonderful period piece, but there isn’t anything worthwhile happening inside that marvelously created world. Altman admits there were extreme cuts, over 45 minutes, made to the film. Perhaps that foota...e might have made a huge difference. An extended cut might have been the better way to go here. I suspect with Altman’s death, no one wanted to be the one to change any of his films right now.
The film is based on the Edward Anderson novel of the same title. The book had been filmed with superior results in the 1940’s as They Live By Night. Altman’s film more closely follows the book, and this could be its undoing. There is a reason why even the greatest written works are modified somewhat for the screen. This almost exact telling ends up being quite the bore. It just seems to go nowhere, and very slowly at that. The story follows three bank robbers who manage to escape prison only to return to their criminal ways. Most of the film centers on Bowie (Carradine), one of the robbers who falls in love with Keechie (Duvall). The other two are in and out of the story sparingly. The film is often compared with Bonnie and Clyde, but I don’t see it. First off, Bowie is never joined by Keechie on his criminal adventures. The most significant similarity is the brutality with which Bowie is gunned down in the film’s climax. Unfortunately Altman has developed superb characters and excellent actors to portray them, but he never ends up doing anything with them. Altman addresses the pacing and lack of action in his audio commentary, but he never tells us why. He only mentions at least 50 times that you couldn’t make a film with this pacing today. I think he’d have been better off not to have made one even 30 years ago. His reasoning is audiences today have less patience. That may be true, but the film didn’t exactly set any records even in 1974.
![Lost in Translation [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/lost-in-translation-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
