Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 31st, 2005
The Mother Superior of a medieval convent is tormented by visions. Torn by her own desires, she sees herself confronted by Mary Magdalen on a throne with a demon by her side. Magdalen challenges the nun's beliefs that sex is bad, but this notion is reinforced by another vision, this one of a skeleton in nun's habit. The poor nun's torment is compounded by other visions of all sorts of carnal hell breaking loose.This is a real oddity. The writer/director is Nigel Wingrove, who, the case informs us, is the founder of Redemption Films. That outfit was one of the pioneers of deluxe re-issues of 70s Eurotrash horror and sexploitation, with plenty of nunsploitation tossed in. So here is a new exploitation film, very much a love letter to those earlier films, and is such an exercise in personal expression that it raises the question: can such a labour of love really count as exploitation. Then there's the problem of how wordy the script is. So while there is a fair bit of naked female flesh on display (apparently waxing was de rigeur in the Middle Ages), the rather stiff philosophizing takes up the lion's share of the screentime. The film is ambitious, and has some startling imagery, but doesn't scale the rarified heights of such tour de force efforts as School of the Holy Beast.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 30th, 2005
The Girl in the Café is an interesting idea for a movie. It’s a blend of romantic comedy with a political agenda. The film doesn’t really work, but it’s nice to see something different. The romantic pair is played by Bill Nighy and Kelly MacDonald. Both are fine actors, and they have an awkward, engaging chemistry. Nighy plays a lonely civil servant and MacDonald plays a damn sexy woman. They “meet cute” in, you guessed it, a café, and they end up going to the G8 summit in Iceland (go figure). The scri...t is written by Richard Curtis (of Love Actually). Curtis seems to have a flair for the unconventional in his scripts. He doesn’t quite pull off the last act, but (for most of the ride) The Girl in the Café is worth a look.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 26th, 2005
Synopsis
India, 1938. Dissolute ex-pat Brit George Brent is amused when old flame Myrna Loy, now married to an aging aristocrat, arrives, but is less amused when he sees her set her sights on Indian doctor Tyrone Power (all done up in dark make-up). Power is so decent that Brent doesn’t want him corrupted. But it soon turns out that Loy really loves Power, as she demonstrates by helping selflessly after the city is savaged by torrential rains, flooding and an earthquake.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 25th, 2005
Synopsis
In his mansion and forested estate, a rock star (played by Michael Pitt and named Blake, but obviously supposed to be Kurt Cobain) wanders about in a terminal drug stupor. Hangers on, business associates, Mormons and salesmen besiege him, but his flees human contact, withdrawing completely into himself.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 8th, 2005
Let's face it; Harrison Ford is not a particularly great actor. He is not capable of playing diversity in his roles, and he has never faded into a character. When you go to see a Harrison Ford movie, the result is always something like “Harrison Ford as the President of the United States”, or “Harrison Ford is wrongly accused of a crime he didn't commit.” Never once have I seen one of his films and came away saying “it is about this professor that goes on a quest to find the holy grail. Harrison Ford played the profe...sor.”
Having said this, I like Harrison Ford. He happens to be one of those personalities, much like William H. Macy, that is comfortable and pleasant to watch on screen. He always handles each role with care, and is never content to let a role slip by without putting effort into the feelings and intentions of the character. He is much like the great Gregory Peck in this regard, as some of Harrison the man always comes through in the characters he plays. He is always genuine, always true to himself.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 3rd, 2005
Winter Solstice is one of those quiet, somber independent films. While not as flashy as The Upside of Anger (and that’s not a flashy film), Josh Sternfeld’s feature is a meditative look at a broken family trying to rebuild its life. Don’t expect any major plot twists or a flashy directing style. Solstice takes its time and builds towards something called hope.
A family tragedy as taken its toll on a Jersey family. Anthony LaPaglia plays Jim Winters, a landscape gardener. H...s sons Gabe and Pete (played by Aaron Stanford and Mark Webber, respectively) are adolescents and are trying to deal with their senses of identity. Enter the new woman down the street, Molly (played by West Winger Allison Janney). Jim takes an interest, but romance is tough since the “family tragedyâ€. There are soap opera elements in the film, but these elements are handled with quiet human rhythms.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 28th, 2005
Warm Springs is an HBO production based on a lesser known part of the life of Franklin Roosevelt. While most folks know about FDR’s debilitating bout with polio, few are aware of his long-term association with a rural Georgia resort. It seems the water there is high in minerals, which allows those suffering from crippling diseases a chance to stand or even walk in the super buoyant water. HBO films has a nice track record with historical films. Truman is one of the best Presidential bio films I’ve ever seen. This film limits itself perhaps too much and becomes more about polio than it is about FDR. Kenneth Branagh delivers an above average performance as the single-minded future president. Cynthia Nixon literally steals the show with a clever portrayal of Eleanor Roosevelt. The remaining cast including Kathy Bates holds up well.
My main complaints can be found in the script. For one thing it runs too long at almost exactly 2 hours. The situations become repetitive and slow. The dialogue seems out of place at times. Flowery period talk can be taken too far, and it certainly was here. The sets are magnificent as is the atmospheric photography. The historical aspect is played quite loosely. Don’t expect great historical accuracy here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 26th, 2005
It was inevitable that the tragic events of 9/11 would spawn television and film dramatizations. The catastrophe quickly influenced almost everything produced immediately afterwards. Homeland Security is a failed NBC pilot. Unlike most discarded pilots Paramount decided to release this one as a direct-to-video feature. I’m not sure what the thinking behind this move was, but it was well thought out. The very things that made this a poor subject for a series make it an even worse feature release. There have been, and here will continue to be, dramas based on the attacks. Exciting episodes, particularly those in New York, have had to wrestle with presenting these events. All have been forced to deal with the reality of the impact on our society. Our entertainment simply must reflect our lives. With that said, this is simply a tasteless and obvious exploitation of those events. The film begins with a cursory look at the attack planning and soon moves into exposing the inter-agency problems which were partly responsible for the tragedy. Before you know it the attacks have occurred and a group of folks are being assembled to work in the newly formed Homeland Security department. The major flaw is how quickly the events themselves are given in the scheme of things. There would have been more promise if they had established the characters inside the organization and dealt with the aftermath of 9/11. Instead the show is exploitation and has little to offer.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 24th, 2005
Synopsis
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) is the landmark, because of its star, and because of its subject matter. This intense, rich portrayal of juvenile delinquency triggered a flood of largely exploitive imitators, but it remains a powerful film, not least for the sympathy with which it treats its characters, and for its understanding. It shows why the Dean, Natalie Wood and company behave the way they do, and does not demonize. This was Dean’s second film, but the first to be released, and hi... performance here remains his most iconic role.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 20th, 2005
Synopsis
In the rural south of the 1930s, a black man is charged with the rape and beating of a white woman. Defending him is Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), and the events surrounding the case are seen through the eyes of Finch’s two children. The film is thus just as much about children’s fears (embodied by Boo Rradley [Robert Duvall], the boogeyman next door) and perceptions of the world as it is about race and unequal justice.
