Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 16th, 2004
Synopsis
Based on true events (or at least on tales told by the Inuit), The White Dawn is setin 1896, when three whalers are stranded on Baffin Island, and are rescued by an Inuitcommunity. The three men are Timothy Bottoms (who is instantly converted to this way of life),Lou Gossett (who is skeptical) and Warren Oates (who’s just plain trouble). The meeting ofcultures is not an easy one.
The film is leisurely, but never dull, and much of the running time is spent sho...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 13th, 2004
Synopsis
Welcome to Austin, Texas. Here, in a series of short, interconnected vignettes, we will meeta huge diversity of characters, who are variously eccentric, insane, disaffected, apathetic,coasting, and so on. Director/writer/producer Richard Linklater’s approach is not unlike RobertAltman taken to the next level. Plot, as such, finally disappears completely. Instead, the camerafollows one character (or set of characters) for a minute or two, then leaves them to trail someonewho...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 2nd, 2004
Synopsis
A sprawling tale/fable/meditation centred on the early AIDS plague and the American dream,Angels in America is set in 1985, and traces hypocrisy and courage, disillusion and faithin the face of the disease. Prior (Justin Kirk) reveals to his lover Louis (Ben Shenkman) that hehas AIDS. Louis leaves him, and takes up with lawyer (Patrick Wilson), who, as a Mormon, ispretty damn closeted. His wife Harper (Mary-Louise Parker) spirals into depression. Meanwhile,spectacula...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 27th, 2004
Synopsis
Patrick Stewart is King Henry II of England. He is on the verge of announcing the heir tohis throne. Trouble is, none of his sons are fit to rule, and two of them previously were part ofa rebellion against him, led by his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (Glenn Close). He summons hisfamily to his seat of power, and the stage is set for all sorts of palace intrigue.
The screenplay is the same one used in the original film -- James Goldman’s adaptation ofhis play. As present...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 26th, 2004
Synopsis
If you really need a synopsis, where have you been hiding for the last 2000 years? Anyway,the film follows the last twelve hours of Jesus’ life, beginning with the Garden of Gethsemane,where he is tempted by Satan and betrayed to the authorities by Judas. We then move on to thetrial, the whipping, scourging and crucifixion (interspersed with little sepia flashbacks of Jesuspreaching to his apostles). At the very end, we get the resurrection (oops, was that aspoiler?).
...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 25th, 2004
Synopsis
Pity poor Daniel Hong (Chin Han), a mild-mannered eye surgeon who is buffeted at homeby the war between his wife Natalie (Vivian Wu) and blind mother Mrs. Hong (Lisa Lu). His lifeisn’t going to get any easier, however. This night, while he is called away to the hospital, his oldfriend Patrick (Joe Lando) descends on the house. Patrick has spent the last ten years in prison forthe murder of his parents. He has escaped from custody, and he arrives at the Hong residence,hungry...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 21st, 2004
Synopsis
The Carter family might appear to have it all. But as this is a Movie of the Week, we knowthat these people are really a dysfunctional calamity. And so they are: Dad is a tyrant, Mom isa social-climbing bitch-on-wheels, daughter is terrified of becoming like her mother and so hasan abortion behind her husband’s back rather than risk being a mother, older son (Jim Carreyin a supporting role) is a disappointment in every aspect, and Perfect Younger Son turns out tobe gay. My ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 20th, 2004
Synopsis
When midwestern Calvinist father George C. Scott’s daughter vanishes on a Church Youthtrip to California, he hires greasy PI Peter Boyle to find her. Boyle discovers a rough and nastyporn loop that she appears in. When Boyle turns out to be untrustworthy, Scott fires him andtravels to California himself, descending into the world of the sex industry in an increasinglydesperate and violent search for his daughter.
Schrader was still very much working out his own issu...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 16th, 2004
Synopsis
The time is the Great Depression, and the setting is the isolated mountain village of Dogville.One night, a beautiful stranger named Grace (Nicole Kidman) arrives, pursued by gangsters.Would-be writer and pretentious pseudo-philosopher Tom (Paul Bettany) hides Grace, and thenpersuades the town to give her refuge. In order to win the townspeople over, Grace sets out tohelp each household for an hour each day. After some initial reluctance, the townspeopleembrace her and her ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 13th, 2004
Synopsis
Spencer Tracy arrives in Nuremberg to sit as chief justice at a war crimes tribunal. In thedock are three judges and a prosecutor, accused of crimes against humanity. Chief among theaccused judges is Burt Lancaster, whose record prior to the Nazi era was exemplary. Theprosecutor is Richard Widmark, driven to fight for justice no matter what the wider geo-politicalcontext might be. Defending the accused is Maximilian Schell (who won an Oscar), stopping atnothing to protect h...
