Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 9th, 2004
Synopsis
The film begins on the night of the murder of Sharon Tate and her friends. We then followthe often maddening investigation, where the forces of law and order frequently sabotage eachother through turf wars, false assumptions, and shoddy police work. George DiCenzo playsprosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, and he narrates, Rod Serling-style, as well. Bit by bit, the casecomes together, and the prosecution of the cult begins.
Meticulous in its detail, and often very chilling,...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 9th, 2004
Suspended animation is a story with a lot of promise. Fifteen minutes into the film and it looks like we’re seeing a Misery ripoff with a cannibal twist. From that point on I’m not sure if I’m watching Misery, Deliverance, or Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There are some truly suspenseful moments in the film, but they are spaced too far apart with needless muddled plotlines. The film style is eerily reminiscent of the Italian suspense masters like Brava and Argento without the gore. The Spaghetti Nightmares are an obvious ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 9th, 2004
Synopsis
Liam Neeson is Oskar Schindler, ladies man with an eye for the main chance. He makes afortune in German-occupied Warsaw, staffing his factory with the cut-rate labour provided bythe Jews. As the Nazi persecution of the Jews becomes more and more murderous, Schindler’sconscience is awakened, and he eventually becomes intent not on making money through cheaplabour, but in saving the lives of his employees.
Shot in black and white, with the disturbing exception of a li...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 2nd, 2004
Let’s face it… when it comes to boxing movies, there’s Raging Bull, and then there’s everything else. Rocky (and the subsequent cash driven vehicles) is a great film, but not really a great film about boxing. Even Daniel Day-Lewis’ The Boxer is more about the man than the sport. It’s hard to make a great boxing film. Not only is it extremely difficult to capture the action authentically, but very few actors have the physical ability to pull off such a role.
Well, I don’t know how easily...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 1st, 2004
Synopsis
World War II is in full swing. A constant stream of pilots is needed in Europe, and trainingfacility in Manitoba is helping meet that demand. Men from all over the world come here to bemolded, in six weeks, into pilots. Among them is Australian Russell Crowe. Living nearby isChristianne Hirt, whose husband has been overseas for two years. She and Crowe meet at adance, and despite good intentions and an awareness of how fleeting their time together is, theyfall in love.
...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 29th, 2004
Following closely on the heels of Doug Liman’s swift and engaging Go, of which director Mazzei must be a huge fan, Devious Beings follows Jackson (Andre B. Blake), Arrow (Patrick Van Horn), and Casey (Kevin Connolly), three childhood friends who push X for their supplier, Leo (Joseph Sicari). When their buyer, Tiny (Andre Rosey Brown) unexpectedly dies, they make off with the money and the product. However, dealer Damone (Robert Gossett), who was expecting to get the drugs in the deal, decides to get ev...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 26th, 2004
Hayden Christensen is the very incarnation of smarm as Stephen Glass, hot-shot writer for The New Republic. His stories are all fabulous, seemingly too good to be true. Which is, in fact, the problem. His tissue of lies begins to unravel when Steve Zahn, reporter for Forbes Digital, tries to follow up one of Christensen’s articles, and can’t find a single legitimate fact. Peter Sarsgaard is Chuck Lane, Christensen’s editor, and he begins to smell a very big rat.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 24th, 2004
No surprise that in Master and Commander and Pirates of the Caribbeanwould trigger the re-release of older pirate movies. And oh look: those two hits are the firstthings mentioned on the blurb!
Synopsis
The title is self-explanatory. What you have here is a series of 15 short film from France. Thelonger vignettes is the expected bag of tricks: straight, lesbian, bondage, threesome, etc.Interspersed amidst the hardcore are short burlesque dances. The case boasts...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 24th, 2004
Synopsis
Mac (John Turturro), a homebuilder, takes enormous pride in his work. Fed up with thecorner-cutting of his boss, he quits and, along with his two brothers, starts up his own buildingcompany. There are many problems on the way to success, and not least among them is Mac’sown tyrannical perfection, which takes its toll on everyone around him.
If the actual plot of Mac is something that we’ve all seen plenty of times before, itstexture and its tone are what make...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 23rd, 2004
Synopsis
In 1934, Helena Bonham Carter comes to live with sister Olivia Williams and her husband,Paul Bettany. Bonham Carter is the bad girl, always rebellious, while Wiliams is very proper andsomething of a cold fish. Williams wants to fix her sister up with a man, but she clearly didn'tcount on that man being her husband. Bettany and Bonham Carter begin a furtive affair, whichtakes a sudden turn when she becomes pregnant. Flash forward to 1946. Bettany appears to havebeen killed i...
