Drama

True Confessions

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 19th, 2007

Synopsis

In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Robert De Niro may have taken on some more famous roles (like The Deer Hunter and Raging Bull), but he wasn’t shy to experiment in roles with directors like Bernardo Bertolucci (1900), to name a few. And in his first film after playing Jake LaMotta, De Niro plays Des, a monsignor who runs into his brother Tom (Robert Duvall, The Apostle), a police homicide detective.

Written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne (Up Close and…
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Stomp the Yard

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 8th, 2007

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In the past, I have not enjoyed this types of movie. Save the Last Dance, You Got Served, Step Up and even Drumline are all comparable to Stomp the Yard. So it goes without saying that this isn’t one of my more anticipated movies of the year. But I’m throwing all pre-conceived notions out the window, and am hoping that Stomp the Yard will take a turn away from the clichéd norm.

I don’t even know how I would classify this movie – romance, drama, musical? Regardless o…
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Off the Black

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 6th, 2007

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Synopsis

Hey lookee here, in this movie called Off the Black, there are two Oscar nominees and one Oscar winner! So with this pedigree of talent, you’d expect to be a gangbusters piece of dramatic storytelling, right? Well, not exactly.

Written and directed by James Ponsoldt (Junebug and Hurricane), Ray (Nick Nolte, Blue Chips is a high school umpire in his spare time, when he normally works at an auto yard. He makes a controversial call in a game and later that night, some pl…
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Catch and Release

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 5th, 2007

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Catch and Release is appropriately dubbed as a chick flick. Written by Susannah Grant, who also makes her directorial debut, is responsible for the screenwriting of some rather dismal movies in the past, including Ever After, Erin Brockovich, and 28 Days. Although I hint at a dislike for romantic comedies, I’ll have you know that in the past I have enjoyed several, and am going into this completely unbiased.

The movie starts off on a sad note, Grey (Jennifer Garner) a grieving a…
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Black Emanuele’s Box Volume 1

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 4th, 2007

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When Just Jaeckin’s glossy exercise in softcore, Emmanuelle, earned boffo box office in 1974, imitators piled on, and no imitators anywhere were as shameless as the Italians, who began the Black Emanuelle series (note the missing “m”). Laura Gemser starred, and Joe D’Amato directed many of the entries (though not the first). This set offers three.Both the double-“m” and single-“m” series were characterized by the heroine having sex in exotic locales, and the travelogue aspect is most dominant in Emanuelle in Bangkok (1977).
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.45

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 4th, 2007

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Gary Lennon is a first time writer/director and it shows with .45. Milla Jovovich is the obvious centerpiece of this misguided drama. We know we’re in for a long haul from the opening shots of Kat (Jovovich). Talking about the sexual prowess of Big Al, her abusive boyfriend. Big Al is played quite single dimensionally by Angus MacFayden). It’s not that the actor’s don’t have the skills or the desire it’s that they are severely limited by the script. The only entertaining moments occur when the film heads more into …
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Les Misérables

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 1st, 2007

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Synopsis

After serving ten years as a galley slave for having stolen a loaf of bread, Jean Valjean returns to the outside world a bitter man. He is transformed by the saintliness of a bishop who gives him shelter and the gift of the very items he was trying to steal. Starting his life over again, he becomes Mr. Madeleine, highly respected pottery plant owner and eventually mayor. He even adopts young Cosette, whose mother is dying. But the relentless Inspector Javert feels he recognizes Madeleine as …
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Pure

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 29th, 2007

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Synopsis

Drug addiction is scary. It can take an otherwise decent person and turn them in a messy pool of hate, disgust and worthlessness. When the drug you are addicted to is heroin; amplify that by ten. Enter Paul (played by Harry Eden(Oliver Twist)), a ten year old trying to take care of his younger brother Lee (played by Vinnie Hunter) and his heroin addicted mother Mel (played by Molly Parker(Wicker Man, Deadwood)). The father of th…
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History Boys, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 23rd, 2007

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The History Boys is a film version of the award-winning play of the same name. The link between film and play is especially strong here, as not only was it adapted and directed by the original writer and stage director, but each member of the stage cast also reprised his or her role for the film.

Set in the early 80’s, The History Boys is about a group of bright young men preparing for their futures and the teachers helping them along. The boys have just received top marks at their grammar sch…
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Candy

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 22nd, 2007

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Synopsis

Who would have thought that after an amazing performance in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain that Heath Ledger would return to his native Australia and do an independent film? Well for those who did and put long odds on it, you get the prize in the pool. I just wish that after things like Trainspotting, Half Nelson and similar films, this one would have a little more impact than it does.

Candy is written by Luke Davies, and adapted from his book and directed by Ne…
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Anna Karenina

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 18th, 2007

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Synopsis

Anna Karenina (Vivien Leigh) is married to a rigid and boring politician (Ralph Richardson). Despite herself, she falls in love with the dashing young Kieron Moore. Richardson retaliates by cutting her off from her son. And though having an affair is tolerated by upper class Russian society, the couple wind up challenging convention too far, and Anna finds herself completely ostracized.

In Gone with the Wind, Leigh took a character in Scarlett O’Hara who, on the face of it, …
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Jane Eyre

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 16th, 2007

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Synopsis

A young Jane Eyre thinks she is escaping Hell when she is sent from the home of her unloving aunt to a boarding school, but she has simply traded one Hell for another. Despite the attempts of sadistic Henry Daniell, she survives her years at the school with her spirit intact, and, now a grown woman (Joan Fontaine), she goes to work as a governess at the gothic home of Edward Rochester (Orson Welles). She perceives something good behind his forbidding extrior, and finds herself falling in lov…
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Wild Camp

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 13th, 2007

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Synopsis

Isild Le Besco is a teenager completely bored with the scene at the slightly ratty campsite where she and her family are spending the summer. Enter Denis Lavant, a much older man weathered by life and prison. Though he knows better than to be the moth to her flame, he can’t help but circling closer and closer. A conflagration is inevitable.

The leads are very strong. Lavant very convincingly radiates disillusion and a certain confused weariness, while Le Besco is the very portrait …
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Queen, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 12th, 2007

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The Queen is all about Helen Mirren’s performance. All of the buzz I heard leading up to the Oscars was about Mirren’s remarkable turn as the queen bee herself, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and rightfully so.

The film presents an intimate perspective on the royal family during the week of Diana’s death. Despite her majesty’s very public persona, she is actually a very private person, bound to tradition. She’s at odds with new prime minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen, Blood Diamond), who…
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Bobby

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 8th, 2007

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On June 4, 1968, U.S. presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy was shot in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel, and later died in hospital. Bobby is the story of that day, and the people who were there.

It’s not so important that I summarize the characters and their stories for you. What you should know is that Bobby is one of those films that cuts between many plot lines that seem unrelated until the end, when an event brings them all together. In this case, we’re talking about 22 people at the…
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Dances With Wolves

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2007

Dances With Wolves has always been a bit of a conundrum for me. The story is simply a beautiful one. The cinematography is often nothing short of breathtaking. What causes my trouble is when we get down to its star. Kevin Costner is horrible in this film. I’m not a Costner hater. Untouchables and JFK are two of his best films, and in each he delivered exactly what was required. I’m beginning to think, however, that the G-Man persona is all he is capable of delivering with any consistency. What exactly is my problem…
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Midnight Cowboy

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 27th, 2007

Midnight Cowboy (Awards Series) is a previous DVD version re-released with a cardboard slipcover.

“I’m walking here! I’m walking here!” Smart money says you’re familiar with that quote whether you’ve seen this film or not. Midnight Cowboy was a hit back in 1969, and it’s been referenced plenty of times in pop culture since.

John Schlesinger’s film, which took home Oscars for best picture, director and adapted screenplay, was also controversial back in ’69, as it received an X-rating.
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In the Heat of the Night

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 25th, 2007

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Synopsis

As I get older, I notice my tastes for movies change. Sure, I still like over the top action and if there is an attractive girl on the screen it gets my attention. I’m human, however as I get older I start liking films that are older. Now, I’m not talking about keeping true to films of my generation but I find myself engrossed in films that were made before I was born. There are some true classics out there such as In the Heat of the Night. This movie starred Sidney Poitier …
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The Last King of Scotland

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 22nd, 2007

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The Last King of Scotland generated quite a bit of buzz at this yearï¿½s Oscars, most notably the performance by Forest Whitaker. Based upon the book of the same name, which was in turn based upon the Ugandan dictator between 1970 and 1979; Idi Amin. Although the movie involves a completely fictional protagonist it apparently shadows the life of Idi Amin quite well, which offers a nice mix of fiction and reality.

Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) recently graduated from medical school and decides to lead his expertise to a small countryside hospital in Uganda.
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C.R.A.Z.Y.

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 22nd, 2007

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Zac is the fourth of five sons in a Montreal family, growing up in the 60s and 70s. He’s sensitive, and rather more in touch with his feminine qualities than his father (very macho, though a huge fan of Patsy Cline) would like. The film then tracks Zac’s struggle to accept the direction his sexuality takes, to accept himself, and to once again find his father’s acceptance.

Lord knows that rock music is more than the soundtrack of our teenage years; it’s the narration.
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Pursuit of Happyness, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 18th, 2007

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The Pursuit of Happyness is inspired by the true story of Chris Gardner, who wrote a biography of the same name, from which the movie is based. Will Smith plays Gardner who is a salesman of medical equipment, who actually only manages to sell the odd unit. Because of his poor sales, his family is struggling making it from bill to bill, until finally his wife becomes so fed up she packs up and leaves for New York. Gardner is now left by his request, with his five-year-old son Christopher. With the untimely loss…
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Cinderella Liberty

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 17th, 2007

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James Caan is a sailor whose stopover in Seattle becomes much longer than he expects, as first he has to wait for new orders when a medical exam forces him to miss shipping out with his crewmates, and then his records disappear. During this time, he meets Marsha Mason, a prostitute with an 11-year-old son. Caan falls for both of them, and a finely developed sense of responsibility sees him moving heaven and earth to make life good for all three. His task won’t be an easy one.

Un Chant d’amour

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 15th, 2007

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Long the bad boy of French novelists, Jean Genet directed this 25-minute short in 1950. Borderline pornographic, it is a silent portrayal of (literally) imprisoned desire. Two prisoners convey their longing for one another through the prison walls, while a voyeuristic guard watches, becoming aroused and frustrated to the point of violence. Poetic, fetishistic, and intensely personal, it is a startling and historic piece of underground cinema.
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Ghost

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 15th, 2007

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At one point or another youï¿½ve either seen Ghost, or have seen some of its memorable scenes parodied. Paramount is now releasing a new special collectorï¿½s edition of the 1990 Academy Award winning picture. Since then, star Patrick Swayze hasnï¿½t really been up to much besides a Ja Rule video and a small role in Donnie Darko. Whether Demi Moore has seen success since this film is debatable, but for a while there in 1990 these two were the talk of the town. At the time I was too young to have any interest in the film, so prior to this review all I knew were the memorable clips Iï¿½d seen. I looked forward to finally viewing the entire film.
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Romeo + Juliet (Music Edition)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 15th, 2007

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No matter where you grew up or what books youï¿½ve read, you have undoubtedly come across the workings of William Shakespeare, and especially his Romeo and Juliet. This film takes the dialogue from the original play pretty much word for word but depicts it in a more modern time, with, of course, then-teen heart throbs Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as our star-crossed lovers.

Instead of swords and castles, there are guns and skyscrapers. The famous opening argument with Benvolio, Tybalt and Mercuteo is a public firefight that kicks off the film.
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