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Genre

Down Time

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 7th, 2003

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Down Time, a direct to video release, set mostly in prison. The worst crime these guys commit is felony bad acting. I’d love to sentence the producers to 25 to life of watching their own movie, but the Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. If you like prison films, you’re better off watching Oz reruns. Everything about this film plays out like a high school A.V. project. Actually that’s unkind, because I’ve seen much better high school video projects.

Synopsis

Slim (Van Nolan) is a down on his luck drug dealer who was set up and now finds himself facing the harsh realities of prison life.

100 Women

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 7th, 2003

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Sam (Chad Donella) is a down on his luck artist who has just been told by his professor that he sucks as an artist and dumped by his girlfriend. The same wind that blows his life a way also brings him Hope (Erin Bartlett) who shows him how to get his smile back. As they part ways he writes down her phone number on his hand, this disappears though as it is raining heavily. After taking up a job as a delivery man for his friend’s coffee shop he finally finds her but, she is now in need of someone to show her her smile. On the way to restore Hope’s zest for life he finds his..

Big Shot’s Funeral

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 7th, 2003

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Surrounded by hundreds of extras in China’s Forbidden City director Don Tyler (played by Donald Sutherland) is hit with a creative draught and doesn’t know where to go with his latest masterpiece. YoYo (played by Ge You who some of you may remember from Farewell my Concubine) is hired to be the documentary making of camera man befriends the troubled Tyler. Tyler and YoYo discuss film maker and philosophy and happen upon the idea that in Chain if someone over the age of 70 dies the funeral is not sad but happy, Tyler …
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Kiss Me Kate

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2003

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Synopsis

Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson are playing the leads in a musical version of The Tamingof the Shrew, and they share a fair bit in common with their characters. We move back and forthbetween the performance of the musical-within-the-musical and the backstage antics. Will oursquabbling couple get back together? And what role will the two loquacious mobsters play?Though not in the same league as Singin’ in the Rain, Kiss Me Kate is still a prime example ofits genre, with tune…
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Crime of Padre Amaro, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2003

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Synopsis

Young Father Amaro arrives in a small rural parish. He is an instant hit with the locals, inparticular the obsessively devout Amelia, who abandons her more secular boyfriend. Amarobecomes entangled in the power games between the church and a reform-minded newspaper,which outed Amaro’s superior as being in the pocket of the local drug lord. Amaro also findshimself more and more attracted to Amelia, and eventually succumbs to temptation. The Crimeof Padre Amaro makes for inte…
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Way Home, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2003

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Synopsis

A single mother, harried beyond all bounds and desperate for work, is forced to leave heryoung, resentful son in the care of his deaf-mute grandmother for a couple of months. The seven-year-old is mightily displeased, and repulses his grandmother’s attempts to create a bond.Gradually, however, she begins to win him over. A low-key, thoughtful film, The Way Homebenefits from very real performances, and a kid who is convincingly mean and spiteful in theearly goings.

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Comancheros, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2003

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Synopsis

Stuart Whitman is a gentleman gambler, on the run after having killed a man in a duel. JohnWayne is the Texas Ranger who tracks him down. But when it turns out that there is a muchworse gang of criminals on the loose (the Comancheros of the title), Wayne enlists the help of hisprisoners in defeating the real bad guys.

Audio

The sound has been remixed into 4.0 surround, and this is the only version of the Englishlangauge track provided (it is nice if…
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Undefeated, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2003

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Synopsis

The Civil War has just ended. In fact, John Wayne leads a Union assault on the Confederacythree days after the surrender — it takes that long for the news to reach him. Disgusted by brokenpromises, Wayne heads for greener pastures in Mexico, as does former Confederate colonel RockHudson. Their paths inevitably cross, and they become allies against forces that threatenboth.

Audio

Here’s a puzzler. The other recent John Wayne films from Fox (The Big …
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North to Alaska

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2003

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Synopsis

John Wayne and Stewart Granger strike it rich in Alaska during the gold rush. Wayne travelsdown to Seattle to fetch Granger’s fiancee, but discovers she has already married another man.Wayne, who has no use for romance himself (you can see where this is heading), convincesnightclub performer Capucine to return to Alaska with him as a potential wife for Granger. Thetone is light and rollicking, with the mood set by a barnstormer of a bar fight in the openingscene. Great fun….
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Big Trail, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2003

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Synopsis

John Wayne is brave scout leading an enormous wagon train of settlers through hostilecountry to their promised land. All the expected trappings of the western epic are present andcorrect: cliffs, storms, battles, stampedes, the works. The western was already very wellestablished as a genre by the time of this 1930 release, having flourished during the silent periodas well, but here is where Wayne comes to prominence. Due the film’s lack of success (becauseof an early widesc…
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Treasure Island

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 4th, 2003

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Synopsis

The story opens in 18th-Century England. Jim Hawkins (played by the very American BobbyDriscoll) helps his mother run a tavern. One of their guests is William Bones, a old seaman whois being hunted by a group of former comrades. He dies of a heart attack, but not before givingJim a map of Treasure Island. The local squire, excited by the map, organizes an expedition tofind the treasure. Unfortunately, as ship’s cook he unknowingly hires notorious pirate Long JohnSilver. Fal…
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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 3rd, 2003

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Synopsis

In 1868, ships are being sunk by what appears to be a monster. Investigating scientists PaulLukas and Peter Lorre discover that it is, in fact, a submarine, when their ship is struck. They arepicked up, along with sailor Kirk Douglas, by Captain Nemo (James Mason) of the Nautilus. IsNemo a genius or megalomaniac? Villain or hero? Both? Our heroes wrestle with these questionsover the course of their adventures. The special effects, almost 50 years old, still stand up well(wi…
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People Vs. Larry Flynt, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 3rd, 2003

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Synopsis

Larry Flynt (Woody Harrelson) beefs up his strip club business by publishing an explicitnewsletter. This newsletter becomes the glossy porn mag Hustler, and Flynt becomesstaggeringly rich. He also becomes the target of a serious of obscenity trials. Harrelson is terrific,and this was the film that confirmed that Edward Norton’s film-stealing performance in PrimalFear was no fluke. Courtney Love, as Flynt’s wife Althea, acquits herself well among theseheavyweights. Though ma…
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Spirited Away

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 3rd, 2003

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Synopsis

Chihiro is a ten-year-old girl moving to a new home. On the way there, her father takes awrong turn, and they find themselves in an abandoned amusement park. I really don’t want tosay too much, as this is a film whose wonders should be discovered without too muchforeknowledge. Suffice to say that Chihiro soon finds herself in a magical world of spirits,striving to free herself, her parents, and a new friend. Spirited Away is a stunning film, worthyof comparison to Alice in Wonderla…
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People From Space

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 2nd, 2003

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Synopsis

Two couples looking for something to do on the weekend decide to drive down to BeavertailLake and look for a UFO that supposedly landed there. (There’s a $100,000 reward if they findevidence.) Along the way, they squabble, meet odd characters, and get lost in the woods. Thisis another film with improvised dialogue. Improv is a tricky form to get right in films. It worksin films like Best in Show and The Blair Witch Project because a) the very forms of thosenarratives (pseud…
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War Lover, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 2nd, 2003

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Synopsis

Steve McQueen and Robert Wagner are pilot and co-pilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress. Wagneris the sensitive type. McQueen, on the other hand “walks the thin line between hero andpsychopath” according the base doctor. Both men become interested in the same woman. Thoughthe film takes forever to get its plot in gear, and the bombing missions are very predictable (thefellow who shows Wagner photos and his wife and kid might as well be signing his own deathwarrant), the utter dist…
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Jay Jay the Jet Plane: Good Friends Forever!

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 2nd, 2003

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Synopsis

Welcome to the Tarrytown aerodrome, where Jay Jay The Jet Plane and his friends hang outand learn life lessons. These lessons (the importance of friendship, of overcoming your fears, andso forth) are presented in a clear, gentle way. The animation in these 5 stories is a bit on theeconomical side.

Audio

The audio is 2.0, but you wouldn’t know it in the first story. Here the result is effectivelymono, even when it comes to the music. The subsequent episodes …
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Married with Children: Most Outrageous Episodes (Vol. 2)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 2nd, 2003

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Synopsis

If you need a synopsis, why are you reading this review? The Bundys, for the uninitiated,are long-suffering boorish dad Al (Ed O’Neill), sex-deprived wife Peg (Katey Sagal), slut airheaddaughter Kelly (Christina Applegate) and cynical loser son Bud (David Faustino). Married withChildren definitely falls into the category into the category of acquired taste, and I’ll confess, Inever acquired the taste (I’ve always thought The Simpsons hit the same satiric targets — andthen …
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Children on Their Birthdays

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 2nd, 2003

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Synopsis

Billy Bob and Preacher are two 13-year-old boys, best friends, on the verge of discoveringgirls. They both fall in love with Lily Jane Bobbit, the new girl in town, who dreams ofHollywood and speaks with extremely elaborate diction. Over the course of the summer, LilyJane will transform the entire town. You know how Michael Bay loved to sprinkle Armageddonwith slow-motion, anachronistic Norman Rockwell shots of boys in overalls running throughfields and small towns? Now ima…
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Livin’ Tha Life

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 2nd, 2003

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Synopsis

Jamal and Peanut get together to hang out and cruise Compton. At Jamal’s house, however,they interrupt a thief who has broken in. Confronted with a gun, the thief keels over from a heartattack. In a panic, our two heroes bundle the body into their car and continue on their way. Thisis one-man-show filmmaking (the director handled just about every behind-the-camera duty),and the cast is very natural. The script is entirely (and obviously) improvised, and so each scenegoes on…
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Deadly Species

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 29th, 2003

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Synopsis

An university expedition (two profs and a handful of students) is financed by a (improbablyyoung) tycoon. Their goal is to find traces of the long-vanished Calusas in the Evergaldes. Theyfind that evidence, all right, but they themselves are found bya monster, who kills them one byone. Behind a very banal title lurks a very banal film, with dialogue that is utterly lazy (any scriptthat uses “Let’s get out of here” as its second line is in serious trouble), characters so stupi…
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Two Weeks Notice

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 28th, 2003

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Synopsis

Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock) is an anti-establishment lawyer, fighting to preserve historiclandmarks from heedless developers. One of these heedless developers is George Wade (HughGrant), a man as shallow as he is rich. Lucy confronts George just as he is desperate for a newlaywer, and he talks her into working for him despite her misgivings. He comes to depend onher for absolutely everything (clothes to wear, stationary to use, etc.), to the point that he takesover her lif…
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Miller’s Crossing

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 26th, 2003

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Synopsis

Tom (Gabriel Byrne) is adviser to Leo (Albert Finney), top boss of the Irish mob duringProhibition. Leo isn’t listening to Tom right now, and offends Johnny (Jon Polito), who leads theItalian gang. War between the rival mobs heats up, and Tom gets caught in the middle. I havejust oversimplified an incredibly complex plot, which you really should discover for yourself.Other discoveries that await are glorious cinematography by Barry Sonnenfeld, and endlesslyquotable dialogue…
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Full Contact

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 25th, 2003

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Synopsis

Chow Yun-Fat is Godfrey (not “Jeff” as the case has him, though “Godfrey” is, to NorthAmerican ears, an odd name for an action hero), tough-as-nails leader of a group of friends inThailand. Godfrey’s weak cousin gets them involved in a heist masterminded by the Judge(Simon Yam), who leads a gang as flamboyant as they are nuts. Godfrey is betrayed and left fordead, but comes back a year later for revenge. Directed by Ringo Lam, Full Contact doesn’tachieve the heights of John Woo’s b…
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Murder in Greenwich

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 24th, 2003

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Synopsis

In the 1970s, a young girl is brutally murdered in the exclusive town of Greenwich,Connecticut. Among the suspects are two young members of the Kennedy clan. The murder goesunsolved, and in the 1990s, Mark Fuhrman, disgarced-cop-turned-author, re-opens the case.Though the gore is sometimes beyond prime time levels, this is still very run-of-the-mill TVfodder.

Audio

The sound (limited to 2.0) is crisp and clear, and privileges the music. The sound ef…
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