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Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 14th, 2002

Plot? What plot? Oh right: traumatized telekinetic teen accidentally raises Jason from the bottom of the lake. Jason kills folks. That’s about it. But you don’t watch these for the plot –you watch them for the killings. These are, sad to say, relatively restrained, and some of Jason’s tool acquisitions are silly (where did he get that electric hedge trimmer from?). The characters (I use the word loosely) are even more interchangeable than ever, and the continuity goes all to #%&@ in the latter part of the film.
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Ice Age

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 13th, 2002

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As my odds-on favorite to win Best Animated Film at this years Academy Awards, Ice Age combines a wonderful mix of breathtaking digital animation, and a wonderful story full of entertaining characters. Fox, with this film, has jumped into the upper echelon of digital animation studios, along with Disney and Dreamworks.

”Twenty thousand years ago, the Earth was being overrun by glaciers, and creatures everywhere were fleeing the onslaught of the new ICE AGE. In this time of peril, we meet the…
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V: The Final Battle

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 12th, 2002

A truly atrocious television mini-series (the second in the “V” series) has been resurrected for “V: The Final Battle.” This is (apparently) the second in the V series (“V” stands for Visitors, or maybe Vituperative snake aliens), and shockingly, not the last. In fact, the “Final Battle” was apparently followed by a weekly TV series which – irony alert – ended up being cancelled in favour of “Dallas.” Wow! What times the eighties were!

At any rate, this DVD wraps a mediocre TV series in a mini…
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Behind the Red Curtain

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 12th, 2002

Synopsis

This is all special features. So see below.

Audio

It’s a Baz Luhrmann production, so the sound is as spectacular as those on the discs, withspecial emphasis on the music. The narration of the various documentaries is clear though, andnot overwhelmed by the music.

Video

A million different formats (video, film, etc.), and a million different looks, but the transferserves them all well, at least as far as spectacular colour is…
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Joyride

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 12th, 2002

Synopsis

Nothing much happens in the nothing town where Tobey Maguire and Wilson Cruz live.Nothing that is, until the arrival of sexy Amy Hathaway and her sleazy dad Adam West (yes, thatAdam West). He uses her as jailbait with which to blackmail local bigshots. Then there’sChristina Naify, in town to kill a sleazy doctor. She has a very nice car too, which Maguire, Cruzand Hathaway steal for a joy ride… A little slow in getting it into gear, and a little uncertain intone, but an i…
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Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 11th, 2002

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Well. Where to begin? At this point, no-one expected less than a truly amazing DVD release of Episode II from Fox, and true to form, they have certainly delivered. The Attack of the Clones release sets the new standard for audio and video, as did Episode I before it.

It is interesting, though, to examine this DVD relative to the release of Episode I. The Phantom Menace DVD had a lot riding on it – the first Star Wars film to be released on DVD would set the precedent for future releases, and it had the furt…
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Jason X

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 10th, 2002

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Written by Dan Bradley

Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) has been about everywhere on earth, including to hell and back. It only seems fitting that his tenth feature takes him not only into space, but into the future as well. With the highest production value of a Jason movie to-date and one of the niftiest extra features I’ve ever seen, Jason X’s futuristic settings, slayings and familiar action feel right at home on DVD.

The plot for Jason X is simple, albeit a huge departure from previous slasher films. After repeated execution at…
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What Killed the Mega-Beasts?

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2002

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What Killed the Mega-Beasts?

Wow! This Discovery Channel documentary uses high-end (not quite Monsters Inc., but getting close…) animation to bring to life the out-sized creatures that populated the world between two- and fifty-thousand years ago. Live action and animation are blended smoothly to create truly excellent scenes of monster-sized beavers, and of Native American mammoth hunts – truly a spectacle to be seen and very well executed. These animated sequences are seamlessly blended with the Disc…
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Rats, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 8th, 2002

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Synopsis

A colony of genetically mutated rats is making more and more violent forays into the livesof New Yorkers. Department store security head Madchen Amick and exterminator VincentSpano are on the front lines, determined to stop the assault. The plot and characters are standard-issue TV fare. This is the R-rated version of the film, so you see stuff that won’t be showing upon the TV broadcast, and it’s pretty obvious what that stuff is: an ear-removal moment, and somelaughably g…
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Life or Something Like It

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 7th, 2002

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Synopsis

Jolie is a Seattle-area news reporter whose apparently perfect life is derailed when streetprophet Tony Shaloub predicts she is going die in a week. Becoming convinced that Shaloub isright, Jolie re-examines her priorities. She is helped out by cameraman Ed Burns, with whom she(naturally) has an extremely prickly relationship when the story begins. Jolie and Burns are bothsuperb, and the film has a slick look to it. On the minus side, the film seems to have some prettyharsh…
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Malcolm in the Middle – The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 5th, 2002

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Synopsis

Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) is, you guessed it, the middle child of a family that gives theSimpsons a run for their money in the demented dysfunctionality department. The fourth wall isbroken, reality goes rubber, and almost anything is possible in each episode.

Audio

The sound is clear and free of distortion, but is otherwise uninspiring. There is very little byway of surround effects. Even the music barely registers. So the experience is not really any…
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X-Files – The Complete Sixth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 5th, 2002

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Synopsis

The conspiracies are in full swing in this season. There are some very ambitious episodeshere too, notably “Triangle” — a time travel tale shot primarily with very long takes.

Audio

Very, very nice sound. As with most TV shows, the music dominates the surround, but thereare some good contributions from the sound effects as well. The result is an expansive feel to thesound unusual for television productions.

Video

Though there is a …
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Brotherhood of the Wolf (3-Disc)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 5th, 2002

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Synopsis

In eighteenth-century France, a mysterious beast is terrorizing the countryside. Sent toinvestigate is naturalist Gregoire de Fronsac, who arrives with Mani, his Native Americansidekick (who is a dab hand at martial arts, among other useful skills). The film is completelynuts and completely silly, and its racial politics are a postcolonial theorist’s wet dream, but it isalso hugely entertaining.

Audio

Absolutely flabbergasting. At the level of volum…
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Don’t Look Now

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 2nd, 2002

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Synopsis

In an opening sequence that chills no matter how many times you see it, the little daughter ofDonald Sutherland and Julie Christie drowns. The action then shifts to Venice some time later, asthe couple move through the mourning. A blind woman claims to be a medium with visions ofthe daughter. Christie believes, but Sutherland will have none of it. But then why does he keepseeing a little figure in a red raincoat, a figure that might be his daughter…

Director Nicol…
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My Bloody Valentine

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 2nd, 2002

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Synopsis

Twenty years ago, there was a mining disaster. The only survivor wreaked bloody revengea year later. Nineteen years later, he seems to be back, and the usual bunch of kids is in trouble.Neat looking killer, cool setting, and some unintentionally hilarious acting and dialogue are theorder of the day. The killings aren’t as graphic, sadly, as some of the publicity stills. The moviewas cut prior to release, and this is still not the restored version. Who know if we’ll ever see…
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Unforgiven

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 1st, 2002

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Long before tough cop Dirty Harry made our day, Clint Eastwood defined the modern western with his Spaghetti Westerns. It is no surprise that a Western would define Clint Eastwood as an Academy Award winning producer and director. Unforgiven is unlike any movie Eastwood has ever done. It is loaded with extraordinary actors surrounding his own stellar performance. Names like Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, and Richard Harris are rarely found in such supporting roles. Unforgiven also sets itself apart from Eastwood’s previous films in the way it portrays the West that Eastwood glorified for so many years.
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Hard Day’s Night, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 30th, 2002

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Written by Dan Bradley

Rifling through my father’s LP collection as a child produced many musical memories, ranging from Kiss and Pablo Cruise to the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. It wouldn’t be until years later when I would fully understand the impact those very Beatles had on the world’s culture then and continued to influence today.

For most Beatles fans, their memories are relived through new digital masters of the original recordings on compact disc. With this digital revolution, the Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night can f…
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Swingers

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 29th, 2002

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Swingers originally debuted on DVD when the format was still in its infancy. As with most titles released during that time, it suffered from a lackluster 2.0 audio track, non-anamorphic transfer, no trailers and hideous packaging. Now roughly five years later, Swingers has returned to DVD, this time in a spiffy new Collector’s Series edition from Miramax. With every issue the first release was plagued by addressed, this release is everything a fan of Swingers could ever hope for.

Swingers’ story focuses on…
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Collateral Damage

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 28th, 2002

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Films addressing domestic and international terrorism have been around for a long time. We’ve come to accept them and tell ourselves it can never happen except in the movies. On September 11, 2001, America’s security was incinerated in a series of horrific attacks on the United States. For Arnold Schwarzenegger, this put a halt to the release of his new film Collateral Damage, which dealt with issues that closely mirror the events of that day. The release was delayed for several months into early 2002 where it was sh…
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Monsters, Inc

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 25th, 2002

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Pixar, with the smashing success of the Toy Story films, works its enchanting magic yet again with the wonderful Monsters, Inc. It’s fitting that Disney acquired the creative team that more than any other filmmakers embody what Disney had been for half a century. Monsters, Inc. is the new standard for computer animation. Sully’s generated hair is nothing short of amazing. What makes this movie worth buying is its incredible rewatchability. The attention to details means there’s always something new to see with each v…
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Crossroads

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 25th, 2002

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It was bound to happen sooner or later; Britney Spears would make the jump to the big screen. While most guys would rather she made the jump to Playboy first, others will take what they can get from Ms. Spears. Unfortunately, Crossroads was written as a vehicle for Britney to touch the souls of other young women who can make a difference in the world. When translated to the screen, it just isn’t entertaining. In fact, it’s downright boring.

Britney plays Lucy, a recent high school graduate living under the…
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Changing Lanes

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 24th, 2002

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Changing Lanes never appealed to me during its theatrical run and I blame that entirely on Paramount’s marketing department. The commercials were not enticing in the least and quite frankly made me forget the film in a matter of minutes after viewing them. With the release of the DVD, I was willing to give Changing Lanes a try and am I glad I did. Propelled by a dynamic script and stellar performances, Changing Lanes gives life to an urban drama which tests the ideals of two men on the brink of insanity.

Showtime

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 24th, 2002

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What do you get when you splice together Meet the Parents with Beverly Hills Cop? You get a rarely comedic, intense or interesting action movie that suffers from never finding its own identity. And flat screenwriting. And long lulls.

Detective Preston (Robert DeNiro) and Trey Sellers (Eddie Murphy) are brought together as unlikely partners to star in a new reality TV cop drama, produced by Chase Ransey (Rene Russo) of Maxis TV. As expected, they are at each others throats the entire movie until the end, wh…
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National Lampoon’s Van Wilder

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 24th, 2002

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During my years at college in Philadelphia, there was a guy who lived at the end of the freshman hall whom had been around far longer than any other freshman. He gathered a following and essentially coached his young ones, myself included, on how to have fun on and off campus. As National Lampoon’s Van Wilder began to spin, I couldn’t help but remember those glorious days and revere Van as he celebrated his life at Coolidge College.

Van Wilder, played perfectly by Ryan Reynolds, returns to Coolidge for y…
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Blade II

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 24th, 2002

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Written by Dan Bradley

The formula for sequels to highly successful films has been practiced by filmmakers for decades and continues to flourish today. It’s quite simple: take what audiences loved in the original, add more of it and throw in a twist. Guillermo del Toro’s Blade 2 follows this rule of thumb and creates a film that is bigger, badder, louder and more entertaining than its predecessor. It should come as no surprise that the DVD edition of Blade 2 surpasses the original Blade’s disc in every imaginable way as well.

It…
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