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Genre

Hard Cash

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 11th, 2002

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Hard Cash wants very much to be a smart movie, with not one but three separate heists that are thought out and executed in complicated style much like the far superior films, Heist and The Score. The problem with Hard Cash is that it can’t resist being campy as well. Hard Cash also wants to be funny. The end result is a movie that does both adequately but neither very well. Val Kilmer looks so uncomfortable in his role, you wonder if his shoes are on too tight. Slater is accually quite convincing, but he can’t get any of the other actors to come along for the ride
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Absolutely Fabulous Complete Collection

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 11th, 2002

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Synopsis

Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley star as Edina and Patsy, terminal fashion victims and loathsome relics from the sixties. Edina is a psychopathically narcissistic motormouth (conveniently, writer Saunders gives herself the lion’s share of lines), and Patsy is a vaguely sinister man-eater. She spends most of the time lurking about on the edges while Edina makes life miserable for her long-suffering daughter. The sum total of the series’ humour is graspable within five minutes, but that did…
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Walking with Dinosaurs

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 6th, 2002

Film

Walking With Dinosaurs plays out like a National Geographic special, tracking dinosaurs and their kin in the field. Wonderful CGI recreations of some of the more obscure beasts set this special apart from all other dinodocumentaries.

Synopsis

The vast worlds of prehistoric times are brought to life in a series of documentaries starting with the beginning of life in the seas and ending with the death of the final land giants. There are 6 segments: “New Blood”, “Time Of …
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Royal Tenenbaums, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 28th, 2002

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Film

Criterion has done it again! Along with Buena Vista, Criterion has transformed this flawlessly executed film into a masterpiece on DVD. For you Rushmore fans out there, you will absolutely love this film… I actually liked this film more then Rushmore. If you have not seen any works by Wes Anderson (director), you should really check this film out.

“The Tenenbaum kids were all once child prodigies, despite growing up with an ineffective father. Determined to make things …
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MASH – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 27th, 2002

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Synopsis

The second season still shows a strong connection to the Robert Altman film, with the movie’s closing credits narration, for instance, still being used, and the first episode still finding it necessary to let us know who the characters are. At the same time, while still following traditional sitcom patterns, the series is also clearly pushing against that envelope.

Audio

The soundtrack is the original mono. The sound reproduction is clear and unmuddied, and th…
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MTV – The Real World: Decade of Bloopers

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 26th, 2002

Synopsis

You might wonder how it’s possible for a reality show to have bloopers. How are bloopers different from the other things that go on? Not much, except for those instances where the crew gets involved (cameras falling down, that kind of thing). All of this is strung together by Puck, who seems to think he is entertaining. Beyond boring.

Audio

The audio is a faithful reproduction of the TV experience, for what it’s worth. The music has decent surround presence, a…
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MTV – The Real World You Never Saw: Chicago

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 26th, 2002

Synopsis

This is a collection of clips along with retrospective interviews with the participants. Shower antics, bathroom disasters, lots and lots of digitally fogged nudity. If watching paint dry is just a little too racy for you, then this is just what you’re looking for.

Audio

The source material is TV, and the disc reflects this. Nothing much wrong with the sound, but there’s nothing much to it either: people talking, people yelling, musical interludes. The surroun…
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1776

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 25th, 2002

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Synopsis

It’s a musical. It’s called 1776. What do you think it could be about? That’s right: the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence, with all the major figures of the time (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson) singing up a storm. The production is extremely handsome. I do think, however, that you the events have to be part of your history for the film to really get your juices flowing.

Audio

As part of the restoration process, the original mon…
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Aliens

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

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Aliens was one of those rare sequels that must include T2 where everything gets taken up a notch without spoiling the elements that made the first successful. This is not to say Aliens is better than the original, but very different yet somehow very much the same. Sigourney Weaver acts with a confidence made possible by the first film. It’s hard to believe but Ripley just gets stronger. The story is much more complex but still retains the chilling simplicity of a horrible creature stalking its prey. There are more cr…
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Speed

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 24th, 2002

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Film

It has been a few years since I last saw Speed… but it is still as enjoyable as ever. Sure, Keanu Reeves is a bland actor, but other then his role in The Matrix… this is some of his best work. The action is hot, and the story is solid. For those who have not seen this film (what rock have you been hidden under?), this synopsis is for you:

“Jack Traven is a risk-taking SWAT Team officer, pitted against a mad-bomber, Howard Payne. Howard has a pattern of coming up …
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Devil’s Backbone, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 22nd, 2002

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Synopsis

Twelve-year-old Carlos is brought to a dilapidated boarding school. He is struck by the odd sight of a bomb standing in the middle of the courtyard. But even more unnerving is the ghost of a young boy that soon makes its presence known. Unravelling the mystery of this ghost isn’t Carlos’ only problem however. There are bullies in the school, and the brutal handyman has his eye on the gold in the safe. Said handyman is determined to get at the gold, and doesn’t care who gets hurt (or worse) i…
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Pearl Harbor

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 19th, 2002

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Film

If one thing can be said about Michael Bay films, it would be that they are beautifully shot. I cannot think of many directors’ that have such a unique cinematographic feel to their films… and Pearl Harbor is no exception. This film contains some of the best fighting sequences ever put onto film. Unfortunately, this fabulous action is tainted by a sub-par love story that is interwoven into the story. With the elimination of this love story, Pearl Harbor would have been an amazing action film…
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Beautiful Mind, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 19th, 2002

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Synopsis

Crowe plays John Nash, schizophrenic genius. The film follows him from his grad student days at Princeton, to his revolutionary formulation of game theory, to his later breakdown, and climaxes in his reception of the Nobel Prize in 1994. Though overlong, often burdened by an excessively emphatic score by James Horner, and following all the usual conventions of Hollywood melodrama, the film also offers stunning cinematography by Roger Deakins, uncharacteristically good dialogue by Akiva Golds…
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Alien

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 18th, 2002

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“In space no one can hear you scream” was the slogan that drew a conglomerate of horror and science fiction fans to theatres in 1979. Was it horror or sci-fi? Alien turned out to be a rare cross-genre film that managed to satisfy both audiences. Ridley Scott started out by bringing the “space ship” film away from the glamorous bright future and depicted a world startlingly very much like our own. In Scott’s gritty future companies are quasi-government agencies and these astronauts are not explorers out for glory and…
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Starship Troopers

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 16th, 2002

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Exceptional! Starship Troopers (Special Edition) is a must have in any movie fanatics collection. Combine a controversial cinematic and special effects masterpiece with a superb DVD release, and Columbia-Tristar has a sure winner in its catalog.

Paul Verhoeven’s (RoboCop, Total Recall, Showgirls, Hollowman) 1997 adaptation of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers is stunning not only for its Academy Award nominated special effects, but also for the volume of controversy that the film elicited amongst c…
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Analyze This

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 13th, 2002

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Film

Robert DeNiro has built a tremendous career out of portraying men who are to be feared. Starting with Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II through Good Fellas, DeNiro has established himself as the Hollywood Don. Analyze This is a brilliant comedy that cashes in on that long body of work. There’s no setup required for us to accept DeNiro as the head of a crime family. What makes the film work on an even higher level is the addition of Billy Crystal and the fact that both powerful actors play against what you would expect.
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Vanilla Sky

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 11th, 2002

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Synopsis

Tom Cruise is the deeply shallow David Aames, who undergoes a conversion when he falls in love with Penelope Cruz (repeating her role from the original). This upsets Cameron Diaz, who commits vehicular suicide with Cruise in the passenger seat. Horribly disfigured, he nevertheless re-establishes his relationship with Cruz. And then reality starts coming apart at the seams.

The film looks terrific, and has an interestingly eclectic soundtrack (I’m amazed that they dug up “Doot Doot”…
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The Green Mile

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

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There was a time when everything Stephen King wrote was considered movie material. Somewhere studios were trying to figure out how to make a film franchise from his shopping lists. Most of the time the films fell massively short of the original material. The Green Mile is a noteworthy exception, as this is far superior to the King story. There are no monsters or ghouls (unless you count guard Percy), instead, this film manages to pull on your emotions in subtle ways in contrast to King’s usual M.O. of hitting you over the head with your fears.
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Nightmare on Elm Street Collection

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

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One … two… Freddy’s coming for you, three… four… better lock the door, five… six… grab your crucifix, seven… eight discs is what you’ll get in this colossal horror collection. Freddy is one of the more memorable monsters from the slasher era that also brought us the Halloween and Jason films. Freddy might have been born in the mind of Wes Craven, but he grew and developed in the knife-wielding hands of Robert Englund. Granted, not all of these films are equal in quality… The first and third are the best story-wise, while the last might be the most unpredictable and original.
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Yank in the RAF, A

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

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Synopsis

Tyrone Power is the intensely irritating American flyboy who flies a delivers a bomber to England to earn some money. Once there, he spots old flame Betty Grable, and enlists in the RAF so he can woo her back. Grable is also being courted by Power’s commanding officer, who possesses all the decent qualities Power lacks (i.e. just about everything).

The romance, which central to the film, is not exactly enthralling, since you’re rooting for the wrong man. The combat scenes, however,…
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Mr. Saturday Night

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

Synopsis

Buddy Young Jr. (Billy Crystal) is in the twilight of his career. Once he had his own television show, but his self-destructive impulses and violent temper torpedoed that (not to mention increasingly alienating his loved ones). Now a senior citizen, he is still trying to make a go of it, still making life miserable for his long-suffering brother. The film flashes back and forth, showing us Buddy’s rise and fall in the past, and his current attempts to make something remotely resembling a com…
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Mission Kashmir

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

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Synopsis

State police officer Inayat Khan’s son is critically injured in a fall and dies because doctors, intimidated by a terrorist’s threat, refuse to treat him. Khan launches an assault on the terrorist, and during the battle guns down the family of 11-year-old Altaaf. Khan and his wife adopt Altaaf, whose new life is shattered when he discovers Khan’s role in the loss of his parents. Ten years later, Altaaf is now a terrorist working for the deeply sinister Hilal Kohistani, who has sent him on a …
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 4th, 2002

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Synopsis

A synopsis is pretty pointless. Either you watch the series or you don’t. But for what it’s worth, Buffy is a high-school student who is also one of the chosen heroes of history whose purpose in life is to combat and destroy vampires. The big complication this season is the fact that she’s fallen love with one (Angel).

Audio

The Dolby 2.0 audio is acceptable, but nothing special. While generally clean, the dialogue does occasionally have some buzz to it. The music …
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Nixon

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2002

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Welcome to Oliver Stone’s history 101, where Vietnam looked a lot like Florida, and JFK was killed by a conspiracy so large it included the mafia, FBI, CIA, the Teamsters, and two bag ladies on Pennsylvania Avenue. Hollywood has always tinkered with history, but Oliver Stone performs reconstructive surgery. Nixon is no exception to this rule. It is much easier to view the film more as a character study than an historical piece. The film has you believe that Nixon used the F word more times than Richard Pryor on a roll, hated most of his advisors, and also had a hand in the JFK ordeal.
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Gosford Park

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

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Fresh off of its multiple nominations at the 2001 Academy Awards, and Academy’s winner of the Best Original Screenplay, comes Gosford Park to DVD. Most who have seen this film have fallen in love with it, I on the other hand, felt the story moved far to slow, and my interest waned as the film progressed. Though I was not captivated by the film itself, the acting was superb, and the premise was solid.

“It is November, 1932. Gosford Park is the magnificent country estate to which Sir William McCo…
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