Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 2nd, 2006
Harry Alan Towers, that prolific producer of cheap but handsome exploitation (and the man behind many Jess Franco films back in the day) backed this 1983 effort which attracted some interest (from somewhere, apparently) for featuring French game show hostess Sophie Favier showing off her prizes, as it were. She isn't the lead, though. That happens to be one Jennifer Inch (?!), who plays a young woman dressing as a young boy. She is adopted by a nobleman, who wonders why he's so excited around his young charge. The secret doesn't last long, however, and soon she's carousing with him and sundry partners, while filling him in on her upbringing (which involved much spanking). Once again, as with Black Venus, the film looks better than it has any right to, which helps compensate for the atrocious dubbing.Audio
Overall, this film's mono soundtrack sounds better than does that of its sister release. This isn't to say that there isn't any dialogue distortion, because there is, but it is certainly held to manageable levels. The music is clear. For what it is, and for its age, this track could sound a lot worse. The mix is a bit odd, though. Notice how, in one of the early scenes, a buzzing fly threatens to drown out the dialogue.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 1st, 2006
Looking For Kitty is an interesting, witty and somewhat slow-moving film. I enjoyed the understated story up until the last 20 minutes, when I lost interest because I thought the film should have been over.
The story is straightforward. A sad-sack little league baseball coach, Abe Fiannico (David Krumholtz), hires Jack Stanton (Edward Burns), a down-on-his-luck private investigator, to find his missing wife, Kitty (Ari Meyers). Working together, they look for Kitty, who has apparently run off with a moderately successful rock singer named Ron Stewart (Max Baker) – not to be confused with the more famous Rod Stewart. Slowly, a friendship develops between Fiannico and Stanton, as they realize they have more in common than they first thought, and the two end up helping each other come to terms with lost relationships.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 1st, 2006
Synopsis
Hot on the heels of the success of the Martin Scorsese film The Departed, I figured why not take a look back at the Hong Kong crime film that inspired it. Better yet, why not explore the trilogy that is the Infernal Affairs crime films, and how they hold up now. And I’ll try to minimize on the redundant stuff.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 1st, 2006
There are so many sub-genres of horror these days. There is the ever-popular teen slasher flick, there is Japanese horror, gore, zombie, thrillers and even the recent popularity of the 70's throwback. This one falls into the dramatic slow-burn category. The plot here sounds like something out of one of the better Steven King short stories. Someone in the federal government discovers that the population of little Rockford Falls seems to have remained steady for over a hundred years. An official is sent to investigate this anomaly, and what he finds is a mixture of small-town life, strong religious beliefs and some eerily strange goings-on.
This is actually not a bad little film. From the cover, I was expecting yet-another week low-budget horror film full of bad jump scares and overly-predictable plot developments. Well, there are some pretty lame jump scares here, and the plot is about as transparent as a sliding glass door, but the film has a certain charm nonetheless. Plus, you get Fred Durst in a surprisingly effective role as the town Sheriff. This may not be a film that is ready for the multiplex, but it is most definitely worth a rental.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 1st, 2006
Another long running series finally comes to an end … almost. The 7th and Final Season of MacGyver does not include the tele-films that really closed out the series. Unfortunately this is an abbreviated season with about half as many episodes. This is also another one of those running out of gas years that many quality shows end up doing before the series is mercifully put to rest. One never tires of seeing Richard Dean Anderson come up with his home brewed innovations, but by now it is clear that Anderson has tire... of bringing them to us. The show finally jumps the shark when Mac is sent to the Court of King Arthur an episode more appropriate to Anderson’s subsequent role in SG-1. Fan favorite villain, Murdock, returns again to taunt MacGyver in one of the season’s few shining moments.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 1st, 2006
Well! The case informs us that "Former Miss Bahamas, Josephine Jacqueline Jones spraked an international firestorm with her debut starring role as Venus." I guess I must have slept through that firestorm. At any rate, this tale, "based on the scandalous story by Honor' de Balzac" (but then, Tower of the Screaming Virgins is "based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas"), is narrated in flashback by an elderly gentlemen who frequents a brothel, and sees the title character there. The film tells of her journeys through decadent 19th-Century society.This is a Harry Alan Towers production, so one expects it to be a low-budget but still handsome-enough (though sleazy) period piece. And that's what we have. The costumes and sets are nice, well above the usual softcore romp. The acting, though, is also what you'd expect, with the lines declaimed from memory rather than actually delivered. And the score is a Hooked On Classics effort that at first adds tone, but then comes off as pretty cheap itself.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 31st, 2006
NBC pulled the plug on The Book of Daniel after just four episodes. That explains why this 2006 mid-season replacement show came and went so fast I never even knew it existed. Now that I’ve watched all eight episodes, I’m disappointed that there won’t be more.
Apparently, the show was canceled for being too controversial. Christian organizations like Focus on the Family protested the series’ portrayal of Jesus, the church and homosexuality, and yet more groups were offended by such things as perceivednegative Catholic and Italian stereotypes (one of the supporting characters is a Catholic priest with ties to the mob). NBC had trouble selling advertising spots for the series, even after offering significant discounts, and network affiliates were bowing to pressure from special interest groups.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 31st, 2006
Ice Age – The Meltdown is a short, funny, well-animated sequel that offers up a new adventure for the memorable characters from the original Ice Age film. As a great bonus, it’s nicely balanced for audiences young and old.
20th Century Fox Animation is still a poor second cousin to Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios, but for sheer entertainment value, Ice Age – The Meltdown doesn’t get knocked completely out of the water by top-shelf blockbusters like The Incredibles. Sure, the animation is weaker, and story is less inspired, but the voice work is excellent, with the talent of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, Jay Leno, and the list goes on.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 31st, 2006
Synopsis
A student radical, wanted for the murder of a police officer, is also being held for rape. In the interrogation room, the woman he attacked refuses to press charges. Neither speaks. The rest of the film is a flashback. Fleeing custody, the man encounters the suicidal woman on a deserted island. He assaults her repeatedly, but also falls in love with her, and she with him. It’s all very tormenting for the two of them. The end.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 30th, 2006
12 Monkeys tells the story of a man named James Cole (16 Blocks Bruce Willis) who is sent back in time from the year 2035 to the year 1996 in hopes of saving the human race from a deadly virus which has forced mankind into total seclusion from the above world. Down below the ground, they live in communities hoping one day to come out and start a new world. Once he arrives, Cole encounters a patient named Jeffrey Goines (Troy’s Brad Pitt) and a psychiatrist named Kathryn Railly (We Were Soldier... Madeleine Stowe). Cole soon learns, after a few conversations with Jeffrey, that he may hold the whole key to solving this virus. As the film progresses, what we and Cole learn is that the scientists who simply sent Cole back to obtain a sample of this virus for further study, may have had more sinister motives at hand.
The film is directed by Terry Gilliam, a man who certainly has quite the fan base not because his films gross a lot of money, but rather because his films require the mind to think about what they’ve just seen on the screen. Having only seen this film once before this viewing, my love for the film was brought back quickly. Even though I’ve only seen a handful of his films, I’ve always loved how Gilliam is able to sway away from the main plot to introduce side plots in a manner that is always keeping the viewer in loop with what the main purpose of the film at hand. His films are so creative, insane (in a good sense), fun, and simply a mind trip to watch (especially his recently released on HD DVD Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas). He creates these characters that are so unique and interesting that one can help getting sucked into the story at hand.
![12 Monkeys [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/12-monkeys-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
