Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 25th, 2006
Synopsis
I think that by revisiting Unbreakable, and looking at it outside of M. Night Shyamalan’s other films (The Sixth Sense and Signs), there’s actually a pretty good movie going on there. I mean, a movie that grossed $95 million domestically can’t be considered a failure, right? It did, however, do amazing overall numbers, the international totals brought the film up to a near $250 million gross. However, I guess when you put them up against Signs ($227 million domestic, $40...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 25th, 2006
Synopsis
Donnie Wahlberg plays a cop whose past, to say the least, is checkered. He is drawn into a very personal confrontation with Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) when the killer kidnaps his son. Jigsaw wants Wahlberg to sit and listen to him if he wants his son to live. The boy, meanwhile, is trapped in a house where the air is slowly filling with a toxic nerve agent, and surrounded by a group of people who, desperate as they are to escape and to find antidotes to the poison, also, did they but know it, have ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 24th, 2006
Get ready, all you pre-teen Emilio Estevez fans, for this new special edition of Repo Man from Focus Features. I had no idea this film had such a following, and after viewing, I can’t seem to make sense of it. Not always sure of its genre, Repo Man is a film oddity that mixes drama, comedy, and goofball science-fiction with a meandering plot and questionable performances to get one of the strangest and most forgettable B-movies this side of Bride of the Monster. I was joking about a pre-teen Este...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 24th, 2006
The death of a celebrity usually brings sadness to many of their fans. However, whenever a celebrity does die, you can definitely expect a best of or some type of collection to find its‘ way to your video store shelves as soon as possible. After Richard Pryor died in December, Universal decided to wait one short month before releasing this four disc movie collection which features four of Pryor’s films that he either starred in or had something to do with. While the film’s contained her are not the best work of Pryor...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 24th, 2006
This is not one of Jack Nicoholson’s better known roles, but it deserves more attention than it has gotten. Nicholson can always be counted on to deliver a strong performance. It is that skill that turns an average idea into something much more.
Alex Gates (Nicholson) is not a nice man. And let’s face it. Nicholson excels at complicated characters, often with few redeeming qualities. Gates appears to have everything he could want. He’s an apparently successful wine merchant. He has a wife and stepson...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 24th, 2006
Betty Grable is best known for keeping the many, many GI’s thinking about their home country during World War II. She was mostly known for being a Pin-Up Girl during this time, and is also the star of the 1944 film Pin Up Girl. The film is part of Fox Home Entertainment’s Marquee Musicals and is pretty entertaining if you enjoy musicals or enjoy Betty Grable.
Betty Grable in Pin Up Girl is a pretty odd film overall, probably because of the four different writers the film had. The basic plot is...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 24th, 2006
Lincoln and Lee at Antietam: The Cost of Freedom delves into what is, without doubt, the single bloodiest day in American history. In 12 hours, we lost about 24,000 people – nearly eight times the carnage of 9/11. As historical events go, The Battle of Antietam is one of the most vivid reminders we have of the realities and the horror of war. It was also one of the first battles in the history of the world whose carnage was put on display for all to see through actual photographs. After Antietam was in the boo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 23rd, 2006
My name's trouble... and you got some of it lady.
I admit, I wasn't even a big fan of The A-Team back in the day. I mean, I was a boy, and Mr. T was cool and all, but the show itself never really grabbed my attention. Even at a young age, the whole thing just felt a little too unbelievable. I mean, if these guys are a group of deserters and felons who are wanted by the government, then how is it that everybody knows who they are? Plus, Mr. T isn't exactly inconspicuous wearing 832 gold ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 23rd, 2006
Synopsis
When he was a teenager, firefighter Tony Comes was sexually abused by a Catholic priest. When he and his family move to their new home, and he discovers that his victimizer lives just down the street, the shock forces him to come to terms with his past, and to seek redress. The documentary follows what happens, detailing, among other things, the way the Church circled its institutional wagons, and the terrible emotional cost to Comes and his family as the court battle drags on.
The...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 23rd, 2006
Synopsis
What distinguishes Nicolas Cage from other more mainstream actors is that his choices of independent films, providing him the opportunity to take on a wide variety of roles that broaden his range, while periodically taking on the occasional Jerry Bruckheimer production to maintain his box office gravitas and make some money to allow him to work the indie films. It’s a circuitous route that helps to benefit the viewer. Sometimes those lower-level films are hits, while others miss.
In Lo...
