Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 5th, 2005
Not to be confused with the current film of the same name, Taxi was one of the funniest shows in television history. There simply hasn’t been a sitcom to feature so many cast members who would go on to bigger but perhaps not better things. Christopher Lloyd’s Reverend Jim has to be one of the best characters television has known. In its third year Jim would finally be around for an entire season. The show simply swept the Emmys in its third year with statues going to Judd Hirsch, Danny DeVito, and Christopher Lloyd (oddly enough, for a script he penned for the series). This is the year Andy Kaufman delivered Vic Ferrari to the show’s mythology. Taxi was hitting its stride on all fronts in season three. This is the show at its peak.
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 5th, 2005
Nothing much changes in the second season of Las Vegas. Of course, Danny comes home from his secret and apparently tragic tour of duty. Mike is a full fledged member of the security team. Otherwise it’s business as usual for the workers at the Montecito. The show works well as an ensemble piece, but the relationship between Danny and Big Ed is more fully developed here and is beginning to dominate the series. James Caan continues to impress with work most of his peers would consider beneath him. The flashy fast paced camera work continues to offer a dizzying ride through the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas. All in all the show probably improved in year two, if for nothing else the characters have been fleshed out more in season two. Sometimes the interrelationships get a little too complicated and I could certainly do with less of the cliché of everyone hooking up with everyone else. All in all, this is a unique series with plenty of laughs, glitter, action, and hormones to please almost anyone.
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 4th, 2005
For the first time in Star Trek history it was decided to dedicate an entire season to tell a single story. Following a recent trend started by hits like Alias and 24, Enterprise boldly went where many had gone before. The problem with this grand idea is that character development and Trek lore were all given a back seat. Rick Berman felt the need for Trek to become more epic. Unfortunately what Enterprise really needed to do was return to its character and socially driven roots. The show did finally start in that direction, but not before losing a legion of fans. On DVD, however, this story plays out much better. Now you don’t need to worry about missing an episode and spending the rest of the entire year feeling like you’re the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on.
Season Two ended with a shocking attack on Earth that destroyed much of my home area, Florida. The Enterprise embarks on its single mission to find and stop the mysterious Xindi. Along the way we are treated to plenty of stories that are in some way interrelated to this new big picture. The season is much darker in tone, both in script and cinematically.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 4th, 2005
Synopsis
A serial murderer is at large, burning his victims’ bodies down to the bone with acid. In order to identify the victims, the police must turn to reluctant forensic sculptor Hyun-min. He has no heart for the job, concerned as he is with this daughter, whose body seems to be rejecting its heart transplant. But he does go to work, even as he and his daughter have visions of a female ghost.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 3rd, 2005
Synopsis
The son of Seth Brundle, the unfortunate man-fly, is born with his mixture of human and fly DNA. He turns out to be uncannily brilliant, but also reaches adulthood (played by Eric Stoltz) in only five years. He grows up in the Bartok Industries facility, and is asked to carry on his father’s work. Inevitably, the fly genes make themselves felt, and he begins to transform, and love interest Daphne Zuniga wants to save him.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 3rd, 2005
Winter Solstice is one of those quiet, somber independent films. While not as flashy as The Upside of Anger (and that’s not a flashy film), Josh Sternfeld’s feature is a meditative look at a broken family trying to rebuild its life. Don’t expect any major plot twists or a flashy directing style. Solstice takes its time and builds towards something called hope.
A family tragedy as taken its toll on a Jersey family. Anthony LaPaglia plays Jim Winters, a landscape gardener. H...s sons Gabe and Pete (played by Aaron Stanford and Mark Webber, respectively) are adolescents and are trying to deal with their senses of identity. Enter the new woman down the street, Molly (played by West Winger Allison Janney). Jim takes an interest, but romance is tough since the “family tragedyâ€. There are soap opera elements in the film, but these elements are handled with quiet human rhythms.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 3rd, 2005
Synopsis
In 1969, a group of jocks drug their dates at the homecoming dance in order to abduct them. One of them, Mary, stays sober, and is accidentally killed by her date. Thirty years later, history repeats itself when three young women are the victims of a similar revenge prank on the part of the jocks. One of the victims (Kate Mara) accidentally summons the vengeful ghost (by reciting “Bloody Mary”) and the culprits all start dying in various gruesome ways. It seems, however, that they all have s...me link to the original victimizers of 1969.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 30th, 2005
Walking in on his wife and another man, J.M. (Barnes Walker III) blows his top and kills her with a baseball bat. He is subsequently horrified by his actions, and is unable to part with the corpse of his wife. He takes off to his sister's farm with the body, thinking he will be alone. But some nosy locals turn up, and more murders follow.The film's tiny budget is certainly apparent, and viewers will also face stiff performances and a slow pace. But there is plenty of atmosphere, a...d writer/director Brian Avenet-Bradley shows some real talent here, as well as in the such wordless sequences as the brutal flashback to the actual murder. The film's original title was Freez'er.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 28th, 2005
Warm Springs is an HBO production based on a lesser known part of the life of Franklin Roosevelt. While most folks know about FDR’s debilitating bout with polio, few are aware of his long-term association with a rural Georgia resort. It seems the water there is high in minerals, which allows those suffering from crippling diseases a chance to stand or even walk in the super buoyant water. HBO films has a nice track record with historical films. Truman is one of the best Presidential bio films I’ve ever seen. This film limits itself perhaps too much and becomes more about polio than it is about FDR. Kenneth Branagh delivers an above average performance as the single-minded future president. Cynthia Nixon literally steals the show with a clever portrayal of Eleanor Roosevelt. The remaining cast including Kathy Bates holds up well.
My main complaints can be found in the script. For one thing it runs too long at almost exactly 2 hours. The situations become repetitive and slow. The dialogue seems out of place at times. Flowery period talk can be taken too far, and it certainly was here. The sets are magnificent as is the atmospheric photography. The historical aspect is played quite loosely. Don’t expect great historical accuracy here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 28th, 2005
Synopsis
It’s the Brady Bunch. What, exactly, by way of synopsis are you hoping for? At any rate, among the notable episodes is one with guest star Davy Jones of the Monkees. Plus, there’s the epic start to the season: a three-parter that has the family hitting the road with a tent trailer and running into misadventures on the way to the Grand Canyon (such as encountering a hostile prospector or Cindy and Bobby getting lost). The other ongoing thread is Jan’s inferiority complex with regards to Marci..., and her attempts to crawl out from her sister’s shadow. The show is what it is. Nostalgia for Gen X viewers, I suppose, though it does have value as something of a pop culture icon. In purely objective terms, this is television at its most innocuous and disposable.
