Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 2nd, 2005
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Steve McQueen is Doc McCoy, master thief. Having just been denied parole, he asks wife Ali McGraw to make a bargain with political fixer Ben Johnson to get him out. This she does, but what McQueen doesn’t realize is that the deal not only involved McQueen’s participation in a bank job, but also McGraw sleeping with Johnson. In short order, the robbery goes wrong, and husband and wife are on the run.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2005
National Lampoon was still around? I didn’t think so. But sure enough, there is a staff, they still produce movies occasionally (the cinematic tour de force Van Wilder being among their recent contributions to cinema), and in order to satirize some of the absolute sheet on TV nowadays, came up with the Lost Reality series of discs.
With introduction from (who I’m assuming are) members of the Lampoon staff, the clips are a bit hit or miss. Some of the funnier bits are OK, and could have turned ...nto decent sketches with some polishing. For instance, “Scare Me” is basically a few kids that scare the crap out of people in various locations. The concept is OK, but using actors that see it coming takes the fun out of it. “Payback” is set up a la Punk’d, and at first seeing two parents that terrorize their 8 year old is funny, then it just goes downhill from there. Even some of the bits that you would think be funny just aren’t. Using the American Gladiator TV show from the ‘80s and putting midgets in as Gladiators dragged.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2005
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The only thing I really remembered about Murder, She Wrote was that as a young American child, I used to see it being advertised after 60 Minutes and before a TV movie starring Tori Spelling or something. It would bother me even more because these ads were being announced by a semi-drunk pro football announcer, and put a damper on whatever football game I was watching. Enough with the plugs and get back to the action!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2005
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Aaron Jacob Estes’ film Mean Creek has been favorably compared to films like River’s Edge and in a sense, Lord of the Flies, for obvious reasons, and that’s not a bad thing. Written and directed by Estes, the film begins with Sam (Rory Culkin, Signs), who “borrows” a camcorder owned by George (Josh Peck, Spun), and gets beaten up for it. Sam’s brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan, The Patriot) steps in as the protective, bigger brother and does a little scheming.>
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2005
Season Eight of MASH was most notable as the year one of the most beloved characters left the series. Radar, that down-home country boy, was perhaps the most reality based character in the run of the series. I’ve spoken to many G.I.’s who have informed me that the company clerk really runs any Army outfit. Radar had an element of innocence and sincerity that was skillfully portrayed by Gary Burghoff. Burghoff was the only cast member from the original film to reprise his role for the series. Year Eight would feature the first of a few appearances by Alan Alda’s real life father and 1950’s film star Robert Alda.
As miraculous as an 8 year run might be for any sitcom, MASH still had 3 additional seasons to go before leaving while still artistically on the ball. MASH set the stage for multiple cast changes long before Dick Wolf would claim the practice as his own invention with Law and Order. By the time the series ended, only three actors from that first episode remained: Alan Alda, Jamie Farr, and Loretta Switt. (While the character of Father Mulcahy appeared in the pilot, a different actor portrayed him.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 31st, 2005
We now have the full I, Robot experience with this new “All Access Collector’s Edition”. We have more a lot more supplements but, unfortunately, the movie is not improved. It’s still a fun couple of hours though. I, Robot follows the story of Will Smith (and his character name, if that matters, is Detective Spooner) as he tries to solve the murder of a robotics scientist (James Cromwell). Smith must overcome his prejudice against robots, as he tries to solve the case.
There are a lot of “c...ol” scenes, and I really enjoyed the universe created by Alex Proyas. One of Proyas’ previous films, Dark City, is a startling work of imagination. The special effects are very modern, but the story is as creaky as an old rocking chair. We’ve seen all this before: the chases, the one note characterizations, the one-liners, the Will Smith-ism. This is ain’t Bad Boys. The movie is caught between an intelligent futuristic tale and a Will Smith vehicle. The two cancel each other out. What’s left is a watered down film that’s only “suggested” by Isaac Asimov’s original work. Fans didn’t seem to mind though. The excellent box office summer receipts proved that Will Smith is still a force to be reckoned with. I enjoyed I, Robot, but I took it for what it was…and not as it should be.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 31st, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 30th, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 29th, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 29th, 2005
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