Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 15th, 2005
Season five of Cheers is a major turning point for this show which ran an impressive 11 seasons. This season marks the end of Shelly Long’s (who plays Diane) tenure, and frees up a key opening in the cast – eventually filled by Kirstie Alley in season six. All of the regulars are back, including Sam, Woody, Carla, Frasier, Lilith, Norm, Cliff, and the aforementioned Diane. The laughs are contagious in each episode, and make you realize why this show was so popular for its entire eleven year run.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 15th, 2005
It is 1994, and both ER and Chicago Hope premier in hopes to win the battle for Hospital drama supremacy on primetime TV. Fast forward to today, and the winner of this battle has been clearly decided; Chicago Hope had six successful seasons before getting cancelled after the 2000 season, while ER has become the most successful Hospital drama in TV history. While ER is currently in its 11th season, we now rewind to 1997, to the shows third season.
So what is this show about? Here is a...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 15th, 2005
I remember growing up with The A-Team; Mr. T. was the Man… and the originator of true bling-bling. This action series lasted 5 seasons, and was quite entertaining for its time. It does not really meet today’s standards for action & effects, but then again... this series ran in the 80’s. I am very surprised that today, in the day of film remakes of classic television shows, we have yet to see this show make it to the big screen. With The Dukes of Hazard about to get its theatrical debut… can an A...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 14th, 2005
In Good Company is a "feel good" movie about the ruthless corporate world. Now, is such a thing possible? Writer/Director Paul Weitz almost pulls it off. The movie stars Dennis Quaid as Dan Foreman, the head of advertising sales for a sports magazine. All goes down the toilet for Dan when the sports magazine is swallowed up my a major media conglomerate. Enter Carter Duryea, played by Topher Grace. Carter is brought in as the new "boss", but he's young and in way over his head. Carter decides to keep Dan...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 12th, 2005
“It’s been a long time getting from there to here.” 35 years to be exact. Enterprise is the fourth spin-off from the original 1960’s hopeful series. Rick Berman decided to set this series about 100 years before the days of Kirk and Spock. Enterprise has certainly taken a ton of heat since its debuted just 4 years ago. While much of the whining by the “get a life” fans can be delegated to the “Nitpicker’s Guides,” much of it is well deserved.
The most egregious infraction is the liberty the show has taken with established timeline of Star Trek.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 11th, 2005
What the Bleep Do We Know!? appears to be a New Age film without actually saying the words “New” or “Age.” Consider this, the film, produced by Captured Light & Lord of the Wind Films, is about “a life-changing journey with Amanda (Marlee Matlin, Children of a Lesser “God), a divorced photographer who tumbles down a metaphysical rabbit hole.”
Now, that premise sounds interesting enough, you’re unsure where Amanda will wind up or how she’ll get there. But read on…”Her mind-bending voyage throug...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 11th, 2005
For those of you who think that all foreign films are drab and dreary, Los Debutantes may reinforce that belief. Written and directed by Andres Waissbluth, it tells the story of two brothers in Chile who celebrate Victor’s (the younger brother’s) birthday by going to a strip club. He falls in love with one of the dancers there named Gracia and attempts to pursue her (even during her day job, when she is the attendant at an adult theater), despite the feelings his older brother Silvio has for her.
The...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 10th, 2005
Synopsis
The evil Spaceballs, led by Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) plan to steal the atmosphere of thepeaceful planet Druidia. Daphne Zuniga, as the Leia-like princess of Druidia, accompanied byher faithful robot Dot Matrix (voice of Joan Rivers) teams up with the vaguely Han Solo-ish BillPullman and his dog/man/Wookie parody Barf (John Candy) to defeat the evil.
I think, maybe, if you’re eleven, this might be hilarious. But I have my doubts. As ever withMel Brooks, the humour ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 10th, 2005
Synopsis
A demented sculptor kills his girlfriend (Romi Koch) and turns her into a mannequin. At last,he has his perfect woman. But he still imagines her taunting him, and her beauty inspires oneman after another to kill to possess the now haunted doll. The tone is meant to be blacklyhumorous, some effort has gone into the camera work, and there is a subtext here about maleobjectification of women. But Koch’s line readings are so inept, and the storytelling so elliptical,that the ef...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 9th, 2005
Synopsis
This documentary gives us the birth of skateboarding culture as we know it today. In theearly seventies, the Z-Boys of the title, a group of surfing enthusiasts from a hard luckneighbourhood, move from surfing to more and more elaborate skateboarding tricks, worked onin guerilla fashion in the empty swimming pools and the like. Director Stacy Peralta (who alsomade the surfing documentary Riding Giants) was one of those skaters, and so he ispretty damn close to the ma...
