Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 23rd, 2004
Synopsis
Many years ago, a mystical peach holding the secret of eternal life was stolen. Now, aftertraining since childhood at the Shur-Li Temple (get it?) under the tutelage of Master Card and thelike, a hero arises to recover the peach: Art Chew. He arrives in Vancouver (played by SanFrancisco, in one of the film’s cleverer conceits), and is joined on his quest by such friends asRoy Lee, who has seen a great many kung-fu movies, but is completely incompetenthimself.
This is an g...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 22nd, 2004
Synopsis
Eloise (Sofia Vassilieva) is a six-year-old who runs rampant through NYC’s Park PlazaHotel. Her only adult supervision is in the form of the eccentric Nanny (Julie Andrews). The plottakes the form of a series of incidents as Eloise races from one adventure to another, meddlingwith the best of intentions in the lives of all around her, with emphasis, as the title suggests, onthe Christmas spirit this time around. Specifically, she’s helping out with a Christmas wedding,and e...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 22nd, 2004
I must admit that this show wasn’t quite as good as I remembered it. That’s not to say it isn’t great 70’s escapist science fiction, or that I am at all disappointed in seeing it again. Buck Rogers was almost a companion piece to Battlestar Galactica. They had a great deal in common. Both pilots were released in theatres with the trendy Sensurround. The concept was mostly overloaded subs to create a shake in the room during the space battles. The f/x were done by some of the same folks. Even the control sticks to the...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 21st, 2004
Synopsis
Audrey Hepburn is the long-suffering daughter of incorrigible art forger Hugh Griffith. Whena phony Cellini sculpture Griffith has loaned to a museum is going to be subject to anauthenticity test, Hepburn decides to save her father by stealing their own statue. She enlists theaid of Peter O’Toole, whom she believes to be a professional burglar. The stage is set for anelaborate heist at the highly secure museum, not to mention a little bit of romance along theway.
...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 20th, 2004
Everybody’s favorite guy in a construction hat is back. No, not Sully from Sesame Street It’s Bob the Builder! He stars in Snowed Under: The Bobblesberg Winter Games. To join in on the fun, Bob has his favorite buddies along too, Lofty, Scoop, Muck, Roley, Travis, Spud, Wendy, Dizzy. And there’s even a new character to the crew, Benny. What trouble does Bob have to fix this time? Well…let me tell ya kids. It’s the Bobblesberg Winter games and the course is snowed under. And it’s up to Bob and h...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 19th, 2004
Synopsis
Woman of the Year (1942) is the first pairing of Spencer Tracy and KatharineHepburn. He’s a sportswriter, and she’s a mega-influential political columnist. Though opposites,they fall in love, but the marriage has many kinks to work out, primarily because Hepburn nevertakes enough time out from her career. The gender politics here (as in the other films) might leadto some discomfort today, but the on-screen chemistry is electrifying, and Hepburn’s attempt tocook break...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 19th, 2004
There have been umpteen movie adaptations of the Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol”. Some of my favorites include the Alastair Sim version, the Henry Winkler version (yes, the guy who played Fonzie), the Bill Murray version, the Muppet version, and the Mister Magoo version. This 1997 version of A Christmas Carol is an animated feature featuring the voices of Tim Curry, Whoopi Goldberg, Ed Asner, and Michael York. It’s a story that we all know well.
But what makes this different from the other ve...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 19th, 2004
Just in time for Christmas, and starring the Governator himself, we have Jingle All the Way with Arnold Swartzenegger. The story follows Arnold’s relentless pursuit to get a Turbo Man action figure for his son. This obsessive quest brings a lot of complications for our hero, from kidnapping, to stealing another kid’s toy, to a manic riot for numbered balls. Arnold even assumes the persona of Turbo Man at a parade and rockets around the city on a real turbo pack (Turbo rocket packs are real?). This all sound...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 19th, 2004
Taxi was a very funny sitcom that is most notable for the number of future stars it produced. Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Tony Danza, and Judd Hirsch all went on to bigger and better things when the Taxi ride ended. Andy Kaufman’s life and early death provided one of the more bizarre stories in Hollywood history. The truth is that season 1 was not quite that funny. Sure, Lloyd makes an appearance here, but the lovable Rev. Jim would not get behind the wheel of a taxi until the second season. We can only be glad ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 18th, 2004
Born Rich is a documentary about, well, rich kids. The subject makes it hard to sympathize with the piece (“oh those poor millionaires”). But the director and main character, Jamie Johnson (an heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune), gives us interviews with other heirs from rich families - Ivanka Trump (Real Estate Heiress), Josiah Hornblower (Vanderbilt/Whitney Heir), Cody Franchetti (Textile Heir), S.I Newhouse IV (Publishing Heir), Luke Weil (Gambling Heir), and others. Johnson makes his subjects talk abo...
