Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 25th, 2004
Synopsis
Mandy Moore plays Anna Foster, daughter of President Mark Harmon. She is extremelyfrustrated with the fact that her social life is consistently ruined by the vast phalanx of SecretService personnel that shadow her every move. Harmon promises to ease up on her while theyvisit Prague, but he breaks his promise, and she flees, hooking up with handsome photographerMatthew Goode. A travelogue of Europe ensues, with romance aborning. Trouble is, Good isactually another Secret Ser...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 24th, 2004
The Farelly brothers are back with another unconventional comedy, this time about conjoint twins (otherwise known as Siamese twins). When I first saw the ads for this movie, I thought, “Yikes, what jokes in bad taste are the Farelly’s going to poke at the conjoined community?” I watched this move with some trepidation, but was surprised to find Stuck On You the least offensive and most accessible of all of the Farrelly’s pictures.
The movie follows the lives of Bob (Matt Damon) and Walt (Greg Kinnea...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 23rd, 2004
Synopsis
Type A real estate salesman Eddie Murphy can't ever stop selling, even when this meansneglecting his family. His drive lands them all into trouble when he insists they take a detourfrom their vacation to follow up on a mysterious offer concerning the mansion of the title. Soonenough, He and his family are trapped in the massively haunted building, running hither andthither from ghosts, while his wife (Marsha Thomason), believed to be the reincarnation of themaster's long-lo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 22nd, 2004
Universal got it right a few years ago when they adapted The Grinch who Stole Christmas. Jim Carrey was perfectly cast as the heartless Grinch, the costumes and set design were excellent and the mild deviations from Dr. Seuss’ classic were appropriate and added more heart to the story. The most important aspect that was captured was the moral of the story – that being angry and miserable leads to a unsatisfying life of loneliness and that an act of kindness can fill the world with joy.
Now take all...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 22nd, 2004
I remember all of the controversy and discussion that was stirred up when Judy Dench won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in Shakespeare in Love. It’s not that the public felt that she didn’t do a great job, it’s just that she was only in the film for approximately six minutes. What’s more, Cate Blanchette was in a film called Elizabeth that same year, in which she played the same historical figure, and was nominated for the role of Best Actress, which sh...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 20th, 2004
Synopsis
Three men are after a fortune in gold, and they will stop at nothing to get it. Boiled down toits essentials, that is the plot of TGTBTU. Granted, there are all sorts of betrayals anddouble-crosses along the way, but they don’t change the fact that the story is essentially a verysimple one, and you might wonder how the film takes up three hours. It certainly doesn’t throughcharacter development. In fact, there is very little that sets the characters apart (which is par...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 20th, 2004
Synopsis
Cliff Robertson is a US Lieutenant who had planned to make it through WWII as a radiooperator and translator, and see no action. He is less than pleased when Henry Fonda dispatcheshim to the New Hebrides to accompany a rag-tag squad of disaffected British soldiers (and noneare more disaffected than Michael Caine) on what may very well be a suicide mission. Leadingthe squad is Denholm Elliott, a brave but incompetent officer, and bit by bit, the mission goeswrong. Eventually...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 20th, 2004
Lola is a bit of a strange girl. She is both charming and odd. On the one hand, she is an independent fashion designer who has had marginal success selling her clothing to retail outlets. On the other hand, she is a sheltered little girl who has no self-esteem, and lives with a demanding and overpowering husband. Lola is a woman that has never grown up, and never spent any time in the real world whatsoever. She is a child.
All of that changes, however, over the course of one single day. When she instinctive...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 20th, 2004
Season 4 brought a few changes to the Homicide: Life On The Streets beat. Beatty’s and Baldwin’s characters would exit. Reed Diamond and Max Perlich would enter the cast to replace them. Diamond’s Kellerman, an arson investigator turned homicide detective, would provide the more interesting character arc for the season. Year 4 also marked a change in style to more of the multi-episode stories. Another Law and Order crossover is a bit confusing because there isn’t the Dick Wolf franchise episode to complete it. I’d li...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 20th, 2004
What would prep school be like on December 7th, 1941? For those of you not historically savvy, 7/41 was the day of Pearl Harbor. December is about 5 prep school boys coming to terms with the patriotic and moral issues involved with the Pearl Harbor attack. I suppose the movie is timely in the sense that, ever since 9/11, people are still wrestling with the same questions. Unfortunately, the wrestling in this movie is more like tai chi.
Wil Wheaton (better known as Wesley Crusher Star Trek) is t...
