Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 19th, 2003
Synopsis
First there was Highlander, a with a Frenchman playing a Scot, and a Scot playing aSpaniard. The concept was as loopy as the casting, but the movie was exciting and looked damngood. Nobody went to see the sequels, but the premise was revived on TV, and met with greatersuccess, greatly elaborating the basic mythology of the race of Immortals at war with each other,whacking off each other’s heads in the quest for the great gift of The Quickening.
Audio
< ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2003
Why X-Men 1.5? This 2-Disc special edition re-release is set to coincide with the theatrical release of X2, the X-Men sequel. The 1.5 release is set up to be sort of a Director’s Cut of the original X-Men film. This new version has allowed for the film to be viewed with a number of deleted scenes to be branched into the film (not seamlessly... you have to hit enter on your remote to view the scenes). I am sure you know the premise, but here is a recap:
"Marvel's classic comic book comes to li...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 18th, 2003
You almost expect to see Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci at any time during State Of Grace. The influence of Martin Scorsese is everywhere, from the tight shots on character interactions to the slight angles during the more violent scenes. Even the clever use of source music more often than Ennio Morricone’s subtle score is reminiscent of Goodfellas. The prize of this feature is the cast. Ed Harris, Sean Penn, and Gary Oldman add much needed tension and realism to a mediocre and predictable script. Stereotypes and clichés abound.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 17th, 2003
Film
M. Night Shyamalan, the brilliant director of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, comes through again with his latest film Signs. Buena Vista has given Shyamalan his due respect by adding Signs to their Vista Series of DVD’s.
Synopsis
One morning on their farm in Buck’s County, Pennsylvania the Hess family wake up to find a 500 foot crop circle in the corn fields in their back yard. Watching the news brings them reports of similar circles showing up ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 16th, 2003
Synopsis
Warren Beatty plays George, who is as gifted a hairdresser as he is a ladies’ man. He needsmoney to open his own salon, and is hoping Lester (Jack Warden) will invest. That Beatty issleeping not only with Jill (Goldie Hawn) but with Lester’s wife (Lee Grant), mistress (JulieChristie) and teenage daughter (Carrie Fisher) might just complicate the issue. Especially as moreand more characters find out about each other. Very well made, but also very much a productof its times -...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 16th, 2003
Synopsis
It is 1821. Napoleon is in exile on St. Helena, but not for long. His exact double is found,and the two men switch identities. Napoleon, now disguised as Eugene Lenormand, makeshis way back to France. The idea is that, once the real emperor is in Paris, the double will exposehimself, and the people will rally around the returned ruler. But Eugene decides he likes beingemperor. Napoleon is now stuck in the role of a poor man. Naturally, this being a romanticcomedy, there are...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 15th, 2003
Film
Bad Influence, while not a bad film, is certainly not a good one either. Try as I might I could not bring myself to really care about any of the characters. The film tries to portray Rob Lowe’s influence on James Spader as, well … bad. It’s not like he was a great guy to begin with. There is an incredible irony within the film when Lowe gets Spader out of a marriage he is dreading by slipping the family a copy of the groom-to-be having sex with another woman. Lowe, of course, had a real life video tape episode and Spader dealt with the same thing in Sex, Lies, and Video Tape.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 14th, 2003
Synopsis
Eerily topical, Sirocco is set in 1925 Damascus. Syria is under French occupation. Syrianpartisans and the French army are at daggers drawn. Lee J. Cobb is the head of militaryintelligence, and he is trying to broker a truce. Humphrey Bogart is a smuggler and gun runner,interested only in making a buck. Enter Cobb’s wife (or girlfriend? the film isn’t clear on thismatter) to complicate things. If Casablanca were remade with Bogart as an amoral, cowardlyprofiteer, Ingrid Ber...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2003
>
FearDotCom or Fear Dot Com depending on where you look is likely one of the first ghost stories of the information age. In my opinion it’s long overdue. While there will be other probably better efforts to update the classic haunting tale I found this to be a relatively solid start. The film borrows heavily from just about every sub-genre in the world of horror. The anatomical display is right out of the German film Anatomy. There are a number of Tim Burton elements present in the Elfman-like score to the dark nature of the cinematography.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2003
Synopsis
Five Gen-X yuppies (yup, they’re old enough to be that now) reunite for the funeral of oneof their friends. What ensues is a parody of The Big Chill, complete with bad 80s music. Thenmysterious bugs that disintegrate in bright light start infesting them one by one, turning them intomurderous zombies. So far, so eccentric, and the satire is sometimes very funny. The FX are sobargain-basement, however, and the plotting so loose, that the film loses direction and winds uupjust...
