Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2003
Synopsis
Karen Young (turning in a remarkable performance) is a sweet, somewhat insecure schoolteacher who is date-raped by attorney Clayton Day. The law is no help. This being Texas, thereare plenty of opportunities for her to learn how to use a gun, and she proceeds to do so. Thoughinteresting, the film is divided against itself. On the one hand, it sets out to criticize Americangun culture. On the other, it encourages us to root for Young as she transforms into an avengingwarrior...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2003
Synopsis
Alec Guinness plays a man who appears to be a nobody, and that is just what he wants you tothink. He has worked to establish his reputation as the most unassuming, yet reliable, employeethe Bank of England has. His goal: to rob the bank of a vast amount of gold bullion. His plancomes together when he joins forces with Stanley Holloway, Sidney James and Alfie Bass. Theheist itself is, naturally, only the beginning of the zaniness.
Audio
As with the o...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2003
Synopsis
Alec Guinness quietly invents a fabric that is indestructible and never gets dirty. You’d thinkpeople would be happy. Not if they have anything to do with the fabric industry, they’re not. Bigindustry and big labour all get it in the neck in this hilarious film. The cast is top-notch(Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Ernest Thesiger, Michael Gough) and clearly having a great time.Not to be missed.
Audio
As with the other films in this series, the sound is t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2003
Synopsis
Acclaimed trumpeter Chris Botti is joined on stage by his band and friends (Sting and Shawn Colvin) for a night of evocative and sensual music. Filmed on location in the historic El Rey Theater in Los Angeles on December 3, 2001. Chris Botti’s regular gig is as the trumpet player for Sting both on tour and in the studio, this show is to celelbrate the release of his solo album with Comlumbia records.
Audio
The audio on this disc is excellent; it is 5.1 surround with...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2003
Synopsis
Centuries after his ancestor wipes out a devil-worshipping cult, Waldemar Daninsky feelsthat cult’s revenge. A woman he tries to help curses him with lycanthropy. He tears around thecountryside ripping people to shreds. Will the woman he loves be able to help him? A welcomerelease for Eurohorror fans (and uncut for the first time on these shores), Curse of the Devil’sslow pace and wooden performances mean it will have limited appeal to viewers outside theserious fans. If yo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2003
Synopsis
Alec Guinness is a ferryboat captain who runs back and forth every other day betweenGibraltar and Morocco. He has a wife in each port: the domestic Celia Johnson and the fieryYvonne DeCarlo. This state of affairs cannot continue indefinitely, of course. A fun battle-of-the-sexes story, very much of its time (1953). While not quite up to the Ealing films, The Captain’sParadise does have some extremely funny moments courtesy Guinness and co-star CharlesGoldner.
A...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2003
Synopsis
The black sheep of a wealthy Tulsa family comes back to a world that he had walked away from, only to return and get pulled in to a tale of blackmail with his ex-high school sweetheart’s drug dealer husband. While attempting to help the only witness to a murder he gets wrapped up in a world of revenge, deceit and redemption, starring James Spader, Eric Stultz and Deborah Kara-Unger. Cameron Diaz is billed as one of the stars of this movie and for the approximately 3 minutes she is in this mov...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 8th, 2003
Synopsis
Dennis Price (icy in his perfectly correct heartlessness) is the son of a disowned member ofthe D’Ascoyne family. Determined to rectify this slight, and incidentally become Duke, Price setsout to cooly murder the eight D’Ascoynes who stand in his way. All eight, including LadyAgatha, are played by Alec Guinness. Price is utterly amoral, but he is such a charming narratorthat we root for him, and chuckle warmly over each demise. The script is supremely smart. Thisisn’t knock...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 5th, 2003
Synopsis
A genetically modified super-python, dropped on Russia by the Americans at some pointfor some reason or other, is captured. But the plane carrying the snake is shot down by Chechens.The cargo is recaptured and taken to a base. A husband-and-wife team of cargo haulers areengaged for no truly logical reason by a CIA team to go the base, where the snake is to be stolenand taken back to the States. Unfortunately, the snake is already loose. “Loose” is also a goodword for the pl...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 5th, 2003
Synopsis
Not for the squeamish, this documentary opens with prison surveillance camera footage ofTroy Krell and Eric Daniels stabbing Lonnie Blackmon to death. After that little bit of snuff TV,the hour-long program gets down to interviews with Krell and authorities about the culturethat produces these events. The topic is certainly worthy of examination, but the cheesy heavymetal score and tabloid-TV stylistic flourishes (black-and-white, slow motion, etc.) Could havebeen dispensed...
