Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 6th, 2005
Synopsis
Driving home one rainy night after losing an important deal, Matt Davis runs over a manstanding in the middle of a deserted country road. Repressing his initial impulse to call thepolice, Davis tries to cover up his crime. But then he finds out that not only are the police veryinterested in the victim, who might be involved with a local bank robbery, but that said victimmight also be his brother-in-law. Threatened with losing everything, Davis turns to sinisterlawyer James ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 1st, 2005
Synopsis
Crusty city editor Lee J. Cobb assigns reporter James Stewart to the story of a mother whohas scrubbed floors for eleven years, saving $5000 to offer as a reward for any information thatmight lead to the exoneration of her son, imprisoned in 1932 for shooting a police officer.Initially skeptical, Steward gradually comes to believe that the poor man was, indeed, the victimof a miscarriage of justice. Writing up a storm for the newspaper, he digs deeper and deeper intothe cas...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 22nd, 2005
Synopsis
Feeling deathly ill, an illegal immigrant leaves a poker game, only to be ambushed andmurdered by three of the other players (the most notable of whom are Zero Mostel and a youngand scary Jack Palance, here appearing as Walter Jack Palance). When his body is found the nextmorning, the victim is discovered to have been sick with pneumonic plague. Doctor RichardWidmark, in charge of public health, takes over, and is initially at loggerheads with DetectivePaul Douglas, who is ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 21st, 2005
Synopsis
Dana Andrews is in suitably hard-boiled mode as the detective called in to investigate thedeath of beautiful society woman Laura (Gene Tierney). There are plenty of suspects, as Laurainspired passion on all sides. Accompanying Andrews on his investigation is misanthropiccolumnist Clifton Webb, whose protege Laura was. Chief suspect is fickle fiancé Vincent Price,but Andrews isn’t ruling anyone out, as his questioning leads to flashbacks that take us towardthe moment of the ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 20th, 2005
Synopsis
A series of heartrending cases drive judge Michael Douglas to the breaking point. Minortechnicalities force him to release suspects who are clearly guilty of horrendous crimes. At hismost vulnerable, he is approached by mentor judge Hal Holbrook, who is part of a cabal ofjudges who re-examine such cases, and have the suspects killed. Douglas becomes involved, butthe moral issues aren’t any easier now, and then there’s detective Yaphet Kotto who’s closingin on the truth.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 19th, 2005
Synopsis
This excellent survey of the Warner gangster films covers the peak of that genre’s popularity,and the earliest films in the set established two of the actors most closely associated with thegenre. First up is 1930's Little Caesar, with Edward G. Robinson in the title role. Hot-tempered, violence prone Ccaesar Enrico (“Rico”) Bandello is tired of knocking over gasstations, and has his eye on the big time. The story follows his violent rise and fall and, as is trueof s...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 2nd, 2005
Synopsis
The driver and passengers of a city bus are gunned down. One of the victims is an off-dutypolice officer, who is also investigating cop Walter Matthau’s partner. Saddled with a new,motor-mouthed partner (Bruce Dern), Matthau follows the clues, which gradually point to aconnection with an old, unsolved case of his.
Director/producer Stuart (The Amityville Horror) Rosenberg’s thriller aspires todocumentary realism in the investigation process, and there is an a...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 16th, 2005
M. Night Shyamalan has a knack for channeling the spirit of Rod Serling each time he sits down to write and ultimately direct and produce a new film. When Serling’s spirit is unavailable, then it seems that Hitchcock will do. The Village, like each of his previous films, is carried off in rather subtle tones both in visual textures and storytelling.
The Village again begins with little or no action but somehow compels us to begin to ask questions about the deceptively simple story unfolding b...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 9th, 2005
Synopsis
The Date crime family is unwillingly drawn into a mob war with the much more powerfulTendo group. This war disrupts the happy existence of one small sub-family, consisting of Muto,the boss more interested in his model planes than in crime, and his two loyal soldiers Seiji andYoshifumi. Muto promises to kill a high-ranking Tendo member to prove his worth, but Seijiknows he isn’t up to it. He arranges for Muto to be packed safely off to jail instead, and thenstages an attack ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 5th, 2004
Synopsis
Drifter Billy Burke’s car breaks down near the town of Lost Junction. He accepts a ride fromNeve Campbell, and very quickly is drawn into a web of mysteries that surround her. Why is sheliquidating her bank account? For that matter, where is her husband? Caught, Burke may bemystified, worried, and threatened, but he cannot tear himself away. Before he knows it, he’s onthe run with Campbell, pursued by the authorities.
The characterizations are quirky, and there is a...
