Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 14th, 2003
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 14th, 2003
This 1994 Hallmark film is based on an obscure Truman Capote story. It’s loaded with the usual heavy sentimental trappings of a Hallmark film. The film attempts to create atmosphere through its 1930’s period setting. The trouble is I found it very hard to relate to or care about anyone in the film. The young Buddy appears to have each emotional turn literally forced out of him. Even the lovable Fonz, Henry Winkler, never gets a good foothold on his character. Katherine Hepburn’s age has obviously robbed her of the abilities she has so often displayed in her vast body of work. There are moments reminiscent of the vastly superior A Christmas Story, but this film never approaches that kind of holiday magic.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 13th, 2003
Dick Wolf reinvented the cop drama with the original Law and Order. That flagship program is the longest running drama currently in primetime. There does not seem to be an end in sight. This second version has a bit harder edge; dealing with sex crimes, it was important that the new show didn’t degrade into a “pervert” of the week scenario. The writing is top notch. For me, the addition of Richard Belzer as Homicide’s John Munsch was a stroke of genius. Belzer’s deadpan characterization is a perfect fit for such a sensitive subject. He now holds the record of an actor appearing in 5 TV shows as the same character: Homicide Life On The Street, The X-Files, Oz, Law And Order, and now Law And Order SVU.
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 12th, 2003
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 12th, 2003
Henry Turner from the Campus Circle is quoted on the cover of the DVD stating that Loco Love is “The funniest film since ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding.’” What I would like to ask Henry is “Dude what were you smoking and where can I get some?” This utterly lifeless and unfunny “comedy” is the first of what I would expect to be a long line of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” clones. I mean let’s face it “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” worked because of a great story, great cast and a very funny script. Let’s say that Loco Love falls ... little short – if you want to call a little short zero for three. For a film that is supposed to be dealing with adultery, racism, immigration and class struggle Loco Love definitely falls short of the mark.
The plot is horribly predictable and cliché. It follows the story of Donald, a man who marries into a rich family and through that relationship is able to acquire his own restaurant – his life’s dream. However, when his wife tells him that she’s been unfaithful and is now expecting a child by another man she drops him as fast as the movie studio should have dropped this film. As a result he loses his restaurant. This is followed by a really poor excuse for comedy as they show his failed suicide attempts. As fate would have it, his salvation lies with his Mexican gardener, Miguel, whom he has mistreated in the past with various racial insults. Miguel wins a lottery and wants to bring his sister, Catalina, to the US but she has had immigration difficulties. You can see where this is going. Miguel wants Donald to marry his sister and bring her to the US. Donald reluctantly agrees but predictably begins to fall in love with Catalina and vice versa much to Miguel’s chagrin. Throw in Donald’s ex-wife whom now wants to get back with him and you’ve got the makings of a lack luster Three’s Company episode.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 11th, 2003
Primus is an enigma wrapped in a funk groove. The band members may come and go (and come again), but bassist Les Claypool stays the same. Seemingly the twisted spawn of Robin Williams and Victor Wooten, Claypool is a fanciful musical genius, an artist so ahead of everybody else that we all know he’s fantastic, but nobody knows exactly why.
Some of those “why’s” are answered on this DVD. It includes a smorgasbord of video clips, which cover what seems to be every single moment that the band has been on film....All of their music videos are included here, as well as some “making of…” segments, rare live performances, home video and broadcast radio performances. The result is the most complete record of Claypool’s body of work yet assembled. Strange, wonderful and sometimes a little creepy, Primus never ceases to push the envelope of popular music, and of sanity.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 11th, 2003
This film is based on a Greek comedy, but I feel like I just watched a Greek tragedy. A Miami Tail is based on the Greek play “Lysistrata”, which tells the story of how a group of women ended war by abstaining from sex with their husbands. It’s not an entirely bad idea for a film, but unfortunately the plot has fallen victim to bad acting and a horrid script, and is helmed by a director with no vision.
I’m not kidding, the acting really is bad. Appalling, in fact. Rapper Trina stars in her first (and...hopefully last) role as the woman who started the “no-sexual” revolution. Her awkward, wooden delivery makes me wonder how she could ever make her living as a wordsmith. Her deplorable skills are matched with those of just about every other actor in the film, resulting in what feels like a High School Drama Department’s presentation of a ghetto revolution film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 11th, 2003
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 11th, 2003
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 11th, 2003
Soylent Green is an… interesting movie. Its one of the seventies movies that’s funny to look back on and recognize that people in the seventies thought that people in the year 2020 would still be dressing like… people in the seventies. Soylent Green steps beyond the traditional seventies sci-fi flick and into the boundaries of social activism, however, adding a further layer of irony to the film: as an apocalyptic tale its interesting to see how we haven’t traveled down the frightening route envisioned in Soylent Gre...n, and alarming to see how we still could. Not to suggest that in the next 17 years we’ll breed ourselves into oblivion and poison all of the farmland – but the points that the movie makes about resource use and pollution are valid, no matter how exaggerated. What isn’t particularly valid are the movie’s population – at least not in North America. Soylent Green’s out-of-control population visions might be more valid if the film was set in Mexico City or Calcutta perhaps. A more realistic vision of 2020 New York might be of a smaller and grayer populace than today – in any case, I’m rambling, but the point is Soylent Green is entertaining to watch from historical, social, political, and ecological standpoint.
As for the film itself, there’s some great cinematography and some sketchy acting. Check out the opening sequence photo montage – awesome, very well done. Similarly, the movie works well within the filmmaking technology constraints of the time to create a believable 2020 New York. Directory Fleischman has some interesting comments on this in his commentary. Acting is dominated by Charlton Heston, who personally I find to look wooden and contrived most of the time on screen. He does have one of his famous lines though – “Soylent Green is made of People!! Its people!!” My god, it must be in his contracts that he get one ridiculous line per film. His supporting cast is fine – no standout performances to my eye, but all solid.
