Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 28th, 2004
Duel was the first “ made for television” movie directed by Steven Spielberg. This thriller could best be described as a cross between the Rutger Hauer classic, “ The Hitcher,” and the Steven King inspired “Maximum Overdrive.” Dennis Weaver plays David Mann, a salesman on his way home from a cross state trip. During his return, he passes a rusted out old gasoline truck on the highway without giving it much thought. As the film unfolds, the truck begins to pursue him and initially just appears to annoy him on the r...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 9th, 2004
When I was a kid in the 80’s, Predator was one of those films that you weren’t supposed to watch, but everybody did anyway. Over-the-top action, invincible heroes, cheesy one-liners and big, big explosions made this a film that was a favorite of pre-pubescent boys everywhere. Going into this disc, I found myself wondering if the film would stand up to the harsh tests of time and maturity.
The answer to that question is both “yes”, and “no”. In the “no” column, it is very apparent early on in the film...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 2nd, 2004
Synopsis
Tupac Shakur narrates his own life (almost, it would seem, from beyond the grave), taking usfrom his birth (and even before -- he discusses his gestation inside his imprisoned activistmother) to his childhood, and then through the ups and downs (emotional, legal and otherwise)of his career. Personal beliefs, politics, and the whole nine yards are laid out for us.
The editing is very clever, and one notes this particularly in the opening. Immediately afterthe sound o...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 29th, 2004
Synopsis
The most notable aspect of the evergreen series’ sixth season was the replacement of LarryLinville’s Frank Burns with David Ogden Stiers’ Winchester. The transition happens over thecourse of a double-length season opener, with Burns’ misadventures and ultimate reassignmenthappening off-screen, while Winchester arrives to be, so the poor sap thinks, a temporaryreplacement. Still plenty of strong writing, and jabs of deadly seriousness permeating through thecomedy.
...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 18th, 2004
Synopsis
Ben Affleck is a brilliant reverse engineer. He is hired by different companies to puzzle outand improve on their competitors’ technologies, then has his memory of his work wiped so hecannot divulge what he knows. His current job is something big. In exchange for a couple ofyears of his life, he will be granted huge stock options. But when he collects his paycheck, all hegets is a collection of mundane objects in a manilla envelope. And then everybody is trying tokill him. ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 14th, 2004
Synopsis
Welcome to Mud Creek, Texas. In a depressing nursing home, senior citizen Elvis (BruceCampbell) is sleeping away what remains of his life. Some led gets put back into his pencil,however, when he and “JFK” (Ossie Davis, who else?) realize that an ancient mummy is killingoff the residents of the home. Barely able to walk, they nonetheless decide to fight thesupernatural evil.
As you might guess from the above description, and especially from the casting, this is prett...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2004
A number of great films have come out of Ireland over the past decade (or so). A few titles that come to mind are In the name of the Father (1993), My Left Foot (1989), In America (2002), The Boxer (1997), and definitely The Commitments (1991). The one factor that differentiates The Commitments from the rest of these great films is that it centers around music rather then turmoil (whether it be personal, family, or country turmoil). The Commitments is a great tale t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 8th, 2004
I’m not always sure what to make of Star Trek VI. It is most notable as the final film to feature the entire original cast. Star Trek has always been about message and morality, so it seems natural for the franchise to tackle the end of the cold war and the fall of the Soviet Union. I just wish some of this film didn’t feel so forced. This film is also bittersweet in that it was DeForest Kelley’s final appearance before his death. Kelley’s “country doctor in space” routine never got tired. He was perhaps the most human face in all of Star Trek.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 11th, 2003
Synopsis
The DVD in this set is concert featuring Yes performing both new songs and greatest hits,accompanied by an orchestra. Obviously, if you’re not already a Yes fan, this will not be ofparticular interest. I will say that I’m not hugely aware of the difference the presence of anorchestra makes for many of these songs, given the wall of sound that they already consist of.
Audio
The audio is the most important aspect of this disc, and it comes in t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 9th, 2003
Synopsis
This 2-disc set is rather confusingly labelled, but let’s see if we can make some sense of it.Disc 1 is labelled “One Night Only” and is a 2-hour A&E documentary about the band. The casesays the documentary is called “The Official Story of the Bee Gees,” yet the on-screen title is“This Is Where I Came In.” The confusion doesn’t end there. Disc 2 is labelled “The OfficialStory of the Bee Gees,” but actually features the concert film “One Night Only.” Are we clear?Good...
