Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 1st, 2017
Even though I was born in 1975, I don't remember a thing until I was about 5 years old, therefore I missed most of the "Disco" era. My dad would play music from the 70's, but that consisted of Led Zeppelin, Queen and Black Sabbath among other bands; no disco in sight. But one faithful day in my middle school years, I did find my mother's record and 8-track collection. There was some Barry Manilow, Julio Iglesias, and something called the Bee-Gees. I wouldn't say anything crazy like it turned my life around, but after listening, I clearly understood. I clearly understood that my mother was crazy and I was much better off listening to Whole Lotta Love. Anyway, we have a movie to review, let's continue with Saturday Night Fever.
A train whistle calls in the distance as we overlook the Verrazano Bridge. A tune to the name of Staying Alive chimes in. Tony Manero (played by John Travolta) walks down the street in his red shoes; perfectly in time to the music swinging a paint can. He checks out a few girls, orders a couple of slices of pizza and then makes his way to the paint & hardware store. Apparently, he works there for Mr. Fusco (played by Sam Coppola).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 21st, 2008
There have been many films about the Vietnam War. Some have been epic. Some have been emotional. Some have even been very bad, but now comes one that is absolutely funny. Are we ready for this kind of a send up? That might be the overriding question, but I think that we are. Tropic Thunder took the chance that the public was ready to accept such a film and be able to enjoy it. To soften the blow, it was likely a good idea that the film doesn’t address the war in itself. The film takes aim at movies about the war, and in an extension of that theme it pokes a lot of fun at
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 17th, 2008
The voices aren’t the same. The animation has lost that classic charm. The story is completely contrived. What remains is a dim reflection of a few beloved characters from a bygone year of vintage Disney magic. This sequel of the classic Disney telling of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book looks more like a direct to video knockoff. I was actually quite amazed to note the film did have a box office run.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 16th, 2008
The neurotic Shannyn Sossamon goes to Paris to visit sister Alecia Moore (aka Pink). The outgoing Moore cajoles her mopey sister to attend a party in the city’s catacombs, where the bones of some six million people are stacked. It doesn’t take long before Sossamon becomes separated from her friends, and is pursued by a maniac through the maze of tunnels.
Other reviewers have commented on the film’s overuse of shaky camerawork, ADD editing and strobe lights. I won’t belabour the point here other than to note that they are absolutely right. That the film is not actually shot in Paris is painfully obvious thanks to the awful French accents of the Romanian extras. The leads are strong enough in their roles, but Sossamon’s character is such a bringdown that she’s hard to sympathize with. The ending manages to be simultaneously idiotic and clever. One senses a great deal of effort to transcend a limited budget, but this is ultimately another case of reach exceeding grasp.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 27th, 2008
Despite being very thoroughly dead, Jigsaw is up to his old games again. This time, SWAT commander Rigg must race against time to rescue to kidnapped fellow officers. Jigsaw's messages send him all over town, to one gruesome event after another. Meanwhile, the FBI is also on the case, interrogating the killer's ex-wife, which means the audience finds out quite a bit more about Jigsaw's backstory.
The film gets right down to work with an extremely detailed autopsy of Jigsaw, so the target audience should feel well-served. The torture devices are as baroque as ever, and the deaths are elaborately gruesome. “Elaborate” and “baroque” are pretty good terms to describe the plot as well, only not necessarily in a good way. The main problem here is excessive flashbacking (rarely a good tactic in cinematic narrative) and equally excessive reliance on the audience remembering every detail of the previous entry. On the other hand, there are some very nifty transitions between scenes, and I confess to being rather more caught up in the story than I was expecting, this many episodes in. For the most part, this is actually an improvement over the third entry. Then there's the difficulty of the ending. The need to have each film end in a twist here results in a conclusion that's borderline incomprehensible rather than shocking.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 12th, 2008
The trailer trash Myers family (inexplicably living in a pretty big house) is a powder keg waiting to go off, what with the rampaging abuse and a young Michael (the admittedly creepy Daeg Faerch) butchering small animals and looking like he’s mad as hell and soon not going to take it anymore. Snap he does, going on a killing spree, before he is captured and locked up for years, while eccetric shrink Dr. Loomis (a shameless Malcolm McDowell) making a career out of trying to learn what makes him tick. Growing to Godzilla proportions, Michael makes his escape, and proceeds to pick up his spree where he left off in his home town of Haddonfield.
I trashed this fiasco in a Brain Blasters column back in September, and the unrated version of the film does nothing to change my opinion. Zombie misses the fact that restraint of the original film was a large part of its success, stupidly gives Michael a backstory and thus nixes his fearsome aspect as supernatural boogeyman, distractingly fills small roles with Look Who It Is cameos (Udo Kier, Richard Lynch, Brad Dourif), and, after expanding the original movie’s single shot prologue to an entire act, compresses the actual rampage to the point that there is no time for character development, and so we care not a whit for the victims. An idiotic, crashing bore.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 24th, 2007
2004 brought moviegoers two big-budget historical epics in Oliver Stone's Alexander and Wolfgang Petersen's Troy. One bombed. The other performed well, but was by no means heralded as a critical success. No, Troy was praised for slick production values and exciting battles, but derided for a lack of emotional depth.
Can it all be blamed on running-time constraints and compromises made for the ratings board? The answer is here, with the unrated Troy: Director's Cut, Petersen's second shot at eternal glory, this time with more than 30 minutes of additional footage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 13th, 2007
"Remember when I promised I'd kill you last? I lied."
Time to relieve the glory days. Arguably the finest of Schwarzenegger's over-the-top, muscle-bound 80s action flicks, Commando is finally getting the respect it deserves. This is the perfect example of a movie so bad it's good. Really bad, and really good. Commando has it all: copious one-liners, a ridiculously huge Ah-nold physique, and a body count so high you'll run out of fingers and toes in no time flat.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 13th, 2007
Peter Jackson’s the Frighteners is a 1996 comedy/horror film starring Michael J. Fox. It follows the story of a physic investigator/ deactivate who is in league with the very sprits he is supposed to be exorcising. For the first half hour, the film is mostly comedy, with good work by Chi McBride as Cyrus, the ghost of a black man from the 70’s, complete with a huge afro. The other ghosts are less noteworthy and merely amusing, such as R. Lee Ermey as a ghostly version of his character from Full Metal Jacket. T...e movie becomes more of a thriller after Bannister spots a Reaper-like figure killing people that are marked with numbers on their foreheads. The rest of the movie involves Frank’s efforts to stop these mysterious murders.
The special effects by Richard Taylor and WETA are excellent; a clear sign of talent that definitely was a proving ground for Lord of the Rings. This film is no exception, with characters such as Wallpaperman or Portraitman. Rick Baker’s makeup work on the Judge was exceptional. Baker has won Oscars for makeup from the Nutty Professor, Harry and the Hendersons, and Men in Black. The Grim Reaper figure will definitely be recognizable to fans of Lords of the Rings as the inspiration for LOTR is clear and defined.
![The Frighteners (Peter Jackson's Director's Cut) [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-frighteners-peter-jacksons-di-large.jpg)
