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Series

Cinderella Man

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 7th, 2005

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Cinderella Man tells the heartwarming true story of heavyweight fighter James J. Braddock, a man thought to be washed-up, who rises from the ranks of the forgotten to rebuild the life and potential he lost somewhere along the way. It’s also one of Ron Howard’s finest films, and with a body of work which includes Backdraft, A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Far and Away, and Ransom, this is a fine accomplishment. Unfortunately, this film’s success never rose to the level anyone ant…
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Tales of Hoffmann, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 7th, 2005

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Synopsis

Three of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s fantastic tales were made into an opera by Jacques Offenbach, and that opera was in turn transformed into this 1951 film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Robert Rounseville takes the lead as a fictional version of Hoffmann himself. While pining after a ballerina, whose love is being stolen from him by an evil aristocrat, he spins three tales of unrequited and doomed love, where in he falls in love first with an automaton, then a soul-stealing (literally) c…
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Happy Endings

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 5th, 2005

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Happy Endings is one of those films that makes you rethink being a DVD reviewer. I sat through this excursion into pretentious observations about the way the world is, and the way “average people” are, and thought, “Yeah, sure, this is a slice-of-life. I bet.” Oh, I don’t mean to say the characters’ lives are way too screwed up to be believable. Lord knows, under every ordinary average guy… or gal… there lurks a whole slew of skeletons banging their bony fists against the inside of the closet door. But the extent to which these screwed-up folks bang into one another like aimless bumper cars at a county fair makes one say, “Enough already.”
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River Runs Through It, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 5th, 2005

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Synopsis

Robert Redford narrates, but his on-screen avatar is Craig Sheffer. He and Brad Pitt are the sons of Presbyterian minister Tom Skerritt. The sons react to their stern father’s teachings in different ways. Sheffer is the good boy who becomes the scholar, while Pitt is the hell-raising journalist with the bad gambling debts. But both brothers do inherit their father’s love of fly fishing, and that is the act that bonds the three men together.

For a film that has very little by way of…
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50 Cent: Refuse to Die

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 5th, 2005

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Posted by Kim Lee

This unauthorized biography by New Line Home Entertainment covers the life of Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. The documentary describes 50 Cent’s expedition of dealing drugs at the corner of Jamaica and Queens, to boxing, to becoming a gangster rapper, and in the end a music industry icon.

I was a little disappointed to find out that 50 Cent did not participate in the making of this film as this was revealed during the introduction. The documentary is produced using a combination of still images, animation, video…
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Dawn of the Dead (1979)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 4th, 2005

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Synopsis

Anchor Bay, holding all (or most) of the keys in George Romero’s zombie film trilogy, released a four disc Ultimate Edition to capitalize on the theatrical release of the remake, done in grainy, handheld, 28 Days Later style by director Zack Snyder. There isn’t too much here plotwise that you need to be aware of. 4 people decide to seek shelter at an abandoned mall, a continuation of Romero’s first film Night of the Living Dead. I don’t really know of an underlying moral tale in this…
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Frogmen, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 30th, 2005

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Synopsis

After the death of a popular commander, the stern and inflexible Richard Widmark steps in to take charge of a group of a Navy underwater demolition team. His command gets off to a rocky start, as he is seen as heartless and unwilling to take risks himself. But he eventually proves himself to his men (and old hand Dana Andrews), just in time for a particularly dangerous mission.

The disliked new commander is hardly an original concept in war films, and Twelve O’Clock High th…
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Where the Sidewalk Ends

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 25th, 2005

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Synopsis

Dana Andrews is the tough cop who takes too much pleasure in roughing up the bad guys. When he hits a suspect too hard, he accidentally kills him. He covers up his crime and carries on the investigation into the murder the man was suspected of. But as if his life weren’t complicated enough, he starts to fall for his victim’s ex-wife, and then her father looks like he’s going to hang for Andrews’ crime.

This is what film noir is all about. Daylight never seems to intrude in this cit…
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Honeymooners, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 24th, 2005

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Synopsis

Cedric the Entertainer is Ralph Kramden. Mike Epps is Ed Norton. They have the get-rich-quick schemes that never work. Gabrelle Union and Regina Hall are Alice and Trixie, the long-suffering and very sensible wives who are increasingly exasperated by their numbnuts husbands. The latest scheme involves things like turning a pet greyhound into a competitive racer, all in the hopes of purchasing a duplex.

Cards on the table: I was never a fan of the TV show. Born too late, I suppose, …
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Dark Corner, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2005

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Synopsis

Mark Stevens is a PI recently out of jail after having been framed for manslaughter by his former partner. He is trying to make a new start in a new city, and the good news is that something might be developing with his new secretary, Lucille Ball. The bad news is that he’s being followed, and it turns out his treacherous ex-partner, Kurt Kreuger, is in town and making life hell for him. Or is he? In fact, obsessive gallery owner Clifton Webb is setting Stevens up for another frame.

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AVP – Alien Vs. Predator

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2005

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Written by Clayton Self

Alien vs. Predator had mixed reviews upon its initial release in theatres. Fox studios demanded a PG-13 rating (to gain a wider audience) and two weeks before the release, cuts were made to reduce the amount of human blood onscreen, and a few moments of character moments. This new, un-rated edition restores some of those cut scenes, adding just over 8 minutes of previously unseen footage.

So, what’s new? The alternate beginning, also available on the first DVD release is included in the unrated …
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War of the Worlds (1953)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 23rd, 2005

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Aliens have sent super machines to Earth. The intent is obvious. They want to remove the human infestation and relocate from their own dying world. Independence Day, right? Wrong. Almost 50 years before Rolland and Emerich pitted mankind against killer aliens, George Pal brought us a wonderful interpretation of the famous H.G. Wells novel, War of the Worlds. Although not as faithful to the source material as a Wells fan might have hoped for, Pal created a classic film with groundbreaking f/x for the 1950’s.
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Kiss of Death

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2005

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Synopsis

Victor Mature is an ex-con driven by financial desperation to take part in a jewel heist. The job goes wrong, and he is nabbed. He’s sent to prison, and agonizes over his family. When he’s double-crossed by his lawyer, he agrees to DA Brian Donlevy’s deal and testifies against psychotic hoodlum Richard Widmark. He gets out, and starts his life over, but then Widmark beats the wrap, and is on the prowl for revenge.

Mature is the star, and Coleen Gray is the eternally patient love in…
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Lords of Dogtown

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2005

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Synopsis

According to some reports, Fred Durst almost directed this thing, and if I ever wind up supporting anything Fred Durst does, I’ll kill myself. Having said that, Lords of Dogtown is a fond look back at the California skateboarding explosion in the late ‘70s. Since, like everything else, timing is everything, this film was largely neglected in a lot of circles, because it came out shortly after the outstanding documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, which was written and directed by Stacy Peral…
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Cheaper by the Dozen

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2005

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This remake ofCheaper by the Dozen, like the original, focuses on the Baker family. Father Tom Baker (Steve Martin) and mother Kate Baker (Bonnie Hunt) decided to have 12 children. The children range from 5 years old to 22 years old. Nora (Piper Perabo) is the oldest child and the one who lives outside the home. Tom coaches Division III football at the small Lincoln College. When Tom’s old teammate Shake Maguire (Richard Jenkins) shows up to offer Tom a big fat contract to coach Division I at Illinois Poly Uni…
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To Live and Die in L.A.

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 20th, 2005

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If your first introduction to William L. Petersen is through CSI, then you’re missing some real treats with his short-lived film career, which burned brightest about fifteen years before he ever became Gil Grissom and investigated his way onto our small screens and, subsequently, into our hearts. Both of his cinematic outings never got the respect due them until after Petersen reminded us he was still alive, still well, and still acting. His best effort was Manhunter, Michael Mann’s adaptation of the Th…
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War of the Worlds (2005)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 19th, 2005

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Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a middle-aged divorcee with a blue-collar job and a rundown home in the New Jersey suburbs. When his ex-wife unexpectedly drops his estranged kids—ten year old Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and sixteen year old Robbie (Justin Chatwin)—off for the weekend, Ray is less than pleased. He’s always struggled with his parental duties, but now finds it increasingly difficult to communicate with his children. However, events beyond his control are about to force Ray to come to terms with his responsibili…
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Phone

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 19th, 2005

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Phone director Byeong-ki Ahn admits he wanted to take the premise of Ringu and incorporate cell phones as the primary transmitter of terror instead of VHS tapes. (Just when these vengeful spirits will make the jump to DVD is uncertain — and when they do, will it be Blu-Ray or… oh, I’ll save it for another time.) Anyway, he puts together an impressive-looking package with this horror tale, but unfortunately, the film itself falls flat on the wings of derivative, copycat storytelling.

Ji-Won H…
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Bridge Too Far, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 18th, 2005

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Synopsis

Operation Market Garden is the most famous Allied defeat in the Second World War. An audacious plan scuppered by bad luck and worse decisions, it is recounted in this visually spectacular film. The goal is to seize a group of bridges across Holland, culminating in the brdge at Arnhem. Everything imaginable goes wrong. Richard Attenborough’s film stars just about every big name actor under the sun, and his re-enactment has so many extras and so much hardware that one feels he could have convi…
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Office Space

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 14th, 2005

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Written by Clayton Self

The cult classic “Office Space” from creator Mike Judge (Bevis and Butthead) found a huge following on its initial release on DVD. The movie stars Ron Livingston as Peter Gibbons, a software analyst for the computer giant Initech. Fed up with his condescending boss (Gary Cole) and the frustrations of his job in general, he visits a hypno therapist who puts him in a state of well being and relaxation. The therapist dies of a heart attack before the procedure is complete, leaving Peter permanately care free. Peter …
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Titanic

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 13th, 2005

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In the event you had to move under a rock in 1997 and just crawled out from under it last week, James Cameron’s TITANIC – winner of 11 Academy Awards – recounts the tragic sinking of the supposedly indestructible ship seen through the eyes of two young lovers on board. Though the romance is fictional, it serves as a guide that will walk us through one of the most memorable events of the twentieth century.

There isn’t much to be said about this film that hasn’t been said a thousand times over in the …
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Wizard of Oz, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 10th, 2005

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Synopsis

Frustrated by vicissitudes of Depression-era life, Dorothy wishes she were somewhere else. She gets her wish in ways she couldn’t have imagined, as a tornado drops her into the magical world of Oz. Accompanied by the brain-free Scarecrows, heartless Tin Man and cowardly Lion, she sets out on a quest to return home. In order to be granted that wish by the all-powerful Wizard, she must first defeat the Wicked Witch of the West.

And so I conclude what must surely be the most superfluo…
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Mask of Zorro, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 9th, 2005

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The Mask of Zorro was the Pirates of the Caribbean of its day. A classic swashbuckling story packed with action and romance, yet still presented in a family-friendly style that hearkened back to the days of the old Saturday afternoon matinée. Indiana Jones was conceived in this style, as was Disney’s National Treasure, in a way. There is a ton of room in the marketplace for PG and PG-13 rated films like this, as it provides something that the whole family can not only attend at the theater, but t…
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Le Samourai

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 9th, 2005

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Synopsis

Alain Delon is a cool-as-ice contract killer. After pulling off his latest contract, he is picked up by the police on suspicion, but is released for lack of evidence. The gangsters who hired him consider him a liability, however, and attempt to have him killed. He must now evade the police long enough to track down his killers before they get him.

With minimal dialogue and a stripped-down, no-frills style, director Jean-Pierre Melville delivers a thriller that is a model of efficie…
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State Fair

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 7th, 2005

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Synopsis

Things don’t get much more anodyne than this storyline, showcasing an impossibly idealized family and their trials of love and prize pigs as they travel to the eponymous event. This is strictly for the nostalgic and pure fans of Rodgers and Hammerstein (the songs generally are not as culturally engrained as those of Oklahoma!). There are two versions of the film here, and the 1945 take is easily the better of the two. The 1962 remake (and the third film by this name, a non-musical ver…
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