Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 25th, 2007
Synopsis
As I get older, I notice my tastes for movies change. Sure, I still like over the top action and if there is an attractive girl on the screen it gets my attention. I'm human, however as I get older I start liking films that are older. Now, I'm not talking about keeping true to films of my generation but I find myself engrossed in films that were made before I was born. There are some true classics out there such as In the Heat of the Night. This movie starred Sidney Poitier ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 23rd, 2007
By the time of the fifth James Bond film, producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli decided to shake things up a bit creatively. Star Sean Connery was probably getting a little antsy inhabiting the suits and drinking the martinis and feared getting pigeonholed (sorry Sean) and announced he was stepping away from the role. However, he still had one more in him, and with You Only Live Twice there was a definite change in style. It may have been based on Ian Fleming's novel, but it was adapted for the screen by Roald Dahl, of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fame.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 21st, 2007
Eragon is based upon the best selling book, which was written by then nineteen-year-old Christopher Paolini. This film was met with much hype, but initially to me seemed to be another generic Lord of the Rings type rip-off, with the addition of a dragon. Not usually my type of movie, but The Lord of the Rings trilogy did more that just amaze me maybe Eragon has a trick or two up its sleeve.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 19th, 2007
Cupt Epics here presents five films identified as "underground" (a fluid term at the best of times). Certainly, they are all deliberately transgressive, though not all are equally successful. Two are by Nico B. - the perviously released "Pig" and "Hollywood Babylon." The former has been reviewed here before, but briefly, its catalogue of murder and S&M horrors, working out a killer's fantasies, is rather too self-conscious about its own transgression. The latter is a 4-minute tribute to Kenneth Anger, taking in exhibits at the Museum of Death.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 17th, 2007
James Caan is a sailor whose stopover in Seattle becomes much longer than he expects, as first he has to wait for new orders when a medical exam forces him to miss shipping out with his crewmates, and then his records disappear. During this time, he meets Marsha Mason, a prostitute with an 11-year-old son. Caan falls for both of them, and a finely developed sense of responsibility sees him moving heaven and earth to make life good for all three. His task won’t be an easy one.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 16th, 2007
I can't say I'm too familiar with The Last Unicorn, I mean overall, animated children's films were in the midst of a decline in the '80s. However my wife was more than familiar with it and enjoyed it a lot growing up. And Lion's Gate has presumably cleaned up the film and thrown some extras on it just in time for the film's 25th anniversary.
Based on a novel by Peter Beagle and directed by the animation team of Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin (who helped produced such shows as the stop motion of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and The Hobbit animated version back in the '60s and '70s), the unicorn in question is named, well, Unicorn (voiced by Mia Farrow, The Omen), who walks around rather peacefully in the countryside.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 15th, 2007
Long the bad boy of French novelists, Jean Genet directed this 25-minute short in 1950. Borderline pornographic, it is a silent portrayal of (literally) imprisoned desire. Two prisoners convey their longing for one another through the prison walls, while a voyeuristic guard watches, becoming aroused and frustrated to the point of violence. Poetic, fetishistic, and intensely personal, it is a startling and historic piece of underground cinema.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 15th, 2007
At one point or another you�ve either seen Ghost, or have seen some of its memorable scenes parodied. Paramount is now releasing a new special collector�s edition of the 1990 Academy Award winning picture. Since then, star Patrick Swayze hasn�t really been up to much besides a Ja Rule video and a small role in Donnie Darko. Whether Demi Moore has seen success since this film is debatable, but for a while there in 1990 these two were the talk of the town. At the time I was too young to have any interest in the film, so prior to this review all I knew were the memorable clips I�d seen. I looked forward to finally viewing the entire film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 14th, 2007
Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow wake up in bed together, having just met the night before. Much cautious circling of the one another ensues in the apartment, and as they go their separate ways, more anxious debating follows regarding whether they should get together again. Is Farrow the one for Hoffman, and what about the fact that he doesn’t even know her name?
This is a film that could only have been made in 1969 (unless your name is Woody Allen), what with its incessant interrogation of character neuroses and a very self-conscious attempt to present us with How Romance Works In The New Scene.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 11th, 2007
WWII over, three soldiers return to their home town of Boone City. Dana Andrews is the bomber officer unfit for any other kind of work, who foolishly married a party girl just before the war. Fredric March is the banker who is having trouble adjusting to the fact that his children have become adults in his absence. Harold Russell is the sailor who lost both his hands, and can’t bring himself to believe that his girlfriend still truly wants him.
Though clocking in at 168 minutes, this 1946 effort never drags, and does justice to all three characters, but Andrews is ultimately the real focus of the film.
