Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 8th, 2005
Synopsis
Director Trey Parker plays Joe Young, a Mormon on a rather losing missionary trip toHollywood. A chance encounter lands him (reluctantly) as the lead in Orgazmo, a pornflick about the titular super-hero. The film becomes a runaway success, and Joe finds himself anunwilling porn superstar. Meanwhile, his co-star in the film has developed a real, workingversion of the hero’s Orgazmarator (or something like that), which causes orgasms at a distance.It is only a matter o...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 8th, 2005
Synopsis
Chili Palmer (John Travolta) is a loan shark, but his heart isn’t in it anymore. His boss hasdied, and the deeply obnoxious Dennis Farina has taken over. Sent to LA to collect on some baddebts, movie buff Chili finds himself right at home in the Hollywood scene, and decides to getinvolved in the business. The other major figures include Gene Hackman as a low-end producer,Rene Russo as the world-weary B actress, and Danny De Vito as the high-profile actor.
The above ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 7th, 2005
Synopsis
Two brothers, Jin-seok and Jin-tae, are drafted into the South Korean army when war eruptsin 1950. Jin-seok is bookish and has a bad heart -- there is no way he can survive the war withouthis older, stronger brother’s help. Jin-tae takes on one insanely risky mission after another,having been given the hope that if he performs sufficient acts of bravery, his brother will be senthome. He begins to lose sight of this goal, however, as he starts to like the glory of being a hero...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 1st, 2005
Synopsis
Crusty city editor Lee J. Cobb assigns reporter James Stewart to the story of a mother whohas scrubbed floors for eleven years, saving $5000 to offer as a reward for any information thatmight lead to the exoneration of her son, imprisoned in 1932 for shooting a police officer.Initially skeptical, Steward gradually comes to believe that the poor man was, indeed, the victimof a miscarriage of justice. Writing up a storm for the newspaper, he digs deeper and deeper intothe cas...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 27th, 2005
Synopsis
Reluctant scandal-mag reporter James Stewart and photographer Ruth Hussey are sent toinfiltrate and report on the upcoming marriage of New England aristocrat Katharine Hepburn.They are brought into the house by Hepburn’s first husband, Cary Grant. Sparks, friendly andnot, fly in all directions, and Hepburn’s relationships with the men in her life becomeincreasingly complex. She is also taught to have, as her father puts it, “an understandingheart.”
There’s an echo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 26th, 2005
Synopsis
Cary Grant is a straightlaced paleontologist about to be married to a woman even morestraightlaced than he. His life flies into pieces when he runs into the flighty socialite KatharineHepburn. Falling instantly in love, Hepburn does all she can to keep Grant nearby, no matter theconsequences, and she embroils him in the task of bringing a leopard named Baby to heraunt’s country estate.
What follows is every conceivable (and even some inconceivable) sort of misunders...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 22nd, 2005
Synopsis
Feeling deathly ill, an illegal immigrant leaves a poker game, only to be ambushed andmurdered by three of the other players (the most notable of whom are Zero Mostel and a youngand scary Jack Palance, here appearing as Walter Jack Palance). When his body is found the nextmorning, the victim is discovered to have been sick with pneumonic plague. Doctor RichardWidmark, in charge of public health, takes over, and is initially at loggerheads with DetectivePaul Douglas, who is ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 21st, 2005
Synopsis
Dana Andrews is in suitably hard-boiled mode as the detective called in to investigate thedeath of beautiful society woman Laura (Gene Tierney). There are plenty of suspects, as Laurainspired passion on all sides. Accompanying Andrews on his investigation is misanthropiccolumnist Clifton Webb, whose protege Laura was. Chief suspect is fickle fiancé Vincent Price,but Andrews isn’t ruling anyone out, as his questioning leads to flashbacks that take us towardthe moment of the ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 20th, 2005
Synopsis
Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a resentful teen under therapy, and supposed to be takingmedication for his borderline schizophrenia. When a giant demonic bunny (Jimmy Stewart neverhad to deal with the like in Harvey) takes him out of the house just before a plane enginesmashes into his bedroom, life becomes even more strange. Reality becomes rubbery, and thefact that Donnie survived has more and more significant effects on the world around him.
David Lynch...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 16th, 2005
The barometer for those interested in Robert Altman’s Short Cuts is usually whether or not they liked Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. Hell, it’s the question I posed to my fiancée when we were trying to figure out what to watch over the Thanksgiving holiday. The comparisons are pretty conventional; both are large ensemble films with intertwined plotlines set in California, both have a 3 hour runtime. Both even have Julianne Moore in predominant roles.
Based on short stories by Raymond Carver...
