Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 25th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 24th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 22nd, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 22nd, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2005
What a find! Film footage from a landmark 1970 concert sat in a producer’s garage for almost 3 decades. So finally, after all the music rights and remastering were taken care of, we have a landmark rockumentary. Thank the maker. Festival Express is a rock concert movie about a 3 city train tour, with stops in Toronto, Winnipeg, and Calgary (not to mention a stop in Saskatoon for booze). The performers included The Grateful Dead, The Band, Buddy Guy, and Janis Joplin (among many, many others).
<p ...The film doesn’t have the sociological impact of Woodstock and Gimme Shelter, or the melancholic “meaning” of The Last Waltz. Festival Express has more of a backstage pass quality. We get to see the performers (mostly in the bar car) sitting around talking or jamming. The retrospective interviews have some amusing anecdotes (I like the one where the concert promoter slugs the mayor of Calgary). The concert footage is not especially amazing, and some of the songs are merely OK. But Janet Joplin, man, she steals the show. Her two songs in the movie will blow your mind. It’s sad that she died just two months after the festival.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 16th, 2005
M. Night Shyamalan has a knack for channeling the spirit of Rod Serling each time he sits down to write and ultimately direct and produce a new film. When Serling’s spirit is unavailable, then it seems that Hitchcock will do. The Village, like each of his previous films, is carried off in rather subtle tones both in visual textures and storytelling.
The Village again begins with little or no action but somehow compels us to begin to ask questions about the deceptively simple story unfolding b...fore us. Just as he brought out the incredible talent of the young Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense, the surprising talent in this film is obviously Bryce Dallas Howard as the blind Ivy Walker. At times she is capable of carrying the film entirely on her shoulders. Fortunately that is not often the case as a well rounded supporting cast includes William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, and Joaquin Phoenix playing a Gladiator named Lucius.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 14th, 2005
First off, let me say that if you have only seen Showgirls on VH-1, then you haven’t had the full experience. It’s bad on network television, but the sheer scope of how truly awful it is can only be experienced in the full, uncut version. Laughing at an idiot is one thing. Laughing at a naked idiot is something else entirely. It’s amazing how un-sexy this film really is. Showgirls is funny in the same way that it was funny to make fun of the fat kid riding in the front of the bus in Junior High. ...art of you feels sorry for Elizabeth Berkeley, and part of you secretly gets a certain satisfaction out of watching her fail so horribly and famously on film. The point is, this film is truly enjoyable, in the most twisted of ways.
This trashy flick is the very definition of a film so bad that it’s good. For those of you that live in a cave in Afghanistan, this is the story of a small-town girl who goes to Vegas to make it big as a showgirl (because you have to have goals, right?). Once she gets there, she finds that Sin City is called that for a reason, and she fights through catty co-workers, sleazy managers and her own blind ignorance to get her shot at the big time. I think I might have died of boredom if this movie wasn’t so gloriously horrible.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 13th, 2005
“All good things must come to an end…” Truer words have never been spoken, especially when it comes to describing what may be argued as the greatest epic ever produced for the silver screen. Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy has redefined excellence in movie making. The only other series that I can compare this accomplishment to is, not surprisingly, the original Star Wars trilogy in terms of the scope of what was accomplished – old fashioned story telling which captured its audience with ground...breaking visuals and sound. Where Peter Jackson has surpassed George Lucas however, was in the DVD production of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The extended versions of the three films should be identified as the best DVDs ever produced. Period. These versions of the films truly demonstrate the full potential of what DVD has to offer.
The Return of The King completes the Lord of the Rings trilogy by allowing Aragorn to fulfill his destiny and bring honor back to his disgraced family line, bringing together the peoples of Middle Earth to fight for a common good, and for Frodo to end his life altering journey to save all of the people of his world. The extended version adds 50 minutes to the already 3 hr and 20 minute long theatrical cut. One would think that it may be difficult to sit through a 4 hr and 10 minute film, but nothing could be further from the truth. The additional scenes contribute an added depth to the movie that rounds out the story very nicely. The mix of the scenes involve a deepening of not just action, but also emotional tenderness, suspense, and humor.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 12th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 11th, 2005
De-Lovely is a musical bio-pic based on the life of Cole Porter. Now, Porter was an American genius, responsible for writing such song classics as “Love for Sale” and “Anything Goes”. Porter’s personal life was also legendary. He had a wife, but also had affairs with men. Porter also suffered a horse riding accident in the late 1930’s that debilitated him for the rest of his life (to his death in 1964). Sounds like the great makings of a movie, right? Well….
Kevin Kline plays Cole Porter, and h... has the necessary panache to pull off the role. Ashley Judd also has a nice turn as Linda, Porter’s wife. The problem with the film is the presentation. The film tries for a musical within a musical idea, as an older Porter oversees a musical based on his life. Sometimes the technique works, sometimes it misfires. Modern music stars are also peppered throughout the film (like Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, and Sheryl Crow) singing Porter tunes. Some of these songs do not work very well (Miss Morissette – guilty as charged!). The director, Irwin Winkler, is an old Hollywood vet, so he does show reverence for the material. The result is a charming, if not entirely successful, musical bio-pic.
