Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2005
Exit light…enter night. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster is a documentary about the inner workings of the band. But it’s not a “behind the music” type piece or a concert movie. The filmmakers attempt to gnaw away at the troubling trials of fame, addiction, and friendship. It’s fascinating stuff. Now, I’m not a big fan of Metallica, but I’ve been in creative collective situations. The personal relationships are constantly shifting. You bicker one minute, you love one another the next. In Metallica’s cas..., they even hire a personal therapist (which borders on Spinal Tap territory). But there’s enough music to keep the fans happy. And the filmmakers, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, are veterans of the documentary world (Paradise Lost and Brother’s Keeper are excellent). Metallica: Some Kind of Monster is not an easy musical bio piece. It’s a lesson in the tumultuous tempest we call human relationships.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 13th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 11th, 2005
The story of Troy and the warrior Achilles is the stuff of legends now brought to life by Wolfgang Peterson. With an ensemble cast including Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Peter O’Toole, Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson and Sean Bean there are only two things that can happen, magic or mediocrity. In this case I think we end up somewhere in between. Some scenes like the battle between Achilles and Hector is incredible while the storming of the beach at Troy is almost downright laughable. Overall though the film works I just wish it ...as a little longer to flesh out more of the subplots, because the long run that’s what holds this film back.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2004
Barry Pepper is an actor who seems to have an affinity for playing sports heroes, Roger Maris and now Dale Earnhardt. Pepper also seems to have an affinity to star in movies with numbers in the title, 51, 25th Hour, and now 3 – The Dale Earnhardt Story. ESPN presents an original sports movie about the iconic racing driver who lived and died (literally) on the track.
Being a sports fan, I have a soft place in my heart for sports bio pics. They have a tendency to be clichéd, by nature.... We usually see the rise of the sports hero from humble beginnings to glory. There are hardships along the way, familial tension, and of course “the big game” (or in this case, the “big race”). 3 is no exception to the cliché ridden sports movie. But the story is well told and serves a lasting testament to a sports legend.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 12th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 10th, 2004
Spider-Man 2 is a superior film to the first. While it is rare for sequels to live up to expectations, there are rare moments in film history when the sequel may even surpass the first film’s quality. The Godfather Part II and Bride of Frankenstein are two well known examples. But for Every T2 there are usually 20 Jaws 3-D’s. Doc Ock was the perfect choice as the story’s villain; Alfred Molina was a wonderful selection to bring this fan favorite to life on the big screen. Peter Parker’s life is more multi-dimensional...here. It’s about time a superhero film showed us this kind of impact a hero’s choices make on his life. The f/x are nothing short of a miracle. I was a bit skeptical going into the theatre originally. It would have been too easy for Doc Ock to descend into camp or outright silliness. Of course, there are moments where the glimmer of camp shows its ugly head. I’m not sure what the bank was doing with all of those gold doubloons.
It was good to find Tobey Maguire back in action as Spidey. A fall during the filming of Seabiscuit caused severe enough back trauma that the film’s production was stalled as long as possible. It was so close that Kirsten Dunst’s real-life boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal was cast as an emergency replacement. Dunst is still the weak link in the cast. J.D. Simmons continues to nail J. Jonah Jameson perfectly. Sam Raimi manages to work in cameos from the deceased members of the first film, and let’s not forget another cameo by Raimi’s Evil Dead partner, Bruce Cambell. If you blink you’ll miss the traditional cameo by Spider-Man creator Stan Lee.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 30th, 2004
While the world of Harry Potter was created primarily for a younger adolescent audience, there is no question that the tapestry is epic, and compelling enough to satisfy adults. I believe the true success of these films lies within that idea. It is truly rare when a film arrives that can appeal so completely to both demographic groups.
Prisoner of Azkaban is perhaps the darkest, but I don’t think the most frightening, Potter film. The creature images of the previous entry were considerably more graphic an... disturbing to the younger children. I’m going to take some heat for this, but I am so happy there was a very limited scene of the famous quidditch games. They are very popular it seems, but I find them a dreadful bore. The children are beginning to mature both as characters and actors. While Daniel Radcliffe has improved quite noticeably from the first film, I must admit that it is the performance of Emma Watson that showed the greatest maturity and potential. Richard Harris was most certainly missed, but I think that Michael Gambon conjured up a nice, while more limited, performance of the wise old Dumbledore. As with all of the Harry Potter films this one begins with Harry’s tedious life in the normal world. I’m sure that each time viewers of all ages are eager to see Harry return to his element and friends.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 18th, 2004
One Christmas Eve, an infant crawls into Santa’s sack while the big man is visiting an orphanage, and isn’t discovered until Santa (Ed Asner) is back at the North Pole. Adopted by the Papa Elf (Bob Newhart), the baby grows into Buddy (Will Ferrell). Though Buddy does his best, he is enormously clumsy by elf standards. He decided to head off to New York City to meet his birth father (James Caan), the Scrooge-like editor of a children’s book publisher. Buddy descends on the big city with infectious naivete, and has no end of misadventures while he tries to inculcate the Christmas spirit back into his father.
This was a delightful surprise, infinitely better than the uninspiring trailers had led me to believe. Ferrell is the very incarnation of bouncing, wide-eyed, über-innocence, and his collisions with NYC realities are frequently side-splittingly funny. There are numerous extremely quotable lines, and the syrupy sentimentality that plagues most self-consciously Christmas-oriented movies is largely kept to a minimum. The forced perspective in the North Pole scenes is howlingly obvious, but the fanciful production design makes up for that flaw. The case has been made (convincingly, I think), that there have been no legitimate Christmas classics made since1983's A Christmas Story. It is, of course, far too early to tell how Elf will stand the test of time, but its mix of sharp wit and child-like whimsy makes it a serious contender. It is also entirely fitting that Peter Billingsley, the star of A Christmas Story makes a cameo here as the head elf.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 11th, 2004
Synopsis
