Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 3rd, 2003
Synopsis
Chihiro is a ten-year-old girl moving to a new home. On the way there, her father takes awrong turn, and they find themselves in an abandoned amusement park. I really don’t want tosay too much, as this is a film whose wonders should be discovered without too muchforeknowledge. Suffice to say that Chihiro soon finds herself in a magical world of spirits,striving to free herself, her parents, and a new friend. Spirited Away is a stunning film, worthyof comparison to Alice in Wonderla...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 10th, 2003
Red Dragon is not only the prequel to The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, but it is also a remake of a film called Manhunter. The story fits nicely into the Hannibal Lector trilogy, and the story holds true to Manhunter.
Synopsis
After a brush with death and Hannibal Lecter, FBI agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) is called back into service to capture an elusive new killer “The Tooth Fairy”. Forced to face his fears and Doctor Lecter once again Will starts to get pulled into the ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 4th, 2003
Synopsis
On their way to a kid’s concert, the Veggies’ bus runs off the road, and they go for help ina seafood restaurant. At this restaurant are the “pirates who do nothing,” who teach one of theyoungsters a lesson in compassion through their tale of their adventures with Jonah. Nicelyanimated, Jonah for the most part avoids the ham-fisted didacticism that plagues many similarefforts.
Audio
A very strong, powerful mix. The music is a particular standout. Th...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 10th, 2003
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is considered a failure not because it was a bad film, but because it just didn’t feel at all like Star Trek. Star Trek IV is perhaps the most Star Trek of all the films. A mixture of saving planet Earth with a social message, humor, and a strong character chemistry has always been Roddenberry’s dream at its very best. There’s no question that of all the Trek films this is the most enjoyable even if you’re not really a fan.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 7th, 2003
Synopsis
Tom Tryon, better known today as a novelist (he is the author of, among other works, TheOther, a classic of modern horror), plays the title character. From humble curate in the poorestparish of Massachusetts, he rises, over twenty years, to become a cardinal. Along the way, sincethis is a three hour film, he encounters One Damn Thing After Another, from his sister’s desireto marry outside the faith, to abortion, racism, temptations of the flesh, the Nazis, and so on. Thewho...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2003
Why X-Men 1.5? This 2-Disc special edition re-release is set to coincide with the theatrical release of X2, the X-Men sequel. The 1.5 release is set up to be sort of a Director’s Cut of the original X-Men film. This new version has allowed for the film to be viewed with a number of deleted scenes to be branched into the film (not seamlessly... you have to hit enter on your remote to view the scenes). I am sure you know the premise, but here is a recap:
"Marvel's classic comic book comes to li...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 23rd, 2002
Synopsis
Petty crook Nicholson is transferred from prison to a mental institution. Is he crazy? Hecertainly seems to be to go up against head nurse Louise Fletcher, the well-meaning tyrant of theplace. In the course of his war, he ignites the spirits of the other inmates.
Audio
The sound has been remastered into 5.1. Though the sound quality is nice (barring somedistortion due to original recording), I’m not sure the surround mix was necessary. The musicand ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 22nd, 2002
Synopsis
Likely the best version of the tale of a beautiful young woman and the beast who loves hersince Jean Cocteau’s 1945 film, this one has all the strengths of Disney’s best features: top-notchanimation, lively songs, humorous characters but some solidly gothic scares as well.
Audio
Fabulous on all counts. The reproduction is flawless and distortion free. The effects arestrong in both rear speaker presence and left-right separation. The music dominates, h...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 1st, 2002
Men in Black was a landmark film that almost came out of nowhere. Tom Baker’s standard setting makeup effects combined with the Lethal Weapon-like chemistry between Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones made it one of the best simple entertainment films in recent memory. The problem with a sequel is you aren’t going to sneak up on an innocent audience. Expectations are high and this film does not meet those high expectations. With that said, however, it really is an entertaining film. All the great elements from the original film are here: Frank the Pug is much more involved, Tony Shalhoub’s Jeebs is still loosing his head over the MIB, and The Practice’s Lara Flynn Boyle is a far more attractive bad guy … eh girl ... eh something.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 30th, 2002
In an interview with producer Harve Bennett he tells us that Star Trek II was so successful that he was given the green light for Star Trek III three days after its predecessor’s release. The Search For Spock is not the best of the franchise, but it is certainly the most underrated. Trek lore states that even numbered films are great and odd numbered films bite. This is certainly an exception. Christopher Lloyd is surprising as the main villain, the Klingon Kruge. Shatner actually provides one of his best scenes with Mark Lenard as Spock’s father.
