Buena Vista

Cypher

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 3rd, 2005

Synopsis

Jeremy Northam plays the rather insecure Morgan Sullivan, who applies for a job as a corporate spy for Digicorp. His first few missions under the identity of James Thursby go well, but he is tormented by headaches and strange nightmares. Then he encounters Lucy Liu, who reveals that his missions are a sham and that Digicorp is brainwashing him to believe that he really IS Thursby, and so will be the perfect double agent to spy on another company.

Then the plot gets complicated. Thi…
Read More

Crow: Wicked Prayer, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 28th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

A small mining town is torn apart by strife between the workers at the toxic mine that is about to be closed down, and the Native Americans on whose land the mind is, and who are about to erect a casino over the closed facility (but won’t that make a for a dangerous contaminated entertainment complex?). Stirring up trouble is Satanist David Boreanaz and his cohorts (which include Tara Reid, whom we first see as a sniper, so you know the audience is in deep, deep trouble here). As part of a r…
Read More

Mickey Mouse Club – The Best of Britney, Justin & Christina

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 20th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Before they became the musical powerhouses that adolescents have grown to love and adore as part of the entertainment landscape, it’s common knowledge that Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera all appeared on Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Club” show in the early ‘90s. But what you may not have known is just how many other semi-recognizable names appeared in the show during its run. Not only was another boy band musician on the show (JC Chasez), but you also had quality acting talents i…
Read More

Spider Man: The Venom Saga

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 4th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

The thing that surprised me about this animated version of Spider-Man was not that it ran for over 60 episodes during afternoons in the early ‘90s, but that there was a decent level of voice talent on the show. Ed Asner (Elf) is the voice of J. Jonah Jameson, Roscoe Lee Browne (King) does Kingpin, and the voice of the Venom character is done by Hank Azaria (The Simpsons). And they put together a fairly decent storyline also.

The saga involves the story of Venom, a cha…
Read More

Gone in 60 Seconds

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 27th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Gone in 60 Seconds is a guilty pleasure – its vacuous and superficial, full of typical Hollywood produced “guy-movie” cues. Cars, guns, explosions, anti-heros, and Angelina Jolie abound, as well as comically evil villains, comically thin plot devices, and comically honourable car thieves. All that being said, though, the movie is great for what it is – a typical Bruckheimer celebration of over-the-top action. Its fun to get lost in the action, and director Dominic Sena imparts a great sense of …
Read More

Beaches

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 22nd, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Two girls meet on the beech, and a lifelong friendship is formed. Hilary is the shy rich girl (horse riding and the whole thing, don’t you know) and she grows up to be Barbara Hershey. CC is the working class extrovert, and becomes Bette Midler. As adults, they become roommates, and we follow the entire arc of their friendship through their lives, with conflicting romances, plenty of ups and downs, and then, in the last act, the inevitable Hollywood Fatal Illness.

My sarcastic capi…
Read More

Prophecy – Uprising, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 20th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

In a perpetually gray, rainy, decrepit Bucharest, a series of strange murders is taking place. Brutal street-cop in search of redemption Sean Pertwee is paired up with enigmatic Interpol agent John Light. Light is not, of course, what he seems. Angels and demons are at war, as ever, and the demarkation lines of the battle are very blurry. Are there any good guys at all? Hard to sasy, but Kari Wuhrer had better hope so, as she is being used and stalked, respectively, by the different sides, a…
Read More

Hellraiser: Deader

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 17th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Direct-to-Video queen Kari Wuhrer headlines as hard-edged reporter willing to risk life and limb for a story. Her editor sends her to Bucharest (your first hint of the pic’s minimal budget) to investigate a strange cult of people who call themselves “Deaders.” The members of this group appear to have died and been resurrected by the charismatic leader. Wuhrer descends into the underground, and reality goes all rubbery after she finds and opens a Lament Configuration, summoning Pinhead into h…
Read More

Get a Clue

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 9th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Lindsay Lohan plays sassy Nancy Drew wanna be Lexy Gold. When one of her teachers goes missing (played by Ian Gomez), Lexy enlists her “hip” friends to help her crack the case. Another vehicle for Lohan. It’s a little boring, and the mystery plays out on the level of a Saved By the Bell episode. The point of the movie is to point out they sassiness of Lohan. She’s sooo hip. Like…totally.

Audio

The mix is in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Not much originality in the mix. Some …
Read More

Parent Trap, The (1998)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 6th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

The Parent Trap is a remake of the Hayley Mills classic. It stars none other than Lindsday Lohan. She’s actually pretty good here. In a pre-sex appeal role, Lohan plays two twins who have never met, but then do. They concoct a plan to switch identies on their respective divorced parents. Lohan pulls off both twin personalities quite well. The movie also stars the always reliable Dennis Quaid and the extremely talented Natasha Richardson. It might be fun for kids, and Lohan fans, but this is NOT a case of…
Read More

Last Shot, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 8th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Based on real events, The Last Shot is a Hollywood comedy about an FBI sting operation. The joke (and the real life event) is that the sting is a Hollywood production. Get it? The sting operation will employ mob level types, who are toughing there way into the movie industry. Will the FBI catch the bad guys? Will this fictional movie get made? Rent it and find out.

Alec Baldwin and Matthew Broderick are the two stars of the film. Baldwin plays Joe Devine, the FBI agent running the opera…
Read More

Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 4th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Wes Anderson has been a breath of fresh air since he hit the Hollywood scene in 1996 with his first feature length film Bottle Rocket. Since then, Anderson has continued to stretch the imagination of film-goers with fabulous films such Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and now with The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). Anderson’s films are not for every joe-schmo film fan; his work could even be described as an acquired taste. But from a creative and visual perspective,…
Read More

In The Weeds

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 29th, 2005

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/public_html/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Welcome to an eventful night in a posh New York restaurant. The joint is ruled over by thetyrannical Eric Bogosian, and the staff is the expected group of would-be actor (self-obsessed),writer (morose), cynical old hand (Molly Ringwald), newbie, effeminate manager, and so on.Also familiar are the tensions, loves, hatreds and other crises that afflict our characters. Whilenone of this is particularly groundbreaking, it is nonetheless delivered with both conviction andan agre…
Read More

Sweet Valley High — The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 2nd, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Here you go, 22 episodes of something that feels like a sitcom version of Beverly Hills90210). At the centre of the stories are twin sisters Elizabeth and Jessica (Cynthia andBrittany Daniel). Both are gorgeous blondes, but one is shallow, image-obsessed and stuck-up,while the other is bookish and kind. And don’t ask me which one is which; I can’t keep themstraight. Neither can anyone else, which leads to all sorts of misadventures (with ValuableLessons Learned). The…
Read More

Kill Bill: Volume 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 12th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

After the Quentin Tarantino ode to kung fu chophouse films in Kill Bill Volume 1, Volume 2 shows us the substance behind the style. You see why a Hattori Hanzo sword is as prestigious as it is, you see how and why Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) lost her right eye, you even find out what the Bride’s (Uma Thurman) name is. But at the end of the day, this movie is about killing Bill, so you see Bill (David Carradine), in all his splendor and glory, and you see the relationship that the Bride and Bill share, both befo…
Read More

Kill Bill: Volume 1

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 12th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Uma Thurman (Gattaca) plays the Bride, whose bloody and battered face we see at the beginning of the movie. She is pregnant, but is shot in the head and left for dead. She actually is comatose, and stays that way for four years, before waking up one night from a mosquito buzzing in her ear. The Bride’s name is inconsequential, as any mention of her name draws a loud beeping sound during the movie, and her rehabilitation is also fairly hard to believe also, as she “focuses” in order to use her legs again. Then …
Read More

Edges of the Lord

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 8th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Edges of the Lord is a movie that wasn’t released theatrically, due to some distributing difficulties. We now have it on DVD. Billed as “in the tradition of Life is Beautiful”, Edges of the Lord is an edgy little coming of age story set against the backdrop of World War II. The plot is simple enough: a 12 year old Jewish boy (Haley Joel Osment) hides with a family of Catholic peasants to escape the Nazi’s. The results are resonant and often powerful.

Everyone’s favorite child actor, Osme…
Read More

Village, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 16th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

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…
Read More

Speakeasy

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2005

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/public_html/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

David Strathairn is a melancholy children’s magician. He is stuck looking after his irritablewife’s deaf father, because she wants nothing to do with him. His day is complete after a fender-bender with pawn shop owner Nicky Katt. And, as it happens all the time in real life, the twodrivers soon become fast friends. One of their bonds is that Katt’s daughter is also deaf. Whata coincidence! The performances are all agreeably low key, and the dialogue and editing havesome occ…
Read More

3 – The Dale Earnhardt Story

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2004

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/public_html/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

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….
Read More

King Arthur

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 21st, 2004

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/public_html/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

After fifteen years in the service of the Roman army in Britain, Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd) andother knights of the round table look forward to being released and returning to their homelandof Samartia. Their leader, Arthur (Clive Owen), pines for Rome. But one last rescue missionturns into a nightmare, and then the Saxons invade. Gradually, our heroes discover that they lovetheir adopted country, and Arthur has his illusions about Rome destroyed one by one.

The look …
Read More

Boy Meets World – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 29th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

What’s the dealio with Boy Meets World,? It was a television series that ran from 1993-2000. And the reruns seem to be on TV all the time! But maybe that’s just me. Now we have the second season on DVD. So for all you Boy Meets World fans, your wish has come true.

It stars Ben Savage (Fred Savage’s brother) as Cory Matthews. The show centers on life in the “real world” and the struggles of growing up in a high school setting. It’s a pretty sanitized journey, as the show doesn’t delve in…
Read More

Raising Helen

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 27th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Kate Hudson is the golden girl at a modelling agency, scouting out talent and being very much the apple of ruthless boss Helen Mirren’s eye. She enjoys her cosmopolitan Manhattan lifestyle to the fullest, and then everything goes to smash. Her elder sister is killed in a car accident, leaving the care of her young’uns not to middle sister Joan Cusack (humourless and annoying) but to Hudson, who is promptly fired by Mirren and forced to move to Queens and work at a car dealership. Fortunately…
Read More

Ed Wood

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 19th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

This is the story of Edward D. Wood, Jr., who gave the world such classics as Glen orGlenda? and Plan 9 From Outer Space. Tim Burton’s film follows Wood (JohnnyDepp) from his dismal theatre days through to the premiere of Plan 9, along the wayexploring his friendship with various misfits, including Bela Lugosi (an Oscar-winning turn byMartin Landau), not to mention Wood’s own cross-dressing proclivities.

Purists can complain about the factual in…
Read More

Track Down

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 30th, 2004

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/public_html/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Kevin Mitnick (Skeet Ulrich) is cyberoutlaw supreme, breaking into computer networksright, left and centre. The police are trying to catch him, but our hopelessly outclassed. Mitnickencounters an opponent more worthy of his talents when he hacks into the files of securityconsultant Tsutomu Shimomura (Russell Wong). The latter uses his own formidable computerskills to track Mitnick, but meanwhile Mitnick is busy trying to crack the encryption on one ofShimomura’s files, a pr…
Read More

«< 2 3 4 5 6 >