Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 15th, 2007
Synopsis
I’ve gotta say that when the first Die Hard was released, I was in a position where I hated, absolutely despised Bruce Willis. In my opinion, the world honestly didn’t need another loudmouthed movie star who was from New Jersey and didn’t hesitate to say so, and that whole schtick about him and the Bruno persona would allow him to release music albums reeking of self-promotion and another money grab. And when he hooked up with Demi Moore, my initial reaction was “good, they’ll have mongoloid...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 6th, 2007
It’s no secret that horror films these days severely lack originality and overuse violence and gore instead of actually scaring the audience. Sometimes this works and when coinciding with an actual story can make for a good movie. The Hills Have Eyes remake from 2006 wasn’t half bad because there was a tiny amount of depth in the story, combined with the violence that audiences have come to love. But ultimately for me, it didn’t hit the mark, it was just another typical horror movie. I really don’t think the s...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 25th, 2007
Synopsis
An undersea earthquake leads to the loss of an undersea lab. There is, however, no sign of the wreckage, and so it is presumed that the lab slid deep into a trench. In the faint hope that there might be survivors, the submersible Neptune descends into the depths, where it encounters all sorts of gigantic sealife.
In my review of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, I said it was the most idiotic sub movie out there. I stand by that, but The Neptune Factor keeps the...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 21st, 2007
Synopsis
When Admiral Walter Pidgeon’s glass-nosed submarine (?) Seaview surfaces at the North Pole after an extended stay underwater, Pidgeon and crew discover the sky is on fire. It turns out the Van Allen radiation belt has caught fire (?!) and life on Earth will be incinerated once the temperature reaches 175 Farenheit (and not, apparently, a single degree less). Pidgeon and co-hort Peter Lorre come up with a plan to launch a nuclear missile into the belt and use the explosion to blow out ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 20th, 2007
Synopsis
An overheated Cold War plot sees a scientist, crucial to American interests, felled by a blood clot. The only way of saving his life consists in shrinking a submarine and specialist crew to microscopic size and injecting them into the his body. They must make their way up the circulatory system to the brain and there destroy the clot. But on top of all the hazards they encounter in the body, there is also a saboteur aboard.
Who could this saboteur be? No way it’s heroic Stephen Boy...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 16th, 2007
I’m kicking myself. Martin Scorcese’s The Color of Money has long been a favourite of mine, but for some reason I never knew it was a sequel to The Hustler, a film 25 years older and three times better.
Starring a young Paul Newman (Road to Perdition) in a role that earned him his second Oscar nomination, The Hustler is about a cocky pool player hustling his way to the top. When “Fast Eddie” Felson (Newman) challenges undefeated straight-pool champ Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason,...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 8th, 2007
Having heard exactly zilch about The Last Sin Eater before receiving my review copy, I expected it to be a low-budget horror flick. Boy, was I wrong. This film is based on a bestselling novel by Francine Rivers, a popular writer of Christian-themed fiction. Produced under the 20th Century Fox FoxFaith brand, it’s intended for an Evangelical Christian audience.
The story is set in 1850’s Appalachia, where a group of early Irish settlers have made their home. When the grandmother of 10-year-old ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 4th, 2007
With the release of Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer just around the corner, it’s no surprise to see the studio rolling out a double-dip of the first film. Fantastic 4 – Extended Edition revisits the film with an extra 20 minutes of footage, and a second disc full of special features. But is it a worthy acquisition for your collection?
First, a bit about the film for the uninitiated. This is the Fantastic Four’s origin story, including how they came to have their super powers, and who Dr...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 30th, 2007
Synopsis
Gary Cooper plays the title character, sent by his father on a perilous journey to the Far East to open up trade relations with China. Once in the court of Kublai Khan, he becomes involved in the palace intrigue, falling in love with the emperor’s daughter, and running afoul of evil councillor Basil Rathbone.
Cooper is hardly Italian, but in a film that offers us the spectacle of Alan Hale having his eyes narrowed by make-up to play a Chinese warlord, and Rathbone in shoe polish to...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 25th, 2007
Synopsis
Gary Cooper and seven colleagues are introverted academics working on a new encyclopedia. When Cooper realizes this his slang entry is hopelessly out of date, he bravely ventures outside the ivory tower to learn what the new lingo actually is. The most fluent slang speaker he encounters is nightclub performer Barbara Stanwyck. When her gangster boyfriend (Dana Andrews) is wanted for murder, she hides from the police by moving in on the professors, ostensibly to help them with their project. ...
