Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 11th, 2005
Synopsis
Sometimes studios will hit big on a film, and other times, they’ll be so far off the mark as to miss the boat completely. Take the case of Frostbite. Summarized, as one cast member puts it, as “part Caddyshack meets part American Pie meets part Dude, Where’s My Car? in the snow.” You know, I remember a movie kinda like that, and I rented it back in 1984, when t was called Hot Dog..The Movie.
To their credit, the producers did try to create a link to the ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 7th, 2005
Scientist Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) wants to study the effects of cosmic rays, but he needs a lot of money to do. After searching for the money practically everywhere, he turns to his old college rival Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon). Naturally we need to have some type of love triangle going on. Enter Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) and the equation is complete.
Victor needs to make money off of this because he doesn’t seem to have enough despite being a billionaire. He agrees to finance the project only if ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 4th, 2005
Synopsis
On its surface, Almost You is potentially interesting. Considering the mid-‘80s production, you have Griffin Dunne, about to appear in Scorsese’s After Hours, but had already appeared in An American Werewolf in London. In this film, he is married to Brooke Adams, a.k.a. Mrs. Tony Shalhoub (Monk), but before that, had appeared in Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven, and had her own experiences in horror, appearing in The Dead Zone. As husband and wife, Dunne’s ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 30th, 2005
Synopsis
After the death of a popular commander, the stern and inflexible Richard Widmark steps in to take charge of a group of a Navy underwater demolition team. His command gets off to a rocky start, as he is seen as heartless and unwilling to take risks himself. But he eventually proves himself to his men (and old hand Dana Andrews), just in time for a particularly dangerous mission.
The disliked new commander is hardly an original concept in war films, and Twelve O’Clock High th...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 28th, 2005
"If you don't take risks, you'll have a wasted soul." - Drew Barrymore. Ever since the second grade when he first saw her in E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Brian Herzlinger has had a crush on Drew Barrymore. Now, 20 years later and much wiser, he has one goal in mind. He hates to get a date, somehow, with Drew Barrymore. There's one small problem: She's Drew Barrymore and he's, well, Brian Herzlinger, a broke 27-year-old aspiring filmmaker from New Jersey. However, this doesn't stop Mr. Herzlinger and his friends from tr...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 26th, 2005
Synopsis
Satisfaction is a transitional project in so many ways. This was one of the first American films of Liam Neeson, who would go on to mildly excite the world as Henry Ducard in Batman Begins. Before Mystic Pizza came out, the world was exposed to Julia Roberts as Daryle.
And what of the main attraction of the film? Well, the film was apparently intended to be a starring vehicle for Justine Bateman, whose previous claim to fame was from Family Ties, playing the do...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 25th, 2005
Synopsis
Dana Andrews is the tough cop who takes too much pleasure in roughing up the bad guys. When he hits a suspect too hard, he accidentally kills him. He covers up his crime and carries on the investigation into the murder the man was suspected of. But as if his life weren’t complicated enough, he starts to fall for his victim’s ex-wife, and then her father looks like he’s going to hang for Andrews’ crime.
This is what film noir is all about. Daylight never seems to intrude in this cit...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 24th, 2005
John and Jane Smith are a seemingly happy couple. They live a pretty normal but almost mundane existence of shared meals, kissed farewells and chats about the color of their curtains. They even go to therapy together, purportedly to iron out their differences. It turns out, however, that they have a lot more in common than they both realize. You see, they both have secret lives—they are both assassins. We're not talking some street-punks you might hire in a bar, or leather coat wearing mafia hit-men, they are the bes...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 24th, 2005
John and Jane Smith are a seemingly happy couple. They live a pretty normal but almost mundane existence of shared meals, kissed farewells and chats about the color of their curtains. They even go to therapy together, purportedly to iron out their differences. It turns out, however, that they have a lot more in common than they both realize. You see, they both have secret lives—they are both assassins. We're not talking some street-punks you might hire in a bar, or leather coat wearing mafia hit-men, they are the bes...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2005
Synopsis
Mark Stevens is a PI recently out of jail after having been framed for manslaughter by his former partner. He is trying to make a new start in a new city, and the good news is that something might be developing with his new secretary, Lucille Ball. The bad news is that he’s being followed, and it turns out his treacherous ex-partner, Kurt Kreuger, is in town and making life hell for him. Or is he? In fact, obsessive gallery owner Clifton Webb is setting Stevens up for another frame.
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