HBO

Curb Your Enthusiasm – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 8th, 2004

Synopsis

Larry David (playing himself) has never met a good situation that he couldn’t turn into adisaster. Though his friends and relations have his best interests at heart, the creator ofSeinfeld he sabotages them at every turn, and manages to alienate just about everyone heencounters.

The series is not unlike a cross between The Larry Sanders Show (with its causticityand plethora of actors and other Hollywood players appearing as themselves) and the mundane-…
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Prime Suspect 6

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 26th, 2004

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Synopsis

Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) is now a Detective Superintendent, with 24 murder casesunder her supervision. The most recent one is that of a young Bosnian woman. Tennisonbecomes directly involved with the investigation, which reveals the presence of a protectedBosnian war criminal in London. Tennison’s obsession with the truth, as well as some mistakesof her own, threaten to derail her career, destroying her life’s work.

As with the other entries in this series, the …
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Elephant

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

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Synopsis

The film spirals around and around the last half-hour or so at a high school before twoheavily armed students arrive to slaughter their classmates. Again and again, we go over the sametime segment, but Gus Van Sant’s constantly moving camera takes a different POV each time,and interactions that were fleeting background at one moment become central on the next goaround. Anyone who has survived high school (one of society’s most successful attempts tocreate Hell on Earth) wil…
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Cracker – Series Three

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 10th, 2004

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Synopsis

More grim and smart crime tales from England. Robbie Coltrane’s “Fitz” — criminalpsychologist Dr. Fitzgerald — is up against not just criminals, but also himself (gambling,drinking, rocky marriage and family) and the world in general. “Brotherly Love” sees himspecifically fighting with his brother Danny and the Catholic Church (all to do with the death ofhis mother). In “Best Boys,” Fitz has become a father again, and things aren’t exactly rosy.Danny becomes perhaps a bit…
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Prime Suspect 5

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 10th, 2004

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Synopsis

After the multi-story Prime Suspect 4, the series returns to the single case format.“Errors of Judgement” sees Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) finds herself banished from Londonand shipped off to Manchester. This series was clearly not authorized by the Manchester TouristBoard, as the city comes across a bit like a crime-ridden Soviet Gulag, only more depressing.Tennison is up against a whole new hostile crowd on the force here, and her career is goingnowhere fast until…
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Prime Suspect 4

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 10th, 2004

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Synopsis

Once again, we return to the dark world of Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren). Though she is nowa Detective Superintendent, don’t think that promotion means life is any easier. Her personal lifeis just as much of a mess as before, and she is still contending with the old boys’ network on theforce. The cases themselves are pretty nasty stuff too. “The Lost Child” is a strong case in point.Here a young mother is found on her kitchen floor, bleeding from a head wound. Her baby girli…
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Undefeated

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 2nd, 2004

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Let’s face it… when it comes to boxing movies, there’s Raging Bull, and then there’s everything else. Rocky (and the subsequent cash driven vehicles) is a great film, but not really a great film about boxing. Even Daniel Day-Lewis’ The Boxer is more about the man than the sport. It’s hard to make a great boxing film. Not only is it extremely difficult to capture the action authentically, but very few actors have the physical ability to pull off such a role.

Well, I don’t know how easily…
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Prime Suspect 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 26th, 2004

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Synopsis

Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) is on the job again with anotherpolitically charged case. In this instance, a skeleton is dug up that might be that of a young blackwoman. Her disappearance six years ago was badly handled by the police, to the point thatcharges might be laid. The investigation is not only explosive racially, but the way it plays outcould help or destroy careers, Tennison’s among others.

As ever, the Prime Suspect series delves r…
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Prime Suspect 3

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 26th, 2004

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Synopsis

DCI Tennison can’t ever get a nice, straightforward case that won’t destroy anyone who goesnear it. This time the murder of a young boy is just the first link in a chain that leads to explosiverevelations of child prostitution and police connections. Tennison’s life is made even morecomplicated by the fact that she has to knock heads again with her old enemy St. Bill Otley.

One could be forgiven for detecting a pattern, or even a formula, emerging in this series.Eac…
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Cracker – Series Two

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 22nd, 2004

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Synopsis

Here are three more cases involving the gambling-addicted, cantankerous, infuriating yet stilloddly likeable criminal psychologist Fitz (Robbie Coltrane). “To Be a Somebody” has him upagainst a dangerous skinhead (Robert Carlyle). In “The Big Crunch,” the menace is a dangerousreligious cult. And “Men Should Weep” has a serial rapist who graduates to murder, indirectlybecause of Coltrane.

Of course, the actual murder investigations are only part of the story here, an…
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Consequence

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 17th, 2004

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Ah….Armand Assante…what happened to your career. You were so brilliant in Sidney Lumet’s Q & A (rent it, people). I guess things happen. You have bills to pay. A family to raise.

Consequence is a made for cable HBO film. The opening voice-over, in classic film noir tradition, sets the table for a lurid crime melodrama. Unfortunately, Assante’s awkward southern accent makes the voice over, like the film itself, a bit off putting. The story involves a dentist (Armand Assante) who decides…
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Photographer, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 31st, 2003

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Synopsis

Max (Reg Rogers) is a photographer. After a stunning debut, he finds himself, a year later,suffering the photographer’s equivalent of writer’s block. He’s lost his inspiration, and can nolonger take pictures. He must provide ten for the next day, however, or his career tankspermanently. Hitting a bar, he encounters a strange man who leaves behind a package of fabulouspictures. They could be Max’s salvation. Max is unsure whether or not to claim them as his own,but wh…
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Sex and the City: The Complete Fifth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 22nd, 2003

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Synopsis

Our quartet continue to get laid, or not, depending on the ups and downs of decreed by thefates. There is a baby among them now (whose baptism or not is a point of contention), andCarrie gets a book deal. As the appeal of this series remains utterly mystifying to me, I shallrefrain from further comment.

Audio

The audio is in 5.1 and 2.0, but hardly strains the capabilities of either format. The music getnice treatment, but it is virtually the…
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Ellen DeGeneres – Here and Now

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 9th, 2003

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It seems that most people have strong opinions when it comes to Ellen DeGeneres. Of course, when you make yourself the first openly gay character on television, those opinions can be expected. Some feel that she is courageous, bravely stepping into the forefront of the gay rights movement. Others feel that her lifestyle is immoral, and that she should be shamed of her actions. Personally, I feel that it is unfortunate that her status as a gay woman is an issue at all. The desire of any true performer should be for th…
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Glory Boys, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 29th, 2003

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Synopsis

Rod Steiger is an Israeli nuclear scientist on a speaking tour of England. He is targeted forassassination by a group of Palestinian terrorists. While the French police manage to kill twoof the assassins, the third makes it to England, where he hooks up with an IRA fixer (who justhappens to be the spitting image of Conan O’Brien). The British Security Service calls inAnthony Perkins to head up the protection detail around Steiger. What follows is a Day ofthe Jacka…
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Pumping Iron

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 12th, 2003

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Synopsis

Part documentary, and part (as Schwarzenegger points out in the extras) total fabrication,Pumping Iron follows Arnie as he prepares to compete for the Mr. Olympia title onemore time. His principle competitor, as presented here, is future Hulk Lou Ferrigno. All sorts ofmachinations ensue between the various body builders. Most of the character stuff is, it nowappears, pure fiction, but it serves the purpose of making the film more interesting. The freakshow qualities …
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Dennis Miller – The Raw Feed

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 10th, 2003

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Love him or hate him, you have to admire his freakishly sponge-like brain. Dennis Miller has an amazing gift of recall, creating references so obscure that ABC Sports actually offered an on-line translator on the Tuesday mornings following his stint in the booth for Monday Night Football.

His rants are mostly easy to follow during this one-hour stand up performance, however. In fact, he even pokes fun at his own gift for the obscure early in the show, essentially acknowledging that he may have been too hig…
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Sonny

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 4th, 2003

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Synopsis

Nicolas Cage is a fantastic actor. I will be the first to admit that he has had some mistakes (“Face/Off” and “Snake Eyes”, to name a few), but for the most part, his performances are gutsy and honest, with just a hint of cool 60’s Rat Pack style smoldering underneath the surface. My favorite Cage performance came in the fantastic film “Leaving Las Vegas”, where he brought the struggles of a dying alcoholic to life in beautiful and tragic detail.

Unfortunately, “Sonny” is no “Leavi…
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Sopranos – The Complete Fourth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 31st, 2003

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Not since the height of the American Western has there been a film genre where we find ourselves rooting for the bad guys and booing the good guys. Yesterday’s Jesse James and Billy The Kid have become Michael Corleone and Tony Soprano. Add to the mix that The Sopranos have totally revolutionized the face of the television drama. It’s no fluke that this show dominates nearly every Emmy category there is. The cinematography is feature film quality. The cast is high end and the writing is gutsy and tight. Make no mistake about it.
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Cracker – Series One

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 15th, 2003

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Synopsis

Robbie Coltrane plays Fitz, a criminal psychologist as brilliant as he is hard to take: gambler,smoker, drinker, lousy husband and father, he’s no prize. But he is also very good at what hedoes. These three stories feature an amnesiac serial killer, a misfit couple of murderers, and mobviolence. Coltrane is superb in the lead, but is backed up by equally strong performances by thelikes of Christopher Eccleston. With luck, the other episodes will follow shortly. If they do, br…
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Point of Origin

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 21st, 2003

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A serial arsonists is terrorizing the Los Angeles area. Investigating are veteran John Orr (Ray Liotta) and his junior partner Keith Lang (John Leguizamo). Before long, it appears that the arsonist is actually a fireman. The synopsis on the case implies that the film is a mystery: whois the arsonist, Liotta or Leguizamo? In fact, this isn’t really a mystery, since the film is based on a well-publicized case, and when was the last time Liotta didn’t play a weasel? In fact, Liotta becomes the prime suspect quite early on, and we see both his double life and the tightening net.
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Real Women Have Curves

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 26th, 2003

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Synopsis

Ana (America Ferrera) is 18. She has just graduated from high school, and wants to go tocollege. For the summer, though, she is going to have to work in the garment factory with hermother and sister. Her mother (Lupe Ontiveros), meanwhile, is determined to make her fit thetraditional role of a Latino daughter, and Ana rebels. Body image, tradition versus youth, theLatino experience in the US, sweatshops: all these themes are skilfully braided together.

Audio< ...
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Hysterical Blindness

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 21st, 2003

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Synopsis

Uma Thurman plays Debby, a young woman so wound up that she has experiencedpsychosomatic blindness. She and her best friend Beth (Juliette Lewis) hit the bars looking forlove. If ever a character radiated desperation, it’s Debby. As Thurman plays her, she’s toxicallyradioactive, one more disappointment from snapping completely. Both the leads are very good,but this is the kind of role that Lewis has more than mastered in the past, whereas Thurman isone doing the real stretc…
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Path to War

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 5th, 2003

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Synopsis

Elected with the greatest majority of any US president, Lyndon Johnson (Michael Gambon,who will be replacing Richard Harris as Professor Dumbledore) begins his administration withgreat hopes for the positive transformation of American society. But he listens to the wrongpeople about Vietnam (Alec Baldwin instead of Donald Sutherland), and little by little everythinggets swallowed up by the war. Though long, this is one compelling drama, and much of thedialogue is spooky in …
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Gladiator Days: Anatomy of a Prison Murder

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 5th, 2003

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Synopsis

Not for the squeamish, this documentary opens with prison surveillance camera footage ofTroy Krell and Eric Daniels stabbing Lonnie Blackmon to death. After that little bit of snuff TV,the hour-long program gets down to interviews with Krell and authorities about the culturethat produces these events. The topic is certainly worthy of examination, but the cheesy heavymetal score and tabloid-TV stylistic flourishes (black-and-white, slow motion, etc.) Could havebeen dispensed…
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