Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 11th, 2003
This film is based on a Greek comedy, but I feel like I just watched a Greek tragedy. A Miami Tail is based on the Greek play “Lysistrata”, which tells the story of how a group of women ended war by abstaining from sex with their husbands. It’s not an entirely bad idea for a film, but unfortunately the plot has fallen victim to bad acting and a horrid script, and is helmed by a director with no vision.
I’m not kidding, the acting really is bad. Appalling, in fact. Rapper Trina stars in her first (and...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 10th, 2003
No movie can be all bad.
This is a motto that I have lived by for many years. I believe that nothing can be completely bad… that some good can be found in everything. As bad as Spice World was, it had some great moments. Its sarcastic look at the music business was often clever, even if its stars weren’t. Tomcats was a horrible film with major continuity issues. Having said that, it did have some genuine laugh-out-loud moments.
My belief system has been shaken to the core, howev...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 5th, 2003
TBS Superstation presents…
When it comes to DVD, these are frightening words. They conjure up images of bad acting, bad sets, and terrible scripts. Unfortunately, all of this proves true in the “action” film “Counterstrike”, staring Rob Estes (Silk Stalkings) and Joe Lando (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman). The plot is tired and familiar; two bothers are the only ones that can stop terrorists from holding the President of the United States hostage, and stealing China’s nuclear codes. Ho-Hum.< ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 1st, 2003
I can sum up my feelings about the documentary “Stevie” with one word; “uneven”. Some portions of the film are surprising, touching and moving. Other portions, however, leave the viewer feeling a little sick, wondering how anyone could feel sorry for a person as desperately evil as Stevie.
In the end, all of the various problems with this film rest solely on the shoulders of its director. By bringing cameras into Stevie’s world, he has colored it, and made it something different than what it would otherwise...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 23rd, 2003
Synopsis
Michael Idemoto plays Michael, an introspective bookworm and mechanic. His tenant isEugenia Yuan, who has a boyfriend, but spends most of her evenings with Michael. Theirrelationship is platonic, but Michael clearly has strong feelings for her. Then he meets Darcy(Jacqueline Kim), a distant but alluring young woman. In fact, Darcy is Yuan's sister Charlotte.Our protagonist is a man of few words, and the same can be said of the movie. The mostimportant elements are the thing...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 15th, 2003
Synopsis
Hundreds of years ago, alchemist Fulcanelli created the Cronos device, a contraption thatlooks like a silver Faberge egg. This device conveys eternal life, but at a price, as a kindlyantiquarian (Federico Luppi, who also starred in The Devil’s Backbone) discovers. Hebecomes younger, but also monstrous, and develops a thirst for blood. He must also battleRon Perlman, thuggish henchman of a dying millionaire who also wants the device. Then there’sthe bond Luppi has wit...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 12th, 2003
Synopsis
A movie star has disappeared, and a police inspector arrives in the small town where he wasstaying to investigate. He is informed that there is something very strange about the house wherethe star was living, and we then see the stories of what happened to the various tenants. In thefirst story, writer Denholm Elliott fears that a strangler in the novel he is working on has come tolife. Next, Peter Cushing visits a wax museum and sees a statue of Salome that bears an uncanny...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 11th, 2003
Synopsis
Liam (Martin Compston) is about to turn 16. His mother is in prison, taking the fall for hisbrutal drug-dealing father. (And his grandfather is just as bad.) Thrown out his home fordeliberately messing up a drug exchange which would have spoiled his mother’s chances forrelease, Liam sets about creating not just a new life for himself, but trying to provide for hismother when she gets out. His quest won’t be easy, to put it mildly. Strong, naturalisticperformances, and an un...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2003
A double crossed drug deal goes bad and two half brothers 20/20 Mike (Laurence Fishburne) and Torch (Titus Welliver) retreat to an abandoned New York warehouse. When Mike calls his friend Tony the Tiger to help them out, tension erupts and not everything is as it seems in this story of loyalty and love. This is a well written, well shot and very well acted film, Titus Welliver is riveting as the dope fiend half brother. Written and Directed by Laurence Fishbourne this film is raw and gripping.
Video
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 25th, 2003
Synopsis
Guy Pearce leads a gang of three bank-robber brothers. They’re very good at what they do,and they take great pride in the fact that no one has ever been hurt during one of their jobs.Released from prison, they stage another heist in partnership with their lawyer and some crookedcops. What they don’t know is that their lawyer is sleeping with Pearce’s wife (the incendiaryRachel Griffiths), and he has them sent back to prison, only to spring them once again for aneven bigger ...
