MGM

Charlie Chan Chanthology, The

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

Synopsis

Though the character first appeared on film in 1926, the Charlie Chan films proper ran from1931 to 1949. Warner Oland’s interpretation of the character is the most beloved, though SidneyToller (who took over after Oland died in 1938) was still part of the series’ peak (1936-9). In1944, beginning with Charlie Chan in the Secret Service, the series moved from 20thCentury Fox to Monogram, one of the Poverty Row studios, and the decline began, though thecheapest of the f…
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Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 6th, 2004

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Synopsis

Cody Banks (Frankie Muniz) is training at a CIA summer camp. A midnight drill that resultsin the flight of the camp leader turns out not to have been a drill at all. It turns out that the man isa villain (so why did the CIA let him run the camp at all?) and he has absconded with a mind-control device. Muniz is sent to England to track him down, where he hooks up with fellow teenspy Hannah Spearritt and adult-yet-childlike handler Anthony Anderson.

The idea of a CIA …
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Kotch

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 6th, 2004

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Synopsis

Walter Matthau is Joseph P. Kotcher, a doting grandfather who is rapidly wearing out hiswelcome at the home of his son and daughter-in-law. Increasingly unwanted, Matthau finallyrebels when life in a retirement home looms. He winds up hitting the road with a pregnantteenager, and once again he is needed.

Jack Lemmon made his directorial debut with this piece that simultaneous goes all-out andtakes the easy way in its determined effort to be heartwarming. Matthau, ra…
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Manchurian Candidate, The

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

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Synopsis

During the Korean war, a platoon led by Laurence Harvey and Frank Sinatra is captured andsent off to Manchuria. Here the men are brainwashed into believing that Harvey saved them allin an incredible feat of heroism (which he did not) and that he’s a loveable guy (which he isn’t).The unfortunate Harvey is programmed to become a remote-control assassin. Back in the States,Sinatra is plagued by nightmare memories of the experience, and gradually comes to believe thatsomething …
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Raggedy Rawney, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 11th, 2004

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Synopsis

In an unnamed Eurpean country, during an unnamed war (vaguely WWII, but not quite), acompletely green recruit (Dexter Fletcher) is so horrified by his first encounter with combat thathe flees his unit after wounding his commanding officer. He runs across a gypsy caravan, and,disguised as a madwoman (the “rawney” of the title) he joins the band. As if things weren’talready difficult with being pursued by his unit, he also falls in love with the daughter of BobHoskins, the ca…
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Moulin Rouge (1952)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 11th, 2004

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Synopsis

Jose Ferrer plays artist Heri de Toulouse-Lautrec. We first see him in full sardonic flight,sketching the denizens of the Moulin Rouge cabaret. He then meets a woman of the streets (whoemphatically does not have a heart of gold) with whom he falls in love, believing she seesbeyond his deformities. She doesn’t. The first half of the film traces this unhappy episode(spending a bit too long in getting to the obvious conclusion), and then we move on to hissuccess as a painter, …
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Wild Party

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 11th, 2004

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Synopsis

Loosely inspired by the Fatty Arbuckle case, The Wild Party tells the tale of JollyGrimm (James Coco), fading silent movie funnyman. It is 1929, and he is making one last bid fora comeback by premiering his new film at a lavish party that he hosts with his mistress (RaquelWelch). His career is over, though he refuses to admit it. At the party, frustrations, jealousies andsexual shenanigans build to a murderous climax.

I never thought I’d see a film that someh…
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Belly of an Architect, The

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

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Synopsis

Brian Dennehy, in perhaps his most colossal performance, plays Stourley Kracklite (how’sthat for a monicker?). This American architect, accompanied by much-younger wife (ChloeWebb), arrives in Rome to curate an elaborate exhibit celebrating an 18th-Century architect withwhom he has been obsessed most of his life. What should be the pinnacle of his career turns intoa nightmare. He suspects his wife is not only having an affair, but that she is poisoning him.

Dennehy’…
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Prick Up Your Ears

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 4th, 2004

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Synopsis

Joe Orton was at least as controversial (if not more) for who he was than for the plays hewrote. Stephen Frears’ film (say its title aloud and fast and you’ll hear the rude pun) begins withthe murder of Orton (Gary Oldman) at the hands of his lover Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina).Then, as biographer Wallace Shawn sets about reconstructing Orton’s life, the tales of friendsand relations (particularly agent Vanessa Redgrave) lead us into extended flashbacks, showingthe move…
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Great Escape, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 27th, 2004

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All too often, films with an ensemble cast are a dream for the studio’s marketing department, but end up being a nightmare for the moviegoer. They are the very definition of the phrase, “too many Chiefs and not enough Indians”. There are exceptions to this rule (such as Steven Soderberg’s re-make of Ocean’s 11), but more often than not, such films fall flat, as everybody leads in their own direction, and nobody follows.

Thankfully, this is one of those rare exceptions. Each member of the cast of T…
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Stay Hungry

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

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Synopsis

Jeff Bridges plays the black sheep of an aristocratic Southern family. Shiftless and callow,he is involved in a shady real-estate deal headed up by Joe Spinell (ex of The Godfather,later to gain notoriety as the title character in Maniac). In order to complete the deal,Bridges has to buy out a fitness club, populated by such characters as gym instructor Sally Field,would-be Mr. Universe Arnold Schwarzenegger (now there’s casting against type) and hishappy-go-l…
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Bubba Ho-Tep

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 14th, 2004

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Synopsis

Welcome to Mud Creek, Texas. In a depressing nursing home, senior citizen Elvis (BruceCampbell) is sleeping away what remains of his life. Some led gets put back into his pencil,however, when he and “JFK” (Ossie Davis, who else?) realize that an ancient mummy is killingoff the residents of the home. Barely able to walk, they nonetheless decide to fight thesupernatural evil.

As you might guess from the above description, and especially from the casting, this is prett…
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Pink Panther Cartoon Collection, The: Jet Pink

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 13th, 2004

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Synopsis

Eight Pink Panther cartoons from the late 60s are offered here. See the cool cat deal with apersistent cuckoo clock, get caught in a jet fighter, drive a house painter mad, etc. Laid backcartoon fun, hardly in the same league as, say, the Looney Tunes, but appealing all the same. Thefrequently minimalist backgrounds add some visual interest to the efforts.

Audio

The sound is mono, and gets the job done. Given that the sound consists entirely of music…
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For Queen and Country

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 28th, 2004

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Synopsis

Denzel Washington dons a reasonably credible English accent as Reuben James, who lefthis urban blight of a home to join the military. Six years after the Falklands, he returns home,and finds things in a greater shambles than before, with drugs, theft, and corrupt, racist policeeverywhere. Alienated on all sides, Reuben is pushed closer and closer to the edge. An explosionof violence is inevitable.

It must be said, however, that the violence feels as if its being hel…
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Good, The Bad and The Ugly, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 20th, 2004

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Synopsis

Three men are after a fortune in gold, and they will stop at nothing to get it. Boiled down toits essentials, that is the plot of TGTBTU. Granted, there are all sorts of betrayals anddouble-crosses along the way, but they don’t change the fact that the story is essentially a verysimple one, and you might wonder how the film takes up three hours. It certainly doesn’t throughcharacter development. In fact, there is very little that sets the characters apart (which is par…
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Too Late the Hero

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 20th, 2004

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Synopsis

Cliff Robertson is a US Lieutenant who had planned to make it through WWII as a radiooperator and translator, and see no action. He is less than pleased when Henry Fonda dispatcheshim to the New Hebrides to accompany a rag-tag squad of disaffected British soldiers (and noneare more disaffected than Michael Caine) on what may very well be a suicide mission. Leadingthe squad is Denholm Elliott, a brave but incompetent officer, and bit by bit, the mission goeswrong. Eventually…
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Junior Bonner

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

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Synopsis

Steve McQueen is JR Bonner, rodeo rider who has left his prime behind. Thrown by a bullas the film begins, he returns to his home town for a rematch with the same animal. Hisfamily is a bit of a mess: brother Curly (Joe Don Baker) is a greedy businessman takingadvantage of his parents; father Ace (Robert Preston) is a drinker and a dreamer; and mother IdaLupino stands strong through it all, stoically dealing with the stupidities of the men in herlife.

If one were…
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Walk Like a Man

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 8th, 2004

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The 80’s were full of fun, campy comedies. Weird Science, The Money Pit… even Funny Farm had a certain charm. Unfortunately, for every Stripes there were as least six films like our feature presentation.

Walk Like a Man stars Howie Mandell, the 80’s version of Carrot Top. He’s an annoying hack, yet somehow he remained in the public spotlight. The film’s plot is a simple one; Bobo (Mandell) is a boy that was raised by wolves, and now he must learn to fit into society, or el…
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Pink Panther Collection, The

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

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Synopsis

Though not Blake Edwards’ best films, these are the movies with which he is most stronglyidentified, and the role of Inspector Clouseau was a career-defining move for Peter Sellers. Attheir best, the movies are fine exemplars of inspired slapstick.

The Pink Panther started it all off, and no one knew what a phenomenon Clouseauwas going to turn out to be. Edwards and Sellers (the trivia track informs us) rewrote the partlate in the game to turn the character i…
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Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 16th, 2004

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Synopsis

King Arthur (Trevor Howard) is disgusted with the decadent state of his court. During abanquet, as the once great knights are berated by their king, a mysterious Green Knight (SeanConnery) storms in. He challenges anyone to chop of his head, as long as he gets the secondblow. No one takes up the gauntlet but Gawain (Miles O’Keeffe), a young squire. Knighted forhis bravery, Gawain decapitates the Green Knight, who then promptly screws his own head backon. He doesn’t kill Gaw…
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Playboys, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 12th, 2004

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Synopsis

Robin Wright is Tara. Not only is she the most beautiful woman in her small village, she isalso a single mother, which means some tough sledding in the Ireland of 1957. She is turned onand persecuted by the community, even as the men lust after her. Constable Albert Finney isparticularly obsessed with winning her, and he doesn’t take it well at all when she falls for AidanQuinn, who arrives with an itinerant band of actors.

There are plenty of serious topics being d…
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On Edge

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 11th, 2004

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Synopsis

Mimicking the format of Spellbound, On Edge introduces us to a group offigure skating hopefuls. The principles are Veda, an ice queen driven by her imperious bitch-on-wheels mother; Wendy, overweight but very talented and desperate for attention; and J.C., thecynical, self-taught trailer trash. These three triumph in the local competition, and move on tothe regionals, shooting for the coveted Golden Horn.

The figure skating scene is so ripe for parody,…
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Take This Job and Shove It

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 6th, 2004

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Synopsis

Robert Hays is a rising corporate star at a major brewery. The company, headed by EddieAlbert, has just taken over some smaller competitors. Hays is sent to streamline one of them,which happens to be in his home town. The city mouse hooks up once again with all his oldcountry mouse friends, and sho’ nuff begins to transform, losing the will to be the corporate hitman he was sent to be.

Did anybody ever find this type of comedy funny? Somebody must have. Now it looks…
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Hamilton Mattress

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 6th, 2004

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Synopsis

Sludgers is an aardvark who dreams of being attractive, and of wearing some truly finetrousers. Sludgers also has a terrific sense of rhythm and percussion. Discovered by a caterpillartalent agent, Sludgers is taken to the big city, renamed “Hamilton Mattress,” and is hired to playthe drums behind the scenes while a handsome but untalented bird mimes the gestures. WhenSludgers gets carried away with his drums and almost literally brings the house down, will hislooks stand i…
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Stargate SG-1 – The Complete Sixth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 5th, 2004

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Stargate SG-1 suffered a little in its switch to the Sci-Fi Channel. The loss of Michael Shanks was very deeply felt. Jonas wasn’t really a bad character, but it took me a while to get used to him. The guest appearances of Daniel Jackson helped a bit with a couple of pretty good episodes. I felt there might have been too many Earthbound episodes in an obvious effort to curtail the budget. Through most of this season, Anderson had been talking about spending more time back in L.A. with his family. (The show is shot in…
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