Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 20th, 2005
Stargate SG-1 is about to enter its ninth year. There was speculation that after season 8 the series would bow out gracefully with the anticipated exit of Richard Dean Anderson. With that plan in mind the folks at Stargate Command decided it was time to spin off the franchise, and so was born Atlantis. Stargate Atlantis boasts pretty much the same team as SG-1. The quality of the production and tight storytelling have translated well to this sister series. The only flaw in this plan is that fans don’t want to let go of the original.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 16th, 2005
As usual, National Lampoon comes up with a silly but at times funny movie - if you like silly that is. The two leading goofballs are just off the wall enough to make this movie bearable.
Gold Diggers is about two young losers named Cal (Will Friedle) and Lenny (Chris Owen) who enter a life of crime trying to survive on the streets. Unfortunately, they are terrible at it and end up going in and out of jail a couple of times before things begin to look up for them - they attempt to rob two very old si...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 9th, 2005
Swimming Upstream is one of those "small" sports underdog films. It's a true story about Aussie Tony Fingleton, a swimmer who vies to be National champion. Is he racing against all odds? Well...the odds are in the form of family. Geoffrey Rush plays Fingleton's father, an abusive alcholic. So...not only is Fingleton trying to achieve athletic glory, but also trying to win the heart of his father. This is a paint by numbers sports story. The performances are the saving grace, however. Rush, Jesse Spencer ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 5th, 2005
Synopsis
Without a doubt, Bob Hope was one of (if not) the best comedic actors of his era. During a time after Charlie Chaplin had peaked in silent films, Hope picked up the comedic torch, and during a time where actors consistently appeared in 3-5 films a year, and an early recognizable title was 1940’s Road to Singapore, the first of several Road To films with him and friends Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour.
The Princess and the Pirate, made in 1944, was made during this ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 29th, 2005
Synopsis
Costello is a big-hearted soul who takes in every stray (human or animal) that comes along.He runs afoul of the authorities, who deem him an unsuitable father for the two orphans he hasadopted. Meanwhile, Abbott, the black sheep Costello has taken on, is an inveterate gambler whoowes the mob a huge sum. Cue the running around.
This was the last film the two comedians made together, and the humour is getting ratherhere. There is also something very odd about having C...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 27th, 2005
Fascination is a potboiler without a pot. It loosely follows the plot of Hamlet. Adam Garcia plays Scott Doherty, a spoiled young artiste who sulks more than Anakin Skywalker. Scott's father dies (played by James Naughton) under mysterious circumstances, and his wife (played by the "still a hotty" Jacqueline Bisset") returns from a cruise with a new beau (Stuart Wilson). Scott smells something fishy, and with the help of a new stepsister/lover (Alice Evans), he tries to get to the bottom of this crime. So...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 10th, 2005
Synopsis
The evil Spaceballs, led by Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) plan to steal the atmosphere of thepeaceful planet Druidia. Daphne Zuniga, as the Leia-like princess of Druidia, accompanied byher faithful robot Dot Matrix (voice of Joan Rivers) teams up with the vaguely Han Solo-ish BillPullman and his dog/man/Wookie parody Barf (John Candy) to defeat the evil.
I think, maybe, if you’re eleven, this might be hilarious. But I have my doubts. As ever withMel Brooks, the humour ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 7th, 2005
Kiss the Bride tells the story of a fairly large Italian family living in Rhode Island as Danni (Amanda Detmer, The Majestic) is preparing to marry Geoffrey (Jonothon Schaech, That Thing You Do!) and her sisters come home for the wedding. You have Nikki (Brooke Langton, Swingers), the oldest daughter with a degree but yet still shows up in a belly shirt on the beach each week on a popular TV show. Chris (Vanessa Parise) is a New York financial manager/workaholic, and Toni (Monet Mazur) as ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 1st, 2005
Synopsis
This is an interesting collection, with two of the films being among the most famous SteveMcQueen was ever involved with, and the other two being noticeably less high profile. TheMagnificent Seven (1960) is one of the last and greatest of the straightforward westerns,before the deconstruction of the genre at the hands of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah, andeven here the death of the west is foregrounded theme, with Yul Brynner, McQueen, JamesCoburn, Charles Bronson an...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 26th, 2005
Synopsis
This is a film that delights in not being what it appears. The opening moments look like a period gangster film. Suddenly, the scene transforms into a musical. Then this turns out to be movie within the movie. And so it goes, as one scene after another turns out not to be what we thought it was. The plot has roguishly charming Jean-Louis Trintignant setting up a kidnapping scheme with two colleagues. I can’t say much more without giving away the whole plot and the strange circuit on which it...
