Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 15th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 13th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 13th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 8th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 8th, 2005
Jeremyis an early 70's film that put Robby Benson on the map (for what that's worth). Benson was nominated for a Golden Globe for his tender performance as the title character. This is quite an intimate little perforance. Glynnis O'Connor plays Jeremy's love interest, Susan. O'Connor matches Benson's truthful performance. The film centers around Susan and Jeremy's awkward, but authentic, teenage romance.
The film moves along at a snail's pace. But that's part of the point. There are no major Romeo...and Juliet type melodramatics. The director, Arthur Barron, introduces a lot of hand-held camera work and non-conventional set-ups. The result has a documentary type feel. The trouble with Jeremy is that it's caught between telling a good story and maintaining a cinema verite style. The results are lukewarm, but always interesting.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 19th, 2005
Until September is soap opera/romance that lacks sizzle. Karen Allen, of Raiders of the Lost Arkfame plays Mo. Mo is a plucky American girl who falls in love with Parisian named Xavier (played by Thierry Lhermitte). Mo misses her plane and is stuck in Paris. She meets cute with Xavier and an affair begins. However, complications ensue: Xavier has a wife and family.
The Paris locations are nice, but the lead couple lacks any chemistry whatsoever. Karen Allen is cute as a button, but Th...erry Lhermitte is a dreadful bore. The only interesting thing of note is that the director is Richard Marquand. Marquand directed Return of the Jedi and this is the movie he made right after. The two movies are like night and day. Jedi is fun and engaging, Until September is a bland piece of oatmeal.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 19th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 14th, 2005
First off, let me say that if you have only seen Showgirls on VH-1, then you haven’t had the full experience. It’s bad on network television, but the sheer scope of how truly awful it is can only be experienced in the full, uncut version. Laughing at an idiot is one thing. Laughing at a naked idiot is something else entirely. It’s amazing how un-sexy this film really is. Showgirls is funny in the same way that it was funny to make fun of the fat kid riding in the front of the bus in Junior High. ...art of you feels sorry for Elizabeth Berkeley, and part of you secretly gets a certain satisfaction out of watching her fail so horribly and famously on film. The point is, this film is truly enjoyable, in the most twisted of ways.
This trashy flick is the very definition of a film so bad that it’s good. For those of you that live in a cave in Afghanistan, this is the story of a small-town girl who goes to Vegas to make it big as a showgirl (because you have to have goals, right?). Once she gets there, she finds that Sin City is called that for a reason, and she fights through catty co-workers, sleazy managers and her own blind ignorance to get her shot at the big time. I think I might have died of boredom if this movie wasn’t so gloriously horrible.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 12th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 11th, 2005
De-Lovely is a musical bio-pic based on the life of Cole Porter. Now, Porter was an American genius, responsible for writing such song classics as “Love for Sale” and “Anything Goes”. Porter’s personal life was also legendary. He had a wife, but also had affairs with men. Porter also suffered a horse riding accident in the late 1930’s that debilitated him for the rest of his life (to his death in 1964). Sounds like the great makings of a movie, right? Well….
Kevin Kline plays Cole Porter, and h... has the necessary panache to pull off the role. Ashley Judd also has a nice turn as Linda, Porter’s wife. The problem with the film is the presentation. The film tries for a musical within a musical idea, as an older Porter oversees a musical based on his life. Sometimes the technique works, sometimes it misfires. Modern music stars are also peppered throughout the film (like Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, and Sheryl Crow) singing Porter tunes. Some of these songs do not work very well (Miss Morissette – guilty as charged!). The director, Irwin Winkler, is an old Hollywood vet, so he does show reverence for the material. The result is a charming, if not entirely successful, musical bio-pic.
