Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 31st, 2002
Synopsis
Zero Mostel is a down-on-his-luck play producer. Gene Wilder is a neurotic accountant.Together they cook up a scheme to raise a million dollars (from old ladies) to produce a playguaranteed to flop (and thus they keep the money.) The play they choose is a little romp called“Springtime for Hitler.” This being a Mel Brooks film, the humour ain’t subtle, and Brooks doesrun some sequences into the ground (he never has known when to quit). But there is a lot oftremendously funny...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 19th, 2002
Synopsis
The plot is very simple, as the spectacular song-and-dance numbers are the real star of theshow. Gene Kelly and Jean Hagen are big stars of the silent screen. But sound is arriving, andHagen’s voice sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard (and she has a personality to match). Kellyfalls in love with Debbie Reynolds, a struggling dancer with a terrific voice. This is enough of aframework on which to hang the production numbers, but the comedy in between is oftenhowlingly fun...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 19th, 2002
Synopsis
Sir James Bond (David Niven), a superhuman prude with a stutter, is forced out of retirementto discover who is killing off all the world’s spies. He recruits a whole load of other 007s, fromPeter Sellers to Ursula Andress (don’t ask), and the villain turns out to be Woody Allen.Comedies should rarely run more than 90 minutes. This clocks in at 137. Interminably,mortifyingly dull. I defy anybody to sit through this.
Audio
The sound comes in both 5.1 ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 7th, 2002
Nicholas Cage did this film in 1989, long before most of the more famous films he places high atop his resume. He admits this is a film he would not be able to do today but is damn glad he did. Director Robert Bierman was also pretty much a novice when he created this quirky dark comedy.
To be honest I never saw the film when it was originally released and approached the DVD with a lot of skepticism. Most of the performances are way over the top and the cinematography is simple, often resorting to what Hollywood calls "stolen shots" (filming done without any set-up in a public area using real people.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 7th, 2002
Synopsis
Stockard Channing is top-flight executive, and has been in the game long enough to become a hardened, battle-scarred veteran. When Julia Stiles arrives late, screwing up a presentation, Channing initially comes down on her like a ton of bricks. Later she apologizes, and the two, becoming friends, plot revenge on a mutual acquaintance who has apparently done them both wrong. But there are plenty of twists ahead (some easier to swallow than others).
Audio
This isn't ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 31st, 2002
Synopsis
If you've seen the movie, you know the premise: Earth's military has found an alien artifact that permits instantaneous travel over vast light years. At the other end of one of the portals, however, is the Goa'uld, a hostile alien race. The special effects are impressive by TV standards, and the characterizations are pretty standard fare.
Audio
The sound is pretty solid stuff, again for TV material. The mix is in 5.1, and while I wasn't struck by a whole heck of a ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 13th, 2002
Synopsis
Minerva Mirabal (Salma Hayek) is an independent spirit in a society where that can get you killed. Her spiritedness, present from childhood, gradually evolves into outright rebellion against the brutal regime of General Trujillo (Edward James Olmos). The personal cost is heavy.
Audio
This telefilm has a very solid soundtrack. It is free of distortion, the music sounds wonderful, and enough care has been paid to the sound effects that there is always something going...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 13th, 2002
Synopsis
The Masque of the Red Death is one of Corman's most sumptuous Poe pictures. Vincent Price plays the decadent Prince Pospero, presiding over sadistic revels while the plague rages outside his castle walls. The plague, however, is personified here, and has plans for Prospero. In The Premature Burial, Ray Milland is obsessed with the fear that he will be buried alive. Guess what happens? Though not as good as Masque, this film has long been absent from home video, and its appearance here is ver...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 29th, 2002
Synopsis
Colin Farrell plays the Hart of the title, a callow youth kept from the front lines of WWII by his senator father. Fate puts him in a prison camp, however, where he meets McNamara (Bruce Willis), who is determined to continue to fight (echoes here of William Holden in The Bridge On the River Kwai).
Audio
The sound is spectacular. You Are There, be it in the war or in the prison camp. Footsteps, wind, horses hooves -- everything resounds on all sides. The music, bea...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 5th, 2002
Synopsis
Buddy Young Jr. (Billy Crystal) is in the twilight of his career. Once he had his own television show, but his self-destructive impulses and violent temper torpedoed that (not to mention increasingly alienating his loved ones). Now a senior citizen, he is still trying to make a go of it, still making life miserable for his long-suffering brother. The film flashes back and forth, showing us Buddy's rise and fall in the past, and his current attempts to make something remotely resembling a com...
