Studio

Secret Window

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

Synopsis

Six months after the collapse of his marriage, writer Johnny Depp is secluded in his lakecottage, completely blocked. Then his life takes a sinister turn when a menacing John Turturroarrives on his doorstep, claiming Depp plagiarised his story. Unsatisfied with Depp’s response,Turturro begins a campaign of terror and escalating violence, perpetually eluding ineffectivepolice and private investigators.

I will not indulge in the spoiler that most plagued most reviews …
Read More

Raggedy Rawney, The

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

Buy at Amazon.com

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…
Read More

Moulin Rouge (1952)

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

Buy at Amazon.com

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, …
Read More

Wild Party

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

Buy at Amazon.com

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…
Read More

Room with a View, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 10th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Joe Queenan is one of my favorite writers. He is the author of wonderfully amusing essays and books dealing with the subject of film. In his book Confessions of a Cineplex Heckler, he is bold enough to take on the challenge of watching every Merchant Ivory film, back-to-back. At one point late in the narrative, he has this to say:

As I sat there in my reclining chair with my kids lighting matches to my feet, I realized that God had created Merchant and Ivory for only one reason: because otherwise …
Read More

Belly of an Architect, The

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

Buy at Amazon.com

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’…
Read More

Dracula Dead and Loving It

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 9th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

The unfortunate Renfield (Peter MacNicol) travels to Transylvania, only to be enslaved byDracula (Leslie Nielsen). Dracula uses Renfield to help his move to England, where he preys onLucy Westenra (Lysette Anthony) and Mina (Amy Yasbeck), daughter of Dr. Seward (HarveyKorman) and fiancee of Jonathan Harker (Steven Weber). Seward and Harker fight back withthe help of Dr. Van Helsing (Mel Brooks).

Brooks’ love of vintage horror films, so evident in Young Frankenste…
Read More

Blazing Saddles

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 9th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

All the expected characters from a typical western are present in this parody, but everythingis turned on its head and made ridiculous. Cleavon Little, formerly a slave, then a railwayworker, becomes sherif (cue the racial humour) in a town besieged by the forces of the evilrailway baron Harvey Korman and henchman Slim Pickens. Also in on the fun are sharpshooterGene Wilder and saloon singer Madeline Kahn.

So the American Film Institute named this #6 on its Top 100 …
Read More

Punky Brewster Season One

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 9th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Abandoned street kid Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) lives in an empty apartment withher dog Brandon until the building supervisor (George Gaynes) discovers her. Gruff old sort thathe is, he takes her in. Subsequent episodes see Punky’s adventures with friends, in school, and soforth.

Take Diff’rent Strokes, dump Willis, replace Gary Coleman with Soleil Moon Frye,and voilà, instant sitcom. Don’t worry about coming up with new jokes, however. In fact, youb…
Read More

Nip/Tuck – The Complete First Season

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

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon are Sean McNamara and Christian Troy, plastic surgeons.Sean is the suave ladies’ man, who has ethics only when convenient and/or profitable. Christianis the better surgeon and the (by no means perfect) family man. Neither man is a prize (they areplastic surgeons, after all), but Christian at least tries to be better than he is. Models, gangsters,porn stars, and transsexuals are but a few of the characters whose live intersect with thesurgeons.

Summer School

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

Buy at Amazon.com

Summer School is one of those films that I really enjoyed as a boy growing up in the 80’s. It had crazy characters, pretty girls, funny one-liners and cool people, like Mark Harmon. Watching the film today, I can honestly say that it is as good now as it was then. The only problem is, I have matured as a person and as a movie viewer. The characters are still crazy, but they are also largely annoying. The girls are still pretty, and the foreign exchange student is the same woman who played Allota Fagina in A…
Read More

Curb Your Enthusiasm – The Complete Second Season

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

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Larry David (playing himself) has never met a good situation that he couldn’t turn into adisaster. Though his friends and relations have his best interests at heart, the creator ofSeinfeld he sabotages them at every turn, and manages to alienate just about everyone heencounters.

The series is not unlike a cross between The Larry Sanders Show (with its causticityand plethora of actors and other Hollywood players appearing as themselves) and the mundane-…
Read More

50 First Dates

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

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Adam Sandler is a Hawaii-based veterinarian and swinging bachelor, seducing one touristafter another. His pleasure in short-term flings comes to a crashing end when he meets DrewBarrymore, who is physically incapable of anything but a short fling: she has no short-termmemory, and begins every morning with no recollection of the day before. Sandler, however,is smitten, and puts himself through all sorts of contortions to win the girl of his dreams. Againand again and again.< ...
Read More

Along Came Polly

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

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Risk assessor Ben Stiller believes his life is unfolding according to plan. But then his newwife (Debra Messing) leaves him on their honeymoon for a French scuba instructor (aterrifyingly ripped Hank Azaria). Trying to put his life back together (with dubious help fromslob friend Philip Seymour Hoffman), Stiller runs into old classmate Jennifer Aniston (the Pollyof the title). Her bohemian character is the polar opposite of his, which leads to many dismayingsituations for h…
Read More

Mystic River

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 7th, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

This is the story of the tragic arc traced by the relationship of three friends. Kevin Bacon isa cop, Sean Penn is a shady grocery store owner, and Tim Robbins is a hollow man, irreperablydamaged after being kidnapped by paedophiles as a youth. The three had grown apart, but theirlives intersect fatefully when Penn’s daughter is murdered. Bacon investigates the case, andRobbins cannot satisfactorily account for his actions the night of the murder, much to themounting distre…
Read More

Prick Up Your Ears

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

Buy at Amazon.com

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…
Read More

What Price Glory

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

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Set in France in 1918, What Price Glory centres on a company of marines headedby James Cagney. He and his more conventionally military First Sergeant (Dan Dailey) arequickly at loggerheads over the same woman, an omnipresent theme in the recent releases of theFox War Classics series. Equally obligatory, it seems, is the presence of Robert Wagner, whoseromance is a side-story here. So is the war, which really doesn’t play much of a part until the lastact. Most of the …
Read More

Crash Dive

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

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Crack torepedo-boat Captain Tyrone Power is detached from his beloved fast ships andassigned as second-in-command to Dana Andrews on a submarine. Power complains about thetransfer a little bit, but then sucks it up — duty, don’t you know. Tensions between the two menmount over the same woman (haven’t we had enough of that particular plot?), but they put asidetheir differences as they tail a Nazi freighter to a hidden base. There are good special effects here,but the romant…
Read More

Hunters, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 3rd, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Robert Mitchum is veteran pilot Major Cleve (Iceman) Saville. Beyond cool under pressure,he takes charge of a squadron during the Korean War. He has two difficulties to deal with. Onoeis Robert Wagner, who is too undisciplined for his, or anyone else’s, own good, despite hisprowess in shooting down MiGs. Lee Phillips can’t hit an enemy jet to save his life, but he doeshave a pretty, ignored wife (May Britt) with whom Mitchum falls in love.

The soap opera elements pl…
Read More

Who’s the Boss? – The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 2nd, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Tony Danza packs up daughter Alyssa Milano and leaves New York to become thehousekeeper in the suburban home of executive Judith Light. Living with her are smart-alec kidDanny Pintauro and sexually aggressive mother Katherine Helmond. Sparks (or something)ensue between Danza and Light.

Oh, the humanity! Did ever a series more perfectly embody the American sitcom at its mostmind-destroyingly mediocre? The jokes are only recognizable as such because of the strainedl…
Read More

Tupac: Resurrection

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 2nd, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Tupac Shakur narrates his own life (almost, it would seem, from beyond the grave), taking usfrom his birth (and even before — he discusses his gestation inside his imprisoned activistmother) to his childhood, and then through the ups and downs (emotional, legal and otherwise)of his career. Personal beliefs, politics, and the whole nine yards are laid out for us.

The editing is very clever, and one notes this particularly in the opening. Immediately afterthe sound o…
Read More

SCTV Volume 1: Network 90

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 2nd, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

It might have seemed like it was never going to happen, but SCTV is finally getting the DVDtreatment. According to the accompanying booklet, legal rights involving the music is what heldthings up for so long. At any rate, this first release is not Season 1 — it represents a fairly lateperiod in the ensemble’s history. Here are the 90-minute NBC episodes that began broadcastingin 1981. A lot of the material is repackaged older fare, but that’s just fine. All your favouritec…
Read More

West Wing – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

In season 2, The West Wing was still superior to almost anything on television at the time. The problems began to surface, however. Season 2 concentrated far too much time on the whole MS deal. I missed the powerful insider political stories. Still, there is little question that the writing and production style of the show continued to shine. Up to this point only Hill Street Blues had more Emmy nominations in one season.

Audio

Dialogue is everything in this show. A Dolby Digital 2….
Read More

Star Trek Voyager – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

Star Trek Voyager came into its own during season two. This was the first full season of the Star Trek spin-off. Superior to its sister show Deep Space Nine, Voyager once again brought the concept of exploration to the Star Trek universe.

The season was very uneven. There is the absolutely terrible and contrived episode “The 37’s” which start off with an old pickup truck floating in space. For the first time a starship lands, and I think that was an unwise development. This is the episode where the crew fi…
Read More

Law & Order – The Second Year

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2004

Buy at Amazon.com

“In the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the District Attorneys who prosecute the offenders …” Season 2 has been called “The Lost Season” by Dick Wolf fans. These episodes were not included in some of the many syndication packages so have been seen less often in reruns. The show maintains its trademark tight storytelling. The addition of Paul Sorvino is both a good and a bad thing here. Sorvino is certainly a very f…
Read More

«< 259 260 261 262 263 >»