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44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 15th, 2003

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Synopsis

In 1997, two goons armed with AK-47s and decked out in body armour rob a bank, then triedto shoot their way through the army of police that had gathered outside. In this real-timerecreation, Michael Madsen, Ron Livingston and Mario Van Peebles are the cops we follow mostclosely during the pitched battle. Many, many bullets are fired, and the pace is quick, but directorYves Simoneau resorts to far too many action cliches (scads of slo-mo and freeze frame),ultimately leeching…
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One Christmas

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 14th, 2003

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This 1994 Hallmark film is based on an obscure Truman Capote story. It’s loaded with the usual heavy sentimental trappings of a Hallmark film. The film attempts to create atmosphere through its 1930’s period setting. The trouble is I found it very hard to relate to or care about anyone in the film. The young Buddy appears to have each emotional turn literally forced out of him. Even the lovable Fonz, Henry Winkler, never gets a good foothold on his character. Katherine Hepburn’s age has obviously robbed her of the abilities she has so often displayed in her vast body of work.
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Legend of Suriyothai, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 14th, 2003

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Synopsis

We first see Princess Suriyothai as she is on the cusp of adulthood. Though she loves anotherman, she agrees to marry a prince out of duty to her country. This sets a pattern that will holdthroughout her life, as any decision she makes is not for her own sake but that of the nation. Shewill have plenty of call to be selfless, as a series of palace intrigues threatens the stability of whatwill become Thailand, and leaves it at the mercy of Burma. There is a lot of voice-over h…
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Law & Order Special Victims Unit – The First Year

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 13th, 2003

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Dick Wolf reinvented the cop drama with the original Law and Order. That flagship program is the longest running drama currently in primetime. There does not seem to be an end in sight. This second version has a bit harder edge; dealing with sex crimes, it was important that the new show didn’t degrade into a “pervert” of the week scenario. The writing is top notch. For me, the addition of Richard Belzer as Homicide’s John Munsch was a stroke of genius. Belzer’s deadpan characterization is a perfect fit for such a sensitive subject.
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Loco Love

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 12th, 2003

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Henry Turner from the Campus Circle is quoted on the cover of the DVD stating that Loco Love is “The funniest film since ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding.’” What I would like to ask Henry is “Dude what were you smoking and where can I get some?” This utterly lifeless and unfunny “comedy” is the first of what I would expect to be a long line of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” clones. I mean let’s face it “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” worked because of a great story, great cast and a very funny script. Let’s say that Loco Love falls …
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Pumping Iron

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 12th, 2003

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Synopsis

Part documentary, and part (as Schwarzenegger points out in the extras) total fabrication,Pumping Iron follows Arnie as he prepares to compete for the Mr. Olympia title onemore time. His principle competitor, as presented here, is future Hulk Lou Ferrigno. All sorts ofmachinations ensue between the various body builders. Most of the character stuff is, it nowappears, pure fiction, but it serves the purpose of making the film more interesting. The freakshow qualities …
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Soylent Green

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 11th, 2003

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Soylent Green is an… interesting movie. Its one of the seventies movies that’s funny to look back on and recognize that people in the seventies thought that people in the year 2020 would still be dressing like… people in the seventies. Soylent Green steps beyond the traditional seventies sci-fi flick and into the boundaries of social activism, however, adding a further layer of irony to the film: as an apocalyptic tale its interesting to see how we haven’t traveled down the frightening route envisioned in Soylent Gre…
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Looney Tunes Golden Collection

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 11th, 2003

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Everybody has their favorite Looney Tunes character and particular cartoon shorts. That’s the largest obstacle facing Warner Brothers in this ambitious project to restore and release these shorts on DVD. The first collection features 56 all time great shorts plus a ton of extras. If your favorites were not included, take heart. This is only the first of many promised releases. All in all it would take a Dickens’ Scrooge not to find something to love about this collection. It doesn’t matter if you’re 5 or 105, these cartoons have been a vital part of growing up for all of us.

Miami Tail, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 11th, 2003

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This film is based on a Greek comedy, but I feel like I just watched a Greek tragedy. A Miami Tail is based on the Greek play “Lysistrata”, which tells the story of how a group of women ended war by abstaining from sex with their husbands. It’s not an entirely bad idea for a film, but unfortunately the plot has fallen victim to bad acting and a horrid script, and is helmed by a director with no vision.

I’m not kidding, the acting really is bad. Appalling, in fact. Rapper Trina stars in her first (and…
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St. Andrew’s Girls

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 11th, 2003

Synopsis

We open with Jennifer in the process of taking her own life. Flashback to how this came tobe, as she falls in with the wrong crowd (and extremely rebellious trio) of girls at St. Andrew’sCatholic High School. All sorts of cynical blackness ensues, involving drugs, sex, violence andthe like. Undeniably energetic, the film turns its amp to 11 and keeps it there. This lack of tonalvariation may explain why I found the viewing experience somehow flat.

Audio

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 11th, 2003

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Synopsis

Dick Van Dyke, the unaccountably American father of two very English children and theson of the equally English (and doddering) Lionel Jeffries, retools an abandoned early-1900s racecar into the gleaming, flying Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Off they go on a series of adventures,most particularly involving the imaginary kingdom of Vulgaria. Based on a book by Ian Fleming,the creator of James Bond, the film is produced by Albert Broccoli (who also produced the Bondseries) and fea…
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X2: X-Men United

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 10th, 2003

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X2:X Men United is the follow-up film to the original X-men film from 2000. The original film did a good job of setting up the universe of the X-men and introducing us to the core characters that the comic books have always centered around. This film expands on this universe and brings along some of the coolest characters from the comics, this being Pyro, a brief glimpse of Juggernaut and lets not forget Nightcrawler. In this film we see the good and band mutants joining forces to defeat a common enemy. This is a little disappointing as we get to see cool new good characters but not really any super new baddies, but it also keeps the storyline fresh instead of it just being the good mutants versus the bad mutants.

Defiance

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 10th, 2003

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No movie can be all bad.

This is a motto that I have lived by for many years. I believe that nothing can be completely bad… that some good can be found in everything. As bad as Spice World was, it had some great moments. Its sarcastic look at the music business was often clever, even if its stars weren’t. Tomcats was a horrible film with major continuity issues. Having said that, it did have some genuine laugh-out-loud moments.

My belief system has been shaken to the core, howev…
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Dennis Miller – The Raw Feed

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 10th, 2003

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Love him or hate him, you have to admire his freakishly sponge-like brain. Dennis Miller has an amazing gift of recall, creating references so obscure that ABC Sports actually offered an on-line translator on the Tuesday mornings following his stint in the booth for Monday Night Football.

His rants are mostly easy to follow during this one-hour stand up performance, however. In fact, he even pokes fun at his own gift for the obscure early in the show, essentially acknowledging that he may have been too hig…
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Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 10th, 2003

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Synopsis

Before Buffy, before Jesus Christ, there was Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter. Ahandsomely if inexpensively mounted period piece, this sees the dashing swordsman of the titlebattling vampires in the English countryside. In this instance, the vampire doesn’t suck blood,but youth. The plotting is very haphazard, and the action scenes leave something to be desired,but there are fun turns by the usual set of British character actors, and Caroline Munro lends herever-smould…
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dc Talk – The Supernatural Experience

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 10th, 2003

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dc Talk mixed up the formula on their “Supernatural” album, trading in their signature hip-hop for a much more progressive sound. The result is what I consider to be their best album to date. While they are not afraid to continue to sprinkle some hip-hop into their work, the majority of the songs are more modern pop and rock based tunes. Their stage show has also come up to date, complete with a sleek stripped down look to the sets.

This disc captures some of the songs performed on the tour, mixed in with i…
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dc Talk – Free At Last: The Music and the Movie

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 5th, 2003

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DC Talk made the jump from playing small churches and clubs to playing arenas following their Dove and Grammy award winning album, “Free At Last”. Though some of the songs sound a bit cheesy and dated now, they were right on target when released in the mid nineties, as evidenced by the packed arenas shown during the performances on this disc. The band was getting so big, in fact, that they decided to release a concert video/documentary to major movie houses nationwide. The footage was shot, the project was edited, t…
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Counterstrike

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 5th, 2003

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TBS Superstation presents…

When it comes to DVD, these are frightening words. They conjure up images of bad acting, bad sets, and terrible scripts. Unfortunately, all of this proves true in the “action” film “Counterstrike”, staring Rob Estes (Silk Stalkings) and Joe Lando (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman). The plot is tired and familiar; two bothers are the only ones that can stop terrorists from holding the President of the United States hostage, and stealing China’s nuclear codes. Ho-Hum.< ...
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Winged Migration

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 5th, 2003

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Synopsis

The movie is exactly what the title suggests it is: we journey with various migratory birdsover their long, often hazardous voyages. We are intimately involved with the travels, flyingcheek by beak with the birds, right in the middle of the formations. The result is beautiful,compelling, moving, and utterly astounding.

Audio

The 5.1 sound does wonders for the you-are-there feel the movie is shooting for. The musicis very nicely rendered, but what st…
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All I Want

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 5th, 2003

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“All I Want” is a decent film that could have been great. Elijah Wood plays Jones Dylan (a quintessential Hollywood character name), a seventeen-year-old college freshman that decides that life has more to offer than formal education. Dropping out of college without attending a single class, he rents a nearby apartment and begins to get to know his neighbors. Before long, the underage Jones in enraptured in a tangled romance with two of his fellow boarders.

The plot of this film is interesting, but unfort…
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Sonny

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 4th, 2003

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Synopsis

Nicolas Cage is a fantastic actor. I will be the first to admit that he has had some mistakes (“Face/Off” and “Snake Eyes”, to name a few), but for the most part, his performances are gutsy and honest, with just a hint of cool 60’s Rat Pack style smoldering underneath the surface. My favorite Cage performance came in the fantastic film “Leaving Las Vegas”, where he brought the struggles of a dying alcoholic to life in beautiful and tragic detail.

Unfortunately, “Sonny” is no “Leavi…
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Horsemen, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 4th, 2003

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Synopsis

Omar Sharif is the son of Jack Palance (nobody said the casting was ethnically authentic) andis a proud champion of Buzkashi, an unbelievably rough sport which consists of a group ofhorsemen whipping the hell out of each other as they struggle to grab a headless calf. Sharifbreaks his leg in the championship game, and heads out on a long, treacherous journey to regainhis pride. With him are his magnificent horse, his increasingly treacherous servant, and aduplicitous nomad …
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Death Bed – The Bed That Eats

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 3rd, 2003

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Synopsis

In a cellar (all that remains of a great mansion) lurks a demonic bed. Anyone who lies on it will be eaten (and being eaten involves being surrounded by yellow foam and dragged down into yellow liquid limbo and dissolved). Trapped behind his own painting is the ghost of artist Aubrey Beardsley. He witnesses the bed’s depredations (and his narration explains the plot to us), but there is nothing he can do to stop the evil. That, more or less, is the plot. The 80 minutes meander along, and the…
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Eight Crazy Nights

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 3rd, 2003

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Adam Sandler and his crazy antics are back… this time, he is animated. I went into the viewing of this film with very low expectations; and although this is not a quality movie, it did turn out to be mildly more entertaining then I expected. This film is over-the-top and childish at time, but Sandler is comical as the voices of the three main characters, and the musical numbers are entertaining in a manner in which only Adam Sandler can provide. This movie will not be for everyone, but die-hard Sandler fans will p…
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Tick, The – The Entire Series

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 2nd, 2003

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The Tick was a live action show based on the wildly different super-hero of the same name. He was also featured in an incredibly funny animated series in the early 90’s that also ended way before it’s time. The Tick follows the comedic adventures of a muscular, but dim witted 300 lb powerhouse whose duty is to clean the city of evil-doers while shouting inane phrases such as the always catchy “Spoon!”

When I first heard that they were going to make a live action version of the Tick, I was very skeptical …
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