Studio

Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 16th, 2003

Synopsis

There is no plot, as such, here. Each of the dreams has some sort of narrative, but moreimportant are the visuals and the themes (humanity and nature, nuclear power, and so forth).Dreams is not on the same level as Kurosawa’s great masterpieces (Ran, The Seven Samurai,Throne of Blood, and so on), and is not always compelling. But it is very frequently jaw-droppingly beautiful.

Audio

The music, a curious blend of eastern and western influences, sound…
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The Ring

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 16th, 2003

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To be fair, The Ring is not the most original horror film to come along recently. It is not only based on the cult classic Japanese film Ringu, but at times mimics the script word for word. There are also enough similarities to the recent Fear Dot Com to make one take pause. It is one of the scariest and most atmospheric films to appear in quite a few years. Since the 1980’s the state of the American horror film has been in a steady decline. Yes, special effects have advanced light years since the days of Karloff and Lugosi, but the end result has more often been to gross out rather than engross.
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Sol Goode

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

Synopsis

Balthazar Getty is Sol Goode, charming campus rogue unable, as his best friend Chloë(Katharine Towne) says, to commit to a relationship for longer than 20 minutes. The hijinks can’tlast forever, though, and as Sol matures, he realizes he’s fallen in love. No points for guessingwho with. The direct-to-camera asides make this the college version of Malcolm in theMiddle.

Audio

The 2.0 mix is solid, if unspectacular. It is certainly crisp and clear, and…
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I’m With Lucy

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

Synopsis

Lucy (Monica Potter) is dumped by the man she though would love her forever. In fact, sheis so off-putting in her confidence, that it’s hard to feel sorry for her when the dumping occurs inthe most humiliating way possible. The rest of the film follows her through a series of five dates.We cut back and forth between the dates, and which man she marries is held off for the end. Ifyou still care by then.

Audio

The 5.0 audio mix is a completely profess…
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Kingston High, The

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

Synopsis

Sketch (Jeramie Gladman) is artistic and sensitive. He doesn’t want to have anything to dowith his buddies’ obsessive quest to lose their virginity on prom night. Nevertheless, he getsroped into a bet to do just that. Misadventures ensue. A very independent film, whose low-budgetquirks and likeable central character keep threatening to make it transcend the morass of itsgenre.

Audio

Box claims to the contrary, the audio tracks come in both 5.1 and 2…
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Redeemer

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

Synopsis

Matthew Modine, somewhat down on his luck as a writer, takes a job as a creative writinginstructor in a prison. He suspects a particularly bright student has been kept in prison unjustly.This man also wants to make amends with the sister of the man for whose murder he has beenheld responsible. Wouldn’t you know it, redemption is a two-way street as Modine finds newpurpose in life too. Ordinary, but competent TV drama.

Audio

The music is good, there …
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Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 10th, 2003

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Star Trek: The Motion Picture is considered a failure not because it was a bad film, but because it just didn’t feel at all like Star Trek. Star Trek IV is perhaps the most Star Trek of all the films. A mixture of saving planet Earth with a social message, humor, and a strong character chemistry has always been Roddenberry’s dream at its very best. There’s no question that of all the Trek films this is the most enjoyable even if you’re not really a fan.

West Side Story

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 10th, 2003

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Synopsis

Instead of the Montagues and the Capulets, it’s the Jets and the Sharks, two street gangs onthe mean streets of Manhattan’s west side (these gangs wouldn’t recognize their old stompinggrounds today). Full of energy and wit, bursting with spectacular choreography, the film is atriumph of the musical form.

Audio

A brand new 5.1 mix, and it sounds wonderful. There aren’t enough surround sound effectsto create an environment, the music is reproduced in …
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Killing Me Softly

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

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Killing Me Softly is a decent sexual thriller. This disc is the unrated version of the film, containing a little more skin, and a more “erotic” cover. The story is a little far fetched, but does contain a few twists that will help to keep the viewer entertained.

”From the very moment that Alice (Heather Graham) locks eyes with Adam (Joseph Fiennes), a mysterious stranger, she is catapulted into a whirlwind of intense erotic desire and adventure, risking everything just to be with him. But, when se…
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Unfaithful Wife, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003

Synopsis

Michel Bouquet and Stephane Audran are a well-off couple with a young son. They live in anice house in the countryside near Versailles. Everything looks swell. But Audran has beendistant lately. Bouquest suspects she is having an affair. He hires a PI to discover the truth, andthis truth leads to murder. The film is deliberately paced, with a musical score that convincesyou that something awful is going to happen, even when all is, on the surface, benign. Thismakes the viol…
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Master of the Flying Guillotine

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003

Synopsis

China is under the rule of the Ching dynasty, who send out assassins to kill anyone whochallenges the regime. Greatest of these assassins is the blind master of the flying guillotine. Hesets out to kill the One-Armed Boxer (don’t ask me why all these guys have disabilities). Thecharacters come together at a huge martial arts tournament (this is where Mortal Kombat comesfrom, kiddies). The plot is no more developed than that of a typical porno. The film’s reason forbeing is …
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Run for Cover

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003

Synopsis

When terrorists strike New York City (blowing up a ferry, for instance), a courageous TVreporter winds up being the only one who can stop the terror. Extremely low-budget stuff, andthe subject just isn’t as much fun as it once was (though the campiness remains). Interesting,though, to see Adam West as a senator (not to mention all the other cameos).

Audio

The soundtrack is mono. It gets the job done, but there isn’t too much to say about it. Themusi…
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Honey Sweet Love

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003

Synopsis

Ben Cross is a British officer during WWII. After the invasion of Sicily, he becomes themilitary governor of a small town. Naturally, all sorts of characters are present, and he falls inlove with a forbidden woman.

Audio

Mono sound on this disc. It’s acceptable, but certainly unspectacular, and there is somedistortion on the dialogue.

Video

A good news/bad news disc. The picture is widescreen at 1.78:1, but still appears to …
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Savage Boys

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003

Synopsis

Imprisoned for the revenge killing of the man who murdered his parents, Calvin Jung isreleased after 25 years. He returns home to discover that his younger brother (Eddie Mui) is nowworking for a Chinese crime lord. This is a film that doesn’t reach the lofty heights it aims for,but does work an interesting social angle to the usual crime film.

Audio

The sound (2.0, as far as I can tell) is pretty good. The music comes through very nicely. Thesound …
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Sugar Hill

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003

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Let me admit from the start I have an almost pathological fear of needles. This means I watched several minutes of this film with my eyes closed. If you share the phobia this is not a DVD for you. Sugar Hill has a lot of unfulfilled potential. The acting is mostly first rate and the story is often compelling. The producers mucked it up with too many Godfather clichés from the “I’m your older brother and I was stepped over” to Snipes coming of age at a baptism. Even AbeVigoda shows us what Tessio would have turned into if he hadn’t taken that “ride”.

From Russia to Hollywood

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003

Synopsis

I can’t say I’d ever heard of Michael Chekhov and George Shdanoff, but I have now. GregoryPeck narrates the lives of these two men, which play out with the 20th Century as a backdrop.There are many clips here of actors whom they taught (such as James Dean).

Audio

The sound is mono, but you don’t really need anything else for this sort of documentary,depending as it does largely on the spoken word. The sound is certainly clear enough.

Vide…
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Korean Connection, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003

Synopsis

Tiger was once a fearsome fighter, but now he is a drunk. We learn, in flashback (and inflashbacks within flashbacks), that he fell from grace after being unintentionally involved in thekilling of his fiancee’s brother. Now his own treacherous brother has kidnapped the fiancee, andthat is all Tiger needs to come roaring back. This is truly awful stuff, with boringly filmed fightscenes, choppy editing, and nonsensical plot.

Audio

Bad as the film is, …
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Claudine

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 8th, 2003

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When this movie first came out in 1974 I think it probably caused a stir and was maybe even labeled “controversial”. We have the story of Claudine (played by Diahann Carroll) a struggling Harlem mother with 6 children to support; she collects welfare and works under the table on the side as a maid for a wealthy family. She meets a charming garbage man named Roop (James Earl Jones, much younger and thinner then I have ever seen him) who is struggling with his own life trials which makes him slow to respond to her invi…
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MTV – Real World You Never Saw: Las Vegas

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 8th, 2003

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I’ve got a confession. I just don’t get it. The Real World lays claim to being one of the first “reality” shows, dating back almost ten years. If you get off on watching a group of 7 twenty-somethings pretending to be spontaneous while basically either making out or grossing out, then this DVD is for you. This particular version is a season that was deemed too “hot” for broadcast TV so never appeared on MTV.

Beauty And The Beast – Belle’s Magical World

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 8th, 2003

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This is a collection of short stories set in the world of Beauty and the Beast featuring Belle, Beast, Cogsworth, Lumiere and a continuing cast of characters as they explore the castle. With all new songs and all of your favorite characters from the original film this is sure to delight any of the kids in your family.

Video

The film features very good quality cell type animation with an image just short of the quality you would see in one of Disney’s feature animation films. Colors are vibr…
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On the Run

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 4th, 2003

Synopsis

Albert is not a people person. He doesn’t enjoy his job as a travel agent, doesn’t travelhimself, and doesn’t want to go out. All he wants to do is stay at home and be left alone.Unfortunately, his childhood friend Louis, who was always good at getting him into trouble,breaks out of prison two weeks before his sentence is up, and calls up Albert, dragging himwilly-nilly into After Hours-style misadventures.

Audio

The sound (in a 2.0 mix, from all av…
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101 Dalmatians 2 – Patch’s London Adventure

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 3rd, 2003

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The lovable animated puppies from 1961 are back in their all new direct to video release just for the kids. The TV obsessed Patch heads of to London to find the star of his favorite TV show Thunderbolt. The star of Thunderbolt is about to be fired and he decides that the only way to save his job is to become a real life hero, so with Patches in tow he sets of for the streets on London. Creulla De Vil returns on probation for her previous bad deeds, still determined to steal the puppies and brings new henchman Lars with her after springing Horace and Jasper from jail.
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Inspector Gadget 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 3rd, 2003

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Inspector Gadget returns to take on the nefarious Dr. Claw who has just escaped from prison in small town Riverton. Throw into the mix an all new and improved G2…all-robot, all-tech and all-female gadget and we have the potential for a ton of fun. Inspector Gadget (this time around played by French Stewart and G2 (Elaine Hendrix) are set to save the world with help from Penny, her dog Brain and the tricked-out Gadgetmobile.

Video

Full bright and colorful scenes and characters the quality o…
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Auteur Theory, The

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

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Synopsis

George Sand is a documentary filmmaker, and quite conceited about the fact. He comes tothe US from the UK to shoot a documentary about the 2nd Mike Wong Film Festival. Curiously,all of the competitors at the festival, each of which worked on Wong’s last movie before he died,start being murdered one by one. Sand decides to uncover the murderer. This is a cheerfully sillylow-budget film, loaded with hilarious send-ups of student films. The sense of the absurd isnicely underst…
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Unsavory Characters

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

Synopsis

For the first twenty-five minutes, we are in 1950 Havana, where a typical noir tale of crimeand betrayal unfolds. Then we shift into colour, and discover that the hero of the first film, EricA. Leffler, is actually a writer of pulp fiction, and what we saw was the first part of his currentnovel, one that he doesn’t know how to finish. Before long, he gets caught up in a “real-life” noiradventure. This is a very, very low-budget exercise, but its ambitions are admirable, and i…
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