Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 2nd, 2006
Synopsis
The jacket copy says it better than I could: “Museum director Dr. Zita Furneaux (Kylie Wyote), empowered by the Egyptian goddess Nephthys (Andrea Smith), regains her lost youth by dispatching a living Mummy to kidnap sexy young women, from whom she steals their ‘kas’ (spiritual twins), turning them into zombie-like love slaves. Reporter Elyse Lam (Christine Nguyen), investigating the case of the missing women, also falls prey to Zita’s lusts. But when Zita defies Nephthys... you’ll have to s...e this ‘horrotic’ sequel to the cult hit The Mummy’s Kiss
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 2nd, 2006
Taylor Hackford’s drama Ray tells the remarkable story of singer Ray Charles’ life – dealing with subjects such as his drug addictions, his blindness and his family. We also get a look into his various recordings, his quick rise to stardom and his impact within the recording industry. More notable then the film itself is the Oscar-winning performance of Jamie Foxx in the lead role. Foxx does a fabulous job in his portrayal of Charles - most deserving of his Best Lead Actor statue.
There are scene... where, according to Director Hackford, Foxx acted so similar to Charles that he couldn’t distinguish between the two. Foxx did an unimaginable amount of work into acting just like Charles – from researching his life, to jamming and meeting with Charles himself, to wearing prosthetics over his eyes making him partially blind. In fact, Foxx is so truly good that you sometimes forget that Foxx is actually acting and wonder sometimes if Charles himself was acting in the film. Yes, Foxx is truly that good in this roll.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 1st, 2006
Synopsis
Young bride Anabel Shaw arrives at a San Francisco hotel to meet her husband, on his way back from a POW camp. His plane is late, and as she anxiously awaits him, she witnesses Vincent Price kill his wife in the next room over. She lapses into shock, and is found in this state when her husband arrives. The best psychiatrist around is summoned, and uh-oh, that turns out to be Price, who realizes why Shaw is in shock. He has her carted off to his private clinic, where he and lover Lynn Bari pl...t to keep her in shock permanently.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 1st, 2006
Cult Epics' series takes a step back in time with this release. The last one took us to the 1950s, and now we go considerably further back. Where to go next I'm not sure, but anyway, this is an interesting collection of antique porn. That this is a French import is obvious not only from the fact that all the films hail from there, but also from the fact that the jacket copy has been rather clumsily translated into English. But never mind. The films, while hardly masterpieces, are fascinating little curios, and it says something that pieces such as "Le Verrou" actually expected their target audience to know who Fragonard was (the starting point of the short is a recreation of the painting of the same name). Also intriguing is an pornographic cartoon from twenties - now that-s something you don't see every day.Audio
As opposed to the running-projector-noise that accompanied the previous release, there is a music score for each film. The sound is mono and quite rough, but to be frank, given what's on display here, stunning surround sound would seem weirdly out of place. At any rate, the job is done quite adequately. "Le Verrou" has a new score (complete with come crackles and pops).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 31st, 2006
Johnny Depp continues to work hard in both good films and bad. While I didn’t care for this outing, I’m not sure I would call it a bad film… just one that didn’t connect with any of my tastes. Fans of Mr. 21 Jump Street will delight in yet another strong performance. He has the skill and talent to be remembered as one of the true greats. His performance in The Libertine does nothing to diminish that. But at the same time, there’s something dreadfully boring about films like these. Something not even Depp’s un...istakable craft can overcome.
Who the hell told writers and actors that films about them are so enthralling people will want to see them play the same characters in the same situations over and over again? It seems artsy folk are much more fascinated with themselves than John Q. Public, or any other moviegoer, could, or should, be. The weaknesses of The Libertine aspire to present them selves as the film’s strengths, and I, for one, am not buying. The plot is the same eccentricity finding redemption “on his own terms” theme that plays out in a lot of these films. Nothing much to say except that Depp plays an eccentric playwright, who insults King Charles II (John Malkovich) with a bawdy play that humiliates him in front of a group of French aristocrats. The stunt gets the playwright exiled, a punishment which seems more befitting than death to such a man, as he can no longer connect with his audience. Boredom ensues. The end.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 30th, 2006
Written By Jeff Mardo
This is a Parker Posey film, which in itself is enough of a reason for me to check this film out. However, I was surprised to find that Josh Hamilton is here as well. While you may not know the name of Josh Hamilton right away, the two of them worked together in a brilliantly satirical film called The House of Yes; one of my personal favorites. In fact, there are several things that tie these two films together in my mind. While both are very funny and disturbing films, the charm in them both is the tension hi...ing just beneath the satire. The tension here is that uneasy feeling of just what to do once you have finished your years at college, and you are forced to go out into the real world. It is that depressing no man's land between knowledge and action.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 29th, 2006
Director Tony Scott’s thriller Spy Game pairs up Robert Redford and Brad Pitt for a second time – Redford previously directed Pitt in A River Runs Through It. Redford plays Nathan Muir, a man who is a on the brink of retirement from the CIA. As he is cleaning out his office, Muir is told that fellow CIA Agent Tom Bishop (Pitt) has broken into a Chinese prison simply to rescue the woman he loves. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? It turns out that the CIA thinks that the Chinese are going to try to extra...t as much information from Bishop as possible (read information as secrets). Muir has to scramble and see if he can get Bishop out in less than 24 hours before Bishop is scheduled for execution.
Tony Scott, the director of Crimson Tide and Enemy at the State, is just as skillful here as he has been in his past efforts. While the ideas presented in Spy Game are nothing groundbreaking, Scott adds another level of credibility to the film with his interesting twist of direction. Released theatrically in 2001 following a number of box-office disasters (such as Pearl Harbor), Scott’s stylistic thriller was a welcome addition to the November frame. Both lead actors, Redford (who always seem to be on his ‘A’ game no matter what film he stars in) and Pitt (overly-publicized but a great actor despite the hatred some have for him), deliver fine performances.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 27th, 2006
Synopsis
I wanted to like Annapolis. I really did. I appreciated the intent of the film without having a full awareness of what it was about. I thought it kind of served as a de facto publicity film for the Naval Academy. But as I was watching it, several things started on course for me to dislike the film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 25th, 2006
Synopsis
Marilyn Monroe was THE blonde bombshell. Jayne Mansfield was the cartoon version of Monroe, bombshell become sex bomb, with proportions so improbable she could give Barbie an inferiority complex. Her cartoon figure makes it appropriate that two of the movies here are directed by a specialist in cartoons: Frank Tashlin. In fact, this set might almost be more appropriately called the Frank Tashlin Collection.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 23rd, 2006
Synopsis
In the mid 90's, poachers are decimating the antelope population in the pristine lands of Kekexili. The locals have organized themselves to fight back, and now one of their patrolmen has been murdered by the poachers. Ga Yu, a journalist from Beijing, arrives to cover the story. Initially rejected by the leader of the mountain patrol, Ga Yu is taken in by the group when he suggests his coverage might help turn the area into a wilderness preserve. A long, grueling, dangerous manhunt ensues.>
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