Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 2nd, 2005
Man on Fire is a stylish thriller with excellent performances at the heart. Denzel Washington plays Creasey, an ex CIA/assassin who is too tired of the killing. Now out of the game, Creasey sticks to drinking in Mexico City. Enter Rayburn, an old buddy (played by the wonderful Christopher Walken). He has a potential job for the down and out Creasey. A string of abductions and kidnappings in the city (Mexico City is the real life kidnap capital of the world) forces a young industrialist (Marc Anthony)and h...s wife (Radha Mitchell)to hire Creasy as a bodyguard for their 10 year old daughter Pita (played by Dakota Fanning). Well...let's just say...the bodyguarding doesn't go too well. And Creasey needs to find Pita before it's too late.
Man on Fire is directed by Tony Scott. Scott is a stylist, and the movie definitely has stylistic excess. But this is the man who invented stylistic excess with Top Gun. But Scott is more successful when he has great actors to inhabit his stylish canvas, True Romance and Crimson Tide are great examples. Scott has become more "modern" with his use of jump cuts and freaky camera angles. It's a dizzying experience, but thankfully this over the top effort is fleshed out by the excellent performances of Denzel and Dakota Fanning (she will be a star one day). The movie is way too long (2 and a half hours for a genre thriller??). But the peformances and the script (by Mystic River's Brian Helgeland) hold Scott's over direction in check.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2005
Season Eight of MASH was most notable as the year one of the most beloved characters left the series. Radar, that down-home country boy, was perhaps the most reality based character in the run of the series. I’ve spoken to many G.I.’s who have informed me that the company clerk really runs any Army outfit. Radar had an element of innocence and sincerity that was skillfully portrayed by Gary Burghoff. Burghoff was the only cast member from the original film to reprise his role for the series. Year Eight would feature the first of a few appearances by Alan Alda’s real life father and 1950’s film star Robert Alda.
As miraculous as an 8 year run might be for any sitcom, MASH still had 3 additional seasons to go before leaving while still artistically on the ball. MASH set the stage for multiple cast changes long before Dick Wolf would claim the practice as his own invention with Law and Order. By the time the series ended, only three actors from that first episode remained: Alan Alda, Jamie Farr, and Loretta Switt. (While the character of Father Mulcahy appeared in the pilot, a different actor portrayed him.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 31st, 2005
We now have the full I, Robot experience with this new “All Access Collector’s Edition”. We have more a lot more supplements but, unfortunately, the movie is not improved. It’s still a fun couple of hours though. I, Robot follows the story of Will Smith (and his character name, if that matters, is Detective Spooner) as he tries to solve the murder of a robotics scientist (James Cromwell). Smith must overcome his prejudice against robots, as he tries to solve the case.
There are a lot of “c...ol” scenes, and I really enjoyed the universe created by Alex Proyas. One of Proyas’ previous films, Dark City, is a startling work of imagination. The special effects are very modern, but the story is as creaky as an old rocking chair. We’ve seen all this before: the chases, the one note characterizations, the one-liners, the Will Smith-ism. This is ain’t Bad Boys. The movie is caught between an intelligent futuristic tale and a Will Smith vehicle. The two cancel each other out. What’s left is a watered down film that’s only “suggested” by Isaac Asimov’s original work. Fans didn’t seem to mind though. The excellent box office summer receipts proved that Will Smith is still a force to be reckoned with. I enjoyed I, Robot, but I took it for what it was…and not as it should be.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 31st, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 30th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 29th, 2005
Guilt’s a bitch. It can drive you down the road to insanity, and turn your life upside-down. The Machinist is an interesting story that leaves you guessing right until the end. The story moves a little slow, but the performances are impressive and the cumulative tale is well done. Watching Christian Bale portray lead character Trevor Reznik is both impressive and disturbing. Bale looks like a shell of himself; shedding an astounding 63 pounds to play this role. Bale is so thin that you can see every rib ...nd every vertebra of his spine. Comparing his appearance in this film to his role in American Psycho will blow you away.
The story of The Machinist centers around the progressively dwindling life of Trevor Reznik (Bale). Resnik is an insomniac who claims to have not slept in a full year. He works in a machine shop, has a hooker that he regulars, and nightly visits the same waitress at an airport-based coffee shop. Everyday brings with it a new paranoia. When he mysteriously finds a “hangman” sticky-note on his refrigerator, Resnik starts a journey to discover who is playing this sick game with him, or if it is just his sleep-starved mind playing tricks on him. A hallucination of a mysterious co-worker causing a workplace accident drives Resnik to evaluate everyone around him. The more he digs, the more crazy everything seems… it is real, or is it all in his head?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 29th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 29th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 29th, 2005
In terms of concept, it seems kinda cool and avant-garde: take the old cartoon Space Ghost, hire some writers and voiceover guys to interview some guests as part of a talk show and see what happens. The result, being Space Ghost Coast to Coast eventually did turn into a cult following and captured an older (read: 18-30) demographic for the Cartoon Network.
Though Space Ghost is a superhero, in this series he has kidnapped a couple of his villains to be a part of his talk show. You have ...orak, essentially an animated praying mantis that serves as the Paul Shaffer of the show. The producer is Moltar, who looks like he should work as part of a hazardous material recovery team. And in the middle of it all, you have a 15 minute, disjointed conversation between a varying group of eclectic guests and a seemingly detached masked hero and show host. The guests over the course of the season include Jon Stewart, Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, Jimmy Cliff, Beck, Ice T, Goldie Hawn and Colin Quinn, to list very few.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 28th, 2005
Synopsis
