Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 22nd, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 22nd, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2004
The 1980’s saw a second British entertainment invasion reach the shores of America. That’s when the BBC began to unleash its peculiar brand of humor mixed with sci-fi on PBS stations in the US. College campuses all over the land were tuned to the likes of Dr. Who and later Red Dwarf.
There’s no question that this stuff is not for everyone. Red Dwarf brought us the cheesy f/x and dry humor of Tom Baker’s Dr. Who and added a generous helping of Monty Python and Benny Hill. With the third season, however, thi...gs began to change for Red Dwarf. Set production designer Mel Bibby joined the program, giving it a much sharper look than the previous two years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 22nd, 2004
Synopsis
On the outside, Rivervale High seems like a typical suburban school, filled with a largely white, middle-class population. New student Jenny Dahlquist (Jane McGregor) quickly discovers the divisive cliques that polarize the campus when she tries to find a seat in the cafeteria. Cheerleaders, jocks, druggies, preppies, skateboarders, nerds—they've all staked their territory in the lunchroom, and don't tolerate outsiders. At an empty table sits Trevor, the ultimate loner/outcast. Dubbed "The M...d Bomber," Trevor targeted the football team with an unwired explosive device the previous year, after enduring continual abuse and humiliation at the hands of the school's swaggering athletes. As a result, Rivervale now resembles a maximum security prison, complete with metal detectors, guards, and a zero tolerance policy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 22nd, 2004
The Stupids are a family with, as you can guess, a below-average intelligence. I think this might be due to inbreeding. The plot is fairly simple, more a series of vignettes: the family gets into some mess because of a mistake they make, and then get out of it in some silly manner. It sort of comes together in the end, but that's how the whole movie goes.
The Stupids is a kid's movie, and it was made with that exact audience in mind. It's not really there to entertain adults and...the level of humor is about the same as your average Saturday morning cartoon. It's full of puns, silly situations, and obvious references. Of course, a good kid's movie entertains both kids and adults, and The Stupids doesn't even attempt that. The movie is nothing more than a series of sketches, and once you accept that, you're in good hands. It's hit-or-miss like any sketch movie, but when it hits the silly and surreal stride it strives for, it's a lot of fun.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 22nd, 2004
What happens when a maladroit lackey, an entrepreneur and his wife, a polymath, a store clerk from Kansas, a motion picture starlet, and a ship captain get stranded on a desert island? The next edition of Survivor, right. Okay…I didn’t fool you. It’s Gilligan’s Island. And the first season is on DVD, all 36 episodes (including the infamous pilot)! Is this cause for celebration? Perhaps for some…
Gilligan’s Island ran for 3 seasons, and close to 100 episodes, on CBS from 1964 to 1967. Th... show grew more popular in syndication, and it spawned three T.V movies, an animation series, and a musical. Is the show any good? There are a lot of fans out there. I’m not one of them, sorry to say. But that’s okay. Not everyone likes salmon either.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 21st, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2004
I came into this title completely blind. I almost always have some idea what I am going to be watching, but in this case, I truly had none whatsoever. I believe that I might have heard the title of this show before, but that’s about it.
Upon viewing this set, it might be a good thing that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Otherwise, I would have never taken this task on. Put simply, this is not a show that has stood the test of time. True laughs are virtually nonexistent, as almost all of...the jokes in this show are now tired sitcom cliché’s. The funky 70’s duds may have been hip at the time, but they just look stereotypical by today’s standards. As many afros, bellbottoms, and velour as you can stand are crammed into each and every frame.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 20th, 2004
MGM keeps rolling out the Best Picture award winners. A few weeks ago it was Mutiny on the Bounty, this time it’s The Great Ziegfeld . I think Ziegfeld belongs in the category of those Best Picture winners that aren’t necessarily the best films for that year (Driving Miss Daisy?? C’mon). I actually prefer Frank Capra’s Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Gregory La Cava’s seminal screwball comedy My Man Godfrey (starring Ziegfeld’s own William Powell). The Great Ziegfeld al...o picked up Best Actress for Luise Rainer. She has excellent presence, some nice moments (the phone call scene, most famously), and those eyes. But for my money, I would’ve given it to Carole Lombard for My Man Godfrey. The Academy has always been a sucker for Big Emotion, and Rainer gives the audience spoonfuls of it. But then there are the well deserved Oscar Winning dance sequences by Seymour Felix.
The story follows the rise and fall of Flo Ziegfeld, broadway producer extraordinaire. We see the highs of lows of Ziegfeld’s life in “biz” and in love. It’s a Hollywood bio-pic, so you know some events will be glossed over. And the clichéd ending is, of course, completely ridiculous. But Powell’s portrayal of Ziggy tries to reflect some of the flaws in this “diamond” of a man. It’s a nice well rounded performance. If you enjoy his work, check out Criterion’s excellent DVD presentation of My Man Godfrey. And there are the Thin Man films, of course.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 20th, 2004
Synopsis
