Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2003
Well, the era of mass market “indie” films is upon us. In spite of its manufactured artfulness, "One Hour Photo" does have appeal: Robin Williams portrays a stereotypical damaged post-modernist psychopath with a flourish of reality that does him credit as an actor, and writer/director Mark Romanek is a fresh face on the Hollywood scene. Supporting cast Paul Kim and David Moreland step out of Wal-Mart and onto the screen – spectacular characterizations. Connie Neilsen and Michael Vartan, however, give at best stilted ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 27th, 2003
Synopsis
The Miss Daisy of the title is played by Jessica Tandy. After she wrecks her car, her son (Dan Aykroyd) hires a chauffeur (Morgan Freeman) for her. Miss Daisy is fiercely resistant to the supposed loss of independence this represents, but she eventually lets Freeman do his job. A strong friendship grradually develops between the two. In the background, we catch glimpses of the changing American South as the film moves from 1947 to 1972. Prejudice, both racial and anti-semitic, lurks just und...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 26th, 2003
Synopsis
Our guide to the Manchester movement 1976-1992 is Tony Wilson (a mesmerizingly goodSteve Coogan), TV personality and would-be music impresario. Blown away by an earlyperformance by The Sex Pistols, Wilson sets about forming his own music club and record label(The Factory). Central to his enterprise’s rise and fall are Joy Division/New Order and the HappyMondays. Wilson addresses the camera constantly, as if we were watching a documentary onhis life, and the result is as fun...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 23rd, 2003
Not since Scarface with Al Pacino has there been a film that captured the world of the drug lord as well as Blow. The style is reminiscent of Goodfellas with its character-driven narrative and snapshot photography. Taken from the real-life story of George Jung who is still serving a 30-year sentence for drug trafficking, Blow explores the evolution of cocaine as the drug of choice for the American elite. Ted Demme manages to give us an honest portrayal of Jung that does not glorify or justify his evil deeds.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 23rd, 2003
Synopsis
Robert Mitchum is Jeb Rand, and he keeps having memory flashes of an incident from hischildhood. Something happened to kill his family, only he doesn’t know what. He is taken in bythe Callum family, and we find out that Dean Jagger, patriarch of the Callums, has vowed to killevery last Rand on Earth. Mitchum’s estrangement with his foster brother, and his love for fostersister Teresa Wright, only serve to precipitate tragedy and gunplay. The wrap-up to all this is toopat an...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 23rd, 2003
I wouldn’t say The Last Man was the worst film I ever saw, but that’s only because I did see Battlefield Earth and Event Horizon. If there’s a category below B film this is a great example. The whole film has the feel of community theatre at its worst. Dan Montgomery delivers such a bad performance that it would be funny if it didn’t hurt so much to watch. The story rambles on for 93 minutes that will feel more like 3 hours.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 21st, 2003
Synopsis
Father Kerwin Matthews is flown to the island of Talua (near Tahiti) to replace cynicalFather Spencer Tracy. Also on the plane are three convicts, led by Frank Sinatra. Tracy enliststhem for help in fixing up a hospital for child lepers. When a volcano erupts, forcing theevacuation of the entire island, it’s redemption all around as the convicts join with Tracy to savethose sweet little kids. Oh, and did I mention that Sinatra falls in love with a blind woman whoworks at th...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 19th, 2003
Synopsis
Humphrey Bogart is Rip Murdock (that a manly enough moniker for ya?). His best frienddisappears, and then shows up dead. Bogart investigates and finds himself in a web of deceit andmurder, at the centre of which is Lizabeth Scott, his buddy’s former flame, and the woman forwhom he might have committed murder. There are a couple of embarrassing moments (theending scene, and a hilariously bad lip-synching exercise by Scott), but there are also more twistsand turns than you ca...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 19th, 2003
Synopsis
Eccentric millionaire Sellers adopts homeless Ringo Starr. They then travel about, playingnasty tricks on (primarily) the rich. Putting in appearances are John Cleese, Raquel Welch,Christopher Lee, Roman Polanski, Yul Brynner, Richard Attenborough, and so on. Extremelydisjointed, and only sporadically funny (at best).
Audio
Ugh. The case claims this DVD is in 2.0 surround. Bull. This is mono, and the sound qualityis pretty bad: it’s harsh, it’s dist...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 19th, 2003
Synopsis
Humphrey Bogart, down-on-his-luck sports writer, is recruited by crooked boxing impresarioRod Steiger. Bogart’s assignment: build up the reputation of a gigantic but incompetent fighter.A series of fixed fights leads to the gentle Goliath’s superstardom, but you know this is all goingto end in tears. Bogart descends further and further into corruption, hating himself all the way.The boxing scenes are stunning in their brutality, and the film (barring a perhaps overlyoptimis...
