Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 2nd, 2005
Synopsis
A monk is found walled up alive in an eccentric monastery, and Inspector Niemans (JeanReno) is on the case. Murders multiply around the country, connecting the cases worked on byNiemans and a young hotshot (Benoit Magimel, whose role is very similar to the one played byVincent Cassell in the original). The victims are all deeply religious, were all disciples of asurvivor who bears a more-than-passing resemblance to Jesus, and have the names andprofessions of the Disciples. They mur...erers are cowled monks possessed of apparentlysuperhuman strength and agility. What does all this have to do with the old underground tunnelsand defences of the Maginot Line? And what role does a German diplomat (Christopher Lee,demonstrating excellent French) have to play in all this?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 28th, 2005
Good Times is one of several shows from the 1970’s to trace its origins back to All In The Family. Florida was the maid to Maude, Edith’s cousin, who also got her own show. It wasn’t very long before Good Times became the Jimmie Walker show. His ghetto witisms and trademark “Dyn-o-Mite” exclamation took any attention from the other cast members. In the Fourth season John Amos left the show and his character, James, was killed in an accident. Esther Rolle would also depart for a time after this season. It’s no surprise that JJ’s role was beginning to increase and perhaps peaked here in Season Four.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 22nd, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 19th, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 7th, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 1st, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 26th, 2005
Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 is one of the worst movies ever made. At least...that's what I keep reading. Reviews have torched this movie, and I must concur. This movie is bad. And I don't think the first one was much of a hit either. So why make this dreck?
The plot of the movie revolves around our little genius heroes saving the world from an evil TV mogul played by Jon Voight (need a paycheck?). This baddie wants to submit subliminal messges through kiddie TV and control children (and baby ta...k) all over the world. There's a lot of kung fu between kids vs. adults, and Scott Baio shows up to proclaim to the world that HE IS NOT Chachi. The director Bob Clark has seen better days. Porky's is a masterpiece compared to this pablum.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2005
The Ring was an almost overnight success. Based on a Japanese horror film, it was “Americanized” and captured audiences with its creepy cinematography and wickedly sinister story. It was inevitable that the formula would be tried again.
You would think that The Grudge has everything necessary to continue that successful story. The Grudge is based on not one but a well known series of haunted house films in Japan. Spider Man’s own Sam Raimi teams up with Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Ge...lar, and the result is a bit short of mediocre. The first problem I had with this film is how difficult it is to follow. Shifting timelines and choppy editing make you work hard to keep up. Now, I don’t mind putting in a little effort in a movie from time to time. The serious flaw here is it simply isn’t worth it. I never really end up caring for the characters who were in danger. What is perhaps worse, I find no sympathy or interest in what or why things are happening. When the payoff finally comes, it seems like years of your life have been wasted, and frankly I was too weary for there to be any effect.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 10th, 2005
Films like Crimson Tide, Hunt for Red October and U-571 have tried on their own ways to take their place as the definitive modern submarine movie, but Das Boot still stands as King, over 20 years after its release. I remember hearing about this film growing up, and as a lad of 10, wasn’t into foreign films, or war films, as I am now, which may not be saying much. In seeing it when the Director’s Cut first came out in 1997, many people snapped up the 5.1 soundtrack, and Director’s Commentar... which was on the flipper disc. In my first viewing, I became enamored by the experiences of German war correspondent Werner (Herbert Gronemeyer), as he watches the transformation of the baby faced crew of the U-Boat transform into unshaved, withdrawn men and the end of their journey in the 10 foot wide by 150 foot long submarine.
Jurgen Prochnow (Air Force One) is the Captain of the sub, who has become jaded from hearing the numerous failures of the sub, and while he does follow orders, and attempts to attack an Allied shipping convoy, the mission is almost one of survival. Doing what you can to stay sane, almost civil, during the time in cramped quarters. When his (and other) boats encounter the Allied ships, the chase is sonically powerful, with loud depth charges booming in the water, rattling the metal chassis of the sub, along with the contrasting quiet of the crew, hoping to avoid the ships above them. Wolfgang Petersen (The Perfect Storm) does an outstanding job of portraying the cramped quarters, the decaying morale of the crew, and all of the suspenseful elements up to, and including, their trip home.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 8th, 2005
Admittedly when I first saw The Fifth Element, I wasn't too impressed by it, though Chris Tucker (Friday) did provide some good comedic moments, and it was nice to see Ian Holm (Lord of the Rings) return to major films also. I mainly thought that Bruce Willis had gone a bit silly with this one with dyed blonde head hair, in yet another action movie.
Upon further inspection however, the movie contains a lot of the breathtaking action that has made Frenchman Luc Besson's films (Leon>) as unique as they are. Written by Besson, the movie focuses on the title character (object?), when connected with the other elements (fire, water, earth and air), will prevent ultimate evil from ruling Earth. And when evil rules earth, light becomes dark, life becomes death, you get the idea. Every so often evil tries to come and destroy earth, and the elements must unite together to stop it. Willis is Korben Dallas, a former elite government soldier who became a taxi driver, has a modest apartment with a cat (his wife left with his lawyer, leaving him with nothing). His mission? Well, let's be frank, it's to save the world. The Fifth Element, a.k.a. Leeloo, played by Milla Jovovich (The Messenger) is played with equal parts comedy and action, combined with a brief (and somewhat unnecessary) glimpse at the end of her emotions, when she views a montage of war footage. The elements are represented as stones in the movie, and the “art dealer” Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman, Sid and Nancy) attempts to do what he can to obtain the stones. He works for a buyer who sounds a lot like Bob Guccione or Barry White, but maybe is symbolized as Evil itself?
