Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 31st, 2004
I have had the pleasure of reviewing better films than Home Room; and I’ve certainly suffered through worse. But I am not sure I’ve reviewed a more important film. I’ve been a public high school teacher for over 8 years. Ask any educator and you’ll find that Columbine changed things for everyone, so I wasn’t sure how I would find this study of that kind of violence. The subject is handled with extreme care in Home Room. In a wise decision, the shooting occurs to a black screen. We don’t really pick up the story until after the event.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 31st, 2004
Synopsis
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (OUTM) is the third film in the conceptual trilogy of El Mariachi, Desperado, and OUTM. Its not a direct sequel, but you’ll recognize a lot of characters and imagery from the prior movies.
Plot: Without posting any spoilers, this is the story of CIA agent “Sands” (Depp) attempting to manipulate a military coup planned by a Mexican drug lord (Dafoe). El Mariachi (Banderas) gets caught up in the middle of after being hired by Sands, but as it turns out he’s...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 29th, 2004
Synopsis
A sinister organization called “Big O” (get it?) is plotting something to do with nuclearmissiles. The only man for the job, apparently, is Matt Helm (Dean Martin at his most greasilyrepulsive). Stella Stevens plays a woman who may be in league with the Big O, or she may begenuinely stupid, and Matt drags her along on his quest for the bad guys. The plot makes verylittle sense, the action scenes are dull, and nobody involved with this project seems to have caredvery much. M...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 28th, 2004
Synopsis
Ed Harris is the coach of a small-town high school football team in 1976. He takes an interestin Cuba Gooding, Jr. after the mentally challenged young man is tormented by some of thethoughtless players. Harris takes Gooding under his wing as a kind of team mascot (orsomething). A friendship grows between the two men, and Gooding gradually blooms. Thoughnot quite as gruesomely “inspirational” as the trailers implied, this still comes very close, like anafter-school TV specia...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 27th, 2004
Synopsis
This documentary follows eight children as they compete in that peculiarly Americaninstitution, the National Spelling Bee. The first half of the film profiles each of the eight, andwe see them at home with their families, getting ready for the big competition. The second half isthe Bee itself, brilliantly edited to generate maximum tension in the viewer. One of the film’sremarkable achievements is that, unlike so many other documentaries which centre around acompetition, we...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 25th, 2004
In 1976 a New York media group conducted a survey of the NYPD detectives. The question was: “Of all the TV cop shows, which most accurately portrays life as a detective?” The overwhelming response was the comedy Barney Miller.
It seems that real cops related to the daily grind and weekly wackos of Barney Miller. Let’s not put aside that this was also one of the most consistently funny shows on television. I remember it took me a while to accept Abe Vigoda in such a light role as Fish. My first exposure to Vigoda was the ruthless mobster in The Godfather.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 20th, 2004
Synopsis
Richard Harris is Oliver Cromwell, reluctant revolutionary, every more reluctant dictator.Alec Guinness is Charles I, the King of England who is given very bad advice, but makes somestupid decisions all on his own. The English Civil War is played out for us, with a cast offamiliar faces (Robert Morley, Timothy Dalton, Charles Gray, etc. etc.) and some prettyimpressive battle scenes. (Though those of you fresh from a screening of The Return of theKing should please re...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 15th, 2004
Synopsis
After five months in space, the crew of Ironman One (Richard Crenna, James Franciscus andGene Hackman) are returning to Earth when their ship’s retrorockets do not fire. They aretrapped in orbit, with only 42 hours of oxygen. Back on Earth, NASA chief Gregory Peck at firstsees no way of saving them, but at the urging of David Janssen, a Hail Mary rescue attempt isput together. The problem: the soonest the rescue ship can arrive is in 42 hours. And there’s ahurricane closing...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 12th, 2004
Synopsis
Gérard Depardieu is a Catholic priest and doctor with a dark secret in his past. Working inBrazil, he deals with the case of Sarah (Élodie Bouchez), a Carmelite nun who suffers all thesymptoms of appendicitis without actually having it. He is gravely concerned for her health, butthe Carmelites are very protective of Sarah. In fact, they are clearly hiding something.Meanwhile, in Paris, Sarah's twin sister Gäelle is about to be released on parole after serving tenyears of a ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 11th, 2004
Legends of vampires and werewolves are almost as old as time itself. Long before Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney defined these creatures for Hollywood, the myths persisted. Cave drawings in South America depict stories of changelings and blood suckers that were told 5,000 years ago. Underworld offers a refreshing spin on both tales. What if the clans of Vampires and Werewolves were at war for over a thousand years? The dark, seedy “Underworld” is visually compelling. Let’s not even talk about Kate Beckinsale. The wonderfully photographed blend of Gothic and modern settings owes much to the European locations.
