Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 5th, 2007
The name of this double-pack is slightly misleading, but that is not to suggest the film and television mini-series on offer are in any way bad. Quite the contrary, in fact. It’s just that they aren’t exactly “action” films per se. So don’t pick this up hoping for something in the vein of The Road Warrior. Instead, these are brutally intense dramas with strong action elements. Both titles are excellent.
Metal Skin is a 1994 effort from director Geoffrey (Romper Stomper) Wright. He returns here to the world of youth subculture. Here, instead of Skinheads, this is a world of underground races, but the denizens are just as doomed as in the earlier film. The main character is a disturbed young man whose dreams of driving a fast car and forming a romantic attachment are utterly deluded. He has a fraught relationship with a trio, each of whom has his/her own reasons to see the world as a black hellhole. When the car-duel climax arrives, it is earned at the emotional level, and makes the likes of The Fast and the Furious look even more anaemic than it already is.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 9th, 2006
Synopsis
Spanning 1966 through 1995, these are six short features covering David Lynch’s career from is very beginning to his current position as one of the most important voices in American cinema. The shorts are, in order: “Six Men Getting Sick,” “The Alphabet,” “The Grandmother,” “The Amputee” (two versions), “The Cowboy & The Frenchman” and “Lumière.” As one might expect from Lynch, there is a pretty heavy nightmare quotient here. The first three films have a lot of animation, and the result is n...t unlike the hallucinatory collaboration between Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam and Norman MacLaren. The most substantial piece here is “The Grandmother,” a half-hour journey through a little boy’s hell and the grandmother he grows to protect him from his horrible parents. Lynch introduces each film, contextualizing it in his life and career, and there are shots of her first camera, the receipt for it, and the like. For Lynch fans, this is essential viewing. For film historians, ditto.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 29th, 2006
Best guess, this is David Lynch's way of showing how crude and tasteless many modern animated shows are. Maybe by creating one of these shows at the truly lowest possible denominator, Lynch is trying to make an artistic comment on what the American public freely accepts as quality entertainment. Shows such as Beavis and Butt-Head have been mocked for their poor animation quality. South Park has frequently been mentioned when strong language is the topic of discussion. This series hits an all-new low in...both categories, not to mention those of extreme violence and gross-out humor. This show truly is the lowest possible artistic medium... and it is that way on purpose. By showing us just how utterly wretched these shows could be, Lynch is sending a powerful message to the ever-growing segment of the American population that thinks it is “cool” to be ignorant; as well as to those networks that put such shows on the air.
While I do not completely agree with his beliefs, he still makes a very valid point. This is a very shrewd way of making an editorial comment, but that doesn't make this disc any more pleasant to watch. Watch this disc if you must, but I beg of you, please, please do not buy it. You will never watch it a second time. In fact, though the entirety of the disc only lasts 35-minutes, you may not even make it that far the first time through.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 21st, 2006
Synopsis
After the mysterious death of his former employer, perpetually shirtless gardener Joe Dallesandro is taken on by the rich and rather twitty Katherine Houghton. He works wonders with her garden, wonders so miraculous, in fact, that the rest of her staff becomes very suspicious. Unfortunately, Houghton is falling more and more deeply under the gardener’s mesmeric spell, and anyone who stands in his way runs into strange botanical fates.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 12th, 2005
Synopsis
Donald Pleasence (doing a bad Peter Lorre impression) is a university professor convinced that he can create plant/human hybrids that have the benefits of both species. He acquires unwilling human subjects thanks to erstwhile Doctor Who Tom Baker, here the deformed leader of a freak circus, who kidnaps young men and women, having been promised a cure for his condition.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 6th, 2005
Synopsis
A trio of low-lifes led by Tiffany Bolling kidnap innocent young Candy (Susan Sennet). They bury in the hillside, and the only witness is mute, autistic little boy. They inform Candy’s father that he must deliver a load of diamonds from the shop he runs, or Candy dies. Their plan appears foolproof. But then the father doesn’t show up. Confusion and dissension in the ranks breaks out, and the plot moves inexorably towards a terrible ending.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 12th, 2005
Synopsis
