Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 27th, 2003
Synopsis
From its inception onward, here is the history of the Brooklyn Bridge, with special attentiongiven to the lives of the men whose dream this bridge was. As with Burns’ other documentaries,this is fascinating stuff, with great archival material, and some gorgeously evocative shots of thebridge.
Audio
The sound is mono, but stereo isn’t really necessary for this documentary. The main pointis whether or not the narration is clear, and it is. The accompa...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 21st, 2003
Synopsis
The titles and the stars speak for themselves: Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone and Olivia deHavilland in The Adventures of Robin Hood; James Cagney in Yankee DoodleDandy; Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Of the three,Yankee Doodle Dandy, a musical biopic of singer/dancer/songwriter George M. Cohan,is the one that has been treated the least kindly by the years. Its front and centre flag-waving canbe a bit much, though Cagney’s trem...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 21st, 2003
Many people would argue that T3: Rise of the Machines should never have been made; a new director, an unknown storyline, and a new actor playing John Connor. Others could not wait to see Arnie suit up as the Terminator one last time. Sure, the Rise of the Machines plot is somewhat questionable, but you sure do get a bunch of action packed into this film.
Arnold Schwarzenegger reprises his role of the big, bad, funny (yet not knowingly) terminator… but this time he is in for his biggest challenge yet, fa...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 3rd, 2003
Synopsis
The pilot episode lets you know immediately that this is going to be a bit different from thebucolic Smallville stories we might be familiar with. The spaceship containing the child Kal-El(soon to be Clark Kent) doesn't arrive on its own: it is accompanied by many fragments of theplanet Krypton, which smash destructively into Smallville, killing the parents of Lana Lang (andalmost putting paid to a young Lex Luthor). Flash forward to the present, and we follow ClarkKent thr...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 27th, 2003
Synopsis
Our starting point are two black medical assistants, who are lured by their dreams intoproviding some black-market kidneys. (One of them dreams of making a movie about “a blackgirl dying of cancer.”) They are supposed to meet two white guys (Secret Service men buying thekidney for a racist senator) at a suburban motel. Unfortunately, another deal is also supposed togo down at the same spot, this one involving two Cuban gangsters who are supposed to buy aload of cocaine from...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 18th, 2003
Synopsis
This comic-yet-scathing documentary begins as an autobiography, as Michael Moorerecounts his formative years in Flint, Michigan, accompanied by all kinds of amusing stockfootage. From here we segue to the closing of GM's Flint plants, a move that devastated thetown. Moore begins a quixotic quest to confrong Roger Smith, the head of General Motors, andalong the way winds up in all kinds of amusing (yet revelatory) situations. He also meets manycolourful characters in his hom...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 17th, 2003
Synopsis
Following the death of a legendary folk music impresario, his son organizes a tribute concertwith the acts the father made famous. Through interviews and rehearsals, we see the groups (TheFolksmen, Mitch and Mickey, and The New Main Street Singers) prepare for the big show. Thecast is talented and funny, and the music is a well-nigh perfect pastiche. The creative team seemsa bit too close to the music, however, and so the comedy lacks the bite it could have. The wholeprotes...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 28th, 2003
Synopsis
Charlton Heston drives around deserted Los Angeles. In the wake of a biological war, he isthe only human survivor of the plague. But he is not alone. At night, psychotic albino zombiescome out to kill him. After two years of war with the zombies (led by TV anchor turned madpreacher Anthony Zerbe), Heston discovers other human survivors. The race is on to see if hisblood can supply an antidote before these last people also perish of the plague. The first half ofthe fi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 26th, 2003

Synopsis
Surely you know the story. It's WWII. France has fallen. Refugees from Europe are flowing into Casablanca. Humphrey Bogart is the cynical owner of Rick's Cafe. His life is disrupted byt he reappearance of former lover Ingrid Bergman, who is married to Resistance leader Paul Henreid. They need to escape to the US. Which way will Bogart go? Will he obey the demands of his heart? His greed? His honour? The film hasn't aged a day since its release, its grip is as powerful as ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 26th, 2003
It’s hard to imagine that it’s been 20 years since the Griswald family packed up the Family Truckster and stumbled their way halfway across the country to Wally World.Truth be told, I am not much of a Chevy Chase fan. I often find his buffoon act trying and old, but the Vacation films are a notable exception. With today’s political correctness it’s doubtful that the family dog would meet such a horribly funny end (Before you write to tell me how cruel I am, I own a Siberian husky who is loved no matter how much trouble she gets into).
