Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 5th, 2004
As a music lover, the phrase, “written by Paul McCartney” almost always signifies excellence in the performance to come. For a movie lover, this is not necessarily the case. Sure, A Hard Day’s Night is a great film, Help! is better than average, and Yellow Submarine is a fun departure from mainstream animation. Heck, even Magical Mystery Tour has a campy sort of charm to it.
Apparently, the same rule that applies to music also applies to cinema; without the rest of The Beatles, P...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 3rd, 2004
The Monsters of Universal Studios during the 1930’s to the 1950’s truly are a legacy. This collection, while including many films already released, is an important set. Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein Monster, and Lon Chaney’s tortured Larry Talbot/The Wolfman have inspired generations of filmmakers, writers, and f/x engineers. The influence on our culture is impossible to deny. When asked about Frankenstein, most of us conjure the classic Karloff image long before we think of Mary Shelley or any ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 3rd, 2004
In today’s age of manufactured talent less pop stars you have to hand it to the artists that still write and actually perform their own original material. Versus the one’s who simply head into the studio with a team of writers and producers and who don’t even have the talent to actually sign live but instead just lip sync. Jewel whether you like her music or not is an artist, she writes her own material and even co-produced her last album. At times she is incredibly engaging at other times slightly annoying but, her ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 1st, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 30th, 2004
Synopsis
The film spirals around and around the last half-hour or so at a high school before twoheavily armed students arrive to slaughter their classmates. Again and again, we go over the sametime segment, but Gus Van Sant’s constantly moving camera takes a different POV each time,and interactions that were fleeting background at one moment become central on the next goaround. Anyone who has survived high school (one of society’s most successful attempts tocreate Hell on Earth) wil...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 29th, 2004
Synopsis
A young boy is growing huge and foul-mouthed due to a growth hormone injection gonewrong. The scientist who injected him (Jackie Burroughs) gets in touch with fellow researcherPaul Coufos, reasoning somehow that he might be able to come up with an antidote. Before hisresearch at the university is complete, however, animal rights activists break into his lab andrelease injected rats. Soon rats the size of wolves are prowling about the campus tunnels,munching on all and sundr...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 28th, 2004
When I first glanced over the cast of this film, I was certain that it was shot in the 80’s. These days, names such as Deborah Harry, Ally Sheedy, Ralph Macchio and Robin Givens just don’t show up together on a movie poster. Of course, this is no ordinary gangster film, either. In fact, for a director trying to make a name for himself, this casting strategy is pretty brilliant. If Quentin Tarrantino has taught us anything, he has taught us that old actors don’t lose their chops, they just become less fashionable. If ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 28th, 2004
I spent many an evening as a child watching the Peanuts gang in one of their famous holiday specials. I looked in my backyard for The Great Pumpkin at Halloween, and I often times decorated my very own Charlie Brown Christmas tree at Christmastime. Obviously, I was not alone in my enjoyment of these cartoons, as the very same shows are aired even now, during the appropriate time of year.
The popularity of these cartoons has not escaped the attention of the estate of Charles Schultz, either. In an attempt to...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 28th, 2004
Synopsis
After being stripped of his title by Norman baron Jeroen Krabbe, Saxon Robert Hode(Patrick Bergin) becomes Robin Hood, outlaw. He soon leads a large band of the dispossessed,and the battles with Krabbe become more and more pointed. Robin has also tumbled for MaidMarian (Uma Thurman), but she is promised to the evil Jurgen Prochnow.
In other words, all of the familiar incidents and story elements of the Robin Hood legend arepresent and correct. The film is grittier t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 26th, 2004
Synopsis
Still reeling from the death of their young son, Samantha Morton and Paddy Considine,along with young daughters Sarah and Emma Bolger move from Ireland to Manhattan. Life istough. Considine can’t find any acting work, the family is forced to live in a rotting apartmentbuilding in Hell’s Kitchen, Considine in particular is stuck in the grip of the past tragedy, andMorton’s new pregnancy is fraught with complications.
The above outline makes the film sound grim as all...
