Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 20th, 2003
In 1962 Ed Sabol purchased the rights to film the NFL and history was made. NFL films came to pioneer so many styles of filming that are still in use today like slow motion and the tight spiral football shot. The footage contained in these discs have never been seen before, it is old archived footage that was never used and it is amazing. The three discs are as follows…
Disc 1 – The Creation (1962-1965): This film looks at the beginning of what would become NFL Films. Watch as Ed Sabol and his ...on Steve pioneer the use of slow motion, multiple cameras and wireless microphones all while seeing amazing players like Jim Brown in never before seen footage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 20th, 2003
Steven Seagal is certainly showing his age in Half Past Dead. To ardent fans of his tough-guy act, this might be a bad thing. To those of us just looking for a good film, I think it’s actually a good thing. With Seagal’s ass-kicking held more in check there appears more room for a story to grow. This one is above average. Seagal’s age also means a stronger supporting cast and this one has a nice one. Mia Peoples is stunning as one of the main villains. Ja Rule and Kurupt add the necessary urban reality and some comedy relief when called for. Morris Chestnut is a believable baddie and Hill Street Blues alum Bruce Weitz provides a very refreshing convicted killer found God. Don Michael Paul does a splendid job as director. The story moves constantly and the fight scenes are neatly filmed. You’ll find enough bullets and martial arts to fill a Matrix sequel, but for a change they aren’t extended dance scenes but rather tightly staged moments of action.
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 20th, 2003
Synopsis
The Legend of the gunfighter who wears the red scorpion jacket has come to South Beach in Miami. When the parking valet at a local strip club gets pulled into the legend he hinds himself the target of a mob hit and running for his life. Throw a sociopathic blonde into the mix and he might as well finish himself off before someone does it for him.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 20th, 2003
Writer Norman Mailer and director Lawrence Schiller can’t get enough of the nation’s most intriguing criminals. Best known for the critically acclaimed Executioner’s Song, the duo are at it again with this CBS mini-series spruced up to an R rating for DVD.
To anyone who has seen the 60 Minutes piece or kept up with the story in their local paper, the story is familiar enough. Robert Hanssen spied for the Soviet Union for 22 years while a top level FBI agent. William Hurt delivers a rather deadpan performance as Hanssen, a man rife with contradictions. An obsessively devout Catholic who secretly shares pictures and videos of his naked wife with his best friend, Hanssen has little moral trouble with providing information that costs other men their lives. Better performances are turned in by Ron Silver and Mar Louise Parker who plays Hanssen’s wife. Wayne Knight sheds his “knucklehead” persona for a solid performance as an FBI colleague of Hanssen’s. You’ll find this cut of the film contains some nudity not shown on the CBS broadcast version.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 18th, 2003
Fred Ward is a tough, no-nonsense cop. One night (when for some reason he has no partner),he is the victim of an attack, and wakes up with a different face and a new identity. He has been recruited by a shadowy government organization (currently made up of three other people). He is trained by Korean master Chiun (Cabaret MC Joel Grey under lots of makeup) to become a fighting machine. Meanwhile, future starship captain Kate Mulgrew is an army major investigating an industrialist who seems to be fleecing the US military for billions of dollars. All paths will soon merge.
Remo Williams is certainly a cheerful enough exercise, and its puppy-dog-like desire to be just the beginning of an endless series has a certain endearing quality to it. But not that many of the jokes are funny, and the action scenes are flat (which is a disappointment, given that the director – Guy Hamilton – helmed Goldfinger). As well, the training takes up far too much of the film time, relegating the thriller angle to a mere subplot. The film is thus two hours of passable entertainment, but only just.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 15th, 2003
This disc is a compilation of the 5 highest rated episodes of the Steve Harvey Show. This TV series ran from 1996-2002 on the WB network and features Steve Harvey (The Original King’s of Comedy) as Steve Hightower ex-1970’s R&B star turned music teacher and assistant principal and Cedric “The Entertainer” (Barbershop) as coach Cedric Wilson and Steve’s best friend and roommate. It also featured your usual high school sitcom cast of characters. The five episodes presented here are:
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 13th, 2003
Essentially, this is standard Hulk stuff: Bruce Banner wants to stop his horrible transformation, General Ross wants to kill the Hulk, Betty Ross wants to save the man she loves,and all sorts of villains get into the mix. There is a bit more continuity than in some other TV cartoon fare (though not on the level of, say, Gargoyles). The animation is standard TV stuff.Keeping the commercial breaks in so obviously wasn’t necessary, I have to say.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2003
20 Million Miles To Earth has always been one of my favorite films. It was from this classic monster fest that I developed my long standing respect for stop motion pioneer Ray Harryhausen. In 1998, I got to meet Ray for the first time as his assistant for a horror convention (unfortunately run by a megalomaniac). It was there that I developed enough of a relationship with him and his lovely wife Diane that I was able to interview him at the 2003 Wonderfest in Louisville. Ray’s time was extremely limited, so I ...as joined in my interview by Einsiders’ Rusty White. You can find the actual interview at: http://einsiders.com/features/interviews/harryhausen.php.
20 Million Miles to Earth was originally written by Harryhausen to take place in Chicago, but as Ray tells me: “I originated the story. Then, I wanted a trip to Italy, so I changed the location when I submitted it to Columbia. I had always wanted to go to Europe and I didn’t have the money. So, I changed the location to Sicily because I wanted to go to Rome.” The more exotic location gave Ray more than his chance to visit Italy. It supplied the film with one of those memorable climaxes as the creature climbs the walls of the Coliseum. The creature itself also went through several changes. Ray explains, “First he was a Cyclops, then he was a two-horned, with two eyes. Oh, he was very stout originally. Then I decided that he would be better off thin. So I made him more humanoid.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 11th, 2003
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 11th, 2003
Synopsis
