Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 22nd, 2003
Synopsis
Undercover DEA agent Enrique Camarena (Steven Bauer) is kidnapped and killed inMexico. Drug lord Benicio Del Toro is responsible, but investigators Treat Williams and CraigT. Nelson discover the corruption is more widespread than they thought. The case boasts thatthis if “from the producers of The Insider, Ali and Black Hawk Down,” but a more accuratesense of this effort would be given had the tag read “from the director of Poltergeist III.” Prettystandard TV fare, and the ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 17th, 2003
Synopsis
A woman, wrongly accused of killing children, is hanged and curses the town of DarknessFalls. Now she is the Tooth Fairy, vulnerable to light, but otherwise deadly. If you peak whenshe comes for your tooth, you’re toast. In what is the scariest scene of the film, young Kyle seesher and escapes with his life (though his mother doesn’t). Twelve years later, the young brotherof Kyle’s old crush Caitlin is similarly haunted. Kyle is drawn back to Darkness Falls, there toconfron...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 15th, 2003
Synopsis
Cary Grant plays Sir William Rutland, British industrialist. He has arrived in Tokyo two daysearlier than his hotel reservation, and what with the Olympics going on, there isn't a room to behad. He fast-talks his way into sharing the apartment of Samantha Eggar, a young woman withobsessive clock-watching habits. She isn't thrilled to be sharing her apartment with a man, and iseven less thrilled when Grant brings home prickly architect/Olympic athlete Jim Hutton. Eggar iseng...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 8th, 2003
Synopsis
Five Power Rangers adventures, three of which are two-parters, add up to almost three hours-worth of material. The cheerful super-powered teens go up against the regular batch of rubber-suited bad guys. If you want your kids to develop an early appreciation of camp, this is just theticket. If you’re not already familiar with the basic premise of the series, the plot lines could be alittle confusing.
Audio
Ouch. The 2.0 surround is a very harsh mix. ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 8th, 2003
Synopsis
Nothing really to summarize here: 13 clips of musical numbers from everything from TheLion King to Pinocchio to Aladdin. Captions encourage viewers to sing along. There are severalnew songs from recent direct-to-video movies too.
Audio
This isn’t a sound effects disc, so what is of interest is the music, and the 5.1 mix is verysolid: distortion free but not too deafening.
Video
Strong and sharp, with the colours generally vi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 8th, 2003
Synopsis
A synopsis is beside the point here. The main feature is song clips from various Winnie ThePooh cartoons with animated captions encouraging the kids to sing along. I do wonder about theaudience for such bits as the Tigger song: this piece moves so fast that you need to be a speedreader to keep up, and so probably too old for the DVD.
Audio
No sound effects to speak of, naturally, since music is the whole point of the DVD. Themusic sounds fine. It is...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 5th, 2003
Synopsis
Sanaa Lathan is a music journalist, and Taye Diggs is a hip-hop star. They’ve been friendssince childhood, but not a romantic couple. Diggs is about to get married to someone else, whichcauses Lathan to reconsider her feelings. The naturalism of the performances and the importanceof the setting make this a refreshing break from too many cookie-cutter romances.
Audio
The environmental effects aren’t bad, with decent use of sound effects. The music, how...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 4th, 2003
Synopsis
Owen Wilson is an agent for the fictional Bureau of National Security. He doesn’t have avery good track record, and so is constantly stuck with substandard equipment. He is sent toHungary to recover the Switchblade, a super-stealth plane stolen by Malcolm McDowell. He ispartnered up with egotistical boxer Eddie Murphy, and the usual buddy hijinks ensue. There issome fun to be had in the frantic action sequences, and in a Cyrano de Bergerac moment whenMurphy is trying to coa...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 4th, 2003
Synopsis
On their way to a kid’s concert, the Veggies’ bus runs off the road, and they go for help ina seafood restaurant. At this restaurant are the “pirates who do nothing,” who teach one of theyoungsters a lesson in compassion through their tale of their adventures with Jonah. Nicelyanimated, Jonah for the most part avoids the ham-fisted didacticism that plagues many similarefforts.
Audio
A very strong, powerful mix. The music is a particular standout. Th...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 3rd, 2003
Originally released in 1988 this film received 4 Academy awards (Best film editing, best sound effects editing, best visual effects, special achievement in animation direction) and was the first film to feature a combination of live action and traditional cell drawn animation. Before any of the other big budget animation films of the 90’s (think the Little Mermaid, The Lion King, etc.) there was Roger Rabbit. This film spawned the animation revolution of the 90’s and there still to this day is nothing like it. One pa...
