Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 24th, 2002
Synopsis
Luke Perry picks up an outer-space pebble in a parking lot, gets zapped, and then startsspreading the alien virus. We’ve been in this territory before (and nowhere better than with theoriginal Invasion of the Body Snatchers), but we’ve never had to see it drawn out to 175 minutesbefore.
Audio
Okay, but nuthin’ special. The music starts off rather weak, but then suddenly gets a boostsin volume a few minutes in. There is some rear presence from the sound effe...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 24th, 2002
Synopsis
Despite the title, this holidays covered in this story run all the way from Christmas to theNew Year. Rabbit gets so touchy that, in order to placate him, the Hundred Acre Wood friendsmake resolutions to change, which involves exchanging roles. This is a gentle cartoon aimed atthe very, very young. The Carly Simon songs are pretty hard to take, though.
Audio
The precise nature of the soundtrack isn’t specified, which usually means 2.0. the music isg...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 24th, 2002
Synopsis
New girl Sandy (a simpering Olivia Newton-John) arrives at school after a summer romancewith bad boy John Travolta. Will he acknowledge the love they shared together, even if this costshim some of his coolness factor? Whether or not you care can be gauged by how you feel aboutthe extremely 70s soundtrack.
Audio
The film has been given a 5.1 mix, but the result isn’t spectacular. Granted, the soundtrack isalmost 25 years old, but the sound quality he...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 24th, 2002
Synopsis
Psychologist Mia is caught up in a web of erotic danger thanks to Tammy, whose husbandgets killed in the opening scene, and who is no doubt not as innocent as she appears to be. Bigyawn. And hasn’t anyone noticed that “Trois 2” is a singularly stupid sounding title? Why not“Trois 2: Uno”?
Audio
Film aside, the sound quality is pretty damn good, with an excellent music mix, and a prettysolid environment creation, with sound effects noticeably present...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 24th, 2002
Synopsis
A tour bus goes hundreds of kilometres off-course in the African desert. Then it breaks downby an abandoned town. While waiting for rescue (which may or may not ever come), thepassengers work on mounting a production of King Lear, and their civilized veneer getsprogressively stripped away. The concept is odd, but it works, and the cast (including JenniferJason Leigh) is uniformly strong.
Audio
The sound is only 2.0, but it must be borne in mind that...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 19th, 2002
Several years ago David Caruso left a young TV series to pursue a career in the big time. That young series was NYPD Blue and the big time movie career ended up somewhat less successful. Caruso is back on TV now and his latest film is proof that’s where he belongs. It’s not that Black Point is a bad film at all. It’s not. It does, however, play out like a made for TV movie. Artisan must agree because they decided to release it in full screen format. It’s one of those several twists/ no honor among thieves affairs.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 14th, 2002
Artisan has come through with a well-executed 10 Year Anniversary Edition of Glengarry GlenRoss. Well-executed, yes. Exceptional, no. The highlights of this set are definitely the DTS audio track and the new Widescreen transfer. Both are so exceptional as to make this set a “must purchase” for any fans of this movie or its cast. Beyond these two features, there is nothing particularly compelling about this set, however. Special features contain no standouts, and the second disc is largely the filler of a widescreen t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 11th, 2002
Outrage is actually the DVD release of a 1980’s made for TV film, Christopher Rage’s Outrage. Changing the title was probably a pretty good idea. West Wing star Rob Lowe is the focus of this B film. It’s actually a very watchable film if you’re willing to ignore plot holes large enough to drive a starship through and some lazy legal writing. (When the kids trash his home they leave more fingerprints than a 3 year old with an overstuffed peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but the cops see no evidence.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 5th, 2002
Synopsis
Ingrid Bergman is a psychoanalyst and, according to her male colleagues, a cold fish. Thischanges when Gregory Peck shows up as the new head of the psychiatric institution. The onlyproblem is, Peck is not who he says he is. In fact, he doesn’t even know who he really is.Bergman is determined to help him find out, but meanwhile, the man whose identity Peck hasassumed is missing, perhaps murdered... The psychoanalysis in the film is pure hokum, and theplot’s contrivances are ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 3rd, 2002
Synopsis
Jennifer Lopez plays a waitress named Slim. She meets Prince Charming in the person ofMitch (Billy Campbell). They get married, have a kid, and overnight Prince Charming turns intoJason Voorhees. After suffering a relentless campaign of terror, Slim shifts from Sleeping withthe Enemy to I Spit On Your Grave, and fights back. Her retaliation, which is the entire pointof the film in terms of title and promotion, only begins 80 minutes in. That’s a long time to waitthrough wha...
