Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 1st, 2007
Edward G. Robinson is the war crimes investigator on the relentless hunt for the fugitive Nazi who masterminded the Final Solution. He arranges for the one man who knows his face to escape imprisonment, and follows him to a small Connecticut town. There he loses his quarry, but evidence soon points to Orson Welles, who, under the identity of Charles Rankin, is now a college professor and new husband to Loretta Young. Welles stops at nothing, including murder, to protect his secret, but little by little Young is forced to realize who her husband really is.
Welles’ third film as a director is far more conventional than Citizen Kane or The Magnificent Ambersons, and it isn’t quite up to its predecessors. Robinson is terrific as a detective who must become almost as cold-blooded as his prey, but Welles’ performance is too big: his character might as well be wearing a “NOT A NAZI WAR CRIMINAL†name tag. That said, the suspense is powerful, and the cinematography pure, gorgeous noir.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 31st, 2007
Left alone when his family leaves town to visit relatives, professor Edward G. Robinson hangs out at his club with his two cronies, one of whom is DA Raymond Massey. He is fascinated by a striking portrait of a young woman, and one night, leaving the club late and alone, he runs into the portrait’s model (Joan Bennett). Though he knows better, he accompanies her back to her apartment. A jealous lover bursts in and attacks Robinson, who murders him in self-defense. Panicked by the situation, Bennett and Robinson cover up the event, but both the authorities and a blackmailer circle closer and closer.
Robinson is magnificent as a basically decent man whose one lapse in judgment leads him to catastrophe. His eyes radiate a desperate desire to turn back the clock, and the audience squirms along with him. Bennett’s character is interesting as the unintentional femme fatale: she never has any desire to cause trouble for Robinson. Director Fritz Lang holds the audience in a lethal grasp, which never loosens in the slightest until the unfortunate cop-out ending.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 31st, 2007
Throw reason out with the trash, and sit down to a feel-good movie that tries just a little too hard to be quirky. That’s your best approach to The Astronaut Farmer, which pits Billy Bob Thornton against all odds to reach outer space by way of his farm-built rocket.
Everyone likes an inspirational story now and then, so I’m sure this film will find an appreciative audience. For me, there are better choices – say, October Sky, for example. Here, instead of a boy who loves rockets, we have Charlie Farmer (Billy Bob, Sling Blade), a former astronaut who never made it to space. Now he’s trying to get there by himself, having built a rocket from spare parts, a project which has brought him this close to foreclosure on his house, his farm and his family. Though they’re supportive, even Farmer’s wife and kids have to reach beyond the stars to find the guts and lack of reason to commit to helping their father reach his goal – or bust.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 28th, 2007
I still remember the first time I watched a Spawn animated episode. I was with my parents in my younger years on what I believe was the last vacation we ever took together. It was a hotel we were staying at which had HBO (I never had that channel growing up). I had read Spawn but didn't even know of the animated series. The fact it was late at night and on a premium movie channel meant it had to be good. I was simply blown away and remember telling my parents that we had to be back at the hotel to watch it again the next night. I remember that later I would procure used copies of the series. All beat up, in snapper cases, it didn't matter. I soon dumped those copies in a couple of years and hoped that it would get reissued in a nice box set. That time has come, Spawn has come home.
Spawn is Todd McFarlane's baby; his issue of defiance when he and a group of artists started Image Comics. Great art, compelling stories and no boundaries. Spawn was the story of Al Simmons who sold his soul to the demon Malebolgia so that he come back to avenge his death and be with his wife Wanda one more time. Problem was once that occurred he was to become an undead "hellspawn". So he fights that control constantly along with enemies from that conflict and those enemies in the human world that would bring him harm. He is not a superhero so much but the boogieman, a character that lives in the shadows and comes out at night to take care of business and then return to those same shadows by morning.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2007
I have to say right off the get go, these are two movies I’ve never heard of and I’m guessing it would have probably been better kept that way. Still I’m going into this review completely unbiased but rather just with the expectations of horrendously typical 80’s comedy. At least there are a few recognizable actors including Rob Lowe, John Cusack, and Virginia Madsen in Class and Kelly Preston, Lori Loughlin, and Fred Ward in Secret Admirer. At any rate lets see how these dubbed 80’s classics turn out.
I’ll start off with Class which has a better cast and was easily the better of the two, which isn’t saying much for either. Jonathon (Andrew McCarthy, Pretty in Pink) is a country boy who gets a scholarship to a posh school where he’s roomed up with his Skip (Rob Lowe, Tommy Boy), who pretty much his opposite. But despite their different backgrounds Skip takes it upon him to see that naïve Jonathon looses his virginity. He sends him off to Chicago where Jonathon meets an older woman with whom he shares an affair, only ending once she realizes he’s underage. But things get complicated one day when Skip takes Jonathon home and finds out the woman from Chicago is Skip’s mom, and Skip finds out about the affair and that’s when things get messy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 26th, 2007
Preston Foster is a bitter ex-cop who masterminds a gigantic robbery. Hiding behind a mask, he forces three cons to work with him, and makes sure they too wear masks, so only he knows everyone’s identity. The heist also involves framing an innocent flower delivery-man (Joe Rolfe), who unfortunately has done his own stint in jail, and so is put through the brutal wringer by the police. Freed but understandably ticked off, Payne sets off on the trail of the men who framed him. Tracking one to Tijuana, Payne adopts his identity and arrives at the resort where Foster and others have gathered. Foster’s master plan is complicated by the arrival of his daughter, who develops an interest in Payne.My summary likely makes the film sound hellishly convoluted. Though it does indeed have a plethora of twists and turns, the storytelling remains crystal-clear throughout, and it is astonishing how many issues and incidents it packs into 99 minutes. The near torture that Payne suffers at the hands of the police is wince-inducing, and Neville Brand and a young Lee Van Cleef are memorably sleazy cons. Marvellous fun.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 26th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
I don't particularly like boxing, or wrestling for that matter. Martial arts don't usually turn my crank either, so it's a little inexplicable for me to be such a UFC fan. And yet, I am. Very much so.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 26th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
Space Ghost & Dino Boy is the kind of show that seems as though it would carry with it a great deal of nostalgia. Its characters are memorable and its animation is characteristic of an era of cartooning long since gone. Unfortunately, since I missed the show’s heyday by a good 20 years, it’s impossible for me to join in on these fond memories.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 26th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
Space Ghost & Dino Boy is the kind of show that seems as though it would carry with it a great deal of nostalgia. Its characters are memorable and its animation is characteristic of an era of cartooning long since gone. Unfortunately, since I missed the show’s heyday by a good 20 years, it’s impossible for me to join in on these fond memories.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 23rd, 2007
I did a couple of high school musicals growing up. South Pacific and Oklahoma. South Pacific I remembered much more fondly as sometimes I wanted to wash that man right outta my hair. Wait...umm...*taps fingers* *pause*. Oh, right, musicals. High School Musical was a low-budget Disney tv movie that would end up becoming one of Disney's best successes in recent memory. It was only natural that due to its musical nature and teen fanbase that it would expand into a national tour that would encompass 51 dates over 6 months. The DVD is kinda cool in the sense that the show they used is footage from the December 18th performance in Houston, Tx at the Toyota Center since I happen to live in the Metro area. For those living here, it's easy to tell that it is the Toyota Center from it's sky boxes (and also the fact they mention it about half a dozen times). No I did not go. Let's just make that perfectly clear. I think I had to wash my hair that night. *more taping*
I could sit here and pan the dvd for being hokey and being nauseating. However, in all reality; it's not that bad if you go in expecting something that will appeal only to it's fan base. I mean if I am a fan of High School Musical, this concert dvd is going to be great; first of all I get a whole 57 minutes of material. All the familiar songs are here from the movie and wait, 57 minutes? The shows usually ran 2 1/2 hours. Sure there is an intermission or two and you have to count the opening act, but the edits are obvious and it feels like a best of. High School Musical can not do a best of until they get at least two cds worth of material. Like Hilary Duff or Brittany Spears. The good thing about the concert is that they do have most of the original cast minus Zac Efron who went to go work on Hairspray (he liked standing in the shadows of a very big and scary John Travolta). It just feels like they rushed the dvd a bit in the editing process so that they could sell a few hundred thousand copies to the fanbase and say cha-ching.
