Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 7th, 2006
The Culpepper Cattle Company was a surprise for me, and one that I looked forward to immensely. I love a good western, and I'm particularly fond of anything post-Leone. A western doesn't have to be spaghetti, however, for me to like it. I just feel that, for all Sergio's overblown proportions, he did instill an accurate degree of nastiness in his films, which I'm sure was prevalent in that time of American history. Once Sergio came, westerns grew up, even if they were playing closer to the American style of fi...mmaking. Gone were the days of the fired gun, the clenched chest, and the instant kill. A similar renaissance affected the war film genre with the arrival of Saving Private Ryan, and I feel the recent war-time efforts have been much the better for it. After the glut of Saturday morning western chicanery found in John Wayne's early films and others of that period, it was a relief to see westerns on the silver screen with the right amount of intensity. But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. And The Culpepper Cattle Company falls somewhere in that descent.
That doesn't mean the film is without merit. I enjoyed parts of it very much. It is, most of the time, an interesting coming-of-age tale, as it follows a young boy with a dream. That dream? He wants to be a cowboy. But as the film progresses, he gets a bitter taste of what it means to fulfill that dream. The boy (Gary Grimes) tags along with a gang of cut-throat cattlemen on a drive to Colorado. As they trek westward, the harsh realities of the prairie - be it man-against-man, or man-against-nature - start to set in. Unfortunately, it doesn't get any more interesting than that. One event after another occurs and forms an episodic monotony instead of a coherent storyline. Still, things do heat up for an exciting and well-arc'd conclusion. Where the character ends up from where he started out is a noble writing effort; but everything it takes to get him there is the dull part. The strongest aspect of the film is the ensemble of veteran character actors, led by Billy Green Bush and Bo Hopkins. These are cowboys from the days when all cowboys were straight, and any suggestion otherwise would get you punched in the teeth faster than you could say "Brokeback Mountain." While they don't seem like very open-minded chaps, they do represent a rugged nature that would have been essential to their way of life.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 4th, 2006
Synopsis
Everything I know about Jim Brickman could fit into a couple hundred word review about a concert performance he put on at the Walt Disney World resort. But upon further review, Brickman has been reaching out to the older generation for a few years now, producing collaborations and appearing at high profile events to bring recognition to his work.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 4th, 2006
Before it became a somewhat famous regional barbecue house (I kid, I kid!) red, hot and blue was another name for the Red Hot Organization, a group designed to help fight the AIDS epidemic. Back in the early and mid '90s kids, AIDS was raging on through the land, and Ronald Reagan did nothing to stop it. In fact, he was injecting homosexuals with AIDS while delivering crack into the ghetto.
Liberal accusations aside, this republican does acknowledge that AIDS is a terrible disease and we have lost a lot of people (talented or otherwise) to it, and the efforts made by various communities have been admirable. The Red Hot Organization was another in a group of musicians and artists that wanted to do something about research and awareness. The unique slant on their entertainment message was to have various artists of the time cover some old Cole Porter songs (Porter was a well-known homosexual composer whose life Kevin Kline depicted in the film De-Lovely). Not that unique you say? Well, the artists also did some videos directed by some famous (or at least recognizable) directing names, which is where we come in. The videos (and a remastered CD of the songs from the "Red Hot + Blue" album) have been released for everyone to relive again.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 4th, 2006
A long time ago, Sony owned the MGM video library (before Fox picked it up for impending HD-DVD/Blu-Ray Wars) and re-released some films as Special Editions, and combined others as part of convenient two-packs. This is an example of the latter, perhaps as some sort of romantic two-pack that's easy on the wallet but heavy on the heart.
At First Sight is directed by Irwin Winkler (Night and the City) and tells the tale of Virgil Adamson (Val Kilmer, Real Genius) who has been blind all of his life. He is able to get an operation that would restore his eyesight, and at the urging of his girlfriend Amy (Mira Sirvino, The Final Cut), has the operation, before finding out that it's not permanent, so he tries to live his life however he can before he loses his vision.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 4th, 2006
Synopsis
Henry Fonda plays Colin Spence, a diffident, self-effacing Canadian (but of course!) corporal in the British infantry based in Tunisia. Led by the crusty but supremely competent Sergeant Kelly (Irish of course), Spence’s squad is sent out on a recon mission that goes badly awry, and the men are forced to engage in a terrible trek across the burning desert. Spence is forced to assume a leadership role, and along the way has flashbacks to his relationship with Maureen O’Hara, and how his unwil...ingness to take a risk or fight might have wrecked his chances with her.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2006
ALF is back, and just as funny as ever in this third season of mayhem. Unfortunately, we are again treated to syndicated cut versions of the show. Still, this appears to be all we’re going to get. Not sure if I mentioned it before, but having the episode titles has pointed out that each ALF episode uses a song title as the production name. This season songs like Stop In The Name Of Love, Funeral For A Friend, and Stairway To Heaven are represented. There are quite a few more “fantasy” episodes here. ALF is shown what life in the Tanner household would be without him. He dreams of hosting The Tonight Show. The laughs are still in high gear.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 1st, 2006
Follow Doogal and friends as they try to save their lush green world from the clutches of the evil jack-in-the-box Zeebad (Jon Stewart) in this CGI family film that completely misses the mark. Though G-Rated - and obviously of inferior intellect - the film tries to be witty and smart with a ton of stale pop culture references its target audience will not come close to grasping. Sure, the adults will get them, but once they do, the question becomes, what do we do with them? Another "Can't Touch This" MC Hammer referen...e? "Wax-on, wax-off" - Karate Kid anyone? "My name is Neo" - did we need another reference to a trilogy where only one of the films was even remotely worth watching? This tripe is the kind of family fare that makes adults cringe in their boots at the thought of having to sit even 77 torturous minutes with these bloated celebrities trying to be funny under the guise of silly looking animals that aren't even that cute.
If I had to find a strong point, I would say Judi Dench's narration is about all the film has going for it. Back to the bad - Kevin Smith's moose character hardly says anything throughout the course of the film, but he does offer up the number of expected fart jokes with his overenthusiastic gastro-intestinal behavior. While Doogal, the long-haired puppy dog intent on saving his master Florence (Kylie Monogue) from the ice block prison created by Zeebad, is a cute little creation, the child star providing his vocals completely ruins any endearing qualities by the mere movement of his lips. This film is truly abysmal. I can't imagine anyone liking it for two reasons: 1) It tries to outsmart its target audience. 2) It does so by antiquated pop culture references, which will completely turn off the only demographic it has left to please. Avoid at all costs.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2006
Yellow Sky is one of those near classic Westerns from 1949. For decades the film has flown under the mainstream radar, only to finally be rediscovered on DVD. Gregory Peck is an unlikely choice to play the lead role. Stretch heads a band of thieves that strike from town to town hitting usually banks. The film wastes very little time getting started. We see the gang set up, and soon pull off, one of these heists in the first five minutes. The gang is quickly chased out into the unforgiving desert sun of the Western badlands. It seems the band is done for in true western poetic justice until fortune once again smiles upon them. Fortune in this case is the ghost town of Yellow Sky. Here only an old prospector (Barton) and his young granddaughter (Baxter) reside. It seems the old man’s been hording some gold in the hopes of bringing Yellow Sky back to her glory days. Of course, Stretch’s gang has other plans. The remainder of the film slows down as the gang attempts to pry the gold from the old timer. Stretch has a change of heart, and this redeemed Stretch is less of a stretch for Peck. Here he begins to fit the part. Including the obligatory romance, the film becomes all too predictable. Harry Morgan, billed as Henry Morgan, makes a nice addition to the gang of outlaws. The film was remade in 1967 as The Jackals with the action moved to Africa.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2006
Written for the screen and directed by Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park), Separate Lies tells the story of James (Tom Wilkinson, Batman Begins), a high powered lawyer in London who lives in the countryside with his wife Anne (Emily Watson, Breaking the Waves). They have the perfect English house and a dog to match. One day, Anne meets William (Rupert Everett, Shrek 2) and has an affair with him, which turns the trio's lives around in a way that they'd never expect.>
Treading into mild spoiler territory here, so scroll down!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 29th, 2006
Tommy Lee Goes to College is a show that was really sort-of set-up to fail from the beginning. NBC used to be the #1 channel on television, but they slipped badly in the ratings once the big reality television boom hit. In a bid to catch up, they took a chance on this show, which would have been much more at home on MTV or even FOX. The end result was something that was surprisingly similar in tone and charm as another rock-and-roll reality show; The Osbourne's. The thing is, the NBC audience is just no... prepared or interested in a show whose target audience is 18-24 year olds.
The fact is, this is not a show that is meant to be serious, or even really all that realistic. It is intended solely for fun, pure and simple. In that light, this show is a slam dunk. It is clear that the editors took very liberal license with the raw footage that they were given to work with. Still, the point of this show is not to provide an accurate portrayal of college life, it is to provide some mindless comedic entertainment.
