Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 4th, 2005
Synopsis
Teenage rites of passage during the summer vacation at the beach. The protagonist is a quiet, decent sort, but his close friend is a domineering alpha male who bullies everyone around him into doing whatever he wants. He is clearly pulling his companions toward serious trouble. The story builds to one night when the boys use each other’s homes as alibies: they are supposed to be having a sleepover, but in fact are out looking for girls. Things go wrong.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 21st, 2005
Pocahontas is Disney’s animated version of the Pocahontas myth. This movie is not history, but a Disney-fied version of it. European settlers came to North America and disrupted the Native American way of life. John Smith (voiced by Mel Gibson) and his British plunderers attempt to rob the “New World” of its riches. Chief Powhatan, and his daughter Pocahontas (voiced by Irene Bedard), might have something to say about this. In the end, in typical Disney fashion, a moral emerges: both cultures have a lot...to learn from eachother.
Pocahontas hits all the right Disney animated film notes, but not as strongly as other films. The villain, the scheming leader of the expedition Ratcliffe (voiced by David Ogden Stiers), is no one to be scared of, really. He comes off more like a goofball. Ratcliffe is not in the tradition of the great Disney villains we’re used to. The cute cuddly comic relief characters (a raccoon, a hummingbird, and a dog) are not as funny or endearing in comparison to, say, Poombaa or Scuttle (from Little Mermaid). And the romance between Pocahontas and John Smith isn’t as charged as Belle and the Beast, for example. It seems a little forced here. So without a great villain, funny comic relief characters, or a believable romance, what does Pocahontas have? It has scope. The “New World” is a wonder to behold. The animators have done an amazing job. And the “Colors of the Wind” song (an Oscar winner) is quite lovely.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 26th, 2005
Synopsis
Lloyd Bridges is the Major in the Canadian forces who is seeking redemption for a failed raid. His audacious plan is to attack the German’s fortified docks in occupied France. His scheme is opposed by Brit Captain Andrew Keir, whose son died in the earlier raid, but Keir finds himself captaining the substandard ship as the raid begins.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 26th, 2005
Synopsis
This is a film that delights in not being what it appears. The opening moments look like a period gangster film. Suddenly, the scene transforms into a musical. Then this turns out to be movie within the movie. And so it goes, as one scene after another turns out not to be what we thought it was. The plot has roguishly charming Jean-Louis Trintignant setting up a kidnapping scheme with two colleagues. I can’t say much more without giving away the whole plot and the strange circuit on which it...operates. Suffice it to say that though there might be a couple of confusing moments, this is a playful, light-on-its-feet effort that will have you smiling (if sometimes sardonically) from start to finish.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 13th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 23rd, 2005
Hugo (Mathieu Carrière) sets out on an errand, but is sidetracked in the Paris metro whenhe chances upon the seductive Myriam (Marino Pierro). Their eyes meet, he follow her, theybeing to chat, and a dance of seduction ensues. They make their way through Paris to anapartment where they have sex, and then nothing turns out as Hugo expected.
That’s about it as far as plot is concerned. So what? you ask. You wouldn’t expect anythingmore from an avowedly erotic film. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the rest of the film is anorgy of naked flesh, however. What you have instead is a film so talkative it makes BeforeSunset look like Gerry. In fact, this 1988 effort (director Walerian Borowczyk’s lastto date) has a rather similar structure to the Richard Linklater romance, but plays out to a muchdarker conclusion. The dialogue is surreal and unbelievably ornate, and one’s enjoyment of thefilm lives or dies by how one feels about all this palaver. The subtitles can only translate the gistof the script, but not its style, and the result might well be crashingly dull for non-French-speaking viewers. There are some visual compensations, as Borowczyk, that most obsessivefetishist of inanimate objects, here worships the everyday of Paris, and invites us to look at theleast romantic, most mundane objects in a new light. The sex scene builds to a denouement thatis a remarkable visual moment, and is worth waiting for. Surreal masterpiece or interminable artwank? My own jury’s out, but I’m glad to have had the chance to think about it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 15th, 2005
Hype! is a documentary of the "Seattle scene" of the early 90's. Grunge was king. I remember wearing flannel shirts and listening to the big three: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. But what about the other bands? Hype! also talks about the lesser-known bands, like the Supersuckers and The Gits. Hype! is an examination of what went on underneath the "hype" of the Seattle music scene. This isn't some VH1 doc. And it's not all about Kurt Cobain either. Hype! covers it all, and cre...tes a gritty portait of the music landscape at a time when grunge ruled the world.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 19th, 2005
Until September is soap opera/romance that lacks sizzle. Karen Allen, of Raiders of the Lost Arkfame plays Mo. Mo is a plucky American girl who falls in love with Parisian named Xavier (played by Thierry Lhermitte). Mo misses her plane and is stuck in Paris. She meets cute with Xavier and an affair begins. However, complications ensue: Xavier has a wife and family.
The Paris locations are nice, but the lead couple lacks any chemistry whatsoever. Karen Allen is cute as a button, but Th...erry Lhermitte is a dreadful bore. The only interesting thing of note is that the director is Richard Marquand. Marquand directed Return of the Jedi and this is the movie he made right after. The two movies are like night and day. Jedi is fun and engaging, Until September is a bland piece of oatmeal.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 10th, 2005
Films like Crimson Tide, Hunt for Red October and U-571 have tried on their own ways to take their place as the definitive modern submarine movie, but Das Boot still stands as King, over 20 years after its release. I remember hearing about this film growing up, and as a lad of 10, wasn’t into foreign films, or war films, as I am now, which may not be saying much. In seeing it when the Director’s Cut first came out in 1997, many people snapped up the 5.1 soundtrack, and Director’s Commentar... which was on the flipper disc. In my first viewing, I became enamored by the experiences of German war correspondent Werner (Herbert Gronemeyer), as he watches the transformation of the baby faced crew of the U-Boat transform into unshaved, withdrawn men and the end of their journey in the 10 foot wide by 150 foot long submarine.
Jurgen Prochnow (Air Force One) is the Captain of the sub, who has become jaded from hearing the numerous failures of the sub, and while he does follow orders, and attempts to attack an Allied shipping convoy, the mission is almost one of survival. Doing what you can to stay sane, almost civil, during the time in cramped quarters. When his (and other) boats encounter the Allied ships, the chase is sonically powerful, with loud depth charges booming in the water, rattling the metal chassis of the sub, along with the contrasting quiet of the crew, hoping to avoid the ships above them. Wolfgang Petersen (The Perfect Storm) does an outstanding job of portraying the cramped quarters, the decaying morale of the crew, and all of the suspenseful elements up to, and including, their trip home.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2005
Fear of nuclear proliferation was a definite threat in the Reagan era 80's. Movies like The Day After played into those fears. Another film that deals with the consequences of nuclear fallout is 1983's Testament. Testament is a small, quiet film about the effects of nuclear fallout on a family and a community. The director, Lynne Littman, is a veteran of documentary films, and she brings a certain truth and realism to the story. There are no mushroom clouds or special effects, just human eff...cts. Jane Alexander plays the mother, and she's the rock that keeps her family together. She deserved the Oscar nomination she received that year. A very young Kevin Costner also makes a cameo.
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