Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 9th, 2006
Synopsis
Jeremiah is taken at the age of five from his loving foster parents and turned over to the tender mercies of his white-trash mother, Sarah (Asia Argento, in an absolutely monstrous role). He is dragged down into the abusive nightmare of her life, being raped by her male partners when he is being beaten by them. There is an interlude where he is taken under the care of his fundamentalist grandparents (whicih is a nightmare in itself), but mother reclaims him, ultimately making him up as a gir... and having him turn tricks with her at truck stops.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 7th, 2006
Synopsis
Rayne (Kristanna Loken) is a dhamphyr – a human/vampire hybrid. Escaping from the carnival where she is imprisoned as a freak, she sets out on a crusade against vampires, her ultimate target being the lord vampire Kagin (Ben Kingsley, an actor showing Michael Caine’s former penchant to whore himself out without shame), who also happens to be her father. Along the way, she forms an initially uneasy alliance with Michael Madsen, Michelle Rodriguez, and Will Sanderson – members of Brimstone, a ...ampire-hunting organization.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 6th, 2006
Synopsis
Tómas Lemarquis plays Nói, a 17-year-old living in a tiny, frigid, massively isolated town in Iceland. He is brilliant, but refuses to be so, and many people in the town think he isn’t all there. He sleeps through school (when he bothers to show up), deals with his useless alcoholic father, and dreams of being somewhere else. When he meets a young woman who turns out to be a kindred spirit, his desire to escape is further enflamed. The odds, however, are stacked against him.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 5th, 2006
It is exceedingly strange to me that in this unprecedented age of media availability, movies on demand and theaters in our very own homes, more and more men have not seen those movies that were a staple of manhood for so many years. Movies like Bullitt, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and even The Godfather are less and less familiar to male audiences than ever. There is a reason that these films were so popular amongst men. They are movies about tough guys who weren't afraid to rearrange some fac...s to get the job done. Heavy drinking and hard living men. With more and more of these films being released in Special Edition DVD packages, this is a prime time to see these films, and reacquaint yourself with your male heritage. For the women that may be reading this, I'll just tell you now, you might as well stop reading. This is not a film for you.
The Dirty Dozen is a film filled with true tough guys. Lee Marvin. Telly Savalas. Jim Brown... Charles Bronson, for goodness sake! The biggest tough guys in the movies these days are Vin Diesel, Bruce Willis and The Rock. Willis is cut from the old mold, but he is truly the last of his breed. Somewhere along the way, Hollywood turned its back on the man's man. I feel that the male population in this country is the worse for it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2006
Everybody Loves Raymond - The Complete Sixth Season comes to DVD in an impressive 5-disc edition. As a newbie to this fine series, I was surprised - and thrilled - to see the widescreen presentation. It is a nicety not often given to TV shows, and it looks spectacular, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. The show, as a lot of you know, is about sports writer Ray Barone, and his nut-job parents, who live directly across the street. One must either appreciate Ray Romano's humor, or experience the same...family woes, to truly appreciate this series - and if you do, then you're in for a real treat. Included in this set, is the number two fan favorite episode "Marie's Sculpture," which centers around an abstract that isn't so abstract, made by Ray's mom in her sculpting class. While this episode is very funny, I think the show is at its best when Ray's wife Debra (Patricia Heaton) and his mother Marie (Doris Roberts) are going at it Romano-y-Romano. The show never resorts to stale mother-in-law jokes, opting instead to pull its laughs from the characters and their interactions with one another.
Of course, no serious talk of Everybody Loves Raymond can be complete without mentioning the terrific jobs Brad Garrett and the always reliable Peter Boyle do with their brother and father characters, respectively. The two are dichotomies of one another. Robert is the ever insecure older brother, who is always left out of even the most mundane family activities. He's the kind of guy, who has to fight for every ounce of attention - and affection - his mother gives him, and his large, staggering frame only serves to drain a little more humor from the tank. Frank (Boyle), on the other hand, is so self-confident he just doesn't give a damn about others' opinions - and why should he? Father knows best, at least in his eyes. Taking a back seat to all the goings-on is Ray Barone (Romano). Romano subscribes to the Seinfeld school of sitcoms here by letting the stellar supporting cast do all the hard work for him. His character is like Frank - and why shouldn't he be, everyone loves the guy - but he doesn't have to resort to the same over-the-top performance because he understands Boyle is already doing it so well. These five individuals will make you believe they're related, and they will do such a good job of it that, if you give the show a chance, you will notice comments, events, and subtleties, that exist in your own family. It's very possible you won't like this show the first time you try to sit through it. But stay married long enough, and you'll really start to appreciate it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 25th, 2006
David Kelley’s hit series The Practice ran for 8 seasons. While it may have started slowly, the show was a huge hit for most of its run. This success led to other hits like Boston Public and Ally McBeal. Unfortunately, the end of this series was a rather tragic tale itself. The last year limped along with about half of the cast having been fired. There were public wars of words waged. As Warren Zevon used to say: “Ain’t that pretty at all”. That final season would have been a total failure if not for the introduction of James Spader’s Alan Shore. This unethical cold character with a heart suddenly drew attention away from the conflicts off the screen and brought the attention appropriately back to what was going on on the screen. Spader pulls it off almost through a sheer act of will. By the end of the year it was apparent to everyone that something special was going on here amid these ruins. As the final story arc played out, Shore would meet Denny Crane, played in an almost self parody style by William Shatner. Man, that cat has more lives than Morris. Here Shatner finds a character that is funny as hell. Crane, like Shatner, appears to be the shadow of the man he used to be. At times he seems to have lost all of his marbles. He’s often cruel and incredibly arrogant. Yet, somehow he’s a very lovable character. Shatner does a wonderful job of balancing these foibles with an amazing touch of vulnerability that has created perhaps one of television’s most memorable characters.
Boston Legal is a lot like The Practice in some ways. The writing is at times pure genius. The same kind of moral and social issues are explored, all using the same ensemble concept from the original series. Still, Boston Legal is very unlike The Practice in almost as many ways. Certainly the Shore/Crane relationship has taken center stage, leaving many of the supporting cast in just that, supporting roles. The show also has a wicked wit to it. It’s sarcastic as hell. The big complaint I have is that Kelly can’t seem to control his own fanatical political beliefs. If the show weren’t just that good, I’d have turned it off after one episode. Free speech is one thing, but I do get so tired of Hollywood attempting to jam their liberal superiority down my throat. Believe it or not, there are some very decent and good folks who happen to support the American President. You simply don’t win people over by trying to paint them as ignorant, or worse, evil. I assure you I am neither.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 20th, 2006
Synopsis
Duane Hopwood (David Schwimmer) works as a casino pit boss in Atlantic City, and is an alcoholic. His drinking has already cost him his marriage, and now ex-wife Janeane Garofalo is having to face the possibility of curtailing his visitation rights after he drives drunk with his young daughter in the back seat. After he makes a bad call at work, his job is in jeopardy as well. But there is hope for redemption still.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 17th, 2006
Kim Cattrall has had a long and storied career in both television and movies. In the 80's she hit a streak of cult comedies with parts in such as Porky's, Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China and even Turk 182. Of course, even with a resume like that, we would never be talking about her today were it not for her work as Samantha on Sex and the City. In 2005, Cattrall wrote a book Called Sexual Intelligence that explores various areas of sex, such as arousal, desire and...fantasy. This documentary, originally aired on Cattrall's old friend HBO, serves as a companion piece to her book.
This documentary falls somewhere between HBO's Real Sex series, MTV's old Sex in the 90's and Cattrall's previous job on Sex in the City. Not only is this film undeniably educational, but its witty dialog is downright comical. If the sexual content were not quite so graphic, I would not at all be surprised to find this documentary as a special event on The Discovery Channel. It is scientific, yet almost guiltily entertaining.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 12th, 2006
Diane Keaton and Tom Everett Scott star in Surrender, Dorothy, a predictable, over-the-top melodrama plagued with unsympathetic characters, clichés, and unbelievable plot developments. The plot centers on Keaton as she copes with a car accident, which claims the life of her daughter. There is a lot of venom and hostility inside her, as the rest of the world takes a back seat to her own grief. As someone, who has lost a loved one prematurely, I take offense to the behavior of this central character. She’s a sel...ish, loathsome wretch, who feels like she can walk all over her daughter’s friends, simply because she’s the grieving parent. It’s an aggravating picture of grief, and it dims the possibilities of ever feeling for your protagonist. They should have toned her down several notches, because, by the time she does start to behave like a human being, you’re already sick of her. Also, the daughter’s tragic death is made a lot less tragic, when viewers actually get to know the kind of person she was. Her greatest offense is to engage in adulterous sex with her best friend’s husband, who gets her pregnant. Then, in a glowing act of heroism, she aborts the child out of convenience as if she’s having a wart removed. This portrayal does a real disservice to the women out there, who have made this decision out of duress, and then carry it with them all the days of their life. It does a disservice to the women, who wanted to have children, but couldn’t, because doing so would endanger their lives. Within the context of the film, it’s a selfish, loathsome act, from a selfish, loathsome daughter, who was raised by her selfish, loathsome mother.
Needless to say, I hated this film, but not because it was poorly made – or even poorly acted. Keaton is competent enough. Tom Everett Scott, as the token gay best friend – and he really is a token character, in this case – does the best he can with the material and, in fact, elicits more sympathy from viewers than any other character in the film, combined. No, my disdain hinges entirely on the lack of respectability of the characters. Each one – with the exception of Scott and the wife of the adulterous husband – tramples all over the others’ feelings, and uses them to get what they want, until a nice, neat little ending, where we are supposed to believe all is right with the world. It just wasn’t a great idea making a film, which tries to sympathize with the unsympathetic – a film where the only likeable characters are the ones, who take the proverbial back seat. If this is Keaton’s idea of a “good role for female actors of a certain age,” I’d hate to see her idea of a bad one.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 11th, 2006
Synopsis
Felicity Huffman plays Bree, formerly Stanley, who, after years of therapy, surgery and hormone replacement, is one week away from undergoing the operation that will finally and definitively make her a woman. Out of the blue, a phone call comes revealing that Stanley fathered a son seventeen years ago. Bree’s therapist won’t let the surgery go ahead until Bree comes to terms with her past and her responsibilities. She travels to New York City to bail out Toby (Kevin Zegers), a street hustler... but keeps the true nature of their relationship a secret as they begin a cross-country journey back to LA.
