Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 7th, 2005
So how come a doughy looking white guy like me enjoyed these performances, and didn’t watch a single part of the Martin Scorsese miniseries that covered Blues music? It’s because growing up, the first big musical influence in my life was Jimi Hendrix, so I was a bit familiar with the Electric Blues sound that Jimi had. And names like Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and Leadbelly were not new ones to me. And with the help of Led Zeppelin, I also learned about Robert Johnson too.
So while Antoine Fuqua (King Ar...hur) and Scorsese teamed to help revitalize the blues further with a 2003 concert at Radio city music hall, I certainly don’t bear any ill will at them for making blues fashionable or something stupid like that. It’s nice to see more people appreciate some uniquely American music legends for a change. The songs of the above artists, along with others including B.B. King and Billie Holliday are performed by the original artists or modern ones. The list, albeit lengthy, is:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 1st, 2005
E. B. E. was a first season X-Files episode. For the most part it was very much like any other episode in the early years of the hit series, except it wasn’t. The story introduced us to three of Mulder’s friends/contacts, The Lone Gunmen. Basically Frohike, Langly, and Byers were your typical 80’s dot com geeks who used their computer skills to seek out government conspiracies instead of striking it rich. They self-published a tabloid paper that revealed all to a small conspiracy obsessed following. The appearance was always intended as a one time deal. One of the show’s DP’s, Tom Braidwood, was tapped to fill the shoes of Frohike. Who could have imagined that these throwaway characters would become so popular that they would become a staple on the rising series. They were a perfect comedic touch to a series that often took itself too seriously. In their own words their ideas were even weirder than Mulder’s Finally in 2001 the boys got their own show. Unfortunately the series only lasted 13 episodes.
Note should be made of the pilot episode. If you are very sensitive to the events of 9/11 you should seriously consider not watching this episode. The plot involves a shadow element in the government attempting to crash a jetliner into the Twin Towers. The episode aired barely 6 months before the tragic reality. This sad coincidence has since delayed the release of this worthy show as studio execs debated the impact of the story.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 27th, 2005
Synopsis
Set for no very compelling reason in 1969, this story sees death-obsessed art student Jonathan Jackson walking and hitch-hiking his way along spooky Maine highway in the middle of the night, trying to make it a hundred miles to where his stroke-felled mother (Barbara Hershey) lies in a hospital. Jackson has such a vivid imagination that neither he nor the viewer really knows what, if anything, we see is real, particularly when he is picked up by a messenger of death (David Arquette), driving...a Plymouth Fury (Christine, anyone?). Arquette tells Jackson that either he or his mother will die tonight, and he must choose...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 26th, 2005
Synopsis
The life and career of Peter Sellers (Geoffrey Rush) is chronicled here, from the height of the Goon Show’s popularity to his penultimate, Oscar-nominated role in Being There. Along the way, we see the collapse of his first marriage to Anne (Emily Watson), his second to Britt Ekland (Charlize Theron), and his fractious working relationships with such directors as Stanley Kubrick (Stanley Tucci) and Blake Edwards (John Lithgow).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 22nd, 2005
Synopsis
Set in a girls’ high school, this tells the tale of Min-Ah, who finds a diary written by two of her schoolmates. This is a revealing book, exposing as it does their love affair. Concurrently with Min-Ah reading the diary, that relationship comes to an end, and one of the girls leaps to her death from the school roof. Supernatural events begin almost immediately thereafter.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 21st, 2005
Primer is notable not only for its critical success, having won awards at Sundance and been lauded by independent and mainstream media alike, but also for its production methods: independent, low-budget, and home-brewed. Using rented equipment, his parent’s garage, his brother’s apartment, a slew of public facilities, and a desktop PC, Shane Carruth (writer, director, producer, and one of two main characters) has created a $7,000 Sci-Fi Drama that’s able to compete with the efforts of the big studios.
< ...>Ultimately, Primer defies classification – it can stand as an intelligent Sci-Fi film, riddled with realistic engineering and cutting edge ideas, or as a Drama, Suspense, Thriller, or Mystery. The film blends elements of all to create a film that is involving in its human dimension, terse and edgy in its suspense, and ultimately pleasing to all audiences that appreciate a thought-provoking film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 21st, 2005
I don’t expect this film will appeal to any but the biggest Van Damme fans; even many of them will be disappointed. If you’re a Van Damme fan, you might not be looking for the most original of story ideas. What you want is good solid action and some sweet action f/x. This film simply doesn’t deliver the goods on any level. The action is too sparse for anyone looking for an adrenaline rush. The dialogue is entirely lame; I mean, does anyone talk like that? To be fair, it is possible the script is an English translation of a French work. The most unforgivable problem here, however, is the over- the-top-stylish cinematography. The angles and slow pans are a complete distraction from what little substance there is. Philippe Martinez is trying so hard to achieve a 70’s film noir feel that he ignores all of the basic rules of pacing. Even for a direct-to-DVD release, this one is a complete waste of your time.
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 9th, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 9th, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 6th, 2005
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