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Stargate SG-1 – The Complete Sixth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 5th, 2004

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Stargate SG-1 suffered a little in its switch to the Sci-Fi Channel. The loss of Michael Shanks was very deeply felt. Jonas wasn’t really a bad character, but it took me a while to get used to him. The guest appearances of Daniel Jackson helped a bit with a couple of pretty good episodes. I felt there might have been too many Earthbound episodes in an obvious effort to curtail the budget. Through most of this season, Anderson had been talking about spending more time back in L.A. with his family. (The show is shot in…
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Queer as Folk – The Complete Third Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 3rd, 2004

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Synopsis

The title has two meanings. It works as both the common expression, meaning that peopleare strange (which the show certainly demonstrates). But it also presents the “queer” as “folk”:i.e. gay characters are, for once, realistic, ordinary human beings. This aspect goes a long waytoward explaining the series’ popularity. In this season, the continuing threads include apregnancy for Melanie and Lindsay, and the nasty politics surrounding the campaign of thecontroversial Mayor …
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Masked and Anonymous

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 3rd, 2004

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Synopsis

The setting is an unnamed country, that could be the US, or could be somewhere in LatinAmerica. Either way, the government is repressive and corrupt, the economy is in a shambles,guerilla warfare is constant, and society is approaching total collapse. Bent impresarios JohnGoodman and Jessica Lange are mounting a TV benefit concert, but the only star they can get isJack Fate, a thinly disguised version of Bob Dylan, played by the man himself. Cynical reporterJeff Bridges is …
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Water’s Edge

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 27th, 2004

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Synopsis

A young married couple (Nathan Fillion and Chandra West) move to a cabin in thewilderness. This is not a happy getaway. They have lost their daughter, they are broke, theirmarriage is hanging by a thread, and the wife is suicidal. As if they didn’t have enough on theirhands, Fillion comes across a bad scene in the woods: the sheriff about to murder a youngwoman with a rock. Fillion kills the sheriff, rescues the woman, and then the problems reallybegin as nothing is what it…
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Naked Jane

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 27th, 2004

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Synopsis

Jane (Renee Stahl) drifts through contemporary LA. She wants to be a writer, but is reluctantto share her uncompleted work in her writing class. She makes a living typing up term papers.She has a model boyfriend, who is off doing a shoot in Italy and misses her terribly, but she isn’tsure what she feels about him (if anything at all). Then there’s the memory of a car crash thattorments her. Enter an young artist, with whom she begins an affair…

This is very much a…
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Taken

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 26th, 2004

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For years different TV shows and movies have speculated not as too whether there is life on other planets but, what are they doing on earth. Some shows like the X-files play out that the powers that be have sold us down the river to ensure their survival with a hostile alien race, or like in ID-4 and the Alien series are here to kill everyone and use the planet for their own will.

Director Steven Spielberg has looked at aliens and their involvement with the human race in a number of his films and with the…
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Blow-Up

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 21st, 2004

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Synopsis

David Hemmings is a jaded photographer plying his trade in Swinging Sixties’ London. Outtaking pictures in a park, he shoots a series of pictures of a couple apparently having anargument. The woman in the pictures (Vanessa Redgrave) subsequently turns up at Hemmings’studio, wanting the pictures back. Even more mysterious is a shot Hemmings took sometimelater, after the argument. Is there a body in the picture? The more he blows up the picture,seeking the answer, the grainie…
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Wuthering Heights (MTV)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 18th, 2004

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MTV is getting used to productions about provocative love affairs. Just look at Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson at this year’s MTV produced Super Bowl. So in their production of a modern updating of Emily Bronte’s novel “Wuthering Heights”, MTV throws in everything but the nipple.

“Wuthering Heights” is a benchmark of Gothic Romantic literature. It tells the tale of a doomed and frenzied love between the two protagonists, Heathcliff and Cathy. “Wuthering Heights” has been adapted for film and tel…
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Roswell – The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 16th, 2004

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I generally don’t care for those hour long Teen Sci-Fi Romantic Dramas that are so prevalent on the WB. They all just seem a little too “I’m 18, and I’m mad at my parents” for my tastes. While there’s no doubt that Roswell certainly has a measure of that teen angst, there is just enough X Files included, too. Most of the melodrama in this show is tied in with the sci-fi aspects of the story, which makes the show not only watchable, but a bit of a guilty pleasure.

The basic premise of this show…
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Hangman’s Curse

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 15th, 2004

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Synopsis

Years ago, a tormented teen at Rogers High School committed suicide after stabbing a younggirl to death, or so the story goes. In the present, the jocks on the football team are slipping intocomas after having visions of the ghost of the teen. The put-upon goths and geeks at the schoolare summoning the ghost of Abel Frye and cursing the bullies. Or so it seems. Called in toinvestigate is the Veritas Team, a mom-and-pop-and-two-teenagers outfit whose job is toinvestigate pos…
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Dear God

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 1st, 2004

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Synopsis

Extremely small-time con Greg Kinnear is caught and sentenced to a year of employment,which turns out to be in the Dead Letter Office of the post office. Opening a letter addressed toGod, Kinnear accidentally winds up answering the letter-writer’s prayers, thus setting off a chainof events that see his reformation and many people helping other people.

The flick is supposed to be some kind of heart-warming comedy of the human spirit, but it’sreally just flat and irri…
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Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 31st, 2004

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Synopsis

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (OUTM) is the third film in the conceptual trilogy of El Mariachi, Desperado, and OUTM. Its not a direct sequel, but you’ll recognize a lot of characters and imagery from the prior movies.

Plot: Without posting any spoilers, this is the story of CIA agent “Sands” (Depp) attempting to manipulate a military coup planned by a Mexican drug lord (Dafoe). El Mariachi (Banderas) gets caught up in the middle of after being hired by Sands, but as it turns out he’s…
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Marci X

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 30th, 2004

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Timothy Olyphant, in the movie Go, refers to the comic strip The Family Circus in this manner: “it’s always there, in the lower right hand corner, just waiting to suck.” This is one of my all-time favorite movie quotes, and it applies quite nicely when discussing Marci X. Completed in 2000, this is the film that the studio put on the shelf, all the while knowing that eventually they would have to do something with it, because there it was, looming in the corner, waiting to suck.

Finally…
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Angel – The Complete Third Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 29th, 2004

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Angels and demons and monsters, oh my!

Not even the death of Buffy could stop this popular show from coming back for a third season. This time around, Angel must find melodrama in new and interesting places, and luckily for fans of the show, he succeeds admirably. In fact, I feel that the death of Buffy was a good thing, as it forced the writers to push this show into its own territory, and helped to give the whole production a voice and an identity all its own.

Newcomers to the show (like myself)…
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Stargate SG-1 – The Complete Fifth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 25th, 2004

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The best sci-fi show on television keeps getting better. MGM has also shown an attempt to improve the DVD releases with each subsequent season. This was Showtime’s final year of hosting Stargate SG-1. I will be interested to see if the cinematic quality holds up with the release of season 6 which was taken over by the Sci-Fi Channel. The stories are bigger in season 5 and the f/x continue to amaze. With seasons 4 and 5 SG-1 had reached its peak.

Synopsis

Col. Jack O’ Neal (Anderson) heads the group.
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Job, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 21st, 2004

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Synopsis

Daryl Hannah plays CJ, a world-weary hired assassin. She wants out of the life, but hercurrent job goes awry when the drugs she is suppossed to recover for mob boss Alex Rocco gomissing. They have wound up in the hands of nervous Brad Renfro and his very pregantgirlfriend, Dominique Swain. CJ finds it difficult to kill these two young people, and this gets herinto trouble herself. Meanwhile, she begins to succumb to the overtures of a former priest (EricMabius), who wants a…
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MI-5, Volume 1

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 15th, 2004

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Synopsis

The format is familiar (as is pointed out by the series creator): this is a “precinct” show. Onlyinstead of cops, we’re dealing with spies, who fight against threats to Great Britain, whilejuggling complicated personal lives. Given the combination of ensemble cast, investigations, andsnazzy, futuristic look of the MI-5 headquarters, you might want to imagine a cross betweenNYPD Blue and La Femme Nikita. The performances are strong, the productionvalues are hig…
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Slam

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 15th, 2004

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Slam is one of the rarest of films, an intelligent urban drama. These days, most films that deal with inner city African American youth either glorify the violent world that they live in, or turn into an After School Special on just saying “no”. Slam disses both of these paths, and instead, forges its own path. Luckily, this path leads to truth, to knowledge, and to awards at Sundance.

This is the story of one young man coming to grips with his time and place in the history of the world. Being pinche…
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Devil’s Pond

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2004

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It seems to me that B-level actors sometimes agree to do a movie for the experience and practice as much as to further their career and get a paycheck. Other times, the opposite is true, and major stars purposely chose to do a small independent production following a major success, knowing that they could never top their last picture. Often times, it is obvious when an actor has their personal motives in mind when choosing to do a film. Kate Winslet’s decision to shoot Hideous Kinky following the hugely-succes…
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Fist of the Red Dragon

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2004

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Synopsis

Set during the Opium Wars in the 19th Century, Fist of the Red Dragon tells the tailof two masters of marital arts. One of them leads the battle against the opium trade. The other(played by lead Donnie Yen) is a brash, cocky young man who falls under the spell of the evilprince who rules the territory. Yen must undergo some painful experiences before he realizeswho his real enemy is.

When the fight scenes happen, they are reliably entertaining, with much by w…
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Photographer, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 31st, 2003

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Synopsis

Max (Reg Rogers) is a photographer. After a stunning debut, he finds himself, a year later,suffering the photographer’s equivalent of writer’s block. He’s lost his inspiration, and can nolonger take pictures. He must provide ten for the next day, however, or his career tankspermanently. Hitting a bar, he encounters a strange man who leaves behind a package of fabulouspictures. They could be Max’s salvation. Max is unsure whether or not to claim them as his own,but wh…
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Alex & Emma

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2003

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There have always been directors that have stood out in the public consciousness. Scorsese. Spielberg. Hitchcock. Lynch. These are all directors that have a specific vision. With very few exceptions, if you came across one of their films on television on an average Saturday afternoon, it wouldn’t take too long to figure out who the director was. They each have a very unique cinematic style, usually based in dramatic films.

Oddly enough, Rob Reiner also fits into this category. His light comedies all have a …
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Redemption

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 27th, 2003

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Synopsis

The film is “based on true events” (an opening announcement the director wasn’t too happyabout) and tells the story of Christian Rayne (Brian White). He dreams of a career in acting, andignores the advice of his best friend, deciding against going to university. He doesn’t want to usehis family connections, however (having a rather conflicted relationship with his father), and thechoices he makes, and the people he meets, set him down a path to drugs and despair.

Cambridge Spies

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 23rd, 2003

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Synopsis

We begin is the 1930s, as the forces of Fascism are rising on the European continent.Convinced that Communism is the hope of justice for the future, Cambridge University gradsKim Philby (Toby Stevens), Anthony Blunt (Samuel West), Guy Burgess (Tom Hollander) andDonald Maclean (Rupert Pehry-Jones) become Soviet agents. We follow their lives over thecourse of twenty years, as they rise (in no small part due to the British class system) to everymore important positions …
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Shadow Fury

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 20th, 2003

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I often wonder what would make a good actor star in a bad film. Of course, the true answer almost always involves money, but I still hold out the hope that there is a greater purpose behind these little thespian mysteries. Did the actor know ahead of time that it was going to be a bad film? Was it a risk that just didn’t pay off? Did he owe someone a favor? Just what exactly would cause an actor to put his career at risk for a paycheck?

Shadow Fury boasts Karate Kid’s Pat Morita on it’s front-…
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