Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2005
Jean Hamilton, after having a bad relationship, decides to move to New York City with her two daughters. We quickly learn that this particular mother feels the need to move after EVERY bad relationship. The whiny eldest daughter gets sick of it, so she decides to set up her mom with an imaginary guy so she can get her mother on the possible right path.
The Perfect Man is the type of film that you watch once and literally cry through. No, it's not the type of film that you cry because it is really s...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2005
Synopsis
According to some reports, Fred Durst almost directed this thing, and if I ever wind up supporting anything Fred Durst does, I’ll kill myself. Having said that, Lords of Dogtown is a fond look back at the California skateboarding explosion in the late ‘70s. Since, like everything else, timing is everything, this film was largely neglected in a lot of circles, because it came out shortly after the outstanding documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, which was written and directed by Stacy Peral...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2005
Synopsis
One of the first scenes in Out of Sight was the main character robbing a bank using only his words. That same kind of knack for thinking quickly under pressure is employed in Catch Me If You Can, which tells the story of Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), who, after witnessing the end of the marriage of his parents (Christopher Walken and Nathalie Baye), decides to flee, and begins to bounce checks. Not only does he bounce over $2 million in checks, but he also impersonates a tea...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 21st, 2005
The year is 1976. Buenos Aires, Argentina. A ruthless dictatorship has just begun, where people who speak out against the government are “disappeared.”
One of the “disappeared” is newspaper columnist, Cecilia Rueda (Emma Thompson). Her recent column denounces the government for kidnapping some young men who were in a disagreement over a bus fare. When her husband Carlos (Antonio Banderas) returns home and can’t find her, he goes to the police only to receive little help.
In what could be the film...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 20th, 2005
If your first introduction to William L. Petersen is through CSI, then you’re missing some real treats with his short-lived film career, which burned brightest about fifteen years before he ever became Gil Grissom and investigated his way onto our small screens and, subsequently, into our hearts. Both of his cinematic outings never got the respect due them until after Petersen reminded us he was still alive, still well, and still acting. His best effort was Manhunter, Michael Mann’s adaptation of the Th...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 19th, 2005
Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a middle-aged divorcee with a blue-collar job and a rundown home in the New Jersey suburbs. When his ex-wife unexpectedly drops his estranged kids—ten year old Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and sixteen year old Robbie (Justin Chatwin)—off for the weekend, Ray is less than pleased. He’s always struggled with his parental duties, but now finds it increasingly difficult to communicate with his children. However, events beyond his control are about to force Ray to come to terms with his responsibili...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 19th, 2005
Phone director Byeong-ki Ahn admits he wanted to take the premise of Ringu and incorporate cell phones as the primary transmitter of terror instead of VHS tapes. (Just when these vengeful spirits will make the jump to DVD is uncertain -- and when they do, will it be Blu-Ray or… oh, I’ll save it for another time.) Anyway, he puts together an impressive-looking package with this horror tale, but unfortunately, the film itself falls flat on the wings of derivative, copycat storytelling.
Ji-Won H...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 18th, 2005
The next time you’re at the neighborhood Best Buy, find the packaging for The Grudge. Then, seek out an obscure new release of an old catalog favorite named The House Where Evil Dwells, and line up the boxes. You’ll be struck by how eerily similar the packaging is. Struck enough to turn them over and compare synopses. After doing so, you will notice not only is the packaging similar, but also the plotlines themselves.
Add to the mix the fact House is an early eighties horror film, and...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 14th, 2005
Synopsis
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) was Monty Python’s first theatrical release, and consists of remounted, often more elaborately staged versions of many of their most beloved TV skits. You want your Dead Parrot, it’s here. So is the Lumberjack Song, How Not to Be Seen, and so on. As a one-stop intro to Python, it’s hard to beat.
Funny as the above film is, it is eclipsed in most people’s hearts by Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974), easily the most...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 14th, 2005
Virgin geek Virgil (Jay Michael Ferguson) sticks up for hot girl Kellie (Allison Lange) when a teacher rips into her for cheating on her history exam. Thankful for his bravery, Kellie invites Virgil over to her house to thank him.
If you haven’t guessed it by now, Sex and the Teenage Mind is a complete rehash of just about every teenage sex comedy ever made in the last 25 years. Even the red bikini featured on the DVD cover will have you screaming Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Ther...
