Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 9th, 2005
Swimming Upstream is one of those "small" sports underdog films. It's a true story about Aussie Tony Fingleton, a swimmer who vies to be National champion. Is he racing against all odds? Well...the odds are in the form of family. Geoffrey Rush plays Fingleton's father, an abusive alcholic. So...not only is Fingleton trying to achieve athletic glory, but also trying to win the heart of his father. This is a paint by numbers sports story. The performances are the saving grace, however. Rush, Jesse Spencer ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 7th, 2005
Synopsis
Inspired by the Grant Wood painting, “American Gothic” is a 24-minute experimental horror short. Director Carlos Batts explains in his intro that the idea is that the farmer in the Wood painting killed his wife, and is now consumed by guilt. This is conveyed through a collage of surreal images, mixing Magritte, Goth and splatter, with a soundtrack that mixes portentous poetry and death metal/industrial rock. The latter isn’t a completely successful fit, partly because of audio limitations (s...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 6th, 2005
The Parent Trap is a remake of the Hayley Mills classic. It stars none other than Lindsday Lohan. She's actually pretty good here. In a pre-sex appeal role, Lohan plays two twins who have never met, but then do. They concoct a plan to switch identies on their respective divorced parents. Lohan pulls off both twin personalities quite well. The movie also stars the always reliable Dennis Quaid and the extremely talented Natasha Richardson. It might be fun for kids, and Lohan fans, but this is NOT a case of...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2005
I didn’t think that Scarlet Johansson had an active eye or ear for drama films, that she does different stuff and has generally been incredibly lucky. Apparently, she’s got a good knack for appearing in films that have good stories also, as she had been attached to this film for quite some time.
Based on the novel by Ronald Everett Capps, A Love Song for Bobby Long tells the story of Pursy (Johansson), who has recently found out her mother died, so she travels back to New Orleans and meets Bobby Long...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2005
Synopsis
Aaron Jacob Estes’ film Mean Creek has been favorably compared to films like River’s Edge and in a sense, Lord of the Flies, for obvious reasons, and that’s not a bad thing. Written and directed by Estes, the film begins with Sam (Rory Culkin, Signs), who “borrows” a camcorder owned by George (Josh Peck, Spun), and gets beaten up for it. Sam’s brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan, The Patriot) steps in as the protective, bigger brother and does a little scheming.>
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 27th, 2005
Synopsis
Irritable, repressed Sylvia Stickles (Tracy Ullman) is conked on the head, and the concussiontransforms her into a sexual dynamo, one of the followers of sexual healer and prophet Ray-Ray(Johnny Knoxville). The streets of Baltimore are the battleground of a culture war between theanti-sex Neuters, led by Sylvia’s mother-in-law Big Ethel, and the forces of the polymorphouslyperverse. The result is a little bit like a George Romero zombie movie, where getting headingthe bonked transf...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 27th, 2005
Synopsis
Little Tim is convinced the boogeyman is in his closet. He’s right, and it gobbles up his dad.Fifteen years later, after many years of therapy devoted to convincing him that he didn’t reallysee a monster that night, Tim (Barry Watson) is still afraid of closets and is haunted by terrifyingvisions. When his mother dies, he returns to his home town for the funeral, and decides to stay atthe old house in order to confront his demons. Big mistake.
The basic set-up is no...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 25th, 2005
Much like previous con films before it like Matchstick Men and The Grifters, Criminal tells the story of a veteran taking a young inexperienced rookie under his wing and showing him the tricks behind the money, and the con artist philosophy.
Based on the Argentinean film Nine Queens, Richard (John C. Reilly, Magnolia) spots Rodrigo (Diego Luna, The Terminal) trying to hustle drink money in a club. He hustles Rodrigo out, and discovers Rodrigo is doing this to earn m...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 23rd, 2005
Continuing in the bold tradition of centering a movie around a place or event in the African American community (see The Wash, Barbershop and Beauty Shop, to name a few), Queen Latifah has decided to run the horse into the ground, and subsequently throw it over the coals, in a film she wrote and appears in, entitled The Cookout.
The concept of the film is simple enough that everyone can identify with it; cookouts are a good time where friends and family, sane and crazy, can get t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 22nd, 2005
A cast that included Martin Sheen and Marlee Matlin made Hear No Evil appear promising. Sheen is too little used to be very effective, and Matlin’s acting is often overshadowed by a director too eager for use to experience her deafness. I always found that her strength was the power of her performance in spite of the handicap. This film goes to excessive lengths to remind us she is deaf, just in case we happen to miss the point. Often the soundtrack goes silent, apparently to portray the action from Matlin’s point of view.
