Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 11th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 8th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 8th, 2005
Edges of the Lord is a movie that wasn’t released theatrically, due to some distributing difficulties. We now have it on DVD. Billed as “in the tradition of Life is Beautiful”, Edges of the Lord is an edgy little coming of age story set against the backdrop of World War II. The plot is simple enough: a 12 year old Jewish boy (Haley Joel Osment) hides with a family of Catholic peasants to escape the Nazi’s. The results are resonant and often powerful.
Everyone’s favorite child actor, Osme...t, is quite good here. But the real find is Liam Tess as Tolo. Willem Dafoe also gives a good performance (when is he not good?) as Priest. The movie tries a little too hard to be remembered as a classic in the same vein as The Diary of Anne Frank or the much darker Life is Beautiful. Edges of the Lord is, simply put, a simple story well told.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 7th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 5th, 2005
Mike Leigh is one of England's most accomplished directors. His recent success, Vera Drake, shows that the man hasn't lost his touch. Leigh's films go back over 30 years. His famous "Mike Leigh" method (in short hand) involves actors improvising scenes for months; Leigh writes the scenes down and a screenplay is created. The films he's made include quirky character dramadies, Life is Sweet and down and dirty slices of life, Naked. But nowhere is this "Mike Leigh method" more successful tha... in his masterpiece Secrets & Lies.
Secrets & Lies has a few story lines. But the main narrative follows the character of Hortense Cumberbatch (great name) as she searches for her birth mother (played by Brenda Blethyn). But Hortense is a black woman and Cynthia (the birth mother) is a very working class white woman. Sounds like a vehicle for Beonce? Mike Leigh has more class than that. But there are hilarious moments; and the climax of the film is shattering. Secrets & Lies garnered many major Oscar nominations for its year, and rightly so. It's a damn fine film; a masterpiece of British cinema.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 5th, 2005
Mike Leigh is one of England's most accomplished directors. His recent success, Vera Drake, shows that the man hasn't lost his touch. Leigh's films go back over 30 years. His famous "Mike Leigh" method (in short hand) involves actors improvising scenes for months; Leigh writes the scenes down and a screenplay is created. The films he's made include quirky character dramadies, Life is Sweet and down and dirty slices of life, Naked. But nowhere is this "Mike Leigh method" more successful tha... in his masterpiece Secrets & Lies.
Secrets & Lies has a few story lines. But the main narrative follows the character of Hortense Cumberbatch (great name) as she searches for her birth mother (played by Brenda Blethyn). But Hortense is a black woman and Cynthia (the birth mother) is a very working class white woman. Sounds like a vehicle for Beonce? Mike Leigh has more class than that. But there are hilarious moments; and the climax of the film is shattering. Secrets & Lies garnered many major Oscar nominations for its year, and rightly so. It's a damn fine film; a masterpiece of British cinema.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 2nd, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 30th, 2005
Predator vs. Alien was not as successful at the box office as was hoped. It seems that this 2-disc edition of Predator 2 might be intended to build interest for the troubled fusion of the two popular space creatures.
This film has had its share of detractors since its release in 1990. I, for one, find it to be as good as, if not better than, the original film. Watching the two governors Arnold and Jesse take on the Predator in the Columbian jungles was certainly a hoot. Let’s be honest... however. Who didn’t cheer, if only inside, when the big bad ugly started to take on LA’s drug lords in Predator 2?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 28th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 25th, 2005
Written by Jason Franz
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