Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 17th, 2004
Ah….Armand Assante…what happened to your career. You were so brilliant in Sidney Lumet’s Q & A (rent it, people). I guess things happen. You have bills to pay. A family to raise.
Consequence is a made for cable HBO film. The opening voice-over, in classic film noir tradition, sets the table for a lurid crime melodrama. Unfortunately, Assante’s awkward southern accent makes the voice over, like the film itself, a bit off putting. The story involves a dentist (Armand Assante) who decides...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 16th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2004
“I’ll Be There” is different from most romantic comedies in that the main relationship is between a father and his daughter….wait a minute, that didn’t come out quite right.
The story revolves around Paul Kerr, an aging rock star who ends up in a hospital following a drunken ride on a motorcycle inside his own mansion. There is a concern that he may have thoughts of taking his own life. And then to top it off Paul learns about a daughter that he sired during a relationship that he had with a groupie 16 ye...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2004
A number of great films have come out of Ireland over the past decade (or so). A few titles that come to mind are In the name of the Father (1993), My Left Foot (1989), In America (2002), The Boxer (1997), and definitely The Commitments (1991). The one factor that differentiates The Commitments from the rest of these great films is that it centers around music rather then turmoil (whether it be personal, family, or country turmoil). The Commitments is a great tale t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 14th, 2004
If Sofia Coppola hasn’t redeemed herself from the whole The Godfather, Part III debacle by now, then it simply can’t be done. Lost in Translation is a beautiful film, the likes of which are rarely seen on this side of the Atlantic. (Of course, to be fair, the film was filmed entirely on location in Tokyo.)
Shot on a shoestring budget, Coppola has definitely made a mountain out of a molehill with this film, taking her small story of two ships that cross in the night, and making that night as br...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 12th, 2004
Synopsis
Osvaldo Benavides and Rodrigo Cachero are two very different cousins. One is clean-cut, theother is a stoner. They hate each other’s guts, much to the despair of their grandfrather (XavierMasse). But the old man is wily, even in death, and thanks to his will, the two cousins musttravel together to Acapulco to scatter Masse’s ashes in the sea. This is yet another instance ofhow lively and vibrant contemporary cinema is. Neatly observed characterizations all round.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 10th, 2004
Synopsis
If George Orwell and Franz Kafka had collaborated on a murder mystery, what you’d getis The Rook. A theocratic dictatorship is coming apart at the seams as an uprising gathersevery more force. In this trouble time, a detective working for the religious authorities comesto a small town to investigate a murder. Nothing is what it seems, and he is confronted with onemysterious character after another, one mysterious event after another. Like the regime, hegradually begi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 10th, 2004
Synopsis
Laura San Giacomo’s husband is a serial adulterer, and has just taken off for three weekswith his blonde assistant. Gradually, San Giacomo falls for a handsome stranger (Paul Rhys) shehas started to see regularly in a park. The story of their affair is recounted to a journalist workingon a piece about marriage in the 90s, and so we see it all unfold in a series of flashbacks. Theperformances are good, especially San Giacomo’s, who is appealingly naturalistic. Even thesmalle...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 8th, 2004
Fresh off of her Oscar nominated performance in Unfaithful, Diane Lane now takes on a somewhat lighter role in Under the Tuscan Sun. This film, which contains aspects of romance, comedy, and drama, is perfectly suited for Lane. Her beauty shines, and is framed perfectly with the amazing Tuscan countryside. The film is pretty good for what it is… it has a number of captivating moments, but also has a few lull’s in its pace. Take away a few of the over-the-top cheesy scenes, and you are left with a good dramatic ro...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2004
Synopsis
Well – this qualifies as one of the most bizarre examples of casting and scripting that I have ever seen in my life. Kelsey Grammer plays what is supposed to be a near-unemployable submarine captain whose insane antics are about to get him kicked out of the naval submarine command program. The movie chronicles his “return,” so to speak, as he overcomes insurmountable odds in a naval war game exercise to win a respectable submarine to command. His weapon – a WWII sub against the modern Americ...
