Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 7th, 2003
Extreme sports films come in two flavors first there are the sport specific show off films and then there are the documentary like Ultimate X that show what extreme sports are about. Keep Your Eyes Open rides the line between these two types of films, it looks at six of the wildest sports out there by looking at the athletes. We get an understanding of what motivates them, how they got into it and we also get lots of footage of them doing what they do. Starring Marc Frank Montoya and Mike and Tina Basich (snowboardin...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 2nd, 2003
Synopsis
An early Rob Reiner film, The Sure Thing features a young John Cusack as a collegefreshman. Tired of having no luck with the ladies at his East Coast college, Cusack is lured onwest by the promise of hooking up with the titular sure thing (Nicolette Sheridan). Hiscomplicated road trip is further complicated by his having to share the journey with DaphneZuniga, a classmate who wants nothing to do with him. You can probably guess where this isgoing to go, but it gets t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 31st, 2003
Synopsis
Welcome to the world of Julie (Deborah Foreman) and Randy (Nicolas Cage). Randy is apunk, and Julie is the eponymous Valley Girl, she of the instantly recognizable slang (“totally,”“grody,” “gag me,” etc.). Theirs is a light-hearted Romeo and Juliet story, as they fall in lovedespite the disapproval of peers. Don’t be expecting the outrageousness and excess of somethinglike American Pie. Rather, this is a sharply observed comedy, driven more by characterthan by slaps...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 31st, 2003
Synopsis
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. So there are these three friends, right? They’re allsomewhere on the geeky spectrum, but you’ve got the macho dude, the fat boy, and the sensitivetype. And they all want to get laid. And there’s also one special girl that the sensitive type hasfallen for... You’ve seen it before, you’ve seen it better. You’ve seen it as an after-school special(minus the nudity). Worth a look though, if only to see the only abortion sequence scored toU2.< ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 29th, 2003
Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore’s film Bowling for Columbine has done more then just win the Academy Award for best documentary film, it has also ruffled a lot of feathers. Moore’s extreme views, which are embraced by many, also seem to piss off a lot of people.
Moore’s extreme bias on the topic of gun control and U.S. war mongering has lead many to believe that Bowling for Columbine is more of a 2-hour speech then an award winning documentary. You may not like what he has to say, but y...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 25th, 2003
Synopsis
The plot unfolds with the logic of a nightmare, thereby defying linear description. Roughly,what happens is that a group of teens stage a violent escape from a rehab centre, and wind upat the house of our heroine (Lizzy Mahon). Here reality breaks down completely, as Mahon andthe others are tormented by one supernatural event after another, all of which seem to havesomething to do with the actions of Mahon’s father and grandfather. There are many strikinglybeautiful and/or ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 24th, 2003
Synopsis
Blinded in a horse-riding accident, Mia Farrow comes to live with her uncle and aunt in thecountry, and manages to get around the familiar spaces quite well. Unfortunately, her uncle’s carearlier splashed the cowboy boots of a psychotic killer. He descends on the house while Farrowis out, and kills everyone there. She returns, unaware that she is surrounded by corpses, and thatthe killer may return. Though the premise (blind woman versus a killer) bears some similarityto th...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 24th, 2003
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 23rd, 2003
Synopsis
Nick Nolte plays Bob, a former high-end thief, now a drugged-out loser living in Nice,France. He still retains the loyalty of his friends, however, and this includes Tchiky Karyo, thecop who has busted him time and time again, and who worries about Bob. He is especiallyworried that Bob will return to crime, because that would mean prison for the rest of his life.Sure enough, Bob is seduced into One More Gig, a complicated heist of valuable paintings.
There are remakes, and ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 17th, 2003
If ever a movie could be negatively affected by monstrous box office numbers, it’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding. When a five million dollar film rides a tsunami of critical buzz and excellent word-of-mouth past the two hundred million dollar box office gross (finally ending somewhere over $230 million), it’s impossible to see it for the first time completely free of expectation. Perhaps this was my mistake, because I went into my first viewing of the king of sleeper hits excited to a super-duper romantic comedy. ...
