Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 3rd, 2003
Synopsis
For the first twenty-five minutes, we are in 1950 Havana, where a typical noir tale of crimeand betrayal unfolds. Then we shift into colour, and discover that the hero of the first film, EricA. Leffler, is actually a writer of pulp fiction, and what we saw was the first part of his currentnovel, one that he doesn’t know how to finish. Before long, he gets caught up in a “real-life” noiradventure. This is a very, very low-budget exercise, but its ambitions are admirable, and i...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 3rd, 2003
Synopsis
George Sand is a documentary filmmaker, and quite conceited about the fact. He comes tothe US from the UK to shoot a documentary about the 2nd Mike Wong Film Festival. Curiously,all of the competitors at the festival, each of which worked on Wong’s last movie before he died,start being murdered one by one. Sand decides to uncover the murderer. This is a cheerfully sillylow-budget film, loaded with hilarious send-ups of student films. The sense of the absurd isnicely underst...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 1st, 2003
Synopsis
We’re a long way from the escapist song-and-dance numbers that characterize so manyIndian films. Salaam Bombay! is set on the mean streets of Bombay, with special focuson the street children living there. The main character is Krishna, who tries to make a life forhimself, but circumstances push him towards crime. Many of the roles are actually played byhomeless children.
Audio
The soundtrack (in Hindi) comes in both the original mono and in a...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 28th, 2003
posted by Marc Atonna
Film
Goldie won the best supporting actress Academy Award as a ditsy, blonde mistress. Not bad for a debut. Goldie starts the film with her suicide attempt foiled by a neighbor (who unknowingly gives a great James Stewart impression). Matthau thinks he has the perfect love scenario. He has a stuffy secretary (Bergman) who keeps his life in order and a fling (Goldie) he keeps in check by telling her about a non-existent wife and kids.
As with all successful romantic comedies, a wrench has...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 28th, 2003
posted by Marc Atonna
Film
Mitchum and Wayne are joined by a very young James Caan in this western tale of a few very talented fighters fighting a group of evil businessmen and cattle barons. Mitchum is the drunken sheriff who trades one crutch for another. Wayne plays an old friend with a fast gun and a bum right arm. Caan is a young expert with the knife, but needs a shotgun to hit the side of a barn.
The first hour introduces the bad guys and establishes the relationships and weaknesses of the good guys. ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 27th, 2003
Synopsis
Welcome to Oceania in 1984, the last word in totalitarian regimes. Winston Smith, a lowlevel functionary, engages in two kinds of thought crime: he falls in love, and he questions BigBrother. The film is as compellingly and utterly bleak as the novel. The vision of future isactually a vision of the past: Oceania is a worst-case version of late-40s Britain. This approach isbrilliant, because, as a result, the film does not date, and its chilling warning, in these days ofTota...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 26th, 2003
I doubt the makers of the current Daredevil film took one look at Glory Daze and said, "We've got to have that guy." Glory Daze is a mindless romp through the last weeks of a group of frat-like college students. If you're interested in plots, solid acting, and quality cinematography, this really isn't your film. If, however, a cheap imitation of Animal House sounds like a good way to spend an hour and a half, look no further.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 23rd, 2003
Synopsis
Gary Sinise (who also produced and directed) is George, the smart one. John Malkovich (in arole light years from his usual creepy venom) is Lennie, child-like but enormously strong. Thetwo best friends wander Depression-era California, looking for work. They find what seems likea long-term gig at the Tyler Ranch, but trouble rears its head in the form of the unhappy SherilynFenn, trapped in an abusive marriage. It isn’t long before everything goes to hell.
Audio< ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 23rd, 2003
Film
Let’s at least give the filmmakers credit for getting right to the point. Unfortunately you’ll spend the next 80 minutes or so wishing they hadn’t. The film is full of enough plot holes to pilot a starship through (one of the big ones). You get the sense right away that the characters really can’t stand each other, but then you’re expected to believe that one year after pissing each other off they’re going to get together for an intimate New Year’s Eve gathering. There’s an obvious attempt at th...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 19th, 2003
Synopsis
Asia Argento plays Anna Battista, who, when you get down to it, is really Asia Argento inthis intensely autobiographical film. Anna, a popular film star in Italy, stumbles from one bizarreencounter to another, pining for one-night-stand Kirk, in this picaresque tale. There isn’t much ofa plot, as such. Instead, we witness her descent into hell and ultimate redemption. The sex ispretty graphic, which is what caused all the fuss upon the film’s release, but what hasn’t beencommented ...
