Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 17th, 2003
Synopsis
Instead of Othello, great warrior, we have Odin (Mekhi Phifer), basketball star. His loveDesdemona becomes Desi (Julia Stiles), and duplicitous friend Iago is not Hugo (Josh Hartnett).Consumed by jealousy because of Odin’s success, and feeling unloved by his father (MartinSheen), Hugo sets about destroying Odin and everyone else by planting the seeds of jealousy inhis mind. The more familiar you are with Othello, the better this plays, as it follows Shakespearevery closely,...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2003
Synopsis
After a freak Ferris wheel accident kills his pregnant wife, Chance (Blair Underwood) istaken in by best friends Michael (Michael Beach) and Lauren (Debbi Morgan), friends whosemarriage is already shaky. The thing is, Chance and Lauren previously had an affair, somethingthat wracks Lauren with guilty, but that Chance is increasingly obsessed with reviving.Gradually, things go from bad to worse. Too gradually, in fact: we’re almost 45 minutes in beforethe thriller angle begi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 15th, 2003
Synopsis
Nick Nolte is a down-on-his-luck actor, who suddenly has to look after his six-year-olddaughter (who naturally winds up with a better TV career than he has). This film was a big flopfor writer/director James L. Brooks. It was originally a musical, but all the songs were cut priorto release.
Audio
The audio specifications aren’t really indicated, which smells like 2.0 to me. Theenvironment effect is all right, though not spectacular, and the left-rig...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 15th, 2003
Synopsis
Craig Sheffer and Sheryl Lee are less than a year into their marriage, and already they’re intherapy. It transpires that Lee has never had an orgasm. Sheffer finds out that she is visitingextremely unconventional sex therapist Terence Stamp. Outraged, he confronts Stamp, but windsup listening to him, and then becomes his pupil, hoping that what he learns will lead to sexualhealing for Lee. If this sounds like things are about to get very flaky, well, that depends on yourtak...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 9th, 2003
Synopsis
Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel are soldiers in Napoleon’s army. The film opens the yearNapoleon has become ruler of France. Keitel is a man of irrational and explosive temper. For noreal reason, he develops a hatred for Carradine, and challenges him to a duel. Over and overagain, during the course of the tumultuous years that follow, the two duel, but never manage tocomplete their battle and both always live to fight another day. Though not without darkness,this film, ba...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 6th, 2003
Synopsis
Dana Carvey returns to the big screen with the tale of Pistachio Disguise. He plays a waiter at his father’s Italian restaurant who can’t figure out why he compulsively mimics his customers and is always changing his appearance. What he soon learners’ is that these are all traits of the Disguisey family, harnessing the great power of Energico they are able to transform themselves and have used their powers to fight evil for centuries. When his parents are kidnapped Pistachio must learn to us...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 5th, 2003
Synopsis
A multi-character tale of working class families, All or Nothing’s emotional centre isTimothy Spall’s Phil (a taxi driver) and Lesley Manville’s Penny (a Safeway cashier). They, theirchildren and their friends live lives of quiet desperation and plenty of bleakness, but a certainwry humour lurks just under the surface.
Audio
This is a very quiet film, by and large, so there isn’t a lot by way of sound effects. The musicis very important, however, an...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 5th, 2003
Synopsis
Covering the years of the Napoleonic Wars in Russia, War and Peace follows the lives ofNatasha (Audrey Hepburn), Pierre (Henry Fonda) and his best friend Andrei (Mel Ferrer). Thiscombination of stars, not to mention Anita Ekberg as a gold-digger and Herbert Lom asNapoleon, takes a bit of getting used to, but you do find yourself caught up in their lives andloves. The battle scenes, particularly at the end, are quite impressive, and if the cheese factor ispretty high, so is ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2003
Synopsis
Nick Nolte, hulking and brutal, is a top NYC cop. The first thing we see him do isassassinate an unarmed man, then plant evidence to cover up his guilt. Timothy Hutton, a newassistant to the district attorney, is given the job of closing what is supposed to be a simple caseof self-defence. Naturally, he finds all sorts of loose ends and hints of top-level corruption. Whilethe romantic subplot is pointless, the investigation is gripping, and Nolte, Hutton, ArmandAssante (as ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2003
Synopsis
The setting is an exclusive college, and the action covers one school term. We move fromone party to another (very little education of any kind takes place here, what with the professorsstoned or absent), and see the intersections of doomed romantic hopes. These hopes belong toSean Bateman (brother of American Psycho Patrick), who longs for the virginal Lauren, and is inturn longed after by Paul. Lauren, meanwhile, is saving herself for Victor, who doesn’t evenknow she exis...
