1.85:1 Widescreen

Alone in the Dark

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 4th, 2005

Synopsis

Hmmm. How to provide a synopsis for something that makes no sense at all? Here goes.Two decades ago, a bunch of orphans were, for reasons left vague, experimented on by a scientistwho merges them with creatures from beyond (implanting them with some sort ofextradimensional parasite/worm thingy that clings to their spines, as it turns out). In the presentday, the one orphan who escaped the worst of the experiments is Christian Slater, who goesaround digging up rare artifacts…
Read More

Control

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 1st, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

When first reading the synopsis of Control I thought that it would be something similar to the Michael Keaton-Andy Garcia movie Desperate Measures, and how violent criminals can be reformed somehow. Lee Ray (Ray Liotta, Goodfellas), a convicted criminal sentenced to death, is offered the chance to start life anew with the help of counseling from Dr. Copeland (Willem Dafoe, Spider-Man), along with some behavior suppressing drugs.

And of course, Lee Ray resists at first, but soon g…
Read More

Spanglish

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 25th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Mexican immigrant Paz Vega comes to work as a maid for the household of Adam Sandler (a chef who is very reluctantly accepting his growing renown) and Téa Leoni (insanely overwrought neurotic interior designer). Vega and her daughter wind up living with this family during a summer, and Vega’s presence is the catalyst for many changes, particularly in the relationship between Sandler and Leoni, which is veering into very treacherous shoals.

I have maintained before that a comedy nee…
Read More

Wild Things 3 – Diamonds in the Rough

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 22nd, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

There are just some trilogy’s that should not be made – and the Wild Things trilogy is one of them. This is not really a trilogy per se, since each of the films carries with it the same story, with the same twists. If you have seen the first, you have basically seen each of the sequels… except the sequels are both much worse. Take out the big name actors and make a direct-to-DVD release… and you have Wild Things: Diamonds In The Rough.

I am sure you all know the story by now, but here is a brief syn…
Read More

Dangerous Game

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 15th, 2005

Synopsis

Harvey Keitel is making a film about a relationship that disintegrates into terrible violence.His cast are James Russo and Madonna, and they have a pretty fraught relationship themselvesoff the set. Physical and mental brutality ooze from the film into real life, and Keitel descendsinto this hell, too.

Fresh off Bad Lieutenant, director Abel Ferrara, writer Nicholas St. John and Keitelplunge into the heart of darkness yet again. The shooting of the film has a…
Read More

Firewalker

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 15th, 2005

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Down-on-their-luck adventurers Chuck Norris and Louis Gosset are approached by theslightly flaky Melody Anderson to help her track down a horde of Aztec gold. They proceed totraipse about Central America, experiencing one sub-Indiana Jones adventure after another,racing to reach the treasure before a villain with (yes) an eye-patch.

J. Lee Thompson’s film doesn’t take itself seriously for a moment, but that doesn’t mean it’sactually funny. It isn’t, much, and the by…
Read More

Sacred Planet

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 13th, 2005

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Robert Redford narrates this documentary look at the remote human cultures that are livingin harmony with the planet, rather than conquering (or raping and pillaging, if you will) nature.Think of this as a 47-minute lite version of the Koyanisqatsi trilogy. Everything is verydreamy and beautiful, and this is hardly a rigorous work. But the images are absolutelybreathtaking. Produced for IMAX, this has all the earmarks of those features: short in runningtime and subst…
Read More

Fond Kiss, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 13th, 2005

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

The setting is Glasgow, and racial and cultural tensions are visible right from the start asTahara, daughter of Pakistani immigrants, pulls no punches about her experiences with racismpost 9-11 in a speech at school. Some of her schoolmates do not take kindly to her, aconfrontation ensues, and a chase takes place through the school. Tahara’s brother, Casim, a DJ,intervenes, and in the process meets Tahara’s music teacher, Roisin, an Irish Catholic. Sparks fly,and the stage …
Read More

She Hate Me

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 10th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Anthony Mackie, VP of a biotech company, learns the hard way that no good deed goesunpunished. When he blows the whistle on the corporation’s misdeeds, he is the one who windsup losing his job and being investigated. Given his desperate straits, he agrees to impregnate, fora price, his ex-girlfriend and her girlfriend. So begins a new business for our hero: stud-for-hireto well-heeled lesbians. The two tales intertwine, and sex and capitalism/corruption collide whenMackie i…
Read More

Amityville Horror Collection, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 4th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

The Amityville Horror (1979) remains one of the most successful haunted house movies ever. Based on a supposedly true story (emphasis on “supposedly”), the film sees George and Kathy Lutz (James Brolin and Margot Kidder) buy their dream home, only to be driven out by supernatural events (little girl makes friends with demonic piggie, blood runs from the walls, and so on). In scenes that have so little to do with the rest of the action they might almost belong to a separate movie, Rod …
Read More

Woodsman, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 4th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

The Woodsman is not a story for the faint of heart. The content is disturbing to say the least… it is a story of a convicted pedophile that has a “thing” for young girls. The story is actually much more then that… it has a strong focus on the inner demons that the pedophile faces in attempt to clean up his life.

After being released from a 12-year prison sentence, Walter Rossworth (Kevin Bacon) tries to re-enter society by getting a job at a lumberyard, and moving into his own apartment (coincident…
Read More

In The Weeds

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 29th, 2005

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Welcome to an eventful night in a posh New York restaurant. The joint is ruled over by thetyrannical Eric Bogosian, and the staff is the expected group of would-be actor (self-obsessed),writer (morose), cynical old hand (Molly Ringwald), newbie, effeminate manager, and so on.Also familiar are the tensions, loves, hatreds and other crises that afflict our characters. Whilenone of this is particularly groundbreaking, it is nonetheless delivered with both conviction andan agre…
Read More

Something Short of Paradise

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 29th, 2005

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

“They keep falling in and out of love,” reads the tagline, and that quite nicely sums up thefilm. David Steinberg is the neurotic manager of an art-house cinema, and Susan Sarandon hascome to NYC to become a journalist. They are different, but there’s chemistry, BUT sometimesthe chemistry is of the wrong kind, and the movie charts the ups and downs of their relationship.“In the tradition of Annie Hall” the case boasts, and the case could be made that it is alittle to…
Read More

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 25th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

The scene is Mexico, and the time is now, though it might as well be the 19th Century. A richlandowner’s daughter is pregnant, and her father goes as far as breaking her bones to find outwho the father is. He then demands the man’s head. Squads of minions fan out over Mexico.Two (Gig Young and Robert Webber) happen upon Warren Oates, who know the man they’relooking for. When Oates finds out that Garcia is already dead, he smells easy money, and salliesfor with girlfriend Is…
Read More

America Beyond the Color Line (American Experience)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 17th, 2005

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chair of Harvard’s Afro-American Studies, takes the pulse of BlackAmerica as he travels the country, interviewing the famous (Colini Powell, Morgan Freeman,Maya Angelou, and so on and so forth) and the everyday. The results are interesting indeed,though the interviews might perhaps have been a little more rigorous and a little less chummy.Still, an engaging, personal work.

Audio

The 2.0 track is perfectly serviceable for the …
Read More

Question of God: Sigmund Freud & C.S. Lewis with Dr. Armand Nicholi, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 17th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Taking as its starting point a course offered by Harvard professor Dr. Armand M. Nicholi(and his book of the same name), this is a debate between belief and skepticism. A round tableled by Nicholi bounces of a series of recreations of events from the lives of C.S. Lewis andSigmund Freud, and the two historical figures make their cases for their respective sides of theargument. At 225 minutes, this is a pretty involved undertaking. It attacks its subject withadmirable ambiti…
Read More

Bustin’ Loose

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 12th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Incorrigible and not altogether competent small-time crook Richard Pryor has pulled one fastone too many. His exasperated parole officer threatens him with a long jail term unless he agreesto drive a group of special education students in a rickety bus from Philadelphia to Seattle, wherethey will find a new home. All sorts of misadventures await along the road trip.

There’s a vaguely gritty atmosphere, which helps defuse some of the sentimentality, and thekids are h…
Read More

Cat Returns

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 10th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Poor Haru is have a rough day at school, and it isn’t like this is an exception. She can’t seemto fit in, and is filled with self-doubt. On her way home, she rescues a cat from traffic, and isastonished when the cat speaks to her. It turns out that she rescued the prince of the CatKingdom. By way of thanks, the Cat King decides she should become his son’s bride. Harudoesn’t like this idea. Coming to her aid is the Baron, an elegant cat figurine come to life, alongwith his f…
Read More

Get Shorty

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 8th, 2005

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Chili Palmer (John Travolta) is a loan shark, but his heart isn’t in it anymore. His boss hasdied, and the deeply obnoxious Dennis Farina has taken over. Sent to LA to collect on some baddebts, movie buff Chili finds himself right at home in the Hollywood scene, and decides to getinvolved in the business. The other major figures include Gene Hackman as a low-end producer,Rene Russo as the world-weary B actress, and Danny De Vito as the high-profile actor.

The above …
Read More

Orgazmo

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 8th, 2005

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Director Trey Parker plays Joe Young, a Mormon on a rather losing missionary trip toHollywood. A chance encounter lands him (reluctantly) as the lead in Orgazmo, a pornflick about the titular super-hero. The film becomes a runaway success, and Joe finds himself anunwilling porn superstar. Meanwhile, his co-star in the film has developed a real, workingversion of the hero’s Orgazmarator (or something like that), which causes orgasms at a distance.It is only a matter o…
Read More

Sideways

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 8th, 2005

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/lwrept5/Upcomingdiscs.com/wp-content/themes/upcomingdiscs/functions.php on line 453

Buy at Amazon.com

Paul Giamatti, in typically depressed form, is an aspiring writer (his unpublished manuscript looks twice the size of War and Peace) and wine connoisseur who heads out with best friend Thomas Haden Church for a road trip through wine country before the latter’s wedding.Church is far more interesting in getting laid than in tasting wine, however, while Giamatti is still agonizing over his failed marriage (not to mention his perception of a failed life). He allows himself to be dragged by Church into all sorts of misadventures, but one particular entanglement,with Virginia Madsen, might perhaps turn out to be something special.

Jeremy

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 8th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Jeremyis an early 70’s film that put Robby Benson on the map (for what that’s worth). Benson was nominated for a Golden Globe for his tender performance as the title character. This is quite an intimate little perforance. Glynnis O’Connor plays Jeremy’s love interest, Susan. O’Connor matches Benson’s truthful performance. The film centers around Susan and Jeremy’s awkward, but authentic, teenage romance.

The film moves along at a snail’s pace. But that’s part of the point. There are no major Romeo…
Read More

MI-5, Volume 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 7th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Five discs, ten episodes, one amazing show.

For those that are unaware, MI-5 (or Spooks, as it is called in the UK) is a popular spy series set in London. While some similarities will inevitably be drawn to ABC‘s Alias, MI-5 is an excellent show in its own right. I highly recommend that those that are new to the series start with Season One of the show and work their way up. Starting in the middle of a series cliffhanger is never a good idea, as I learned all-too-late. Of course,…
Read More

Shadow of Fear

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 6th, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Driving home one rainy night after losing an important deal, Matt Davis runs over a manstanding in the middle of a deserted country road. Repressing his initial impulse to call thepolice, Davis tries to cover up his crime. But then he finds out that not only are the police veryinterested in the victim, who might be involved with a local bank robbery, but that said victimmight also be his brother-in-law. Threatened with losing everything, Davis turns to sinisterlawyer James …
Read More

Porco Rosso

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 3rd, 2005

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

The setting is the Adriatic in the 1930s. The hero is a bounty hunter known as Porco Rosso(“The Crimson Pig”), a former Italian seaplane pilot who deserted the post-war military ratherthan join the Fascists, and who, for mysterious reasons, has been cursed to look like a pig. Hemakes his living defending civilians from seaplane pirates, and his activities force the pirates tobring in outside talent: self-obsessed American aviator Curtis. In their first encounter, Porco’seng…
Read More

«< 45 46 47 48 49 >»