1.85:1 Widescreen

Give My Regards to Broad Street

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 5th, 2004

As a music lover, the phrase, “written by Paul McCartney” almost always signifies excellence in the performance to come. For a movie lover, this is not necessarily the case. Sure, A Hard Day’s Night is a great film, Help! is better than average, and Yellow Submarine is a fun departure from mainstream animation. Heck, even Magical Mystery Tour has a campy sort of charm to it.

Apparently, the same rule that applies to music also applies to cinema; without the rest of The Beatles, P…
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Robin Hood

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 28th, 2004

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Synopsis

After being stripped of his title by Norman baron Jeroen Krabbe, Saxon Robert Hode(Patrick Bergin) becomes Robin Hood, outlaw. He soon leads a large band of the dispossessed,and the battles with Krabbe become more and more pointed. Robin has also tumbled for MaidMarian (Uma Thurman), but she is promised to the evil Jurgen Prochnow.

In other words, all of the familiar incidents and story elements of the Robin Hood legend arepresent and correct. The film is grittier t…
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Dog Park

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 27th, 2004

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Ahh, those funny little Kids from Canada. I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but at some point in the 90’s, The Kids in the Hall became North America’s answer to Monty Python. Now, that’s not to say that the Kids are as classically funny as the Pythons, but the similarities run rampant nonetheless. Both troupes had a very successful sketch comedy television series, in which many of the all-male cast dressed in drag. Following the success of their respective shows, they both explored what feature films might conta…
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In America

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 26th, 2004

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Synopsis

Still reeling from the death of their young son, Samantha Morton and Paddy Considine,along with young daughters Sarah and Emma Bolger move from Ireland to Manhattan. Life istough. Considine can’t find any acting work, the family is forced to live in a rotting apartmentbuilding in Hell’s Kitchen, Considine in particular is stuck in the grip of the past tragedy, andMorton’s new pregnancy is fraught with complications.

The above outline makes the film sound grim as all…
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Cat In The Hat, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 22nd, 2004

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Universal got it right a few years ago when they adapted The Grinch who Stole Christmas. Jim Carrey was perfectly cast as the heartless Grinch, the costumes and set design were excellent and the mild deviations from Dr. Seuss’ classic were appropriate and added more heart to the story. The most important aspect that was captured was the moral of the story – that being angry and miserable leads to a unsatisfying life of loneliness and that an act of kindness can fill the world with joy.

Now take all…
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Living the Life

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 20th, 2004

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Film

Kata (Katrina Gibson) and Ana (Melida Prado) are best friends growing up on the streets of L.A. To pass time they steal cars, hang out with their fellow gang mates, and compete in dance contests against rival gangs. When Ana gets pregnant by a member of a rival gang, she must choose between the street life and a life where she leaves it all behind, including Kata, to raise her child.

The urban drama is a genre that may have been maxed out early on. We had amazing trendsetters in Bo…
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Monster Club, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 19th, 2004

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Synopsis

John Carradine, playing real-life author R. Chetwynd-Hayes (on whose book the movie isvery loosely based), is ambushed by vampire Vincent Price. Price drains only a bit of his blood,and upon realizing that he has met his favourite author, invites Carradine for drinks at theMonster Club. Here Price spins a trio of tales: a young woman ill-advisedly plans to steal froma lonely “shadmock” (a creature with a fatal whistle); a family-man vampire is stalked byunpleasantly bureauc…
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Big Fish

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 15th, 2004

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Synopsis

Billy Crudup learns that father Albert Finney is dying, and returns home. He has feltalienated from his father because of the latter’s never-ending tall tales of his life. Crudup wouldlike to hear something true for once in his life, while Finney maintains that he IS telling the truth.Finney tells the tales again, mostly to Crudup’s fiancee, and his improbable life unfolds beforeus, with Ewan McGregor as his younger self. In his quest for his true love, he encounters amysti…
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Bloodhounds of Broadway

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 11th, 2004

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Synopsis

Based on stories by Damon Runyon, Bloodhounds of Broadway traces the would-bezany antics of a large group of characters in New York, on New Year’s Eve, 1928. Some of thethreads we follow are: Randy Quaid as the terminal loser who sells his body to a maddoctor, payment due by dawn, only to have his luck change radically and flapper Madonna fallfor him; Rutger Hauer as The Brain, a soft-spoken ganglord who is stabbed, and spends the restof the night being hauled fruitl…
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Schindler’s List

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 9th, 2004

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Synopsis

Liam Neeson is Oskar Schindler, ladies man with an eye for the main chance. He makes afortune in German-occupied Warsaw, staffing his factory with the cut-rate labour provided bythe Jews. As the Nazi persecution of the Jews becomes more and more murderous, Schindler’sconscience is awakened, and he eventually becomes intent not on making money through cheaplabour, but in saving the lives of his employees.

Shot in black and white, with the disturbing exception of a li…
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Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 8th, 2004

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Come join the Baker family (all twelve of them) for a fun, entertaining and albeit crazy ride through their life. While trying to manage twelve kids and a job Tom and Kate Baker (Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt) manage to do it all, while still staying somewhat sane.

With a great cast of Hollywood veterans and up and comers “Cheaper By the Dozen” offers something for kids and adults of all ages. The dynamic between Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt presents a real sense of family togetherness and even the idea that a…
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For the Moment

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 1st, 2004

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Synopsis

World War II is in full swing. A constant stream of pilots is needed in Europe, and trainingfacility in Manitoba is helping meet that demand. Men from all over the world come here to bemolded, in six weeks, into pilots. Among them is Australian Russell Crowe. Living nearby isChristianne Hirt, whose husband has been overseas for two years. She and Crowe meet at adance, and despite good intentions and an awareness of how fleeting their time together is, theyfall in love.

King of New York

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 30th, 2004

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Synopsis

Crime kingpin Christopher Walken is released from prison, and immediately reasserts hiscontrol over the underworld. All sorts of rivals are dispatched messily. He is also at odds withthe police, who are determined to bring him down. Our ganglord isn’t all bad, though: he hasall sorts of impressive community projects in mind.

This last detail is perhaps the most telling point: we are in the realm of full-on fantasy here.Director Abel Ferrara and long-time screenwrite…
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Wild Things 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 30th, 2004

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Synopsis

Susan Ward, presumably cast because she’s a dead ringer for Denise Richards, is a sad littlerich girl at one of those beachfront high schools populated, to judge from the evidence on hand,by porn stars. In between slow-motion beach volleyball games, her life seems to be falling apart.Her mother died years go in the Louisiana swamp. Her rich stepfather is first threatened by agangster, and is then killed in a plane crash. Not only is Ward’s inheritance pitiful, but queenbitc…
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Something’s Gotta Give

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 29th, 2004

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Synopsis

Inveterate bachelor Jack Nicholson (playing, essentially, himself) arrives at a beach housewith his latest young conquest, only to run into her mother (Diane Keaton, also play, essentially,herself). Shortly thereafter, Nicholson has a heart attack, and is forced to remain in the Hamptonsunder the reluctant care of Keaton. A bond inevitably grows between them, even as she is beingromanced by the much younger Keanu Reeves.

It says something about our movie-conditioned…
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100 Mile Rule

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 29th, 2004

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The 100 Mile Rule, as a corny salesman puts it, means that when you are more than 100 miles from your wife, cheating doesn’t count. It is some kind of moral loophole used by salesmen who travel frequently, allowing them to be unfaithful to their wives. While the phrase is quite original, the film is made up of parts belonging to other movies, a kind of Frankenstein if you will. Not to say that 100 Mile Rule resembles that monster, because it is actually quite enjoyable. However, you will need to get past the m…
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Gothika

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 28th, 2004

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Gothika starts out with tremendous promise. The story appears that it will be more original and rewarding than most horror/thrillers. Halle Berry certainly rises above the usual B-list acting. Even Downey, Jr. seems suspiciously at home in the film’s prison setting. The trouble begins for the audience shortly after it does for Berry. Soon the film begins to get predictable and ordinary. Only the terrific cinematography and convincing atmosphere save the film from sinking to the depths of the many who have gone before…
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Mac

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 24th, 2004

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Synopsis

Mac (John Turturro), a homebuilder, takes enormous pride in his work. Fed up with thecorner-cutting of his boss, he quits and, along with his two brothers, starts up his own buildingcompany. There are many problems on the way to success, and not least among them is Mac’sown tyrannical perfection, which takes its toll on everyone around him.

If the actual plot of Mac is something that we’ve all seen plenty of times before, itstexture and its tone are what make…
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Deadly Little Secrets

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 22nd, 2004

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Deadly Little Secrets has a secret. Shhhhhh. It’s a direct to DVD feature. So the only way you can see it is by renting it. Should you? I dunno. It’s a B movie with a B movie plot, but with pretty good technical components.

The plot starts off with a murder, and the brother (of course) has to get to the bottom of it. Craig Sheffer plays the brother, and he’s bland in a beefcake main character sort of way. There’s a really bad doctor (Dylan Walsh) who is injecting football players with letha…
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 20th, 2004

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Synopsis

In 1973, a group of Young, Beautiful People are on the way across Texas to a rock concert.They pick up a hitch-hiker: a terrified young woman who commits suicide when she thinks she isbeing driven back to the place she just fled. Seeking help in a nearby house, our heroesunfortunately come into contact with Leatherface and his clan, and the slaughter begins.

Though there are some variations, the plot, in is broad lines, is very close to the 1973original. And therein…
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Ripley’s Game

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 17th, 2004

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Synopsis

John Malkovich plays Tom Ripley in this incarnation. He is living a life of luxury in Italy,house in a palatial villa with his harpsichordist wife. Two events disrupt his comfortableexistence: the unwelcome re-emergence of former colleague-in-crime Ray Winstone, and a aninsult at a part from leukemia-ridden picture framer Dougray Scott. Winstone wants a criminalrival eliminated, and Ripley, vengeance on his mind, decides that the innocent Scott is just theperson to be manip…
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Vampire Effect

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 16th, 2004

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Synopsis

Vampire slayer Reeve takes on a new partner in a young woman named Gypsy. As Reevetrains Gypsy in the art of killing the undead (of which there seems to be a constant plague),Reeve’s sister Helen is starting up a new relationship with Kazef, who just happens to be theFifth Prince of Vampires. Kazef is a nice enough sort, however, limiting himself to bottled blood,and genuinely in love with Helen. Unfortunately, the Duke, a European vampire, is killing offthe other royal families, g…
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Playboys, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 12th, 2004

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Synopsis

Robin Wright is Tara. Not only is she the most beautiful woman in her small village, she isalso a single mother, which means some tough sledding in the Ireland of 1957. She is turned onand persecuted by the community, even as the men lust after her. Constable Albert Finney isparticularly obsessed with winning her, and he doesn’t take it well at all when she falls for AidanQuinn, who arrives with an itinerant band of actors.

There are plenty of serious topics being d…
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On Edge

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 11th, 2004

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Synopsis

Mimicking the format of Spellbound, On Edge introduces us to a group offigure skating hopefuls. The principles are Veda, an ice queen driven by her imperious bitch-on-wheels mother; Wendy, overweight but very talented and desperate for attention; and J.C., thecynical, self-taught trailer trash. These three triumph in the local competition, and move on tothe regionals, shooting for the coveted Golden Horn.

The figure skating scene is so ripe for parody,…
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School of Rock

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 11th, 2004

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Jack Black has mainly played smaller bit parts in movies and the problem has always been that whenever he is on screen he steals the show. He has had a starring role in one film (Shallow Hal) but as you will quickly learn from this film they kept him on a pretty short leash. This guy is on overdrive whenever there is a camera anywhere within a hundred feet.

Jack Black is Dewey Finn the down on his luck wannabe rock god. His roommate’s new girlfriend threatens to kick Dewey out if he doesn’t come up with som…
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