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Nina Takes a Lover

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 10th, 2004

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Synopsis

Laura San Giacomo’s husband is a serial adulterer, and has just taken off for three weekswith his blonde assistant. Gradually, San Giacomo falls for a handsome stranger (Paul Rhys) shehas started to see regularly in a park. The story of their affair is recounted to a journalist workingon a piece about marriage in the 90s, and so we see it all unfold in a series of flashbacks. Theperformances are good, especially San Giacomo’s, who is appealingly naturalistic. Even thesmalle…
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Under the Tuscan Sun

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 8th, 2004

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Fresh off of her Oscar nominated performance in Unfaithful, Diane Lane now takes on a somewhat lighter role in Under the Tuscan Sun. This film, which contains aspects of romance, comedy, and drama, is perfectly suited for Lane. Her beauty shines, and is framed perfectly with the amazing Tuscan countryside. The film is pretty good for what it is… it has a number of captivating moments, but also has a few lull’s in its pace. Take away a few of the over-the-top cheesy scenes, and you are left with a good dramatic ro…
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Rain Man

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2004

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Fifteen years after it swept the 1989 Academy Awards show with Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actor (Dustin Hoffman in his first win since 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer), MGM has finally released a Special Edition of Rain Man.

Synopsis

Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) is a self-centered dealer of exotic cars. He imports high-end sports cars into the states and sells them to the highest bidder. Within the first 10 minutes, we learn that he is not above bribing the EP…
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Down Periscope

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2004

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Synopsis

Well – this qualifies as one of the most bizarre examples of casting and scripting that I have ever seen in my life. Kelsey Grammer plays what is supposed to be a near-unemployable submarine captain whose insane antics are about to get him kicked out of the naval submarine command program. The movie chronicles his “return,” so to speak, as he overcomes insurmountable odds in a naval war game exercise to win a respectable submarine to command. His weapon – a WWII sub against the modern Americ…
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Home Room

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 31st, 2004

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I have had the pleasure of reviewing better films than Home Room; and I’ve certainly suffered through worse. But I am not sure I’ve reviewed a more important film. I’ve been a public high school teacher for over 8 years. Ask any educator and you’ll find that Columbine changed things for everyone, so I wasn’t sure how I would find this study of that kind of violence. The subject is handled with extreme care in Home Room. In a wise decision, the shooting occurs to a black screen. We don’t really pick up the story until after the event.

Vanishing Point

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 31st, 2004

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Synopsis

Well, Vanishing Point is definitely a movie of the seventies. Don’t be deceived by the DVD case, which proclaims this to be “the Ultimate Car Chase Movie” – yes, there is certainly car chases, but this film is more art gallery than speed shop. To contextualize the film, it was originally released in 1971 – the Vietnam war was crawling towards defeat for the U.S., the summer of love had come and gone, and disaffection and disillusionment had become the twin staples of the America.

Black Widow

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

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Synopsis

Theresa Russell seduces rich men by conforming to their dreams in terms of appearance andbehaviour, marries them, and then kills them. She thinks her means are undetectable. But JusticeDepartment investigator Debra Winger has noticed a pattern, and becomes obsessed withtracking Russell down. She follows her to Hawaii (where she is working on her latest target),befriends her, and the stage is set for a psychological chess game.

The idea is promising, but the executio…
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Silencers, The

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

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Synopsis

A sinister organization called “Big O” (get it?) is plotting something to do with nuclearmissiles. The only man for the job, apparently, is Matt Helm (Dean Martin at his most greasilyrepulsive). Stella Stevens plays a woman who may be in league with the Big O, or she may begenuinely stupid, and Matt drags her along on his quest for the bad guys. The plot makes verylittle sense, the action scenes are dull, and nobody involved with this project seems to have caredvery much. M…
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Radio

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

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Synopsis

Ed Harris is the coach of a small-town high school football team in 1976. He takes an interestin Cuba Gooding, Jr. after the mentally challenged young man is tormented by some of thethoughtless players. Harris takes Gooding under his wing as a kind of team mascot (orsomething). A friendship grows between the two men, and Gooding gradually blooms. Thoughnot quite as gruesomely “inspirational” as the trailers implied, this still comes very close, like anafter-school TV specia…
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Dying Young

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 27th, 2004

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Synopsis

Wrong side of the tracks gal Julia Roberts (now there’s casting for you) is hired by leukemia-ridden Campbell Scott to be his nurse. He’s educated and rich, she ain’t. He’s dying, she ain’t.Cue every cliché in the book as the romance wends its inevitable way. Suspension of disbeliefis not helped by the fact that Scott is supposedly doing his PhD on German Impressionist art, andwhen shows Roberts a slide show of his subjects, Pre-Raphaelite Victorian Dante GabrielRossetti is…
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Scorched

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 25th, 2004

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Scorched follows in the tradition of Guy Ritchie films such as “Loch Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch” from the perspective of having a group of characters that don’t have too much in common except for fate brining them all together at the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time.

Scorched follows three main characters who all work at a bank and have the same idea, although thought of independently, to rob the bank – all on the same weekend. Sheila (Alicia Silverstone) has been dating …
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Thirteen

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

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Synopsis

Evan Rachel Wood plays Tracy. As our tale begins, the 13-year-old is still on good terms with her mum (Holly Hunter), and is very much one of the nice girls in junior high. In that environment, you get devoured, and it isn’t long before she resorts to theft to befriend the popular Evie (co-writer Nikki Reed). Cue the rapid descent into crime, sex and drugs.

These are the teen years as chronicled from the lower circles of Hell. The handheld camera matches the high energy…
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Sidney Poitier DVD Collection, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 14th, 2004

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Synopsis

In the Heat of the Night (***1/2) is probably the best known film in the set. HereSidney Poitier plays Virgil Tibbs, Philadelphia homicide detective. Waylaid in a smallMississippi town, he battles racism and his own arrogance as he both clashes and cooperates withPolice Chief Rod Steiger in a murder investigation. Directed by Mr. Concerned Cinema himself,Norman Jewison, the film can hardly be taken seriously, what with all the inhabitants of Sparta,with only the par…
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Overnight Delivery

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2004

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Synopsis

Paul Rudd is a college student carrying on a long-distance relationship with his blandlybeautiful and rather sickening girlfriend when he learns (he thinks) that she is cheating on him.With the help of Reese Witherspoon, a fellow student moonlighting as a stripper, he composes anexcoriating letter (plus accompanying materials) and sends this to her on overnight delivery. Nosooner has he done this than he finds out that the “other man” is, in fact, a Chihuahua. A cross-count…
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Lost and Delirious

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 6th, 2004

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Sometimes, movies are just inexplicably bad, and as a DVD reviewer, I get to see a lot of them. These are films that are so horrible that I sometimes don’t know where to begin. It is often times hard to place blame in one are or another, when the whole production is flawed.

In the case of Lost and Delirious, however, the blame is easy to place. This film is not half bad… the premise is decent, the film looks and sounds better than expected, and the acting, while not fantastic, is respectable. The pro…
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New Guy, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 4th, 2004

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Seriously… was a director’s cut of this film really needed? Extended versions of The Lord of the Rings films are welcome, but come on now, The New Guy? This disc includes a mere 4 extra minutes of footage, all of which adds to the back-story; so for those of you hoping of a little bit of added ranch… sorry. You have probably read it before, but here is the premise…

Uptown Girls

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 23rd, 2003

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Synopsis

Brittany Murphy is the orphaned daughter of rock star parents. She has been living a fairy-tale existence in Manhattan, and hasn’t had the slightest need to grow up. When her lawyerabsconds with her 100 million bucks, however, she is forced to find work, and becomes the newnanny for the uptight, precociously mature Dakota Fanning. Murphy will learn to grow up, andFanning will learn to be a kid. There will be a little bit of tragedy tossed in along the way.

Ut…
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Freaky Friday

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 21st, 2003

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Synopsis

Jamie Lee Curtis is the harried big-name therapist with the bestselling book. Lindsay Lohanis her teenage daughter going through the meat-grinder of high school. They are at each otherhammer and tongs, neither understanding the stresses of the other’s life. Then, of course, theywake up one Friday in each other’s bodies, and the fun begins. Not only must each survive inthe other’s environment, but two major events loom: Curtis’ marriage and Lohan’s band’saudition. Pos…
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Order, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 20th, 2003

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Well, this movie was a let down, and the DVD release is nothing special. Not one of Fox’s better efforts.

The Plot: The Order, disappointingly, turned out to be not much more than a Heath Ledger vehicle, apparently targeted at Goth teenage girls with vaguely Euro pretensions. Without letting out any spoilers, trust me when I say that you’ll be disappointed if you expect anything like what the trailer portrays. The trailer says implies that the Vatican is “..using a killer with supernatural powers to …
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All Over the Guy

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 16th, 2003

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Generally speaking, I am not a fan of trendy relationship films. Cameron Crowe’s Singles aside, they are just not my kind of thing. They typically embody too much neurosis and whining from the female characters, and either overly sensitive or overly dense men. Plot elements are rarely believable (the two main characters often bump into each other at some all-too-fortuitous locale), and I frequently leave the theater feeling as if I have been manipulated into believing the story would actually be possible if it…
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Alias – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 15th, 2003

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Show

It would be a boldfaced lie to say that Alias is the best show of its kind on television. The truth is that it is the ONLY show of its kind on television. Alias certainly contains writing that rivals even the award-gobbling Sopranos. The photography is film quality. The character chemistry, which I rank as the most important element in any show, is wonderful. The characters are compelling. You really start to care about these guys; even the villainous Sloan demands sympathy at times.

So Close

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 15th, 2003

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Synopsis

Shu Qi and Zhao Wei are sisters who, after the murder of their parents, have become a top-of-the-line assassination-for-hire team, combining martial arts and weapons expertise with acomputer program that allows them to tap into any closed-circuit camera anywhere on Earth.Karen Wok is the tough-as-nails detective who is on their trail. All three women run afoul of acorrupt businessman who wants them dead.

The Charlie’s Angels can only wish they were thi…
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Heart of Dragon

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 14th, 2003

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Synopsis

Jackie Chan is a police officer. His girlfriend wants him to commit, but he wants to becomea sailor. The real complication in his life is his brother, Sammo Hung, who, though almost 30,has the mind of a small child. Chan must put his dreams on hold in order to look after hisbrother, and his resentment grows. His loyalty is put to the test, however, when Hunginadvertently runs afoul of the both the mob and the police.

If you’re hoping for another Jackie Chan a…
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 11th, 2003

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Synopsis

The story is very simple, which is one of the elements that gives the film its raw power. Agroup of young adults in a VW minivan make the mistake of picking up a demented hitchhiker.They manage to dump him, but he marks their van with his own blood. Shortly, the make themistake of stumbling upon what turns out to be the home of the hitchhiker, Leatherface, and therest of the psychotic brood. Most of the cast is killed off by the halfway mark, at which point thefilms …
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In the Line of Duty 4

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 11th, 2003

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Synopsis

Detectives Cynthia Khan and Donnie Yen are trying to break up a drug ring. The actionbegins in Seattle, where a bust goes wrong and Yen’s partner is killed by a CIA agent. Witness tothis is a dock worker, who becomes a prime suspect in the killing, and flees to Hong Kong. Khanand Yen follow, not yet realizing that they have a traitor in their midst.

I have no idea if the plot actually makes any sense, and frankly, I don’t care. It serves itspurpose, which is …
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