Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 10th, 2007
Terminally naive and beautiful Noelle Page (Marie-France Pisier) is abused and conned by every man she meets. In 1939 Paris, penniless and at the end of her tether, she meets American pilot Larry Douglas (John Beck, looking more like a 70s porn star than a 40s air force pilot). A great romance begins, but then duty calls him away. He promises to find her again in three weeks, but he never shows up. Noelle discovers that she is pregnant, and then finds out Larry is a terminal womanizer. She aborts herself with a wire hanger, and then, feeling she has nothing left to lose, slaughters all the young Jedi... I mean, she sleeps her way to movie stardom, hooks up with a Greek tycoon, obsessively tracks Larry’s life, including his marriage to PR executive Catherine Alexander (Susan Sarandon), and plots a dastardly revenge, a reigniting of the romance, and a murder. Busy girl!
As you might have inferred from the above, Noelle’s transformation from abused and abandoned waif to Queen of Darkness is no more convincing than a recent whiny brat’s transmogrification into the Lord of the Sith. In point of fact, NOTHING in this three-hour soap opera is the least bit convincing (right down to careless framing that permits a skyscraper completed in 1972 to be visible over Nazi-occupied Paris). But then, anyone expecting great art to be made from a Sidney Sheldon novel needs to see a therapist, and quickly. What we have here is trash of the absolutely highest order, and hence the four-star rating. Excessive, grotesque and unfailingly hilarious in a way only the 70s could produce, this is the cinematic equivalent of chowing down on a huge bowl of 100% deep fried, trans-fat munchies. Terrible for you, but delicious. And who can fail to love that title. What in the name of all that is holy does it MEAN?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 8th, 2007
Synopsis
This documentary follows six seasons of the Roosevelt Roughriders girls’ basketball team. Initially, the focus was going to be the work of their unorthodox coach, economics teacher Bill Resler. What he did is interesting in and of itself, turning the team into a real force to be reckoned with. But then into this middle-class, largely white setting comes Darnellia Russell, inner city girl with inner city problems, and colossal talent. The film follows her integration into the team, and when p...egnancy forces her to leave the team for a season, the story becomes her legal battle against the basketball association to be allowed to rejoin. There may be a few too many subjects here for any of them to be fully dealt with, but the result is undeniably compelling viewing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 6th, 2007
Posted in Disc Reviews by Joshua Noyes
Lady in the Water is the latest film offered from M. Night Shyamalan. In its opening weekend (21-23 July 2006), the film grossed a total of $18.2 million, placing third in the United States box office results for that weekend. It was M. Night's lowest opening for any of his five major films. Due to negative reviews and poor word-of-mouth, its second week fell sharply to $7.1 million, pushing its total to only $32.2 million. Its third weekend was no better, falling another 62.1% to $2.7 million. As of September...14, 2006, its total was $42.285 million. In addition, the film only made $30.5 million in the foreign box office, pulling its tally to approximately $72.785 million internationally. The movie had an estimated budget of $70 million for production and a further $70 million in advertising costs.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 4th, 2007
On its surface, Coastlines is a modestly produced film that was written and directed by Victor Nunez (Ulee's Gold), telling the story about a guy who was just released from prison for dealing drugs, but bites the prison bullet for the favor of a friend. He comes out and is looking for the financial windfall promised him, but also tries to get back in touch with his roots. On a deeper level, Coastlines, well, doesn't go that much deeper I guess.
The ex-con in question is Sonny (Timothy Olyphant, Deadwood), who quickly reunites with the criminal element of his past in Eddie and Fred Vance (played by Josh Lucas, Hulk, and William Forsythe, The Rock, respectively), who also give him the opportunity to get back into business for himself. He finds a bit of a conflict in this, because he is close friends with Dave (Josh Brolin, Into the Blue), who happens to be a Sheriff in town. Sonny also has feelings for Dave's wife Ann (Sarah Wynter, Species II).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 2nd, 2007
As a relatively topical fan of the James Bond franchise (though not so topical that I'd buy all of the films on DVD), I had a cursory knowledge of the actors who played Bond and the times that they had been cast. Little did I know however that by the time Roger Moore had signed onto the role in Live and Let Die that this was the third attempt to bring him aboard, and that maybe producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli were hoping that the third attempt brought the proverbial charm. Moore had been approached for the role as early as the Dr. No days, but was in the midst of doing The Saint television show, and Connery was chosen. Connery left and the opportunity came to Moore again, however he was not available and George Lazenby came on to do On Her Majesty's Secret Service. He left, Connery did one more and then finally, Moore was available to take the reigns.
And he came aboard to a Bond film that is probably his best and one of the best Bond films in the franchise. In Live and Let Die, James has to go to America (and subsequently, the Caribbean) to research the deaths of several British agents. He goes into Harlem to try and find out the whereabouts and criminal motivations of a mysterious boss named Mr. Big, and eventually makes his way to a fictional island called San Monique, where a United Nations delegate named Kananga (Yaphet Kotto, Homicide: Life on the Street) is waiting for his arrival, and using the results from a tarot card reader named Solitaire (a very young Jane Seymour, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman), he plans for the demise of Bond.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 27th, 2007
If you've seen any of Terry Gilliam's other films, you can probably guess that this one is pretty bizarre. Based on the novel of the same name by Mitch Cullen, Tideland is an eccentric, grotesque and imaginative tale of a child's resilience.
I'm going to say right off the top, I wanted to like Tideland, and for two reasons. One, Gilliam has made some incredible films in his career, from Monty Python and the Holy Grail to Twelve Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Other than the flawed Brothers Grimm, it's been seven years since a Gilliam-helmed film was released. So I wanted to like this one. I really did. Unfortunately, while I admired the creativity in Tideland, and was at times intrigued and repulsed, I ultimately found the film extremely unsatisfying.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 24th, 2007
As I right this review, the date is February 24th, 2007 one day before the Annual Academy Award Ceremony, which is a show that this film is nominated in the Best Picture category for. Numerous other reviewers, whether they're critical or simply just internet journalists like myself, have labeled this one as this year's Crash. A statement like that made me worry going into this one because simply put Crash isn't Best Picture material nor is it even close to Best Picture material. While I haven't seen every other Best Picture nominee, I wouldn't completely mind if the Academy did award Babel with the Oscar.
Babel tells the story of Richard (Brad Pitt) and Susan (Cate Blanchett), two rather wealthy Americans from San Diego who're vacationing in Morocco. Their two kids are back in San Diego with their Mexican housekeeper named Amelia. During their vacation in the country, a local herdsmans' young children find a rifle and, unknowingly, take aim and fire at passing spectators on a bus. Unfortunately Susan is hurt during the incident. At the same time we learn that a trip involving Richard, Amelia and Richard's two children has put these characters in a complex situation that may result in them not being able to return to America. And at the same time as that's occurring, another event is occurring in Tokyo involving a widower who just happens to be tied to the earlier mentioned rifle via an ownership right. But this widower also has to worry about the straining relationship he's having with his deaf daughter Chieko.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 23rd, 2007
For the sake of full disclosure, I wrote this review while I was sitting in a meeting. For the sake of having a challenge, I wanted to start every sentence in this review with the name of the movie, for no discernible reason whatsoever. Feel free to call shenanigans on me at any time, as it helped me get through my meeting and to a larger extent, the film.
Crossover is a film that at least as of this writing, has no positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes for some sort of reason, and I think that's because of the razor sharp casting that was employed. Crossover includes Anthony Mackie, who was more recently seen as the drug dealing Frank in the Ryan Gosling Oscar-nominated film Half Nelson, but that's the only praiseworthy casting decision in the film. Crossover includes a supporting performance by Wayne Brady (Whose Line is it Anyway?) who is supposed to be a greedy sports agent who is running an underground street basketball league involving several teams, however in playing a bad guy, he makes his appearance in Chappelle's Show look really smart, because he's simply not believable. Crossover has a female role played by Eva Pigford, who was more recently seen in America's Next Top Model, so I guess if you can impress the scrutinizing eye of Tyra Banks, there's nowhere to go but up. Crossover also features a few real life "streetballers", including one whose name is "hot sauce". Crossover doesn't explain why this nickname was given, but I think it's the second dumbest athletic nickname I've heard, save for those whose nickname is the first letter of their first name and the first three letters of the last, like A-Rod, T-Mac.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2007
Marisa Tomei caused quite a stir in 1993 when she walked away with the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in My Cousin Vinny. Even after watching the film again, I guess I'm still a bit amazed. Now that's not to say she doesn't do a wonderful job here. The fact is the entire cast did a splendid job. I can't say I found her performance any better than Joe Pesci as Vinny "Sack Of Potatoes" Gambini or the wonderful portrayal of the judge by Fred Gwynne. While it's not my intention to open up an old can of worms, it is that award which brings us to the re-issue DVD of My Cousin Vinny. To help celebrate this next round of Academy Awards and to line the old pockets with a little more gold dust, Fox is releasing some films that have taken those statues in the past. Unfortunately Fox did not see fit to add anything or even shine the print up in any way. This disc is identical to the 2000 release in every way. The video and audio transfers are exactly the same as is the commentary and small list of extras.
The story is nothing more than an elaborate setup for Pesci to do his thing. Billy, played by the old Karate Kid Ralph Macchio, is driving through backwoods Alabama with his buddy Stan (Whitfield). They accidentally steal a can of tuna from a small store. When the cops chase them down and cart them off to jail, they consider the threats of execution a bit harsh for shoplifting. That is, until they discover the clerk was killed shortly after they left, and now they're charged with his murder. Short on cash, they call in Billy's cousin Vinny who has finally after 6 years passed the New York Bar Exam. Vinny's in over his head, and his New York Italian attitude doesn't earn him any points with the down home justice ideology of Judge Haller. Desperately outclassed, Vinny must resort to street smarts to save the boys. The case turns on the testimony of automobile expert girlfriend Lisa (Tomei). The truth is, there are several rolling in the aisles funny moments here. Stan's seen too many prison films, so when he first meets Vinny he fears the man is there to have his way with him. In a play on words conversation that would make Abbott and Costello proud, this 20 second joke plays out for a few minutes of gut busting hilarity. Pesci's interplay with Gwynne is also classic, and while always predictable, it is nonetheless very funny.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 19th, 2007
We are in Haiti during the late 1970's, under the brutal dictatorship of Pap Doc Duvalier. At a beach resort, we meet three middle-aged women engaged in what amounts to sex tourism. Charlotte Rampling is Ellen, an imperious ex-pat British professor; Karen Young is Brenda, a psychologically fragile American divorcee; and Louise Portal is Sue, an earthy warehouse manager from Montreal. Disillusioned by their romantic prospects back home, they revel in the (paid) sexual attentions of handsome young Haitians, most notably Legba (Ménothy César), with whom both Rampling and Young are in love.
Director/co-writer Laurent Cantet observes his leading ladies with an eye that, while caustic, avoids easy judgments. He does not in any way let them off the hook for what amounts to a new form of predatory colonialism, and we see them engage in activities they would never consider in their home countries. So, for instance, we learn that Brenda had her first sexual encounter with Legba three years ago, when he was 15, and we see her being tempted to take advantage of a boy who can’t be a day over 12 (something Legba witness, and nips in the bud). But neither does Cantet engage in easy condemnation. He makes all of his characters fully developed human beings, and encourages us to understand these women, even if we do not sympathise. The film is not an unqualified success, however. Once the characters and the setting have been established, the film tends to meander, taking too long to tell us not much more than we knew at the start.
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