Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 9th, 2004
Synopsis
The crew of jaded Robert Mitchum’s destroyer is bored. Their craving to see some action,any kind of action, is answered when they encounter a U-Boat captained by the disillusioned CurtJurgens. From this point on, the entire film consists of the battle between the two brilliantcaptains, each one anticipating the other’s moves.
The fact that Jurgens, thoroughly sick of the war and the Nazis, is so sympathetic has an oddeffect on the film’s suspense. On the one hand, t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 9th, 2004
Synopsis
William H. Macy, he of the hang-dog eyes, is perfectly cast as Bernie Lootz. A terminal sadsack, Macy is a man whose luck is so bad it’s contagious. He works off a massive debt owed tocasino-manager Alec Baldwin by spreading his bad luck. He has almost finished his term ofservitude when he meets Maria Bello, and everything changes, including his luck. This luck isstill contagious, however, much to Baldwin’s displeasure.
The premise is presposterous, of course, but m...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 2nd, 2004
Synopsis
The Rock plays Beck, would-be restauranteur, but currently bounty hunter in thrall to a mobboss. If he takes one more job, his obligations will be cleared, and he can open his restaurant.The job entails tracking down the gangster’s son (Seann William Scott) in the Amazon. Nothingis simple for our poor hero, as it turns out that Scott has located a priceless statuette, and TheRock is soon caught between the forces of gold mine overlord Christopher Walken and thenatives rebel...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 27th, 2004
Synopsis
When archaeologist Billy Connolly disappears, and his glasses and a parchment with hiswriting on it turn up in a ruins dating back to 1357, son Paul Walker and friends realizesomething weird is going on here. It turns out that weasel entrepreneur David Thewlis hasaccidentally tapped into a wormhole that permits time travel to that area of France, and in thatyear (smack in the middle of the Hundred Years’ War). Walker, Frances O’Connor, GerardButler and others travel back to...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 27th, 2004
Synopsis
King Xerxes of Persia marches on Greece with his vast army. Greece’s city states are asquabbling, disunited bunch, but Athens and Sparta lead the way to co-operate against thecommon enemy. King Leonidas of Sparta (Richard Egan) must hold the pass of Thermopylae,but Spartan politics mean he has but 300 men to stand against Xerxes’ thousands. So begins oneof the most famous battles of antiquity.
The battle scenes are entertaining and easy to follow, though hardly eart...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 25th, 2004
Synopsis
Mandy Moore plays Anna Foster, daughter of President Mark Harmon. She is extremelyfrustrated with the fact that her social life is consistently ruined by the vast phalanx of SecretService personnel that shadow her every move. Harmon promises to ease up on her while theyvisit Prague, but he breaks his promise, and she flees, hooking up with handsome photographerMatthew Goode. A travelogue of Europe ensues, with romance aborning. Trouble is, Good isactually another Secret Ser...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 24th, 2004
The Farelly brothers are back with another unconventional comedy, this time about conjoint twins (otherwise known as Siamese twins). When I first saw the ads for this movie, I thought, “Yikes, what jokes in bad taste are the Farelly’s going to poke at the conjoined community?” I watched this move with some trepidation, but was surprised to find Stuck On You the least offensive and most accessible of all of the Farrelly’s pictures.
The movie follows the lives of Bob (Matt Damon) and Walt (Greg Kinnea...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 23rd, 2004
Synopsis
Type A real estate salesman Eddie Murphy can't ever stop selling, even when this meansneglecting his family. His drive lands them all into trouble when he insists they take a detourfrom their vacation to follow up on a mysterious offer concerning the mansion of the title. Soonenough, He and his family are trapped in the massively haunted building, running hither andthither from ghosts, while his wife (Marsha Thomason), believed to be the reincarnation of themaster's long-lo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 20th, 2004
Synopsis
Three men are after a fortune in gold, and they will stop at nothing to get it. Boiled down toits essentials, that is the plot of TGTBTU. Granted, there are all sorts of betrayals anddouble-crosses along the way, but they don’t change the fact that the story is essentially a verysimple one, and you might wonder how the film takes up three hours. It certainly doesn’t throughcharacter development. In fact, there is very little that sets the characters apart (which is par...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 19th, 2004
Synopsis
Steve McQueen is JR Bonner, rodeo rider who has left his prime behind. Thrown by a bullas the film begins, he returns to his home town for a rematch with the same animal. Hisfamily is a bit of a mess: brother Curly (Joe Don Baker) is a greedy businessman takingadvantage of his parents; father Ace (Robert Preston) is a drinker and a dreamer; and mother IdaLupino stands strong through it all, stoically dealing with the stupidities of the men in herlife.
If one were...
