2.35:1 Widescreen

Hidalgo

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

Synopsis

Depressed by the US government’s genocide of Native Americans, Frank T. Hopkins (ViggoMortensen) is drinking himself into oblivion while working for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.His horse, a Mustang named Hidalgo, has been called the world’s best endurance racer, whichdraws the ire of an Arabian shiek, who feels his horse owns that title. Honour challenged,Hopkins travels to the Arabian Desert to take part in a gruelling 3,000-mile race.

Having gone out of its way …
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Air America

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 12th, 2004

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There was a time, even as late as the 90’s, when making an anti-American film was still taboo in Hollywood. Of course today, movies like Fahrenheit 9/11 are big money makers, but for many years, such films were discouraged. Air America is one of the rare exceptions to this rule. This may be due to the fact that it was disguised as a comedy about the Vietnam conflict, but no matter how you look at it, the film is quite critical of the US government, and it makes some pretty scathing accusations about our…
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Highlander 2

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

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Synopsis

In 2024, the Earth’s ozone layer has been depleted (or so most assume), and life is protectedby an electromagnetic shield designed by Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert). Eco-crusaderVirginia Madsen, however, believes that the ozone layer has restored itself, and the corporationthat runs the shield is maintaining it for its own purposes. Meanwhile, back in the past, villainMichael Ironside sends assassins to the future to kill Lambert, who is an aging man as the filmbegins…
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Black Hole, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 2nd, 2004

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Synopsis

The exploration vessel Palomino discovers the gigantic, long-lost Cygnus orbiting aroundthe edge of a massive black hole. Boarding the Cygnus after the Palomino suffers some damage,the crew discovers that the only human left aboard the Cygnus is the megalomaniacal MaximilianSchell. Aided by his army of robots, he is preparing to plunge into the black hole, and he willsacrifice anything and anyone to complete his goal.

On the positive side, the production design is m…
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Godsend

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

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Synopsis

When Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos are emotionally devastated by the loss oftheir eight-year-old son Adam, scientist Robert De Niro approaches them with an alarmingproposition: he offers to clone Adam, so that they might have him again. While Kinnear isdoubtful, he eventually capitulates, and the operation is performed. Things go very well for thefirst eight years of the new Adam’s life. Then he begins to change, as if being taken over by ademonic presence.

Starsky & Hutch

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

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Synopsis

Straight-arrow, straight-laced cop Starsky (Ben Stiller) is partnered up with the laid-back,ethically bent Hutch (Owen Wilson). Despite initial matter/anti-matter friction, the two soonbond (surprise!) and will stop at nothing to bring down vicious drug dealer Vince Vaughn.

Not much more of a storyline than that, and the point here is to revel in 70s kitsch. Thoughthere are a couple of very funny moments and lines, by and large the film just sits there, too staticto…
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Bourne Identity, The

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

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Synopsis

An wounded amnesiac (Matt Damon) is fished from the Mediterranean. He travels acrossEurope searching for his identity, only to discover that he has several, one of which is “JasonBourne.” He is, in fact, a CIA super-assassin who has slipped his leash, and the Agency isdetermined to take him down. Dodging killers, he travels to Paris in the company of Marie(Franka Potente), still searching for the key to his memory and a way to escape the implacablepursuit.

Easily …
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Spartan

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

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It seems like there have been quite a few dramatic films over the past three years or so that have fallen into this trap of bad marketing. Curiously enough, they all seem to have the same narrative feel, from Heist to Confidence to Spy Games… and now Spartan. I sometimes have a hard time figuring out why some films become hits, and some don’t. (Of course, if I were a master at that, I would be the highest paid man in Hollywood.) I don’t understand how mindless films like Men in Black II…
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Thunderbirds – International Rescue Edition (Thunderbirds Are Go / Thunderbird 6)

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

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Synopsis

If the word “Supermarionation” triggers a delicious shiver of nostaglia in you, then youobviously need read no further. The stories of the two films are properly expansive variations onthe TV show’s basic plots.

In Thunderbirds Are Go (1966), a Mars-bound spaceship, the Zero-X, is sabotaged ontake-off. International Rescue is called in to provide security for the second attempt. This time,the Zero-X makes it into space. But its sojurn on Mars and return to Ea…
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Nest, The

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

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Synopsis

On July 14, Bastille Day, a group of small-time hoods stage a daring warehouse robbery.Meanwhile, a brutal Albanian mafia kingpin is being transported to Strasbourg for trial. Theconvoy is ambushed by what looks like an entire battalion of heavily armed men, and thearmoured car winds up taking refuge in the warehouse. The soldiers and the thieves, massivelyoutgunned and outnumbered, band together to hold off the enormous siege.

The jacket copy calls this film “Th…
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Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 6th, 2004

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Synopsis

Cody Banks (Frankie Muniz) is training at a CIA summer camp. A midnight drill that resultsin the flight of the camp leader turns out not to have been a drill at all. It turns out that the man isa villain (so why did the CIA let him run the camp at all?) and he has absconded with a mind-control device. Muniz is sent to England to track him down, where he hooks up with fellow teenspy Hannah Spearritt and adult-yet-childlike handler Anthony Anderson.

The idea of a CIA …
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Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

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

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Well if you don’t know what is going on in this film then I am not quite sure why you are reading this review. This is the third and final installment of the Lord of the Ring’s trilogy, we finally after three long years get to discover the fate of Frodo, the ring, Sam, Gollum and all of Middle Earth. This film like The Two Towers just keeps getting better and managing to exceed our ever increasing expectations.

The multiple story lines all come together and finally conclude themselves, maybe not quite exac…
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Blazing Saddles

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

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Synopsis

All the expected characters from a typical western are present in this parody, but everythingis turned on its head and made ridiculous. Cleavon Little, formerly a slave, then a railwayworker, becomes sherif (cue the racial humour) in a town besieged by the forces of the evilrailway baron Harvey Korman and henchman Slim Pickens. Also in on the fun are sharpshooterGene Wilder and saloon singer Madeline Kahn.

So the American Film Institute named this #6 on its Top 100 …
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Mystic River

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 7th, 2004

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Synopsis

This is the story of the tragic arc traced by the relationship of three friends. Kevin Bacon isa cop, Sean Penn is a shady grocery store owner, and Tim Robbins is a hollow man, irreperablydamaged after being kidnapped by paedophiles as a youth. The three had grown apart, but theirlives intersect fatefully when Penn’s daughter is murdered. Bacon investigates the case, andRobbins cannot satisfactorily account for his actions the night of the murder, much to themounting distre…
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Hunters, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 3rd, 2004

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Synopsis

Robert Mitchum is veteran pilot Major Cleve (Iceman) Saville. Beyond cool under pressure,he takes charge of a squadron during the Korean War. He has two difficulties to deal with. Onoeis Robert Wagner, who is too undisciplined for his, or anyone else’s, own good, despite hisprowess in shooting down MiGs. Lee Phillips can’t hit an enemy jet to save his life, but he doeshave a pretty, ignored wife (May Britt) with whom Mitchum falls in love.

The soap opera elements pl…
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Great Escape, The

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

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All too often, films with an ensemble cast are a dream for the studio’s marketing department, but end up being a nightmare for the moviegoer. They are the very definition of the phrase, “too many Chiefs and not enough Indians”. There are exceptions to this rule (such as Steven Soderberg’s re-make of Ocean’s 11), but more often than not, such films fall flat, as everybody leads in their own direction, and nobody follows.

Thankfully, this is one of those rare exceptions. Each member of the cast of T…
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Company, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 25th, 2004

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Synopsis

The Company deals with a fictional season in the life of the Joffrey Ballet ofChicago. In between elaborately filmed ballet numbers, we see the behind the scenes strugglesand preparations, injuries and heartbreaks. The principle characters are Neve Cambell as a dancerwhose moment in the spotlight has finally come. She has attracted the attention of flaky artisticdirector Malcolm McDowell, and finds relief in arms of restaurant chef James Franco.

In some ways,…
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President’s Analyst, The

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

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Synopsis

James Coburn is Dr. Sidney Schaefer, a rather self-satisfied analyst. His ego is given anenormous boost when he is assigned a new patient: the President (who is never seen). Barely hashe begun his new job when he realizes that he is being watched, and his paranoia goes throughthe roof. But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you. And they are.Every spy agency imaginable, foreign and domestic, wants Dr. Schaefer — either alive to get hissecrets,…
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Prince Valiant

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 18th, 2004

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Synopsis

Robert Wagner (yes indeed) is Prince Valiant, son of a deposed Viking king. Sent toCamelot, Valiant has a run-in with the treacherous Black Knight, and sees him conspiring withother Vikings (the bad ones) to conquer Britain. Valiant doesn’t see the evil knight’s face. Couldhe be one of the knights of the round table? Could he possibly be the arrogant and shifty-eyedJames Mason? Hmmm. Valiant trains for knighthood under Sir Gawain (hopeless miscastSterling Hayden), but in hi…
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Paycheck

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 18th, 2004

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Synopsis

Ben Affleck is a brilliant reverse engineer. He is hired by different companies to puzzle outand improve on their competitors’ technologies, then has his memory of his work wiped so hecannot divulge what he knows. His current job is something big. In exchange for a couple ofyears of his life, he will be granted huge stock options. But when he collects his paycheck, all hegets is a collection of mundane objects in a manilla envelope. And then everybody is trying tokill him. …
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Sweet Violence (Douce Violence)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 16th, 2004

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Synopsis

Welcome to the French Riviera, 1962. The youth are beautiful, aimless, and amoral.Searching for meaning in his life, whiny mope Olivier meets the sweet Barbara. These two mighthave something together, but Olivier must take a wide detour on the way to true love, as he firstfalls in with a pack led by Philippe and Elke (played be, you guessed it, Elke Sommer).

All sorts of hilarious stabs at decadence ensue, as imagined by director/co-scripter MaxPécas, a very conserv…
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Girl with a Pearl Earring

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

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Synopsis

Scarlett Johansson plays Griet, a young girl who enters into service in the home of painterJohannes Vermeer (Colin Firth). She catches his eye, partly because of her beauty, but even morebecause she has an intuitive understanding of art, and he takes her under his wing, much to thegrowing suspicions and jealousies of his wife. Ultimately, she becomes the model for theeponymous painting.

This is a film of looks and silences. In many ways, the story is constructed bet…
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Miracle

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 10th, 2004

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In 1980, the United States was in need of something to give hope to its citizens. What it got was a miracle.

Now, hockey has never really been a major sport in the United States. While it is played feverishly in many of the Northern states, those in the rest of the country are just not as passionate about it. Basketball, baseball and football are the big three in this country. This fact just goes one step further to show just how unbelievable the Miracle on Ice really was. I am sure that most people already…
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Cooler, The

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

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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…
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Enemy Below, The

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

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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…
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