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Rundown, The

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

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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…
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Timeline

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

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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…
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300 Spartans, The

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

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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…
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Chasing Liberty

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

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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…
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Stuck On You

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 24th, 2004

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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…
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Haunted Mansion, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 23rd, 2004

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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…
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Good, The Bad and The Ugly, The

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

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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…
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Junior Bonner

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

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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…
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Hope Springs

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

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Synopsis

Devastated by being dumped by his fiancee (Minnie Driver), Colin Firth flees to OldeEngland for New, attracted by the refuge offered by the name of the town of Hope. There hemeets wild child of nature Heather Graham, and begins to fall in love. Re-enter Minnie Driver,and a revelation that complicates things considerably. How will the triangle be resolved?

And do you care? Firth doesn’t stretch much, filtering the stiff befuddlement of his Mr.Darcy variations from < ...
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Desk Set

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

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Synopsis

Spencer Tracy arrives in the research department of the “Federal Broadcasting Company”to install a computer. He is sworn to secrecy by the president of the network, however, and soresearch head Katherine Hepburn and her co-workers assume they are to be made redundant.Sparks are clearly flying between her and Tracy, however, even if this romantic tension remainsvery much an undercurrent to their witty banter. Also on the scene is Gig Young, Hepburn’srather callow and thought…
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Passionada

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

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Synopsis

Sofia Milos has been widowed for years, but still refuses to start dating again. Her daughter(Emmy Rossum) tries to set her up, but with disastrous results. Jason Isaacs is a slightly seedybut charming-in-his-own way gambler who falls for Milos when he sees her sing. His clumsypursuit appears doomed to failure, until Rossum makes him a deal: if he teaches her how to countcards, she’ll help him win Milos.

Nothing in this film can really be said to be surprising. Once…
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Last Kiss, The

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

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Synopsis

Carlo (Stefano Accorsi) and his live-in girlfriend (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) aren’t married,and he has no inclination yet to change this. She is pregnant, however, and the spectre of totalcommitment sends him into a blind panic. Also freaking out over adulthood and responsibilitiesare his buddies. Meanwhile, Mezzogiorno’s mother (Stefania Sandrelli) is dismayed by the ideaof becoming a grandmother, and, feeling rejected by her distant husband, seeks to revive an oldromance of …
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Velocity of Gary, The

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

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Synopsis

Vincent D’Onofrio plays Valentino, AIDS-stricken former porn star who is the centre ofa subcultural social whirl in NYC. He splits his affections between male prostitute Thomas Janeand in-your-face-and-then-some waitress Salma Hayek. As the disease takes its toll, Jane andHayek must overcome their differences to support D’Onofrio. Then there’s the fact that Hayekis pregnant…

The film is very affectionate toward its collection of flamboyantly non-mainstreamcharac…
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Final Countdown, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 9th, 2004

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The Final Countdown belongs to that subculture of science fiction that asks the time related what if’s. There have been a great number of books and stories about alternative histories. The Civil War has long been one of the most fertile grounds for this speculative fiction. Most scenarios about World War II generally involved the killing of Hitler as a child or sometime before his leadership. This film not only explores a different aspect of the War but is brave enough to not resolve the question. What would happen i…
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Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 29th, 2004

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Hot on the heels of The Great Race, Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines was a bit of silliness and fun for 20th Century Fox. The Monty Python-styled opening credits set the tone for this British humor film, also known as How I Flew From London To Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes. If the film suffers at all, it is the length. At almost 2 1/2 hours, it takes quite a while to get to the race. It’s almost 2 hours before the meat of the film begins. While there are many clever and memorable…
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High Wind in Jamaica, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 28th, 2004

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Often, the success of one film in theaters will bring on a wave of classics on DVD with a similar theme. In this case, the new films are Pirates of the Caribbean and Master and Commander. These modern box office successes have prompted 20th Century Fox to release some classic films about the high seas onto DVD. One such film is A High Wind in Jamaica.

There are quite a few problems with this film, but most of them lie within the narrative. The technical aspects are all handled well, wit…
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Shattered Glass

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

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Hayden Christensen is the very incarnation of smarm as Stephen Glass, hot-shot writer for The New Republic. His stories are all fabulous, seemingly too good to be true. Which is, in fact, the problem. His tissue of lies begins to unravel when Steve Zahn, reporter for Forbes Digital, tries to follow up one of Christensen’s articles, and can’t find a single legitimate fact. Peter Sarsgaard is Chuck Lane, Christensen’s editor, and he begins to smell a very big rat.
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Pirates of Tortuga

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 23rd, 2004

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Synopsis

Bloodthirsty pirate Henry Morgan (Robert Stevens) is starving Jamaica by seizing almostany ship that tries to make it there. He seems impregnable in his fortress on the island of Tortuga.Privateer Captain Bart (Ken Scott) arrives to find some way to defeat Morgan. His journey to theCaribbean is complicated somewhat by the presence of stowaway Meg (Leticia Roman), aspririted…er… wench… who has dreams of being a lady.

You always thought My Fair Lady would…
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Brother Bear

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

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Brother Bear is the story of a boy who becomes a man by becoming a bear. Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) is a young man set on revenge against a bear he feels is responsible for his brother’s death. Going up against the beast and winning the battle, the great Spirits who guide Kenai transform him into a bear himself. As Kenai tries to undo the spell placed on him by the spirits, he meets Koda (Jeremy Suarez) a young cub who was separated from his mother. As the story unfolds Kenai becomes more find of Koda and “adopts…
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Pink Panther Collection, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 22nd, 2004

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Synopsis

Though not Blake Edwards’ best films, these are the movies with which he is most stronglyidentified, and the role of Inspector Clouseau was a career-defining move for Peter Sellers. Attheir best, the movies are fine exemplars of inspired slapstick.

The Pink Panther started it all off, and no one knew what a phenomenon Clouseauwas going to turn out to be. Edwards and Sellers (the trivia track informs us) rewrote the partlate in the game to turn the character i…
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Panic Room

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

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Not that there was anything wrong with the picture and sound of the previous Superbit release. But now Panic Room returns in a package that truly contains every imaginable extra, and then some.

Synopsis

The set-up is elegant and simple. Jodie Foster and daughter Kristen Stewart move into their new home in New York. The previous owner built an impregnable panic room in the upper floor. During Foster and Stewart’s first night, three criminals (Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam and Jared L…
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Looney Tunes – Back in Action

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 17th, 2004

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Back in the day, the Looney Tunes were irreverent, violent, and created with an adult audience in mind (much like South Park is today). Somewhere along the line, however, values changed, and they became standard kids faire. Now, that’s not to say that there wasn’t still plenty in there for adults to enjoy as well, but they just didn’t carry with them the same humorous social commentaries that were prevalent in the days of old.

Well, the Tunes are back! The appropriately-titled Looney Tunes – Back …
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Big Bounce, The

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

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Synopsis

Ryan O’Neal, in a spectacular bit of miscasting, is a drifter with an explosive temper. He isback from Vietnam, moving from job to job. After getting himself fired from a cucumberplantation, he is taken on as a handyman at a motel. He is fascinated by the plantation owner’s“secretary” (Leigh Taylor-Young), and she is just a bad, bad girl. Her quest for kicks lead togreater and greater risk and danger, and O’Neal, smitten, follows along, getting in over hishead.

Th…
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Beyond Borders

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

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Synopsis

In 1984, Angelina Jolie has just married into English society when a charity ball she isattending is crashed by Clive Owen, who rails against phony, self-serving gestures towardsforeign aid. Stung, Jolie travels to Ethiopia to work with Owen at a refugee camp during thefamine. She finds her calling. The film then jumps forward, and we see Jolie periodically leavingEngland and her failing marriage to travel to a hot spot (Cambodia, Chechnya). Each time, herrelationship with …
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M-3D The Movie / The Playmates

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

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Synopsis

M-3D purports to be a parody of MTV, which is hardly likely, given that the film, inits original form, was made in 1976. Actually Lollipop Girls in Hard Candy, this is apainful slog combining aphrodisiac lollipops with extra footage involving ancient Greek soldiersdoing sad Three Stooges routines. No, it makes no sense. No, it isn’t funny. And with obviouscuts to the sex scenes, the waste of your life is complete.

The Playmates is even more resi…
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