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Warriors of Heaven and Earth

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 13th, 2004

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Synopsis

Lai Xi (Nakai Kiichi) must complete one last mission for the Emperor before he can returnto Japan: track down and execute mutinous Butcher Li (Jiang Wen), who refused to kill femaleand children prisoners, and is now an outlaw. Li and Lai Xi’s first encounter ends in a draw, andLai Xi agrees to wait for a rematch until Li has completed his current mission: escorting acaravan through bandit country. Lai Xi is soon caught up in the effort to protect the caravan, andthe battles…
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Mary Poppins

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

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Synopsis

If you don’t know what this movie is about, you grew up in a cave. If you’ve never seen it,ditto. This is the tale, it need hardly be said, of Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews), the nanny whoarrives to take charge of two children whose imaginations have been repressed by theirexcessively proper father. In the care of Mary, and accompanied by chimney sweep Bert (DickVan Dyke), the children bounce from one magical mix of dance, live action and animation toanother.

A more…
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Garden State

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

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Synopsis

Zach Braff (who also wrote and directed) stars as Andrew Largeman, a young man so heavilymedicated since his childhood that he finds it completely impossible to experience any kind ofemotion. This is true even at his mother’s funeral, for which he returns from LA to New Jersey.There he reconnects with his old friends (chief among them being Peter Sarsgaard), all of whomare living odd, if aimless lives, and encounters Sam (Natalie Portman), whose emotions-on-the-sleeve appro…
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Depeche Mode / Devotional

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

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I’ve got to be honest. I was never a Depeche Mode fan. My lack of interest in them didn’t really come from their music, which I always thought was different – in a good way. It was just that in the 80’s and 90’s, MTV played their videos 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The video for “Enjoy the Silence” was burned into my eyelids. I couldn’t get away from the band no matter how hard I tried.

My, how things have changed. MTV doesn’t play Depeche Mode videos anymore, or any videos for that matter, and after wat…
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Super Size Me

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

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After learning about lawsuits filed by two obese women against McDonald’s – accusing the fast-food giant of making them obese – Morgan Spurlock decided to eat nothing but food from McDonald’s for 30 days to see what would happen. Even his doctors didn’t expect the eventual results: Spurlock gained 30 pounds, became depressed, experienced a diminished sex drive, and teetered on the edge of liver failure. His doctors even warned him that failure to change his diet immediately would cause death – and he still had a week…
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Spider-Man 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 10th, 2004

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Spider-Man 2 is a superior film to the first. While it is rare for sequels to live up to expectations, there are rare moments in film history when the sequel may even surpass the first film’s quality. The Godfather Part II and Bride of Frankenstein are two well known examples. But for Every T2 there are usually 20 Jaws 3-D’s. Doc Ock was the perfect choice as the story’s villain; Alfred Molina was a wonderful selection to bring this fan favorite to life on the big screen. Peter Parker’s life is more multi-dimensional…
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Facing Windows

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

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Synopsis

Giovanna Mezzogiorno plays a wife and mother (also named Giovanna) who is frustratedand ground down by her lot in life. Her job is depressing, her marriage has lost all its spark, andshe lives in a building that echoes with the furious battles of dysfunctional couples. She is alsofascinated by the man she sees across the way, whose life in all respects seems to be the oppositeof hers. The catalyst for change in her life is the arrival of Simone, an elderly amnesiac whom her…
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Eyes of Fire

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

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Synopsis

A minor fire (not the big scorch that case implies) breaks out in the forest, and is quickly extinguished. Nonetheless, there are clear signs of arson, and four teens are involved. The Ranger in charge of the area locks the teens in his station and proceeds to work on ferreting out the truth of what happened. And this fractious group has secrets they would rather not reveal. The film turns into a tale of relationships and coming of age.

But I found it very difficult to care. The fo…
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Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy

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

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Synopsis

Popeye has a nightmare in which his “no-good Pappy” is in mortal danger. Convinced thatthis is actually the case, he scuppers land-locked plans for Christmas with Olive Oyl in order tosearch for Pappy. Off the whole gang goes on the search: Olive, Swee’ pea, Bluto (as firstmate???) and Whimpy.

I’ll give this points for trying, and the animated does have a fluidity lacking in theaccompanying cartoons (about which more below). But Popeye looks odd in three dimensions,…
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Dead End

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

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Synopsis

Pater familias Ray Wise is driving his squabbling family to his in-laws for Christmas. Whilethe rest of the family dozes, he takes a turn off the Interstate for a change of pace, then almostgets into an accident when he falls asleep himself. Now on an unfamiliar road, the family picksup a mysterious woman in white, and they then find themselves spiralling down into nightmare,where they are picked off one by one by supernatural forces while journeying down a road thatnever e…
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Smallville – The Complete Third Season

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

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Despite season two’s unquestionable quality, Smallville’s third season is probably its best — and with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel now completely off of television, it’s pretty much the only thing around that can fill the whole supernatural Scooby gang void.

Of course, one of the big reasons that Smallville helps fill that spot so well is because it has a lot of the same ingredients that powered Whedon’s universe along in its prime: that is, it has a ton of supernatural special effects, and a heal…
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Zhou Yu’s Train

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

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Synopsis

The storytelling is oblique in the extreme, but as near as I can discern it, the film tells the story of a young woman (Gong Li) who, after reading a collection of poems by Chen Ching (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) called Zhou Yu’s Train, attempts to imaginatively recover the experience of Zhou Yu (Gong Li again). Zhou Yu is an artisan who travels vast distances by train twice a week to keep up an increasingly troubled romance with Chen Ching. The other major figure is a veterinarian (Sun Hongle…
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O Genio: Ray Charles Live in Brazil 1963

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

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With the popularity of the bio-pic Ray, Rhino comes out with O Genio: Ray Charles Live in Brazil 1963. Ray Charles is truly an O Genio, and this disc confirms that. Jazz, gospel, blues, rock n’ roll, this guy did it all. We have two performances recorded live in Sao Paulo. Each performance runs about an hour long. Ray is accompanied by a full brass orchestra and a lovely collection of female back-up singers. The first show gets off to kick-butt start with Charles’s famous hit “What’d I Say”. The …
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Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 5th, 2004

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Synopsis

The McGuffin here is the titular Blood Orchid, a plant that blooms only once every sevenyears, and which seems to hold the secret to eternal youth. A team is dispatched by amultinational drug company, but the expedition arrives in Borneo (where, as numerous reviewshave already pointed out, anacondas do not exist) at the height of the rainy season, andeverything goes wrong very quickly. Soon our heroes are slogging through the jungle, beset bypoisonous spiders, treachery from within…
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Lost Junction

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 5th, 2004

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Synopsis

Drifter Billy Burke’s car breaks down near the town of Lost Junction. He accepts a ride fromNeve Campbell, and very quickly is drawn into a web of mysteries that surround her. Why is sheliquidating her bank account? For that matter, where is her husband? Caught, Burke may bemystified, worried, and threatened, but he cannot tear himself away. Before he knows it, he’s onthe run with Campbell, pursued by the authorities.

The characterizations are quirky, and there is a…
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King of the Ants

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 4th, 2004

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Synopsis

Chris L. McKenna plays Sean, who seems, at first, to be a typical slacker, working nothingjobs. He is hired by Daniel Baldwin (doing a very fine dissolute turn) first to watch atroublesome city hall accountant (whose wife — Kari Wuhrer — McKenna falls for), then to killhim. McKenna agrees with surprisingly little reluctance. He has a falling out with Baldwin andhis associates (including a brutal George Wendt), and they beat him to within an inch of the life,the idea being to indu…
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Gozu

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 4th, 2004

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Synopsis

A yakuza is charged with eliminating his violently unstable mentor. On the drive to do thedeed, said mentor is (apparently) accidentally killed. But then his body vanishes from the car ofour hero, who is then charged with finding the corpse and making absolutely sure the man isdead, or else. His search takes place in a town populated entirely of grotesques, from a man whohas the same repetitive phone conversation day after day, to another whose face half plaster-white, to a…
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Betty Blue

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

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Synopsis

Jean-Hugues Anglade plays Zorg (yup, that’s his name), a handyman living in a beach-front house, scribbling away quietly in his spare time. Not so quiet is his tempestuous affair with Betty (Beatrice Dalle), whose passions overwhelm both of them. First she moves in on him with no warning. Then, when she discovers his writing, she decides that they must move to Paris so he can have a career as a writer. To make sure Zorg complies, she burns his house to the ground. Once in Paris, her plans fo…
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Howard Hughes: The Real Aviator

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

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Synopsis

This is the life story of Howard Hughes, as told by the man himself. Literally. Sort of. Michael Ferreri is the voice of Hughes, and he narrates his life from birth to death. This narration is intercut with interviews with Hughes’ surviving friends and widow. The visuals are a lively mix of footage and animated stills. Though the case boasts a running time of almost three hours, this is when all the extras are factored in. The actual feature is only 56 minutes long. Though the effort is alwa…
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Bettie Page – Dark Angel

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

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Synopsis

This is an episodic biopic about Bettie Page, moving from her glory days as a model for the pin-up photographer Bunny Yeager and fetish actress for Irving Klaw, maker of B&D shorts. All is well until a Senate investigation into obscenity, and Bettie herself pines for more mainstream, respectable roles. A fair bit of running time consists of B&W recreations of lost Klaw films, with Paige Richards doing a credible re-creation of Bettie’s look.

This is the very textbook definition of …
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Star Trek Voyager – The Complete Fifth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 2nd, 2004

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Things were pretty much over the peak when Voyager warped into Season 5. The Seven Of Nine tension was begin to feel played out by now. The prominence of the girl Naomi I found to be a bit irritating. This would also be a year of rebellion as quite a few crew members cause Janeway more than her fair share of grief. The Borg continue to be the master villains and account for the bright spots in an otherwise mediocre season. Season 5 does bring us to that magical 100th episode with “Timeless”. “Dark Frontier” would be…
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19 Months

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

Rob (Benjamin Ratner) and Melanie (Angela Vint) are a couple that think they’ve found the key to solving all relationship problems – simply break up after 19 months. By then, all the romance, lust, and excitement of a relationship has worn off and both people involved are ready to test the dating waters. So, they agree to do just that, only they’ll remain friends with benefits until they each find someone else. To prove that their theory is correct, Rob and Melanie even allow a film crew to follow them around and ma…
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Venus Rising

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

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Venus Risingis a laughably bad movie advertised as “in the tradition of Johnny Mnemonic”. Maybe the two movies are in the same ballpark, theme-wise, but quality-wise they’re not even the same sport. Audie England and Costas Manylor play two fugitives who escape from a desert Island. Eve and Vegas, however, are still controlled by drugs from the Pacifica Corporation. The drugs also enable the characters to achieve a “virtual reality” state of mind. Fantasy sequences occur, flashbacks etc. It’s just an exc…
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Godzilla – Tokyo SOS

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

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Synopsis

A year after the clash seen in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, the giant robot built around the bones of the original Godzilla is still being repaired. Mothra and her two fairy princesses appear to warn humanity to return the bones to the sea, but the authorities do not listen, and Godzilla, drawn to Mechagodzilla, returns to ravage Tokyo. A titanic battle ensues, with Mechagodzilla and Mothra struggling to save the city from the unstoppable lizard.

The case could certainly …
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Smooth Talk

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

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Smooth Talk is a “coming of age” story that won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It stars Laura Dern as Connie, a teenage girl from a small southern town. She’s at that rebellious age. In the words of Britney Spears, “she’s still a girl, not quite a woman”. Connie is curious about the opposite sex and a world outside the town. She’s searching for something, but what she finds, she might not want.

Treat Williams plays Arnold Friend. Friend, as it turns out, is nobody’s frien…
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