diabolikdvd.com.jpg

Video

Adventures of Indiana Jones

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Harrison Ford is the top selling actor in Hollywood these days. He owes this distinction in no small part to a couple of trilogies he did early in his career. While Star Wars might have been a chance for Ford to break out, Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels defined his abilities. Indiana Jones is the perfect hero. He’s strong, intelligent, and above all moral. Unlike the stereotypical hero Jones is also vulnerable and at times flawed. Credit Steven Spielberg for the iconic stature Indy occupies today.
Read More

Brooklyn Bridge

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 27th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

From its inception onward, here is the history of the Brooklyn Bridge, with special attentiongiven to the lives of the men whose dream this bridge was. As with Burns’ other documentaries,this is fascinating stuff, with great archival material, and some gorgeously evocative shots of thebridge.

Audio

The sound is mono, but stereo isn’t really necessary for this documentary. The main pointis whether or not the narration is clear, and it is. The accompa…
Read More

Final Examination

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 27th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

At a Hawaiian resort, a five-year college reunion is underway. Four young women inparticular are excited to be chosen as centerfolds for Cavalier magazine (don’t ask). One by one,they are killed in boringly unbloody ways. Investigating is local detective Kari Wuhrer and ex-LA cop Bretn Huff, sent to Hawaii after a stock footage car chase back home. The dialogue withmake you want to hit your head with a sledgehammer, the mystery’s resolution is simultaneouslyobvious and nons…
Read More

Charade

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 26th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

At a time when the women’s liberation movement was picking up steam, Hollywood was changing the kinds of stories they told, and some of films most beloved personalities were aging and leaving the spotlight, the stars aligned perfectly for Stanley Donen to make the incredibly charming “Charade”. Both a send-up of James Bond films and a genuinely engaging mystery, “Charade” was the perfect film at the perfect time.

The story revolves around a young woman (played by the graceful and immensely likeable Audre…
Read More

Diabolique

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 26th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Revenge is the theme of what many people consider H.G. Clouzot’s finest film, the 1955 thriller “Diabolique”. This is the story of two women who want to kill the same man. One is his kind and gentle wife, and the other is his attractive but hard-hearted mistress. The two work together to end his life, devising a plan that comes to fruition surprisingly early in the film. What initially appears to be a film about the plotting of a murder turns into a film about something else… something more sinister and unexpected. A…
Read More

Fatboy Slim: Live on Brighton Beach – Big Beach Boutique, Vol. 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 25th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

You don’t necessarily have to be a fan of Big Beat or Electronica music to enjoy this DVD, but it probably helps. Luckily for me, I’m a fan of the genre, and I’m an especially avid fan of Norman Cook, A.K.A. Fatboy Slim. He is an artist that has an uncanny appeal to young and (hip) old alike. Even still, I had my doubts about just how interesting it could be to watch other people dancing and having a good time, while a DJ spins records.

Lucky for me, this DVD follows the same “just have fun” attitude that …
Read More

Battlestar Galactica – The Complete Epic Series

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Most sci-fi fans have a very warm place in their heart for Starbuck, Apollo, and the rest of the crew of Battlestar Galactica. At over $1 million per episode, it became the most expensive show in network history. Star Wars master Jedi f/x man John Dykstra utilized many of the techniques he developed for the Lucas enterprise. George Lucas claimed they were so close he was forced into a failed effort to sue the show for copyright infringement. Sci-Fi channel is about to relaunch this revered franchise, but the results appear so far underwhelming.
Read More

Forever Knight – The Trilogy, Part 1

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Forever Knight was a CBS attempt to provide original drama broadcasting in the late night slot. This was, of course, before Letterman came along. After two seasons it was jettisoned and the USA network picked it up. USA retooled the show and ran it for just one more year for a total of three: Thus the Forever Knight Trilogy. The concept was quite intriguing. Knight would strongly emulate the popular Ann Rice universe of vampires, combining these gothic images and stories with a modern police drama. Each episode had a trademark dual storyline.
Read More

It Runs in the Family

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 24th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

It Runs in the Family is a film that combines three generations of the Douglas family – patriarch Kirk Douglas, son Michael Douglas and grandson Cameron Douglas (Michael’s son from his 1st marriage). It’s not clear how much this movie resembles their real-life problems but chances are the emotions involved are quite similar.

The movie follows the story of the Grombergs. Mitchell Gromberg (Kirk Douglas) is the founder of the law firm that his son Alex (Michael Douglas) works at. Alex is quickly involved in…
Read More

U2 – Elevation Tour 2001 – Live from Boston

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 24th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

The biggest band in the world did something completely revolutionary on their 2001 tour… they took a step back.

In the eighties and nineties, U2 was a band that became big. Huge. Their shows grew from arenas to stadiums, incorporating massive special effects, a giant lemon-shaped disco ball, and the largest video screen ever. As the productions grew, however, so did the costs, until the band was barely breaking even on the road, despite enormous audiences and absurd ticket prices. After some time off and a…
Read More

Charlotte Sometimes

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 23rd, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Michael Idemoto plays Michael, an introspective bookworm and mechanic. His tenant isEugenia Yuan, who has a boyfriend, but spends most of her evenings with Michael. Theirrelationship is platonic, but Michael clearly has strong feelings for her. Then he meets Darcy(Jacqueline Kim), a distant but alluring young woman. In fact, Darcy is Yuan’s sister Charlotte.Our protagonist is a man of few words, and the same can be said of the movie. The mostimportant elements are the thing…
Read More

Hulk

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 23rd, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

It has taken years to finally get a block-buster Hulk film produced, and the outcome has received mixed reviews. Grossing $132 million in the domestic box-office is usually nothing to sneeze at, but considering it cost $150 million to make the Hulk, it must still be looked at as disappointing. Many would argue that the animation was unrealistic, other would argue that it was amazing… each to their own. I, myself, found the film quite disappointing. I found the animation far too overdone, and the story to be lack…
Read More

King of the Hill – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

The Hills are back! Hank, Peggy, Bobby and Luanne have returned for more down home shenanigans. After a successful first season that followed in the footsteps of the Simpsons, King of the Hill was a surprising hit from the creative mind of Mike Judge, formerly responsible for the heavy metal antics of Beavis and Butthead. The second series picks up where series one left off albeit with improved writing and further exploration of the characters. I particularly like the characterization of Hank as a true redneck – …
Read More

Avril Lavigne – My World

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Go up front and live with one of music’s fasting rising young stars. Then follow her behind the scenes and find out what she is like in real life.

Video

The fullscreen live concert footage on this DVD is of pretty decent quality. Overall we have a nice sharp image with good dark level delineation, there are some problems with red in the crowd shots and you notice a fair amount of over saturation. The image as a whole is nice and crisp. When we look at the behind the scenes footage it is noticeably softer with a fair amount of grain.

George of the Jungle 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

George and all his pals return for this second installment in the George of the Jungle Series…

L’Auberge Espagnole

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 22nd, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Romain Duris plays a young man who wants to get a good job in the French bureaucracy, andneeds to improve his Spanish. In order to do this, he leaves Paris to live for a year in Barcelona,much to the chagrin of his girlfriend (Audrey Tautou). After navigating the red tape (a realplague in France, and hilariously, mercilessly satirized here), he’s off. Once in Barcelona, hewinds up living in an apartment that he shares with other students from England, Germany,Belgium, Italy…
Read More

Warner Legends Collection

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 21st, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

The titles and the stars speak for themselves: Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone and Olivia deHavilland in The Adventures of Robin Hood; James Cagney in Yankee DoodleDandy; Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Of the three,Yankee Doodle Dandy, a musical biopic of singer/dancer/songwriter George M. Cohan,is the one that has been treated the least kindly by the years. Its front and centre flag-waving canbe a bit much, though Cagney’s trem…
Read More

Terminator 3 – Rise of the Machines

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 21st, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Many people would argue that T3: Rise of the Machines should never have been made; a new director, an unknown storyline, and a new actor playing John Connor. Others could not wait to see Arnie suit up as the Terminator one last time. Sure, the Rise of the Machines plot is somewhat questionable, but you sure do get a bunch of action packed into this film.

Arnold Schwarzenegger reprises his role of the big, bad, funny (yet not knowingly) terminator… but this time he is in for his biggest challenge yet, fa…
Read More

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 20th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

William Shatner refused to reprise his role of Kirk in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home without a promise to write and direct the next film in the franchise. Against their better judgment Paramount agreed, and to this day wish they had not. The story is absolutely silly and the direction very one-dimensional. The truth is, however, that there still are some very endearing Trek moments in the film. DeForest Kelly gives a superb performance as McCoy must face his past decision to allow his terminal father to die.
Read More

Complete Are You Being Served? Collection (Series 6-10)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 20th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

This wonderful British comedy comes to DVD once again… this time in a Vol. 6-10 box set. If you are not familiar with this outrageous show, it ruled BBC airwaves from 1972-1985, and continues to entertain today on DVD. Taking place solely on a single floor of a department store, this show covers the lives and misadventures of the staff who are employed there.

Audio

Not much can or should be expected from an aging British television audio track such as this. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono …
Read More

Evening with Kevin Smith, An

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 19th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

At first glance, a 3 1/2 hour spoken word documentary is probably not something the average person would care to sit through, and certainly not the kind of thing the average DVD aficionado would want to purchase. However, this is not just any DVD set, and the speaker is not just any run of the mill personality. This is an intimate evening with actor/filmmaker Kevin Smith.

This brilliant two-disc set follows Smith to five different American universities, where he simply hosts a que…
Read More

X-Files – The Complete Eighth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 19th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

The eighth season of the X-files brought major changes to one of Fox’s strongest running series. And whenever major changes occur there is always a concern about what is going to happen to the integrity of the show. By the end of the 7th season the worries about what David Duchovny was going to do left fans of the show in limbo. Luckily, the creative team behind the X-files (one of the best in television history) was up to the task.

The season opened with the introduction to Agent Fox Mulder’s replace…
Read More

Portishead – Roseland New York

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 17th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Just before the release of their eponymous second album, Portishead gathered at the historical Roseland Ballroom for their first ever performance in New York City. The band brought a film crew along for this special concert. It was a show that featured not only the first performance of much of the new album, but also the added attraction of playing with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The result is a brilliant and haunting presentation of all things Portishead. This legendary disc should be required viewing for …
Read More

Christmas Storykeepers, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 17th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Though there is a intro that summarizes who’s who and what’s what, if you’re not familiarwith the Storykeepers cartoon, you might well find this a bit confusing (I know I did). Anyway,in 64 AD, a group of Christian orphans and their protector are on the run from the evil EmperorNero (who has henchmen with such subtle names as “Nihilus”). They flee the burning Rome,but do find the time to sit down and hear tales of Christ’s nativity and the like. The animationis primitive, a…
Read More

Christmas Wish, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 16th, 2003

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Jimmy Durante and his family, penniless circus performers, move into a run-down rentalhome. Also living in the house is Rupert, a trained squirrel (brought to life primarily throughstop-motion animation). The miserly owner of the rental is stashing money in his walls, and asfast as he can do this, Rupert halls the money out and dumps it into the rental living room.Durante’s wife (Queenie Smith) sees money floating down from the ceiling, and thinks it is theanswer to her pra…
Read More

«< 272 273 274 275 276 >»