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What Killed the Mega-Beasts?

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 9th, 2002

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What Killed the Mega-Beasts?

Wow! This Discovery Channel documentary uses high-end (not quite Monsters Inc., but getting close…) animation to bring to life the out-sized creatures that populated the world between two- and fifty-thousand years ago. Live action and animation are blended smoothly to create truly excellent scenes of monster-sized beavers, and of Native American mammoth hunts – truly a spectacle to be seen and very well executed. These animated sequences are seamlessly blended with the Disc…
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X-Files – The Complete Sixth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 5th, 2002

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Synopsis

The conspiracies are in full swing in this season. There are some very ambitious episodeshere too, notably “Triangle” — a time travel tale shot primarily with very long takes.

Audio

Very, very nice sound. As with most TV shows, the music dominates the surround, but thereare some good contributions from the sound effects as well. The result is an expansive feel to thesound unusual for television productions.

Video

Though there is a …
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Brotherhood of the Wolf (3-Disc)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 5th, 2002

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Synopsis

In eighteenth-century France, a mysterious beast is terrorizing the countryside. Sent toinvestigate is naturalist Gregoire de Fronsac, who arrives with Mani, his Native Americansidekick (who is a dab hand at martial arts, among other useful skills). The film is completelynuts and completely silly, and its racial politics are a postcolonial theorist’s wet dream, but it isalso hugely entertaining.

Audio

Absolutely flabbergasting. At the level of volum…
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Monsters, Inc

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 25th, 2002

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Pixar, with the smashing success of the Toy Story films, works its enchanting magic yet again with the wonderful Monsters, Inc. It’s fitting that Disney acquired the creative team that more than any other filmmakers embody what Disney had been for half a century. Monsters, Inc. is the new standard for computer animation. Sully’s generated hair is nothing short of amazing. What makes this movie worth buying is its incredible rewatchability. The attention to details means there’s always something new to see with each v…
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Blade II

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 24th, 2002

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Written by Dan Bradley

The formula for sequels to highly successful films has been practiced by filmmakers for decades and continues to flourish today. It’s quite simple: take what audiences loved in the original, add more of it and throw in a twist. Guillermo del Toro’s Blade 2 follows this rule of thumb and creates a film that is bigger, badder, louder and more entertaining than its predecessor. It should come as no surprise that the DVD edition of Blade 2 surpasses the original Blade’s disc in every imaginable way as well.

It…
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Young Ones: Every Stoopid Episode, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 15th, 2002

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Synopsis

This is the story of four obnoxious roommates: a hippy, a yuppie, a poseur and a punk. Theygradually demolish their flat and visit violence on each other, all the while yelling at the top oftheir lungs. Though nicely weird at times (check out the talking rats), this often deliberately badcomedy is very much in the acquired taste department.

Audio

Not too much to report here. The TV series was mono, and so is the DVD. It gets the jobdone, and is clea…
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Mickey’s House of Villains

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 15th, 2002

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Synopsis

Disney’s villains converge on Mickey’s House of Mouse (his variety theatre). They plan totake it over, but along the way we get to see a bunch of Halloween themed cartoons. The superbanimation in the classics does tend to show up the more limited stuff in the new segments(though this is still better than the Saturday morning variety).

Audio

The soundtrack is technically fine, but you should be aware of something regarding the 5.1mix. The new segment…
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Iron Maiden: Rock in Rio

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 11th, 2002

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Synopsis

I’ll confess, I saw Maiden myself, lo these many years ago on their Powerslave tour, so I was sort of partial to this disc. The big favourites (“Number of the Beast” and “Run to the Hills” among them) are present and correct. As with all concert films, there are only so many ways of filming largely motionless people and making them look interesting, but the main point is the sound, when you get down to it.

Audio

The sound is BIG. A hugely powerful mix. I was suspic…
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Big Fat Liar

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 10th, 2002

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Synopsis

Frankie Muniz is the liar of the title, and so is already in plenty of trouble. Then he meets someone even worse than the truth than he is: Paul Giamatti, playing a completely sleazy Hollywood producer, who steals Muniz’ creative writing paper and makes a movie from it. Muniz and best friend Amanda Bynes head off for Hollywood to exact revenge — some of which, I must confess, is pretty damn funny.

Audio

The music sounds terrific, as does the dialogue (no distortio…
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Mummy: Quest for the Lost Scrolls, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 10th, 2002

Synopsis

Young Alex O’Connel accidentally brings the Mummy back to life, and has the manacle of Osiris stuck to his wrist. With the help of his parents, and wielding the power of the manacle, he must find the lost scrolls (scattered hither and yon around the world) in order to defeat the Mummy. The animation is strictly Saturday-morning level, and calling these three episodes a feature at 65 minutes is stretching it a bit.

Audio

The sound is nice and clear, with no distorti…
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Vampire’s Kiss

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 7th, 2002

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Nicholas Cage did this film in 1989, long before most of the more famous films he places high atop his resume. He admits this is a film he would not be able to do today but is damn glad he did. Director Robert Bierman was also pretty much a novice when he created this quirky dark comedy.

To be honest I never saw the film when it was originally released and approached the DVD with a lot of skepticism. Most of the performances are way over the top and the cinematography is simple, often resorting to what Hollywood calls “stolen shots” (filming done without any set-up in a public area using real people.)
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Business of Strangers, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 7th, 2002

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Synopsis

Stockard Channing is top-flight executive, and has been in the game long enough to become a hardened, battle-scarred veteran. When Julia Stiles arrives late, screwing up a presentation, Channing initially comes down on her like a ton of bricks. Later she apologizes, and the two, becoming friends, plot revenge on a mutual acquaintance who has apparently done them both wrong. But there are plenty of twists ahead (some easier to swallow than others).

Audio

This isn’t …
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Return to Never Land

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 3rd, 2002

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Synopsis

It is World War II, and Wendy’s daughter Jane, living in a constantly bombed London, has given up on childhood dreams. Her disillusion ends when she is kidnapped by Captain Hook and brought to Never Land. The animation is in no way up to Disney’s current theatrical standard, but is leaps and bounds beyond other direct-to-video fare. The problem is, this WAS released theatrically. Anyway, the London sequences are nicely atmospheric, but things go rather flat and ordinary once we reach Never L…
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Con Express

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 3rd, 2002

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Con Express is, at its heart, a low budget Die Hard / Speed hybrid. Terry Cunningham shows off his love for the high impact thrillers, but unfortunately not always his respect. There are times when you don’t notice the millions missing in the budget. The story, while it is a bit contrived, carries well throughout the entire film. My only complaint is that Cunningham saw fit to interrupt the film each time it started to flow with a senseless wraparound story of the hero being interviewed to take over the Customs office in Alaska. In an action film pacing is everything and the element most missing from Con Express.

Stargate SG-1 – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 31st, 2002

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Synopsis

If you’ve seen the movie, you know the premise: Earth’s military has found an alien artifact that permits instantaneous travel over vast light years. At the other end of one of the portals, however, is the Goa’uld, a hostile alien race. The special effects are impressive by TV standards, and the characterizations are pretty standard fare.

Audio

The sound is pretty solid stuff, again for TV material. The mix is in 5.1, and while I wasn’t struck by a whole heck of a …
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976-EVIL

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 13th, 2002

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Synopsis

Bad boy Spike discovers the benefits of calling the title phone number for his “horrorscope.” Bad things happen to the people who tick Spike off. But Spike doesn’t need help as much as his put-upon cousin Hoax does. And Hoax’s addiction to the number is going to spell bad news for everyone.

Audio

The music is good, the effects okay. Most of the time there’s not too much to create an environment for the viewer, and there is some minor distortion on some voices. But …
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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 12th, 2002

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After a dismal resurrection on film with Star Trek: The Motion Picture, it appeared that the crew of the good ship Enterprise was finally stilled forever. Enter two heroes to rival Kirk and Spock in Harve Bennett and Nicholas Myers. Star Trek II is everything that shines about Star Trek. Finally the triumvirate of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy dazzle longtime fans with the chemistry that made the original series so enduring. In The Motion Picture, the characters come off stiff and cold. They hardly seem to know each other.
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Dinotopia

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 11th, 2002

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Synopsis

Two brothers survive a plane crash (a crash in which their father dies, but they don’t seem too broken up about the sad event), and find themselves washed up on the island of Dinotopia. As the name implies, this is a land where humans and dinosaurs co-exist. We explore this island with the brothers, and get caught up in their quest to help save this world in its hour of peril. The characters here are a long way from believable, and so the main draw is the special effects, which are, by telev…
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SpongeBob Squarepants Halloween

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 11th, 2002

Synopsis

SpongeBob and his friends are up to their usual misadventures. SpongeBob encounters the Flying Dutchman, is turned into a snail, mistakes Squidward for a ghost, and so on.

Audio

The sound is brisk, clean and chipper. There’s not a whole heck of a lot happening surround-wise — mainly music, with the sound effects rather sparse. There is the occasional moment of left-right effect too, but you have to stay alert for those.

Video

The transfe…
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Brotherhood of Satan, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 9th, 2002

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Synopsis

Driving through the middle of nowhere, Ben, his daughter KT, and his girlfriend Nicky arrive in a strange little town. It turns out that arriving here is much easier than leaving. And that’s all I’m going to tell you, other than to say that, as the title says, Satanism is at work here. Do not read the summary on the DVD’s case, which gives absolutely everything away. Hit the film cold, and you’ll be impressed by a knockout opening, some truly eerie moments, and a compelling sense of darkness…
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Hart’s War

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 29th, 2002

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Synopsis

Colin Farrell plays the Hart of the title, a callow youth kept from the front lines of WWII by his senator father. Fate puts him in a prison camp, however, where he meets McNamara (Bruce Willis), who is determined to continue to fight (echoes here of William Holden in The Bridge On the River Kwai).

Audio

The sound is spectacular. You Are There, be it in the war or in the prison camp. Footsteps, wind, horses hooves — everything resounds on all sides. The music, bea…
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Elvis: His Best Friend Remembers

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 24th, 2002

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Synopsis

“Diamond Joe” Esposito recalls Elvis Presley’s career, from when Esposito first became aware of him, to their shared military service, to the moment he became part of Presley’s entourage. The memories go all the way to Presley’s death and beyond. The disc’s intro is irritatingly self-promotional, and the reverential tone of the piece smacks of an Entertainment Tonight segment stretched to 130 minutes.

Audio

The sound is 2.0 surround, but they really needn’t ha…
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Stuart Little

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 24th, 2002

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Synopsis

The Littles (Hugh Laurie and Geena Davis) head off to the local orphanage to adopt a child. Their son George (Jonathan Lipnicki) is hoping for a little brother, but what he gets is considerably smaller than he had in mind: talking mouse Stuart (voice of Michael J. Fox). We follow Stuart’s misadventures as he adapts to his new family, and they adapt to him. Nathan Lane does the voice of Snowball, the very put-out cat.

Audio

The sound is very clear, and Alan Sil…
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Chat Room

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 24th, 2002

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Synopsis

A group of friends made a bet at the end of high school to see who would bring the most attractive date to the ten-year reunion. That time has come, and the bet is worth $50,000.00. Time to surf the Internet for that perfect woman. This is, apparently, a comedy. Really. Utterly inept in every department (acting, writing, direction, editing, cinematography), this achieves the not-inconsiderable feat of making Corky Romano looking screamingly funny by comparison.

Audio

I Love Lucy Season One, Volume One

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 24th, 2002

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Synopsis

Three episodes from the first season, plus the pilot with its opening seconds restored as much as possible. The series is a landmark in television comedy, no doubt there, though, for my tastes, the schtick hasn’t aged particularly well.

Audio

The sound is, of course, mono. No too much to say, therefore, except that the mono is crisp and clear, especially on the actual season episodes.

Video

The picture is as good as one could expect,…
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