Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 23rd, 2003
Road House is one long bar brawl interrupted occasionally by a thread of a plot line. Patrick Swayze is the offered marquee name, but better performances can be found from Ben Gazzara, best known for his portrayal of Al Capone, Sam Elliott, and even Kevin Tigue. The music is the only thing that keeps this one interesting. Jeff Healey stars as the bar’s regular musician and treats us to some of his best music.
Synopsis
Daulton (Swayze) is hired to clean up a rowdy redneck bar.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 23rd, 2003
Synopsis
Gary Sinise (who also produced and directed) is George, the smart one. John Malkovich (in arole light years from his usual creepy venom) is Lennie, child-like but enormously strong. Thetwo best friends wander Depression-era California, looking for work. They find what seems likea long-term gig at the Tyler Ranch, but trouble rears its head in the form of the unhappy SherilynFenn, trapped in an abusive marriage. It isn’t long before everything goes to hell.
Audio< ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 19th, 2003
Synopsis
Asia Argento plays Anna Battista, who, when you get down to it, is really Asia Argento inthis intensely autobiographical film. Anna, a popular film star in Italy, stumbles from one bizarreencounter to another, pining for one-night-stand Kirk, in this picaresque tale. There isn’t much ofa plot, as such. Instead, we witness her descent into hell and ultimate redemption. The sex ispretty graphic, which is what caused all the fuss upon the film’s release, but what hasn’t beencommented ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2003
Synopsis
Angelo’s the good brother, Paulie’s the bad boy. Fed up with waiting tables, Paulieconvinces Angelo and two friends to get into the bookie business. After a few missteps, businessbecomes good. Then it gets very good. Then they hook up with local don, Santo, who issaddled with an extremely volatile son, Vinnie. You can probably guess where all this isheading, and there are certainly no real surprises here. The clearest sign that we’re on familiarterritory is Vinnie, a clone ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 17th, 2003
Synopsis
Instead of Othello, great warrior, we have Odin (Mekhi Phifer), basketball star. His loveDesdemona becomes Desi (Julia Stiles), and duplicitous friend Iago is not Hugo (Josh Hartnett).Consumed by jealousy because of Odin’s success, and feeling unloved by his father (MartinSheen), Hugo sets about destroying Odin and everyone else by planting the seeds of jealousy inhis mind. The more familiar you are with Othello, the better this plays, as it follows Shakespearevery closely,...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2003
Synopsis
Michael Madsen, recently sprung from jail, is determined to stay out of trouble. Things startoff well, when he wins five grand and a Lincoln Continental in a poker game. He heads off forLas Vegas, planning to multiply that money. What he doesn’t know is that there’s a corpse in thetrunk of the car. Then he picks up Patricia Arquette, a sociology major and mob family daughteron a vendetta against another mobster. Needless to say, all hell breaks loose, and does so quiteamusi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2003
Synopsis
After a freak Ferris wheel accident kills his pregnant wife, Chance (Blair Underwood) istaken in by best friends Michael (Michael Beach) and Lauren (Debbi Morgan), friends whosemarriage is already shaky. The thing is, Chance and Lauren previously had an affair, somethingthat wracks Lauren with guilty, but that Chance is increasingly obsessed with reviving.Gradually, things go from bad to worse. Too gradually, in fact: we’re almost 45 minutes in beforethe thriller angle begi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 15th, 2003
Synopsis
Nick Nolte is a down-on-his-luck actor, who suddenly has to look after his six-year-olddaughter (who naturally winds up with a better TV career than he has). This film was a big flopfor writer/director James L. Brooks. It was originally a musical, but all the songs were cut priorto release.
Audio
The audio specifications aren’t really indicated, which smells like 2.0 to me. Theenvironment effect is all right, though not spectacular, and the left-rig...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 15th, 2003
Synopsis
Craig Sheffer and Sheryl Lee are less than a year into their marriage, and already they’re intherapy. It transpires that Lee has never had an orgasm. Sheffer finds out that she is visitingextremely unconventional sex therapist Terence Stamp. Outraged, he confronts Stamp, but windsup listening to him, and then becomes his pupil, hoping that what he learns will lead to sexualhealing for Lee. If this sounds like things are about to get very flaky, well, that depends on yourtak...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 14th, 2003
Synopsis
An ensemble piece, along the lines of something John Sayles or Robert Altman might do,only on a minuscule budget and played strictly for laughs. A massively dysfunctional Southernfamily meet for the funeral of Grandma Peggy, and all sorts of animosities and such are workedout. The film is based on a play, and boy can you tell -- static as hell, boring to watch. There aresome moments of genuine emotion with the gay characters, but for the most part this is just apainful slog...
