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DVD

Alias – The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 14th, 2003

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Alias might well be the first TV series better on DVD than its original broadcast. I tried to get into this show when it began two years ago. Fans could have warned me that any attempt to join this series mid-season is a big mistake. Each episode ends in a cliffhanger and the plots are complicated enough that it can be hard to keep up with the intrusion of preemptions and repeats. These DVD’s allow you to watch the show in a logical order without fear of missing an episode which could leave you completely lost.
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In a Glass Cage

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 13th, 2003

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Synopsis

Klaus (Gunter Meisner) experimented on children during WWII, and he continues his terriblesexual crimes in Spain for years after the war. Consumed by self-loathing, he throws himself offthe roof of a tower. His suicide attempt fails, but he is confined to an iron lung. A mysteriousyoung man named Angelo (David Sust) arrives at his home, and insinuates himself into thehousehold as Klaus’ nurse. Klaus’ wife Griselda (Marisa Paredes) is distrustful, but his youngdaughter Rena …
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Spring, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 12th, 2003

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Synopsis

Single father Kyle MacLachlan is on a camping trip with his son. They wind up in the a nicelittle town, and an accident forces them to stay there longer than planned. The townspeople seemto be inordinately interested in who MacLachlan is, and they also have something to hide. Thefountain of youth, you see, is located here, and the locals will stop at nothing to protect theirsecret. Though very much a made-for-TV movie, and no classic of the field, it is somewhat betterthan …
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Night Scream

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 12th, 2003

Synopsis

One year after the death the murder of a young woman named Laura, her spitting imagedrives into town. Drew (Candace Cameron Bure) doesn’t know why she has come to this town,or how she got there, or why she has spells where she thinks she is Laura, much to theconsternation of the bereaved parents. Laura’s boyfriend Ted (Casper Van Dien) was blamed forthe murder, and is believed dead himself, but things are not what they seem, and Laura’s spiritwants her murder avenged. Deepl…
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Hatred of a Minute

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 11th, 2003

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Synopsis

Writer/director Michael Kallio stars as Eric Seaver, autopsy report transcriber and serialkiller. In the present, he drives through the night, a terrified woman trussed up in the back of hiscar. As he talks to her, we see his life unfold in flashback. He was twisted by the relentless abusedished out by his stepfather (erstwhile Leatherface Gunnar Hansen), and the rage he held withinfinally explodes at his mother’s funeral. So begins his spiral into madness. Made on a shoestri…
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Invitation to Hell

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 11th, 2003

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Synopsis

Robert Urich has just been hired by a high-tech firm to work on a spacesuit for a mannedflight to Venus. Flight to Venus? you ask. Yes. And the suit comes complete with built-in laserblaster and flame thrower. Why? For the simple reason that all this will be necessary for Urichto save his family from the clutches of Susan Lucci, the demon who runs the local country club.I swear I am not making any of this up. Lunatic plot aside, this is very pedestrian 80s made-for-TV horro…
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Silent Predators

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 11th, 2003

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Synopsis

Twenty years ago, a deadly tropical rattlesnake gets loose near the town of San Catalano. Itinterbreeds with the local rattlesnake population. In the present, the hybrids are disturbed by theblasting going on a construction site, and make their way into the town. All the stock charatersfor a nature-on-the-loose film are present and accounted for: the fire chief no one will listen to,the heartless developer whose fault this is, the mayor more concerned with money than withli…
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Carrot Top Rocks Las Vegas

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 10th, 2003

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Synopsis

Also apprently titled “Casino Dreams,” this is concert footage of Carrot Top in Las Vegas,interspersed with fantasy sequences. You either like this guy or you don’t. Personally, I find himdull. And if you are a fan, be warned that the feature is only 50 minutes long.

Audio

Mono sound, and very boring, sucking all the life out of the pounding music. Carrot Top’sdelivery is clear enough, but the feel is of a rather cheap recording.

Video

The picture (fullscreen) looks just as cheap. The concert footage looks like it was done onsomeone’s camcorder, and has very harsh colours. The dream sequences have a lot of grain, andthe orange is pushed much too far.

Special Features

The only extra is a behind-the-scenes feature, 23 minutes long, that is more of the same kindof stuff as the movie itself (all kinds of flashy editing and goofing around). The menu is fullyanimated and scored.

Closing Thoughts

Everything about this package, with the exception of Carrot Top’s stage setting, screamscheap.

Special Features List

Behind-the-Scenes Feature

Power Rangers Ninja Storm: Looming Thunder

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 10th, 2003

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Synopsis

Trouble looms for the Power Rangers when Dustin starts hanging out with some mysteriousnew friends. Are they up to no good? The answers to this and other questions will naturallyinvolve a great many martial arts sequences and cheesy special effects. If you’re not alreadyfamiliar with the Power Rangers storylines and characters, this will be pretty hard to follow.

Audio

A decent but unimpressive. 2.0. The bass could be heavier, given all the hard rock …
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Nicholas Nickleby

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 10th, 2003

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Synopsis

At the at of 19, Nicholas Nickleby loses his father. He, his sister Kate and their mother go toLondon to seek the help of a rich uncle, played with villainous gusto by Christopher Plummer.Plummer packs Nicholas off to be teacher at a hellish Yorkshire boarding school, while keepingthe women in London under his thumb. At the school, Nicholas befriends the crippled Smike,and soon begins to stand up against the tyrants. So begin his adventures, during the course ofwhich he gat…
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Seabiscuit – America’s Legendary Racehorse

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2003

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I had never heard of Seabiscuit until I saw a trailer for the movie starring Tobey Maguire. I had no desire to watch a movie about a racehorse and doubted the voice over as it tried to engage the audience by stating that the story of Seabiscuit were the things that legends were made of. Well that feeling of skepticism changed after I watched this documentary. This documentary follows the amazing story of Seabiscuit, possibly the most famous racehorse in American history. One of the opening lines states that in 1938, …
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Stargate SG-1 – The Complete Fourth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2003

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The fourth season of Stargate SG-1 started with one of the largest f/x episodes of the series. The Replicants, which look a lot like the mecha-spiders from the Lost In Space film are threatening Earth, and it seems all is lost. Of course, fans of the series know that SG-1 will save the day. The stories have continued to build in expanse as the series enters its fourth year. Stargate SG-1 just keeps getting bigger and better. By now I think this might have become the best sci-fi series on TV, rivaling even the …
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Escape to Witch Mountain

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 9th, 2003

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Synopsis

Tony and Tia Malone are different from the other kids at the orphanage. They can makethings move just by thinking about it. Tony can levitate. Tia can talk to animals. They come tothe attention of evil millionaire Aristotle Bolt (Ray Milland, doing his patented Mean Rich Guyroutine), who dispatches Donald Pleasance to bring the children to his isolated mansion.Realizing what Bolt wants to exploit them, Tony and Tia escape, and, with the help of crusty-but-good-hearte…
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Solas

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 9th, 2003

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Synopsis

Maria is at war with the world, and one can hardly blame her, given her life. Her mother,Rosa, arrives in the city, accompanying her abusive husband, who is undergoing surgery. Mariaunenthusiastically puts Rosa up at her dingy apartment. Maria’s life continues to get worse,thanks to a relationship with a cruel truck driver, but her mother’s quiet dignity and absolutegoodness gradually begins to win her over. Then there is the Maria’s older neighbour, who isthe first kind ma…
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C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2003

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Make no mistake about it. CSI is not your father’s Quincy. The idea of forensic science on drama is not really a unique one. CSI makes its mark with an incredible style not seen before on TV or even in films. The cases are always engaging and the characters and writing remain strong. This second season set is far superior to the initial outing. Paramount finally got the message and released this set in widescreen and with a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. The packaging, however, is the same awkward and flimsy design offered in year one.
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Men With Guns

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 8th, 2003

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Synopsis

In an unnamed Latin American country, an elderly doctor decides to leave the city to visitseven former students. He had trained them for work in the countryside, with the idea of bringingmodern medicine to the underdeveloped regions. His journey becomes one of disillusionment, aseach student he seeks turns out to have been killed by “men with guns” (the army). As he movesfurther and further into the countryside, he witnesses more and more evidence of barbaritysanctio…
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Mark of Zorro, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 8th, 2003

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Synopsis

Returning to California after some years in Spain, Don Diego de Vega (Tyrone Power) finds that hisfather has been deposed and that the region is ruled by a venal, corrupt governer under the thumbof tyrannical lieutenant Basil Rathbone. Pretending to be a useless fop by day, Diego dons maskand sword by night as Zorro, fighting for the liberation of the poor and the downtrodden. Powerspends surprisingly little time in the Zorro get-up, and the climactic duel comes earlier than …
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Bend It Like Beckham

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 7th, 2003

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Synopsis

Parminder Nagra is at odds with her family, who want her to follow the traditional path foran Indian woman. She wants none of that, and dreams instead of becoming a professional soccerplayer. Kiera Knightley is already playing on a female team, but has her own familial issues, witha mother (Juiet Stevenson) who despairs of what she perceives as her daughter’s lack offemininity. Knightley sees Nagra playing soccer in a park, and recruits her for the team. Thoughthis i…
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Dancer Upstairs, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 7th, 2003

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Synopsis

The setting is an unnamed country in Latin America. The time is the recent past. Amysterious terrorist organization, led by someone called “Presidente Ezequiel,” launches a seriesof baffling and increasingly deadly attacks. The government responds with more and moredraconian measures. Caught between the terrorists and a corrupt regime is honest cop JavierBardem, desperate to salvage what democracy his country still has. As he tracks Ezequiel, hisinvestigation…
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Repossessed

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 6th, 2003

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Synopsis

As a child, Nancy (Linda Blair, who played “Regan” in the original — get it?) was possessedby the devil, but was saved by Father Leslie Nielsen. But now she has been repossessed, and thebattle begins anew. Repossessed adopts the approach of the Airplane andNaked Gun films, but has none of their skill. There are a couple of okay chuckles, butmost of this plays like a bad high school sketch show. Writer/director Bob Logan forgot thatwhat made Niel…
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I, Madman

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 6th, 2003

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Synopsis

Jenny Wright is Virginia. She works at a used bookstore by day, and by night freaks herselfout with the frightening books of Malcolm Brand. Her life becomes a nightmare when themonstrous protagonist of Brand’s I, Madman appears to her in the real world, and startsre-enacting his crimes. Appearing well before the postmodern exercises of the Screamseries, In the Mouth of Madness and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, this littlefilm anticipates tha…
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Carrie (2002)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 6th, 2003

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Synopsis

Carrie White (Angela Bettis) is going through the last word in high school hell. She has nofriends, she is tormented on all sides, and she has no comfort at home, thanks to her religiousfanatic mother. Carrie also has a powerful psychokinetic talent, one that will inevitably beunleashed once the pressure builds too high. Cut down from a 180-minute mini-series to 132minutes, this version will disappoint those who wanted to see the whole thing, but at the samet…
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Sunday Bloody Sunday

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 4th, 2003

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Synopsis

Glenda Jackson is a job placement consultant who wants to resign. Peter Finch is a doctorwho has more than his fair share of neurotic patients. Both Finch and Jackson are in love withMurray Head, a young artist who really loves himself more than either of his two lovers. Jacksonand Finch know about each other, and try to reconcile themselves with having to share Head. Asensitive character study, Sunday Bloody Sunday rivets with its superlative performancesand …
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Haunted Palace / Tower of London, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 3rd, 2003

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Synopsis

Made at the height of Roger Corman’s successful Edgar Allan Poe series (with his perennialstar Vincent Price), these two pictures, while similar in tone to the Poe films, adapt two differentwriters. Tower of London, a remake of the Basil Rathbone/Boris Karloff film from 1935,is a version of Shakespeare’s Richard III, with Price taking on the role of the villainoushunchback, plotting and killing his way to the throne of England. The Haunted Palace,…
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Scorcher

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 3rd, 2003

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Synopsis

Get this: Chinese nuclear tests have jolted the Pacific tectonic plate into accelerated motion,causing terrible volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and massive venting of gasses that will soonheat the Earth to unlivable conditions. The only way to set things right is to set off acounteractive nuclear blast. In downtown LA. Now, I have a very soft spot in my… er… head fordisaster movies, but Scorcher tested even my patience. The FX consist largely of footageli…
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