Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 22nd, 2007
George Dolenz is the Montreal scientist working on an atomic something-or-other. Foreign spies (could they be.... Communists??!!) hire exiled American gangster George Raft to get Dolenz and his secret into their clutches. His secret weapon for this project is the seductive power of Audrey Totter. Working for the angels is RCMP detective Edward G. Robinson. The expected race against time ensues.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 21st, 2007
Synopsis
Honestly, the only thing that I remembered from watching For Your Eyes Only was that Sheena Easton sang the title song (qualifying her as probably the most attractive Scotsperson out there) and that there was a sprawling chase scene involving Roger Moore on skis that was cool. But that’s it. And now that I’m wrapping up this long winding once over for all the James Bond Ultimate Edition DVDs and I get a chance to see everything again, it turns out that this film is a pretty good one.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 20th, 2007
Jim Carrey is an animal control officer whose wife (Virginia Madsen) gives him an odd crime novel for his birthday. The book is narrated by a police detective who becomes violently obsessed with the recurrence of the number 23 in all aspects of life. The book has plenty of strange similarities with Carrey's life, and he becomes consumed with finding the author and knowing what it's all about, not to mention descending into the 23 obsession himself.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 20th, 2007
While expecting her husband home from a business trip, Sandra Bullock receives word that he has died. But the next morning, when she wakes up, he is still alive, and hasn't even left yet on the trip. Next morning, he's dead again, and it's the day of the funeral. Understandably, our poor heroine is a might discombobluated as she deals with having become unmoored in time, struggling to save her sanity, her husband, and her marriage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 18th, 2007
Synopsis
Danny Kaye plays Jack Martin, entertainer in a Riviera nightclub, as well as Henri Duran, philandering aviator. Duran is being driven to the edge of bankruptcy by a man with which he is forced to do business. Desperate to raise cash, he leaves town, but then his rival is invited to a dinner party. If Duran is not present at the party he is supposed to be hosting, disaster will ensue. So his partners conscript Martin, who has done a pitch-perfect impersonation of Duran at the club, to act as ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 17th, 2007
Synopsis
Famed for his obsessive love of petroleum jelly as a medium for sculpture, Matthew Barney uses 45 000 pounds of the stuff in the creation of Drawing Restraint 9. This film documents the making of that piece, which is both sculpture and film, done aboard a Japanese whaling vessel. Intimately involved in the production is Barney’s collaborator and partner Björk.
For those, such as myself, for whom this is a first exposure to Barney, this film is both intriguing and frustrating...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 17th, 2007
Style over substance. Why is it so rare that we find quality in both at the same time? I suppose I might be showing my own age here, but Renaissance is an extremely hard film to watch. The high keyed image offers no middle tones at all. The result is a stark black and white that offers a strain on my eyes. I understand the idea was to recreate the experience of reading a graphic novel (that’s comic book to my generation). Still, I wasn’t reading a comic, was I? It took the French film crew 7 years to create this film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 17th, 2007
Mars has always held a certain fascination with us mostly earthbound humans. What child has never looked to the heavens at night, mind filled with more questions than they could ever hope to find answers for? If you are one of these star crossed dreamers, Roving Mars be a thrilling journey indeed. I’m sorry to say that I missed the Roving Mars IMAX experience. I’m sure it was available at one of the several IMAX facilities here in Tampa. Life, as usual, is often too busy to get to everything I want to see. As I wat...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 16th, 2007
Synopsis
Dustin Hoffman plays Max Dembo, a burglar out on parole after serving six years. He initially makes a committed effort to reintegrate into society, getting a nowhere job in a can factory and dating placement agent Theresa Russell. But when parole officer M. Emmet Walsh unfairly targets him, Hoffman gives it up and returns to a life of crime, his violent and self-destructive urges making a bad situation that much worse.
Interestingly, the more unlikable Hoffman’s character becomes, ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 16th, 2007
Synopsis
The show that started out as basically a Cops parody (which is pretty funny on its own trailer trash merits) has become a holy grail of sorts for the Comedy Channel. The show has now spanned four seasons and a major motion picture. Reno 911 can be best described as a faux reality show with a good deal of improvisational comedy performed by some very capable actors and actresses. It loosely has a plot from season to season. This season focused on the pregnancy of Depu...
