Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 31st, 2006
Synopsis
This is an odd fish. It’s a documentary about Bob Berdella, who raped, tortured, killed and dismembered six men in the late 80's. Director Benjamin Meade combines interviews with the investigators, the prosecutor, a survivor and Berdella himself with gruesome recreations of the crimes, an expectedly hard-boiled narration from James Ellroy, and incongruous performances of songs by the rock band “Demon Dogs.” The result is certainly interesting, but it jumps around so much that it can become h...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2006
Everybody Loves Raymond - The Complete Sixth Season comes to DVD in an impressive 5-disc edition. As a newbie to this fine series, I was surprised - and thrilled - to see the widescreen presentation. It is a nicety not often given to TV shows, and it looks spectacular, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. The show, as a lot of you know, is about sports writer Ray Barone, and his nut-job parents, who live directly across the street. One must either appreciate Ray Romano's humor, or experience the same...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2006
Sometimes, I get a bit of an impulse buying urge. And a while back, I went and got a spiffy Philips 727 DVD player (which I've since replaced with a Toshiba upconverting unit). Sure, it's not a higher end player or anything, but for $80 and a hack using the remote control, it's now become a decent multi-region player. So after testing out a friends borrowed Region 2 disc to see if the hack worked, I picked up a couple of movies from eBay and Amazon.UK, so I'll do the occasional Region 2 review.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2006
Written for the screen and directed by Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park), Separate Lies tells the story of James (Tom Wilkinson, Batman Begins), a high powered lawyer in London who lives in the countryside with his wife Anne (Emily Watson, Breaking the Waves). They have the perfect English house and a dog to match. One day, Anne meets William (Rupert Everett, Shrek 2) and has an affair with him, which turns the trio's lives around in a way that they'd never expect.>
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 30th, 2006
It’s true that MASH was winding down by year 10. Everyone involved already knew that the next year would be the last. This is what separates the true professionals from those in it for the money. Instead of dragging out the concept until there was virtually nothing of quality remaining, the entire cast and crew decided it was time to finish on top. A lot of folks would have simply gone through the motions once the end was in sight. Instead, these guys kept pouring it on. The stories and acting in this season are just as good as in any other.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2006
Synopsis
On their way to a regional competition, a group of cheerleaders have a car accident, and wander into the rural landscape to look for help. They come across an apparently abandoned house. Two escaped convicts also find that house, and take two of the girls hostage, but soon everybody has a bigger problem in the shape of a hulking killer, Andre the Butcher, who has all sorts of supernatural powers as well as plenty of sharp blades.
Any movie that casts Ron Jeremy as a mad slasher has...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 29th, 2006
Synopsis
The attack on Pearl Harbor and the days leading up to that fateful event are the subject of the 1970 effort. The narrative jumps back and forth between the Japanese and American perspectives as just enough things go both wrong and right and both sides (the ascendancy of the militant army faction over the reluctant navy in Japan, crucial intelligence always arriving just a bit too late to the right people in States) to make the surprise attack inevitable.
For anyone who has had to e...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 29th, 2006
Tommy Lee Goes to College is a show that was really sort-of set-up to fail from the beginning. NBC used to be the #1 channel on television, but they slipped badly in the ratings once the big reality television boom hit. In a bid to catch up, they took a chance on this show, which would have been much more at home on MTV or even FOX. The end result was something that was surprisingly similar in tone and charm as another rock-and-roll reality show; The Osbourne's. The thing is, the NBC audience is just no...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 28th, 2006
As is the case with many of Criterion's releases, Viridiana is a film that was quite controversial upon its original release, and to some extent, still is today. The film's namesake is a young woman who is just a week away from taking part in the investiture ceremony, her convent receives a letter from her Uncle, who sends his regrets that he will be unable to attend the event. The convent's Mother Superior sends Viridiana to see this Uncle, and that's where the trouble begins.
The Uncle is a single ol...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 27th, 2006
It seems like I keep saying this, but here we go again... Jennifer Anniston is way too good of an actress to be stuck in this film. Now, that's certainly not to imply that Shirley Maclaine isn't fantastic as well, but that's a given. Anniston is clearly the star of this film, and it's easy to see what attracted her to it. Not only is it a romantic comedy directed by Rob Reiner, but the premise is a really clever one. While in town for her sister's wedding, Sarah (Anniston) discovers that her family was the inspirati...
