Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2005
Frasier is, quite simply, the one of best sitcoms of all time. This show proves that the studios don't have to dumb down their product to appeal to a mass audience.(Are you listening, Hollywood?) If the writing is of a great enough caliber, the audience will always rise to meet the material. More shows in this sad era of reality television overkill would do themselves well to follow the lead of this wonderfully funny program.
What Frasier is better at than just about an other film or televisio... show I have ever seen is it's mastery of farce. It is extremely difficult to make farce genuinely funny, and this show did it masterfully on a weekly basis. Any show can throw some lame jokes into a show, but it takes thought and attention to detail to craft jokes where the elements build up over time, and the punchline hits the audience out of nowhere.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2005
Synopsis
David Carradine headlines yet another Roger Corman-produced action comedy. Here he’s the good seller of moonshine, up against the bad seller of same, who also happens to be the fater of Carradine’s girlfriend (Kate Jackson). Daddy is in bed with the mob, and is cheerfully selling rotgut on the streets (some of which as been fermenting in a tank with a car battery – blechhh). A battle for supremacy ensues, complete with many boat and car chases and plenty of fisticuffs.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2005
Meiert Avis' new romantic comedy-drama Undiscovered has been turning up on more than a few worst lists for 2005, and while that may be an unfair assessment, as just about every film out this year could have made it onto the same list, it's still no picnic. Some of the numbers are hip enough, and the two lead actors deliver likeable, though poorly written performances. However, Ashlee Simpson's performance drives it all down into the mud and solidifies her standing as not just the least talented Simpson daughter, but also one of the most obnoxious wretches, who dares call herself a celebrity.
While anyone who's ever created anything can certainly relate to the noble Luke Falcon in his efforts to make it big on his own terms, no viewer can get past the egotistical pseudo-charms of Simpson, whose very performance seeks selfish standing as Undiscovered's novelty act. I didn't want to turn this into an Ashlee bash-fest, but she makes it too darn easy, and clouds the quality of what otherwise may have been a decent romantic comedy-drama. She spends all of her too-freely-given screen time shooting frequent looks to the camera and smiling a big stupid grin as if she's flirting with us. While Jessica may be somewhat charming and physically attractive (jury's still out), Ashlee falls far short of what could be construed as her sister's qualities, and seems like she's doing her best stupid impersonation. And while she certainly makes a convincing idiot, it's her sister's act, and she needs to find one of her own. Of course, when the only reason she's even succeeded depends on the existence of her sister, originality may be a hard attribute to come by.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2005
8MM 2 is a sequel to Schumacher’s 8MM in name only. It tells the story of an aspiring politician and his loving fiancée on a mission of sexual experimentation in Budapest, which quickly turns into a trust-no one game of seduction, blackmail, and murder. The crux of the story is a steamy threesome between the two lovers and a strange dark-haired beauty. The only eight millimeter tie-in is from the film which is shot during the escapade – unbeknownst to the lovers – which is then used to string the politi...ian along in the unknown blackmailer’s deadly game.
As a sequel, this story completely fails to work. Gone is the creepiness of the first’s horrific plot. Now it’s just about sleaze and blackmail, neither of which are executed in very interesting fashion. Lori Heuring and Johnathon Schaech are good-looking enough, but their presence seems better suited to a made-for-Lifetime movie. Their looks are too clean and simply fall short of the sleaze level the film hopes to obtain. While production values are slick, director J.S. Cardone’s ego is dripping from every frame. I’m glad he takes his work so seriously, but when that work is as cheap and trashy as 8MM 2, such behavior is more obnoxious than endearing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2005
Director Brian Henson continues a family tradition with father Jim’s creations, The Muppets. He also carries on another tradition, this time in the form of the long-told tale “A Christmas Carol” by legendary author Charles Dickens. The combination goes so well together I can hardly understand why it wasn’t done sooner, as in by Jim himself before his untimely death. Michael Caine does an extraordinary job, as usual, in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge, a hopeless miser, who receives visits from three very different ghost... in a last ditch chance at redemption. It doesn’t matter how many times the story is told, or in how many ways – it never seems to lose its power, and The Muppets’ retelling in their own unique way only serves to enhance the tale.
There is something missing without Jim Henson as the voice of Kermit the Frog, but his replacement does a comparable job, and we still get Frank Oz in his usual roles of Miss Piggy and Animal. The result is something any Muppets’ fan will be proud to place on the shelf alongside the other children’s classics for which this troupe is responsible.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2005
Sorry for Kung Fu tells the story of a woman, who has defied her staunchly conservative heritage by getting pregnant out of wedlock. Not so big of a deal, except she's returning home to live with her parents, and must deal with the tension that comes with having gone against the ways they have taught her. In spite of it all, she manages to enjoy a truce with mother and father until the baby is born - and it's of Asian descent. With family turmoil and racial bigotry within family bloodlines to propel its conflict, you'd think this film would have a lot to recommend it. However, it can't jump that one final hurdle of execution in order to make it all happen. Part of what makes it not work is the fact that it's a family drama with an incredibly unsuitable potty mouth.
Before you label me a prude, allow for explanation.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 29th, 2005
A Dry White Season is a rather faithful adaptation of the critically acclaimed Euzhan Palcy novel. The film attempts to portray the infamous South African policy of apartheid, beginning with a massacre of peaceful demonstrators that occurred in 1976.Perhaps the point could have been made without the disturbing depiction of children being shot in such graphic detail. Such on-screen brutality seems drastic even under today’s less constrictive standards. I’m sure it can, and likely has, been argued that these events require realism, much as the opening salvo of “Saving Private Ryan” has been justified. In any case, the film certainly makes its point, leaving a lingering impression.
If anything, the film does provide a showcase for some quality performances. Donald Sutherland is most convincing as school teacher and former athletic star who finds himself compelled by conscience into the moral struggle.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2005
John(Owen Wilson) and Jeremy(Vince Vaughn) are divorce mediators faced with the daily struggle of attempting to reconcile fractured partners for long enough to enable them to reach some kind of settlement. But let's not worry about that too much because it’s nearly wedding season, a time when their entire agenda shifts focus. Why? Because John and Jeremy are wedding crashers. We're not talking about anything half-hearted either. These two are professional wedding crashers. They have rules, game-plans, and even fake f...mily trees to help them crash any party. Anglo or African-American, Italian or Spanish, Chinese or Korean, it does not matter to them—they just pretend to be some distant relative of a dead aunt and bluff their way through the rest. The purpose behind this cleverly conceived fraud? Simple, they want to get laid. They want no-strings-attached sex with beautiful, twenty-something women. Tons of them.
After a long and eventful season of fun weddings, these two come across the ultimate wedding to crash. The eldest daughter of a prominent Senator is getting married, and John and Jeremy simply cannot afford to miss such an illustrious event. When they arrive, however, it is not long before the plan goes out of the window and everything starts to fall apart. Although they appear to find their designated targets, and set about on their elaborate plans to seal the deal with these lovely ladies, it turns out that things are much more complicated than they seem because the girls are the two younger daughters of the Senator and they each come with their own share of woes. The boys may just have their work cut out for them if they want to close the deal but the real trouble comes when they start to realize that they may want more than just the one night.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2005
Note: the following synopsis contains spoilers. Only read this first section if you know have happens in season four.
I shall first give a bit of the background of the show for any readers who are a bit interested in the background of the show. The show debuted in the fall of 1985 during an era of non-violent and very-feel good nature type television shows. Even though a show like Macgyver did follow this standard 80’s television show rule, the show manages to distance itself from the standard cop sh...w/soap opera show solely because of the lead character Macgyer. Instead of using brute force to overcome his adversaries, Macgyver simply stops and takes a moment to use his head to decide what to do next. Since Macgyer he has an astounding mind (most specifically in the science field), he is able to always get the upper edge over his foes with his ability to make easy use of any of the materials surrounding him to create solutions to the numerous problems he encounters. While I must say this is a bit different from your average show, this routine does get a bit tiring after awhile.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 28th, 2005
I must admit feelings of suspicion before popping in the DVD copy of Prozac Nation:. I remember seeing the theatrical trailer years ago. It was not, by any means, poor advertisement. I had taken a liking to the acting of Christina Ricci, and the film looked like a decent outing with a talented supporting cast. So I waited for the film to come out. Then I waited some more. Years passed and the film never popped up at my local multiplex. It is generally not a good sign that a film is shelved for so long, but I s...ill kept an eye out for its theatrical release.
However, Prozac Nation: never did get that theatrical release. Instead Miramax gave it a cable debut on its sister network Starz/Encore, and the film went straight to DVD. Now I have seen awful films that have been delayed for years, and those titles were even given a theatrical release. Since Prozac Nation: was not even given that freedom, I couldn’t help but suspect a terrible film. Just when I had started thinking about the film after seeing an advertisement on Encore, a copy of the film ended up on my doorstep a few days ago for review. Truthfully speaking, I don’t quite see what all the delays were about. This may not be a wonderful picture, but it certainly deserved more respect than some of the other crap that reaches screens across the world.
