Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 11th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 11th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 10th, 2005
Ah, the 80's. I remember slapping on the vinyl for the new Def Leppard album, "Pyromania". And what an album it was. "Photograph", "Rock of Ages", the list of singles go on. Def Leppard seemed to be poised for superstardom. Then tragedy struck. Their drummer lost his arm in a car accident. But they still rocked on. "Hysteria" was their most popular album, but a bit too sugary for me. Now we have a movie that charts the rocky road to stardom and beyond, Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story is a heavy m...tal bio pic that meets with semi-successful results.
Hysteriahas all the band movie cliches. We have the forming of the band, the first hit single, lives change, drugs take over. But what makes this story distinct is not just the music (80's hair metal has a certain kitschy charm), but the fact the drummer lost one of his arms. The movie starts with this tragic event, thus setting up the rise and fall narrative. The low budget of this movie is quite noticeable at times (a North American left steering wheel for British driving scenes ¦ c'mon), but the story is told with conviction, cliches and all. The music performances are well done, but this is a minor "band" movie. The metal saves it from becoming a retread altogether.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 10th, 2005
After hearing that Russell Crowe had decided to embark on a movie about an early 19th century sea captain whose character was written about in several books by an author I never heard about, there was a part of me that was intrigued. This feeling was elevated by the film receiving 10 Oscar nominations, second only to Return of the King. And perhaps in another year, Master and Commander would have won more awards than it did (just one), and perhaps may go down as one of the more underappreciated films i... recent memory.
Based on the novels by Patrick O’Brian, the film chronicles the travels of Jack Aubrey (Crowe), commander of the British ship H.M.S. Surprise, and his close friend and ship’s doctor Stephen Maturin (Crowe’s A Beautiful Mind co-star Paul Bettany). The ship’s orders are to locate and do battle with the French ship Acheron, in the hopes of preventing further British/French conflicts. The Surprise is the victim of an early attack by the Acheron, and is rendered almost dead at sea. However instead of going to port, Aubrey decides to keep the ship at sea in the hopes of keeping a close watch on the Acheron without losing her, and at the same time repairing his own vessel. The ships navigate rough seas, the waters of the Galapogos, and even wintery conditions in the hopes of capturing the Acheron. Complicating matters is Maturin’s accidental shooting by a member of the crew, and Aubrey is forced to deal with the possible loss of his friend, the only one he feels can speak freely to him and as honestly as possible.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 10th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 10th, 2005
Films like Crimson Tide, Hunt for Red October and U-571 have tried on their own ways to take their place as the definitive modern submarine movie, but Das Boot still stands as King, over 20 years after its release. I remember hearing about this film growing up, and as a lad of 10, wasn’t into foreign films, or war films, as I am now, which may not be saying much. In seeing it when the Director’s Cut first came out in 1997, many people snapped up the 5.1 soundtrack, and Director’s Commentar... which was on the flipper disc. In my first viewing, I became enamored by the experiences of German war correspondent Werner (Herbert Gronemeyer), as he watches the transformation of the baby faced crew of the U-Boat transform into unshaved, withdrawn men and the end of their journey in the 10 foot wide by 150 foot long submarine.
Jurgen Prochnow (Air Force One) is the Captain of the sub, who has become jaded from hearing the numerous failures of the sub, and while he does follow orders, and attempts to attack an Allied shipping convoy, the mission is almost one of survival. Doing what you can to stay sane, almost civil, during the time in cramped quarters. When his (and other) boats encounter the Allied ships, the chase is sonically powerful, with loud depth charges booming in the water, rattling the metal chassis of the sub, along with the contrasting quiet of the crew, hoping to avoid the ships above them. Wolfgang Petersen (The Perfect Storm) does an outstanding job of portraying the cramped quarters, the decaying morale of the crew, and all of the suspenseful elements up to, and including, their trip home.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 8th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 8th, 2005
Edges of the Lord is a movie that wasn’t released theatrically, due to some distributing difficulties. We now have it on DVD. Billed as “in the tradition of Life is Beautiful”, Edges of the Lord is an edgy little coming of age story set against the backdrop of World War II. The plot is simple enough: a 12 year old Jewish boy (Haley Joel Osment) hides with a family of Catholic peasants to escape the Nazi’s. The results are resonant and often powerful.
Everyone’s favorite child actor, Osme...t, is quite good here. But the real find is Liam Tess as Tolo. Willem Dafoe also gives a good performance (when is he not good?) as Priest. The movie tries a little too hard to be remembered as a classic in the same vein as The Diary of Anne Frank or the much darker Life is Beautiful. Edges of the Lord is, simply put, a simple story well told.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 8th, 2005
Admittedly when I first saw The Fifth Element, I wasn't too impressed by it, though Chris Tucker (Friday) did provide some good comedic moments, and it was nice to see Ian Holm (Lord of the Rings) return to major films also. I mainly thought that Bruce Willis had gone a bit silly with this one with dyed blonde head hair, in yet another action movie.
Upon further inspection however, the movie contains a lot of the breathtaking action that has made Frenchman Luc Besson's films (Leon>) as unique as they are. Written by Besson, the movie focuses on the title character (object?), when connected with the other elements (fire, water, earth and air), will prevent ultimate evil from ruling Earth. And when evil rules earth, light becomes dark, life becomes death, you get the idea. Every so often evil tries to come and destroy earth, and the elements must unite together to stop it. Willis is Korben Dallas, a former elite government soldier who became a taxi driver, has a modest apartment with a cat (his wife left with his lawyer, leaving him with nothing). His mission? Well, let's be frank, it's to save the world. The Fifth Element, a.k.a. Leeloo, played by Milla Jovovich (The Messenger) is played with equal parts comedy and action, combined with a brief (and somewhat unnecessary) glimpse at the end of her emotions, when she views a montage of war footage. The elements are represented as stones in the movie, and the “art dealer” Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman, Sid and Nancy) attempts to do what he can to obtain the stones. He works for a buyer who sounds a lot like Bob Guccione or Barry White, but maybe is symbolized as Evil itself?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 7th, 2005
Synopsis
