Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 7th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 6th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 4th, 2005
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is the sequel to the popular Disney feature The Princess Diaries. How is our princess (Anne Hathaway) now? Well, life isn’t so easy in Gevonia. While trying to dodge Machiavellian plots and ill-suited suitors, the princess Mia tries to find love and (more importantly) herself.
The Princess Diaries 2 feels like one of those “phoned-in” sequels. All the notes are there, but none of the music. Veteran director Garry Marshall does a poor job o... filling this movie with energy or any sense of pace; and the movie plods along to its inevitable conclusion. Pre-teens might get a kick out of it, but the movie’s long windedness might make them turn towards the XBox. Anne Hathaway’s moxie and Julie Andrews’s grace make The Princess Diaries 2 modestly watchable.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 4th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 31st, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2004
On the DVD cover of The Door in the Floor, the writing promises “surprises”, “shocks”, and “cuts like a knife”. One would think this movie would be a thriller. False advertising can get you nowhere. The Door in the Floor is far from a thriller, but more in the meditation on love, loss, and loneliness genre. Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger star as a dysfunctional married couple. Things are far from blissful. Bridges is a writer of children’s fiction; Basinger is, well, I’m not sure what she does. Bu... she sure is unhappy. She even takes up an affair with a young boy, played effectively by Jon Foster.
The movie is based on the first third of John Irving’s novel “A Widow for One Year”. It does feel a little like the first act of a much larger story. But the movie kinda works as a stand alone piece. Door covers some familiar territory (think In the Bedroom but without the murder). Basinger is good, but the movie is Jeff Bridges’ to own. He’s tortured but understated, rascally but sympathetic. The performance is one of the best of 2004. “The Dude” abides.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2004
Barry Pepper is an actor who seems to have an affinity for playing sports heroes, Roger Maris and now Dale Earnhardt. Pepper also seems to have an affinity to star in movies with numbers in the title, 51, 25th Hour, and now 3 – The Dale Earnhardt Story. ESPN presents an original sports movie about the iconic racing driver who lived and died (literally) on the track.
Being a sports fan, I have a soft place in my heart for sports bio pics. They have a tendency to be clichéd, by nature.... We usually see the rise of the sports hero from humble beginnings to glory. There are hardships along the way, familial tension, and of course “the big game” (or in this case, the “big race”). 3 is no exception to the cliché ridden sports movie. But the story is well told and serves a lasting testament to a sports legend.
