Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 3rd, 2004
Synopsis
This is the tale of three young American women in Rome, and the men who romance them.The recently arrived Maggie McNamara sets her cap for aristocrat-with-a-reputation LouisJourdan. Jean Peters, who is supposed to be heading back to the States soon, is drawn againsther better judgment into a relationship with kindly translator Rossano Brazzi (they work at thesame office, and the rules are strict about such things). And Dorothy McGuire is secretary toprickly writer Clifton W...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 31st, 2004
Synopsis
Nick Nolte (in full bruiser form) heads up the Hat Squad, a team of LA detectives composedof himself, Chazz Palmiteri, Michael Madsen and Chris Penn. We first see them in actionroughing up a gangster by tossing him down a cliff (hence the joke of the title). Their next caseis the body of a woman, found flattened in the sand, every bone in her body broken. Nolte israttled by the sight of the victim, because she is Jennifer Connelly, with whom he had an affair(kept secret fro...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 29th, 2004
Synopsis
A plague is sweeping the world: the dead are rising to bite and eat the living, turning theirvictims into yet more ferocious zombies. A group of survivors (headed by Sarah Polley and VingRhames) take refuge in a mall. Tensions keep threatening to tear the group apart, not to mentionthe fact that they don’t know what their next course of action should be. Outside, the zombiesgather in ever increasing numbers.
This is the unrated version, running nine minutes longer t...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 28th, 2004
CSI hasn’t changed much in its first four years. Expect more of the same here. The unique photography and f/x material is pretty much as solid as it was in the first episode. I’m not sure I like the “scruffy” Grissom look, but the show is as good as it’s ever been. As in each of the previous season, Gil Grissom leads a team of Crime Scene Investigators (CSI) on the night shift in Las Vegas.
Audio
This Dolby Digital 5.1 sound once again reinvents TV sound. Highs and lows both exhibit dynam...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 28th, 2004
Synopsis
On the tenth anniversary of his wife’s death (and his daughter’s tenth birthday), TimothyHutton finds a mysterious briefcase (we see it appear out of nowhere near his wife’s grave). Thecase has his name on it, and when he unlocks the combination, Hutton finds a file containing thedetails of his murder five days in the future. The clock starts ticking. Once he accepts that he isnot the victim of a hoax, will he be able to alter his destiny?
If the idea of a man inves...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 27th, 2004
Synopsis
Kate Hudson is the golden girl at a modelling agency, scouting out talent and being very much the apple of ruthless boss Helen Mirren’s eye. She enjoys her cosmopolitan Manhattan lifestyle to the fullest, and then everything goes to smash. Her elder sister is killed in a car accident, leaving the care of her young’uns not to middle sister Joan Cusack (humourless and annoying) but to Hudson, who is promptly fired by Mirren and forced to move to Queens and work at a car dealership. Fortunately...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2004
Michael Shanks returned to Stargate full time in Season 7. What continues to impress me is that after 7 years the quality of this show just keeps getting better. I’m rarely moved by film or TV, but “Fragile Balance” was one of the most moving hours of television I’ve ever seen. The writers and actors continue to collaborate to create the best science fiction show ever. I’m sorry, but that might even include Star Trek. Season 7 brought us even more complex stories, if that was possible. The characters each had opport...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 27th, 2004
Synopsis
Humanity’s pollution of the seas has given rise to Hedorah, a giant sludgy tadpole creature that feasts on industrial waste and grows bigger and more powerful all the time. Godzilla, protector of Earth and small children, is already angered by the pollution, but concentrates his energies on defeating Hedorah. The first battle goes well, but soon Hedorah is back, bigger and stronger than before.
Godzilla is in full-on superhero mode here, in a film better known in North America as < ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 26th, 2004
Synopsis
Nine years ago, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) met in Vienna and spent a magical night together, their conversation blossoming into love. But they did not meet six months later as promised, and they moved on with their lives. Now Jesse has come to Paris to promote his book (inspired by that one night), and Celine comes to his book signing. He has an hour or so before his flight, and they head off together for coffee. Their conversation ranges over all manner of topics, graduall...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 26th, 2004
Synopsis
These are the first eight installments of the slasher franchise, a franchise that is now bathedin the warm glow of nostalgia. The basic premise for all the movies is the same: a vengefulmaniac hacks up teenagers in retaliation for the drowning of little Jason Voorhees back in 1958.The films resemble each other so closely, and their plotting is so minimal, that viewers may beforgiven for having trouble keeping them straight. Herewith, a brief reminder of the salientdifferences.
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