Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 20th, 2004
Synopsis
Ivy Meeropol is the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed fortreason at the height of the McCarthy era. Their case is a controversial one to this day, andMeeropol sets out to learn as much about who her grandparents were as she can, while peoplewho knew them are still alive. The series of interviews she conducts are fascinating looks backinto a dark period of American history, but there also flashes of the human comedy as well (suchas when former Ro...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 20th, 2004
Synopsis
Treat Williams is Dr. Andrew Brown, a high-powered NYC neurosurgeon. When his wife iskilled in a traffic accident, Williams re-evaluates his life, and the fact that he had put his familyvery much on the backburner with reference to his career, and on the spur of the moment movesthe family to Everwood, Colorado, a small town he was once told was idyllic. So begins a newlife, an effort to avoid making the same mistakes, and an effort to re-connect with his alienatedteenaged s...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 20th, 2004
Synopsis
The scene is a middle-class apartment building in Washington, DC. Our characters are Mary(Marla Gibbs), hard-nosed mother; her best friend and gossip-buddy Rose (Alaina Reed); big-time flirt Sandra (Jackée Harry) and the relevant husbands and offspring. It’s the expectedcollection of wisecracks and Issues Moments in an utterly typical, and I would have thoughcompletely forgotten, sitcom.
Audio
The 2.0 sound may be stereo, but it has no surround pres...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 20th, 2004
Synopsis
This is a chronicle of battles over Bill Clinton, climaxing with his impeachment. Based onothe book by Gene Lyons and Joe Conason, the movie, narrated by Morgan Freeman, takes theapproach that this ten-year-war was not something that just happened, but was the systematicattempt by an organized group to bring down the president. One’s sympathies in the matter willlargely determine how much, if any, of this one buys, but the film does make some convincinglydisturbing charges....
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 20th, 2004
Synopsis
In a typically golden-hued television version of the 19th Century, Katherine Heigl is movingout to the Western frontier with husband Oliver Macready. They have barely arrived at the site oftheir future homestead when Macready gets himself killed in a horse-riding accident. Widowedand alone, Heigl accepts a proposal from widower and single father Dale Midkiff: to have aplatonic marriage with him in order that the two might help each other out until the followingspring, at wh...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 19th, 2004
Synopsis
James Bishop arrives at S. Andrew’s Asylum for the Criminally Insane to be a new intern.He suspects things are not as they should be. His clues include obviously mistreated patients,and an asylum director who is exaggeratedly uncaring and speaks with a sinister Britishaccent.
Meanwhile, in the audience, we’re waiting for old James to catch up, as the movie showed usa satanic cult at work in the hospital in the opening five minutes, complete with an extremelycheesy...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 19th, 2004
Synopsis
Here we go: it’s the senior year for Dawson, Joen, Pacey, Jen and Jack. Joey and Pacey haveto deal with how their new romance (which concluded the last season) is going to affect theirrelationship with Dawson. As before, we follow dreams crash or flower, and the same withrelationships. The writing is stronger than on many dramas, but sometimes is a little too pleasedwith itself -- Pacey’s crack in the opening episode about “the land of poorly written melodrama”which also fo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 18th, 2004
Synopsis
Put-upon high-school student Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) buys a decrepit 1957Plymouth Fury named Christine, and sets about restoring her. He does a remarkable job, and asChristine becomes shiny and new again, so Arnie loses his geek image. He goes beyond beingself-confident, however, becoming more and more unpleasant as Christine exerts her hold onhim. She is a jealous lover, and will kill anyone who interferes with her and Arnie.
When you think about, it’s surp...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 18th, 2004
Synopsis
There are three volumes under review here: “Color Craze,” “Music Magic,” and “GameTime.” Imagine a kids’ show taken over by a co-ed version of the Backstreet Boys, and you’llhave some sense of what these shows are like. A group of 5 young people sing and danceenergetically, and then, in individual segments, each host focuses on a different specialty (onedoes shapes, another movement, and so on). Other segments consists of more song, storytelling,activities, and so on. I won...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 17th, 2004
Synopsis
Mario Van Peebles plays his father Melvin, and the film charts the making of Melvin VanPeebles’ landmark 1971 film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. Obsessed withmaking a film by and about his community, and expressing all the built-up anger of his peopleand his time, Melvin will stop at nothing in the fulfilment of his dream. The economic, personaland health costs are very high.
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is arguably where Black cinema begins,...
