Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 22nd, 2004
Synopsis
On the outside, Rivervale High seems like a typical suburban school, filled with a largely white, middle-class population. New student Jenny Dahlquist (Jane McGregor) quickly discovers the divisive cliques that polarize the campus when she tries to find a seat in the cafeteria. Cheerleaders, jocks, druggies, preppies, skateboarders, nerds—they've all staked their territory in the lunchroom, and don't tolerate outsiders. At an empty table sits Trevor, the ultimate loner/outcast. Dubbed "The M...d Bomber," Trevor targeted the football team with an unwired explosive device the previous year, after enduring continual abuse and humiliation at the hands of the school's swaggering athletes. As a result, Rivervale now resembles a maximum security prison, complete with metal detectors, guards, and a zero tolerance policy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 22nd, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 22nd, 2004
In 1967, a top secret document was commissioned by the government, tracing the United States’ history with the Vietnam war. This history went as far back as the 1940’s. The result was a 7,000 page document. In 1971, a defense department official and former Rand corporation employee, Daniel Ellsberg, secretly photocopied these “Pentagon Papers” and released them to the New York Times. Then President, Richard Nixon, called Ellsberg’s act “treasonable”. FX and Paramount’s television production of The Pentagon Pa...ers details this period in Ellsberg’s life and times.
The opening credit sequence (with its shadowy images and sounds) sets up the expectation that this movie will be a taut political thriller. Perhaps in the style of The Parallax View or Winter Kills (which are must sees, by the way). Unfortunately, the sequence belies the film’s true events. It’s really a carefully crafted character piece; at least, it tries to be. James Spader plays Ellsberg with a kind of indirect integrity. In any given performance, you’re never quite sure where Spader is coming from. And you probably think he’s into something kinky. In The Pentagon Papers, Spader’s indirect and unconventional qualities are a good match for Ellsberg.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 22nd, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2004
The third season of South Park was a bittersweet one. It seemed that season 2 had floundered just a little. Most of us wondered if the talents of Stone and Parker had already run out of gas. Season 3 turned out to be one of the funniest yet. This was also the year that Mary Kay Bergman committed suicide. Mary Kay had provided ALL of the female voices for the show. This left the crew in a scramble to deliver episodes before they could find a replacement. This unfortunate turn did produce some memorable episodes, howev...r.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 22nd, 2004
The Stupids are a family with, as you can guess, a below-average intelligence. I think this might be due to inbreeding. The plot is fairly simple, more a series of vignettes: the family gets into some mess because of a mistake they make, and then get out of it in some silly manner. It sort of comes together in the end, but that's how the whole movie goes.
The Stupids is a kid's movie, and it was made with that exact audience in mind. It's not really there to entertain adults and...the level of humor is about the same as your average Saturday morning cartoon. It's full of puns, silly situations, and obvious references. Of course, a good kid's movie entertains both kids and adults, and The Stupids doesn't even attempt that. The movie is nothing more than a series of sketches, and once you accept that, you're in good hands. It's hit-or-miss like any sketch movie, but when it hits the silly and surreal stride it strives for, it's a lot of fun.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2004
The 1980’s saw a second British entertainment invasion reach the shores of America. That’s when the BBC began to unleash its peculiar brand of humor mixed with sci-fi on PBS stations in the US. College campuses all over the land were tuned to the likes of Dr. Who and later Red Dwarf.
There’s no question that this stuff is not for everyone. Red Dwarf brought us the cheesy f/x and dry humor of Tom Baker’s Dr. Who and added a generous helping of Monty Python and Benny Hill. With the third season, however, thi...gs began to change for Red Dwarf. Set production designer Mel Bibby joined the program, giving it a much sharper look than the previous two years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 22nd, 2004
What happens when a maladroit lackey, an entrepreneur and his wife, a polymath, a store clerk from Kansas, a motion picture starlet, and a ship captain get stranded on a desert island? The next edition of Survivor, right. Okay…I didn’t fool you. It’s Gilligan’s Island. And the first season is on DVD, all 36 episodes (including the infamous pilot)! Is this cause for celebration? Perhaps for some…
Gilligan’s Island ran for 3 seasons, and close to 100 episodes, on CBS from 1964 to 1967. Th... show grew more popular in syndication, and it spawned three T.V movies, an animation series, and a musical. Is the show any good? There are a lot of fans out there. I’m not one of them, sorry to say. But that’s okay. Not everyone likes salmon either.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 22nd, 2004
The third and hopefully final entry in the American Pie series, American Wedding keeps with the sweet charms and gross out comedy of the first two movies, but can’t live up to the humor of the original or its sequel. Average Joe Jim, (Jason Biggs) and former band geek Michelle, (Alyson Hannigan) are now engaged to be wed and must decide whether raucous Stifler (Seann William Scott) should be invited to the wedding. Shenanigans ensue involving a night out at a gay club, a bachelor party, pleasing the in-laws, and pubi... hair on a wedding cake.
Sure, Stifler eats dog poop and does for curse words what bullet time did for special effects, but missing characters and lack of novelty cannot lift this one into the rare category of sequels being as good or better than the previous installments. While it offers plenty of funny moments, most courtesy of Stifler, the movie just seems tired and worn out. The filmmakers should excuse themselves from the table after this. No more pie for them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2004
I came into this title completely blind. I almost always have some idea what I am going to be watching, but in this case, I truly had none whatsoever. I believe that I might have heard the title of this show before, but that’s about it.
Upon viewing this set, it might be a good thing that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Otherwise, I would have never taken this task on. Put simply, this is not a show that has stood the test of time. True laughs are virtually nonexistent, as almost all of...the jokes in this show are now tired sitcom cliché’s. The funky 70’s duds may have been hip at the time, but they just look stereotypical by today’s standards. As many afros, bellbottoms, and velour as you can stand are crammed into each and every frame.
