Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 21st, 2003
Synopsis
The titles and the stars speak for themselves: Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone and Olivia deHavilland in The Adventures of Robin Hood; James Cagney in Yankee DoodleDandy; Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Of the three,Yankee Doodle Dandy, a musical biopic of singer/dancer/songwriter George M. Cohan,is the one that has been treated the least kindly by the years. Its front and centre flag-waving canbe a bit much, though Cagney’s trem...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 20th, 2003
This wonderful British comedy comes to DVD once again… this time in a Vol. 6-10 box set. If you are not familiar with this outrageous show, it ruled BBC airwaves from 1972-1985, and continues to entertain today on DVD. Taking place solely on a single floor of a department store, this show covers the lives and misadventures of the staff who are employed there.
Audio
Not much can or should be expected from an aging British television audio track such as this. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 20th, 2003
William Shatner refused to reprise his role of Kirk in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home without a promise to write and direct the next film in the franchise. Against their better judgment Paramount agreed, and to this day wish they had not. The story is absolutely silly and the direction very one-dimensional. The truth is, however, that there still are some very endearing Trek moments in the film. DeForest Kelly gives a superb performance as McCoy must face his past decision to allow his terminal father to die.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 19th, 2003
Synopsis
At first glance, a 3 1/2 hour spoken word documentary is probably not something the average person would care to sit through, and certainly not the kind of thing the average DVD aficionado would want to purchase. However, this is not just any DVD set, and the speaker is not just any run of the mill personality. This is an intimate evening with actor/filmmaker Kevin Smith.
This brilliant two-disc set follows Smith to five different American universities, where he simply hosts a que...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 19th, 2003
The eighth season of the X-files brought major changes to one of Fox’s strongest running series. And whenever major changes occur there is always a concern about what is going to happen to the integrity of the show. By the end of the 7th season the worries about what David Duchovny was going to do left fans of the show in limbo. Luckily, the creative team behind the X-files (one of the best in television history) was up to the task.
The season opened with the introduction to Agent Fox Mulder’s replace...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 17th, 2003
Synopsis
Though there is a intro that summarizes who’s who and what’s what, if you’re not familiarwith the Storykeepers cartoon, you might well find this a bit confusing (I know I did). Anyway,in 64 AD, a group of Christian orphans and their protector are on the run from the evil EmperorNero (who has henchmen with such subtle names as “Nihilus”). They flee the burning Rome,but do find the time to sit down and hear tales of Christ’s nativity and the like. The animationis primitive, a...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 17th, 2003
Just before the release of their eponymous second album, Portishead gathered at the historical Roseland Ballroom for their first ever performance in New York City. The band brought a film crew along for this special concert. It was a show that featured not only the first performance of much of the new album, but also the added attraction of playing with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The result is a brilliant and haunting presentation of all things Portishead. This legendary disc should be required viewing for ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 16th, 2003
Synopsis
Jimmy Durante and his family, penniless circus performers, move into a run-down rentalhome. Also living in the house is Rupert, a trained squirrel (brought to life primarily throughstop-motion animation). The miserly owner of the rental is stashing money in his walls, and asfast as he can do this, Rupert halls the money out and dumps it into the rental living room.Durante’s wife (Queenie Smith) sees money floating down from the ceiling, and thinks it is theanswer to her pra...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 16th, 2003
“Say hello to my little friend!”
This is just one of the many cultural references that have come out of Brian DePalma’s 1983 epic film, Scarface. Al Pacino plays Tony Montana, a Cuban refugee that arrives in the United States with nothing, and leaves with everything. It’s a story about the American Dream, about excess, and about ambition. A fantastic supporting cast (including Michelle Pfeiffer, F. Murray Abraham and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), and a script by Oliver Stone makes Scarface one of the...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 16th, 2003
“Let’s go kick some Christmas butt!” When these are the climactic words spoken by Santa Claus prior to his Christmas Eve trip using a flying ice cream truck instead of his sleigh, you know you’re in trouble. A Freezerburnt Christmas is easily the worst Christmas movie I have ever seen and would challenge any reader to find a worse holiday film. Even though it is only 22 minutes long, I was frustrated by the fact that I’m never going to get those 22 minutes back. This was a stop-motion cartoon but let’s face it – the...
