Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 1st, 2009
Decades after their moment in the sun in 1984, Canadian heavy metal band Anvil plugs along, playing bars and releasing CDs that barely sell, still hoping for that break that bypassed them while landing on their festival cohorts Whitesnake, Bon Jovi and the Scorpions. The documentary charts their new European tour that starts off promisingly but disintegrates into a disaster of Spinal Tap proportions, their struggle to produce and promote another new album, and a climactic return to the site of their past glory. While the opening minutes might engage laughter as one expects a real-life version of This Is Spinal Tap, the laughter is choked off almost immediately and replace by sympathy and real hope that these guys catch a break. They are not clowns – they have real talent – and the beyond-all-measure optimism of lead singer “Lips” is heartbreaking. A rock documentary to rank with the best of them, and one that proves that the absence of fame can be as compelling as its presence.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 30th, 2009
It is true, I’m not a big fan of lawyer shows. A long time ago when I was about twelve years old, my future vocation wish was to become a lawyer. I visited lawyers, I talked to them for what seemed like hours. Except it wasn’t hours at all, it was more like thirty minutes. My realization then was that I wasn’t cut out for the business and went into what I do now. However, after watching Ally McBeal for a season of episodes, I come to the realization that I’m so very glad that I didn’t stick around.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 29th, 2009
“Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality. But, there is, unseen by most, an underworld, a place that is just as real but not so brightly lit, a darkside.”
I have been waiting a long time for this release. Tales From The Darkside. Not since the likes of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits has there been a really good sci-fi/horror anthology until 1984’s Tales. Not to say that each episode was a winner. In fact, most were pretty weak and relatively lame, but when this show was good, it was very good.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 29th, 2009
“Dr. Hood is a high priority asset. He’s a brilliant biophysicist, but he spends most of his time in his head. About a year ago some radical group had his car bombed. You want to see him blush? Ask him where the shrapnel is. You see, he’s got this annoying habit of telling the truth, and the truth hurts a lot of people’s pocketbooks. And no, I’m not free for dinner.”
The Eleventh Hour is based on a British series of the same title that stared Star Trek’s Patrick Stewart as Dr. Hood and lasted only 4 episodes. So, someone in America decided that if we took a far less charismatic actor and redid the same show in the States, it might be a hit. Someone was wrong.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 29th, 2009
As a child growing up in the 1970’s I remember quite vividly the Saturday morning cartoon experience. It’s what we all lived for. We’d wake up early and pour out a bowl of sugar and milk, reaching for some cheap toy that was buried in the cereal box like Blackbeard’s own chest of gold. Then we would entertain ourselves with zany characters, superheroes, and action filled adventures until the noon news programs would begin and it was time to take our playtime outside.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 28th, 2009
By 1978 the television detective model had been nearly complete and possibly already a cliché. Dan Tanna might have well been the complete model as far as the formula goes. It was almost as if you could go down a checklist and, like Dr. Frankenstein creating a monster, you would check off the necessary elements. The scripts could then almost write themselves, and you let the show fly on autopilot for three seasons or so until someone decides to look behind the curtain.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 28th, 2009
Only the most foolhardy of mortals would attempt a plot summary of this film, and I'm not quite that crazy. This is Tinto Brass's 1969 effort, coming between 1967's Deadly Sweet and 1970's The Howl. The former is a mad, pop-culture collage of noir elements, while the latter is a hallucinatory picaresque. This one is the most plot-free of the the lot. The original title is Nerosubianco, an untranslatable pun that combines “black on white” with the word “eros” (Attraction – note the word contains “action” – is an honorable attempt, and better than the theatrical title of “The Artful Penetration of Barbara,” which is what appears on the screen here, with the new name showing up as a subtitle), and that's about as much as can be summarized: this is an interracial romance. Beyond that, we have an exercise in pure formalism, an eye-popping collection of images and incidents as abstract as they are psychedelic.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 28th, 2009
No one who knows me will find it terribly surprising to hear me admit that I know very little about the fashion industry, nor do I have a particular interest in it. Having said that, I was, to my pleasant surprise, gripped by this documentary. It tracks the final year of legendary designer Valentino's career as he prepares his new line and the big celebration of his 45 years in the business. But there are clouds on the horizon, too. He and his partner Giancarlo Giammetti are no longer the owners of the Valentino company, and the pressures of the new corporate world are bearing down. The films is thus a fascinating look behind the scenes of numerous facets of the Valentino's world: his life, how he works, his explosive temper, and the sad fact that the world of design is changing in ways that are forcing individual creative artists to the margins. Well worth watching.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2009
It sounds like nothing new. Hard boiled detective uses computers and other forms of technology to solve cases. It isn’t anything new, except the detective in question is Joe Mannix, and the series started in 1967. The computer that Mannix used took up an entire room and was queried using cardboard punch cards. This wasn’t science fiction. We’re not talking some newly discovered Irwin Allen series. Mannix didn’t go after aliens or robots. This was a down to earth gritty detective show. Mike Connors played the tough as nails detective. He was perfect for the part and blended into the role seamlessly for 8 years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2009
“The man is Richard Kimble and, not surprisingly, the man is tired. Tired of looking over his shoulder, the ready lie of the buses and freight trains. Richard Kimble is tired of running…”
The elusive “one armed man” is one of the best known television icons of all time. The plight of Dr. Richard Kimball has been the subject of numerous imitations and even a feature film staring Harrison Ford as Kimball and Tommy Lee Jones as his pursuer. Tim Daly left the ranks of comedy to fill the shoes of Kimball in a very short lived revival series. While some of these efforts managed to capture the essence of The Fugitive, none can truly compare to the real thing.
