Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 14th, 2005
Synopsis
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) was Monty Python’s first theatrical release, and consists of remounted, often more elaborately staged versions of many of their most beloved TV skits. You want your Dead Parrot, it’s here. So is the Lumberjack Song, How Not to Be Seen, and so on. As a one-stop intro to Python, it’s hard to beat.
Funny as the above film is, it is eclipsed in most people’s hearts by Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974), easily the most...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 14th, 2005
Written by Clayton Self
Kingdom of Heaven is a handsome epic by Gladiator director Ridley Scott. It is an underrated film due to a less than successful theatrical release, but at closer examination, this film is a deeply important tale of courage, faith and self-sacrifice. It focuses on a relatively lesser-known period of the crusades, when peace was trying to be made between Christian and Muslim.
Orlando Bloom stars as Balian, a blacksmith in a French village, who has just lost his wife and child. Balian was ...
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on November 14th, 2005
Universal Home Entertainment will release the recent Al Pacino & Matthew McConaughey thriller Two for the Money on January 17th. This disc will be presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen tranfer, along with English & French Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks. Extras will include an audio commentary (by writer Dan Gilroy and director DJ Caruso), deleted scenes (with optional commentary tracks by Gilroy and Caruso), two featurettes ("Insider Interview: The Real Brandon" & "The Freeroll: The Making of Two fo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 13th, 2005
Synopsis
Lee Van Cleef, often a villain, incarnates a sneering hero in Sabata (1969). He uncovers skullduggery at the highest levels in a small town, and proceeds to blackmail the crooked, sadistic, and rather effeminate Colonel at the head of the criminal racket. Plenty of gadgety gun battles are involved.
Yul Brynner steps into the role for Adios, Sabata (1970), and this time he defends Mexican villagers against their tyrannical Austrian masters. Brynner cuts a fine figure i...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 13th, 2005
In the event you had to move under a rock in 1997 and just crawled out from under it last week, James Cameron’s TITANIC – winner of 11 Academy Awards - recounts the tragic sinking of the supposedly indestructible ship seen through the eyes of two young lovers on board. Though the romance is fictional, it serves as a guide that will walk us through one of the most memorable events of the twentieth century.
There isn’t much to be said about this film that hasn’t been said a thousand times over in the ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 13th, 2005
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...
It was really 1977 and as close as your neighborhood theatre. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Darth Vader, and Princess Leia captured our imaginations and have never let go. Star Wars has become nothing less than a modern mythology. No one can deny that George Lucas changed how we see films forever. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Star Wars fan or even watch science fiction as a whole. Movie making changed in 1977. Lucas continues to shape the industry with the f/x empire he built on Star Wars.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 10th, 2005
Synopsis
Frustrated by vicissitudes of Depression-era life, Dorothy wishes she were somewhere else. She gets her wish in ways she couldn’t have imagined, as a tornado drops her into the magical world of Oz. Accompanied by the brain-free Scarecrows, heartless Tin Man and cowardly Lion, she sets out on a quest to return home. In order to be granted that wish by the all-powerful Wizard, she must first defeat the Wicked Witch of the West.
And so I conclude what must surely be the most superfluo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 10th, 2005
It is tragic that the fourth year of Enterprise would be its last. More tragic is the fact that in the fall of 2005 for the first time in almost 20 years there would be no new Star Trek on the air. By far the worst tragedy, however, was the fact that year four of Enterprise was the year it all came together. This is by far the best overall season of Star Trek since The Next Generation. The addition of writer Many Cuto was the spark this fledgling franchise needed. With the exception of the final episode, these 2-4 eposode arcs were for the most part quite fresh and inspired.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 9th, 2005
Synopsis
Alain Delon is a cool-as-ice contract killer. After pulling off his latest contract, he is picked up by the police on suspicion, but is released for lack of evidence. The gangsters who hired him consider him a liability, however, and attempt to have him killed. He must now evade the police long enough to track down his killers before they get him.
With minimal dialogue and a stripped-down, no-frills style, director Jean-Pierre Melville delivers a thriller that is a model of efficie...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 9th, 2005
The Mask of Zorro was the Pirates of the Caribbean of its day. A classic swashbuckling story packed with action and romance, yet still presented in a family-friendly style that hearkened back to the days of the old Saturday afternoon matinée. Indiana Jones was conceived in this style, as was Disney's National Treasure, in a way. There is a ton of room in the marketplace for PG and PG-13 rated films like this, as it provides something that the whole family can not only attend at the theater, but t...
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