Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 30th, 2005
Synopsis
Strong-willed Englishwoman Irene Dunne (the Anna of the title) arrives at the court of King Rex Harrison to teach his wives and 67 children. The clash of cultures is immediate, with the very British Anna refusing to bend to the more outlandish demands of her new surroundings, and Harrison himself torn between modernity and tradition.
The 1946 film is something of a cultural relic itself, now, and is something of a postcolonialist’s nightmare, what with constant references to the “h...
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on June 29th, 2005
Paramount Home Entertainment will release the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard (starring Adam Sandler & Chris Rock) on September 20th. This disc will be presented in an anamorphic widescreen transfer, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. Extras will include an Audio Commentary (by Director Peter Segal), Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes, an "Errtime" Music Video by Nelly, a Behind-the-Scenes Featurette, and a collection of tTrailers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 29th, 2005
Synopsis
Out of the blue, the Stevens family (whacky dad, brainy sister, dorky brother, and so forth) finds out they’ve won a trip to a tropical paradise. Unbeknownst to them, they have in fact been selected to participate in an over-the-top reality TV show, and their holiday turns into a series of slapstick catastrophes.
Collapsing temples, rampaging squirrels, lots of yelling and double-takes. This is Disney slapstick at its most uninspired. Extremely undemanding younger viewers might get...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 29th, 2005
Synopsis
In the midst of all of this Lucas-generated Star Wars hype, why not release an animated film on DVD whose storyline seems to eerily mirror Episode IV’s A New Hope? The story is about a boy named Orin, who works in an underground mine that’s guarded by silver stormtrooper-looking robots. I’m just saying. One day, he finds a sword that has magical powers, and with the help of his friends, he goes on an intergalactic adventure to free his friends from an evil warlord named Zygon. With he...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 29th, 2005
Synopsis
When it comes to 80’s films, you can talk about Spielberg, Lucas, or whomever, but those in the know will always put John Hughes at, or near, the top of influences of that era. Take a look at the 7 year run that he had in the 80’s when it came to writing movies in that era. From 1983 to 1990, the list brings up a flood of kitsch and nostalgia for any movie going kid during that time – Mr. Mom, Vacation, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty In Pink, Ferri...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 29th, 2005
Synopsis
Lauren Ambrose is a Candide-like figure, wide-eyed in her approach to the world, and she really doesn’t want to go to college, so her interviews are disasters. She reads her poems to her mentally handicapped sister and no one else, and when this sister starts spouting the poems (she memorizes very well), her mother (Amy Madigan) thinks something wonderful has happened. Ambrose doesn’t clear things up, and events soon spiral out of control.
This could easily turn into a soggy mess o...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 28th, 2005
Synopsis
Hilary Duff plays a good-hearted by scatterbrained teenager. Her happy existence in NYC is disrupted (how many Disney teens has this happened to?) when her stepfather starts his new job as head of a military academy, and she is enrolled, willy-nilly. She has trouble fitting in, initially having as nemesis her Captain Christy Carlson Romano, but eventually both she and the institution adapt to each other.
It’s Legally Blonde meets Private Benjamin in this sorry exercis...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 27th, 2005
Staying Together is one of those small town family stories. Growing up is hard, especially when you own a chicken restaurant. Dad, unfortunately, gives in to "big business", and sells his restaurant to a chain franchise. This sale puts the family into turmoil and makes the family members reevaluate their relationships with each other. The brothers of the McDermott family are featured most prominently. The three brothers, in typical movie fashion, are distinctly different. Dermot Mulroney plays Kit, the ro...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 27th, 2005
Synopsis
Back in the early 1980s, HBO ran this anthology series, wherein the denim-clad Page Fletcher does the Rod Serling thing, introducing and concluding each dark morality tale. Though the stories varied (in content as well as quality), certain factors remained the same: you could always count on at least one sex scene, plus some dollops of gore. This was, in sum, The Twilight Zone with extra violence and cable-friendly T&A. As far as horror goes, there is nothing very groundbreaking here,...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 27th, 2005
Gone in 60 Seconds is a guilty pleasure - its vacuous and superficial, full of typical Hollywood produced "guy-movie" cues. Cars, guns, explosions, anti-heros, and Angelina Jolie abound, as well as comically evil villains, comically thin plot devices, and comically honourable car thieves. All that being said, though, the movie is great for what it is - a typical Bruckheimer celebration of over-the-top action. Its fun to get lost in the action, and director Dominic Sena imparts a great sense of ...
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