Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 20th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 20th, 2004
I can only imagine what it might have been like to be a child during the heyday of Disney’s live films division. Going to see The Parent Trap or Mary Poppins as a young girl must really have been exciting. Experiencing Pete’s Dragon or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the theater must have been a thrill for young lads.
Unfortunately, Disney has not lived up to those high standards in its later days. Part of the wonder of those films was that they were not children’s films, as much as s...andard feature films that were easily accessible to children. While there is nothing wrong with films such as Angels in the Outfield, The Mighty Ducks or George of the Jungle, they just don’t have the same classic quality that the older Disney films had. The genre grew into a direction that made these modern films a little more sterile, and a little lower quality than your average Hollywood production.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 20th, 2004
Synopsis
Barbarians is The History Channel’s box set of a series of four interesting documentaries. Each chronicles the rise and fall of one or another of history’s famous “Barbarian” tribes – from their generally agrarian origins, to their bloody warlike height and eventual gradual decline or precipitous fall. Four groups are covered in this box set, on two discs:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 18th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 18th, 2004
MTV is getting used to productions about provocative love affairs. Just look at Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson at this year’s MTV produced Super Bowl. So in their production of a modern updating of Emily Bronte’s novel “Wuthering Heights”, MTV throws in everything but the nipple.
“Wuthering Heights” is a benchmark of Gothic Romantic literature. It tells the tale of a doomed and frenzied love between the two protagonists, Heathcliff and Cathy. “Wuthering Heights” has been adapted for film and tel...vision umpteen times, in different styles and different languages. The most notable adaptation is probably the first in 1939, with Larry Olivier and Merle Oberon in the title roles.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 17th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 17th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 17th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 17th, 2004
Ah….Armand Assante…what happened to your career. You were so brilliant in Sidney Lumet’s Q & A (rent it, people). I guess things happen. You have bills to pay. A family to raise.
Consequence is a made for cable HBO film. The opening voice-over, in classic film noir tradition, sets the table for a lurid crime melodrama. Unfortunately, Assante’s awkward southern accent makes the voice over, like the film itself, a bit off putting. The story involves a dentist (Armand Assante) who decides...to start a new life by impersonating his long dead brother. Facial surgery and dental records all come into play here. There are other plot twists involving money, double crossings, mistaken identities, and murder. Oh and there’s a “dangerous woman”, played with forced sensuality by Lola Glaudini. Rick Schroder also comes along for the ride, as the corrupt “best friend” (when is Silver Spoons – Season One coming out on DVD by the way).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 16th, 2004
I generally don’t care for those hour long Teen Sci-Fi Romantic Dramas that are so prevalent on the WB. They all just seem a little too “I’m 18, and I’m mad at my parents” for my tastes. While there’s no doubt that Roswell certainly has a measure of that teen angst, there is just enough X Files included, too. Most of the melodrama in this show is tied in with the sci-fi aspects of the story, which makes the show not only watchable, but a bit of a guilty pleasure.
The basic premise of this show...(namely, that three aliens from the urban legend spacecraft landing in Roswell, New Mexico are now teenagers, and going to High School there) it pretty hard to swallow. Granted, I have seen my share of far-fetched plots in my day, but for some reason, this one is particularly unbelievable. Once viewers get past a few episodes, however, and the premise is accepted for what it is, the characters are afforded more room to grow into interesting directions.
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