Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 10th, 2004
Synopsis
Cecilia Roth’s husband disappears at the airport. Shortly thereafter, she receives messagesfrom his kidnappers, demanded payment of 20 million pesos. Roth is hugely surprised todiscover that there is that huge sum of money in her husband’s safety deposit box. As the mysterydeepens, she forms fast friendships with an elderly neighbour from downstairs (Carlos AlvarezNovoa) and the young man from upstairs (Kuno Becker).
For the first half-hour, the film shows every pro...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 10th, 2004
Synopsis
Freddy has been rendered powerless by being forgotten. In order to revive his memory, andthus his power, he impersonates Jason’s mother (work with me, here) and sends the hulkingkiller down Elm Street way, hoping that he will be blamed for Jason’s murders. His plan beginsto work, but Jason is so relentless in his slaughter that he starts nailing teens that Freddy hadreserved for himself, and thus the two monsters are set on a collision course.
Enormous fun, even tho...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2004
Synopsis
Set during the Opium Wars in the 19th Century, Fist of the Red Dragon tells the tailof two masters of marital arts. One of them leads the battle against the opium trade. The other(played by lead Donnie Yen) is a brash, cocky young man who falls under the spell of the evilprince who rules the territory. Yen must undergo some painful experiences before he realizeswho his real enemy is.
When the fight scenes happen, they are reliably entertaining, with much by w...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2004
It seems to me that B-level actors sometimes agree to do a movie for the experience and practice as much as to further their career and get a paycheck. Other times, the opposite is true, and major stars purposely chose to do a small independent production following a major success, knowing that they could never top their last picture. Often times, it is obvious when an actor has their personal motives in mind when choosing to do a film. Kate Winslet's decision to shoot Hideous Kinky following the hugely-succes...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2004
Synopsis
Paul Rudd is a college student carrying on a long-distance relationship with his blandlybeautiful and rather sickening girlfriend when he learns (he thinks) that she is cheating on him.With the help of Reese Witherspoon, a fellow student moonlighting as a stripper, he composes anexcoriating letter (plus accompanying materials) and sends this to her on overnight delivery. Nosooner has he done this than he finds out that the "other man" is, in fact, a Chihuahua. A cross-count...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 6th, 2004
Sometimes, movies are just inexplicably bad, and as a DVD reviewer, I get to see a lot of them. These are films that are so horrible that I sometimes don’t know where to begin. It is often times hard to place blame in one are or another, when the whole production is flawed.
In the case of Lost and Delirious, however, the blame is easy to place. This film is not half bad… the premise is decent, the film looks and sounds better than expected, and the acting, while not fantastic, is respectable. The pro...
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on January 5th, 2004
When the PS2 and Xbox were released both promised to be full home entertainment units. No questions that they both shined with the cutting edge graphics and sound as well as performing admirably as DVD players with both Dolby Digital and DTS decoders built in. This year both systems have tried to push another venue into home entertainment : Karaoke. Love it or hate it Karaoke looks like it’s here to stay. Earlier this year, X-Box had the X-Box Music Mixer which provided karaoke features – with mixed results. Could th...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 4th, 2004
Synopsis
More Power Rangers adventures, this time focusing on Cam’s coming to Rangerhood. Thisis the usual mix of rather pointed after-school lessons, teen foibles, skateboarding, motorcrossracing, and cheesy special effects. Energetic, but no Buffy, that’s for sure.
Audio
The 2.0 sound is about average for TV product. The pop metal soundtrack dominates thesurround aspect, but itself could use some boosting in both power and base. As things stand, the...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 4th, 2004
Seriously… was a director’s cut of this film really needed? Extended versions of The Lord of the Rings films are welcome, but come on now, The New Guy? This disc includes a mere 4 extra minutes of footage, all of which adds to the back-story; so for those of you hoping of a little bit of added ranch… sorry. You have probably read it before, but here is the premise…
- ”Terminally nerdy Dizzy Harrison (Qualls) is routinely laughed at, ridiculed and picked on. His senior year is nothing but an exercise in pain...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 3rd, 2004
Synopsis
Loretta Young plays, from all available evidence, a high-class call girl. When her son isknocked down by a truck driven by milk industry tycoon Cary Grant (hardly the “dairy farmer”the blurb says he is), Young tries to extort a huge settlement from the company. The schemebackfires, and she loses custody of her son to Grant and his wife. But Young hasn’t given upyet...
A wildly improbable melodrama, which contorts itself with all kinds of dubious pretzel logic...









