Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 25th, 2003
Tim Allan is back as Santa Clause, and this time he is on a mission… to find a wife. The Santa Clause 2 is a good family Christmas tale, and though it is not as effective as its predecessor, it still has Christmas charm and a number of cute scenes. The story is a little flawed, and many scenes rely on childish antics to survive, but those elements add to the family-friendly nature of the film.
- ” Scott Calvin (Allen) has been Santa Claus for the past eight years, and his loyal elves consider him the best ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 25th, 2003
Synopsis
Ex-Lance Corporal Goerge Moran (Peter Weller) has a fairly comfortable life, if you leaveaside his disturbing dreams of his part in the military intervention in the Dominican Republic in1965. He has a slightly run-down beachfront hotel, and he takes it easy. His past won’t leave himalone, however. Not only does he make a return trip to the Dominican Republic, he renews hisrelationship with Kelly McGillis, wife of a former Dominian strongman. This brutal character isa...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 25th, 2003
Ben Franklin once said that two things one should never see being made are sausages and laws. So far there haven’t been any pilots occurring in a meat factory. Politics aside, Aaron Sorkin has created a first-rate TV show. The real success here is the casting. I’ve always preached to whoever would listen that its character chemistry that makes for good drama. Star Trek was successful not because of the f/x. The character triumvirate of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy was everything. Sorkin appears to know that lesson.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 25th, 2003
Law and Order was never really driven by the actors and their roles. The “ripped from the headlines” stories, along with a decision to avoid the relationship clutter of most cop shows, was the defining edge. Note that not one actor or character from the original series’ first season remains. Criminal Intent is vastly different. Dick Wolf readily admits that the third Law and Order series was intended as a modern day Sherlock Holmes. Vincent D’Onofrio was enticed away from a successful film career by the opportunity to create a unique character.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on November 24th, 2003
The X-Box Music Mixer is undoubtedly one of the most innovative ideas that has come out in the last few years. The emphasis is to turn your X-Box into a multimedia machine that will allow you to turn your living room into a dance club, karaoke bar or a homey environment in which flipping through traditional photo albums is passé because you can display all of your digital photos on your TV accompanied with music of your choosing to set the mood.
It comes packaged with a microphone to allow you to have a tr...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2003
So, it’s like a… Space Western?
Having never seen this show, this was the question posed to me by my wife halfway through the pilot episode. Honestly, I wasn’t sure myself. It certainly appeared to be a space western, but the characters were randomly speaking in Chinese. It was drama, yet it was dark humor. This was a truly odd program indeed.
By the third episode, however, we were both hooked. The genius of this show is that it was a typical sci-fi show with one major twist; sitcom-quality...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 23rd, 2003
Synopsis
Uma Thurman plays Laura, a young woman who picks older men, drugs them, and robsthem. Her little schemes go awry, however, when she starts being stalked. There is more,involving a relationship with a loser played by Paul (brother of Matt) Dillon, but none of it isinteresting. Deeply, deeply dull.
Audio
The sound is, apparently, 2.0 stereo, but it certainly isn’t surround. What it sounds like isextremely muzzy mono. The music is muddy and unex...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 23rd, 2003
Synopsis
In a lush Hawaiian resort, someone is killing off strippers and nude models. Security officerTraci Bingham investigates. You don’t really care about the plot, do you? Because no oneinvolved with this film did. The lackluster investigation fills in time between numbingly dullsoftcore couplings. Bad Bizness even has the nerve to recycle at least one sex scene fromFinal Examination, never mind that it has nothing to do with anything. Fred Olen Raydirected ...
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2003
Crimson Skies had a previous incarnation as a cult favorite PC game of the same name and was in development for a port to the X-Box that was being rushed for release 1 year ago. Thank goodness that they waited because you know what they say…”Good things come to those who wait.” And man, was this game worth the wait! The original version was a toned down, arcade style shooter that would have no lasting appeal. This final version is anything but toned down.
Graphics
Crimson Skies is simply st...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 22nd, 2003
Synopsis
In contemporary New York City, a young man named Edge breaks into an old woman’sapartment. Far from helpless, she wallops him and, at gunpoint, forces him to listen to her tale.She wants him to bury her where she was born. Her story is of two brothers at the start of the 20thCentury: the violent Luke (David Wenham) and the religious Elijah (Joseph Fiennes). A fightover a woman leads Luke to leave the States, and he winds up in Macedonia, a member of aviolent gang of ...









