Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 31st, 2003
Synopsis
Welcome to the world of Julie (Deborah Foreman) and Randy (Nicolas Cage). Randy is apunk, and Julie is the eponymous Valley Girl, she of the instantly recognizable slang (“totally,”“grody,” “gag me,” etc.). Theirs is a light-hearted Romeo and Juliet story, as they fall in lovedespite the disapproval of peers. Don’t be expecting the outrageousness and excess of somethinglike American Pie. Rather, this is a sharply observed comedy, driven more by characterthan by slaps...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 31st, 2003
Synopsis
Fifty miles from an Arctic research lab, and spaceship crashes into the ice. A team is sent toretrieve the vessel. They accidentally destroy it, but do bring back a block of ice containing thepilot. The ice melts, and the monster is on the loose. Cut off from help, a small band of soldiersand scientists must fight the invader. Memorably remade by John Carpenter, the originalThing remains the yardstick by which all other alien-on-the-loose films are measured.The suspe...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 30th, 2003
Synopsis
Chaplin’s career was a long one, and the four films here cover a good span. Chaplin is bestknown for his silent work, and that is represented by Modern Times and The GoldRush. Though the former is also technically his first talkie, it is still primarily silent. Thelatter comes in two versions: the original 1925 release, and the 1942 re-issue, which featured afew new scenes, and the intertitles replaced by Chaplin’s narration (though the film remainsbasically a...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 29th, 2003
Synopsis
The complete set of episodes from the second season, with our 20th-Century hero nowrelatively well adapted to life in the far-flung future. The characters by this point are wellestablished and a fairly broad ensemble. The series has never struck me as being quite as funnyas the The Simpsons in their prime, but there is still lots of choice material.
Audio
The audio is a 2.0 mix. This is pretty common for TV discs, though it is certainly notnecessary...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 29th, 2003
Once in a blue moon, though, there’s a re-make that not only takes the original to a new level of appreciation, but actually improves upon it. In musical terms, it’s Ike and Tina’s “Proud Mary.” In the cinematic forum, Martin Scorsese’s 1991 re-work of the B-movie thriller Cape Fear is another.
Max Cady (Robert DeNiro, lost the Oscar to Anthony Hopkins) is a recent parolee, fresh out of the joint after serving a fourteen year stretch for aggravated assault. During his trial, his lawyer, public...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 29th, 2003
Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore’s film Bowling for Columbine has done more then just win the Academy Award for best documentary film, it has also ruffled a lot of feathers. Moore’s extreme views, which are embraced by many, also seem to piss off a lot of people.
Moore’s extreme bias on the topic of gun control and U.S. war mongering has lead many to believe that Bowling for Columbine is more of a 2-hour speech then an award winning documentary. You may not like what he has to say, but y...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2003
Attorneys Chris Paget (David James Elliot) and Terri Peralta (Daphne Zuniga) are lawyers who come together to defend Chris’s ex-lover Mary Carelli (Sharon Lawrence). As they get deeper into the case they become closer; when Terri’s estranged husband is found dead and Chris is charged with the murder, things change. This film plays out like a three hour episode of Melrose places and it could have easily been two movies instead of one with two almost unrelated storylines.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2003
Dragon Tales is a kids television show from the Sesame Workshop and Sony Pictures Television. Kids learn important lessons from the dragon’s and kids about getting along in the following five episodes; Cassie, The Green-eyed Dragon, So Long Solo, Breaking up is Hard To Do, The Grudge won’t Budge and Remember the Pillow Fort.
Audio
Included on this disc is a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track that is not really needed. The audio rarely leaves the center channel never mind the front soundstage. Ot...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 25th, 2003
Synopsis
The plot unfolds with the logic of a nightmare, thereby defying linear description. Roughly,what happens is that a group of teens stage a violent escape from a rehab centre, and wind upat the house of our heroine (Lizzy Mahon). Here reality breaks down completely, as Mahon andthe others are tormented by one supernatural event after another, all of which seem to havesomething to do with the actions of Mahon’s father and grandfather. There are many strikinglybeautiful and/or ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 24th, 2003
Synopsis
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