Posted in Game Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2003
Those players out there that enjoyed the PS2 title Frequency and the arcade game Dance Dance Revolution, now have another dance/music title on the Playstation 2 console to move the beat to. Amplitude from Sony lands this month with a full soundtrack, colorful visuals and varied gameplay. Players pick up the role of a spaceship […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 7th, 2003
Surrounded by hundreds of extras in China’s Forbidden City director Don Tyler (played by Donald Sutherland) is hit with a creative draught and doesn’t know where to go with his latest masterpiece. YoYo (played by Ge You who some of you may remember from Farewell my Concubine) is hired to be the documentary making of […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 22nd, 2003
Synopsis Hopeville isn’t terribly well named. The population is dwindling, and those who remainappear to have precious little hope. Chief among them is Helen (Melanie Doane), who woulddo anything to leave town. One can hardly blame her, given that her boyfriend is disagreeableloser Carl (Michael Riley), who, it seems, might well be responsible for […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 21st, 2003
Synopsis BBC’s documentary moves through four main phases, beginning with a groupAstralopithicus afarensis, and then stopping at other important milestones in our evolution,taking time to examine the dead ends (such as the Neanderthals) as well. The first half is plaguedby an excessively digressive narrative and massive overuse of time lapse photography. Theapemen are wonderfully […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 21st, 2003
Synopsis Two classics from American International are what we have here, with lots of familiar namesinvovled. Psych-Out stars Susan Strasberg, Jack Nicholson, Dean Stockwell and Bruce Dern.The Trip, scripted by Nicholson, stars Strasberg, Dern, Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda, and isdirected by Roger Corman. You can’t do much better for pedigree. The plots of […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 20th, 2003
Long before computers began to provide movie-goers with vivid representations of dinosaurs and alien invasions, Willis O’Brien and a young protégé, Ray Harryhausen, were thrilling audiences with stop motion. O’Brien’s masterpiece, of course, was King Kong. Ray Harryhausen developed that painstaking process for films like Earth vs. The Flying Saucers. Jaded audiences of today might […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 4th, 2003
Synopsis Owen Wilson is an agent for the fictional Bureau of National Security. He doesn’t have avery good track record, and so is constantly stuck with substandard equipment. He is sent toHungary to recover the Switchblade, a super-stealth plane stolen by Malcolm McDowell. He ispartnered up with egotistical boxer Eddie Murphy, and the usual […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 28th, 2003
posted by Marc Atonna Film Goldie won the best supporting actress Academy Award as a ditsy, blonde mistress. Not bad for a debut. Goldie starts the film with her suicide attempt foiled by a neighbor (who unknowingly gives a great James Stewart impression). Matthau thinks he has the perfect love scenario. He has a stuffy […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 8th, 2003
In 1988 Richard Chamberlin played the signature role of Jason Bourne in a made for TV adaptation of the classic novel The Bourne Identity. The show was a two-part pilot for a projected series that was never picked up. While the TV version might have been more faithful to the novel, the 2002 film with […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 6th, 2003
Synopsis Jean Reno, playing a Hard-Boiled Cop Who Plays By His Own Rules, is put on forcedvacation, having punched out one person too many. During this break, he finds out that thewoman he loved in Japan 19 years ago has died. Travelling to Japan for the funeral, he discoversa daughter he never knew he […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2003
Well, the era of mass market “indie” films is upon us. In spite of its manufactured artfulness, “One Hour Photo” does have appeal: Robin Williams portrays a stereotypical damaged post-modernist psychopath with a flourish of reality that does him credit as an actor, and writer/director Mark Romanek is a fresh face on the Hollywood scene. […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 6th, 2002
Synopsis Robert De Niro is Rupert Pupkin, supreme loser. He has delusions of greatness, andconstantly fantasizes he has a wonderful friendship with talk show host Jerry Langford (JerryLewis, superb). Pupkin is determined to get his moment in the limelight, and he will stop atnothing, not even kidnapping, to make sure he gets what’s coming […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 1st, 2002
Men in Black was a landmark film that almost came out of nowhere. Tom Baker’s standard setting makeup effects combined with the Lethal Weapon-like chemistry between Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones made it one of the best simple entertainment films in recent memory. The problem with a sequel is you aren’t going to sneak […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 19th, 2002
Synopsis Sir James Bond (David Niven), a superhuman prude with a stutter, is forced out of retirementto discover who is killing off all the world’s spies. He recruits a whole load of other 007s, fromPeter Sellers to Ursula Andress (don’t ask), and the villain turns out to be Woody Allen.Comedies should rarely run more […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 24th, 2002
Written by Dan Bradley The formula for sequels to highly successful films has been practiced by filmmakers for decades and continues to flourish today. It’s quite simple: take what audiences loved in the original, add more of it and throw in a twist. Guillermo del Toro’s Blade 2 follows this rule of thumb and creates […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 17th, 2002
Jet Li is the “Contract Killer” (“Sat sau ji wong”) in this direct from Hong Kong 1998 martial arts thriller. Budget? Nope. Plot? Not really. Jet Li? Definitely. This movie is dubbed, and the comedic voices are almost worth the price of admission, especially when they keep switching at various points through the movie. Its […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 18th, 2002
“In space no one can hear you scream” was the slogan that drew a conglomerate of horror and science fiction fans to theatres in 1979. Was it horror or sci-fi? Alien turned out to be a rare cross-genre film that managed to satisfy both audiences. Ridley Scott started out by bringing the “space ship” film […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 16th, 2002
Exceptional! Starship Troopers (Special Edition) is a must have in any movie fanatics collection. Combine a controversial cinematic and special effects masterpiece with a superb DVD release, and Columbia-Tristar has a sure winner in its catalog. Paul Verhoeven’s (RoboCop, Total Recall, Showgirls, Hollowman) 1997 adaptation of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers is stunning not only for […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2002
Welcome to Oliver Stone’s history 101, where Vietnam looked a lot like Florida, and JFK was killed by a conspiracy so large it included the mafia, FBI, CIA, the Teamsters, and two bag ladies on Pennsylvania Avenue. Hollywood has always tinkered with history, but Oliver Stone performs reconstructive surgery. Nixon is no exception to this […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 3rd, 2002
Film Fritz Lang became one of the earliest masters of filmmaking. Known mostly for such classic silents as Metropolis and Spies, Lang delivers a startling film definitely ahead of its time with M. This is also the very first film for the talented Peter Lorre who would later shine in Corman’s Poe series, and of […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 17th, 2002
Intro Fox has done it once again! From Hell is not the greatest of films, but this DVD release makes this film a must own. Film “FROM HELL is a gory detective film cloaked in Victorian-era mystique. The movie shows how the serial killer Jack the Ripper stalked the dark streets of 1888 London, slaying […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 10th, 2002
Let me start off by saying that “The Cell” is not for the timid. It can be as disturbing as it is visually stunning. On the surface this is a serial killer thriller but in reality the film is much more. Elements of suspense and graphic horror combine with a science fiction premise that one […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 20th, 2002
Intro This film has an all-star cast, and a very funny story. This Special Edition release of Bandits is very good… and the film should entertain. Synopsis Loosely based on a true story, Bandits tells the tale of Joe (Bruce Willis) and Terry (Billy Bob Thornton), two convicts who break out of prison and stage […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 6th, 2002
Starting a few years back with Out of Sight and continuing on with The Limey and Erin Brokovich, director Steven Soderbergh had been riding a remarkable streak of winning films that fulfills the blazing promise of his first film, sex, lies, and videotape. With his most complex film to date, Traffic, Soderbergh once again proved […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 27th, 2002
Intro Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin finally gets a DVD re-release with an anamorphic widescreen transfer. It is too bad that the quality of this DVD is so low. Synopsis “International superstar Jackie Chan (Rush Hour) stars in the film that real Kung Fu fans call the best traditional martial arts movie Jackie’s ever […]
