Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 15th, 2001
Intro Ouch… this movie carried such high expectations that its failure on so many levels came as a major disappointment. After such remarkably entertaining schlock-horror epics (and legitimate cinematic masterpieces) as “Hallowe’en,” “ In the Mouth of Madness,” and “Escape from New York,” “Ghosts of Mars (GoM)” came of as a…
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 1st, 2001
Intro This quirky little Christmas film will really put the holidays into perspective for you. The cast of Mixed Nuts contains a who’s who of comedy… Steve Martin, Gary Shandling, Adam Sandler, Rob Reiner, Rita Wilson, Etc. This is not the best Holiday comedy ever made, but it should bake you chuckle. Synopsis Funnyman Steve […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 24th, 2001
Intro From 1971, a newly restored “Dirty Harry” has been returned to the screen. This is a fantastic DVD release in every way – as either a solitary disc, or as part of the Dirty Harry box set. The video looks fantastic, the audio sounds good, and the disc is packed with valuable features. Beyond […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 16th, 2001
The melodrama is a tricky form. Done wrong, the result is risible. Done right, as it is here, and the result can be compelling. Synopsis Bette Davis is Charlotte Vale. Charlotte is, thanks to the brutal tyranny of her mother, a repressed, ugly duckling spinster. Then psychiatrist Claude Rains steps in, and she transforms completely. […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 15th, 2001
I have heard a lot of mixed reviews about this film. I will sum it up like this… If you are expecting amazing acting and storyline, you will be disappointed. But, on the other hand, if you are expecting to see a bunch of Apes jumping around and some very fun visual effects, you are […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 12th, 2001
Intro Lo how the mighty have fallen. There was a time when Patrick Swayze and Melanie Griffith were A-level stars with a certain guaranteed box office. No more, it seems. Now they’re starring together in made-for-cable efforts like this one, originally titled Forever Lulu. Synopsis Melanie Griffith is a schizophrenic. Once, she and Patrick Swayze […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 4th, 2001
Intro CTHE has managed to squeeze yet another release out of the Monty Python franchise, this time in the form of a Holy Grail two-disc Special Edition. A single disc version with 2.0 sound streeted in September of 1999. While the discs are loaded with a mountain of extras and the video and sound are […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 1st, 2001
Hoooo boy! I bet you had forgotten what movies were like in 1979, right? Let me sum it up for you then: slow moving, and brown. The contrast in cinematic styles alone is shocking – this movie is full of long, long, long 20 second shots accompanied by ear-straining orchestrals; contrast this to the frenetic […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 1st, 2001
Intro In terms of Box Sets, HBO has impressed with the Sopranos DVD Collection. Season One was a pure treat on DVD. From the packaging, the layout, the quality, and the content, the First Season was a beautiful DVD release. HBO has pleased again with the release of Season Two. The quality standards have remained […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 29th, 2001
Just in case you thought war propaganda was incompatible with good filmmaking, here’s this release in Fox’s War Classics series. Synopsis The film literally is a diary, narrated by Reed Hadley, a war correspondent covering the US assault on Guadalcanal. Every step of the way the men are up against not only the Japanese enemy, […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 1st, 2001
Intro Here’s a real treat for the baseball fans out there, but the appeal of the film doesn’t end with them. Anyone interested in the experience of the American Jewish community, or in the social history of the States in the 30s and 40s, will find this documentary absorbing. Synopsis Hank Greenberg was the first […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 17th, 2001
Intro “If you have a taste for terror, you have a date with CARRIE.” So intones the original theatrical trailer for 1976’s “Carrie,” Brian de Palma’s cinematic adaptation of Stephen King’s identically named novel. This is a revenge story: Carrie is a high school student (at “Bates High” – yes this did come out after […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 12th, 2001
Intro This is something of a surprise: a rather nice presentation of a film almost universally characterized as misbegotten. Synopsis An non-horror remake of what many consider the greatest horror film ever made, James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein (1935), this film sees Charles (Charles?!) Frankenstein (Sting) make a female creature, Eva (Jennifer Beals). Both Frankenstein […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 11th, 2001
Intro Everybody’s favorite reality based television show has come to video for the second time, courtesy of Paramount. Unfortunately this is not the complete second season of Survivor, only a “best of” compellation. We are introduced to the contestants that we have all come to either love (Elizabeth & Colby) or hate (Jerri & Kimmi), […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 30th, 2001
After watching this epic film, I could see why it was the winner of multiple Academy Awards including Best Picture. I have to thank Columbia-Tristar for presenting this film in a DVD release that actually enhances the viewing experience of this amazing picture. Sure, the 190 minute running time is not for those with no […]
