Kung Phooey!
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 23rd, 2004
Synopsis
Many years ago, a mystical peach holding the secret of eternal life was stolen. Now, aftertraining since childhood at the Shur-Li Temple (get it?) under the tutelage of Master Card and thelike, a hero arises to recover the peach: Art Chew. He arrives in Vancouver (played by SanFrancisco, in one of the film’s cleverer conceits), and is joined on his quest by such friends asRoy Lee, who has seen a great many kung-fu movies, but is completely incompetenthimself.
This is an g…
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I, Robot
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 23rd, 2004
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Synopsis
In a rather sparsely populated Chicago in 2035, Detective Spooner (Will Smith) is called into investigate the death of US Robotics’ top scientist (Jame Cromwell). Spooner has deep-seatedprejudices against robots, and is eager to believe that a robot is the murderer. Evidence suggeststhat he is right, but then the signs build that the problem is much bigger: a general robot rebellionmight be in the works.
Director Alex Proyas, after The Crow, gave us Dark C…
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Eloise at Christmastime
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 22nd, 2004
Synopsis
Eloise (Sofia Vassilieva) is a six-year-old who runs rampant through NYC’s Park PlazaHotel. Her only adult supervision is in the form of the eccentric Nanny (Julie Andrews). The plottakes the form of a series of incidents as Eloise races from one adventure to another, meddlingwith the best of intentions in the lives of all around her, with emphasis, as the title suggests, onthe Christmas spirit this time around. Specifically, she’s helping out with a Christmas wedding,and e…
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Buck Rogers In The 25th Century – The Complete Epic Series
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 22nd, 2004
I must admit that this show wasn’t quite as good as I remembered it. That’s not to say it isn’t great 70’s escapist science fiction, or that I am at all disappointed in seeing it again. Buck Rogers was almost a companion piece to Battlestar Galactica. They had a great deal in common. Both pilots were released in theatres with the trendy Sensurround. The concept was mostly overloaded subs to create a shake in the room during the space battles. The f/x were done by some of the same folks. Even the control sticks to the…
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Ladder 49
Posted in News and Opinions by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2004
Buena Vista Home Entertainment will release the John Travolta & Joaquin Phoenix film Ladder 49 on March 8th. This disc will be presented in a 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen transfer, along with a THX certified Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track as well as an Enhanced Home Theater audio mix. Extras will include an audio commentary (by Director Jay Russell and Editor Bud Smith), deleted scenes, two featurettes (“Everyday Heroes” & “Making of Ladder 49”), and a “Shine Your Light” music video performed by Robbie Robertson….
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How to Steal a Million
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 21st, 2004
Synopsis
Audrey Hepburn is the long-suffering daughter of incorrigible art forger Hugh Griffith. Whena phony Cellini sculpture Griffith has loaned to a museum is going to be subject to anauthenticity test, Hepburn decides to save her father by stealing their own statue. She enlists theaid of Peter O’Toole, whom she believes to be a professional burglar. The stage is set for anelaborate heist at the highly secure museum, not to mention a little bit of romance along theway.
Bob the Builder – Snowed Under
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 20th, 2004
Everybody’s favorite guy in a construction hat is back. No, not Sully from Sesame Street It’s Bob the Builder! He stars in Snowed Under: The Bobblesberg Winter Games. To join in on the fun, Bob has his favorite buddies along too, Lofty, Scoop, Muck, Roley, Travis, Spud, Wendy, Dizzy. And there’s even a new character to the crew, Benny. What trouble does Bob have to fix this time? Well…let me tell ya kids. It’s the Bobblesberg Winter games and the course is snowed under. And it’s up to Bob and h…
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Taxi – The Complete First Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 19th, 2004
Taxi was a very funny sitcom that is most notable for the number of future stars it produced. Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Tony Danza, and Judd Hirsch all went on to bigger and better things when the Taxi ride ended. Andy Kaufman’s life and early death provided one of the more bizarre stories in Hollywood history. The truth is that season 1 was not quite that funny. Sure, Lloyd makes an appearance here, but the lovable Rev. Jim would not get behind the wheel of a taxi until the second season. We can only be glad …
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Jingle All the Way
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 19th, 2004
Just in time for Christmas, and starring the Governator himself, we have Jingle All the Way with Arnold Swartzenegger. The story follows Arnold’s relentless pursuit to get a Turbo Man action figure for his son. This obsessive quest brings a lot of complications for our hero, from kidnapping, to stealing another kid’s toy, to a manic riot for numbered balls. Arnold even assumes the persona of Turbo Man at a parade and rockets around the city on a real turbo pack (Turbo rocket packs are real?). This all sound…
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Christmas Carol, A (1997)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 19th, 2004
There have been umpteen movie adaptations of the Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol”. Some of my favorites include the Alastair Sim version, the Henry Winkler version (yes, the guy who played Fonzie), the Bill Murray version, the Muppet version, and the Mister Magoo version. This 1997 version of A Christmas Carol is an animated feature featuring the voices of Tim Curry, Whoopi Goldberg, Ed Asner, and Michael York. It’s a story that we all know well.
But what makes this different from the other ve…
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Tracy and Hepburn — The Signature Collection
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 19th, 2004
Synopsis
Woman of the Year (1942) is the first pairing of Spencer Tracy and KatharineHepburn. He’s a sportswriter, and she’s a mega-influential political columnist. Though opposites,they fall in love, but the marriage has many kinks to work out, primarily because Hepburn nevertakes enough time out from her career. The gender politics here (as in the other films) might leadto some discomfort today, but the on-screen chemistry is electrifying, and Hepburn’s attempt tocook break…
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Elf
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 18th, 2004
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One Christmas Eve, an infant crawls into Santa’s sack while the big man is visiting an orphanage, and isn’t discovered until Santa (Ed Asner) is back at the North Pole. Adopted by the Papa Elf (Bob Newhart), the baby grows into Buddy (Will Ferrell). Though Buddy does his best, he is enormously clumsy by elf standards. He decided to head off to New York City to meet his birth father (James Caan), the Scrooge-like editor of a children’s book publisher. Buddy descends on the big city
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SCTV Volume 2
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 18th, 2004
SCTV is back with Volume 2. We all know the players, Joe Flahrety, Andrea Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, and John Candy. Martin Short wasn’t on board yet. But this volume has all your favorite characters, Bob and Doug MacKenzie, Count Floyd, Johnny LaRue, Dr. Tongue, Jerry Todd, Lola Heatherington, and I always loved the Hi-Q sketch.
SCTV’s kind of satire and parody is not biting like Monty Python. It’s more endearing, like wrestling match with a friend….
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Born Rich
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 18th, 2004
Born Rich is a documentary about, well, rich kids. The subject makes it hard to sympathize with the piece (“oh those poor millionaires”). But the director and main character, Jamie Johnson (an heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune), gives us interviews with other heirs from rich families – Ivanka Trump (Real Estate Heiress), Josiah Hornblower (Vanderbilt/Whitney Heir), Cody Franchetti (Textile Heir), S.I Newhouse IV (Publishing Heir), Luke Weil (Gambling Heir), and others. Johnson makes his subjects talk abo…
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Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 17th, 2004
The original Around the World in 80 Days is known for its spirit of adventure, wild cameos, and also one of the weaker movies to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. Disney’s remake of Around the World still has that sense of adventure, has a few funny cameos, and is in no danger of winning Best Picture.
Based on the Jules Verne book, Around the World in 80 Days stars British actor Steve Coogan as the infamous inventor Phileas Fogg. His famous balloon is supposed to go around the wo…
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Elizabeth Taylor – The Signature Collection
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 17th, 2004
Synopsis
National Velvet (1944) is one of the most beloved horse movies out there. A veryyoung Taylor wins a horse named Pie, and dreams not only of entering the horse in the GrandNational, but of riding him, too. Helping her achieve this dream is jockey Mickey Rooney. Alsoon hand is Angela Lansbury as Taylor’s older sister. This is innocent fun of the most perfectlycrafted variety, and it expertly tugs at heartstrings from the opening moments on.
Father of the Bride (…
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Ju-On: The Grudge
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 17th, 2004
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Synopsis
Social worker Rika is sent to help a bed-ridden old woman, only to be confronted in thehome by terrifying and deadly apparitions. The film then jumps back and forth in time, showinghow every person who has any connection, however slight, with the evil house is hunted, hauntedand killed by the malevolent ghosts.
If that summary sounds a bit slight, that’s because the plot is, indeed, close to non-existent.The US version is actually considerably more coherent (and in …
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Sleepover
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 16th, 2004
Released approximately at the same time as Mean Girls, Sleepover is an attempt to make an impact on the teen demographic. But after watching this movie, there’s really no impact. In fact, it barely makes a dent. Four best friends go on a crazy all night scavenger hunt against the “popular” girls. The winner of the hunt gets to sit at the “popular” lunch hang out. The loser…well…gets to hang out with the losers. Pretty trite stuff, eh?
Sleepover is supposedly a throwback to those…
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Ghost Watcher
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 15th, 2004
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Synopsis
After being kidnapped and assaulted by a serial killer, Laura Kove (Jillian Byrnes) hasbecome acutely agoraphobic, to the point that she is physically unable to leave her apartment.This becomes a real problem when something begins to haunt her home, first by moving thingsaround, later by taking on terrifying physical shape. The ghost hunter she turns to in desperationis a scam artist, who in spite of herself becomes obsessed with solving the mystery and endingLaura’s tormen…
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Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 15th, 2004
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Synopsis
The two sisters from Ginger Snaps and Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed are back,only this time Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins are 19th-Century versions of themselves. Lostin the snowy Canadian frontier, they arrive at Fort Bailey, only to find a rather chilly welcome.The fort is besieged by werewolves, and the starving, demoralized garrison is suspicious of anystrangers. The sisters do find shelter, along with rampant misogyny and racism. If those dangersweren’…
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West Wing – The Complete Third Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 15th, 2004
Given this DVD’s release date (directly coinciding with one of the most highly anticipated election days in history), and season three’s initial air date (following on the heels of September 11th), this season may become the most pivotal in West Wing history- if not the most consistent. It opens with an out-of-context episode, “Isaac and Ishmael,” that’s as didactic as it is well-meaning. While Chief of Staff Leo (John Spencer) interrogates a suspect, Sam (Rob Lowe), Josh (Bradley Whitford), Charlie (Dule Hill…
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Hellboy
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 15th, 2004
Synopsis
In 1944, supernaturally inclined Nazis open up a other-dimensional portal, through whichcomes a demon infant. Rescued from such evil foster-parents, the baby grows up, under the wingof John Hurt, into Hellboy (a perfectly cast Ron Perlman), who now fights monsters undercoverfor the US government. Said government isn’t ecstatic about the clandestine work of Hellboyand other creatures (these guys get none of the respect of the Men in Black). But the need for thissupernatural …
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Ranch, The
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 15th, 2004
The Ranch is a movie about life in bawdy high class brothel. It’s supposedly based on a real life place. Somewhere in Nevada I think. The Ranch is advertised as unrated and uncut. And it’s also SINsational; well…I’m not so sure of the sational part. And maybe not even about the sin. There are some naked breasts from time to time, and some matter of fact and tasteful sex scenes. But there’s nothing really too hot. If this movie is salsa, it would be mild.
But if you’re doing a disserta…
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Sky Captain and the World of Tommorow
Posted in News and Opinions by Archive Authors on November 15th, 2004
Paramount will release the ground-breaking film Sky Captain and the World of Tommorow (starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie) on January 25th. This disc will be released in separate anamorphic widescreen and full screen version, both with English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks. Extras will include two audio commentaries, five behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and the original six-minute short film that inspired the film.
Reversible Errors
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 14th, 2004
Synopsis
Detective Tom Selleck investigates a triple-murder. The trail of evidence leads to a twitchy,obviously mentally incompetent small-time crook named Squirrel. Prosecuter Monica Porter putsSquirrel away, and he is sentenced to death. Years later, Squirrel’s final appeal lands on the deskof William H. Macy, who begins to find odd inconsistencies that point to the possibility that thewrong man is on death row.
Every frame screams “Network TV Mini-Series.” This is not a g…
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