Lara Croft Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 25th, 2003
The Tomb Raider film franchise was based on the popular adventure video game. This second Tomb Raider film, however, owes more to Indiana Jones and James Bond than anything else. Cradle of Life does an excellent job of moving along an adventure story. With exotic locations in Africa and China, Lara Croft has plenty of opportunities to show case her Bond-like bag of gadgets. Critics didn’t like this film much, but then again most film critics don’t seem to appreciate a film as a thrill ride.
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Mr. St. Nick
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 25th, 2003
It takes a lot to become a true Christmas classic. Mr. St. Nick just doesn’t have any of it. The story of a reluctant Santa Claus was done with much funnier results in the Tim Allen The Santa Clause films. Kelsey Grammer can be a very fine comedic actor as his stints in Cheers and Frasier have more than proven. The problem here is the material is old and tired and Grammer never seems to be able to decide on a tone for the film. I’m a fan of just simple fun, but this film never really takes me on a good ride.
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Santa Clause 2 – The Mrs. Clause
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 …
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Cat Chaser
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…
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West Wing – The Complete First Season
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.
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Law & Order Criminal Intent – The First Year
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.
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Music Mixer (Xbox)
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…
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Firefly – The Complete Series
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…
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Kiss Daddy Goodnight
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…
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Bad Bizness
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 …
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Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge (Xbox)
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…
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Dust
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 …
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Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Extended Edition
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2003
Who wants to see the middle of a movie, anyway? The beginning of the movie introduces the characters and presents the conflict. The ending holds the resolution and the conclusion. But the middle? Who wants to just see the middle? Nobody comes late and leaves early at the Cineplex. Nobody sane, anyway. This is not just any film, though. This is an Epic. Literally everything about this production is huge. The original text of the story was actually so long that it had to be divided into three volumes. The companion fil…
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Jury Duty
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 21st, 2003
Synopsis
Pauly Shore is a lazy, terminal loser who needs to find a home while his parents are offgetting married. Summoned for jury duty, he seeks out the trial that will last the longest andinvolve sequestering. He lands the trial of “the Drive-Thru Killer.” Also on the jury are hisformer principal and lust-interest Tia Carrere. Let me put it this way: Schindler’s List isfunnier.
Audio
The soundtrack is clear enough, but limited to 2.0 (get th…
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Looking Glass War, The
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 21st, 2003
Synopsis
A British agent is killed trying to get information back to England, information that mightconfirm or refute the presence of a Russian nuclear missile at a particular location in EastGermany. The British Secret Service, operating on a budget, decides to recruit a Polish civilian,offering him asylum if he will travel to East Germany to find out in person if the missile is thereor not. Much of the film is taken up by his training. Our hero is extremely cynical, and the o…
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Gigli
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 21st, 2003
Synopsis
Ben Affleck plays the title character, a none-too-bright mob goon ordered to kidnap theautistic son of a federal prosecutor. Jennifer Lopez is the considerably brighter and lesbian mobenforcer ordered to team up with Gigli to make sure nothing goes wrong. Sound like a promisingset up for a romantic comedy? Apparently, the movie doesn’t think so either, as it doesn’t playlike a romantic comedy. In fact, the film doesn’t seem to have to the faintest idea as to what the…
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Roy Orbison – Greatest Hits
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 21st, 2003
Roy Orbison’s career spanned 5 decades of music. Predominantly a 50’s artist, his catchy ballads became standards in the 60’s and 70’s. By the 90’s ELO master Jeff Lynne used his skills to give Orbison a tremendous comeback and a new modern sound. Orbison sadly passed away during the peak of this newfound fame and never saw the release of his last hit album.
Audio
There is a great deal of inconsistency in the audio of this DVD. Many of the clips are taken from 40 years or older source tape…
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Brush with Fate
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 19th, 2003
Brush With Fate is not a film in any traditional scenes. Based on Susan Vreeland’s novel, “Girl In Hyacinth Blue” this is in reality an anthology of vignettes. The common thread in these stories is that a certain painting is passed down through 300 years. The stories are overly simple. Some of the locations in the Netherlands shot for this film offer the only redeeming quality to be found. Some of the vistas are breathtaking.
Audio
The Dolby Digital 2.0 track is simple. Some enchanting music offers the best use of the digital sound.
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Bad Boys II
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 19th, 2003
If you like a high-energy action/comedy, you have met your match with Bad Boys II. Michael Bay has once again created a wonderful cinematic experience with this film. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have never been funnier; they have the best on-screen chemistry I have seen in a while. This sequel has more action then its predecessor, and is much more graphic… in a good way. Bad Boys was a great film that started Bay’s career, and Bad Boys II continues his legacy of high-energy action flicks.
”The…
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Escape from New York
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 19th, 2003
Escape from New York not only made the career of Kurt Russell, and helped to grow the John Carpenter legacy, but has also gain cult status amongst many film fanatics. This film, with its unique plot, and raw style, was the first of its kind… and continues to be a fan favorite 22 years after its theatrical release.
”In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted to a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam. But when the U.S. president (Donald Pleasence) crash-lands …
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Together
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 18th, 2003
Synopsis
Liu Cheng will do anything for his son, 13-year-old violinist Xiaochun. They leave theirprovincial town and travel to Beijing to seek more opportunities for Xiaochun. Liu Cheng packshis entire fortune into his hat, and cheerfully puts up with all kinds of humiliation for the good ofhis son. Xiaochun’s encounter with the city include a flighty, gold-digging young woman in thesame apartment block, and the very different characters of his teachers. At the centre of the fi…
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Mondays in the Sun
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 18th, 2003
Synopsis
Javier Bardem (perhaps more familiar to North American audiences for his superb work inThe Dancer Upstairs, is the self-appointed leader of a group of unemployed men. Theyhang out at a bar, and the days go by hopelessly. One has a wife who works, another keeps goingfor job interviews, but all have had their self-esteem destroyed. The film is not without somehumour, but as you can gather from this synopsis, it isn’t exactly a the feel-good release of theyear.>
Audio
The sound comes in both 2.0 and 5.1 versions. The guitar on the score has an excellent, rich,warm, reverberating feel. The dialogue is distortion-free, and the sound effects, though low key,do produce a solid environmental effect. This isn’t a film that cries out for knockout soundeffects, but the ones that are used are quite well selected and add to the you-are-there quality ofthe presentation.
Video
A gritty film, and a gritty picture, but I mean that in the good way. The look of the film is arather ironic play on the title: the colours are gold and grey much of the time. There are no edgeenhancement halos, the flesh tones are good, and so are the contrasts. The aspect is 16x9anamorphic.
Special Features
The menu is silent, but has some movement in the form of languorously changing images.Select the Lion’s Gate logo, and you get trailers for Mondays in the Sun and AmoresPerros. The other extra is a 26-minute making-of featurette, which, though hampered by ablurry image, has a lot to say about the politics of the film.
Closing Thoughts
Excellent performances back up this gritty look at unemployment. Not for everyone, thoughfans of Mike Leigh will find themselves in familiar territory.
Special Features List
- Making Of Featurette
- Trailers
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Complete Fifth Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 18th, 2003
Synopsis
Any synopsis is probably beside the point. If you haven’t been watching Buffy by this season,your chances of understanding what the hell is going on will be severely curtailed. Highlights ofthis season include Buffy’s encounter with Dracula, and the moving episode (“The Body”) aboutthe death of her mother.
Audio
The sound is 2.0, but is a pretty energetic mix all the same. As with most television shows,the music dominates the mix, especially at the s…
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Cuckoo, The
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 17th, 2003
Synopsis
A Finnish sniper is chained to a rock by his fellow soldiers. Not far away, a Russian captainis being driven off to face a court martial (read: execution). A friendly fire incident kills thecaptain’s captors and wounds him. A Lapp widow finds him and takes him back to her home totend to him. Meanwhile, the Finn manages to free himself, and also winds up at thewoman’s place. A prickly, multicultural friendship gradually develops between the three. Not aone understands…
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Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 17th, 2003
Being a white, middle-class American male, my knowledge of the black struggle with apartheid in South Africa during the latter half of the 20th Century is virtually nil. My exposure to the music that was so instrumental to the success of that movement is even less. With these facts in mind, I was dreading having to review this title, as it is a documentary film covering a subject that I really had very little interest in.
My dread turned to fascination upon sitting down to watch the film, however. This is a…
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