Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 25th, 2006
Synopsis
Marilyn Monroe was THE blonde bombshell. Jayne Mansfield was the cartoon version of Monroe, bombshell become sex bomb, with proportions so improbable she could give Barbie an inferiority complex. Her cartoon figure makes it appropriate that two of the movies here are directed by a specialist in cartoons: Frank Tashlin. In fact, this set might almost be more appropriately called the Frank Tashlin Collection.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on August 24th, 2006
Discussing the old school DVD’s that still sound and look great in the era of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD technology.
Mr. And Mrs. Smith will likely be remembered more for being the film that put Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the road to saving the world, one Cambodian child at a time, than being an enjoyable action-comedy film. Though despite all the media buzz over the film prior to its release, it actually turned out to be a financial and critical success, unlike Gigli, a film tha... was also much-hyped due to off-screen romance of the film’s two stars.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on August 23rd, 2006
Power, Madden and a little Butterfly - Welcome to the series rehash with no new features and year old rosters known as Dare to Play the Game.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 23rd, 2006
Synopsis
Imagine my surprise that there was a miniseries made about the threat of bioterror, and that this cloak and dagger miniseries (that aired at some time on network TV) sported two Oscar winners, neither of them men! Anjelica Huston (Prizzi’s Honor) and Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite) are part of a wide ranging series that is set over several continents, and explores the possibility of a bio-terror attack in the US.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 23rd, 2006
It’s always interesting when works of art (books, plays, films, etc…) are updated from their native settings. Baz Lurhman’s Romeo + Juliet took the Bard’s most famous play and set it in modern day California, making it fresh again. Francis Ford Coppola set Conrad’s Heart of Darkness during the Vietnam War, making Apocalypse Now one of the most revered and realistic films of that era. There are several more examples in this trend that deserve to be mentioned, but I must fast-forward to the film a... hand. That is Brick, a film written and directed by newcomer Rian Johnson. Johnson wisely sets his film noir story in a modern day California high school. The update takes a while to get used to, but after a small buffer period, Brick becomes a fresh spin on the film noir genre, who’s day has come and gone.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Brenden, a high school student who watches as his ex-girlfriend, Emily (Lost’s Emile de Ravin), falls into the wrong crowd and winds up dead. After Brenden receives a panicked call for help shortly before her death, he dives into the drug-dealing underworld inhabiting his school to find out who done Emily wrong. As with most film noir films, Brenden discovers that the truth behind Emily’s death is not simply a black and white issue. Brenden is also aided by a femme fatal in Laura (Nora Zehetner), who may or may not be on his side.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 23rd, 2006
Synopsis
Arriving late one night at a village near Canterbury are an English sergeant (Dennis Price), and American one (Sgt. John Sweet) and a landgirl (Sheila Sim). As they leave the train station, Sim is set upon by a mysterious figure who dumps glue all over her hair. The trio become amateur detectives, determined to unmask the “glue man” and their suspicion first falls on Eric Porter, the local magistrate who is consumed by an enormous love for the countryside.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 23rd, 2006
Synopsis
In the mid 90's, poachers are decimating the antelope population in the pristine lands of Kekexili. The locals have organized themselves to fight back, and now one of their patrolmen has been murdered by the poachers. Ga Yu, a journalist from Beijing, arrives to cover the story. Initially rejected by the leader of the mountain patrol, Ga Yu is taken in by the group when he suggests his coverage might help turn the area into a wilderness preserve. A long, grueling, dangerous manhunt ensues.>
Posted in: New Release Tuesday, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on August 22nd, 2006
Hello, I'm your fill-in host for the week, mister Kedrix (your game columnist). Yes I'm back again, after I swore I wouldn't be. Call it an obligaton, call it a true pain in the... Anyhow, in this edition of the New Release Tuesday blog, we get a good look into this weeks top releases. Some good Criterion choices and some good HD/Blu-Ray for a change. Well,on to the lists…
Top Film Releases
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 22nd, 2006
Burned out actor Howard Spense (Sam Shepard) has a mid-life crisis, rides off the set of his latest western, and visits his mother (Eva Marie Saint), whom he has not seen in over 30 years. Mother Spense informs Howard that he has a son named Earl, (Gabriel Mann) living in Butte, Montana from a fling he had with Doreen (Jessica Lange), while he was there shooting on location 20 years ago. Upon arriving in Butte (he gravitates there more than actually arriving), Howard also meets Sky (Sarah Polley), a mysterious woman ...ho is carrying the ashes of her mother in an urn. She may also be his daughter.
If this sounds like a Lifetime made-for-TV-movie-of-the-week, then you wouldn’t be far off. There are lots of angst-riddled father-son arguments and tearful reunions. But director Wim Wenders and cinematographer Franz Lustig inject the film with a minor art-house vibe and some major western landscapes, elevating the film into something more relevant than a generic film found on the “men are evil” Lifetime network. Wenders also supplies the film with an excellent alt-country soundtrack (courtesy of T-Bone Burnett) that adds an emotional punch that is sorely lacking on-screen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 22nd, 2006
Steve Martin plays a wacky TV weatherman, who develops a close friendship with an electronic freeway sign in the sleeper hit comedy L.A. Story. I found the critically acclaimed film to lack hilarity, but it does get marks for inventiveness. Martin is enjoyable in most anything he's in, even if the material is not-so-great. L.A. Story is one such example of an actor rising above said material. Most of the over-the-top silliness misses the mark, and Marilu Henner has little more to do than play the cliche...of snobbish socialite. The true love of the Martin character's life - played by Victoria Tennant - is so bland vanilla I would have much rather seen him end up with his free-spirited squeeze toy (Sarah Jessica Parker), though any such relationship would be doomed to fail. At least there would be some excitement.
With that said, I did enjoy the basic hook: Martin's interaction with the fun-loving freeway sign. The sign is just a series of bulbs lit to form questions, comments, and riddles, but there is a quirkiness to it that shows more character than any other supporting player in the film, save for Parker. Director Mick Jackson manages to make the most of this bizarre relationship, but he works from a script that lacks too many interesting additional characters to be a great film. Also, the happy ending feels tacked-on and abrupt, and if you're of my opinion, lacks the happiness part so desperately needed. Sure, things work out. It's a comedy. But at the end of the day, Martin's victory doesn't seem worth winning.
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