page  1  2      prev | next

Note: this is just the special features disc.   on December 22, 2010 - 9:33 AM PST   of Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.: The Complete Series (Disc 8 of 8) (2006)   I was looking forward to one last disc of Brisco's adventures, but this turned out to be a special features disc. There is a good featurette, with Carlton Cuse of "Lost" fame providing some interesting behind the scenes info.

Culture shock   on March 4, 2007 - 7:38 PM PST   of A Citizen, a Detective and a Thief (2001) 2 out of 2 members found this review helpful   Filtered through my Western sensibilities, this "comedy" was fairly disturbing, for reasons I'll outline below. It was also overlong - padded with a few too many drawn out musical numbers. I rented this DVD partially because of the image of the lovely young woman in the cover art, along with curiosity about exactly what an Egyptian comedy would be like. WARNING: Major Spoilers Little did I realize that the Detective would give said female lead not one, but two major beatings while the young male lead (the "Citizen" of the title) stands passively by with only a few minor attempts to stop the violence and some residual angst. As for the Thief, he has shelves of "immoral" books that he uses for heating and cooking fuel. He ends up burning the Citizen's unpublished first novel because it's not moral enough. Some of the reasons he gives are that a woman commits adultery with no adverse consequences, prayer is not mentioned and the characters don't celebrate Ramadan during the course of the novel. So the as yet unpublished novel gets burned. The Citizen then uses his index finger to poke out the Thief's eye, which prompts a song and dance number during the Thief's subsequent hospital stay. After that, everybody makes up and the Citizen, the Detective and the Thief all end up dancing the macarena together (no, I'm not making this up). The three have formed a publishing house and the Citizen allows the Thief to review all his future novels before publication. He's wed the young woman, who apparently doesn't mind that the Citizen is best friends and business partners with the Detective who'd previously only stopped kicking her in the stomach because she said she was pregnant.

So take me down to your dance floor...   on August 25, 2006 - 8:21 AM PDT   of Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel (2004) 1 out of 1 members found this review helpful   This documentary is a must-see for any Gram Parsons fan, of course, but beyond that it's a fascinating look at the life and career of a young man who was there in the middle of the crazy tulmult of the sixties / seventies rock scene and whose star never got a chance to shine at its fullest. Interviews with Keith Richards and Chris Hillman give an interesting perspective on the inner workings of The Rolling Stones and The Byrds. I love Gram Parsons' music, but I had no idea he was a good chum of Keith Richards. The director, Gandulf Hennig, managed to get unprecedented access to the family and friends of Gram Parsons and the warm interviews give insight into the harsh realities of alcoholism and depression that surrounded Parsons. The part of the film that deals with the infamous events that took place after Gram Parsons' death presents a powerful contrast between the reactions of Parsons' family members and Phil Kaufman, the apparently remorseless road manager who stole Parsons' body from LAX and took it out to the desert to set it on fire. Gandulf Hennig does a fantastic job of giving a balanced portrayal of Parsons' life. This film is obviously a labor of love and clearly, the director wanted to get it right.

Some rollicking yes, but...   on March 24, 2006 - 1:09 PM PST   of A High Wind in Jamaica (1965) 1 out of 1 members found this review helpful   While admittedly A High Wind in Jamaica features some rollicking pirate action, there is a dark undercurrent that runs through the movie. It's not a Goonies-like children's adventure. The children in this movie belong to another race from the adults, dwelling in an amoral universe in which the actions of the adults in the film seem incomprehensible. A High Wind in Jamaica is an exploration of innocence and the bad things that can come of it. Now I'm curious about the book. UPDATE -- I've read the book and I loved it.

Would make a fine drive-in movie...   on January 16, 2006 - 5:11 PM PST   of Undead (2003) 1 out of 2 members found this review helpful   The acting is sometimes very bad, and the effects sometimes suck... and yet this low-budget feature from twin Australian brothers displays ambition that reaches beyond any limitations of budget or expertise. Add a good sense of humor to the proceedings and you have an enjoyable first directorial effort that goes beyond the standard zombie movie fare. Some of the zombie action sequences verge on being goofy, but hang in there, because the movie has a nice pay-off. Here's hoping that the Spierig brothers' grasp more closely approximates their reach in future enterprises!

More like Turkish Power Rangers   on February 21, 2005 - 12:21 PM PST   of Turkish Star Wars (1982) 5 out of 5 members found this review helpful   "Turkish Star Wars" is a bit misleading. While the filmmakers did, ahem, appropriate some Star Wars footage, the "meat" of this movie involves lots of hand-to-hand combat between the protagonists and various mutants, henchmen and even a robot. If you love low budget sci-fi goofiness, this movie may tickle your funny bone. It cries out for the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment. Some of the mutants look like yeti mummys and others look like rampaging piņatas. No subtitles (and not speaking the language), leave you in the dark about some plot details, but overall you can enjoy the crazy battle scenes, costumes and stunts.

A good night's sleep   on January 31, 2005 - 11:19 AM PST   of Long Dream (2000) 5 out of 5 members found this review helpful   Long Dream is based on a horror manga from artist Junji Ito, who created the mangas on which Tomie and Uzumaki were based. This is a low budget TV production that runs around an hour long. The director, Higuchinsky (who also directed Uzumaki) does a fairly good job of working within the limits of his budget. The acting gets a bit melodramatic and the special effects are like something out of 1960s era Star Trek, but the premise is interesting. The synopsis is a bit misleading because Long Dream doesn't necessarily have anything to do with aliens. The premise is this: what would happen if you had dreams that seemingly lasted weeks or years each night? The longer the dream, the less you'd remember about your waking life each morning. Worth a look if you like Asian horror and you don't mind a low low budget.

Beautifully photographed, strong performances   on July 9, 2004 - 9:18 AM PDT   of Heaven (2002) 5 out of 5 members found this review helpful   Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi make an odd couple, but maybe that's part of the point of the film, which is a love story set amidst very adverse conditions. Beautifully photographed, with a tense opening sequence, Heaven loses steam towards the end, perhaps because it was hard to keep the dramatic tension going from the first part of the film. The ending might be ambiguous for some, but it worked for me.

Smike!   on June 15, 2004 - 2:35 PM PDT   of Nicholas Nickleby (2002) 4 out of 5 members found this review helpful   I'd always enjoyed the 1982 production of "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" that I'd seen on PBS, so I was looking forward to this version, which was made by the director that made Emma. I think this movie is too condensed to be a definitive version of Nicholas Nickleby, but it's still a lot of fun, with great set design, costumes and some good casting. I'm not sure that Ann Hathaway was the right casting choice for Madeline, Jim Broadbent makes a great Mr. Wackford Squeers. Casting Dame Edna as Mrs. Crummles is a great bit of stunt casting. Jamie Bell as Smike left me somewhat disappointed, but I'm not sure why. He seems too subdued or something, but I suppose Smike is supposed to be subdued. I'll have to go back and look at David Trelfall's performance in the 1982 production. Over all, this movie is worth a look if you like Dickensian shenanigans.

Put your hand inside the puppet head!   on May 18, 2004 - 8:57 AM PDT   of Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns (2002) 5 out of 5 members found this review helpful   After wallowing in the extra features of this DVD for a couple of days, the actual documentary itself almost seemed anticlimatic. Needless to say, this is a must see DVD for fans of this inventive musical duo. For non-fans it could be a great overview of a band that writes songs about everything from a faithful night light to James K. Polk. Their low budget video for Don't Let's Start was one of the first independent videos shown on MTV, helping usher in the indie rock era of the 90s. They Might Be Giants jamming with Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show band and Michael McKean's strangely poignant readings of TMBG lyrics were just a couple of the highlights for me. Extras also include videos, concert footage, in-store appearance performances and even footage from an old Nick Rocks episode.

Game theory   on May 14, 2004 - 9:54 AM PDT   of The Last of Sheila (1973) 4 out of 4 members found this review helpful   This movie is great fun. James Coburn plays a game enthusiast who loves all sorts of games from charades to Clue. He invites a group of friends for a yacht cruise during which they'll play a game he's devised. Each player is given a card that must be kept secret and the other players have to figure out which card each person has based on a set of elaborate clues. The game looks like it would be tons of fun, but of course, things don't work out as planned. The cast is great (in that 70s kind of way), there's a lot of humor and the plot was twisty enough to keep me guessing until near the end of he movie.

The plot description is useless   on April 27, 2004 - 11:19 AM PDT   of The Triplets of Belleville (2003) 20 out of 22 members found this review helpful   You can describe the plot of this movie, but that doesn't capture the crazy combination of music, twisted humor and outrageous physical exaggeration. It's nice to see an animated film that keeps you wondering what the heck is going to happen next while delighting and entertaining you along the way.

Unheard Woody Guthrie   on April 26, 2004 - 11:26 AM PDT   of Billy Bragg & Wilco - Man in the Sand (2001) 2 out of 2 members found this review helpful   Woody Guthrie left over 1000 complete lyrics behind when he died. At Nora Guthrie's request, Billy Bragg and Wilco took some of those lyrics, wrote music for them and made two fantastic CDs: Mermaid Avenue Vol. I (1999) & II (2000). This documentary does a fine job of exploring the creative process behind the creation of the Mermaid Avenue CDs while providing very personal insights into the life of Woody Guthrie from his daughter, Nora Guthrie. Thanks to the good sense of humor of everyone involved, it's not a stuffy, dry documentary. My only complaint is that the songs are not performed in their entirety, but I suppose that's what the CDs are for. Mermaid Avenue was the street the Guthries lived on in Coney Island.

Your armor is pink!   on April 1, 2004 - 11:32 AM PST   of Red vs. Blue (2004) 12 out of 12 members found this review helpful   Join two groups of soldiers stationed on a forgotten planetary outpost as they kill time in an effort to survive (while doing as little work as possible). Think of Red vs. Blue as sort of a collision between M*A*S*H, Office Space and a science fiction movie. Some of the humor gets a bit sophmoric, but generally the comic timing is fantastic. This series of short films is a great example of "machinima," or movies created using avatars in a video or computer game. The point of view of one avatar is used as the "camera," and other "players" become actors in the movie. Note: this should probably be rated PG-13 or R for strong language.

Offbeat forgotten gem   on March 31, 2004 - 11:59 AM PST   of Lord Love a Duck (1966) 4 out of 4 members found this review helpful   Lord Love a Duck is full of subversive humor, and features great comic performances by Ruth Gordon and Harvey Korman, but it's pretty uneven. There's a great build-up, but the pay-off ends up being silly. The comedy becomes unexpectedly black. That said, it's definitely worth a look, if only for the valiant attempt to turn 60s beach party movies on their heads. It's also got a catchy theme song.

Smegging amusing   on March 1, 2004 - 1:58 PM PST   of Red Dwarf: Series 3 (1989) 1 out of 2 members found this review helpful   Series 3 has some great science fiction conceits that add to the comedy, like time running backwards or a shape-changing emotion-sucking alien. Contains the episodes: Backwards Marooned Polymorph Body Swap Timeslides The Last Day

Warren Oates, space cowboy   on February 24, 2004 - 9:57 AM PST   of Lost in Space Season 1 (Disc 2 of 8) (1965)   The second episode on this DVD (Welcome Stranger) features Warren Oates (yes, WARREN OATES) as a friendly space cowboy who happens upon the Robinsons. This disc contains the episodes: The Hungry Sea Welcome Stranger My Friend, Mr. Nobody Invaders From the Fifth Dimension

Lost on the way to Alpha Centauri   on January 19, 2004 - 10:20 AM PST   of Lost in Space Season 1 (Disc 1 of 8) (1965) 2 out of 2 members found this review helpful   These early episodes were pretty enjoyable. Some of the special effects are actually kind of good (I think it's easier to make the effects look good in B&W). Dr. Smith is still kind of menacing, and not totally played for laughs. The action focuses mostly on the adults, without any kid-centered adventures. I didn't realize how closely the Lost in Space movie mirrored some of the plot of the pilot episode. On the downside, the pacing gets kind of slow and scientific verisimilitude is definitely out the window. All in all, it was fun and a nice dose of baby boomer nostalgia for me.

A pair of brown eyes   on December 12, 2003 - 11:53 AM PST   of Go West (1925)   Buster takes on cattle ranching, encumbered with a too-small gun and a too-large steed. He falls hard for a cow named Brown Eyes. Brown Eyes herself turns in a great performance with her large, expressive eyes, tagging along behind Buster Keaton like a big puppy dog. See what happens when an angry poker player draws a gun on The Great Stone Face and says "Smile when you say that." See Buster save Brown Eyes from the branding iron. Watch Buster unleash a huge herd of cattle in downtown Los Angeles. It's great fun!

George Pal and Tony Randall   on November 24, 2003 - 10:41 AM PST   of Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (1963) 4 out of 5 members found this review helpful   Having Tony Randall portray a Chinese man seems very dated, but Randall's sly performance saves the movie. He projects warmth and humanity as the wise Dr. Lao, and it wouldn't be a George Pal movie without some nice stop motion animation along the way. It's fun to see Royal Dano in this one, if you've also seen Something Wicked This Way Comes, in which Mr. Dano plays the lightning rod salesmen. He seriously needs to steer clear of magical carnivals. The screenplay was written by Charles Beaumont of Twilight Zone fame.

page  1  2      prev | next