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Drama
Tuesday, 28 January 2003 |
Written by
Tara O'Shea
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title:
Free Willy (10th Anniversary Special Edition)
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studio:
Warner Home Video
MPAA rating:
PG
starring:
Jason James Richter, Lori Petty, Michael Madsen, Jayne Atkinson, Michael Ironside, August Schellenberg, Richard Riehle
release year:
1993
film rating:
Four Stars
sound/picture:
Three Stars
reviewed by:
Tara O'Shea
In the tradition of "Flipper," "Free Willy" is the stirring tale of a
boy and his deep and meaningful bond with his aquatic sea mammal pal.
In this case, the boy in question is harmonica-playing troubled street
kid Jesse (Jason James Richter). Abandoned by his mother, living by
pan-handling and petty theft in the pacific Northwest, Jesse is caught
by police while vandalizing the observation room of a struggling local
theme park. Placed with the world's best foster parents (Michael Madsen
and Jayne Atkinson) by a gruff but well-meaning social worker (Richard
Riehle), Jesse is sentenced to clean up the mess he made and finds a
new sense of self-worth through his friendship with equally rebellious
orca, Willy (Keiko ...
Tuesday, 21 January 2003 |
Written by
Abbie Bernstein
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title:
24 Hour Party People
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studio:
MGM DVD
MPAA rating:
R
starring:
Steve Coogan, Shirley Henderson, Lennie James, Sean Harris
release year:
2002
film rating:
Four Stars
sound/picture:
Four Stars
reviewed by:
Abbie Bernstein
Talk about your added-value DVDs. “24 Hour Party People” doesn’t have
nearly the amount of supplemental material of, say, the “Lord of the
Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” set (although the two films do have
something in common – more on that later), but it does have something
that the movie itself makes you crave. This is an audio commentary from
its principal subject, Tony Wilson, who adds a few more notches of
usually hilariously dry perspective (and fact-checking) to this
docudrama-style lesson in real-life rock ‘n’ roll history.
Directed by Michael Winterbottom and scripted by Frank Cottrell Boyce,
“24 Hour Party People” encompasses the years 1976 through 1992, showing
us events that range from the truly tragic to the somewhat magical to
the spectacularly ridiculous, as seen through the ...
Tuesday, 21 January 2003 |
Written by
Abbie Bernstein
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title:
Dinner Rush
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studio:
New Line Home Entertainment
MPAA rating:
R
starring:
Danny
Aiello, Eduardo Ballerini, Vivian Wu, Mike McGlone, Kirk Acevedo,
Sandra Bernhard, John Corbett, Summer Phoenix, Polly Draper
release year:
2002
film rating:
Three Stars
sound/picture:
Three Stars
reviewed by:
Abbie Bernstein
“Dinner Rush” is a modest Manhattan mixture of familial and crime
drama, with the twist that the emphasis is on the former rather than
the latter. Apart from two prologue sequences – one setting a mood of
camaraderie between old friends and the other depicting a fatal chase
through the snow, the entire story takes place in one extremely busy
night at an upscale Manhattan trattoria, owned by Louis “Gigi” (short
for “Luigi”) Cropa (Danny Aiello).
Tuesday, 03 December 2002 |
Written by
Tara O'Shea
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title:
Serpico
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studio:
Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA rating:
R
starring:
Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire, Barbara Eda-Young, Cornelia Sharpe, Tony Roberts, John Medici, Allan Rich
release year:
1973
film rating:
Five Stars
sound/picture:
Four Stars
reviewed by:
Tara O'Shea
"Serpico" is based on the true story of the life of undercover New York
police officer Frank Serpico (Al Pacino), an honest cop trying to
expose the corruption that plagues the New York police force in the
late 1960s. It's an uphill battle, as he fights not only his fellow
officers’ scorn and hatred of his innate sense of justice, but the
apathy of a system which accepts corruption as the norm. Serpico uses
every available resource, but in the end, he is a man who simply wishes
to do his job -- to serve and protect. He has no ambitions beyond that,
and that desire is both his greatest strength and weakness, as his
relationships with those around ...
Tuesday, 20 August 2002 |
Written by
Mel Odom
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title:
Jackie Brown (Collector's Edition)
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studio:
Miramax Home Entertainment
MPAA rating:
R
starring:
Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Robert De Niro, Michael Keaton, Bridget Fonda
release year:
1997
film rating:
Four Stars
sound/picture:
Four Stars
reviewed by:
Mel Odom
Slick and smart, Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) is pinned against the wall by
a gunrunning gangster and an aggressive Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms agent. One misstep will mean her death. Carrying the black
cloud of past sins over her head for the last 20 years, Jackie is
currently barely making ends meet by working as a stewardess aboard a
small airline featuring trips from Los Angeles to Cabo, Mexico. To help
keep those ends tied, Jackie has also been moonlighting as a money
courier for Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson), a gun dealer striving to
go big time. Unfortunately, Robbie’s luck with finding honest people to
work with in his chosen line of work is terrible. One of ...
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