What's It All About?
Vagabond (Sans Toit Ni Loi) is a journey of attempted discovery by Agnes Varda, who also directed Cloe From 5 to 7. As the film opens the frozen body of a dead young woman is found in a ditch. The authorities soon arrive with no clue as to who this unfortunate soul is or how she came to meet her end alone and frozen in the French countryside. Varda then leads the audience on a journey to solve the mystery of who the stranger is. Presented in documentary format, though entirely fictional, Varda begins her search by retracing the vagabond's last days. Varda "finds" people who have encountered the woman (played by Sandrine Bonnaire), interviewing them and presenting their memories through flashback. Varda subtly unfolds the story of a sad woman who finds her existence so unsatisfying and bleak that she chooses to effectively drop out of society. Basically refusing to...Read the entire review

What's It All About
"The Director's" is a series that looks at the works of big name Hollywood directors, in this case, Rob Reiner. This series is produced by Media Entertainment, Inc. in cooperation with the American Film Institute and distributed by WinStar TV & Video, a part of the FoxLorber Family (whew! d'you catch all that?) I've enjoyed the recent specials that the AFI has put together and this is no exception. This episode of "The Directors" was produced in 1997 and looks at Reiner's body of work up to that point. Ringing in at just under one hour, we are presented with some very good discussion of Reiner's best films (and they quickly gloss over North, his worst). There is a fairly in-depth analysis of Stand By Me (as in-depth as you can get in an hour-long episode) that gives us a good bit of insight into the art of filmmaking. Another highlight is Reiner's discussion of ...Read the entire review

What's It All About
Corrina, Corrina is the story of Manny Singer (Ray Liotta) and his daughter, Molly (Tina Mojorino) who are having trouble recovering from the death of Molly's mom. In order to get back to work, Manny decides to hire someone to look after Molly and do the housework. After a series of humorous interviews, Manny selects Corrina Washington (Whoopi Goldberg), a college educated woman who can't find work outside of housekeeping in 1950's suburbia because of the color of her skin. Molly hasn't spoken to anyone since her mother's death but Corrina manages to break down Molly's walls with an infectious spirit, the ability to grasp the joys of life and her inate wisdom. Manny finds that the women now entering his life want to immediately replace his wife (and they pursue this end rather agressively). However, in Corrina he finds an intelligent woman with whom he shares many th...Read the entire review

What's It All About?
Holden (Ben Affleck) is an up and coming comic book artist who meets and falls in love with fellow comic artist Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams). For those continuity minded readers, Alyssa is the sister of Tricia Jones from Mallrats. Holden and Alyssa are a match made in Heaven, except for one small detail…ALYSSA IS A LESBIAN!!! Amy is Kevin's Smith entry into the romantic comedy genre and being from Kevin Smith, don't expect Sleepless in Seattle. Besides the little lesbianism problem, Holden also has to deal with his jealous best friend and comic book inker (TRACER!!!) Banky as played by Jason Lee. Amy is a semi-autobiographical movie according to Kevin Smith. As it turns out the movie is basically an apology to his once girlfriend Joey, who graciously agreed to star in it, for problems that arose from the differences in their sexual histories. Amy is a good m...Read the entire review

What's It All About
You really want to know? Then "shut up, listen, and learn." So says the ultimate boss from hell, movie studio exec Buddy Ackerman (Kevin Spacey). The story centers on Guy, played effectively by Frank Whaley, a young, naïve film school grad who gets a "lucky" break and becomes Buddy's assistant. It doesn't take Guy long to realize what he's gotten himself into. Buddy rides Guy hard and Guy takes it like a trooper and then takes it some more and some more and some more, until… Crack, that's it, Guy breaks. Now it's time to turn the tables on Buddy and to make it painfully clear to him just how poorly he's treated Guy. And believe me, Guy intends to make it very very clear. Michelle Forbes rounds ou the trio of stars as studio producer Dawn Lockard who finds herself in a relationship with Guy and having to work with Buddy to get her movies made.
How Does ...Read the entire review

What's It All About?
This version of Journey to the Center of the Earth was originally presented as a two-part television mini-series made by Hallmark Entertainment and brought to you on DVD by Artisan. The DVD breaks the story into it's two parts, differentiated as Night 1 and Night 2. Night 1 is Treat Williams' show as he stars as Professor Theodore Lytton, a 19th century scientist who goes to great lengths in his pursuit of the advancement of science. Lytton is assisted in his pursuits by his nephew Jonas (Jeremy London of Mallrats fame!), a Harvard educated scholar. Lytton is approached by Alice Hastings (Tushka Bergen) a rich socialite who wants Lytton to find her husband, lost seven years earlier while undertaking the expedition. Joined by the rough guide McGriff (Hugh Keays-Byrne) the group begins their trek deep beneath the Earth's surface. Lytton & McGriff lead the group th...Read the entire review

What's It All About?
Jeff Bridges stars as aging pro football player Terry Brogan. Brogan gets cut from the team and falls into the services of connected bookmaker Jake (James Woods). Jake asks Terry to find the missing Jessie (Rachel Ward), the love of his life who just happened to stab him in the leg last week. It turns out that this love just happens to be the daughter of owner of the football team that Terry just got cut from. To begin his search Terry visits the owner, Jessie's mom who also happens to be working on a huge real estate venture. Mom tells Terry that he should work for her, she'll double whatever Jake is paying him. And all he has to do is find Jessie and keep an eye on her. Now don't ask why neither of these extremely wealthy and connected people should want a football player on the job instead of a real detective, that would make too much sense. And sense is what ...Read the entire review

What's It All About?
I don't want to give too much away with this film as spoilers would detract from the tension and suspense the movie generates. Let's suffice to say that No Way Out stars a younger and less egotistical Kevin Costner as a Navy lieutenant commander who must find a murderer while trying not to become a suspect himself. Also prominently featured are Gene Hackman as the Secretary of Defense and Sean Young as the femme-fatal. You'll thank me for not giving away plot points as you follow the twists and turns of No Way Out to it's thrilling conclusion!

How Does It Look?
MGM presents a 1.85:1 non-anamorphic version of the film as well as an open matte full frame transfer for your viewing option. I viewed the widescreen version and the quality of the transfer, I'm sad to say, is pretty poor. The original master does not appear to have been cleaned up before tran...Read the entire review

What's It All About?
"A powerful, intimate Portrait of how times and freedoms have changed. It will shock you. It will surprise you. An no matter where you stand on the issue, it will force you to think again." So says the description on the back of the packaging. And for the most part "If These Walls Could Talk" stands up to the challenge.
"Walls was originally broadcast on HBO in 1996 and tackles the question of abortion head-on. It falls short in the "no matter where you stand" claim as overall the effort is weighted on the pro-choice side of the debate. The film explores the issue through three women, living in the same house, facing the challenge of unexpected pregnancy, over a span of 40 years.

The first story is set in 1952 and features Demi Moore as Claire Donnelly, a recently widowed nurse who becomes pregnant by her deceased husband's brother. Faced with stri...Read the entire review

Movie:
If you haven't heard, Saturday Night Live has been around for 25 long years. To celebrate NBC put on a big show, running almost three hours, that featured a look back at some of the shows great skits as well as new material featuring former cast members and hosts. Particularly funny are Bill Murray's return as a lounge singer and a Q&A with Tom Hanks & Christopher Walken. Clips are presented in 5 year intervals with many of the old favorites from John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley and many, many more (including Joe Piscopo!) Unfortunately we're presented with snippets of skits as opposed the entire thing (for sake of time I'm sure) The overall effect is still very satisfying though and fans of the show will love the trip down memory lane.

Picture:
Trimark presents SNL in the appropriate television aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with ex...Read the entire review

Movie
Finally, the Big Sleep on DVD! Humphrey Bogart plays private dick, Philip Marlowe in this classic noir film based on Raymond Chandler's novel of the same name. The plot centers around Marlowe, hired to help a rich family out of a little blackmail jam. What follows is one of the most convoluted stories in the history of film. The plot unfolds, seemingly at random, and the viewer has no idea how characters and events tie in to the blackmail scheme. But luckily it doesn't matter! This film is excellent despite the plot problems. There are so many things going for it; Bogart's performance, his chemistry with Lauren Bacall, and especially the script & dialogue (by William Faulkner no less). Bogie's scene with Dorothy Malone in the bookstore alone makes the film worthwhile for me. But I'll let you judge your favorites for yourselves.

Picture
The film is presented in its origi...Read the entire review

Movie:
Glory is the story of the first black regiment to fight in the Civil War. The movie is based on the diaries of Colonel Robert Shaw (Mathhew Broderick), a wealthy Bostonian who is promoted and asked to lead the regiment after surviving a grisly battle. The movie follows the development of this unlikely group of soldiers as they face prejudice within the Union army as well as the development of their young colonel. Denzel Washington, who won a well deserved Oscar, plays Trip, an escaped slave who joins the Union army burning with the desire to strike back at South for the suffering he endured during his captivity. Also along for the ride is Morgan Freeman who's performance rivals Denzel's. Often lauded as the best Civil War movie ever made, Glory is patriotic, rousing, and tragic.

Picture:
Columbia comes through again with a 16:9 enhanced transfer with no signs of fil...Read the entire review