Heather Picker's DVD Talk DVD Reviews https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/list/DVD Video DVD Talk DVD Review RSS Feed en-us The Broken Hearts Club DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1751 Wed, 21 Mar 2001 09:30:40 UTC Rent It

The Movie: If In & Out was the first mainstream "gay man discovers himself" movie, Greg Berlanti's The Broken Hearts Club is the first mainstream "gay men already know who they are and don't spend ninety minutes bitching, dying, or playing Thelma Ritter to a lovelorn leading lady" movie. Berlanti, a Dawson's Creek producer, makes a distinguished debut as writer-director, and the likable ensemble cast includes Timothy Olyphant, Dean Cain, Andrew Keegan, and John Mahoney as a group of gay friends with the same problems as any characters you'd see in a "straight" movie. Unfortunately, The Broken Hearts Club has many of the same overused plot devices.

The DVD: One of the best looking low-budget movies in recent memory, The Broken Hearts Club looks great on DVD. The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer (a pan and scan version is optional) provi...Read the entire review

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Lucky Numbers DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1750 Wed, 21 Mar 2001 09:04:43 UTC Skip It

The Movie: Lisa Kudrow, stay away from the Ephron sisters. Sure, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion wasn't a highlight of the 90s, but it had heart (not to mention one of the most bizarre dance sequences in recent memory). And it was a shame that the Academy neglected to nominate you for Best Supporting Actress for your excellent performance in The Opposite of Sex. But why, oh why, appear in Hanging Up, which sported a well-intentioned but heinous screenplay by sisters Nora and Delia Ephron, and why, oh why, follow it up with Lucky Numbers, directed uncoordinatedly by Nora?

The less said about Lucky Numbers, the better. It wants to be a caper film and it wants to be a comedy (though what type of comedy remains a mystery), but none of the ingredients are there as a weather man (Travolta), a strip club owner (Tim Roth), a lottery girl (Kudrow), a...Read the entire review

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Chuck and Buck DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1689 Mon, 12 Mar 2001 12:18:28 UTC Highly Recommended

Buck (Mike White) has a serious case of arrested development and an obsession with Chuck (Crhis Weitz), his best friend from childhood who moved away years ago, when they were both kids. When Chuck dutifully returns to town to attend the funeral of Buck's mom, it becomes clear to him that Buck is nursing more than a harmless crush on his former pal. Chuck & Buck, written by White, follows the pair as Buck basically stalks Chuck, now determined to express his feelings by staging a play about them. It is not an easy movie to describe, because it is so layered and well acted that it resists both being trivialized and being championed. It is a very good movie, but not the type of film you walk away from with uncontainable excitement. Rather, it is disturbing and thought-provoking, the type of movie that is funny but difficult to laugh at, creepy but touching.

DVD Details: Though it...Read the entire review

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Kiss Me, Guido DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1688 Mon, 12 Mar 2001 11:47:51 UTC Rent It

If you like your homosexuals flaming and your Italians stupid, Kiss Me, Guido is the movie for you. Writer-director Tony Vitale's feature film debut is the well-intentioned yarn of aspiring actor, pizzeria worker Frankie (Nick Scotti), who needs a place to stay. He sees a newspaper ad for a GWM in need of a roommate, and mistakenly thinks it means Guy With Money. The GWM is Warren (Anthony Barrile), an actor who can't pay his bills now that his writer boyfriend is out of the picture. The movie begins with a series of misunderstandings as Frankie and Warren overcome their own prejudices on the road to friendship. While both the gays and Italians are awfully stereotyped (although Warren's mega-queen pal Terry, played by Craig Chester, is entertaining enough) and Vitale uses a polo mallet to get his point across, Kiss Me, Guido, with its abundance of funny one-liners, isn't a total miss...Read the entire review

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Gilda DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1687 Mon, 12 Mar 2001 11:22:00 UTC Recommended

There are two reasons to see Gilda: Rita Hayworth and Rita Hayworth. Her immortal performance as the temptress title character carries the film, which is more or less a B-movie with a script that is as full of intoxicating noir-speak as it is convoluted; but the delivery is worth it, and the lighting elevates Hayworth to an almost ethereal level. Watch her sing "Put the Blame on Mame" and the meandering melodrama disappears; you are left with one of the most singularly sensuous scenes in all of filmdom.

The mood makes the movie, and the tone established by director Charles Vidor occasionally transforms dialogue exchanges into something resembling a ballet. Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford, who had co-starred with Hayworth under Vidor's direction six years earlier in The Lady in Question) is the narrator of the picture, a rough-edged gambler who goes to work for Ballin Mundson (Georg...Read the entire review

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Better Than Chocolate DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1620 Sun, 18 Feb 2001 23:04:31 UTC Recommended

Those looking to Canadian import Better Than Chocolate for hot girl-on-girl action will not be disappointed. They may, however, be surprised to find a contemporary lesbian-themed romance that manages to be both non-stereotypical and non-softcore pornography, boasting the requisite campy musical numbers of the modern GLBT flick, the requisite girl-powered soundtrack, and, less fortunately, the requisite skinheads. A festival favorite, Chocolate follows college-aged 10 Percent Books clerk and aspiring writer Maggie (Karyn Dwyer) as she falls fast and hard for artist Kim (Christina Cox). The potholes on their road to happiness? Within a few hours of them meeting and promptly covering each other in paint and rolling around on canvases, Maggie's family, high school student brother Paul (Kevin Mundy) and housewife mother Lila, whom she is not out to, arrives.

Lila's second husband is...Read the entire review

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His Girl Friday DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1404 Mon, 18 Dec 2000 23:47:09 UTC Highly Recommended

HIS GIRL FRIDAY is still as fast, fun and fresh as it was sixty years ago. Director Howard Hawks made forty-four films, many of them outstanding. He could shift from genre to genre and masterpiece to masterpiece with awe-inspiring grace; among his classic comedies were BRINGING UP BABY (1938), TWENTIETH CENTURY (1934), and BALL OF FIRE(1941). His greatest comedy, however, and arguably his best film, was HIS GIRL FRIDAY.

Adapted from the stage play "The Front Page," by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur (who had written TWENTIETH CENTURY), HIS GIRL FRIDAY was first committed to celluloid in 1931 by director Lewis Milestone. It told the story of a battling editor and reporter, both men. Hawks admired the film, and the finesse he had displayed in directing screwball comedies perfectly suited the material. While reading through the script it dawned on him that the reporter character, a man na...Read the entire review

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Groove DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1403 Mon, 18 Dec 2000 23:41:06 UTC Skip It

Greg Harrison's Groove, which was the buzz of the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, reinforces the Spitfire Grill theorem, which is: The people at Sundance will lavish anything you put on the screen with superfluous praise. Why is it that average, and even sub-par films receive glowing receptions at the festival? 'Tis a question that I fear will not be answered until long after an explanation is given as to why it has taken the public so long to turn their box-office dollar-spending backs on über-producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

Early in the year rave films were all the rage, as evident by the releases Human Traffic and the documentary Better Living Through Circuitry. Perhaps it was that underground frenzy for the rave film that made audiences to eager to embrace an effort as miniscule are Groove. The film, written and directed by Greg Harrison (who also produced and edited), shows what happens w...Read the entire review

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Buck and the Preacher DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1270 Fri, 10 Nov 2000 05:06:46 UTC Rent It

Sidney Poitier's directorial debut, Buck and the Preacher is a slowly paced western that mixes action and comedy. His effort here is commendable, but the script, written by Ernest Kinoy (the TV miniseries Roots) from a story by Kinoy and Drake Walker, ineffectively blends the two elements. Namely, the action is missing. The story builds slowly, but that isn't a bad thing; the characters are developed enough that viewers will want to stick around and see what happens to them. But, until the end, there is little but plotting and suspicious eyeing between Buck (Poitier), who used to be a sergeant in the Union Army, and the Preacher (an ex-con, played by Harry Belafonte).

The two don't get off to a good start, and the Preacher briefly entertains the idea of turning Buck in, dead or alive, for the five hundred dollars offered to him by a group of labor recruiters who are determine...Read the entire review

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Bell, Book and Candle DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1269 Fri, 10 Nov 2000 05:00:44 UTC Rent It

When Vera Miles became pregnant prior to the filming of Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock went after Kim Novak to fill her shoes. Columbia loaned out Novak in exchange for James Stewart's presence in two of their productions, Bell, Book and Candle, starring Novak, being one of them (Anatomy of a Murder is the other). Based upon the play by John Van Druten, Bell, Book and Candle is about a Greenwich Village witch, Gillian Holroyd (Novak) who uses her magic touch to cast a spell on neighbor, Shep Henderson (Stewart), a publisher who happens to be engaged to an uptight former classmate of Gillian's.

Novak is as alluring as ever, and Stewart is adept at romantic comedy (this would be his last), but the two fail to produce the sizzling chemistry that would have greatly benefited the fluff-filled script. The talented supporting cast includes Jack Lemmon, delightfully mugging as ...Read the entire review

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The Astronaut's Wife DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1268 Fri, 10 Nov 2000 04:53:59 UTC Skip It

As noted in countless reviews, writer-director Rand Ravich's The Astronaut's Wife is thematically similar to Rosemary's Baby (1968, d. Roman Polanski). Jillian Armacost (Charlize Theron, who played a like character in The Devil's Advocate), the young, schoolteacher wife of NASA astronaut Spencer (Johnny Depp) becomes pregnant and slowly begins to accept that something sinister is happening. No, Spencer didn't make a pact with Satan, but he did go on a mission that lost contact with Earth for two minutes.

Jillian, who even sports a 'do reminiscent of Mia Farrow's famous [b]Rosemary[/b] look (actually, it is more of a cross between the hair of Farrow and MTV veejay Serena Altschul), feels alienated when Spencer returns and exhibits uncharacteristically withdrawn behavior, is given more reason to mope around when he resigns from the space program and takes a job with a firm t...Read the entire review

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Cabaret (Special Edition) DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1267 Fri, 10 Nov 2000 04:48:15 UTC Recommended

Life is a cabaret, or so the famed song goes. After watching CABARET, you will agree but also realize how unsettling the assertion is. Taking place in the early 1930s, Bob Fosse's masterpiece, a portrait of life in decadent Berlin, is both uplifting and grim. Not your typical musical, it is comedic and dramatic, realistic, very tasteful, and ultimately thought provoking.

Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) is an entertainer at the Kit Kat Klub, a German hot spot where the festivities are hosted by a charming Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey). She is determined to become a movie star, and is willing to bed whomever she has to for the opportunity to take a screen test. Brian Roberts (Michael York) is a mild-mannered young man from England who wants to rent a room at the boarding house Sally resides in. To support himself, he gives English lessons, through which he meets Fritz Wendel (Fritz Wepper), a ...Read the entire review

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Crazy in Alabama (Special Edition) DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1266 Fri, 10 Nov 2000 04:38:06 UTC Rent It

CRAZY IN ALABAMA, adapted for the screen by Mark Childress from his own novel, is the confused and decidedly unsuccessful directorial debut of actor Antonio Banderas. The chief problem is that Banderas fails to smoothly blend the comedic and dramatic elements of the story, which is about the summer of 1965 in Alabama. Peejoe (Lucas Black, SLING BLADE) is a 12-year old who, along with brother Wiley (David Speck) lives peacefully with his grandma until one day Aunt Lucille (Melanie Griffith) arrives and drops off the seven kids produced during her thirteen year marriage to husband Chester, whom she promptly admits to having just murdered.

From this early point forward, the movie is disjointed. Peejoe, who is forced to move in with Uncle Dove (David Morse, dependable as usual) and Aunt Earlene (Cathy Moriarty) is telling the story, but attention is split unevenly between him and Lucille, who is tr...Read the entire review

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Trick DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1042 Sat, 16 Sep 2000 03:45:40 UTC Rent It

Over the past couple of years, the GLBT genre has been inundated with light comedies such as the pleasant BILLY'S HOLLYWOOD SCREEN KISS and BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE, and Jim Fall's TRICK is the latest entry. Instead of spotlighting infatuation with an ambiguous figure or the complications of coming out and a new romance, it focuses on the unexpected relationship that begins when two young men in New York City get together for what both intend to be a one night stand. Gabriel (Christian Campbell), an aspiring musical writer, meets exotic dancer Mark (J.P. Pitoc) after an excursion to Mark's workplace, a male strip club, and the two go back to Gabriel's place with plans that are disrupted first by the presence of Gabriel's friend Katherine (Tori Spelling), a singer/actress whose level of talent doesn't begin to approach what she thinks it is, and then by Rich (Brad Beyer), Gabriel's straight roommate who ...Read the entire review

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More Tales of the City DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/1003 Mon, 04 Sep 2000 05:31:18 UTC Highly Recommended

Movie Review:
How long has it been since you've been to 28 Barbary Lane? Unfortunately, "Tales of the City" (1993) is currently out of print on VHS and unavailable on DVD, but DVD International has released the sequel, "Armistead Maupin's More Tales of the City" as part of their Prestige Collection. Picking up six weeks after the conclusion to "Tales...," "More Tales" is more 'out there,' no pun intended, than it's predecessor. The subplots are wackier and slightly more soap opera-ish, but the same engaging characters and most of the original cast return, making this visit to the city worth taking, especially to series fans.

For those unfamiliar with author Maupin's six books about 28 Barbary Lane, they chronicle the lives and loves of it's residents, neighbors who are closer to one another than they are to their biological families. There is also the nostalgia f...Read the entire review

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The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/551 Fri, 14 Apr 2000 00:04:11 UTC Rent It

A monumental mess of a film, THE MESSENGER: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC is the latest retelling of the 15th century events involving teenage Joan. Director Luc Besson's visual flair produced a film that is at least moderately interesting to look at. But there is little beneath the surface, due largely in part to a script that failed to realize its own obvious intentions.

At its best, THE MESSENGER focuses on Joan. At its worst, it presents battle scenes that though distinctive in style lack punch. There is violence, but there hasn't been enough character development to elicit reactions when characters are killed, and when the occasional vaguely funny line is spoken it seems out of place and unnecessary. The most fascinating aspect of the script, which Besson co-wrote with Andrew Birkin (THE CEMENT GARDEN), is how it portrays Joan: as quite mentally unstable. Fascinating, yes, but grating after t...Read the entire review

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Going My Way/Holiday Inn DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/481 Mon, 20 Mar 2000 11:10:19 UTC Recommended

Universal has done a service to Bing Crosby fans with this DVD double-feature, which includes "Going My Way" and "Holiday Inn" on the same disc. Though I personally dislike "Holiday Inn" (it is a typical musical), "Going My Way" is a classic that is reason enough to make this purchase.

"Going My Way," the winner of seven Oscars is, of course, about Father O'Malley's effect on a community when he becomes part of St. Dominic's. "Holiday Inn," also featuring Fred Astaire, is about two friends who like the same girl and run the Holiday Inn. Noteworthy for Irving Berlin's songs.

Both movies have 1.33:1 aspect ratios and both have good though not exceptional transfers that are surprisingly clean. Both also have 2-channel mono soundtracks. Dialogue is clear and the musical numbers sound great. Supplementary features include production notes, cast and filmmaker biographies and filmogr...Read the entire review

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Love and Death on Long Island DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/480 Mon, 20 Mar 2000 10:53:03 UTC Rent It

Love and Death on Long Island, the tale of author Giles De'Ath's (John Hurt) growing obsession with B-movie actor Ronnie Bostock (Jason Priestly) is the type of benign drama that will most likely be of greater appeal to those viewers who are relatively unfamiliar with gay/lesbian/bi/transgender cinema than fans of the genre. Hurt is very good, but the script, though moderately entertaining, is rather routine.

Universal has released a lackluster DVD edition of "Love and Death on Long Island" that features next to nothing in the extras department. The anamorphic transfer (1.85:1 aspect ratio) isn't finely detailed, but it is clean and clear. The soundtrack, which is Dolby 2.0, is also clear. Dialogue is all audible and easy to understand. Closed-captioned (English). The DVD is only worth buying if you're a fan of the film, otherwise rent....Read the entire review

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Cookie's Fortune DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/479 Mon, 20 Mar 2000 10:32:58 UTC Recommended

Cookie's Fortune, scripted by Anne Rapp, is a project perfectly suited for director Robert Altman. A zany Southern comedy with a strong ensemble cast, the film chronicles the chaos that ensues following the death of elderly Jewel Mae "Cookie" Orcutt (Patricia Neal). Featuring Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, Liv Tyler and Chris O'Donnell, an an excellent supporting turn by Charles S. Dutton.

USA Home Video has done a solid job of bringing Cookie's Fortune to DVD. One side of the disc contains a full screen transfer, the other a widescreen transfer presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Being such a recent release, the image quality is virtually flawless. With the exception of a few soft-looking spots, the transfer is crisp and clear, with rich, well-rendered colors and detail.

There are English 5.1 and Dolby Surround soundtracks that nicely bring to life the verbal bombast and Da...Read the entire review

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Drop Dead Gorgeous DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/208 Fri, 14 Jan 2000 06:01:04 UTC Rent It

With it's comedic sensibilities that at times seem too deliberately offbeat and inhibited, "Drop Dead Gorgeous" still manages to elicit laughs as it introduces us to the world of a teen beauty pageant. Done in mockumentary style, Gorgeous follows several high school classmates from the small town of Mount Rose, Minnesota, who have entered a local, Sarah Rose Cosmetics-sponsored beauty pageant in hopes of becoming Miss Minnesota. The girl who is crowned Miss Minnesota will then compete in the 50th Annual Sarah Rose Cosmetics pageant for the coveted title of Miss Teen Princess America. The concept is great, and poses the opportunity for a scathing satire of the world of beauty pageants. But the script, by Lona Williams, though at times quite funny, never rises to an above average level and the cast includes a few weak links.

Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst) and Rebecca Leeman are the frontru...Read the entire review

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Short Cinema Journal 6 DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/207 Fri, 14 Jan 2000 05:46:44 UTC Recommended

A DVD such as "Short Cinema Volume 6: Insanity" is difficult to review. For the uninitiated, it features numerous short films. Shorts included on Volume 6 include "The Bad Plant," 3 1/2 minutes of animation and a funny, weird story. It is accompanied by an alternate video track of storyboard animation and a director's commentary; the internationally acclaimed "Blue City" (12 1/2 minutes, with a director's commentary), "Billy's Balloon," a humorous 5 1/2 minute film from the man behind the praised "Lily and Jim" (with a satirical commentary) and "El Banquete," a 19 1/2 minute surrealist short inspired by Juan Luis Bunel's writings.

The wonderfully obscure "Franky Goes to Hollywood," which features dog Franky seeking advice from "Armageddon" co-stars Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton and Steve Buscemi (12 min. running time), the 13 minute Belgian film "Black Coffee," which follows a couple ...Read the entire review

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The Last Broadcast DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/206 Fri, 14 Jan 2000 05:15:42 UTC Recommended

Please Note: This isn't going to be a comparison between "The Last Broadcast" and "The Blair Witch Project." And for anyone who wants to know, I disliked "The Blair Witch Project." Now let us proceed.

The hosts of cable TV show "Fact or Fiction," Steve Avkast and Locus Wheeler, had plans to go into the Pine Barrens of New Jersey and broadcast their search for the legendary Jersey Devil. Rein Clackin and Jim Suerd accompany them, and Jim is the only one to make it out of the Pine Barrens alive. Within a couple of days the brutalized bodies of the others were found. Eventually, Suerd is convicted of the murders and given a life sentence. A year after the ghastly events filmmaker David Leigh begins to make a documentary about the events, and in doing so views the footage that was shot by the "Fact or Fiction" team. That is all I'll say, because obviously what he finds is intended to scare ...Read the entire review

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Sommersby DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/205 Fri, 14 Jan 2000 01:06:33 UTC Rent It

An uninvolving but well-acted remake of the French film "The Return of Martin Guerre," Jon Amiel's "Sommersby" is an unremarkable DVD because of its lackluster transfer. The premise is interesting. Jack Sommersby (Richard Gere) is a man who wasn't fondly remembered, he was held in low-regard by many and when he returned from the Civil War it was as though he was a different person entirely. Now he is nice and warm and clever, prompting the suspicion of those around him, including his wife, Laurel (Jodie Foster). Gere and Foster don't have much in the way of chemistry, but both serve their roles justice.

"Sommersby" is was wonderfully shot, but the transfer leaves much to be desired. Artifacts are present; there is shimmering and lots of pixelization. You have the choice of watching it anamorphically enhanced or standard. The audio is of higher quality, the 2.0 surround track presents ...Read the entire review

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The Spitfire Grill DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/204 Fri, 14 Jan 2000 00:49:03 UTC Rent It

An audience favorite at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, writer/director Lee David Zlotoff's "The Spitfire Grill" found itself in a bidding war only to fail miserably with critics and general audiences alike. No wonder. Percy Talbott (Alison Elliott) is a young woman who has just been released from prison after serving five years. A place to live and job opportunity for her, post-release, are found and she boards a bus to Gilead, Maine, where she'll live with Hannah Ferguson (Ellen Burstyn), owner of the Spitfire Grill, where Percy will be working.

The recognizable elements of what will become an incredibly shameless melodrama by any standard (think overwrought TV movie, only with good acting) include the mystery surrounding why Percy was in prison, Hannah's grief over her son, who was long ago presumed to have died in Vietnam, a secretive figure living in the woods surrounding the Grill, a...Read the entire review

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The Last Picture Show DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/199 Thu, 13 Jan 2000 05:48:19 UTC Highly Recommended

Peter Bogdanovich's classic "The Last Picture Show," based upon the novel by Larry McMurtry, is commonly hailed as one of the best films to come out of the 70s, a decade that began as a revolutionary era in the rich history of cinema—the old Hollywood studio system was failing, and ended with directors such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg resuscitating that very system that had been threatened and effectively sidelined for years by directors who had constructed critical smashes from unconventional scripts and direction. It depicts life in the 50s in small-town Texas and focuses on Duane (Jeff Bridges) and Sonny (Timothy Bottoms), two teenage friends who have opposite personalities, and the locals who are parts of their lives.

The sets, outfits and music all have an authentic feel that is only enhanced by the film having been shot in black and white. Most impressive about "The Last ...Read the entire review

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Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/42 Wed, 05 Jan 2000 05:27:29 UTC Skip It

Billy Collier (Sean P. Hayes, now stealing scenes as Jack on NBC's Will & Grace) is a struggling photographer and hopeless romantic. As if that wasn't bad enough for a young person in the 90s, Billy has fallen for coffeehouse waiter Gabriel (Brad Rowe), and doesn't know whether or not Gabriel is gay. Apparently, Gabriel doesn't know either. The two become friends, with Gabriel working as a model for the new series Billy is shooting (re-creating famous Hollywood screen kisses-such as that famous roll on the beach in From Here to Eternity--using Gabriel and a drag queen). As the friendship progresses and Billy becomes more intent on finding out where he stands with Gabriel, a somewhat needless journey provides an opportunity for Billy and his close friend, Georgiana (Meredith Scott Lynn) to escape to an exotic location where they both do some soul searching.

Billy's Hollywood ...Read the entire review

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Child's Play DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/49 Wed, 05 Jan 2000 05:27:29 UTC Skip It

"Child's Play" exploits an idea that would later be explored in "Toy Story," with the exception that Woody and Buzz Lightyear, stars of the latter, don't go around killing people. Most of us had moments during our childhood during which we were certain our toys had lives of their own--that they would come alive when we'd leave the room or what not. In "Child's Play," killer Charles Lee Ray wills his evil spirit to enter a Chucky doll, which belongs to little Andy Barclay. The hitch is that Charles Lee Ray wants back into a human body. Carnage ensues.
"Child's Play" is somewhat clever and more than somewhat cheesy, which is one of the reasons for its appeal. The idea that a little doll could go around knocking people off is hilarious in its own right, and therein lies the main appeal of the film. The confident direction of Tom Holland ("Fright Night") is a plus.
Now, for the bad ne...Read the entire review

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Woman of The Year DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/19 Wed, 05 Jan 2000 05:27:29 UTC Rent It

Tess Harding (Katharine Hepburn) and Sam Craig (Spencer Tracy) are complete opposites. She is an aristocratic political/social commentator; he is an average Joe sports columnist. Of course they fall in love after verbally sparring in their respective columns, but their union doesn't prove to be smooth sailing; Tess is career-minded, which doesn't go over too smoothly with Sam.

Woman of the Year is noteworthy for being the first film Hepburn and Tracy starred in together. And while it is highly regarded as a classic, an overlong, poorly paced, and surprisingly unpleasant screenplay drags down the film. Directed by George Stevens, who worked with Hepburn in Alice Adams, the only redeeming qualities the film has to offer are the performances of the two leads; put them in a room together and watching them read the paper would be interesting.

Picture: The film is sho...Read the entire review

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Ulee's Gold DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/50 Wed, 05 Jan 2000 05:27:29 UTC Rent It

Ulee Jackson, a Florida beekeeper, is haunted by memories of Vietnam, still in mourning for his late wife, and handed the responsibility of caring for his two granddaughters, who have been neglected by their druggie mom, and his son is in prison. "Ulee's Gold" tells his story, or rather, lets him tell his story, and Peter Fonda's Oscar-nominated performance as Ulee makes it well worthwhile.
Life for Ulee becomes more complicated as the mother of his granddaughters arrive and some accomplices of his son enter the picture. This turmoil begins to help him return to the world, with some assistance from neighbor Connie (Patricia Richardson). Directed by Victor Nunez, who helmed another great low-key drama, "Ruby in Paradise," "Ulee's Gold" will be most appreciated by people who favor story and character development over physical action.
The transfer is average. Widescreen but not anamorp...Read the entire review

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Faculty DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/43 Wed, 05 Jan 2000 05:27:29 UTC Rent It

Because of the usual critical overreaction that accompanies the release of many American films that are intended to be no more than an hour and a half long popcorn-filled break from reality, "The Faculty" was panned by most. And I went into this viewing experience not expecting much. After all, director Robert Rodriguez went from "El Mariachi" to "Desperado" and Kevin "Scream" Williamson's scripts become tediously self-referential. The theatrical trailer boasted the previous projects of director and screenwriter more than it did the actual movie. Even the Tommy Hilfiger ad campaign, which would make one believe that R&B star Usher was the main attraction of "The Faculty," quickly wore out their welcome. How did my opinion change after actually seeing it? You may be as surprised as I was.
Lacking the satirical edge that fueled both "Scream" entries; "The Faculty" manages to be a parody inste...Read the entire review

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Hurlyburly DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/21 Wed, 05 Jan 2000 05:27:29 UTC Recommended

Features: Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, stereo surround sound, 16x9, two running audio commentaries, cast and crew filmographies and biographies, original theatrical trailer. New Line Home Video.

The Movie:
David Rabe adapted "Hurlyburly" from his own play. Directed by Anthony Drazan, it is about Eddie (Sean Penn), a self-absorbed casting director who is unhappy in his personal life. His relationship with his girlfriend (Robin Wright Penn) is on-again off-again and he is in a perpetually narcotics-induced state. Along the way we meet his business partner and roommate, Mickey (Kevin Spacey), their friends (played by Chazz Palminteri and Garry Shandling) and a teen runaway (Anna Paquin) who crashes at Eddie and Mickey's home. Their nihilistic conversations and inner conflicts are the centerpiece of the film. What makes "Hurlyburly" commendable are the excellent performances o...Read the entire review

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As Good as it Gets DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/20 Wed, 05 Jan 2000 05:27:29 UTC Recommended

Half black-comedy, half romantic comedy As Good As It Gets tediously chronicles the evolving relationship between obsessive-compulsive romance novelist Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) and his favorite waitress, stressed-out single mother Carol (Helen Hunt). Complications abound in the form of Nicholson's tics and abrasive personality, and Hunt's wariness and ill son; Greg Kinnear proves himself a capable actor in his role as Simon, the gay artist neighbor who challenges Nicholson's rigid way of life. Despite the heavy-handed, self-indulgent screenplay and running time (140 minutes), the cast is uniformly excellent.

Picture: The disc is two-sided; Side A is widescreen, preserving the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and Side B is full screen. The picture quality is topnotch, clean and sharply detailed, with no oversaturation.

Audio: You have your choice o...Read the entire review

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Ball of Fire DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/41 Wed, 05 Jan 2000 05:27:29 UTC Rent It

In the screwball comedy Ball of Fire, Gary Cooper plays an English professor, Bertrand Potts, who has spent the last eight years in seclusion with seven colleagues, compiling an encyclopedia. When he discovers that the slang terms he was going to use in the encyclopedia are outdated, he enlists the help of a group of "normal" folk with healthy slang vocabularies to assist him in compiling terms.

One of the contributors is Sugarpuss O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck), a burlesque dancer and gangster's moll who has to hide from the authorities because her boyfriend is in trouble with the law. Sugarpuss and Professor Potts become involved, jeopardizing their lives and the encyclopedia project in the process. Never mind the fact that she has been deceiving him to bide time before hastily planned nuptials to her mob boyfriend, who himself has only proposed because he faces criminal charges and Sugar...Read the entire review

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Adam's Rib DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/7 Wed, 05 Jan 2000 05:27:29 UTC Recommended

Battle-of-the-sexes films have become a comedic staple, and Adam's Rib is one of the best examples of the sub-genre. It opens with an armed woman following a man, barging into his hotel room, and opening fire. Cut to Assistant District Attorney Adam Bonner (Spencer Tracy) and his lawyer wife, Amanda (Katharine Hepburn). They wake up and read a newspaper story about the shooting which names as the gunwoman Doris Attinger (Judy Holliday). Her two-timing husband, Warren (Tom Ewell) was her intended target. He survives, wounded. The Bonners argue about the crime but resolve nothing, providing the groundwork for the rest of the film.

Once at work, Adam is assigned the case. Amanda finds out and does a bit of ambulance chasing to defend Doris (another of Judy Holliday's sublimely bubble-headed creations). Adam and Amanda prepare for court, unaware of how troublesome the trial will be for...Read the entire review

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Bound DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/16 Wed, 05 Jan 2000 05:27:29 UTC Recommended

One of the best films of 1996, and the feature film debut of writer-director brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski (The Matrix), Bound is a neo-noir thriller about gangster's moll Violet (Jennifer Tilly), her new lover, ex-con neighbor Corky (Gina Gershon), and their plain to steal $2,000,000 from the mob. As you watch it, you'll recognize its many film noir influences (Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity among them) and, indeed, the film's story is traditional, with the exception of the inspired Violet/Corky pairing. Production design, cinematography, and sly performances make Bound a must-see.

Picture: Unfortunately, this Republic Pictures DVD doesn't fully showcase the film's carefully put-together look. Non-anamorphic and presenting the film in it's original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the transfer isn't bad, but leaves something to be desired. Bound has ...Read the entire review

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