Current Movies - Part 47 - February, 1999
Staff
Ratings: | ||
Extraordinary | ||
Good | ||
Acceptable | ||
Mediocre | ||
Poor |
"The Avengers", Warner
Brothers, 1998, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured
aspect ratio (DVD) 1.71:1, Surround Sound, DD, 1 Hr 35 min, Rated
PG-13; Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Sean Connery; John Steed (Fiennes)
is a Secret Agent for "The Ministry", England's Top
Secret Organization. Together with Dr. Emma Peel (Thurman), they
try to stop Sir August De Wynter (Connery) from forcing the world
to pay for good weather. His weather machine must be destroyed
in order to do this. The film attempts to recreate the '60s TV
show of the same name, but fails miserably in spite of the awesome
star power of its cast. What a waste of time, money, and talent.
- JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "F" word |
"Knock Off", TriStar Pictures, 1998, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect ratio (DVD) 2.32:1, Surround Sound, DD, 1 Hr 31 min; Rated R; Jean-Claude Van Damme, Rob Schneider, Paul Sorvino; In Hong Kong, it is time to return to Chinese rule, and Marcus Ray (Van Damme) discovers that his blue jeans company is being infiltrated with knock offs (counterfeits), which are cheaply made. To make matters worse, the Russian Mafia is packing the counterfeits with explosives, and they are about to be shipped to the United States. His business partner, Tommy Hendricks (Schneider) is working for the FBI in an attempt to catch the mafia and stop them. Just when they think it is safe, the FBI contact, Johannson (Sorvino) turns out to be a double agent. Although this movie may have been OK with Hong Kong audiences, counterfeit bluejeans just is not a very exciting concept for American audiences, and the whole film suffers from a yawning plot. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "S" word |
"Pi", Plantain Films, 1997,
Black & White, Filmed spherically and presented at measured
aspect ratio (DVD) 1.59:1, Surround Sound, DD (2-channel), 1
Hr 25 min, Rated R; Sean Gullette, Ben Shenkman, Mark Margolis;
Max Cohen (Gullette) is a mathematician obsessed with discovering
a formula that describes the behavior of the stock market. Others,
including a Kaballah group, and a Wall Street company, know that
Max is on the verge of success, and they will do anything to
get the formula, for their own use. Meanwhile, Max fights psychotic
episodes with heavy drugs. This movie is an independent film,
meaning that it had a relatively small budget. It is shot in
high contrast black and white, which gives it a psychiatric hospital
look. It is a disturbing product, not just because of the story,
but also because it is so well done in light of having only a
fraction of the money spent on big budget movies. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | mild |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"Out of Sight", Universal
Pictures, 1998, Filmed spherically and presented at measured
aspect ratio (DVD) 1.78:1, Surround Sound, DD, 2 Hr 3 min, Rated
R; George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Dennis Farina;
Jack Foley (Clooney) is caught after robbing a bank and put into
prison. He escapes in the trunk of a car owned by Federal Marshal
Karen Sisco (Lopez). Now, Sisco wants to track him down, but
for an ulterior motive, romance. Her father (Farina) would prefer
that she find a more conventional love interest, but gives her
a gun for her birthday anyway. Sounds like a ridiculous plot
doesn't it? It is. Even the cameo appearances of several other
well known actors can't save this thing. Other reviewers have
said this is one of 1998's best films, but I thought it stunk.
- JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | mild |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"Slums of
Beverly Hills", Fox Searchlight Pictures, 1998, Color,
Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect ratio (DVD)
1.78:1, Surround Sound, DD (two-channel), 1 Hr 31 min, Rated
R ; Alan Arkin, Marisa Tomei, Natasha Lyonne; In 1976, the Abramowitz
family is moving from apartment to apartment, just slightly ahead
of creditors, in order to keep their Beverly Hills zip code.
They think it is prestigious, but you should see the dumps they
live in, the slums of Beverly Hills, illustrating that every
top must have a bottom. Papa Murray (Arkin) tries to keep his
kids in check, and daughter Vivian (Lyonne), at just 16, is blossoming.
The next door neighbor, a drug dealer, would like to pick a few
flowers too. Murray takes in his brother's daughter Rita (Tomei)
who has just exited a drug rehabilitation center, and the brother
gives Murray some financial support so that they can get an apartment
with more than one bedroom. I'm not sure what the appeal of this
movie is supposed to be. A story about a poor family moving around
in cheap apartments is not much of a venue for escapism. - JEJ
-
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | no |
Sex: | yes |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"Protector", Lions
Gate Films, 1998, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at
measured aspect ratio (DVD) 1.33:1, Surround Sound, DD (two-channel),
1 Hr 34 min, Rated R; Mario Van Peebles, Zerha Leverman, Randy
Quaid, Ben Gazzara; When a witness, Tony D is murdered, Detective
Jack Valentine (Peebles) is given two weeks to trap those who
killed him, including Joe Buddha (Gazzara). Otherwise, Jack will
lose his job. The girl who was with Tony when he was murdered,
a prostitute named Alma (Leverman), turns out to know enough
to get her killed, and Jack tries to get her to help him trap
Buddha. Uncovering police corruption, now they both must run
for their lives. Peebles has become a fine actor, and I hope
he gets better parts in the future. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | explicit |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"The Truman Show",
Paramount Pictures, 1998, Color, Filmed spherically and presented
at measured aspect ratio (DVD) 1.59:1, Surround Sound, DD, 1
Hr 43 min, Rated PG; Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich,
Natascha McElhone, Ed Harris; Truman Burbank (Carrey) has an
idyllic life in Sea Haven. What he does not know is that he is
living under a magnifying glass, and is the subject of a television
show created by Christof (Harris). Everyone around Truman, including
his wife Meryl (Linney) and best friend Marlon (Emmerich) are
actors being paid by Hollywood. When an actress named Sylvia
(McElhone) tries to explain that he is living in a world of make
believe, Truman slowly begins to realize what is happening, and
he makes life not so smooth for the TV show producers. A toned
down Jim Carrey is the perfect actor for this role, and it has
received many accolades. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | no |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "S" word |
"Vampires", Columbia Pictures,
1998, Color, Filmed in Panavision and presented at measured aspect
ratio (DVD) 2.27:1, Surround Sound, DD, 1 Hr 48 min, Rated R;
James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, Sheryl Lee, Thomas Ian Griffith,
Maximillian Schell; Jack Crow (Woods) and his team of vampire
killers search the United States for the undead, destroying them
wherever they are found. When his team is wiped out, he and his
friend Montoya (Baldwin) seek the help of a hooker (Lee) who
has been bitten and who now has telepathic contact with most
powerful of vampires, Valek (Griffith). They discover that Valek
is searching for an ancient relic, the Cross of Berziers, the
power of which can let Valek do his evil deeds in the daylight.
Now, Jack must find Valek before it is too late. Although the
film is not a great one, its new level of graphic special effects
make it worth seeing, just this once. Its campy country western
music, played by Director John Carpenter and the Texas Toad Lickers,
makes the movie unique among vampire films. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | horrific |
Sex: | nudity |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
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