Movie Renter's
Guide
Current Movies - Part 21 - May, 1997
Staff
Ratings: | ||
Extraordinary | ||
Good | ||
Acceptable | ||
Mediocre | ||
Poor |
"The Long Kiss Goodnight", New Line
Cinema, 1996, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured
aspect ratio (laserdisc) 2.32:1, Surround Sound, AC-3, DTS, 2 Hr,
Rated R; Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson; Samantha Caine (Davis)
teaches school in a small New England town, but has amnesia about
her life before eight years ago. An automobile accident brings
part of her memory back, and she slowly discovers that she was an
assassin, Charley Baltimore, for a CIA black bag operation called
"Chapter". Now that the cold war is over, and the
president has other priorities (health care), money is a problem
for undercover activities. "Chapter" is now an illegal
program, whose members plan to blow up a truck full of explosives
in the middle of town, and implicate the Middle East. Charley is
a loose cannon, so "Chapter" must find and kill her.
Charley hires a private detective, Mitch Henessey (Jackson) to
help uncover her past, and together, they put some nasties on the
bad guys. The film has all the necessary components of a 1990s
production: One good actor (Jackson), lots of special effects to
hide a pathetic script, a good director (Renny Harlin) who has to
make do with the pathetic script, and whose wife (Davis) is the
star. Say goodnight, Gracie. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"The Glimmer Man", Warner Brothers,
1996, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect
ratio (DVD) 1.73:1, Surround Sound, AC-3, 1 Hr 32 min, Rated R;
Steven Seagal, Keenan Wayans, Bob Gunton; Jack Cole (Seagal) is
an ex-New York cop who has turned to Buddhism and prayer beads
(along with the omnipresent ponytail). He is called in by the
L.A. Police to help Jim Campbell (Wayans) track down a serial
killer. After apprehending the son of Frank Devrell (Gunton),
Cole discovers a connection between some of the murders and
Devrell. The Russian Mafia appears to be importing chemical
weapons for sale to terrorists, and a traitor in the CIA is
involved. I generally like action movies, but the problem with
Seagal is that his characters never have any flaws, any
weaknesses, so there is no empathy. He goes through this film
beating the heck out of everyone from gangsters to restaurant
clerks. It comes off too pretentious, and I find myself wanting
to kick Seagal's butt myself. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | (the foley is too obvious) |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | nudity (in the morgue) |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"The Chamber", MCA Universal, 1996,
Color, Filmed in Panavision and presented at measured aspect
ratio (laserdisc) 2.32:1, Surround Sound, 1 Hr 53 min, Rated R;
Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway, Chris O'Donnell; In 1960s
Mississippi, a bomb goes off in an office, killing a Jewish
family. The Klan is blamed, and Sam Cayhall (Hackman) is
convicted of the crime. He is sentenced to die, and in 1996, his
grandson, Adam Hall (O'Donnell) a young lawyer from Chicago,
decides to appeal his death sentence before it is carried out in
28 days. Hall's aunt (Dunaway) is a socialite now, and does not
want the story to come back and haunt her, especially since no
one else knows that Cayhall is her father. Hackman and Dunaway
are terrific, but O'Donnell should stick to playing Robin.
"A Time to Kill" sets a tough act to follow, and
"The Chamber" misses the mark. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | (I wish my entire LD collection were this good.) |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"The First Wives Club", Paramount
Pictures, 1996, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at
measured aspect ratio (laserdisc) 1:35:1, Surround Sound, AC-3, 1
Hr 44 min, Rated PG; Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton;
When one of their 1960s school chums commits suicide, Annie
(Keaton), Elise (Hawn), and Brenda (Midler) get together at the
funeral and discover that each has a husband who is running off
with a younger woman. They decide to get even and plot schemes.
The film is a plethora of one-liners and sight gags. When my wife
and daughter saw this at the theater, they said all the women
were laughing and none of the men. Pretty much the same thing
happened when we viewed it at home. I guess we guys will never
understand women, but actually, I don't know why anyone would
want to leave these three fantastic ladies. There, do I get my
bagel now, Susie? - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | no |
Sex: | no |
Language: | no |
"Crime of the Century", HBO
Pictures, 1996, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at
measured aspect ratio (laserdisc) 1.35:1, Stereo, 1 Hr 56 min,
Rated PG-13; Stephen Rea, Isabella Rossellini, J.T. Walsh,
Michael Moriarty, David Paymer; On March 1, 1932, Col. Charles
Lindbergh's baby was kidnapped and murdered, even though ransom
of $50,000 was paid. Col. Norman Schwarzkopf (Walsh) heads up a
team to find the killers. When Bruno Richard Hauptmann (Rea) is
caught with some of the ransom money, there is great pressure to
convict him because of the public outrage that resulted from the
murder. Hauptmann claims that a man named Fish had cheated him on
a business deal, and had left a package with him to keep before
leaving for Germany. Fish had died, and Hauptmann opened the
package to find thousands of dollars which he kept.
Unfortunately, he did not tell his wife Anna (Rossellini) about
the money, and she must decide whether to lie to protect him. The
D.A. (Paymer) and Scwarzkopf bend the rules to get enough
evidence for conviction, and on April 3, 1936, Hauptmann is
executed in the electric chair, in spite of New Jersey Governor
Harold Hoffman's (Moriarty) belief that Hauptmann is innocent.
This is a very different look at the infamous crime, and if the
story is true, even Lindbergh may have stretched the truth to get
closure on the case. The story is riveting, and the acting
excellent. Better than most theater films I have seen lately. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | no |
Sex: | no |
Language: | no |
"Courage Under Fire", Twentieth
Century Fox, 1996, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at
measured aspect ratio (laserdisc) 1.78:1, Surround Sound, AC-3,
THX, 1 Hr 56 min, Rated R; Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou
Diamond Phillips, Michael Moriarty; During the Gulf War, Col.
Nate Serling (Washington) accidentally fires on one of his own
tanks ("friendly fire"), and is reassigned to a desk
job in Washington. His first task is to investigate the
background of Captain Karen Walden (Ryan), who has been nominated
for the Medal of Honor, posthumously. None of the men under her
command tells the same story of how she died. Meanwhile, he must
deal with a coverup of the friendly fire incident, in that the
Government has told the family that the soldiers died in battle
(that the enemy killed them). Serling's own alcoholism does not
help the situation. Spectacular visual effects, a good story, and
fine acting make this a film well worth watching. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | soldiers killed in battle |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"Maximum Risk", Columbia Pictures,
1996, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect
ratio (laserdisc) 2.32:1, Surround Sound, 1 Hr 41 min, Rated R;
Jean Claude Van Damme, Natasha Henstridge; Alain Moreau (Van
Damme) is a police detective in France, and one day, pulls back
the sheet covering a dead body to see an identical twin brother
he never knew he had. Alain travels to New York to find out how
the brother (Mikhail) had become involved in the Russian Mafia. A
young woman (Hensdtridge) thinks Alain is Mikhail, and gives him
a very warm welcome! The Russian Mafia, in "Little
Odessa" try to kill Alain, because they too think he is
Mikhail, and apparently Mikhail was in deep trouble. The movie
jacket says that this is Van Damme's best picture yet, but I
disagree. The directing is choppy, and the story thin. Lots of
fast trips through alleys and seedy nightclubs, but they don't
carry movies any more. Henstridge doesn't do much of anything
except take off her clothes. Both she and Van Damme deserve
better. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | (the ADR is lousy, doesn't match with the lip movements) |
Photography: | (you can see the camera mounted in the back of the chase car) |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | yes |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"That Thing You Do", Twentieth
Century Fox, 1996, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at
measured aspect ratio (laserdisc) 1.76:1, Surround Sound, AC-3,
THX, 1 Hr 48 min, Rated PG; Tom Hanks, Liv Tyler, Tom Scott; In
Erie, Pennsylvania, 1964, a garage rock band comes up with a song
that is a big hit. Mr. White (Hanks) signs them up as "The
Wonders" and takes them on a road tour. Included is a spot
in a beach blanket movie. Although the direction is mediocre
(good actors should stick to acting), the title song is terrific,
even if they play it over and over and over again throughout the
movie. The early stages of the band's life remind me of my own
rock group in Seattle, 1965 - 1968. One weekend we had to use
Friday's' pay to bail the rhythm guitarist out of jail (several
delinquent parking tickets) so we could play on Saturday. On
Saturday night, the drums fell off the stage on top of the lead
guitarist. Ahh . . . those were the days. If you have ever been
in a garage band, you will empathize with some of the events in
this film. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | no |
Sex: | no |
Language: | no |
"The
Ghost and the Darkness", Constellation Films, 1996,
Color, Filmed in Panavision and presented at measured aspect
ratio (laserdisc) 2.05:1, Surround Sound, AC-3, THX, 1 Hr 50 min,
Rated R; Michael Douglas, Val Kilmer; In 1896, Colonel John
Patterson (Kilmer) is assigned the task of building a bridge
across a river in Tsavo, East Africa. Shortly after he arrives, a
pair of man-eating lions begin terrorizing the workers. Patterson
sets out to kill them, and failing this, renowned hunter Charles
Remington (Douglas) shows up to help. The movie is white knuckles
all the way to the end. Scariest film I have seen since
"Jaws". Douglas should have skipped the Texas accent
though. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | lions eating the natives |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "S" word |
"Brazil", MCA/Universal/Voyager
Criterion Collection, 1985/1996, Color, (laserdisc), original
1.85:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Surround, Both CAV & CLV, 5 discs,
142 minutes not incl. single-framing "notebooks,"
unrated; dir. by Terry Gilliam, with Jonathan Pryce, Robert de
Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin,
Kim Friest; This ten-sided CAV special edition will have staunch
fans of the near-cult film flying up in the clouds with Sam, the
hapless hero of the epic. Some critics called it the best film of
the 80s and CineBooks deems Brazil one of the most audacious
fantasies ever made. It has absolutely no connection with the
country of Brazil. Often wrongly characterized as portraying a
future world, it is rather an alternative retro society
controlled by a bureaucratic fascist government. Clerk Sam
pursues his ideals and the woman of his flying dreams amidst an
oppressive (but also big-budget impressive) environment full of
labyrinthine ductwork. Gilliam's satire and black comedy plus the
often confusing plot may not be for everybody, but those it
reaches consider Brazil a masterpiece. There is good reason for
the huge package, not likely to be stocked in this form by many
laserdisc rental outlets. Not only is Gilliam's final cut here in
CAV (still-framing) form, but also the 94-minute "Love
Conquers All" version which Universal unilaterally re-edited
after holding up the film's release for nearly a year
(eliminating the nine wonderful dream sequences), plus a
fascinating half-hour documentary "What is Brazil?"
filmed on the set, plus many hours of additional supplements
using still-framing with occasional motion segments. These
include The Production Notebook (with a detailed chronology of
the script development) and "The Battle of Brazil,"
about Gilliam's warfare with the studio over the original
release. A running commentary by Gilliam is on one of the analog
tracks through the entire film. Besides all the extras in the
package, the primary reason for owning the complete Brazil (or
even the standard 113-minute version on VHS) is that it is a
dauntingly dense production that absolutely requires more than a
single viewing to understand fully and appreciate. - John Sunier -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | partial nudity |
Language: | no |
"Extreme Measures", Castle Rock,
1996, Color, Filmed in Panavision and presented at measured
aspect ratio (laserdisc) 2.32:1, Surround Sound, 1 Hr 58 min,
Rated R; Hugh Grant, Gene Hackman, Sarah Jessica Parker; Dr. Guy
Luthan (Grant) is going about his job as an ER (Emergency Room)
chief, when a patient arrives in convulsions and dies, in spite
of his efforts. When the body disappears from the morgue, he
becomes suspicious and tries to find out what happened. Attempts
are made on his life, and he realizes that a conspiracy is afoot.
He discovers that Dr. Lawrence Myrick (Hackman) is the head of
Tri Phase Laboratories, where experimentation is being done on
humans, and they don't particularly care for Guy meddling in
their work. One of the main problems with this film is that you
don't know what the heck is going on until well into the second
half. Hackman does well, but Grant is miscast. On the other hand,
Elizabeth Hurley (Grant's girlfriend) is the producer, so what do
you expect? - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"Lone Star", Castle Rock, 1995,
Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect ratio
(laserdisc) 2.32:1, Surround Sound, 2 Hr 15 min, Rated R; Kris
Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey; In a small Texas town,
Sheriff Sam Deeds investigates the remains of a body discovered
in the desert, where along with the skeleton, a Sheriff's badge
was found. His father, Sheriff Buddy Deeds (McConaughey), had
been involved in a serious disagreement with another officer,
Charlie Wade (Kristofferson) many years ago, and Wade had
disappeared. The evidence points to the skeleton being that of
Wade, and Sam's father might have killed him. There are several
plots going on all at the same time, and the film suffers. Too
many long conversations, and not enough of McConaughey, who is a
fine new actor ("A Time to Kill"). - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | yes |
Sex: | yes |
Language: | the "F" and "S" words |
"The Spitfire Grill", Castle Rock,
1996, Color, Filmed spherically and presented at measured aspect
ratio (laserdisc) 1.81:1, Surround Sound, 1 Hr 57 min, Rated
PG-13; Ellen Burstyn, Marcia Gay Harden, Alison Elliott, Will
Patton; Percy Talbot (Elliott) gets out of prison for having
murdered her abusive stepfather, and decides to start a new life
in Gilead, Maine. She gets a job in The Spitfire Grill, a small
restaurant owned by Hannah Ferguson (Burstyn). The townspeople
are suspicious of any newcomer, and Percy is no exception.
However, she changes the lives of everyone there, especially a
reclusive man who lives in the hills and comes down only at night
to chop wood for the Grill. Advertisements compare this film to
"Fried Green Tomatoes", and I can see the similarities,
but Grill doesn't have as many laughs. It is quite sad, so bring
your hankies. - JEJ -
Entertainment: | |
Video Quality: | |
Audio: | |
Photography: | |
Violence: | no |
Sex: | no |
Language: | the "S" word |
Other rental movies viewed but not formally
reviewed:
"Scorpion Spring": (garbage)
© Copyright 1995, 1996, 1997
Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
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