WALLACE
& GROMIT: Nick Park's award winning creation not only took the Oscars and
Baftas by storm, but also the hearts and minds of the world. Our mild-mannered,
simple, nerdy inventor,Wallace, and his trusty, intelligent dog, Gromit have become
an industry unto themselves with merchandise covering almost every base. The perfect
characterization in the facial expression and mannerisms are superb and together
with the great voice artists, the set detail and hilarious stories, it's quite
hard not to love the Wallace and Gromit tales. A GRAND DAY OUT Tea time
is an event at the Wallace/Gromit household - but, when there is no cheese for
the crackers, something has to be done ! Where is the best source ? The moon of
course ! After building a bright orange space ship, our heroes set off in search
of the perfect lunar picnic with cheese galore. The moon is not all they expected,
including a rather grumpy coin-operated custodian. Hilarious with so much to look
at you can't just view it once. THE WRONG TROUSERS Wallace presents
Gromit with a birthday gift - one of his new inventions, of course... a wacky
pair of automated trousers. Needless to say, these trousers cause calamity. To
add to the brew, a mysterious penguin lodges at 62 West Wallaby Street, and Gromit
doesn't trust him one little bit - especially when the whole set up drives a rift
between him and his master. A vicious chicken burglar is also on the loose. Great
fun with mystery, comedy and some wild chases. Extraordinary. A CLOSE SHAVE
Our two pals run a little window washing business and one fine day Wallace
discovers the client who's windows they're cleaning, Wendolene Ramsbottom, is
the girl of his dreams ! But all is not well, as to be expected. Meanwhile, evil
sheep rustlers are cleaning up the area and an escaped sheep hides out in W&G's
home. They adopt him. Preston, a malevolent dog who lives with Wendolene forces
her to conspire in stealing Wallace's latest invention, the Knit-o-Matic. Wallace
is framed by Preston who wants to convert the machine for his dog food factory
and our inventor gets a life sentence for sheep rustling ! Can Gromit save the
day? Thrilling excitement like no other with a bit of Terminator thrown in. This
last in the series of three make this an unmissable trilogy for the whole family.
6 / A - PB
WAR
OF THE WORLDS With Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins Directed by
Steven Spielberg Many versions of this tale have seen the light. Obviously
this modernized sci-fi spectacle does not follow the original H.G. Wells tale
to a T, but incorporates all of the essential elements to create a devastating
earth invasion of aliens and holding onto the title. Tom Cruise plays Ray, a divorced
dad who has his kids for the weekend when this genocide strikes. The human extermination
is hectically depicted, vapourised people bursting into dust, their clothing flapping
to the ground. As confused as everyone else around the globe where this Martian
invasion is happening, Ray tries to protect his children against an indefensible
enemy who overpowers the earth's weapons without much effort. Great effects, convincing
performances and relentless aliens add up to an exciting movie with the right
ingredients to hook up with the terrorist fear grip around the globe. 4
/ B - PB Vans
WARPED TOUR 2003 The Vans Warped Tour seems to be the yardstick when
you want to see the state of punk rock each year. Like most festivals other related
activities are hooked up, but you can't find a more relevant tour to incorporate
skateboarding and BMX culture. With 60 bands playing in random order across 48
days, this particular release selected 24 of the bands performing live with interview
clips in between, some with moments of clarity and dare I say it, sense, while
others spew forth stupidity. From Face
To Face, Poison The Well, Glassjaw, Pennywise, The Ataris, The Used
and Less
Than Jake
to Simple
Plan, The Unseen, Suicide Machines, Andrew W.K., Dropkick Murphys, Rancid, Sum
41 and Thrice
at least it is not an all-out commercial punk trip. Extra features include
extended interviews, behind the scenes footage and Lisa Johnson's photo gallery.
Produced & directed by Joe Escalante and Kris Martinez. 4 / B - PB
WARRIOR
OF THE LOST WORLD With Robert Ginty, Donald Pleasence, Persis Khambata
Directed by David Worth Wow. If a film has a low budget, at least they can
attempt a plausible screenplay. Not the case here I’m afraid. A sad post Mad Max
rip-off with a fascistic regime ruling the wasteland (with lush trees, greenery,
mowed grasslands!) and a loner on an annoying (and laughable) super bike. The
good guys approach him to help them in their fight against the evil leader Prossor
and his army. Ginty’s pathetic Eastwood/Gibson whispering bad ass hero is just
so damn cool, yet he’s a total dork. Bad action, poor sets, crap lines, stupid
plot and terrible acting (except for Pleasence’s ham up) makes this a great example
of how not to make a movie. 1 / C - PB
THE
WASHING MACHINE With n/a Directed by n/a This Euro-Thriller’s marketing
abroad tries to fork it off as a horror film. It’s everything but. A cop gets
called in where one of three sisters believes she saw one of the others’ boyfriend
chopped up and stuffed in the washing machine. Many secrets and plots pop up as
the cop starts to get obsessed by all three sisters. If it was subtitled and didn’t
have the fake horror angle it’d be quite a semi-stunner. On screen gore total
about 2-3 minutes. 3 / C - PB
THE
WATCHER With James Spader, Keanu Reeves, Marissa Tomei Directed by Joe
Charbonic Some story lines could never be wished away - even after its basics
had been churned over countless times. As much as it is unlikely for love stories
to disappear from our screens, the same is prevalent when it comes to that stale
(yet intriguing) genre of the serial killer. When taking the plunging twist of
turning Keanu, everyone’s favourite dude (besides Bridges in The Big Lebowski,
of course), into the villain (a move Reeves hardly ever attempts) could be a shot
in the foot. Looking a little bloated around the jowls, Keanu is a tad mechanical
(not much of a change, then) as the serial killer who follows the retired lawman
to Chicago who worked his case. Spader burnt out after our killer got hold of
the married woman he was having an affair with. Reeves draws Spader back into
the game by sending him photos of his next victim, which he needs to track down
before a specific time every night. By making them characters in stead of ID-free
victims, the viewer does get drawn in, not wanting him to kill the girls with
his trademark piano wire. The Watcher is pretty cliché ridden, complete with the
misogynist victimization theme, grainy video point of view shots (with breathing…come
on!) and negative/black & white transitional cuts that happen with an audible
bang… The ever familiar cat & mouse game and symbiotic relationship thing is also
not spared. The two Rob Zombie tracks and Portishead tune are not enough to elevate
The Watcher from its mediocre thriller status while Reeves fans might also be
a bit rattled by his borderline haggard appearance (be it a prerequisite for the
role or not). 2 / B - PB
THE WATERBOY With Adam Sandler, Fairuza Balk, Kathy Bates Directed by
Frank Coraci Ludicrous, slapstick comedy with Sandler playing a bit of a
loser (big surprise!) who is the waterboy for a losing college football team.
They discover he has great playing abilities but his possessive mother won't let
him. Silly jokes, silly movie, but does produce laughs (however cheap or below
the belt). The drool-worthy Balk does add a touch of yum. 3 / B - PB
THE
WEDDING DATE With Debra Messing, Dermot Mulrony, Amy Adams, Jack Davenport
Directed by Clare Kilner Will
& Grace
star Debra Messing keeps it safe with her big screen transition, sticking to the
romantic comedy (besides her small part in the way more interesting Mothman
Prophecies).
Based on Elizabeth Young's book Asking For Trouble, here her screen beau
is (the bland and not-as-handsome-as-his-agent-believes) Dermot Mulrony. I'm not
sure who decided he's a romantic lead, but they can do with a good slap. Kat has
to attend her sister's wedding in the UK. Her ex-fiancé happens to be the best
man. Her sister is a brat and she rents Nick, a highly paid date for hire to pretend
he's her boyfriend to make the other guy jealous. Eventually dirty secrets come
out but we all know who'll end up together. This is as bland and brightly lit
as any one of the two dozen big buck romantic comedies that came out at the same
time as this one. A chick flick, sure, but do they have to treat their audiences
like idiots? And when will they run out of title options containing the word "wedding"? 2
/ C - PB
'WEIRD
AL' YANKOVIC - The Ultimate Video Collection
Around the release of Al's
Poodle Hat, I mused on when we'll be treated to a collection of the man's
classic video clips on DVD… Some six months later I strolled into a Cash Crusaders
and spotted a bunch of these DVDs (with 'Brand New' stickers on them) amoung the
variety second hand titles. Priced at only 50 bucks (in fact R49)! So,
I bought two - one for myself and another for my brother. We'd been Al
fans since we saw his music videos on SABC TV in the '80s, events that were very
rare, and if you're lucky, a tape was in the Betamax VCR to record. If you're
unsure who 'Weird
Al' is, he's
the musical parody king, taking existing songs and changing the lyrics to hilarious
effect. This collection contains two-dozen of the man's wacky parody tunes (including
a few originals). Not arranged in chronological order, the disc opens up with
one of his biggest hits, Fat - it is of course the hilariously obese take
on Michael
Jackson's
Bad, the dance routines duplicated by a padded Al
and a troupe of overweight dancers. Absolutely priceless. Another Jackson
song he retouched earlier in his own crazy way is Beat It, following the
food theme he loves so much with Eat It. Again the video is replicated
with slapstick hilarity. James
Brown's Living
In America becomes Living With A Hernia and Madonna's
Like A Virgin is reinterpreted as Like A Surgeon. One of the best
ones is the take on Nirvana's
Smells Like Teen Spirit, again the video is replicated with a bent twist.
Al's
comedy lyrics are not just slapped together, but damn good parodies with both
wit and lunacy, the music sometimes perfectly executed. Some of his originals
include the theme from his movie UHF, as well as Spy Hard and Johnny
Dangerously. His movie tale replications to the refrain of popular songs include
that of Forrest Gump (to the tune of Presidents
Of The USA's
Lump), Star Wars Episode 1 (using Don
McLean's American
Pie as its basis) and TV's Flintstones (getting the Red
Hot Chili Peppers
treatment). His pessimistic take on love songs are very sharp, like on You
Don't Love Me Anymore and One More Minute. His rip of Bob
Dylan, Bob,
is constructed of palindromes, sentences that can read identical front to back,
using the written card video trick many people have ripped from Mr. Dylan since
the '60s. Devo,
Coolio,
Crash Test
Dummies, Joan Jett
and Dire
Straits are
not immune to Al's
satirical lampooning. The extras include a photo gallery and a rare 1981 live
performance on NBC's The Tomorrow Show, with Al
on his accordion doing Another One Rides The Bus (the obvious Queen
spoof), his buddy banging a suitcase and honking horns. The extracts from his
The Weird Al Show are great, but not enough! It includes a fabulous little
piece of Mr.
Yankovic ripping
Prodigy
's Firestarter and Keith Flint's haircut! No question about it, no home
can do without this comedy & music combo. 6 / A - PB
WELCOME
BACK Mr McDONALD With
Toshiaki Karasawa, Kyoka Suzuki, Keiko Toda, Masahiko Nishimura Directed by
Koki Mitani A
radio station in Tokyo runs a drama writing competition. The winner is a shy housewife
and the show is about to be recorded live at midnight. But, when the prima donna
lead actress decides she wants her name changed to Mary Jane, a chain of ludicrous
events lead to a chain reaction of last minute changes that twists and changes
the entire tale of love and simplicity. This leads to many a comedic scenario
but our writer feels so strongly about the material, how many more distortions
will she tolerate? The assortment of character actors in the play, the spineless
producer, the carefree station manager, serious director, manic technical staff
and a bunch of other characters combine to create a sweet (and at times tense)
little tale of convictions, creative integrity, compromise, duty and love. This
feelgood film, even though it's Japanese, can be related to by all cultures. 3
/ C - PB
WELCOME
TO THE DOLLHOUSE With Heather Masturazzo, Brendan Sexton Jr. Directed
by Todd Solondz Dawn Weiner is a mousy, nerdy 11-year-old ugly duckling having
a horrendous time in Jr. High. From being hounded and picked on by the nasty,
insensitive pupils to her bratty younger sister getting all the parental attention,
you cannot help but to sympathise with the poor little thing, hoping she would
triumph. Falling in love with the singer in her brother's garage band only results
in her heart being broken while the school bully who threatens (rather comically)
to rape her, seems the most likely candidate as her boyfriend. This is a bittersweet
suburban nightmare, which is both heartfelt and true to life. Welcome to the Dollhouse
marks the triumphant return of disillusioned award-winning film school director,
Todd Solondz, in a film everyone can enjoy and identify with, whether you're a
dork or not. His more recent Happiness is as entertaining, but far more shocking.
5 / B - PB
WESTLIFE
- The Number Ones Tour This popular surviving boyband is still huge.
They perform all of their favourites (which include many covers) like Uptown
Girl, Mandy, Footloose, Aint That A Kick In The Head, Smile, Mack The Knife, as
well as My Love, If I Let You Go, Unbreakable, Disco Inferno, Pretty Woman,
I Feel Fine, and Flying Without Wings. You also getan extra 11 best
live songs and the video for their version of Josh
Groban's You
Raise Me Up. Strictly for fans. 3 / C - PB
WHAM!
- The Best Of
While Wham! was one of THE pop sensations of the
1980s, they only released three albums, each spawning a string of hits though:
Wham Rap!, Club Tropicana, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Last Christmas, The
Edge Of Heaven, Where Did Your Heart Go?, I'm Your Man, Everything She Wants,
Freedom… While George Michael's solo career has outweighed his days
with Wham! (just like Ozzy Osbourne's did after Black Sabbath),
Andrew Ridgeley seemed to have disappeared into an abyss of obscurity.
This DVD contains their hits, a discography (which was in fact not a very lengthy
one), lyrics in English as well as French (if you so choose mon cheri). The hilarious
Wham Rap! has our duo acting all streetwise and hip with hardly any beard
stubble. Club Tropicana encapsulates their happy holiday feeling that was
present in most of their songs (besides the sad ones of course, but then, Last
Christmas is set around the holidays!). Their trademark tune Wake Me Up
Before You Go-Go features the brightly lit studio performance video with the
baggy Choose Life T-shirts. The Edge Of Heaven ventured into less frivolous
pop territory, as with the tender Where Did Your Heart Go? The energetic
I'm Your Man is followed by the video for Freedom, which contains footage
from their visit to China. A documentary about the duo would've been a marvelous
extra feature, but alas. 4 / B - PB
WHAT’S
EATING GILBERT GRAPE? With Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio,
Mary Steenburgen Directed by Lasse Hallström Depp knows how to pick
great, interesting roles. Here he plays Gilbert, the oldest son in a family whose
mother is too over-weight to leave the house. He also has a mentally retarded
brother amazingly portrayed by a young DiCaprio (who got an Oscar nomination).
A girl passes through town shedding light on Gilbert’s seemingly dead-end life.
5 / A - PB
WHAT
LIES BENEATH With Michelle Pfeiffer, Harrison Ford, James Remar Directed
by Robert Zemeckis Surprisingly bland and predictable chiller by academy
award winning Forrest Gump director, Zemeckis. Ford is dry (big surprise) as the
scientist whose wife starts to hear and experinnce weird things in their lake
side home - culminating in her suspecting their neighbour of killing his wife.
But, cold, dark secrets come calling from the grave, Pfeiffer the recipient of
the message. And what a gorgeous recipient she is! The film feels very much like
Ghost Story, but didn’t succeed in grabbing me. Sure, there are some scares, many
cheap soundFX stings and silly hand-on-shoulder scares. 3 / B - PB
THE
WHOLE NINE YARDS With Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Rosanna Arquette, Natasha
Henstridge Directed by Jonathan Lynne Hardly as hilarious as publicized,
most of the gags seem to be in the trailer. Perry is an unhappy dentist living
in Canada with his pain in the ass wife. His ex-partner and father-in-law swindled
their practise out of big bucks, making him even more miserable. His new neighbour
just happens to be Jimmy The Tulip, a hitman who squealed to get a shorter sentence.
The guys he ratted out wants him dead and our poor dentist gets knee deep in it
when his wife cons him into going to Chicago, tell them where he is to get a finders
fee. There’s more to it, though, with 10 milion bucks waiting to be collected,
but requiring the signatures of Jimmy, his wife and the man who wants him dead.
One signature and two death certificates will also do…Obviously he falls in love
with Jimmy’s wife, his own being a pain and also has a contract out on him to
get his life insurance. Many gags will make you chuckle, but no more. Perry seems
to be perfecting his slapstick routine without resorting to Jim Carey proportions.
Arquette is annoying, even though her role requires it. Willis smirks as if he’s
only thinking about the cheque and not the luke warm script, while Henstridge
is as tasty looking as always. If Willis hadn’t done this one, no-one would’ve
missed it - Hudson Hawk is far more hilarious, regardless of what everyone has
to say because of its shitty box office takings. 2 / C - PB
WILD
AT HEART With Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, Diane Ladd, Harry Dean
Stanton, Isabella Rosselini, Crispin Glover Directed by David Lynch
Made on the cusp of the '80s / '90s crossover, this is not only one of my favourite
directors of all time, but also one of my favourite movies. Perhaps it was because
I saw it at a life turning point (entering my '20s), or maybe just because it
is such a damn great movie! This often deliberately cheesy lovers-on-the-run road
movie fused with Wizard
Of Oz
elements is filled with spectacular sex and violence, a great dose of humour and
an irresistible atmosphere with that Lynch ingredient you cannot resist. Sailor
Ripley is released on parole (after killing a man paid by his girl's mother to
kill him when he refused her advances - but more importantly, the unsuccessful
killer insulted his sweetheart Lula). She awaits him at the prison gates and they
go on the lam after her mother puts another hit out on him. With some brilliantly
over the top performances and too many memorable moments to go into here, Wild
At Heart
is a visual feast everyone should see. Ladd is psychotic as the mother, Dafoe
out of his mind as an ex-marine turned robber, Stanton is his quirky himself,
and many of Lynch's regulars and Twin Peaks actors waft through in sometimes surreal
sequences, making Wild
At Heart
a gleaming piece of filmmaking which also saw Lynch's first inclusions of heavy
rock music to emphasize moments of intensity. Gotta love it! 6 / A
- PB
THE
WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE With voices by Lacey Chabert, Tom Kane, Cree Summer,
Tim Curry, Lynn Redgrave, Flea Directed by Jeff McGrath, Cathy Malkasian
These crazy animated Nickelodeon TV characters eventually got their own feature
film. Eliza is the daughter of a husband-wife nature film production duo who basically
grew up around the world's wild spots, from India to Africa. The rest of the family
includes the monkey Darwin, the clueless older sister wild adopted tarzan-boy
(voiced by Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea), and
their visiting granny from England. Here they find themselves in the grasslands
of our aforementioned dark continent. The first few minutes give Thornberry-laymen
the rundown of how Eliza gained the power to communicate with animals. When a
cheetah cub friend is stolen by poachers, a wider net with a vicious plot is exposed.
Eliza's Dr. Doolittle power comes under threat as she will lose it if the
secret leaks out. This becomes crucial in the uncovering of a mass pouching operation.
A fun toon with an environmental and conservation message at its root. 4
/ C - PB
WILD
WILD WEST With Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Salma Hayek, Kenneth Branagh
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld The marvelously entertaining Men In Black created
a team in Sonnenfeld and Smith that seems to be a no miss sure thing. Then you
take a look at Wild Wild West. Perhaps they concentrated a bit too much on the
13 year-old market, forgetting about the rest of us. Smith is West, the wise-ass
cowboy marshal who teams up with government agent Kline, to thwart Branagh’s evil
take-over plans. Hayek is thrown in as a well-deserved beauty element while silly
humour, mad set pieces, western cliches, action and FX provide a wild ride of
sheer brainless entertainment. A great gigantic mechanical spider is probably
the highlight of the film. Smith fans will watch this no matter what anyone says
about it, so, whatever. PS. WWW won the ’99 Raspberry for worst picture - I second
that motion. 2 / A - PB
WIMBLEDON
With Paul Bettany, Kirsten Dunst, Sam Neil Directed by Richard Lonccraine
When I saw the trailer for this light little romantic comedy I squirmed a
bit in my seat, the same way I might if I had to sit a whole day through an actual
Wimbledon game (probably getting rained on and ripped for strawberries & cream),
in stead of catching TV highlights or just the men's & women's finals. But, it
turned out to be enjoyable after all, especially because of Bettany's laid back
portrayal as the washed out (rich kid) English tennis player who plans to retire
but gets one last shot when he's drawn as a wild card entry for Wimbledon. Instead
of being the helpless girl and object of Peter Parker's fantasies in Spider-Man,
here Kirsten Dunst is an assertive young champ who has won every title except
Wimbledon. Her dad is the opposite of her reckless youthfulness and tries to keep
her focused and under control. When her path crosses with Bettany, they develop
a relationship and it seems as if his contact with her is improving his game.
With a lot of digital tennis balls the makers saved tons of time by getting the
ball to hit the exact mark they want to, without a cut-away. The humour is a mix
of dry English and plain American, but tends to lean towards the former. If I
could enjoy it, imagine tennis-freaks! Pat Cash was an advisor and John McEnroe
& Chrissie Everett play themselves as commentators. 3 / C - PB
WIN
A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON With Kate Bosworth, Topher Grace, Josh Duhamel
Directed by Robert Lukenic A frivolous romantic comedy with the usual Three's
Company scenarios. With TV stars all over it (from Will & Grace to Vegas
and That '70s Show), this movie doesn't exactly convince the viewer to
be anything beyond just that. A big Hollywood hunk star causes another PR disaster.
His agent plots to get attention diverted. This is done by posting a competition
for a fan to win a date with him. The winner is chosen for her wholesome appeal
- a goody-goody middle-America girl who works at a supermarket. Her childhood
friend and manager at the store has obviously been in love with her since forever.
He fears his chances when she wins, but it gets worse when Tad visits her hometown
afterwards to learn from her good nature. A few jokes here and there. Zero tension
when it comes to fearing if Tad will steal the girl. As a whole just a time passer
between popcorn and slushy. Not your first choice when scanning the video store
shelves. The fact that it's from the director of Legally Blonde is no comfort.
2 / C - PB
WINGSPAN
Most people usually focus on and remember John
Lennon's
solo career after The Beatles.
Paul McCartney's stint with his wife and other musicians in Wings
was actually way huge and even had them earn a Guinness Book Of World Records
best seller award. Songs like Band
On The Run and the first Moore
007 feature theme song, Live And Let Die are but a few of the songs
Wings
made popular around the world. This DVD is a wonderfully crafted & integrated
documentary, not only on the band, but also on Paul and Linda as husband and wife
with a strong sense of family. In a way it is also a tribute to the woman with
whom he shared most of his life who passed away several years ago. The older footage
get woven together with current interviews conducted by McCartney's daughter.
It doesn't get more "inside story" than this, with very little hidden, from the
pot busts and departing band members to happier experiences like hanging in Jamaica.
The DVD includes promo videos of three Wings
songs, live clips, on the road & behind-the-scenes footage, a discography and
photo gallery. Apart from the 88 minutes of documentary footage there is also
an additional 22 minutes of outtakes. As the cover reads, it is an "intimate
portrait". This is just another production that proves how phenomenal the
DVD capabilities are, not only for movies and additional extras, but also when
it comes to music and the amalgamation of audio, video and text to thrill true
fan to the gills. 5 / B
- PB
WINNERS
& SINNERS With Samo Hung, Jackie Chan, Richard Ng, Charlie Shin Directed
by Samo Hung Totally ludicrous comedy with action scattered throughout. Chan
features in a handful of scenes, a cop as always, doing what he does best (a chase
on roller skates being the highlight). A bunch of petty criminals meet in jail.
On their release they stick together and start a cleaning business. They get tangled
in a counterfeit deal. The comedy is absolutely silly, even the super-cheesy music
stings reiterating the fact. Not Raymond Chow’s best production, but a good laugh
for its off the wall attitude. Chan fans will be disappointed not seeing enough
of him. 2 / B - PB
WITHNAIL
& I With Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann Directed by Bruce Robinson
All the elements seemed to have been aligned with the making of this classic.
From Bruce Robinson's screenplay and direction to the casting of newcomers, Swazi
expatriate Richard E. Grant and English actor Paul McGann. This modern masterpiece
takes us on the extraordinary, gritty ride of two unemployed, broke and over-indulged
actors who need to get away from their wasted flat, depression and squalor. It's
the closing of an era, the '60's, and they are confronted with a wide range of
realities. Their conflicting characters make it that much more of an experience.
They head for the countryside to stay in a cabin owned Withnail's Uncle, the gay
Monty. Brilliant lines, great acting and an unforgettable story you simply have
to watch if you haven't several times already. 6 / A - PB
WOODSTOCK
Director's Cut
With Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Crosby Stills & Nash, The Who, Santana, Ten Years
After, Canned Heat, Joe Cocker & more, plus a couple hundred thousand hippies
Directed by Michael Wadleigh It doesn't matter who should get the most
credit for this mammoth concert film. Be it the organizers and artists who made
the whole historic 1969 weekend possible, the cameramen capturing every aspect
of it, the fans who traveled far and attended well, director Michael Wadleigh
or editor (turned genius director) Martin Scorsese. Fact remains, this was the
festival by which all would be measured. A world-changing event amidst a seriously
changing world. The DVD format is perfect, not only for the clear digital sound,
but also the widescreen format with its multiple segments, split screens and vast
coverage. A fine selection of rock, pop, blues & folk artists of this significant
time brought their talents to the stage and ultimately screens across the globe,
and now, home entertainment centers in lounges across the planet. This is not
only great for those who were around at the time and can reminisce to the timeless
tunes of Jimi
Hendrix, Joan Baez, Joe Cocker, Santana, Canned Heat, Janis Joplin, Country Joe
& The Fish, The Who, Ten Years After, Crosby Stills & Nash,
even Shanana
and a bunch more. It is also one hell of a historic documentary for modern kids
who have no idea of what went on back then (great Rock music, Vietnam, Hippies…).
This director's cut contains some extra footage as well as some minor, but fun
bits. Absolutely essential stuff, whether you consider yourself a rock aficionado
or not. 6 / A - PB
WORLD
IN UNION - The History Of The RUGBY WORLD CUP
Just in time to get some added perspective on the 5th and current Rugby World
Cup (underway until 22 November 2003), this documentary on the first four clashes
takes you through the pivotal games with interviews and comments from the captains
and key players. Focussing on the lead teams from the quarter-finals, semi-finals
and tense final games of each cup, teams like Japan and Namibia get no mention.
From the first winners, New Zealand, through Australia, South Africa and the Aussies
again in '99, all the highlights and thoughts of the players get relayed to the
viewer in its 73 minute running time. The great plays, tension, upsets, controversy
and the advent of the steamroller Lomu are a few of the elements you can find
here. Extended interviews with each captain who had the privilege of accepting
the William Webb-Ellis trophy for their team and country can be found in the bonus
section, including our very own no-more-mister-nice-guy-Lays-chips captain André
Pienaar. To top it off, a bonus quiz game will test your knowledge of the game
and this huge sporting garnering 3 billion viewers worldwide every four years.
Even for non-rugby fans, the documentary can be an emotional viewing experience
(especially if your nationality happens to be one of those who proved victorious).
4 / B - PB
WRONG
TURN With Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Jeremy Sisto
Directed by Rob Schmidt The "lustful youngsters out in the woods get
slaughtered by freaks" tale is hardly a new one. Yet, like with the great Pumpkinhead,
Stan Winston's production company managed to take this stale premise and wring
a pretty tense little horror from its sinewy neck. Inbred mountain men deep in
the backwoods spend their time hacking up campers and tourists who happen to make
the mistake of passing through their neck of the woods. A guy late for a meeting
takes a back road shortcut and smashes into a 4x4 whose wheels were ripped by
a barbwire trap. They head on foot to find help, stumbling on the house of said
mountain men. Sure, from the get-go you know which two will be the sole survivors
as the deformed weirdos chase the group through the woods, shooting, hacking and
even using a bow & arrow. A few nail-biting scenes are countered by some truly
annoying characters you wish will be next on the chopping block. To sum this up
in the easiest way would be: a cross between Deliverance
and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
3 / B - PB |