For an ant, life is no picnic. As part of a colony, there’s a lot of work to be done. Food has to be gathered. Tunnels have to be dug. The queen has to be tended to. There’s no room for individuality. Try telling that to Z, a worker drone who dreams of a better life. Z (voice of Woody Allen) may swing the axe all day in the tunnels, but he’d rather swing all night at the nightclub for worker ants. That’s where Z and his best friend Weaver (a bigger, stronger ant) hang out after a hard day’s work. That’s also where Z meets and falls in love with Princess Bala (Sharon Stone), who goes slumming with her girlfriends one night as a kick.
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Tradition! That’s what “Fiddler on the Roof” is all about. The Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick-Joseph Stein musical made it’s Broadway debut in 1964, and by the time it reached the big screen in 1971, had gone on to become of the most beloved stage musicals of all time. The stage role of Tevye, the Jewish dairyman trying to marry off his five daughters, was originated by Zero Mostel. Read the rest of this entry »

When Steven Spielberg was first approached to direct “Amistad,” he passed because he felt that the story was larger than a theatrical film could hold. He should have trusted his first instincts. “Amistad,” even at two-and-a-half hours, seems thin. Despite having been directed by the master of manipulation himself, “Amistad” is remotely distant and devoid of emotion. Read the rest of this entry »

Money. It’s as intoxicating as power and can be just as dangerous in the wrong hands. It makes the world go round. It makes people do strange things. People will go to the ends of the earth for it, and in desperation, some people would kill for it. Money is both a seductress and a siren. It lures you with the promise of financial stability and happiness, and in the right hands, can bring both. In the wrong hands, it can bring about ruin and despair. It’s like that proverbial toss of the coin. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
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As he pulls over in the middle of nowhere in the rain to pick up the shadowy figure, young Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) tells him “My mom told me never to do this.” Jim should have listened to his mother. What he doesn’t know but is that the shadowy figure is John Ryder (Rutger Hauer), a serial killer who is about to take Jim on the ride of his life. Read the rest of this entry »

If history has taught us but one thing, it is every time Robin Williams plays a dramatic role in a film with three words in the title, he’s Oscar bound. Look at his relationship with Oscar: “Good Morning, Vietnam,” “Dead Poet’s Society,” “The Fisher King,” and finally a win for “Good Will Hunting.” “Good Morning, Vietnam” was his first major hit, a brilliant combination of humor and pathos set against the blossoming Vietnam War. Williams didn’t do another feature film until 1989’s “Dead Poet’s Society,” and once again proved that he was more than a hyper kinetic comedian. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s hard to believe that “Judge Dredd” was released only three years ago. It seems like more. It feels like a late 80’s film. Based on the English comic books, “Judge Dredd”is comical all right. Director Danny Cannon spent a lot of money and time to bring “Judge Dredd” to the screen, and what he delivered is a film that can’t make up it’s mind if it wants to be a hardcore action film or a live-action cartoon. Rated R, “Judge Dredd” doesn’t flinch on the violence. Read the rest of this entry »

DESERT HEAT (R)
Action hero Jean-Claude Van Damme’s star fades a little more with this direct-to-video revenge flick, more than a step down for the former lead of “Universal Soldier.” Directed with little flair by Danny Mulroon and featuring a paint-by-numbers screenplay by Tim O’Rourke, “Desert Heat” is no more than a ninety-minute programmer that would be happy on the bottom half of a drive-in feature. Van Damme plays a mysterious loner (are there any other kind) whose quest to find solace in his meaningless life is interrupted by a vicious gang who steal his motorcycle and leave him for dead. With the help of an old friend, Eddie Lomax (Van Damme) gathers his strength and seeks revenge. There’s lots of pedestrian action, but not much more. (Columbia-TriStar) Read the rest of this entry »

I Know What You Did Last Summer: Special Edition – Columbia TriStar (R/1997/101 Min./

P & S/Letterbox/2.35:1/16×9/5.1 Dolby)

I Like to Play Games – Simitar (R/1994/80 Min./P & S/1.33:1)

Igor and the Lunatics – Troma Read the rest of this entry »

Laura Garrety (Cameron Diaz) is a woman who won’t be denied. She has waited 27 years to get married, and she won’t let a little thing like a bachelor party get in her way. Which explains her reluctance when fiancee Kyle Fisher (Jon Favreau) announces that his buddies are taking him to Las Vegas for one final blowout. It’s not that she doesn’t trust Kyle. She does. Read the rest of this entry »