OnVideo MARCH Video Reviews
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OnVideo MARCH Video Reviews


BODY SHOTS
A group of young men and women face off against each other in Los Angeles' adult single's scene, with a lot of talking, some action, and a lot of sex (and talking about sex). Four guys and four girls set off on a crazy ride through L.A.'s nightlife, searching for intimacy but generally coming up with intimateless sex, coercion and even rape. The mundane events are set off by each character facing the camera and talking to the audience. Unfortunately, no one faces the music in this empty look at sex and the city.

Director: Michael Cristofer. Stars: Sean Patrick Flanery, Jerry O'Connell, Amanda Peet, Tara Reid, Ron Livingston, Emily Procter. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 100 min.), Comedy drama, 1999, Box office gross: $0.699 million, (New Line), No SRP, Priced for rental Available: 3/28, DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discountBigStar
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2 stars go
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BONE COLLECTOR, THE
Bone Collector
photo Exciting cop thriller about a quadriplegic forensics expert (Denzel Washington) and a young female cop (Angelina Jolie) who team up to track down a gruesome serial killer with a penchant for leaving behind bizarre clues. A horrifying cat-and-mouse game ensues as the cops always arrive just too late to stop the crimes -- which are graphic in their grotesqueness -- until a plot twist thrusts the bed bound Washington into a fight with the deranged murderer. The plot line stretches the imagination but still keeps you glued to the screen.

Director: Phillip Noyce. Stars: Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Michael Rooker, Queen Latifah, Mike McGlone, Luis Guzman. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 120 min.), Thriller, 1999, Box office gross: $63.722 million, (Universal), No SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 3/14, DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discountBigStar
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3 stars go
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CRAZY IN ALABAMA
Offbeat comedy that takes place in Alabama in the summer of 1965, about a woman (Melanie Griffith) who takes her murdered husband's head in a tupperware container and returns home to her mother, then takes off for Hollywood -- one step head of the police -- to fulfill her dream of becoming a TV star; a parallel story revolves around her young nephew, the civil rights movement and a racial murder down South. At times tiresome, at times boisterously outrageous, the film falters when it culminates in an unlikely courtroom scene. Directed by Antonio Banderas, Griffith's husband.

Director: Antonio Banderas. Stars: Melanie Griffith, David Morse, Cathy Moriarty, Meat Loaf, Rod Steiger, Robert Wagner. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 111 min.), Comedy-Drama, 1999, Box office gross: $1.954 million, (Columbia TriStar), No SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 3/28, DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discountBigStar
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3 stars go
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DOG OF FLANDERS, A
Weak adaptation of the children's novel about a poor Dutch boy and his grandfather who find am abandoned dog and nurture it back to life. This version concentrates more on the lad, who not only aspires beyond his station in life to become an artist but is smitten by a little girl deemed too good for him. He eventually comes under the wing of a real artist, Micel, played by Jon Voight, who tries to nurture the young boy's talent. This boring kids tale -- lacking character or plot depth -- totally misses its intended audience.

Director: Kevin Brodie. Stars: Jack Warden, Jeremy James Kissner, Jon Voight, Cheryl Ladd. CC, (MPAA rating: PG, 101 min.), Family, 1999, Box office gross: $2.148 million, (Warner), No SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 3/7, DVD: No. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discountBigStar
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2 stars go
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DRIVE ME CRAZY
Sweet teen comedy with a twist: A popular female high school senior (Melissa Joan Hart) in need of a date for the school's big dance makes over the grunge-loving boy next door (instead of the other way around). Naturally these two from different cliques end up falling for each other. And as in most teen comedies, weirdos face off against the jocks, but at least here the kids all end up learning a valuable lesson about friendship.

Director: John Schultz. Stars: Melissa Joan Hart, Adrian Grenier, Stephen Collins, Susan May Platt. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 91 min.), Comedy, 1999, Box office gross: $17.793 million, (Fox), No SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 3/14, DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discountBigStar
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3 stars go
back





Eyes Wide Shut photo EYES WIDE SHUT
Director Stanley Kubrick's last film, with New York doctor Tom Cruise entering a strange, nocturnal world of eroticism and longing when a minor tiff with wife Nicole Kidman (after each are sensually tempted at a posh Christmas party) jangles his faith in their complacent marriage. The film explores the extent that people will go to test their faith in their values, here with Cruise embarking on a sexual odyssey that puts him face to face with exotic sex and death. A superb performance by Kidman and one of Cruise's better outings.

Director: Stanley Kubrick. Stars: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, Marie Richardson, Julienne Davis, Rade Sherbedgia, Leelee Sobieski. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 159 min.), Drama, 1999, Box office gross: $55.637 million, (Warner), No SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 3/7, DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discountBigStar
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4 stars go
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JAKOB THE LIAR
Set in the Lodz, Poland ghetto in 1944, this Holocaust-era drama tells the story of Jakob, a Jew who, while under arrest, inadvertently overhears a radio broadcast signalling that the Russians are advancing against the Nazis. When he's set free, he tells his friends the good news, and inadvertently becomes a celebrity -- they think he's got a hidden radio. Since the news brightens the ghetto existence, Jakob comes up with fictitious broadcasts -- sealing his fate. A melancholy drama with comedy.

Director: Peter Kassovitz. Stars: Robin Williams, Liev Schreiber, Bob Balaban, Alan Arkin, Armin Mueller-Stahl. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 120 min.), Drama, 1999, Box office gross: $4.956 million, (Columbia TriStar), No SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 3/21, DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discountBigStar
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3 stars go
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LIMEY, THE
Limey photo Misfired thriller about an English ex-con who travels to the U.S. to uncover the real reasons behind the death of his daughter in a fiery car crash. His investigation leads him through drug dealers and to a sleazy money-laundering music producer. Terence Stamp is steely cool as the aging felon who doesn't let anything -- or anyone -- get in the way of his quest to find the truth, and his journey is littered with blood and bodies. Too heavy-handed at times, with a finale that provides little satisfaction.

Director: Steven Soderbergh. Stars: Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzman, Peter Fonda, Barry Newman. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 88 min.), Thriller, 1999, Box office gross: $2.934 million, (Artisan), No SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 3/21, DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discountBigStar
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2 stars go
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Omega Code photo OMEGA CODE, THE
Created by the film division of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, this religious thriller follows the rise of the Antichrist (Michael York as the leader of the evil World Union) and the destruction and resurrection of the world by Good. The "Code" of the title refers to the hidden messages about the coming of the Messiah in the Torah. Co-stars Casper Van Dien, Catherine Oxenberg and Michael Ironside.

Director: Rob Marcarelli. Stars: Casper Van Dien, Michael York, Catherine Oxenberg, Michael Ironside. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 99 min.), Religious thriller, 1999, Box office gross: $12.276 million, (GoodTimes Entertainment), No SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 3/28, Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discountBigStar
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3 stars go
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OUTSIDE PROVIDENCE
Delightfully funny coming of age comedy about a misfit 17-year-old (Shawn Hatosy) sent by his father (Alec Baldwin) to a stuffy prep school as punishment for his latest stunt (crashing into a police car). Once at the academy he's an instant outcast, but he eventually befriends like-minded spirits, romances the coolest girl in the school, and turns the conservative environment topsy-turvy. A variety of plot threads keeps the film -- set in the 1970s -- moving forward. Baldwin stretches his acting chops here as the blue-collar, opinionated father.

Director: Michael Corrente. Stars: Shawn Hatosy, Alec Baldwin, Amy Smart, George Wendt. CC, (MPAA rating: R, 95 min.), Comedy, 1999, Box office gross: $7.296 million, (Miramax), No SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 3/14, DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discountBigStar
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3 stars go
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POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE
Pokemon photo
Japanese computer game and collectible figures make it to the big screen in this full-length feature that is just the first of several that will grace U.S. theaters this year. The kids really love Pikachu and the Pokemon minions, making it a multi-billion dollar industry. This rather dark animated adventure -- re- scripted and re-scored for Americans -- revolves around evil Mewtoo as he attempts to become the world's greatest Pokemon master. The film is backed by kid-pop favs such as Christina Aguilera, Blessid Union of Souls and Spice Girl Emma Bunton.

Director: Kunihiko Yuyama. Stars: Voices of Veronica Taylor, Philip Bartlett, Rachael Lillis, Eric Stuart, Ikue Otani, Addie Blaustein. CC, (MPAA rating: G, 95 min.), Animated, 1999, Box office gross: $84.091 million, (Warner), $26.98 SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 3/21, DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discountBigStar
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3 stars go
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Sixth Sense
photo SIXTH SENSE, THE
Surprise blockbuster of 1999 has child psychologist Bruce Willis investigating a young boy who has been harboring a dark secret: he's tormented by the restless ghosts of dead people. A nifty twist ending and concentration on psychological scares rather than effects makes this a refreshing old-fashioned psychological scarer. The setup at the beginning has the good doctor confronted by an ex- patient -- mow grown-up -- who commits suicide in front of him and his wife. Plagued by doubts, the doctor has fallen into a funk because he feels he failed the first young boy -- and he now devotes all his energies into not making the same mistake twice. And that means discovering the truth about himself. The first sense is sight, the second is sound, the third is smell, the fourth taste, the fifth touch -- and this one is incredibly spooky. There's a reason this is the highest grossing thriller of all time -- it's just darn good. Haley Joel Osment is excellent as the tortured 11- year-old.

Director: M. Night Shyamalan. Stars: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Haley Joel Osment, Donnie Wahlberg. CC, (MPAA rating: PG-13, 107 min.), Thriller, 1999, Box office gross: $290.288 million, (Buena Vista), SRP, Priced for rental, Available: 3/28, DVD: Day & Date. Buy or preorder this title at up to 40% discountBigStar
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3 stars go
back





All films are screened using the DVD version, when available, on a reference Onkyo DV-S717 DVD player.


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February 15, 2000