DVD Review: Femme Fatale (D)

Femme Fatale (2002)
Directed by Brian DePalma
Starring Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Antonia Banderas and Peter Coyote
MPAA: R
Grade: D

Review by Scott Standish

Brian DePalma is one of those directors that either seems to either hit a home run completely out of the park or strike out miserably. He's directed the classic movies Carrie, Scarface, The Untouchables and Mission Impossible. But his last three movies were: Snake Eyes, Mission To Mars and now the incredibly boring Femme Fatale. With all due respect to the man that many like to compare to Alfred Hitchcock, it appears that Mr. DePalma is certainly in a slump.

Femme Fatale aspires to be a modern day Double Indemnity and in fact, the femme fatale of Femme Fatale (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Laure Ash) is watching the Fred McMurray classic as the movie opens. Laure is central to a huge diamond burglary played out in the middle of the Cannes Film Festival. The heist is a bit ludicrous to begin with and what makes it all the more ridiculous are the drawn out lesbian love scenes that happen throughout. Laure isn't satisfied with one heist, so she moves on to bigger fish when she meets up with the love struck Ambassador Bruce Watts (played by Peter Coyote). Poor Antonio Banderas enters the film at this point and he's dragged through the mud portraying Nicolas Bardo, a scumbag photographer.

The pacing of Femme Fatale is way too slow for a thriller and the score is annoying at times. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos is not as bad here as some would have you think, but she is clearly not up to the task of carrying such a role. She comments about how she's "a bad girl that has done bad things" but frankly, that's not very believable. Rebbecca is half naked for most of the movie, and when she's not doing lesbian love scenes, she's doing lap dances for grimy thugs in the basement of biker bars.

A thriller that fails to thrill is a sad thing to behold. Femme Fatale looks like a Roman Polanski film, but doesn't have the acting or script to succeed. Other than Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (for the guys) and Antonio Banderas (for the gals) doing their best to act sexy, there's not much to hang onto here. DePalma has done much better and certainly will do much better than the slow and shallow Femme Fatale.

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DVD Review: Last Minute, The (C+)

The Last Minute (2001)
Directed by Stephen Norrington
Starring Max Beesley, Emily Correy and Stephen Dorff
MPAA: R
Grade: C+

Review by Scott Standish

Best known for directing Blade, Stephen Norrington brings a visual feast to the table with The Last Minute. The film openly wears its influences on it's sleeve (it's Fight Club meets Trainspotting) but things get a little more complicated with this tale of fame and fortune as the lead characters literally go underground.

Max Beesley stars as Billy Byrne, a hotshot that the London press can't seem to get enough of. He's a model/philosopher/movie personality that becomes the "it boy" for a very fleeting moment. As fast as the fame and fortune came- it all disappears. Norrington cleverly obfuscates whatever it is that Billy is supposed to actually do, or produce. He's just a salable commodity, a good looking guy with personality. When the press turns on him, Billy's world collapses into a dark world of homelessness and drug addiction.

The look of the Last Minute is the true star here and frankly, its about the only thing that really kept me going. Ultimately, the Last Minute thrill ride seems to lose steam in its final act. The Last Minute might have attempted to much in one film as the script is a little silly at times (especially the song and dance numbers?).

However for fans of Blade, the visuals are pretty darn nice and this is a film that certainly has its moments.

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DVD Review: Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring (B+)

Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Ian Holm, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchet, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: B+

Review by Ellyn Elm

In a small village in the Shire a young Hobbit named Frodo has been entrusted with an ancient Ring. Now he must embark on an Epic quest in order to destroy it. The basic premise of Lord of the Rings is simple and this simplicity allows all of the elements of fantasy to shine through. Lord of the Rings is a visual masterpiece and director, Peter Jackson, deserves all of the credit that has been bestowed upon him. Jackson does a superb job in transferring words on the page into a feast for the eyes.

I love science fiction and fantasy but science fiction/fantasy has always troubled me: Star Wars, for instance, tries too hard to be both. I dislike immensely Lucas's melding of the cute and fuzzy with high tech. That's my opinion, mind you, and it is for this reason I HATED Star Wars. Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, creates a far richer world. There is a subtlety to the landscapes and characters that enables them to appear more organic, more believable and ultimately much more complex.

I don't feel compelled to blather on and on about this movie as so many others have. What's the point? I'll simply tell you this: Lord of the Rings is a classic tale, allegorical and lyric with a visual arsenal that will knock your socks off! (There are also 2 hours of additional footage on the DVD if you go in for that sort of thing.) In short, this movie does not disappoint.

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DVD Review: Austin Powers In Goldmember (D)

Austin Powers In Goldmember (2002)
Directed by Jay Roach
Starring Mike Myers, Beyonce Knowles, Seth Green and Michael York
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: D

Review by Bobby Nashville

Yawn. It's kind of a shame what's become of this once promising series. The spy film genre has always been a great one to parody (my personal favorite is the Matt Helm series with Dean Martin). The first Austin Powers film was pretty clever, lighthearted and downright funny.

However, with The Spy Who Shagged Me, the bathroom jokes started taking over. With Goldmember, Mike Myers has once again taken the low road with non-stop jokes about gross behavior. Now don't get me wrong folks. I am not a prude, I can handle low grade humor as well as the next guy but let's get right to it: after a point it really stops being funny and just makes you scratch your head.

Sure, they added the cute Foxxy Cleopatra role (played well by Beyonce Knowles) but other than that, its a Mini-me, Fat Bastard stupidity fest without alot of innovation. I guess when you get to the third installment of a film series, it's tough to add anything original to the storyline, but this is pretty lame. They added the Dutch roller boogie villian Goldmember, but he's just another gross-out character without the punch of the clever Dr. Evil.

There are tons of movie review sites out there that are willing to waste their time discussing this piece of crap. We're not one of them. I guess if you are under ten or like comedy aimed at the under ten year old set, this might be a really cool "film". As for me I kept hoping that a huge two headed slime monster would enter the screen and devour everyone. Now THAT would have been cool.

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DVD Review: Business Of Strangers (B-)

Business of Strangers (2001)
Directed by Patrick Stettner
Starring Stockard Channing and Julia Stiles
MPAA: R
Grade: B-

Review by Scott Standish

Stockard Channing is probably one of the most consistently versatile (and yes, that is possible) actresses in the business today. Whether it be the society mom of Six Degrees of Separation, the boy chasing bad girl of Grease or the cold as ice executive of Business of Strangers, she always seems to bring her best to the screen.

The Business of Strangers tells the story of two women in the workplace: Paula, a temp just trying to get through the day setting up a laptop for a presentation (Julia Stiles), and Julie, a high powered VP willing to play tough to get to the top (Channing). When traveling out of town on a sales job, Paula screws up a very important presentation by the VP, so Julie fires her with no remorse whatsoever.

Things turn around quickly in Business of Strangers, as Stockard Channing and the temp bump into each in the hotel bar later that night. The VP feels guilty for firing the temp so she tries to erase her guilt by befriending the young girl. The evening takes on one twist after another, some not as clever as the director might have hoped, while on the other hand, some of the twists are pretty interesting.

The dynamic between Channing and Stiles really gathers electricity as the pair get to know each other. The temp is wild and carefree, and the VP is cautious and uptight. They both feel that the other can learn from them, and there is a battle for power that keeps the viewer intrigued up to the final scene.

This film feels very much like a stage play (perhaps it was?) as it takes place in just three settings (a business office, a bar and a hotel room). The camera work and overall art direction is rather flat. All of the story line twists are revealed through dialogue, and the blocking seems set up for a stage play. But the acting is so good that one does become absorbed into what is happening.

Julia Stiles is excellent here and she is one actress to keep an eye on. But it is Channing that once again controls the pulse of this movie, and her wide range is really put to test here. Give Business of Strangers a shot if you are a fine of tightly wound character driven stories with solid acting.

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DVD Review: Aimee & Jaguar (B)

Aimee & Jaguar (1999)
Directed by Max Farberbock
Starring Maria Schrader, Juliane Kohler, Johanna Wokalek and Klaus Manchen
MPAA: UR
Grade: B

Review by Scott Standish

Based on a true story, Aimee & Jaguar is a touching love story set among the horrible backdrop of 1940's Berlin. Well directed and finely acted, this one is a winner.

Felice is a fiercely courageous young Jewish woman who survives by assuming a fake name and pretending to be a supporter of the Nazi regime. She works at the leading newspaper and writes romantic poetry. Her secret life as a Jew and a lesbian causes her to be constantly aware of the dangers around her.

Felice falls madly in love with the Lilly Wust, the wife of a Nazi soldier. Their romance is forbidden for so many reasons, and yet they are deeply and passionately drawn to each other. As the bombardments from the allies rain down, and the Nazis continue to hunt down Jews, their situation grows even more chaotic.

Aimee and Jaguar has a great look to it and again, the acting is superb. However, the film's running time of 125 minutes seemed a bit long to me. However, despite the film's length it is still a wonderful movie. Give Aimee and Jaguar a shot if you are searching for a good romantic drama.

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DVD Review: Carly Simon Live From Martha's Vineyard (B-)

Carly Simon: Live from Martha's Vineyard (1988)
Starring Carly Simon
MPAA: UR
Grade: B-
Review by Scott Standish

Carly Simon is a true survivor, one of those singer/songwriters that you can't help but like. This live concert (filmed on the docks on Martha's Vineyard) from 1988 shows off her skills fairly well and for fans of Carly, this is probably a must have.

The concert film starts with sweeping shots of Martha's Vineyard: boats coming in, seagulls playing on the shore. All of this sets up the casual nature of the concert quite well. Carly walks onto the docks like she does these kind of concerts all the time, when in fact it's widely known that she suffers from stage fright and rarely performs live.

Carly and her quite capable band churn out the hits here and for fans of Carly, it doesn't get any better. Anticipation, You're So Vain, Nobody Does It Better - the list goes on and on. The performance here is good, but as many have pointed out, the audio is very strange during the show. It sounds over-filtered, almost like the band is lip-synching (although they obviously were not).

Carly Simon: Live from Martha's Vineyard is an excellent concert film for true Carly fans. But for the simply curious, I doubt this will blow you away.

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DVD Review: Far From Heaven (B+)

Far From Heaven (2002)
Directed by Todd Haynes
Starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid and Dennis Haysbert
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: B+

Review by Scott Standish

Todd Hayne's beautiful tribute to the films of Douglas Sirk is also an entertaining, luscious and at times thought provoking examination of 1950's morality in America. The acting is impressive (Julianne Moore is certainly one of the finest actresses working today) and the direction is solid. The melodramatics have been toned down a bit from the Sirk classics, so Far From Heaven is a more even, although less passionate film than Sirk's Written On The Wind.

Cathy and Frank (Moore and Quaid) are the perfect couple with a fabulous home and two beautiful children. Frank is an executive at Magnatech and his marriage is so perfect (or so it seems) that the company uses them in ad campaigns as "Mr. & Mrs. Magnatech".

When cracks appear in their marriage, Cathy struggles to cope and finds herself confiding in her African-American gardener Raymond. In a stuffy, conservative Connecticut town, her relationship with the gardener is frowned upon. Cathy finds herself conflicted with the emotions she hides beneath the surface and the surface layer that she needs to present to society.

Julianne Moore is absolutely enchanting as the prim and proper housewife with a heart of gold. Dennis Quaid does a surprisingly effective job in a role that certainly most would have thought to be a casting stretch. Cathy's gardener Raymond (Dennis Haysbert) actually steals the show in my opinion as he shows a tenderness and intelligence throughout his character's travails.

Far From Heaven swept the Chicago Film Critics Awards and the New York Film Critics Awards grabbing all of the major awards, including Best Picture. If you are looking for a good drama with solid acting, lavish art direction and cinematography, this is for you. Highly recommended.

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