, trust me, this will come to be seen as merely a dry run for some studio to try to drop a Monday, post-weekend-of-release embargo.</p>
<p>That’s crap. Studios have every right to decide how they want to screen their films for legitimate critics — even if it’s somewhat frequently a source of consternation — and the dance of requested embargos (particularly for online sites) is a ritual every bit as clouded as high school dating. <b>But once the product is released to the marketplace, you cede control over managed dissection of it. Period.</b> To attempt to suggest otherwise is not only silly, but arrogant as well.</p>
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Daily Archives: October 27, 2006
The Wilkie Collins Set
 is hired by the fretful Mr. Fairlie (Ian Richardson) to instruct his two nieces, Laura and Marian (Justine Waddell and <i>Sirens</i>‘ Tara Fitzgerald, respectively). On his way to their house, Hartright is startled by an encounter with a mysterious, ghostly apparition.</p>
<p>Upon meeting Fairlie’s nieces, Hartright is struck by Laura’s resemblance to the woman in white, and tells each of his vision. Determined to learn all they can about the woman in white, the girls find themselves drawn into a vortex or secrets, crime and recrimination — all of which leads them to Count Fosco (the late, great Simon Callow, of <a href=)
Four Weddings and a Funeral). More mystery ensues.
The Moonstone, meanwhile, tells the story of a sacret Hindu diamond. While lesser known, and additionally a bit less taut and steeped in moodiness than its companion piece here, it’s an equally well-sketched tale, and capably brought to screen in this version from director Robert Bierman. When jewel thief John Hearncastle (Terrance Hardiman) nabs the titular yellow stone from the head of a Moon God statue, and passes it along his niece Rachel (Keeley Hawes) on occasion of her 18th birthday, it sets off a wild chain of events. Rachel’s boyfriend, Franklin Blake (Greg Wise), immediately offers to have the stone mounted, but the next morning it’s missing again, and London detective Sergeant Cuff (Anthony Sher) is called in to investigate. As he uncovers a web of lies, no family member is above suspicion. Kevin Elyot’s adaptation tweaks a good bit of the dialogue, but retains Collins’ galloping sense of fated doom.
The Wilkie Collins Set is offered forth in a sturdy cardboard slipcase, with each title coming in its own respective plastic Amray case. The 1.33:1 full screen video transfers are fairly solid, with only a bit of color irregularity marring some of The Moonstone‘s outdoor passages. There are unfortunately no supplemental features offered on the titles, but if it’s straightforward, well acted presentations of literary classics you crave and live productions are far outside of your zipcode, you could do much, much worse than these earnest, well-mounted offerings. B (Movies) C (Discs)
Ana Claudia Talancón > Chopped Liver
 during which <b>they’ll rent any old piece of crap starring an actress with whom they are passingly smitten</b>. It doesn’t matter, really, if the film is a PG-rated story about paraplegic girl’s relationship with her dying grandmother. The entire straight-to-video market of the 1980s was predicated upon this phenomenon, and even today this reality is the shoals into which a countless number of would-be auteurs and foolhardy film financiers grandly sail their aspirations.</p>
<p>For me, <b>this has led to sitting through a lot of forgettable indie flicks</b> costarring erstwhile frying pan smasher <a target=)
Rachael Leigh Cook, including Stateside, 29 Palms, Tangled and Greg Marcks’ 11:14, opposite Hilary Swank
This switch in my mind was flipped just now with the recent DVD arrival of The Virgin of Juarez, costarring the lovely Ana Claudia Talancón (above).
Talancón
burst onto the scene, of course, in 2002’s Oscar-nominated foreign language film El Crimen del Padre Amaro, opposite Gael Garcia Bernal. I interviewed her at the time, and though sick with a cold, she was still radiant and charming — just a real pleasure. So of course I dutifully caught the little-seen Sueño, opposite John Leguizamo, making it the background accompaniment for an evening of laundry earlier this year.
With roles in Richard Linklater’s highly anticipated Fast Food Nation and Mike Newell’s Love in the Time of Cholera on the horizon, though, Talancón
may not have to live only in my DVD player. And that’s great. Still, you can expect my review of The Virgin of Juarez fairly soon.
Catch a Fire
director Phillip Noyce’s Catch a Fire, starring Derek Luke (above left) and Tim Robbins, tells the story of one such demanding choice. For the full review, from IGN, click here.