Primary Colors/A,A
Universal/1998/144m/ANA,WS 2.35
     What a riveting experience, sharing the campaign trail with the crew assembled under the guidance of Mike Nichols for Primary Colors. After three viewings of this terrific movie, it still remains fresh, savvy, and all too often uncanny in its picture of political posturing and the reality of American politics. The close association with President Bill Clinton and company may make the movie more titillating, but eliminate the Clinton associations, and this thoroughly intelligent film stands the test of perceptiveness.
primarycolors.jpg (7461 bytes)

The Mommathon. ŠUniversal

     Rife with scandal, scathingly funny, and cunningly poignant, the script by Elaine May is the best work she has ever done. With a running time of 144 minutes you might expect Primary Colors to have periods of slack time, but the pace is much like a roller coaster political campaign, breathtaking, exhilarating, and filled with unexpected touches.
     John Travolta is amazing as southern governor and presidential candidate Jack Stanton. Travolta manages a good old boy style with maximum charm, keeping a wily intelligence evident below the surface. Along on the campaign trail are Emma Thompson as Susan Stanton, tough and realistic as any Hilary ever might be, Billy Bob Thornton ogling the women and weaving metaphorical "bears in the woods" stories with all the glibness of a professional political analyst. Competing with Travolta's star turn is Kathy Bates' portrayal of political dirt digger and injured idealist Libby Holden. You won't forget the performances!
     Reds are brilliant, rich and perfectly contained, whites are stable with no distortion and blues are deep and clean. Primary Colors is a sharp DVD and comes close to perfection, save for some slight edge enhancement and a few scenes where the grain appears too prominent. The image is dead on sharp. You can delve into the characters souls through their eyes. Ry Cooder's excellent Americana inspired score is open and levels compliment the action harmoniously. Political rallies come to life through the excellent directionality of the Dolby Digital 5:1 encoding.

 

 

  

 

 


What actor would you vote whose screen persona best exemplified the fabric of the president of the United States? Check act Acting Presidential for a look at the many actors who have coveted The Oval Office.


The Feature Archive has articles ranging from Akira Kurosawa to Blonde Bimbos.
Movie Rage: Death in the Aisles
Everyone knows what it feels like to get angry at the movies these days. Here's a humorous but not so delightful view of big screen misery.

Astaire, Rogers, Kelly and More Dance Delights on Film

Fred and Ginger tapped their way into the hearts of movie fans everywhere. Stu Kobak  takes a look at some of those dance movies that gifted audiences toe-tapping pleasure. Click on the image to get in on the beat.

.

The  Movie Poster Archive includes extensive poster images from the films of stars like Susan Hayward, Kirk Douglas, Katharine Hepburn and many more. Our featured star is Cary Grant.