DVD Collectors Online

The Quiet, a review by RossRoy

WHAT THEY SAY

This erotic and suspenseful tale of sex, lies and betrayal stars 'Elisha Cuthbert' ('The Girl Next Door') as Nina Deer, a pretty cheerleader whose life is turned upside-down by the arrival of her parents' godchild Dot ('Camilla Belle', 'When a Stranger Calls'), a deaf and mute girl recently orphaned by her father's death. Although Nina looks upon Dot's deafness with disdain, her family and friends develop a strange attraction to her, and Dot soon becomes a sounding board for everyone's heaviest burdens. But when Nina becomes convinced that Dot is hiding a few secrets of her own, she decides to confess a family secret so disturbing, it cannot be ignored. Also starring 'Martin Donovan' (TV's 'Weeds') and 'Edie Falco' (TV's 'The Sopranos').

MY THOUGHTS

Can't believe I still hadn't posted a full review of this little gem! I know I've mentioned a few times how much I like it, but I really was under the impression I had posted a full on review in the past. Oh well, here goes then! What can I say? I love this movie! Even more so, because it was a complete surprise when I first watched it. I had bought the movie solely based on the fact the Elisha Cuthbert and Camilla Belle were in it. And look at that picture? Wouldn't that make you want to watch it and makes the film look really "yummy"? Turns out this drama has a dark secret and really dark story, dealing with a heavy and disturbing theme. But what, to me, makes this movie so great is the so called "twist". The movie already develops like a good drama should, establishing the characters, their relationship, evolving as the movie moves along. And then, the twist hits at the end, and the movie takes a whole new meaning. Some situations that almost made no sense, now play a very important part in the flow of events. I find the ending is very powerful too. I find it hard to actually explain without spoiling it, but I really really love it. And even though I have watched it 4 times now, it still has the same impact on me.

RATING

(From RossRoy's Random Viewings on March 28th, 2010)

The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer, a review by Antares

The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961) 88/100 - My favorite film of the trilogy. War and his treatment by his fellow soldiers has nearly broken Kaji. But the thought of returning to Michiko fuels his desire to survive and he'll stop at nothing to make it reality. This is definitely Nakadai's best performance of the three films. Gone is the doe-eyed zombie of the first film, replaced with a realistically tormented shell of a human being. Kobayashi, throughout the film, emphasizes the luck of having a roof over your head, the first time being when one of the prostitutes mentions it when they come to what appears to be an abandoned farm. Tange says it at one point and Kaji declares it at the refugee camp. But it's when Kaji is trudging through the frozen Manchurian landscape, after escaping captivity, and in his delusional mind, he hears Michiko say it as they entered their house back at the mining camp, that Kobayashi throws an ambiguous twist at Kaji. By now, Kaji knows he's finished and most likely is going to die and he's re-living the happy moments from the past with Michiko, in his mind. He remembers little bits of happy conversation between the two, but we only hear Michiko's lines of dialog. And then, just as Kaji is about to fall forward into the snow, you hear Michiko laughing. Is Kaji remembering one last moment of her exuberance before he dies or is Kobayashi, having the last thing Kaji hear, is Michiko laughing at him, for being so obstinate in his beliefs back at the mining camp and losing his military deferment? And now, instead of being back in Japan, at home with the woman he loves, he's dying, unsheltered on the frozen steppe of Manchuria...alone, a victim of his ideals.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on February 26th, 2014)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Das Amt: Staffel 1 & 2 (1997/Germany) IMDb Koch Media, RTL Television, Spirit Media (Germany) Length: 479 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

---

Das Amt
1.01 Die Neue
Writer: Dietmar Jacobs (Writer)
Director: Micha Terjung
Cast


(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on February 23rd, 2012)