DVD Collectors Online

Sergeant Rutledge, a review by Antares

Sergeant Rutledge (1960) 50/100 - For the life of me I cannot understand the amount of respect and admiration afforded to John Ford by cinephiles around the world. For every good film he made, you have to endure half a dozen mediocre or truly bad films. This one falls somewhere between mediocre and bad, the only saving grace being Woody Strode's performance as the title character. The rest of the cast have all kicked up an extra notch in histrionics and over the top melodramatics. One of the key roles in the film is the prosecuting attorney Captain Shattuck, played by Carleton Young. The name may not sound familiar, but two years later, in a much better Ford western, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, he utters the best line of dialog in the film; "No, sir. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." But here it seems like he had spent a few too many nights with a grandchild watching Snidely Whiplash from the Dudley Do-Right segments of the Rocky & Bulwinkle Show. If he had worn a mustache, I expect he would have twirled it a few times when he hurled accusations at Rutledge on the stand. While I applaud Ford for taking a stance against racial inequality, all while segregation was the standard in a good portion of the country, one has to wonder why he felt the need to have one of the minor characters seem as if he was one of Stepin Fetchit's ancestors. It was as if Ford just couldn't go all in on the storyline and had to have one minstrel type character to appease those with small minds. As the film was winding down I felt myself asking the question, "How could he make such a seminal western two years later, when it appears his directing abilities are on life support here?" I have six more Ford westerns to sit through in the next few weeks and I thought that this was going to be the best of the bunch. Well, you know what they say about one rotten apple in a bunch. I hope I'm wrong.

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 March 5th, 2021)

The Bone Collector, a review by addicted2dvd

The Bone Collector


My Thoughts:
This is a movie I have always liked a lot. I thought both Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie did a good job in it. Ed O'Niel (Married with Children) also appears in this movie. This is about the 3rd or 4th time I watched this movie since I bought it. I really enjoy the case... and also enjoy how strong of a woman lead it has. No complaints about the quality of this release... and there is a nice selection of extras to go with it.

(From Movie Marathon: 8/14 - 8/17 on August 17th, 2008)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Dinotopia: the Series


Marooned
A family is marooned in Dinotopia as the lost paradise becomes threatened by unimagined dangers.

My Thoughts:
I blind bought this series back in April of 2005 when I saw it cheap and remembered that I did enjoy the miniseries. But for some reason I never bothered to watch a single episode till now. The pilot episode clocked in at 43 minutes. And I found myself getting a bit drowsy during the episode. As I found it a bit slow and... I don't want to say boring... but it did take an effort to get through it. I think it may have been better if it was only a half hour show. Hopefully the rest of the series will be a bit more entertaining then this episode.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on December 28th, 2009)