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I am Legend, a review by Rich

I am Legend



Richard Matheson's classic chiller gets its third adaptation (after THE OMEGA MAN and THE LAST MAN ON EARTH) with this film from director Francis Lawrence (CONSTANTINE). Will Smith plays Robert Neville, the last survivor in a post-apocalyptic New York, but there's still danger left on the city streets.

2nd viewing of this dvd, and my opinion has not changed greatly. After reading the excellent Matheson book which has inspired so many films, I would always feel slightly disappointed by and translated film. However it is an interesting adaptaion, and as a stand-alone film is quite good.
I thought Will Smith played the lead as the last human survivor well, capturing the slow madness of a man chatting to shop dummies and his relationship with Sam the dog. The backdrop of a ravaged New York is excellent, really creepy, with the wild animals roaming free. The lack of other characters does make the film a little bland, and I would have liked the 'other' humans brought into the story earlier.
But as Jon has previously said in his review, the mutants are a major let-down and the director appears to have gone crazy with his CGI effects to a point where at times they were like cartoons, totally unconvincing, and not scary in any way (although the initial 'hive' shot was suspenseful). The ending as well was not translated from the book, and too Hollywood nicey nicey for my taste.
Great effects though, and at times a full-on action piece that makes it a must-see for me.
 
 

(From Riches Random Reviews on March 22nd, 2009)

Tootsie, a review by Tom

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Title: Tootsie
Links: IMDb | Wikipedia

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Year:	1982 / United States
Director:	Sydney Pollack
Writing:	Don McGuire (Story By), Larry Gelbart (Story By), Larry Gelbart (Screenwriter), Murray Schisgal (Screenwriter)
Rating:	15
Length:	112 Min.
Video:	Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35
Audio:	English: Dolby Digital 5.0, French: Dolby Digital 1, German: Dolby Digital 1, Italian: Dolby Digital 1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 1
Subtitles:	Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

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Stars:
Dustin Hoffman as Michael Dorsey
Dustin Hoffman as Dorothy Michaels
Jessica Lange as Julie
Teri Garr as Sandy
Dabney Coleman as Ron

Plot:
Desperate, he took a female role and beame a star. If only he could tell the woman he loves.Awards:

Academy Award	1982	Nominated	Best Actor	Dustin Hoffman
Academy Award	1982	Nominated	Best Cinematography	Owen Roizman
Academy Award	1982	Nominated	Best Director	Sydney Pollack
Academy Award	1982	Nominated	Best Film Editing	Fredric Steinkamp, William Steinkamp
Academy Award	1982	Nominated	Best Music, Song	"It Might Be You": Dave Grusin (Music); Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman (Lyrics)
Academy Award	1982	Nominated	Best Picture	Sydney Pollack, Dick Richards (Producers)
Academy Award	1982	Nominated	Best Sound	Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Rick Alexander, Les Lazarowitz
Academy Award	1982	Won	Best Supporting Actress	Jessica Lange
Academy Award	1982	Nominated	Best Supporting Actress	Teri Garr
Academy Award	1982	Nominated	Best Writing, Original Screenplay	Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal (Screenplay); Don McGuire, Larry Gelbart (Story)
AFI	1982	Won	100 Years... 100 Laughs (2000)
AFI	1982	Won	100 Years... 100 Movies (1998)
AFI	1982	Won	100 Years... 100 Movies (2007)
AFI	1982	Nominated	100 Years... 100 Songs (2004)	"Song": It Might Be You
American Cinema Editors Awards	1983	Nominated	Best Edited Feature Film	Fredric Steinkamp, William Steinkamp
BAFTA	1983	Won	Actor	Dustin Hoffman
BAFTA	1983	Nominated	Actress	Jessica Lange
BAFTA	1983	Nominated	Adapted Screenplay	Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal
BAFTA	1983	Nominated	Costume Design	Ruth Morley
BAFTA	1983	Nominated	Direction	Sydney Pollack
BAFTA	1983	Nominated	Film	Sydney Pollack, Dick Richards
BAFTA	1983	Won	Make-Up Artist	Dorothy J. Pearl, George Masters, C. Romania Ford, Allen Weisinger
BAFTA	1983	Nominated	Original Song Written For A Film	"Tootsie": Dave Grusin, Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman
BAFTA	1983	Nominated	Supporting Actress	Teri Garr
	1982	Nominated	Meilleur Film Etranger	Sydney Pollack
Directors Guild of America	1983	Nominated	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Sydney Pollack
Golden Globe	1982	Won	Actor in a Leading Role - Musical or Comedy	Dustin Hoffman
Golden Globe	1982	Won	Actress in a Supporting Role	Jessica Lange
Golden Globe	1982	Nominated	Director	Sydney Pollack
Golden Globe	1982	Won	Picture - Musical or Comedy	Sydney Pollack, Dick Richards
Golden Globe	1982	Nominated	Screenplay	Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal
Grammy Awards	1984	Nominated	Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special	Dave Grusin
Writers Guild of America Awards	1983	Won	Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen	Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal

Extras:
Bonus Trailers
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers

This one was recommended to me here (I think by Jon). Of course I knew about this movie, but I never considered watching it because I wasn't really keen on watching Dustin Hoffman in drag. But after the recommendation and reading the synopsis I found that this movie could be interesting to me after all. Dustin Hoffman did a great job as Dorothy. Whenever he was on screen as Dorothy, it was real fun to watch. Also I was surprised to see Bill Murray. I didn't know beforehand that he was in this picture.
I am also glad that Dustin Hoffman convinced the director Sydney Pollack to play the role of the agent. These two were great together.
Teri Garr reminded me a lot of Phoebe from Friends. It's a stroke of genius of the producers of Friends to cast her as Phoebe's mother, I think.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on August 9th, 2010)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

9. The Puppet Show
The new principal forces Giles to run Sunnydale High's annual talent show and Buffy, Willow and Xander have to perform against their will. Things get worse as the talent show proves to be a deadly place when one of the participants is found with her heart removed and the clues all point to one boy and his ventriloquist puppet.

My Thoughts:
This is another of those fun episodes.... the dummy in this episode was just hilarious. So much so... that this one ranks up there as one of my favorite episodes.

10. Nightmares
When strange things begin happening to the students at Sunnydale High, it seems that everyone is living their worst nightmares. Buffy and the gang must hold together to stop the phenomena before reality and the nightmare world become one.

My Thoughts:
Another of my favorite episodes... Nothing like seeing one's nightmare come to life... and if I am not mistaken the only time through-out the series that you see Buffy as a vampire.

11. Out of Mind, Out of Sight
When a seemingly evil invisible force centers around Cordelia, Buffy investigates and discovers that a student who was ignored by all her classmates, including Willow and Xander; became invisible by their perception of her and she plans revenge on Cordelia because of her popularity.

My Thoughts:
A good episode... but one that really isn't anything all that special. Worth the time put in to watch it.... but nothing here to make you think wow!

12. Prophecy Girl
With the help of Angel, Giles discovers an ancient prophecy which foresees that Buffy will die if she fights The Master. Upon hearing of her doom, Buffy is met with the biggest decision of her young life.

My Thoughts:
The final episode of the first season... Was a great episode! I enjoyed it very much Loved the part when Xander brought her back... and she was then all business and jumped right back into the mess. Another episode I consider one of my favorites.



(From Buffy the Vampire Slayer Marathon on November 10th, 2007)