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The Cameraman, a review by Antares

The Cameraman (1928) 94/100 - Buster Keaton was the closest thing that cinema had to a Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a comic prodigy who honed his skills on the vaudevillian stages from the time he was three years old. An entertainer who effortlessly could formulate creative scenarios and gags at the drop of a pork-pie hat. Of all the great silent comedians, with the exception of Charlie Chaplin, his films have withstood the test of time, and I also believe that he has been the most influential on the scores of successive comic film actors and directors, even more so than Chaplin. So, for the longest time I avoided watching this film because I couldn't bear to watch my favorite comedian of all time succumb to the factory mentality of MGM. I had watched such dismal efforts as What! No Beer?, Parlor, Bedroom and Bath, Speak Easily and other such torturous drivel that the MGM hierarchy considered comedy. Films where Keaton was relegated to second banana behind one of the most annoying and irritating comedians of all time, Jimmy Durante. With each successive film he made, you could witness the physical degradation that was taking place on Keaton as emerging alcoholism took its toll. Gone too, was the glimmer in his eyes and the spark of ingenuity that was the hallmark of his earlier silent classics. They had basically taken Michelangelo and reduced him to paint by number sketches and although there are fleeting moments when the old brilliance is apparent, the flame of genius was slowly and methodically extinguished. But thanks to Turner Classic Movies, who released his first three MGM films in a splendid re-mastered DVD set, I think I've found my new favorite film of all time by Keaton. While The General is a mammoth comedy epic, it does have moments that linger and dawdle a bit, The Cameraman is Keaton at his comedic zenith. I found myself laughing continuously throughout this film's duration and a lot of those laughs were of the gut busting variety. The film was also considered so perfect a comedy, that MGM used it as a training film for the next couple of decades when they hired new directors. If you're new to Keaton and are looking for a place to dive in, then this has to be considered the best launching point for any foray into his canon.

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 September 13th, 2012)

Karan Arjun, a review by Tom

Title: Karan Arjun
Year: 1995
Director: Rakesh Roshan
Rating: PG
Length: 175 Min.
Video: Widescreen 1.78
Audio: Hindi: Dolby Digital 1
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Shahrukh Khan
Salman Khan
Kajol
Ranjeet
Rakhee
Amrish Puri


Plot:
Rakesh Roshan's KARAN ARJUN is about faith & reincarnation. Durga's (Rakhee) sons, Karan (Salman Khan) & Arjun (Shahrukh Khan) are murdered by Dhurjan Singh (Amrish Puri). When Durga's pleas to bring Karan Arjun back to life are heard by the Goddess Kali, the two brothers are reborn in different families. Karan as Ajay, grows up to be a boxer & goes to work for Saxena (Ranjeet), Dhurjan Singh's partner in crime. Arjun as Vijay, grows up tp work with horses and falls in love with Sonia (Kajol), Saxena's daughter and Dhurjan Singh's soon to be daughter-in-law. By divine intervention Ajay & Vijay realize they are Karan Arjun, and return to their mother Durga in 'Malakhera' to take revenge upon Dhurjan Singh. Will Karan & Arjun succeed this time in defeating Dhurjan Singh?

Awards:

Filmfare Awards	1996	Nominated	Best Actor Award	Salman Khan
Filmfare Awards	1996	Nominated	Best Director Award	Rakesh Roshan
Filmfare Awards	1996	Nominated	Best Movie Award
Filmfare Awards	1996	Nominated	Best Music Director Award	Rajesh Roshan
Filmfare Awards	1996	Nominated	Best Supporting Actress Award	Raakhee
Filmfare Awards	1996	Nominated	Best Villain Award	Amrish Puri

Extras:
Bonus Trailers
Music Videos
Scene Access

I have bought this movie because it completes my collection of SRK/Kajol movies (I think). The plot is very similar to Om Shanti Om, a recent SRK movie. Also here someone is killed and is reborn to take revenge some thirty years later. Only here it was brothers instead of one man. And this movie is much more brutal. The revenge consists of killing all of the villains involved. About a third of the movie consists of fist fights, and another third consists of songs, which were not bad, but sadly without subtitles. I think they would have had interesting lyrics.
I noticed something, which was done a lot an earlier Bollywood movie (this one being 15 years old is one of my oldest): Blatantly taking something from a Hollywood movie. Here it was the Terminator theme, which was playing a lot in some of the fight scenes.

Rating:

(From Tom's Alphabet Marathon Reviews on July 2nd, 2010)

Blood Ties Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

4. Gifted
When the mother of an 8-year-old girl is killed in suspicious circumstances, Vicki & Henry investigate and discover that the girl may be more involved then they thought. Meanwhile Mike deepens his investigation on Henry, and confronts him with the startling information he's found.

Guest Stars:
Keith Dallas
Francoise Yip
Cassandra Sawtell
Gordon Michael Woolvett

My Thoughts:
This is the last episode on disc 1. Sure I have seen the child with mental powers storyline before... but I really enjoyed this episode. I had wondered if Vicki's ex partner Mike would find out what Henry is. And that question was answered in this episode. But didn't go into very much detail on it. As it happened right at the end of the episode. Making it so I can't wait to see the next episode!

My Rating:

(From Blood Ties Marathon on December 27th, 2009)