DVD Collectors Online

Labyrinth, a review by Dragonfire

Journey into the fantastical world of Labyrinth, starring David Bowie and a cast of incredible creatures created by Jim Henson and produced by the Master of Myth, George Lucas! Frustrated with babysitting on yet another weekend night, Sarah (Jennifer Connelly), a teenager with an active imagination, summons the Goblins from her favorite book, Labyrinth, to take her baby stepbrother away. When little Toby actually disappears, Sarah must follow him into the world of the fairy tale to rescue him from the wicked Goblin King (Bowie)! Guarding his castle is The Labyrinth itself, a twisted maze of deception, populated with outrageous characters and unknown dangers. To get through it in time to save Toby, Sarah will have to outwit the King by befriending the very Goblins who protect him, in hopes that their loyalty isn't just another illusion in a place where nothing is as it seems!

My Thoughts

I had just seen a little of this on television years ago, but I kept wanting to get it because of Jim Henson's involvement.  I am a bit partial to anything he's done, especially the Muppets. The movie is very entertaining and all the puppets work wonderfully well.  The movie isn't the most realistic, but I expected that before watching it and I still really enjoyed the movie.  It is unique and entertaining.  David Bowie was good as the Goblin King and Jennifer Connelly did well as Sarah.  There are several songs throughout the movie which is normal for many of Henson's projects.  There is a decent amount of adventure with everything that was going on which helps to keep things interesting.  The pace might seem a bit slow for some people, but I wasn't bothered by it.  There isn't a lot of character development, but that worked out ok overall I think.  I do like the movie.  It is a good, family friendly movie, though a few things might bother younger children.

 

I did get a review posted on Epinions if anyone wants to take a look.

Labyrinth

(From Dragonfire: What I've Been Watching on May 5th, 2009)

Zombieland, a review by Tom

Title: Zombieland
Year: 2009
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Writing: Rhett Reese (Writer), Paul Wernick (Writer)
Rating: 15
Length: 88 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.40
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles: Arabic, Commentary, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish

Stars:
Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus
Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee
Emma Stone as Wichita
Abigail Breslin as Little Rock
Amber Heard as 406

Plot:
Nerdy college student Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has survived the plague that has turned mankind into flesh-devouring zombies despite being scared of just about everything. Gun-toting, Twinkie-loving Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) has no fears. As they join forces with Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who have also found unique ways to survive zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies.

Awards:

Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	2010	Nominated	Best Comedy Movie
MTV Movie Awards	2010	Nominated	Best Scared-as-S**t Performance	Jesse Eisenberg
MTV Movie Awards	2010	Nominated	Best WTF Moment	"**** ****** in surprise cameo of himself": **** ******

Extras:
BD-Live
Bonus Trailers
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Movie IQ
Picture-in-picture
Scene Access
Trailers

Probably my only movie this month, that will qualify for this marathon (though it could be that I will watch Fido this month). So I thought I'd share my thoughts on it. I am usually not that big fan of zombie movies. But I loved Shaun of the Dead. When I heard similar good stuff about this movie, I thought I'd give it a chance.
I think this was the first zombie movie I have seen (except for Fido), were the big zombie attack is thing of the past. But whereas in Fido the zombies were beaten, this movie is about a small group of survivors in a zombie-laden USA. All four prinicipal cast members did a great job. Though the premise sounds glum, it is a comedy. I loved how they always brought up the Columbus' rules about surviving.
Also real fun was the surprise cameo. I will remove the name in the awards list above. I also recommend to not look at the cast list of your DVD if you want to be surprised. It's a really short cast list so it is easily accidentally read. Sadly I saw the name beforehand.

Rating:

(From 2010 October Horror Marathon (Discussion thread) on October 3rd, 2010)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

What's the show about?
The Conners are a working-class family with three children: Becky, Darlene and their son DJ. Dan is a construction worker and mechanic and Roseanne works at first in a factory but later opens her own diner "The Lunch Box". This sitcom follows the life of that family and those close to it.

"Life and Stuff"
A typical day in the Conner household. Dan tries to get a new job as construction worker but when this fails he helps his buddies working on a truck engine. Roseanne has to leave work early to go school and discuss Darlene's problems with her history teacher.

My Opinion
I always liked this show because like Married ... with Children they broke with the usual "happy family sitcom" routine. In addition the problems the Conners had over the years felt somewhat real and weren't always resolved at the end of the episode.

PS: Guess who was a regular guest star in the first season, many years before ER or Ocean's Eleven? Him:



(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on September 16th, 2009)