DVD Collectors Online

Star Trek Into Darkness, a review by Antares

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 50/100 - There's a moment in the early part of the film that best sums up what I feel about J.J. Abrams' captaining of Gene Roddenberry's flagship. After being reprimanded for disobeying Starfleet regulations and putting his ship and crew at risk, the command of the Enterprise is taken away from James Kirk. Kirk's mentor, Christopher Pike, explains to him that he doesn't respect "the chair" and it's because "he's not ready for it." What made Star Trek an endearing favorite of so many people back in the mid-sixties, is that it painted a picture of the future where war, inequality and bigotry were remnants of a bygone era. In essence, a hope for the future of mankind. In his first venture as director of the franchise, he acted as a teenager would when handed the keys to a vintage sports car. He did doughnuts in the parking lot, never understanding the underlying power of the basic premise of the series. In his second outing, now that he's gotten all of the giddiness out of his system, he tries to add a little depth into the story by infusing a bit of the paranoia and violence associated with today's "war on terror." But instead of following the bread crumb trail that Roddenberry had laid out for him back 50 years ago, he decides to follow the Reese's Pieces trail that was laid down by Steven Spielberg and to a greater extent, George Lucas, twelve years later. There was a brief moment while I was watching this film, where I was enjoying myself, but when Abrams bowed to the irrational fear of making a thinking man's science fiction film in an age where intelligent storytelling is deemed fodder for flop, the film loses its direction. Take away the skeletal framework of having the Star Trek characters and this is no different than any generic action film being cranked out today ad nauseum.

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 22nd, 2015)

Relative Strangers , a review by samuelrichardscott

Relative Strangers (2006) R2 United Kingdom

Overview:My Thoughts:
Written and directed by Greg Glianna who created the "Meet the Parents" series of films, "Relative Strangers" is pretty much more of the same focusing on an initial meeting of family members. Whilst "Meet the Parents" was about meeting the in-laws, "Relative Strangers" stars Neve Campbell and Ron Livingston as Livingston meets his biological parents (Kathy Bates and Danny DeVito) for the first time. His real parents are poor white trash whilst the family that brought him up are rich and upper-class. Obviously, the comedy comes from the actions of Bates and DeVito as they meet their upper-class son for the first time. Everything about the film is average, from the cast to the story. If you enjoyed "Meet the Parents" you'll likely get a kick out of this. 3/5

(From Never Ending Movie Marathon (short reviews) on August 29th, 2011)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

Cold Feet - Series 1

Pilot
Rachel Bradley is left by her boyfriend Simon, so she turns to Karen who is happy to provide a shoulder to cry. She is happy to spend some time with a friend, her baby and David, her husband.
Meanwhile Adam Williams ends his latest relationship, which ends a sharp slap round the face.
Pete is in trouble since his wife Jenny wishes herself a baby. His friend Adam can't help him in this situation.
Later on Rachel and Adam run into each other at the supermarket.



Cold Feet is the fast and funny ITV comedy drama about a group of friends which has gripped the nation!
Immersing us in the lives of 3 couples who are coping with life, love, careers, marriage, friendship, infidelity and, of course, sex, it gets to the heart of 30-something relationships like no other programme of its kind! It's sharp, funny, tender, touching and full of fantastic moments from a hilarious cast - it's British TV at its best!

A show designed for your missus to watch whilst you are down the pub? Thats what I always thought, these series I bought exactly for that reason, and you only ever heard the fairer sex talking about it.
However after watching the pilot, my first ever episode seen, I gotta say it was bloody funny, well scripted, great choice of actors in all the roles, and left you with a bloody great smile on your chops after viewing. James Nesbitt pinches the best lines and scenarios, but John Thompson is great value as his under the thumb mate trying for a baby.
I have had my mind changed on this series, it was tagged 'to be sold', but I have now removed that and will watch more of these when in need of some good laughs.
 


(From My PILOT Marathon on September 10th, 2009)