DVD Collectors Online

Donnie Brasco, a review by Eric

Donnie Brasco




Summary: Posing as hardboiled jewel broker Donnie Brasco, FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone (Johnny Depp) gains entry into the brutal mob family of fading hit man Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), who treats Donnie like a son. As their association deepens, Pistone's life begins to spiral downward, placing everything that's meaningful to him - his marriage, his career and his life - in jeopardy. From acclaimed director Mike Newell ('Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire') and with a spectacular supporting cast, including Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby, James Russo, and Anne Heche, DONNIE BRASCO is "a first-class Mafia thriller!" (Mick LaSalle, 'San Francisco Chronicle').

My Thoughts: I don't know what to say about it except that I loved every minute of it.  Depp's and Pacino's performance are just great.  I just can't come up with anything to say that would do it justice.

My score: , 5/5, 10/10, 5 stars and whatever else you can think of.  If you have never seen that movie you've got to watch it.

(From Eric's DVD watching. on June 1st, 2008)

WALL•E, a review by Rich

24/11

Wall-E



The highly acclaimed director of Finding Nemo and the creative storytellers behind Cars and Ratatouille transports you to a galaxy not so far away for a new cosmic comedy adventure about a determined robot named WALL-E.
After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, the curious and lovable WALL-E discovers a new purpose in life when he meets a sleek robot name EVE. Join them and a hilarious cast of characters on a fantastic journey across the universe.
Transport yourself to a fascinating new world with Disney Pixar's latest adventure, not even more astonishing on DVD with bonus features, including the all-new animated short film "BURN-E". WALL-E is a film your family will want to enjoy over and over again.

The Toy Story duet set the bar (IMO) for this form of feature film, and although this doesn't reach the same heights in terms of characters, storyline and appeal it isn't the worst effort. A surprisingly gloomy opening, and perhaps an ecological and environmental undertone to the film, with the absence of dialogue in long phases, but despite this certainly not a cheerless movie.
Did the viewing of 2 tin cans romancing each other melt this old cynics heart - no, but of course it wasn't made with my generation as the target audience, kids will definately love this and want the toys, pencil cases, swap cards etc etc etc.
I did enjoy the flick and still marvel at the whole Pixar concept and delivery.
 



(From November Alphabet Marathon - Discussion/Review Thread on November 24th, 2008)

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

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine



What's the show about?
At the request of the Bajoran government, Starfleet is to establish a Federation presence in their system following the withdrawal of the Cardassian forces. Deep Space Nine is a former Cardassian station that happens to be in the system that has the only known stable wormhole. And that wormhole leads to the Gamma Quadrant, to a point 70,000 lightyears away. But this wormhole is indirectly the reason for the greatest war the Alpha Quadrant has ever seen.

What happened before?
DS9 begins six years after the beginning of TNG and three years after Wolf 359. At Wolf 359 a fleet of 39 Federation ships fought one Borg cube - all were destroyed. Among the ships was the USS Saratoga and its XO, Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Sisko, who lost his wife in that battle.

"Emissary"
Cmdr. Benjamin Sisko and his son arrive on the heavily damaged space station Deep Space Nine. Most of his crew hasn't arrived yet but he soon meets with his second-in-command, the Bajoran Major Kira. Sisko isn't sure he wants this assignment and his son to grow up here but then an extraordinary event takes place. They find the only known stable wormhole and suddenly the Bajoran system moves from "the outer rim" into the "attention center" of the Alpha Quadrant.

My Opinion
My favourite Star Trek show! It has a great story arc, even if it wasn't planned from the beginning as it was done with "Babylon 5". B5 and DS9 have many similarities which isn't that surprising since JMS (the creator of B5) has shown his B5 plans to Paramount. But they are also different since DS9 is anchored in the Star Trek universe.

(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on January 5th, 2008)