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Ed Wood, a review by addicted2dvd

Ed Wood: Special Edition (1994/United States) Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Touchstone Home Entertainment Director: Tim Burton Writing: Scott Alexander (Writer), Larry Karaszewski (Writer), Rudolph Grey (Original Material By) Length: 126 min. Rating: Rated R : Some Strong Language Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English, Spanish

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Stars:
Johnny Depp as Ed Wood
Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi
Sarah Jessica Parker as Dolores Fuller
Patricia Arquette as Kathy O'Hara
Jeffrey Jones as Criswell
G. D. Spradlin as Reverend Lemon

Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Feature Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Music Videos
• Closed Captioned

I am basically familiar with Ed Wood by reputation only. I only have one of his movies in my collection. That being Plan 9 from Outer Space. Despite the little I know of him... or maybe because of the little I know of him... I was looking forward to checking out this movie. A nice coincidence here... I been watching episodes of Medium and this movie also has Patricia Arquette in it. I really didn't know what to expect going into this movie. Whether it would be something I like or not. I ended up finding it oddly captivating. I found that I enjoyed it quite a bit. I normally shy away from anything that is about 2hrs or more in length. As I really need to be in the mood to be able to sit still that long. But in the case of Ed Wood the 2+ hours seemed to fly by! I was actually surprised when it was over already.

The DVD itself is nicely done as well. Lots of fun extras here. And I must admit... I got a kick out of the animated menus they used for this one. All in all a very nice release of a fun movie I wasn't sure if I would like or not. Definitely a pleasant surprise.




(From What Movies I Been Watching on February 10th, 2012)

House of the Dead, a review by RossRoy

Original Title: House of the Dead Year: 2003 Country: Germany Director: Uwe Boll Rating: R Length: 90 Min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital Surround EX, English: DTS ES (Matrixed), English: Dolby Digital Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo Subtitles: English, Spanish

What they say
It's Spring Break and the college kids just want to party. When they charter a boat to take them to a rave on a nearby island, they arrive only to find it deserted, except for the bloodthirsty zombies that have taken it over. A frantic search begins for weapons to use against the encroaching killers because, as nighttime falls, their only hope for survival is to win the final battle...in the 'HOUSE OF THE DEAD'.

My Thoughts
Wow, where to begin. There's so many things wrong with this, including something I really hate: the movie doesn't follow its own logic. Yes, the zombies here are a departure from what we're used to. They move fast, they can run, they swim, they are strong, can jump big distances, etc. It's made clear, during one of the first attacks, that they can break your neck one handed easily. I can live with that. Yet, during the battle at the lake, a zombie gets both hands on the neck of some girl, and the girl manages to survive!   

There's also the whole "we are wimps, we don't know what to do, let's run", to the "we have gun, we kick ass, we are now fighting masters" all in what, 2 minutes? 

Also, what's up with the game scenes inserted all over the place? Or the very gimmicky bullet time effects all the time? Or the camera around a character that's just been killed with the screen going red, yet not doing it for all the characters?   

And these are just a few examples of all the little things that are wrong in this. But you know what? Despite all this, despite the gimmicky nature of it, and all the illogical stuff going on, beyond it all, what did I find?

It is a fun movie!

Yes, I still liked it! After all, it is based on a basically storyless game, where you just shoot hordes of zombies. And at that, the movie did a great job capturing the fun of the game, and translating it to film. I'm glad I didn't listen to all the people saying that it's bad and shouldn't have been made, because I would've missed a fun movie.

Rating:

Oh, I forgot the mention. The actress playing Alicia (Ona Grauer), is HAWT! 


And we get to see Erica Durance (Lois Lane on Smallville) topless, though it makes it obvious she got implants in-between
She looked mighty fine before the implants.

(From RossRoy's Random Viewings on May 28th, 2008)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: A doctor from a mental institution brings four of her patients to the station. All had been genetically anhanced when they were children but they weren't as lucky as Julian and something went wrong. The doctor hopes that Bashir can create a form of bond to them and is able to help them. He actually manages to establish a relation with them and together they analyze a holo recording of the current negotiations between the Federation and the Dominion and they are able to help. But then they discover something horrible.

My Opinion: This was a great episode. The actors played their eccentric characters very well and it was a joy to watch all these different characters. And I really liked it how Bashir showed that statistics can't predict every turn of events and how one person can change the course of history. In Germany we have a saying: "Don't trust a statistic you haven't faked yourself." And I look forward to see these guys and gals again.

Synopsis: Quark's and Rom's mother has become a prisoner of the Dominion. Quark wants to free her with a Ferengi-only group to prove that Ferengies are just as good warriors as - let's say - Klingons. But his team (consisting of himself, Rom, Nog, cousin Gaila, Brunt [formerly FCA] and the mercenary Leck) doesn't even pass the holodeck simulation. So they fall back on what they can do: They offer a trade: Ishka in exchange for the Vorta Keevan.

My Opinion: Yet another great episode. Except for the Nagus every Ferengi who had a guest appearance on DS9 was in this episode. It was so funny to watch them which was a good break from the war episodes. Too bad they couldn't find a seventh Ferengi - it would have been the perfect number for this episode.

BTW: The Vorta in the episode picture is Iggy Pop!

Synopsis: Dukat, whose condition hase been improved, is to be brought to a POW facility and Sisko escorts him there on the USS Honshu . But then the ship is attacked by the Dominion. Some people can escape in pods. Somehow Dukat has managed to get aboard a shuttle and he saves the unconscious Sisko. But they crash-land on a planet. From there they try to send a distress signal and have a "nice", long chat.

My Opinion: This disc is already my favourite disc of the season. The acting of Marc Alaimo (Dukat) was awesome. He played the insane and yet evil Dukat who tries to justifiy his actions by blaming everyone else perfectly. Even though Sisko was there this entire episode was carried by Dukat and his discussions with his hallucinations (and Sisko). "I wanted only the best for Bajor but these terrorists gave me no choice!" - Excellent.

Synopsis: Morn - one of Quark's regular guests - has died in an accident and he has made Quark his legal heir. His personal stuff isn't worth anything and he has quite an outstanding bill at the bar. But then his ex-wife shows up and implies that Morn was quite rich and she wouldn't fight Quark over the money as long as she gets a share. Now the treasure hunt for a thousand bricks in gold-pressed latinum begins. But with every day there are more people who want their share of it.

My Opinion: Morn has been a customer of the bar since the pilot episode. It has become a running gag on the show to claim that Morn is quite the chatterbox while the actor has never uttered a single word on screen (and he never will, not even in this episode). Up until now he has just been an extra but an extra that made the entire show more real because he is the prove that there is a regular station life outside the focus on the main characters. And luckily for us he isn't dead after all but will be there until the end of the show.

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on February 21st, 2009)