DVD Collectors Online

The Frighteners, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Frighteners
Year of Release: 1996
Directed By: Peter Jackson
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs
Genre: Horror, Comedy

Overview:King Kong, The Lord Of The Rings trilogy) comes this wicked comedy-thriller.

Michael J. Fox stars as Frank Bannister, a small-town "ghostbuster" in league with the very spirits he's supposed to be exorcising. The scam works well until a powerful spirit goes on a murderous rampage, forcing Frank to find a way to stop the diabolical ghoul in this special-effects-packed supernatural chiller that's so fiendishly entertaining, it's frightening!

My Thoughts:
This was a fun, fast-paced ride, a horror-comedy mix with a solid cast. Michael J. Fox is the best one here, but John Astin's character definitely makes an impression. Jeffrey Combs does too, but I really disliked that character. I'm detracting half a star for how over-the-top annoying I found him.

The story is entertaining, the script often funny, and the effects still look pretty decent twenty years later. The one glaring hole is that the viewer gets no explanation why one ghost is more powerful than all the other ghosts. For me that was a big oversight. Still, it's an engaging, amusing film that was a lot of fun to watch. Recommended.

Watched For: Hoop-tober 3.0, Scavenger Hunt 19, Horror/Halloween Challenge 2016

Bechdel Test: Pass
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 3.5/5

Horror/Halloween Challenge Films: 38/52

(From Horror/Halloween 2016 Challenge on October 28th, 2016)

3 Godfathers, a review by KinkyCyborg

Title:3 Godfathers
Year: 1948
Director: John Ford
Rating: NR
Length: 106 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
John Wayne
Pedro Armendariz
Harry Carey, Jr.
Ward Bond
Mae Marsh

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Closed Captioned


Watching this brought back some memories as I had sat down and watched this with my father years ago as a young boy. My dad is still a huge John Wayne fan and I've been fortunate enough to replace most of his old VHS tapes with dvds for his collection.

This movie was done in 1948, before Wayne became 'The Duke' and really came into his own. While he was the headliner of this movie, his acting was almost tentative, lacking the confidence and swagger he would acquire later when he knew he was the bonafide western movie star. That would happen in '56 when he did The Searchers which would cement his legacy.

It was a good movie watching it the second time around although the take on the story of the three wise men didn't quite fit as much John Ford would have liked you think it did.

Nowhere close to being one of my favorite John Wayne movies but still solid.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on June 19th, 2010)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Title: Dawson's Creek: Season Five
Year: 2001
Director:
Rating: NR
Length: 987 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: Portuguese, Spanish

Stars:


Plot:
They've gone from adolescence to adulthood and now it's time to make their way in the world. Joey, Jen and Jack head to college in Boston, Dawson makes his way to film school in Los Angeles, and Pacey chooses to explore other opportunities instead of going to college. Dawson also finds himself facing some major changes on the home-front. Even though they're starting a new chapter in their lives, there's nothing that can break the bond between these friends.

Awards:

Teen Choice Awards	2003	Nominated	Choice TV - Drama/Action Adventure
Teen Choice Awards	2003	Nominated	Choice TV Actor - Drama/Action Adventure	Joshua Jackson
Teen Choice Awards	2003	Nominated	Choice TV Actress - Drama/Action Adventure	Katie Holmes
Teen Choice Awards	2003	Nominated	Choice TV Sidekick	Mika Boorem
Teen Choice Awards	2000	Won	TV - Choice Actor	Joshua Jackson
Teen Choice Awards	2001	Won	TV - Choice Actor	Joshua Jackson
Teen Choice Awards	2002	Nominated	TV - Choice Actor, Drama	Joshua Jackson
Teen Choice Awards	2000	Nominated	TV - Choice Actress	Katie Holmes
Teen Choice Awards	2001	Nominated	TV - Choice Actress	Katie Holmes
Teen Choice Awards	2002	Nominated	TV - Choice Actress, Drama	Katie Holmes
Teen Choice Awards	2000	Won	TV - Choice Drama
Teen Choice Awards	2001	Nominated	TV - Choice Drama
Teen Choice Awards	2002	Nominated	TV - Choice Drama/Action Adventure
Teen Choice Awards	2002	Nominated	TV - Choice Sidekick	Busy Philipps

Extras:
Closed Captioned
Scene Access
Trailers

I am still enjoying this series. I think the transition from High School to University went well in this series. In the audio commentaries for season 4 they said they were trying not to pull the same stunt as a lot of other series were doing. I.e. that there is suddenly a university in town where all main characters are going to. Though they didn't exactly do this here, they still managed to put all main characters to the same city (Boston). This started with finding a way why Jack and Jen did not go to New York as originally planned. Then Pacey showing up in Boston and finally for Dawson to quit UCLA to also be in Boston.

Now a small review on the character developments this season (spoilers ahead):

Dawson:
The beginning of this season Dawson had to deal with the sudden death of his father. Mitch (played by "The Flash" actor John Wesley Shipp) was always one of my favorite TV dads so I was a little sad to see him go.
Later on Dawson had a small relationship with Jen. It was okay to get them together for a short while. It shows that they just do not click. Then Dawson pulled a miracle (or it is strange TV timelime): He made a great movie based on a phone book sized screenplay in just a few days. He even changed the main star half-way through without a problem.

Joey:
She seems to be in her element in college. Also her love interests were fun to watch. First she almost started a relationship with her professor. And later on she tamed a resident womanizer.

Jen:
Besides her relationship with Dawson and her starting hosting a radio show, nothing much happened.

Jack:
He joined a fraternity, became an asshole, started drinking and finally pulled himself together again.

Pacey:
Starts working at a noble restaurant and becomes quite a big shot there, until he looses his job at the end of the season. Towards the end he starts a relationship with Audrey.

Audrey:
Joey's new roommate. She is one of the reasons I finally went ahead to watch this series. Because I was curious about her. She is played by Busy Phillips who was part of the cast in Freaks & Geeks. It is a fun character to watch. The friendship which develops between her and Joey is nice. Also her relationship with Pacey seems right.

#	Episode	Rating
01	The Bostonians
02	The Lost Weekend
03	Capeside Revisited
04	The Long Goodbye
05	Use Your Disillusion
06	High Anxiety
07	Text, Lies and Videotape
08	Hotel New Hampshire
09	Four Scary Stories
10	Appetite for Destruction
11	Something Wild
12	Sleeping Arrangements
13	Something Wilder
14	Guerilla Filmmaking
15	Downtown Crossing
16	In a Lonely Place
17	Highway to Hell
18	Cigarette Burns
19	100 Light Years From Home
20	Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
21	After Hours
22	The Abby
23	Swan Song

(From Tom's Random Reviews on December 19th, 2009)