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True Romance, a review by Rich

True Romance




When inexperienced call girl Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette) is paid to seduce comic-book-nerd and Elvis fanatic Clarence Worley (Christian Slater), she doesn't expect to fall for him. But these two lost souls seem to be made for each other and quickly pledge their love, marrying at Detroit's city hall. Clarence discovers some newfound bravado and attempts to retrieve Alabama's possessions from her pimp, Drexl (Gary Oldman), who isn't exactly eager to let Alabama go. Fleeing Drexl's apartment, Clarence not only leaves a trail of bodies, but also inadvertently mistakes a suitcase of uncut cocaine for one with his wife's clothing, and the chase is on. The unlikely newlyweds head for Los Angeles hoping to sell the cocaine and make enough money to leave the country. Unfortunately, they also have to contend with the mob, yuppie drug dealers and the police. Michael Rapaport is amusing as Clarence's best friend who lives with Floyd, a stoner played by Brad Pitt. A sedate Dennis Hopper appears as Clarence's father, who ultimately faces off with mob boss Vincenzo Coccotti (Christopher Walken). Director Tony Scott (CRIMSON TIDE, ENEMY OF THE STATE) does justice to the violence and quirkiness of Quentin Tarantino's second feature film script.

Tremendous Tarantino romp, edge of my seat from start to finish. Cleverly written, directed and acted, all the cast were on top form - Slater, the lovely Arquette, Walken, Hopper, Gandolfini, even Val Kilmer as elvis and Pitt as the stoned flatmate worked well.
It is brutal in parts, funny in others, twisted but sweet romance, I now understand how this film reaches into peoples top tens.
Shades of Kill Bill with the extreme violence, specifically to Alabama, but this film can only be heralded as an absolute MUST-SEE
 


(From Riches Random Reviews on January 14th, 2009)

A Nightmare on Elm Street, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: A Nightmare on Elm Street Year: 1984 Director: Wes Craven Rating: R Length: 91 Min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English

Stars:
John Saxon
Ronee Blakley
Heather Langenkamp
Amanda Wyss
Nick Corri
Johnny Depp

Plot:
From modern horror master Wes Craven (Scream, Scream 2) comes a timeless shocker that remains the standard bearer for terror.

Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) is having grisly nightmares. Something monstrous wants to kill her. Meanwhile, her high-school friends, who are having the very same dream, are being slaughtered in their sleep by the hideous fiend of their shared nightmare. When the police ignore her explanation, she herself must confront the killer in his shadowy realm.

Featuring John Saxon (Enter The Dragon) and Johnny Depp in his first starring role and mind-bending special effects, this horror classic gave birth to one of the most infamous undead villains in cinematic history. Reportedly naming Freddy Krueger after a kid who had bullied him in school, writer-director Craven hatches a shock-fest from hell that "goes straight to the heart of terror" (Seattle Times).

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Production Notes
DVD-ROM Content

My Thoughts:
I was going to save this movie for later in the marathon... but after watch the remake recently I jut couldn't shake the desire of watching the original. Now this is more like it... a better, more menacing Freddy. A likable Nancy... and an all around better feel of the movie. This first movie has always been my favorite in the franchise. Matter of fact... I would even say it is one of my favorite horror movies of all time! This has a couple actors in it that I am very familiar with. Of course there is a young Johnny Depp. And then there is Heather Langenkamp... who I remember well as one of the children on the sitcom Just the Ten of Us. While still sarcastic... in this one Freddy Krueger is played a bit more straight... as they didn't add as much comedy to the character as the later ones did.




Count:
Movie Count: 27
TV Ep. Count: 13
Other Count: 2
Time Started: 7:00am

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon: 2010 on October 9th, 2010)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Accidentally Chloe has been transported to the Arctic where the united stones have just built the "Fortress of Solitude" for Clark. Clark is allowed to rescue her and to fight a new enemy that has arrived with the meteor shower but he has to return until sunset. Meanwhile Lana and Lex meet these newcomers.

My Opinion: Sure, they were lazy, but I still thought that it was too easy for Clark to get rid of those two(!) Kryptonians. I really would have liked a scenario where Lana wouldn't have been knocked out and would have witnessed the entire scene (with or without Clark's knowlegde). But maybe the writers thought it to be too soon to let yet another person in on Clark's secret.
I wonder - if this were for real - whether Chloe and Clark have recapitulated their past, unfolding all the events where only Clark knew the whole truth, or if he told her that she already knew his secret (Rush).

Synopsis: Three patients can escape from Belle Reve and they take Lana, Martha and Jonathan hostage. They force Clark - who has lost his powers because he disobeyed his father - to break into LuthorCorp and steal an experimental Kryptonite-based drug. In the past this wouldn't have been much of a problem, but this time it turns out to be a good thing that he doesn't have his powers.

My Opinion: It's always funny to hear Clark saying, that he's not to keen with heights. I also liked the comparison of Pete and Chloe in their role as "sidekick".
But I also think, that the concept of "Belle Reve" and Lex's influence there is a bit of a plot hole. Lex may not believe one particular loony in there but if he really has spoken with a few of them and promised them something and they would have told him all the same story about Clark Kent's abilities (and there are quite a few in there that could tell such a story) then he wouldn't need to resort to such crude investigation methods - especially when he adds his own experiences with Clark.

Synopsis: Clark is still human and he and Lana have slept together and are very happy. Can it get any better?
In 60 minutes Smallville gets nuked and Clark lies in the hospital, dying from a gunshot wound. Can it get any worse?

My Opinion: Lionel takes up the role of Jor-El. In a weird way, Lex and Clark are now actually brothers. This episode marks the climax (pun intended) of Clark's and Lana's relationship. From now on it will go downhill.
What's even more interesting about this episode, are the discussions on the internet about it. For example, people were seriously offended that he didn't tell her about his true nature before they were sleeping together, because he is an alien. There were sentences like "If Lana were my child I would want to know that she's sleeping with an alien.".

Synopsis: Lois is back in Smallville and she moves back to the farm. On a warm sunny day she, Chloe, Lana and Clark go swimming in the Crater Lake. Suddenly Lois nearly drowns and gets rescued - by Arthur "AC" Curry. AC can swim fast, even faster than Clark. But his motive to be in Smallville is not to rescue drowning girls but to save the oceans from a terrible weapon, created by LuthorCorp.

My Opinion: After the events in Arrival Lex has gone into full defense mode. It's pretty ironic that he who wants to defend this planet from aliens will become the planet's greatest threat by the end of the season.
I really liked the appearance of "Aquaman" and the hints they implanted in the script, especially when AC proposes the foundation of a "Junior Lifeguard Association" and Clark replies that he isn't ready for the JLA yet.
And Tom seriously has to reshape his washboard abs, he looked pale in comparison to Alan Ritchson (AC) and he is supposed to be Superman.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on June 8th, 2008)