DVD Collectors Online

Alien, a review by Dragonfire

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Alien In the first chapter of the terrifying Alien saga, the crew of the spaceship Nostromo answers a distress signal from a desolate planet, only to discover a deadly life form that breeds within human hosts. Now the crew members must fight not only for their own survival, but for the survival of all humankind.

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This is the first time that I've watched this movie.  I've heard a little about it over the years, but I just never saw it for some reason.  I'm still not sure why.  I'd been thinking about getting it for a while when I finally picked it up.  I went into watching this not knowing any more about the plot than what was on the back of the case - though I did know about one thing that would happen.  I think that was the best way.  The movie is very well done and has held up incredibly well.  Most of the effects were created in a more practical way - puppets or someone in a rubber suit - and that works great for the movie.  It allows for the tension to slowly build and makes things creepier and scarier overall than if the creature had been shown right away.  The characters work well, though most of them aren't that developed.  Ash is creepy as hell right from the start, even before everything is known about him.  Ripley is a great character and one of the best female characters in movies.  She deals fairly well with the situation she ends up in, and doesn't cower in a corner and wait to be saved. 

The movie is wonderful and I'm glad I finally watched it.  Especially that I watched it before Prometheus.  I saw definite connections there...small, but they are there.  I would have missed all that if I hadn't watched this one.



I did get a longer review posted on Epinions if anyone wants to take a look.

Alien


(From Marie's Random Movie Viewing on June 17th, 2012)

One Missed Call, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: One Missed Call
Year: 2008    
Director: Eric Valette
Rating: PG-13   
Length: 87 Min.
Video:  Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1; Pan & Scan 1.33:1
Audio:  English DD 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1 & French DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, Spanish & French

Stars:
Shannyn Sossamon as Beth Raymond
Edward Burns as Jack Andrews
Ana Claudia Talancon as Taylor Anthony
Ray Wise as Ted Summers
Azura Skye as Leann Cole

Plot:
It happens to one. Then another. And another. College students discover eerie voicemail messages on their cell phones. Each call comes from the near future. Each call has the chilling voice of the student during his or her last moments alive. 'And each call comes true'.

Terror is 'One Missed Call' away in this got-your-number shocker based on the hit Japanese thriller 'Chakushin ari'. Does the viral spree of calls have a single source? Is there something that links the victims? Psych student Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon) and detective Jack Andrews (Ed Burns) scramble for answers. And they're working fast. Because Beth just discovered an ominous message.

Extras:
Promotional Trailers: "The Sick House," "Otis," "The Orphanage" & "Lost Boys: The Tribe"

I went into this one with low expectations. After all... all the reviews I have read has said this one pretty much sucks. Even though I had low expectations I remained hopeful as I do tend to be more forgiving then most people... especially on horror movies. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be this time. I would say it is an OK film.... but definitely should have been A LOT better. They really did seem to try hard. Even had a few fairly original ideas in there that I personally haven't seen a lot of in horror movies... but the stuff they tried just didn't work. Some of the effects were pretty cool... I will give it that much. It just wasn't enough to save the movie. I found myself loosing interest about half way through the movie. I mean come on... it is pretty bad when the most excitement I got from this disc was watching the trailer for "Lost Boys: The Tribe."  So... my recommendation? I wouldn't even go as far as recommending a rental. If you really want to see it... wait for it to show up on cable.

(From One Missed Call on June 7th, 2008)

"Due South" marathon, a review by Rick

Chinatown

Some great interaction with Diefenbaker at the beginning and the end. It's a great relationship Fraser and his wolf have. The dog that plays the part is absolutely beautiful too. Very cool 


This episode seemed a bit more serious that the others so far. I enjoyed it.

Rating

(From "Due South" marathon on July 6th, 2009)