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The Visitor, a review by Jimmy

Title: The Visitor (1979)

Genre: Science-Fiction
Director: Giulio Paradisi
Rating: R
Length: 1h49
Video: Widescreen
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
John Huston
Joanne Nail
Paige Conner
Shelley Winters
Mel Ferrer

Plot:
Katy Collins (Paige Conner, LITTLE DARLINGS) is no ordinary 8 year-old girl. Indeed, she is unique, carrying within her the power of Sateen, an inter-spacial force of immense magnitude. Katy's primary mission on earth is to carry these genes forward, a task accomplished by convincing her mother, Barbara (Joanne Nail, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS) to bear a similarly endowed male child with whom Katy would eventually mate. Opposing this scheme is The Visitor (John Huston, Academy Award winner, CHINATOWN, AFRICAN QUEEN, THE MALTESE FAMCON), a sage of galactic stature who has come to this world not to kill Katy, but to end her "confusion". Find out what happens in this unforgettable, supernatural, suspense thriller from the maker of the box office hit BEYOND THE DOOR.

I feel like I'm on fire this week, it's been a while I did 2 reviews in 2 days

It took me a while for buying this one and now that I've watched it the only thing I can say is why... To be honest it's one of the best movie I've seen for quite a while. The story took a little bit of its inspiration from The Omen in the sense that it's about an "evil" child kind of, but it's much more than that. The real driving force of the film is the fact that Kathy's mother must carry the seed of the new incarnation of Sateen. As you could see this movie had an extremely talented cast (Lance Henriksen, Glenn Ford, Franco Nero and Sam Peckinpah are also in this) and contrary to many italian films none of them are there only for a fast check. You see they give all they have to give in this film (John Huston is especially great whatever it is by his voice acting or his physical acting). But the real revelation of this film is Paige Conner, what an incredibly talented child actress! Usually child annoy me in movie because they have no purpose except to be cute, but this is sure not the case here... This little girl, who is cute by the way and aged quite beautifully, carry the film on her shoulders wich is quite impressive when you consider all the great names in this production. You got also some pretty good special effects since it's an italian films, but don't expect a lot of blood this isn't that kind of film. You got a lot of action with live birds (BTW I now know where he took his inspiration for the birds role in The Dark Half). The soundtrack is really powerfull and impressive too. Be ready to do some jump scare while watching  

Seriously this one is probably the best dvd release of 2010 and I can do nothing else than recommanding it.


Rating :

(From The little known movie review depot on May 16th, 2011)

Jiang cheng xia ri, a review by Danae Cassandra

Jiang cheng xia ri  (Luxury Car)
2006, China

A old schoolteacher leaves his rural village to travel to Wuhan, looking for his missing son whom his dying wife wishes to see one last time.  While he searches Wuhan he stays with his daughter, who works as an escort and is dating a mobster. 

This film is part of The Global Lens Collection, which also released Mahiha ashegh mishavand which we watched earlier.  Their stated purpose is to "promote cross-cultural understanding through cinema" and I've come to see, in the films I watched from their collection, that perhaps it is through a slice of life in the culture. 

Here we see parents estranged from their children, a father searching for his son, speaking of his son, a mother asking to see her son before she dies ... all while ignoring their daughter Yan Hong, a beautiful young woman who so obviously yearns for a connection to her parents, for their love and their approval.  She tries very hard to hide the seamier side of her job from her father, and to hide her lover's true identity. 

Like the other films I've watched from this collection, this is a low budget film.  This film is not about special effects or grand production values.  It's about people, about characters and their relationships and the story that develops around them.  They are very realistic people too.  The mobster is short, balding and paunchy, not some hot ultra-fit dude.  He's doing his mobster thing, but it's also obvious he truly cares about Yan Hong and tries to please her, as well as protect her.  Qi Ming, the father, also comes off as a real person, someone who doesn't know how to communicate with his daughter yet you get the feeling that he wants to, that he wants a relationship but that there's a gap he can't seem to bridge.  Yan Hong can't seem to bridge it either, can't talk to her father about what she wants, even when it's obvious she wants him to love her the way he loves her brother.  Her role is played by Tian Yuan, a Chinese pop star who is simply gorgeous and seems to me a pretty good actress - she says a lot in silence, in her expressions and body language, in the way she has Yan Hong look at her father, look at her lover, look at herself.

A good little film, an interesting look at China in a way you don't see in the Chinese films that hit mainstream US.  There's no martial arts, no cinematic tricks, no mythology, and not a lot of action.  It's a family story, a character story, a look at life in modern China.

Overall: 3/5

(From Danae's reviews on April 12th, 2011)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Heroes
Discover the phenomenon that is sweeping audiences everywhere as Heroes: Season 1 comes to DVD! Experience the suspense, mystery, and electrifying twists as this astonishing series follows seemingly unconnected, ordinary people around the globe who discover they have extraordinary powers. As they come to terms with their unique abilities, their risky decisions will affect the futures of everyone around them ... and the world. Join their epic journey in this seven-disc set packed with hours of fascinating and revealing bonus features, including the never-before-aired series premier from show creator Tim Kring.

Genesis
Events are set in motion as a total eclipse casts its shadow across the globe and a genetics professor uncovers his father's secret research revealing that people with super powers are living among us.

My Thoughts:
This is a good series... though I have found I am not enjoying it quite as much the second time around... as I remember thinking it was awesome when it aired on TV. The pilot episode does definitely set up the story well. And it is fun watching all the ideas for people with special powers. While the re-watch value isn't quite as high... I think it is still worth collecting the DVDs. It is still good entertainment.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on February 4th, 2010)