DVD Collectors Online

The Tooth Fairy, a review by addicted2dvd

The Tooth Fairy
Northern California, 1949: In the woods outside of a small town, a hideous witch lured children to her crumbling home where she stole their teeth, butchered their bodies, and cursed their souls to wander the earth forever. Decades later the house has been converted into a quaint country inn, but an untold evil remains: The witch's slumber has been disturbed, and her vengeful spirit seeks the violent slaughter of all who stay there. And for one eleven-year-old girl with a loose molar and an active imagination, the ultimate horror begins with a visit from THE TOOTH FAIRY.

My Thoughts:
This is a pretty good horror movie. Not the best I ever seen... but far from the worst. Definitely one I consider worth checking out. I wouldn't spend top dollar for it... but if you can get it for say... under $10 I don't think you will be disappointed.

(From Weekend Movie Marathon: 5/9 - 5/11 on May 11th, 2008)

The Cranes are Flying, a review by Antares

The Cranes are Flying (1957) 4.5/5 - Who would have thought such an emotionally deep film could be made in Cold War Communist Russia in 1957. I was completely blown away not only by the amazing cinematography in this film, but by the intensely emotional performance of Tatyana Samojlova. She runs the gamut from wide eyed youthful exuberance to anguish, despair and sorrow over the course of this film, and she's a complete revelation. The story itself, does dip into overt melodrama a few times, but it never overwhelms the viewer to the point of becoming a borscht soap opera. It also has the trappings of Soviet propaganda throughout, but once again, never really overdoes it. Getting back to the wonderful cinematography of Sergei Urusevsky, I found myself many times during this film, repeating scenes, trying to figure out how he was able to get the shot so perfectly. All the reviews I have read tend to talk about the bus and tank scene with Veronica or the stairwell scene when Veronica returns home after the bombing. Both are truly amazing scenes of ingenious design, but for me, the best moment in this film, is when Boris has been shot and he looks up at the trees and they start to spin, and superimposed upon those trees is an earlier scene when he climbs the spiral staircase to catch Veronica before she enters her apartment. The sight of the trees and Boris on the stairs, revolving in perfect unison was just too beautiful to behold. It's been a long time since I've watched a film that was this good and completely had me enthralled. I'm shamed to say that I purchased this on DVD five years ago, and it sat on my unwatched pile. I'm now glad I decided to partake in this Retro marathon, because I'm exorcising a few of my DVD demons.

(From Antares' Short Summations on March 30th, 2012)

Smallville Marathon #2, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: There's someone who can run faster than Clark! But unfortunately he is also a thief. Clark tracks him down in Metropolis but he won't listen to him. Then he steals a priceless page from a book from Lex, but Lex isn't someone you steal from and get away with it. Lex also know how to track down people but he does something stupid and Clark has to save both of them.

My Opinion: The Flash! Cool. I've known the Flash since the short-lived TV show The Flash with John Wesley Shipp. Back than I didn't know that he belonged to the DC universe nor that he was a member of the Justice League. He also happens to be one of the few people (but their number will increase) that has sepcial abilities that aren't derived from the meteor rocks. I really liked it that they referenced the different Flashs by giving him these fake driver's licenses.

Synopsis: Another stone is "calling out" for Clark and he finds it in the hands of Lionel Luthor who is just about to do a body-switch with his son. Due to Clark's interference he lands in Clark's and Clark in Lionel's. Lionel is free and he discovers the abilities of Clark's body. And Clark is dying because Lionel's body is dying unless they switch back.

My Opinion: This was a great episode. I liked the acting of Tom as well as that of John Glover.
But I also have to admit that I get a bit uneasy when it comes to these stones and their abilities. They've been lost for centuries, if not millennia, nobody has ever mentioned them before but suddenly they are reappearing. It wasn't even mentioned before that the symbols of the Kawatche cave have been found on other places on Earth, too.

Synopsis: Clark is still playing football and he is the quarterback now. But in one game he stumbles and hurts another player. The real problem is: Clark never stumbles except when he is in close proximity to Kryptonite. As it turns out, there's a strange bookie who can influence the game without leaving a trace.

My Opinion: Mmh, interesting. Yet another guy who can do "things" and wasn't infected by meteor rocks. While I can understand that they get tired of inventing the next meteor freak, not to explain how he got his powers isn't a good choice either. For me a fictional universe needs consistency. I have no problem in believing the weirdest things as long as it is consistent in itself. Up until now he have meteor freaks and Clark and other visitors from Krypton that have been on Earth. That might not explain how the cave walls can foretell the future, but they could invent a reasonable explanation. But now we suddenly have people that have powers for no obvious reasons and we have witches that were burned at the stake (I will continue this in the next episode review).

Synopsis: Lana has bought Countess Isobel's spellbook but when she opens it, Isobel snatches her body. After that she uses Chloe and Lois to get two of her fellow witches back from the dead. Isobel is also on the search for the three stones and her magic can hurt even Clark. She defeats him and learns from him that one of the stones is hidden in a secret chamber in the cave wall. But even without his powers Clark doesn't give up.

My Opinion: An out-of-character episode. That's always a thumbs up for me. The three looked really cool (especially Chloe if you ask me) and they played really well.
I still have a problem with that entire Isobel arc. I don't know how it fits in into the Superman mythology and I don't care. I don't like it. I consider Superman more fantasy than science fiction. But that doesn't mean that witchcraft and wizardry fit into this world. Everything that we've seen so far was either caused by a mutation (caused by meteor rocks) or vastly superior kryptonian technology. Where do spells and enchantments fit in?
No, I am not really happy with that particular storyline and probably never will be.

(From Smallville Marathon #2 on June 1st, 2008)