DVD Collectors Online

Seven Men From Now, a review by Rogmeister

Seven Men From Now (1956   76m   Director: Budd Boetticher   Screenplay: Burt Kennedy
Cast: Randolph Scott, Gail Russell, Lee Marvin.

The basic plot: A former sheriff (Randolph Scott), haunted by the loss of his wife in a Wells Fargo robbery, hunts for the seven men responsible for her death. Along the way, he assists a couple travelling west from Kansas City to California, and is forced to deal with another former outlaw (Lee Marvin) he had once sent to prison.

This was an excellent film. The excellent cast included Gail Russell as the wife of the man driving the covered wagon that he meets up with. The director, Budd Boetticher, is one often associated with Randolph Scott and they made several superior westerns together. Burt Kennedy wrote it and Andrew V. McLaglen, who directed many John Wayne movies, served as one of the producers. The film was made by Wayne's own Batjac company. The DVD has an excellent crisp print that shows off it's fine color photography (the film being shot by another Wayne veteran, William Clothier). It moves along crisply though still has time for a few quiet moments. I'm mainly familiar with Miss Russell from her films with John Wayne (including the underrated Angel and the Badman) but she is quite excellent here as well. Lee Marvin is menacing in an early role without being over the top. And of course, Randolph Scott is properly heroic and shows an inner fire of a man bent not only on justice, but on revenge.

DVD extras include an audio commentary, documentary on Budd Boetticher, profile of Gail Russell and the original theatrical trailer.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film.  Perhaps it's not quite the classic that Hondo or Rio Bravo is, but it's mighty fine viewing all the same.  I would heartily recommend Seven Men From Now.  (Oh yes, the cover of the DVD calls this film "7 Men From Now" but in the actual screen titles, it's "Seven Men From Now", spelled out instead of using the numeral method they did on the cover.)

(From Roger's Ongoing Westerns Marathon on June 24th, 2009)

Maniac Cop, a review by Boomstick98

Maniac Cop (1988) 

Plot:Innocent people are being brutally murdered on the streets of New York by a uniformed police officer. As the death toll rises and City Hall attempts a cover-up, Frank McCrae heads the investigation. A young cop, Jack Forrest, finds himself under arrest as the chief suspect, having been the victim of a set-up by the real killer and a mysterious woman phone-caller. Forrest, his girlfriend Theresa, and McCrae set out to solve the puzzle before the Maniac Cop can strike again.

My O: I wasn't expecting much going into this one, but it was a little better than I expected. While still a little cheesy I enjoyed this movie. Kudos to the stuntman that pulled off Bruce Campbells part of the crash sequence at the end. Really Cool.

(From Boomstick's 2009 Horror Marathon on October 6th, 2009)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

My Name Is Earl: Season 2
Doing the right thing isn't always easy. Just ask Earl Hickey (Jason Lee), a recovering ne'er-do-well with a lifetime's worth of dirty deeds to make up for. In order to turn his life around, Earl needs a G.E.D., a job, an apartment, and a whole lot of good karma. And, if he can keep his ex-wife out of prison, so much the better! Join Earl and his gang of lovable losers as he continues his wildly offbeat transformation from hood to good in the uproarious and outrageous Season Two of 'My Name is Earl'...It's not always politically correct, but it's always hilarious!

My thoughts:
Another series where I have enjoyed each episode so far! I love the editing style of this series how they interweave all the flashbacks with the story. Starring Jason Lee, known to me mainly from Kevin Smith movies, Jaime Pressly and the great Ethan Suplee. And surprisingly many well-known faces as guest stars like Roseanne, Burt Reynolds, Christian Slater, DJ Qualls. It's great how they can have these stars and it never feels like they are out of place and forced into the story.
Also we have some unusual episodes like the one, where they have a "Cops" episode all around these characters or the one, in which we see these characters as stop motion animated puppets 
I also loved the "My Name Is Randy" interludes.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on January 1st, 2008)