DVD Collectors Online

Super 8, a review by Dragonfire

I went to see Super 8 Sunday evening.  I had seen trailers, but I still didn't feel like I knew a whole lot about the movie..and I think that is best.  The movie is very well done and entertaining and definitely worth seeing.  It is one of the best movies of the year.

Basically, a group of friends in 1979 are making a zombie movie to enter in a super 8 contest.  The friends - who are around 14 or so - are shooting at a train station one night when a train goes by.  Charles, the one directing the movie, thinks the train will add to his movie.  They end up witnessing a horrible train derailment before running back home.  The Air Force moves in to take control of the accident site and doesn't tell the local law enforcement much.  Strange things start happening around town and the friends end up trying to figure out what is going on.

There is some mystery and suspense to what is going on as well as a few horror movie elements without being gory.  A few things that happen are a bit upsetting or disturbing.  The movie really isn't one that is family friendly even though certain things about it remind me of The Goonies. 

The characters are interesting and developed decently.  Most of the characters are teenagers which could have been a problem, but the cast is really talented.  I was really impressed by Elle Fanning. 

This is a wonderful movie that definitely deserves to be seen.



I did get a review - without spoilers - posted on Epinions if anyone wants to take a look.

Super 8

(From Super 8 on June 16th, 2011)

Avengers Confidential: Black Widow and Punisher, a review by Danae Cassandra

Avengers Confidential: Black Widow and Punisher
Year of Release: 2014
Directed By:  Kenichi Shimizu
Starring: Jennifer Carpenter, Brian Bloom, John Eric Bentley, Grant George
Genre: Action, Animation

Overview:
After interfering with a top secret mission, THE PUNISHER is taken into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D. AGENT and AVENGER, BLACK WIDOW.  At the orders of Director Nick Fury, Punisher and Black Widow are sent on a mission to stop LEVIATHAN, a global terrorist organization, that plans to sell stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. technology to the highest bidder.  Now, the vigilante and spy must work together to prevent this technology from falling into the wrong hands.  The fate of the world, and of the AVENGERS, hangs in the balance.

My Thoughts:
It's a pretty standard comic story, and makes for a pretty decent superhero tale. It's made by the same folks who did Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore, and has much of the same look and style. I liked the character designs, the animation was quite good - except for a few closeups of Natasha's face, where they didn't get the expressions right, and the big battle scene at the end where the CGI was super-fracking-obvious.  If you liked Technovore then you'll like this - and if you haven't see it, do you like anime style?  Normally I'd say if you enjoy superhero fare then you'd enjoy this, but the style is very anime, so if you don't like that style then don't watch this or Technovore.  Also this is a bit violent for the younger set - this is definitely aimed at teen and up.

However, the most interesting thing to me was the (subtle?) critique of traditional romantic tropes. Natasha has a love interest here who didn't feel worthy because she was strong and powerful and he wasn't. So he set out to change that about himself. It's a problem we see in comics (and paranormal romance) regularly - how to write a romantic story for a strong, powerful, independent female character. Inevitably we get either the female character pretends to be less than she is, or she has to go out with someone who is a bigger BAMF than she is (in which case she loses independence), or he occupies a weaker position and the story ends tragically. We are only just beginning to see partnering of these women with men who can hold their own with them without the ladies giving anything up (Wonder Woman/Superman). Or, here, Punisher - no there's no romance between Frank and Natasha, but Frank doesn't treat her any differently because she's a woman. He treats her as an equal, and she is shown to match him. And that's good to see no matter what.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 3/5

(From Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher on June 7th, 2014)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Title: Red Dwarf III
Year: 1989
Director:
Rating: 12
Length: 161 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English

Plot:
The Red Dwarf crew stumble further into deep space facing an emotion-sucking polymorph, a psychotic mechanoid and a version of Earth where time runs backwards. Sdaehgems.

Extras:
Collectors Booklet
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
DVD-ROM Content
Featurettes
Music Cues
Outtakes
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Talking Book Chapters
Trailers

The third series is really great. A new regular character is introduced: Kryten. He is a really great addition to the cast. Also Holly is replaced with a female version. Although I missed the deadpan delivery of the male Holly, the ditzy female Holly is also fun.
This series is off to a great start with Backwards, where the crew lands on an alternate earth, where everything runs backwards.
Marooned is a great character piece between Lister and Rimmer.
Polymorph is simply fun with a shapeshifting something loose on the ship.
In Bodyswap Rimmer convinces Lister to swap bodies (being a hologram is cannot touch anything with his normal body). But instead of the promised work out, he really pigs out with Lister's body.
Timeslides is some timetravel fun, where the crew tries to change the past to prevent themselves being caught on Red Dwarf.

#	Episode	Rating
01	Backwards
02	Marooned
03	Polymorph
04	Bodyswap
05	Timeslides
06	The Last Day

(From Tom's Random Reviews on October 18th, 2009)