DVD Collectors Online

Destry, a review by Antares

Destry (1954) 66/100 - Had I never saw the original made in 1939, I would have liked this and rated it better than I have. But you can't get the original out of your head. Audie Murphy knew he wasn't a great actor, and to ask him to play a role made famous by James Stewart was probably more daring and difficult for him, than his machine gun action in Holtzwihr which won him his Congressional Medal of Honor in 1945. So because it's pretty much a scene by scene remake of the original, by the same director, one can only compare performances. So, to start, Murphy doesn't do that bad of a job as Tom Destry. Like I mentioned earlier, if I had watched this first, I would have been impressed by how much he had grown as an actor in just six years. Brain Donlevy > Lyle Bettger, Bettger plays his usual slick, but in the end cowardly bad guy and he never comes across as anything but weak. Marlene Dietrich = Mari Blanchard, Dietrich is the better actress and her fight scene and final kiss scene with Destry are the highlights of the original. Blanchard gets kudos from me as a better singer and after reading about her struggles in her youth with polio, for being able to dance that well, having been afflicted and recovering on her own from that paralyzing disease. Charles Winninger > Thomas Mitchell, usually I really like Mitchell, but I've seen this kind of performance from him in the past, and it seemed old and stale. Samuel S. Hinds > Edgar Buchanan, I'm sorry, but Buchanan will always be Uncle Joe from Petticoat Junction, and Uncle Joe was an annoying character that I just can't get out of my mind when I see him in something other than the TV show. Mischa Auer >>> Wallace Ford, this was a no-brainer. Auer was the funniest part of the original and changing his character to a doctor, who is incredibly hen pecked just falls flat. Finally, the songs in the original fit the western town setting much better than the songs here. At times, I thought they would have been better suited for 50's burlesque house.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on July 11th, 2020)

Cry_Wolf, a review by Rich

Title: Cry_Wolf

Movie Count:9  
TV Ep. Count:7  

Runtime:90
Certificate:NR
Year:2005
Genres:Horror

Plot:When the students at a prestigious prep school spread a hoax email about a serial killer, they start a game of terror and deception that has three rules: avoid suspicion, lie to your friends, and eliminate your enemies. But what starts as a joke soon turns deadly and now they find themselves victims of their own game!

My Review:
Weak slasher whodunnit, very mild horror, and nothing to make you jump or look away.
It started well with a nice plotline and pace, but the ending was a bit too obvious and spoilt the movie.
Lindy Booth was  in her tartan mini-skirt and thigh high stockinged school uniform, and the rest of the young cast are admirable.
Not enough twist, turns or jumps to satisfy even a horror novice like myself.



(From Rich's October Horror Fest on October 7th, 2009)

Babylon 5: Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: A Psi Cop trainee kills his roommate and escapes to Babylon 5. Bester and two other trainees pursue and try to capture him.

My opinion: This whole episode was being told from the Psi Corps' point of view, most prominently from Bester's view. They even changed the intro for this episode and put the Psi Corps sign on the back end of the station. This episode was quite interesting but it showed egain, how ruthless the Psi Corps is and how both sides don't see each other as the same race (homo sapiens vs. homo superior)


Synopsis: Delenn secretly orders Lennier to gather proof that the Centauri are behind the attacks. For this he takes a post upon a White Star ship as a Ranger trainee (which he in fact is). But to find this evidence he has to take an enormous risk. Meanwhile Londo offers the post of the Centauri Ambassador to Vir Cotto when Londo decides that Vir is ready.

My opinion: It was great to see Vir getting enraged like that. I also liked the reluctance with which G'Kar sees himself as some religious leader, especially when he's asked "What is the Truth?" and "What is God?".


Synopsis: Lennier has picked up on a trail, but he is alone in his fighter and the chances of being found and coming out of this alive are small. But finally he finds the proof that he was looking for. Meanwhile Londo is fed up with the information that the Alliance Council will falsely blame the Centauri for the attacks.

My opinion: If Londo only knew what he was going into. It was interesting to see whether or not Lennier would make it out alive, there are only a few episodes left and they could've easily killed him. But they haven't - yet.


Synopsis: A Council meeting is held and all the evidence against the Centauri is presented. The Alliance decides to build up a blockade on all jump points into Alliance space. As a consequence the Centauri who still deny of being responsible resign from the Alliance and send warships along their transporters. Sheridan tries to prevent a shooting war but he relies on a person that has become unreliable.

My opninion: Michael screwed it up badly this time. He may have prevented that encounter but he was too drunk and now there's war again. In the new Rambo movie there is a line said by him that was supposedly cut: "Old men start wars. Young men fight in them. And all others get killed. War is natural. Peace is an accident. We are animals." Unfortunatly that seems to be true and it saddens me.

(From Babylon 5: Marathon on February 2nd, 2008)