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Island of Lost Souls, a review by Danae Cassandra

Island of Lost Souls
Year of Release:  1932
Directed By:  Erle C. Kenton
Starring:  Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi, Kathleen Burke, Arthur Hohl
Rating: Not Rated

Overview:Island of Lost SoulsThe Island of Dr. Moreau. In one of his first major movie roles, Charles Laughton is a mad doctor conducting ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked sailor (Richard Arlen) who finds himself trapped there. This touchstone of movie terror, directed by Erle C. Kenton, features expressionistic photography by Karl Struss, groundbreaking makeup effects that inspired generations of monster-movie artists, and the legendary Bela Lugosi in one his most gruesome roles.

My Thoughts:
What a great film!  Great source material, of course, but also well adapted.  The performances are really what carry the film, most especially Charles Laughton's magnificent turn as Dr. Moreau.  He is so arrogant, so sociopathic, and so creepy - a perfect mad scientist!  I was also impressed by how well Kathleen Burke channels a cat's body language as Lota.  Everyone else was also great.  The technical aspects are just as impressive as the performances.  The makeup is extraordinary, especially when you consider what they had to work with in 1932.  It really exposes the dual nature of the beast-men, their innate animal nature; their innate human nature.  The lighting and camera work are equally well done.  Truly horrific in its ideas and implications, with more than a little to say about what it means to be human, I would highly recommend the movie for anyone who enjoys old films and classic horror.

Bechtel Test:  Fail

Overall: 4.5/5

(From Danae's 2012 Horror on October 2nd, 2012)

M:i-2, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: M:i-2
Year: 2000
Director: John Woo
Rating: PG-13
Length: 123 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Tom Cruise
Dougray Scott
Thandie Newton
Ving Rhames
Richard Roxburgh
John Polson

Plot:
The world's greatest spy returns in the movie event of the year, M:I-2. Top action director John Woo brings his own brand of excitement to the mission that finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) partnering up with the beautiful Nyah Hall (Thandie Newton) to stop renegade agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) from releasing a new kind of terror on an unsuspecting world. But before the mission is complete, they'll traverse the globe and have to choose between everything they love and everything they believe in.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Featurettes
Production Notes
Music Videos
Interviews
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
Going into this one I couldn't remember if I seen it before or not. There was enough scenes in it that looked familiar to make me believe I have. Though I am sure it hasn't been since it was originally released. I did enjoy this one... but not as much as I did the first one. I found I just didn't care about the story in this one as much as I did the first.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Unwatched DVDs on January 29th, 2011)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy (2006/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia FUNimation Productions (United States) Length: 600 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:
The song may say "Thank heaven for little girls" - but who is college student Keiichi Morisato supposed to thank when three honest to goodness living Goddesses move in and take over his life? And should he really be all that grateful?

After all, in most mythologies, close relationships between mortals and immortals usually lead to mortifying complications, so we're already talking about an extremely mixed blessing! And when a FOURTH Goddess suddenly appears, that blessing becomes more like a curse! They may just be trying to help, but sometimes it seems that Belldandy, Skuld, Urd and Peorth might be less concerned with Keiichi's safety than they are with establishing a pecking order and ownership rights!

The delicate celestial balance that exists between human and goddess is thrown into complete and utter chaos in Ah! My Goddess 2 - The Complete Collection!

Aa! Megami-sama!
2.01 Ah! I Wish... Once More!
Writer: Kosuke Fujishima (Original Material By), Hiroaki Goda (Screenwriter), Akira Watanabe (Screenwriter), Akifumi Tada (Screenwriter)
Director: Hiroaki Goda
Cast: English Vocal Cast), Eileen Stevens (Belldandy (voice)), Drew Aaron (Keiichi Morisato (voice)), Vibe Jones (Urd (voice)), Annice Moriarty (Skuld (voice)), Emily Blau (Megumi Morisato (voice)), Marc Thompson (Tamiya (voice)), Scottie Ray (Otaki (voice)), Marc Thompson (Almighty One (voice)), Evelyn Lantto (Lind (voice)), Herb Lawrence (Priest (voice)), Alissa Brodsky (Ex (voice)), Japanese Vocal Cast), Kikuko Inoue (Belldandy (voice)), Masami Kikuchi (Keiichi Morisato (voice)), Yumi Touma (Urd (voice)), Aya Hisakawa (Skuld (voice)), Issei Futamata (Otaki (voice)), Kiyoyuki Yanada (Tamiya (voice)), Yuriko Fuchizaki (Megumi Morisato (voice)), Mugihito (Priest (voice)), Hidetoshi Nakamura (Almighty One (voice)), Miki Itou (Lind (voice)), Yoko Honna (Ex (voice)), Wataru Hatano (Man (voice))

A little slow start into the otherwise great sequel series to Ah! My Goddess. As the characters are already established, this season has more fun with them. I especially love the sibling rivalry between Urd and Skuld.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on March 25th, 2011)