DVD Collectors Online

Abouna, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are:  Chad
wikipedia

What We Watched:


Abouna
Year of Release: 2002
Starring: Ahidjo Mahamat Moussa, Hamza Moctar Aquid, Zara Haroun, Mounira Khalil
Directed By: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Genre: Drama

Overview:
From a dusty village in the Republic of Chad, two brothers, Amine and Tahir, set out in a search of their father. Reflecting the rhythms of Africa, ABOUNA is a film rich in culture with a deep understanding of the human condition in general and youth in particular. This devastatingly powerful, magnificently photographed drama is director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's triumphant follow-up to his international award-winning BYE BYE AFRICA.

My Thoughts:
This was a good film.  The overview is a bit misleading, as the film is really about how the boys deal with their father leaving, and more of a emotional searching for him in their lives than a physical searching for him.  The actors playing the two boys are particularly good.  This film is less about plot than it is about character and relationships, and those are the parts that are well developed.  There's also a lot of things that are unspoken and not shown, but must be inferred by the audience.  The film is a plea for families to stay together, to be whole, and for communication within the family.  Questions go unanswered for the boys, especially for Amine, that his anxiety over what he doesn't understand brings him great grief, and that in turn leads to grief in others.  Another thing that must be said is that the film is very well made, despite the obviously low budget, with the lighting choices being particularly distinctive.  Recommended.

Bechdel Test:  Fail

Overall:  3.5/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on February 26th, 2013)

The Dark Knight, a review by Jon

The Dark Knight
5 out of 5

This film deserves all the praise that has been heaped upon it and more. An overhyped movie that lives up to the hype with an ambitious character driven story that goes against comic book movie formula. It's a clever, layered story that gets to the heart of several characters, using The Joker as a centre-point. A straight comic adaptation would rank amongst the best Batman stories, and that never happens; for instance X-Men 2 was fantastic, but the story wouldn't hold up against the originals. Nor would either of the Spider-Man films (what do you mean there were three? I meant "good" Spider-Man films). This could because it's so well balanced amongst the key characters.

If I have a gripe it's that

Heath Ledger's Joker is as good as you have heard and probably better. The role will be remembered for years, but the best roles are a part of a film, not the focus, and it's a tribute the quality of this story that he doesn't take it over. The rest of the cast held their own and the story is pretty equally shared, revolving around The Joker's anarchy, not unlike Seven. That isn't a lazy comparision.
Actually, The Joker is a good enough villain to have worked in a traditional thriller, but then we'd have to do without Christian Bale's Batman. It's still his film and hopefully, his trilogy. There aren't many good part 3s, but Christopher Nolan could pull it off.

One of the very best comic adaptations, cutting straight to the motivation of each well played character, with a solid story to back them up.

 

(From The Dark Knight on July 27th, 2008)

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

15. I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU...
Lois and Clark get married! Just a minute, Clark. Are you sure your beautiful bride really is Lois?

My Thoughts:
This is the start of the clones/frogs storyline. Which is one of the storylines I never cared for too much. I know they were just trying to throw more problems in front of Lois and Clark's wedding... but I just found this storyline silly. Though I did like Brad Garret as Lois and Clark's wannabe comedian priest.


16. DOUBLE JEOPARDY
Send in the clones. While LEX LUTHOR woos the real Lois, Clark spends his wedding night with her clone.

My Thoughts:
Part 2 of the above episode. And added to the clone storyline we get the amnesia storyline. Which I also never cared much for. All these never ending problems is the reason this season is my least favorite of the series.



(From Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Marathon on July 29th, 2009)