DVD Collectors Online

An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe, a review by Antares

An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe (1972) 62/100 - Edgar Allan Poe was the first author that I fell in love with when I was young. The brevity of his stories, along with their macabre nature and rich imagery, easily cemented Poe's genius in my mind. To that end, like almost anything one reads, you have a preconceived notion of how the characters look and sound in your mind. Unfortunately for me, these notions were at odds with the performances of Vincent Price in four of Poe's short stories. The film clocked in at a meager 53 minutes, but felt like two hours. I love Vincent Price, and I could understand AIP's reason for having him do these one man recitations. The man's a legend of the Gothic horror genre and one would think that this would be a marriage made in heaven. But it's only 25% successful.

The Tell-Tale Heart - This is where my preconceived imagery was most glaringly at odds with Price's performance. I always saw the narrator of the tale as being coldly aloof and calculating in his manner, kind of like Hannibal Lecter. But Price plays him as if he's raging mad and his performance in this segment is overly melodramatic and it ruins the suspense of the matter of the old man's murder.

The Sphinx - Considered a lesser work from Poe, this was probably included to add a bit of whimsy to the four segment structure of stories. It's pretty light fare, but Price plays this one quite well. But that's to be expected as Price always had the knack for devilish type humor in his many portrayals.

The Cask of Amontillado - This was a short story that I never truly cared for when I first read it. But it turned out to be my favorite of the four segments as Price plays this one without the histrionics of the first and last stories in the film. What I found most interesting was the way that the director used alternating, quick edits of both of Price's facial profiles to render the conversation of the two men in the catacombs, a nice touch.

The Pit and the Pendulum - Once again, to augment the mood of dread inherent in the protagonist's plight, Price ratchets his bombast to a delirious and overwrought dimension in this final segment. I probably could have dealt with it better if he hadn't done it in the first segment also, but by now, it just came across as noisy and disengaging.

What the color coding means...

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 October 13th, 2012)

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, a review by dfmorgan

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant

Year: 2009
Director: Paul Weitz
Cast: John C. Reilly, Josh Hutcherson, Chris Massoglia, Jessica Carlson

Overview: From the best-selling book comes this unstoppable fantasy adventure. Visiting a travelling freak show, 16-year-old Darren is bitten by a vampire (John C. Reilly). Newly undead, he joins the Cirque Du Freak and descends into a fantastic life with a sideshow of fabulous freaks, including Salma Hayek and Willem Dafoe. As war looms between the vampires and their evil counterparts, one boy's bravery will become humanity's last hope.

Watched: 31st Mar 2010
My Thoughts: Yet another vampire film,  have to change my diet. I enjoyed this film which seemed to move along at a decent pace. The main cast and secondary characters, in general, came over well. I would have personally liked to have more of the back story but maybe that was too much to cover in this film, maybe I need to sort out the book(s) to find out. Although the film came to a conclusion it was also very nicely left open for sequels.

My Rating: An enjoyable 3

Dave

(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on March 31st, 2010)

Babylon 5: Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: The war spreadens and even on the station fightings are breaking out and Centauri get killed. Sheridan has no choice but to give up Babylon 5's neutrality and order the White Star fleet to fight in the war. He also has to send Delenn back to Minbar to discuss a matter of great importance back there. Meanwhile Lyta and Dr. Franklin discover a secret about the attacking Centauri ships and Londo finds himself in a very uncomfortable position.

My opinion: I liked this episode because it set a storyline in motion that will be contibued in the "Legion of Fire" book trilogy which I liked to read.


Synopsis: The regent has sent all ships away from Centauri Prime and has deactivated the planetary defense systems. When the Drazi and Narn fleet arrives they find the door wide open and they use it to bring destruction upon Centauri Prime. After the regent has died, Londo becomes emperor and surrenders immediately. But this defeat comes at a high price.

My opinion: The Drakh really want to punish the Centauri for what Londo did in the Shadow war. Londo's regency and torment will last 16 years and only with his death his people will become free again. He always wanted the best for his people and he brought the worst to them. He is the tragic figure of this play and for this he is to be pitied.


Synopsis: It finally comes out in the open that Michael is drinking again and he gets consequentially suspended. G'Kar returns from Centauri Prime and is revered as never before and his only wish is to get away. He offers to help Lyta who in turn sits in a prison cell because she financed terrorist attacks on Psi Corps facilities.

My opinion: Did I say I didn't like teeps? Only those around Byron. Lyte I always liked a lot and I think that she didn't get the thanks that she deserved for what she has done over the years. And that woman can kick ass!


Synopsis: Someone tries to kill Michael because they fear that he could dig out stuff at Edgar Industries they don't want to be found. And because he has decided to marry Lise and don't to return to his job as Chief of Covert Intelligence the former head of the Mars resistance, Number One, gets the job. Together they bring down those who hired the assassin.

My opninion: Now they are leaving. Londo gone. Michael and Lise gone. G'Kar and Lyta gone. Soon Sheridan and Delenn and Stephen will follow. I said I didn't like the fifth season that much, but that's because of the first half. Now I am really into it again and have to realize that it will soon be over.

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