DVD Collectors Online

State of Play, a review by Rich

Title: State of Play

Runtime:128
Certificate:12
Year:2009
Genres:Drama

Plot:My Review:
despite a wealth of stars, this 'thriller' did not spark for me, and left me scratching my head. It was boringly slow, to the point I had to rewind several times as I lost concentration. The storyline is so riddled with coincidences it loses any sense of reality, and come the end with the inevitable twist it all fits too neatly in place with all loose ends tied.
Crowe is quite good in the lead role that was quite fitting, and Affleck cruised such an easy character, but miscasted Daniels and Mirren were uncomfortably poor in roles that did not suit their talents.
I will try and watch the BBC series of this soon, as a comparison.
For a better political thriller, and downfall of newspaper industry, I'd stick to All The Presidents Men.


(From DCO third annual November Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread on November 11th, 2009)

Ladder 49, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Ladder 49
Year: 2004
Director: Jay Russell
Rating: PG-13
Length: 115 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: French, Spanish

Stars:
Joaquin Phoenix
John Travolta
Jacinda Barrett
Robert Patrick
Morris Chestnut
Billy Burke

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Music Videos
Closed Captioned
THX

My Thoughts:
I been wanting to fit this one in for a while now... as I have enjoyed firefighting movies in the past. I have to say... it has been a while since I watched any other movies about firefighting... so I have a hard time comparing it to any of the others. But I enjoyed every second of this movie! It has lots of great firefighting action in it as well as a good story of their private lives that keeps you just as interested as all the action sequences. I normally don't care much for flashbacks in movies... but this movie did it right. They were done so well that during the scenes that took place in the present I was looking forward to the next flashback to learn more about this brave firefighter's life. I think I personally would have preferred the movie to end differently. It is still a powerful ending... I would just rather have seen it be different. Either way... this is definitely a movie I would recommend.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Celebrity Birthdays January 17-23 on January 23rd, 2011)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

ENT 4.19 In A Mirror, Darkly, Part II
Cast: Scott Bakula (Jonathan Archer), John Billingsley (Phlox), Jolene Blalock (T'Pol), Dominic Keating (Malcolm Reed), Anthony Montgomery (Travis Mayweather), Linda Park (Hoshi Sato), Connor Trinneer (Charles "Trip" Tucker III), Gary Graham (Soval), Gregory Itzin (Admiral Black), John Mahon), Derek Magyar (Kelby), Pat Healy (Alien), Majel Barrett (Computer Voice), David Sobolov (Slar)

In this second part, Archer has taken control of the Defiant (which is of the same starship class as the original Enterprise). So we get to see his crew onboard a ship which is very similar to the old Enterprise. They even wear the appropriate uniforms.
This episode is a good conclusion to the two-parter.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on September 26th, 2009)