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The Last American Hero , a review by samuelrichardscott

The Last American Hero (1973) - R2 UK DVD

Shortened Review:
Films that are loosely based on the true stories of people from underpriviliged backgrounds or of people being general underdogs going on to become successful sporting heroes are two a penny. Usually these films have some relation to Disney and include Coach Carter (Samuel L. Jackson), Glory Road (Josh Lucas), Remember the Titans (Denzel Washington) and Invincible (Mark Wahlberg). Usually these films relate to sports like basketball, american football, football and ice hockey but very rarely do we get a similar film related to motorsport racing. In fact, whilst the more imaginitive racing/car related films have a history of popularity, from The Cannonball Run to Death Race 2000 to The Fast and the Furious, the racing films that strive for seriousness are few. 1966's Grand Prix was one such film I enjoyed focusing on the lives of formula one drivers though this isn't based on a true story. I entered The Last American Hero knowing that I enjoy this particular genre and looked forward to watching it.

The Last American Hero is loosely based on a series of Esquire articles written by Tom Wolfe, telling the true story of Junior Johnson, a moonshine smuggler who became one of NASCAR's first champions and an American sporting hero. After Junior crashes into a police blockade whilst delivering his father's moonshine, the police arrest Junior's dad and he gets a one year prison sentence. To raise some cash to help his family, Junior enters a demolition derby, and then a stock car race. Realising he has a natural talent, he progresses on the stock car circuit until he meets a promoter (played by Ned Beatty) who gives him his break on the NASCAR circuit.

When I first hit play, the first scene put me off slightly. I felt like I had just put on a random episode of The Dukes of Hazzard, except this time Bo and Luke were driving a black car instead of The General Lee. Whilst I enjoy The Dukes of Hazzard TV show, I was looking forward to something different with this film. Thankfully, after the opening scene, I got what I was looking for. Jeff Bridges is excellent as the overly cocky racer who knows he has talent, forcing himself on to the stock car circuit as an independent driver by winning local and regional races. Ned Beatty is great in his role as the promoter and Gary Busey suits his as Junior's brother (even if his screen time is rather limited). Yes the story is sometimes contrived and yes, it is obvious what is going to happen, but this is an enjoyable racing film with spirit and determination with good performances all round and some fun and well shot racing scenes.

Full Review:
http://www.dvdcompare.net/review.php?rid=2501

Released 12th September 2011.

(From Never Ending Movie Marathon (short reviews) on August 18th, 2011)

Run Ronnie Run!, a review by Tom

Title: Run Ronnie Run!
Year: 2002
Director: Troy Miller
Rating: R
Length: 87 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1 , English: Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: English

Stars:
David Cross
Bob Odenkirk

Plot:
Realty TV gets a reality check in 'Run Ronnie Run!', a hilarious comedy starring David Cross and Bob Odenkirk of HBO's "Mr. Show".

Ronnie Dobbs (Cross) is a drunken, mullet-haired criminal who can't seem to keep himself from getting arrested. When spotted once again on a national reality show, a Hollywood TV producer, Terry Twillstein (Odenkirk), gets the brilliant idea to base an entire show on Ronnie himself. Overnight, Ronnie is a national TV star and the toast of Hollywood! But it isn't long until clean living and morality get the better of him and he can't get arrested anymore, no matter how hard he tries. Is this the end of his career... or the beginning of a new one?

Featuring cameos from an all-star comedy cast, 'Run Ronnie Run!' is non-stop insanity that turns reality TV on its head!

Extras:
Closed Captioned
Deleted Scenes
DVD-ROM Content
Music Videos
Scene Access
Trailers

Based on a skit from the great comedy show "Mr. Show". Although not near as good as the TV show this movie is fun to watch. There are also a lot of cameos to be seen in this movie.
This movie had a hard post-production history and is because of this disowned by Bob & David.
By the way, if you have not seen "Mr. Show" I definetely recommend it. It is often seen as a modern Monty Python show.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on April 27th, 2008)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Fantastic Children: Complete Collection (2004/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia Bandai Entertainment (United States) Length: 650 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:
In 19th century Europe, then again in the 20th century on a south-eastern archipelago...

Over the course of many years in many different lands a group of mysterious children called "The Children of Befort" have been seen time and time again. They spend long months and years traveling from place to place searching for one particular girl.

In the 21st century, a boy named Thoma lives on a small southern island called Papin Island. He meets a girl named Helga who is captured and taken back to the orphanage she ran away from on nearby Chikao Island. But Thoma, together with Helga's young friend Chitto, devises a plan to free her. However, when they get to Chikao they find that government agents have come to the island searching for an escaped prisoner!

Elsewhere, Detective Cooks, a police officer assigned to the case of a missing child, is intrigued by a connection he finds to records and events dealing with "The Children of Befort".

Fantastic Children
1.01 From the Edge of Night

This is the first time I ever saw anything from this series. It couldn't hold my attention. It may be a good series, but I doubt that I will ever come around to continue watching it.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 3rd, 2011)