The Witch's Mirror (El espejo de la bruja) Year of Release: 1960 Directed By: Chano Urueta Starring: Rosita Arenas, Armando Calvo, Isabela Corona, Dina De Marco Genre: Horror
Overview: A benevolent witch (Isabela Corona) enchants a magic mirror to protect her adopted daughter Elena (Dina de Marco) from her cruel husband (Armando Calvo). When the incantation fails and the girl is murdered, the witch vows revenge using every unholy principle of the supernatural that she can conjure. An unforgettable foray into black magic, high spookery and dazzling storytelling, CasaNegra is proud to present The Witch's Mirror restored and remastered for the first time on DVD in a brand new transfer - including the blasphemous resurrection of the slain Elena!
My Thoughts: The first half of this seems like a low-budget but well-scripted gothic. At the midpoint it turns to gothic meets mad scientist horror. This is by no means bad, as the script holds together with the thread of supernatural vengeance running through all of it. It is a film of witchcraft, and the witch is a powerful force of evil. Nonetheless, she is not the villain of the film.
The budget is low, and the script derivative (Eyes Without a Face is an obvious influence) but the filmmakers create enough atmosphere and the performances are good enough to overlook that. If I've one major criticism, it's that the witch, Sara, targets the innocent second wife as much as the guilty husband. Too often women are pitted against each other by society, and Sara labels Deborah an 'evil woman' for actions outside her control. That aside, I enjoyed the film and would recommend it to fans of gothic horror.
When I first saw the trailers for Mr. Popper's Penguins, I thought it had the potential to be cute, though I wasn't sure I wanted to see it. I ended up going to see it with a friend and I liked it overall. It is a fun, cute, family friendly movie, though it does have some problems.
The plot is silly and not at all believable, but it does make for an entertaining movie. I know it was based on a book, but I haven't read the book. From what I read about the book, it seems like the plot has been changed a lot for the movie. There are a lot of funny moments, though some of the humor is a little gross, dealing with penguin poo and things of that nature. There are a few sweet moments in the movie as well. A lot of what happens is just silly, but it works for the movie.
The penguins are really cute. Jim Carrey can be hit or miss, depending on if he goes too over the top. I think he did pretty good with this movie. The other actors are fine in their parts.
Not everyone will like this movie, but as a family friendly choice, it isn't that bad. I would have gone with 3.5 stars at Epinions if I had the option. Since I didn't, I ended up rounding up to 4 stars.
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena
Disc 6
Becoming, Pt. 1
Synopsis: A series of flashbacks shows us how Angel became Angelus the first time, how he drove Drusilla into insanity, how he was cursed by the Gypsies and how he finally found his way to Sunnydale, to help Buffy. But in the here and now he has stolen Acathla, a transfixed demon who will swallow the world if he is re-awakened. But Buffy gets help: Kendra is back. And Willow wants to perform the curse to restore Angel's soul.
My Opinion: I never noticed it before that Darla says "Close your eyes" before she turns him - a sentence that Buffy will also use at the end of the next episode. And I really liked how they argued about how to deal with Angelus with Xander being the advocate for killing Angelus. He never trusted Angel or any Vampire for that matter and that won't change until the end of the show and this distrust will lead to serious arguments with Buffy again, especially in the sixth and seventh season. And sorry to sound like a broken record, but when Xander asked whether Buffy wanted to restore Angel's soul, go on "with the smooches" and pretend as if nothing had happened I involuntarily registered that as a side-remark towards Smallville. But that's impossible since Smallville wasn't even produced yet.
Becoming, Pt. 2
Synopsis: After Dru has killed Kendra and taken Giles to the mansion, Buffy is wanted for murder by the police. She has to sneak into the hospital to visit the injured Xander and the comatose Willow. But she has a lucky break: Spike (who secretly can walk again) teams up with her in order to defeat Angelus and get Dru back. Meanwhile Angelus tortures Giles to learn how to awake Acathla.
My Opinion: In just one episode Buffy's world fell apart. She has saved the world (again) but had to sacrifice pretty much everything for it. It must have been so hard for her to kill Angel - whose soul had been restored just moments ago - to close Acathla's vortex. She was thrown out from home, expelled from school and had to kill her boyfriend - can it get any worse? But I also found the events that happened before the final fight very interesting, especially her temporary alliance with Spike whom she also hates but who was the lesser of two evils at that moment. And that Xander lied to her and didn't tell her that Willow was trying the soul restoration again will also become an issue again. These two episodes have a place on the Olympus of season endings and together with the ending of season five this was the strongest ending of any Buffy season.
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May 04, 2024, 05:05:10 AM
