DVD Collectors Online

A Kid in Aladdin's Palace, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: A Kid in Aladdin's Palace
Year: 1997
Director: Robert L. Levy
Rating: PG
Length: 89 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: French, Spanish

Stars:
Thomas Ian Nicholas
Rhona Mitra
Nicholas Irons
James Faulkner
Taylor Negron
Aharon Ipale

Plot:
The kid is back!

The unlikely hero of "A Kid in King Arthur's Court" is back to give history a jump start... again!

This time, Calvin Fuller (Thomas Ian Nichals) is mistaken by the wise-cracking, ultra-hip Genie (Taylor Negron), as "The Deliverer". Only "The Deliverer" can save Aladdin and all of Arabia from Aladdin's evil brother, Luxor. Unfortunately, Calvin has never delivered anything more than pizza!

When the Genie takes Calvin back in time to Bagdad, he realizes he's in for another wild ride! Calvin teams up with Ali Baba and the beautiful princess for an adventure full of action, mystery, and magic in this fun-filled movie the whole family will love!

Extras:
Bonus Trailers
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
Next I wanted something lighthearted and fun. This was recently given to me so figured I would check it out. As you can tell by the plot... this is a sequel. I normally prefer to see movies in order... but thought I would make an exception. I did watch the trailer to both the first one and this one before watching the movie though. It is a cute and fun movie... had a few chuckles in it for me. So is definitely worth checking it out. Though the movie is aimed more towards kids in the lower teens.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Time Travel on November 14th, 2010)

X-Men: First Class, a review by Dragonfire

I wasn't sure exactly what to expect with X-Men: First Class, but I did want to see the movie. 

The movie is sort of a prequel to the other X-Men movies, though the continuity is messed up.  I've read a few things that says the movie is a reboot and start of a new series that will ignore the previous movies.  Even if that is the case, this movie isn't following things established in the comic books either.  I'm far from an expert on them, but I do know enough to know that stuff has been changed.  Sometimes it is just something little here and there, but other times it is a bigger change. 

Erik receives the most attention, and I do like the way his story develops.  His origin story is really one of the the best origin stories.  He's got a reason to be angry and he is already heading down the path that makes him fully the Magneto of the previous movies..and Charles's enemy.  The two of them are shown meeting and working together, though I don't think their friendship is developed enough.  In the previous movies, Charles and Erik have a complicated relationship, frequently being on opposite sides of an issue, but the friendship still shows through.  Things just move too fast in this movie to set up that depth of a complex relationship between the two.  It is like the writers or the studio or someone decided that certain things had to happen by the end of the movie - including Charles and Erik going their separate ways - while also dealing with other things.  Things are just too rushed to properly deal with the friendship, and that is disappointing.


Several characters are introduced, with many of them just sort of being there without getting much attention or much to do.  Beast is the only character in the movie who was actually one of the first members of the X-Men in the comics..the other first members are missing from the movie, replaced with a mix of other characters.  I know Havoc and Banshee end up with the X-Men, but not when the team was first forming.  Mystique was never a member of the X-Men..that is the change that is bothering me the most.  I'm sure that was done to add her to the movie since fans - especially men - liked her in the previous movies.  When she is in her natural blue state, she does have basically the same look...blue covered with some kind of scales and no clothes. 

Sebastian Shaw is a villain in the comic books as well.  He's also part of the Hellfire Club along with Emma Frost.  The Hellfire Club in the movie seems to just be a club in Vegas instead of what it was in the comics.  Sebastian is a bit different from how he was in the comics.  He has a few flunkies around that have cool powers, but, as far as I know, they weren't connected with Shaw or the Hellfire club in the comics.  A few other mutant characters pop up that seem a bit out of place with how they are used in the movie.  It is like someone decides to pick characters based on how cool they thought the powers would be..never mind if they actually fit in the setting and the groups they are stuck in. 

The action scenes are entertaining and done well, along with the special effects.  Beast spends most of the movie looking more normal before finally showing his blue, furry form.  In that form, he looks a little off to me..like he should he a little bigger.  The shade of blue seems slightly off too.  The cast do well with their parts and no one is annoying.

I liked the movie overall and think it is worth seeing.  I just find some of the ...character and story choices odd.  I think it would have been better if there had been more of an attempt to tie in with the previous movies.



I did get a review posted on Epinions.

X-Men: First Class

(From X-Men: First Class on June 10th, 2011)

My Pilot/Finale Episode Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Pilot:
Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest
Teenage vampire slayer Buffy Summers moves to a new town to make a fresh start, but finds her powers are sorely needed. As Buffy tries to settle into her new surroundings, she is called upon to stop the Master Vampire from destroying the earth.

As Willow searches for information on 'The Harvest', Buffy goes after Jesse but is already too late. The vampires attack the bronze to begin the ceremony and Buffy must intervene to save everyone.

My Thoughts:
Another of my favorite shows. This was a strong start to the series which only got better. After watching all the seasons not all that long ago... I was surprised how much I enjoyed watching the episodes again so soon.

Finale:
Chosen
The final battle begins as Buffy, Spike, Anya, Willow and the continuously growing amount of Potentials take on the First's Turok-Han army as Sunnydale is finally engulfed into the Hellmouth.

My Thoughts:
Another series that I think ended well. definite closure on this series. Even with the closure... it just felt like there was more story to tell. I personally would love to see a reunion movie for this series before too much longer.

(From My Pilot/Finale Episode Marathon on May 13th, 2008)