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Blood Work, a review by addicted2dvd

Blood Work
FBI profiler Terry McCaleb almost always gets to the heart of a case. This time, that heart beats inside him. He's a cardiac patient who received a murder victim's heart. And the donor's sister asks him to make good on his second chance by finding the killer. That's just the first of many twists in a smart, gritty suspense thriller that's "vintage Eastwood: swift, surprising and very, very exciting" (Jim Svedja, KNX/CBS Radio).

Clint Eastwood produces, directs and stars in this edgy acclaimed mystery based on Michael Connelly's novel and scripted by Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential). With a superb cast brought to a hard boil playing characters to quicken your pulse and hold you spellbound, Blood Work works exceptionally well.

My Thoughts:
I felt like a good suspense/thriller... when I spotted this one in my list I knew it had to be the one to watch since the only thing I remember about it is that I enjoyed it the first time I seen it. I watched it once when I got the DVD back in 2003. It was one of the movies I got for $5.00 when the video store I worked for at the time closed down. I am glad I decided to watch it again. It is a very good movie. I thought Clint Eastwood was great in it.  Jeff Daniels was pretty good as well. But what I really liked about this one is the story itself.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Anything Goes on June 19th, 2009)

Into the Wild, a review by Danae Cassandra

Into the Wild
Year of Release: 2007
Directed By: Sean Penn
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jena Malone
Genre: Drama, Adventure

Overview:
Into the Wild is inspired by the true story of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), a young man who abandons his life of comfort to pursue the freedom of life on the road, a quest that leads him to the Alaskan wilderness and the ultimate challenge of his life. Screenplay and directed by Sean Penn and featuring an all-star cast including William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener and Hal Halbrook, Into the Wild is "as stirring, entertaining and steadfastly thrilling as it is beautiful." (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal).

My Thoughts:
Is it better to die young, happy, living life on your own terms?  Or to live to an old age, doing what is expected of you by your family and society, but never reaching for your dreams?  How much courage does it take to do the former?  What do you lose with the latter? 

Wonderful adaptation of a book based on a true story.  Krakauer's book is even further thought provoking, and one I've read several times over.  This is my second viewing of the film, and I still enjoy it very much.  More than once I've heard it said that McCandless needed "sense."  If McCandless took things to one extreme, most of us live the other, comfort and security with never any adventure. 

This is not recommended if you need a happy ending. 

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 3.5/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on March 12th, 2015)

"Battlestar Galactica" Marathon (1978-2009), a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis:My Opinion: It sounds a bit harsh but it would have been more realistic if they had killed at least one of the cadets. They're sitting in a Viper for the first time and yet they destroy an antire squadron of Cylon Raiders. But I really liked it that they made no (verbal) issue about them being woman, just rookies. But one could see that Starbuck and Apollo felt a bit uncomfortable because "things had changed".


Synopsis: Baltar - who has been given a Basestar of his own - has been following the fleet for some time now. When they enter the void and he realizes that Adama plans to find Kobol, the planet from which the thirteen tribes set out. He develops a plan to lure the fleet into a trap. But for this he has to face Adama personally. But Lucifer - Baltar's cylon second-in-command - has plans of his own. Meanwhile Apollo and Serina have married and Adama has found Kobol. He hopes that it will help him finding Earth.

My Opinion: Lucifer is cool! He and Baltar are the perfect couple. What I just complained about did happen in this episode: Serina was killed by a Cylon and Apollo has to raise Boxey alone. But I liked Baltar's scheme, because it remained unclear to everyone (including the viewer) who he was trying to betray.

Synopsis: Apollo tries to lure a cylon patrol away from the fleet and he succeeds. But then he runs out of fuel and has to land on a nearby planet. There he meets not only simple farmers but also a gangster and his henchman: Red Eye - a Cylon.

My Opinion: It's fascinating to see how many settlements lay between the twelve colonies and Earth (see following episode, too). Yet none of them seems aware of the war at all or hasn't heard that it was lost. But I liked that a Centurion was allowed to play a main role. And he was a great gunslinger. I liked it how his scanner always stopped the moment he shot someone. I remember his death/destruction very vividly because my VCR always overdrove when it played that scene (It was to bright I believe).

Synopsis: Galactica and the fleet have just past a dust cloud and entered a new galaxy. Starbuck is about to leave for a recon mission for which he will use a modified Viper: Doubled speed but no weapons. And a new computer system. But before he departs he has a double date: Starbuck with Cassiopeia and Starbuck with Athena. Unfortunately his luck doesn't last and he gets lost in the new galaxy.

My Opinion: I liked this episode a lot for different reasons. First of all because it symbolizes the charm of the old show. Starbuck dating two women at the same time. Grandpa Adama having his grandson on his lap and telling stories of Earth - on the bridge of a Battlestar. Starbuck finding a treasure in the form of Ambrosia (a beverage) that's several hundred yahren old. But also the way they used astronomical terms (light speed, galaxy) without a care in the world.
But I had forgotten that it was Starbuck who found the drawing of our solar system in a prison cell. In the re-imagined series Starbuck paints a picture of the "Eye of Jupiter" which will be later discovered to be a pointer towards Earth.

(From "Battlestar Galactica" Marathon (1978-2009) on March 15th, 2009)