DVD Collectors Online

The Last of Sheila, a review by Antares

The Last of Sheila (1973) 4/5 - Has anyone been watching TCM the last two weeks? Instead of having some actor, director or film scholar pick films for the evening, they've been having TCM employees in the guest host spot, picking three of their favorite films. This has been so refreshing because they don't pick the atypical films that the more film associated person normally does. The Last of Sheila is one of those forgotten films from a time when murder mysteries were extremely popular. I saw this in its original run back in 1973, but hadn't seen it since probably the early 80's on Cinemax. It takes place on a yacht in the south of France and features seven film industry acquaintances who gather together on the one year anniversary of the yacht owner's wife's death at the hands of a hit and run driver. He has decided to play what he calls a gossip game, but in reality is really a murder mystery, which in the end, will reveal the murderer of his wife, who is among the six guests. What makes it really unique is the way the game is played out. Each of the six guests has a secret in their past, that will be revealed as the game progresses. Before the game can be finished, one of the seven is murdered and through this murder, the original murderer will be revealed. What I loved about this film then and still love about it now, is the many layers of intricacy in the plot concerning not only the murders, but the game itself. This is a very well written screenplay. The only downside to the film, is the horrible acting at times by Dyan Cannon and every thing Raquel Welch does onscreen. She should thank God every day for her natural beauty, because she has to be one of the worst actresses in the history of film. If you haven't seen this, seek it out, I think you'd be surprised at how good a film it is.

(From Antares' Short Summations on April 2nd, 2011)

The War Wagon, a review by GSyren

Title	The War Wagon (5-050582-943320)
Director	Burt Kennedy
Actors	John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Howard Keel, Robert Walker,  Jr., Keenan Wynn
Produced	1967 in United States
Runtime	100 minutes
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, French DTS Mono, Italian DTS Mono, German DTS Mono, Spanish DTS Mono
Subtitles	English, French Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portugese, Russian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Chinese
Overview	Two cinematic legends, John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, team up to seize a small fortune in gold in this action-packed western classic. Wayne plays Taw Jackson, a range-hardened rancher who's hell-bent on capturing the infamous War Wagon, an ironclad stagecoach protected by a small army of men and owned by a thieving cattle baron who robbed Taw of his gold and good name years before. To get even, Jackson recruits Lomax (Douglas), a brash gunslinger, and a raucous crew of misfits and readies them to pull off one of the most impossible heists of all time.
My thoughts	I must admit that The War Wagon surprised me a bit, because I had a mental picture of it being an older black-and-white movie. I don't know why. I may have seen a b&w photo from it a long time ago, or perhaps a clip or a trailer on b&w TV back in the late sixties. Anyway, seeing that it was in widescreen and color was a pleasant surprise. John Wayne and Kirk Douglas has great chemistry in this film. Howard Keel as an indian? Awkward casting is you ask me. Bruce Cabot makes a good villain, and Keenan Wynn is believable as a greedy old codger. Bruce Dern has a small role, too. Director Burt Kennedy was good at making these kind of westerns that don't take themselves too seriously. And he does a good job here, too. There are some really well done matte paintings by Albert Whitlock, but if you watch closely when the bridge is blown up the registration is not perfect and it becomes evident that the bottom part with the chasm is a matte painting. A fun western, and it looks and sounds really good on this region free UK release. Highly recommended.
My rating

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on January 19th, 2014)

"Stargate SG-1" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: A film crew has the assignment and the approval of the president to make a documentation about the SGC. This is for the case the Stargate program becomes public knowledge. No one in the SGC is overly enthusiastic about this idea.

My Opinion: This episode's only purpose seemed to be the introduction of the characters. Then they don't have to do this in the second part. Since it didn't happen much in it, let me make a statement regarding the second episode: At some point the journalist gets angry and shouts at the soldiers that he - as well as they - also serves the people. I don't know how you feel about this but I registered a remarkable drop in the quality of journalism over the last years/decade. Many reports are mere pimped Reuters reports and most newspapers are only dictated by cost effectiveness. There is very few investigative, but instead "embedded" journalism. This "to serve the people" is a noble claim but it's not a reality.
I can only speak for Germany, of course.

Synopsis: SG-13 is trapped and is rescued by several SG teams (SG-1 amongst them). During the fire fight Colonel O'Neill receives a frontal hit by a staff weapon. Other people get also wounded and killed.

My Opinion: I honestly don't remember what I thought when I watched this for the first time. When I watched it this time, I already knew that not Jack but Dr. Frasier had been killed. But I still waited for the moment this is revealed. It was a very emotional (and therefore good) episode. But it was a bit sad that Teryl Rothery didn't get more screen time, considering that this was her last episode.

Synopsis: When the NID and SG-1 blow a rouge NID operation they find a young woman. She is an engineered Human-Goa'uld-hybrid whose growth rate has been accelerated with the help of nanites. She has been created to access the knowledge of the Goa'uld, but one half of her isn't as innocuous as it seems.

My Opinion: This episode was written by Michael Shanks, directed by Amanda Tapping and Richard Dean Anderson was once again absent. I didn't care much for it.

Synopsis: Henry Hayes is the new president of the United States and Kinsey is his vice president. After being briefed on all Top Secret projects there is yet another briefing where he learns about the Stargate project. Kinsey tries to convince him to replace most of the SGC's staff.

My Opinion: The fourth clip show of the series and another episode where no member of SG-1 had a live appearance. But I like William Devane as president although he seemed to be a bit "simple" in the beginning. But, coming to think about the actual president Bush jr., ... Anyway, I liked the fact that Woolsey (Robert Picardo, The Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager) was uncongenial yet he has integrity.

(From "Stargate SG-1" Marathon on April 19th, 2008)