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The Fog (remake), a review by addicted2dvd

Title: The Fog: Widescreen Unrated Version
Year: 2005
Director: Rupert Wainwright
Rating: NR
Length: 103 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
Tom Welling
Maggie Grace
Selma Blair
DeRay Davis
Kenneth Welsh

Plot:
From producer John Carpenter comes the all-new retelling of his terror classic, THE FOG. Tom Welling (TV's "Smallville"), Maggie Grace (TV's "Lost") and Selma Blair (Hellboy) star in this sense-shattering tale of demonic retribution, directed by Rupert Wainwright (Stigmata) with screenplay by Cooper Layne.

Trapped within an eerie mist, the residents of Antonio Bay have become the unwitting victims of a horrifying vengeance. One hundred years ago, a ship carrying lepers was purposely lured onto the rocky coastline and sunk, drowning all aboard. Now they're back, long-dead mariners who've waited a century for their revenge. Seeking out the decedents of those responsible for their deaths, they lurk enshrouded within a supernatural fog of terror. Beware, any and all who stand in their way.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
I chose the remake of The Fog for this marathon because of Tom Welling who is Clark Kent on Smallville and for Lost's Maggie Grace. This is one remake that kinda disappointed me. It is nowhere near as good as the original. And it seemed so strange to see Tom Welling in a part other then Clark Kent. Speaking of Tom Welling... he just didn't pull this role off. He seemed so stiff... so wooden in the role. They really didn't pull off the characters that well... as most of them I just couldn't get myself to care about. I thought the effects of the fog rolling in at the beginning of the movie could have been done better as well. But with that said there was some good parts... some pretty cool kill scenes and such... especially towards the end of the movie. While it is not a movie I can see watching often. There will be times I can see watching it. For different themed marathons and such.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Mystery Marathon on January 29th, 2010)

Sudden Impact, a review by Jon

Sudden Impact
3 out of 5



Sensitive to outcries of police brutality, the superiors of San Francisco Detective Harry Callahan have sent him on an out-of-town assignment until things cool down.  But wherever Harry goes, things just get hotter.

One of the interesting things about the Dirty Harry franchise is how it maintained a decent level of quality throughout the series. We're at number four in Sudden Impact and while a couple of glaring faults let it down, in the main it is a worthy sequel, continuing to try something new. How many other series can claim that? Number five is another issue, but for now, this is a great achievement, all things considered.

There's a new edge to Harry and Clint plays him as well as ever since the original, and with a great new catchphrase ("Go ahead. Make my day"). He's got a real chip on his shoulder because trouble seems to be following him around without him even trying now! This time he's making enemies of organised crime, which means he can't avoid being a target and causing untold damage everywhere he goes. So his bosses send him to a quiet town and it doesn't stay quiet for long, with a great action sequence using a bus to chase a thief!

He's there to help the reluctant local police investigate a murder and little does he know but the murderer is right there. Reclusive artist Sondra Locke is on a mission of revenge to pick off several members of a gang who years before raped her and her sister, who is now little more than a vegetable. She takes out the first couple with relative ease, but then morals start getting murky and the last couple are serious threats.

How much you like Sudden Impact rather depends on how much credibility you give the plot. On one hand, it's directed by Eastwood himself who has always made interesting and challenging films where he can and it's easy to see this as a more natural development of Dirty Harry than the previous two films. Locke is pretty good at convincing as a cold-blooded killer and shy artist, so she gets the viewers sympathy. Eastwood is asking us to be angry again, but also consider the cost of revenge. Finally, Harry also literally takes the law into his own hands, which marks him as much the flawed anti-hero as ever.

Then again, this is hardly Oldboy. Hardly even Play Misty For Me and the plot frequently goes for cheap set-pieces, so you have to wonder, how much of the dark moralising was on purpose and how much by accident of making such a film?

Albert Popwell is in it again and this time he gets more of a speaking part, but his character suffers a pointless fate that is blatantly only there to piss Harry off and make him and the viewer mad. Then we move to the predictable and limp showdown in the fair ground. It's dumb decisions like that reveal it as just any other part 4 of a tired franchise. But they are rare moments and there's enough good stuff here to mark it in the top two or three Dirty Harry's.

Split the odds and it can be seen as a nice mix of the serious drama of Dirty Harry and the sillier Magnum Force, which possibly set the template of cheap action movies. So it's extending both legacies and leaves us thinking while still having fun. Definitely a success overall. And it has Harry's best partner yet: Meathead, the farting bulldog!


(From Dirty Harry Marathon on June 14th, 2010)

Charmed Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

"How To Make A Quilt Out Of Americans"
Original Airdate: April 6, 2000
The sisters are asked by a family friend to stop a demon who steals skin from corpses, and soon learn that the woman is actually trading their powers for eternal youth and beauty.

My Thoughts:
A good episode... in this one you get to meet Gram's old coven... and just how much people will give up do to being elderly and sick. An elderly and sick witch tries to steal The Charmed Ones powers just to become young and healthy again. Piper... with all her love problems is sick of being a witch and is ready to call it quits.

"Chick Flick"
Original Airdate: April 20, 2000
The Halliwell sisters battle a demon who is bringing horror film characters to life and has called upon a knife-wielding corpse to kill them.

My Thoughts:
This is one of my all time favorite episodes. In this one a demon discovers he is able to go into movies and bring characters out into real life. So what does he do? He goes to horror movies. He brings out an Axe Murder from one movie... and Bloody Mary from another. Then sicks them on the sister... only problem... they are not real so can't be killed.

"Ex Libris"
Original Airdate: April 27, 2000
Phoebe tries to help the ghost of a former student who was killed by a demon wanting to stop the publication of the student's thesis proving the existence of evil.

My Thoughts:
Another episode I liked. One I liked the side story just as much (if not more) then the main storyline. This one has Cleavant Derricks (Sliders) guest starring. He is on the streets searching for a witness to the murder of his daughter.

"Astral Monkey"
Original Airdate: May 4, 2000
A doctor accidentally acquires the powers of all three Halliwell sisters during a blood transfusion and begins using them to harvest organs from innocent victims.

My thoughts:
A decent episode... but nothing really special here. Though I did like the way it picked up from the episode "Awaken". We find out what is done with the blood drawn from The Charmed Ones.

(From Charmed Marathon on March 2nd, 2008)