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Fred Claus, a review by Rich

3/12

Fred Claus



When wayward sibling Fred Claus (Vaughn) is bailed out of jail by his saintly brother Nick (Giamatti), he agrees to work at the North Pole for the pre-Christmas rush. But with efficiency expert Clyde (Spacey) plotting to shut down Santa Claus for good, now is a bad time for Fred�s brand of chaos...

With the hype that this would become a xmas favourite for years to come, my expectations were high. Sadly it was a festive flop.
Despite wonderful sets (North Pole) and potentially talented cast, the script is dreadfully poor and short of laughs. It never felt Christmassy, and surely that has to be the number one focus for this type of movie?
It was all a bit too contrived and the actors going through their paces, I dont want to 'sleigh' the film too much but really would not recommend anyone purchasing this dvd   


(From 25 Days of Christmas on December 3rd, 2008)

The Exorcism of Emily Rose, a review by Rich

Title: The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Movie Count:8 
TV Ep. Count:7 

Runtime:122
Certificate:NR
Year:2005
Genres:Horror, Drama

Plot:Oscar® nominees Laura Linney (2000, Best Actress, You Can Count on Me) and Tom Wilkinson (2001, Best Actor, In The Bedroom) delve into the supernatural in this thriller based on a true story that will test your resolve, and ultimately your faith.
Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter, White Chicks) was an average teenage girl who was the target of terrifying demonic forces that would ultimately shock a town and torment her soul. But was she, as many believed, possessed? In an attempt to clear the clergyman who exorcised Emily, a skeptical attorney (Linney) awakens to the discovery that powerful spiritual forces may actually exist. This harrowing film unfolds like a recurring nightmare from which there is no waking.

My Review:
This is the first film that has actually 'scared' me since the beginning of marathon, in fact I now feel a bit crapped out.
It's a strange mix of flashbacks to the possession and exorcism, and the courtroom drama as the priest was put on trial. The argument of faith vs doubt was interesting, and the excellent cast did a great job in providing atmosphere and reality.
The horror is not jump out of your skin style, it is the fact that this story is based on a true trial, and potentially and frighteningly the happenings to the girl (Jennifer Carpenter) may be real.
There are plotholes aplenty, but the direction and convincing acting make this well above average.



(From Rich's October Horror Fest on October 6th, 2009)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

Star Trek: Voyager
5.23 Relativity
Writer: Bryan Fuller (Screenwriter), Nick Sagan (Screenwriter), Michael Taylor (Screenwriter), Nick Sagan (Original Material By)
Director: Allan Eastman
Cast: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway), Robert Beltran (Chakotay), Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres), Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Tim Russ (Tuvok), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Garrett Wang (Harry Kim), Bruce McGill (Captain Braxton), Dakin Matthews (Admiral Patterson), Jay Karnes (Lieutenant Ducane), Josh Clark (Lieutenant Carey)

Seven is recruited from the future to prevent the destruction of Voyager in the past. I always liked episodes which plays with past occurances in the series. Here we got a little taste of it. They use a similar device (time rifts) in a future episode to have multiple instances of Voyager's past scattered throughout the ship ("Shattered"). A question I asked myself during this episode: Why should it not be possible to remove a person multiple times from their timeline? They say they have done it with Seven the third time now and probably further extractions won't be possible. But why? After a failed attempt, they always got a Seven who existed before the last extraction. Therefore for that Seven, it is the first time. I liked the reference to Star Trek: First Contact. The acknowledgment of the causal loop generated by the time-travelling borg and thus the arrival of the Enterprise making the first warp flight possible when they assisted Cocraine. By the way: Seven looks great in a Starfleet uniform. A shame they did not make it her regular outfit.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on November 29th, 2011)