DVD Collectors Online

Oriana, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are: Venezuela
wikipedia

What We Watched


Oriana

Year of Release: 1985
Starring: Doris Wells, Daniela Silverio, Mirtha Borges, Maya Oloe
Directed By: Fina Torres
Genre:  Mystery, Romance

Overview:
A taut, Gothic, Latin American romance, winner of the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Marie returns to a rundown Venezuelan house in the jungle where she spent summers as a child. Her return ignites memories of a summer when her adolescent sexual curiosity led to a surprising encounter. "An exotic JANE EYRE set in a jungle-choked hacienda" (SEATTLE WEEKLY).

My Thoughts:
Ignore the rather lurid overview there.  This is a mystery.  Yes, Maria does return to the hacienda where she once spent a summer with her reclusive aunt Oriana.  The mystery is Maria trying to figure out her aunt and the mystery of her life and family.  The film is told in three timelines:  Maria as an adult, Maria as a teen, and Oriana as a teen, but I didn't find it confusing when it moved between times.  It's a pretty good mystery, as you are led through in Maria's perspective who is naturally curious and inquisitive about her aunt, especially as she finds clues to Oriana's past and is constantly redirected away from her attempts to find anything out.  The end of the film gives you some answers, but other answers must be figured out by the viewer.  While the clues are there, my mom and I had a good discussion figuring out exactly what the relationships within the family were and why Oriana had remained at the hacienda her whole life.

Very glad to have finally gotten the time to watch this, and recommended for anyone who might enjoy a family-centered mystery.

Bechdel Test:  Pass

Overall: 4/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on February 1st, 2013)

Mirror Mirror, a review by Tom

Mirror Mirror (2012/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia StudioCanal (United Kingdom) Director: Tarsem Singh Dhandwar Writing: Marc Klein (Screenwriter), Jason Keller (Screenwriter), Melisa Wallack (Story By) Length: 106 min. Video: Widescreen 1.85 Audio: English: PCM 2.0 Stereo, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: English

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Stars:
Julia Roberts as The Queen
Lily Collins as Snow White
Armie Hammer as Prince Alcott
Nathan Lane as Brighton
Jordan Prentice as Napoleon

Plot:
A classic fairy tale Snow White gets a modern make over in the enchanting MIRROR MIRROR. In a kingdom far away an evil queen (Julia Roberts, Eat Pray Love) has taken control of the land and has her eyes set on the young, handsome Prince Alcott (Armie Hammer, The Social Network). Aided by witchcraft and her bumbling assistant Brighton (Nathan Lane, Mouse Hunt) she plans to steal his heart. The only thing standing in her way is her beautiful stepdaughter Snow White (Lily Collins, The Blind Side). Banished to the dark forest Snow White enists the help of seven outlaw dwarves who vow to help her take back her kingdom and break the spell cast over her beloved prince. Lavish, magical and hilarious, MIRROR MIRROR is romance and adventure at its most spectacular.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Bonus Trailers

I heard not so good things about this movie, but I am pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed this movie. A nice retelling of the Snow White story.

Rating:

(From Tom's Cinderella/Snow White/Sleeping Beauty Movie Marathon on December 9th, 2012)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Action: The Complete Series (1999/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (United States) Length: 293 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:
Way too edgy for network TV, this funny, uncensored, naming-names series peels off the glitter of Hollywood moviemaking and exposes the duplicitous but totally addictive, behind-the-scenes truth. Campy, uncesored and very controversial, this "too-close-to reality" show features guest stars that include Keanu Reeves, Salma Hayek, Scott Wolf and Sandra Bullock.

Superstar producer Peter Dragon (Jay Mohr, host of TV's "Last Comic Standing") builds his stellar career on the three pillars of show business - prostitution, nepostism and dishonesty. Adding to that an ego as big as a Beverly Hills mansion, the aptly named Dragon and his cohorts manage to be politically incorrect, backstabbing, phony, petty, pissy and most of all -- ingeniously funny!

Action
1.01 Pilot
Writer: Chris Thompson (Writer)
Director: Ted Demme
Cast: Jay Mohr (Peter Dragon), Illeana Douglas (Wendy Ward), Jarrad Paul (Adam Rafkin), Jack Plotnick (Stuart Glazer), Buddy Hackett (Uncle Lonnie), Keanu Reeves (Himself), Lee Arenberg (Bobby G.), Cindy Ambuehl (Jane Gianopolis), Michelle Hurd (Gina), Gavin Polone (Dodi), Richard Burgi (Cole Riccardi), Sara Paxton (Georgia Dragon), Hector Contreras (Manny Sanchez), Johnny Grant (Himself)

Not a bad series and not a bad first episode, but I never quite grew to like it. Maybe it's because Jay Mohr plays a prick so well, that it's hard to get invested in the character

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on March 25th, 2011)