DVD Collectors Online

Stealing Christmas, a review by Rich

Title: Stealing Christmas

Runtime:90
Certificate:NR
Year:2003
Genres:Family, Drama

Plot:Tony Danza, Lea Thompson and Betty White star in this modern take on the classic tale Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. After bungling his latest heist, bank robber Jack Clayton (Danza) flees the big city and winds up in the small town of Evergreen. There, he's mistaken by Sarah Gibson (Thompson) and her daughter, Noelle, as the Santa Claus they've hired to promote their family Christmas tree farm. Jack plays along with the misunderstanding while casing a local bank job. That is, until his growing affection for Sarah, his encounter with a kindly shopkeeper (White) and his conscience cause him to question his criminal ways in this hilarious, heartwarming holiday tale you'll want to watch again and again!

My Review:
Nearly unpalettable slush, with possibly the worst lead imaginable in the dull & wooden Tony Danza, a film that unsuccessfully tries to cash in on xmas by portraying bad guy turns good storyline, but fails in every way.
Totally unrealistic, obvious from the first 5 minutes, hammily acted, poor cast, amateur direction, pathetic love story, and miserably bad ending that could not have been more sickly if it had tried.
Definately AVOID this pile of poop.
NOTE - Despite what overview says, this bears zero resemblence to The Grinch in any way.


(From December Marathons - DISCUSSION AND REVIEW THREAD on December 14th, 2009)

An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe, a review by Danae Cassandra

An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe
Year of Release: 1970
Directed By: Ken Johnson
Starring: Vincent Price
Genre: Horror

Overview:
Brace yourself for a fearsome fright fest...times four! Maestro of Mayhem Vincent Price narrates this quivering quartet of Edgar Allan Poe's most spine-tingling classics, including: "The Tell Tale Heart," "The Sphinx," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Pit and the Pendulum." Dripping with gruesome torture, live burials, monsters, madness and murder most foul, An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe will chill you to your very marrow!

My Thoughts:
This short anthology film is a treat for fans of Vincent Price.  He is the sole actor here, doing four of Poe's short stories as, basically, one-man stage shows.  It's very much a showcase of Price's talent, since each story allows him to develop a different character. 

"The Tell-Tale Heart" and "A Cask of Amontillado" are both two of Poe's best known stories and the best of these four features.  One showcases Price as a raving madman, the other as cold and calculating a villain as you'll ever see.  "The Pit and the Pendulum" is good, but I don't find it as engaging as the other two, though Price plays desperate terror quite well.  I find "The Sphinx" the weakest of the lot, though still enjoyable.

This was made for television, and obviously very cheaply, but if you're a fan of Vincent Price it's well worth seeing. 

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 3.25/5

2015 Horror Movie Count: 11

(From Horror/Halloween Marathon 2015 on October 21st, 2015)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Gokusen (2003/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia Anime Works, Media Blasters (United States) Length: 325 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:
Kumiko Yamaguchi is the heir to the Oedo Yakuza family, but it's her dream to teach the youth of Japan. Putting aside her Yakuza cunning, she takes up the role of a normal bubbly graduate, landing a high-school teaching job. Now Kumiko is determined to understand the teenage mind, teach higher math and maybe carry on a little romance... yet she lives with the fact that her loyal army of brutal hitmen capable of murdering disobedient students are only one step away.


Gokusen
1.01 Rookie Teacher With a Secret Is Born! (2004-01-06)
Writer: Kozueko Morimoto (Original Material By), Yasuko Kobayashi (Screenwriter)
Director: Yuzo Sato
Cast: Japanese Voice Cast), Isao Yamagishi (Noda (voice)), Risa Hayamizu (Kumiko Yamaguchi (voice)), Kenichi Suzumura (Shin Sawada (voice)), Youichi Masukawa (Uchiyama (voice)), Takuro Nakakuni (Minami (voice)), Hiroomi Sugino (Kumai (voice)), Tomohiro Nishimura (Principal (voice)), Uoken (Vice Principal (voice)), Rica Matsumoto (Fujiyama (voice)), Hisanori Koyatsu (Iwamoto (voice)), Katsuhiro Toyokawa (Eguchi (voice)), Chihiro Suzuki (Kudo (voice)), Norio Wakamoto (Oshima (voice)), Haruo Sato (Wakamatsu (voice)), Keiji Hirai (Tetsu (voice)), Nanae Kato (Classmate in Girlhood (voice)), Nozomi Masu (Classmate in Girlhood (voice)), Chikao Ootsuka (Ryuichiro (voice)), Seizo Kato (Fuji (voice)), Hiroaki Yoshida (Minoru (voice)), Katsuyuki Konishi (Shinohara Lawyer (voice)), Yasuhiro Fujiwara (Senior (voice)), Takahiro Fujimoto (Senior (voice)), English Voice Cast), Matt Kaplan (Noda (voice)), Caroline Lawson (Kumiko Yamaguchi (voice)), Kevin T. Collins (Shin Sawada (voice)), Jamie McGonnigal (Uchiyama (voice)), Sebastian Arcelus (Minami (voice)), Ed Paul (Kumai (voice)), Jimmy Zoppi (Principal (voice)), Marc Diraison (Vice Principal (voice)), Sue Gillad (Fujiyama (voice)), Sean Schemmel (Iwamoto (voice)), Ed Napier (Eguchi (voice)), Peter Ganim (Oshima (voice)), Mike Pollack (Wakamatsu (voice)), Maddie Blaustein (Tetsu (voice)), Dan Green (Ryuichiro (voice)), John Abner (Fuji (voice)), Sean Schemmel (Minoru (voice)), Josh Moseby (Shinohara Lawyer (voice))

This was originally a lucky blind buy. It only cost 12 bucks (dirt cheap for an anime), and boy was it worth it.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 26th, 2011)