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San Andreas, a review by GSyren

San Andreas (5-051892-189637)

United States 2015 | Released 2015-10-12 on Bluray from WarnerHome Video

114 minutes | Aspect ratio 2.40:1 | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian Dolby Digital 5.1, Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1

Directed by Brad Peyton and starring Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Ioan Gruffudd, Archie Panjabi

After the infamous San Andreas Fault finally gives, triggering a magnitude 9 earthquake in California, a search and rescue helicopter pilot and his estranged wife make their way together from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their only daughter. But their treacherous journey north is only the beginning. And when they think the worst may be over...it's just getting started.

My thoughts about San Andreas:

Loves: Disaster movies Likes: The Rock Dislikes: Illogical scripts Hates: Overuse of CGI Let's get the CGI part over with first. I don't hate CGI. However, I hate in-your-face CGI, the kind that screams "Look what we can do!" The kind where they use lots of CGI when just a little would be enough to tell the story. And there are several such moments in this film. But if the action and the acting is good enough I can look past that. I can also get hung up on illogical details, like - why is the tsunami coming towards the quake zone rather than going away from it? Or - isn't Carla Gugino a bit young to be Alexandra Daddario's mother? Dwayne Johnson isn't likely to win any Academy Awards, but he works well as an action here. Carla Gugoni and Paul Giamatti are fine. Alexandra Daddario looks

I rate this title

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on November 4th, 2015)

Our Man Flint, a review by GSyren

Title	Our Man Flint (851789-003382)
Director	Daniel Mann
Actors	James Coburn, Lee J. Cobb, Gila Golan, Edward Mulhare, Benson Fong
Produced	1966 in United States
Runtime	108 minutes
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, Commentary DTS 2-Channel Stereo, Music Only DTS-HD Master Audio 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles	English
Overview
My thoughts	Our Man Flint is a spoof of the Bond movies. But it's a gentle spoof. It isn't quite as openly silly as the Matt Helm movies of the same period. James Coburn was a very good choice for playing Derek Flint. Coburn has a unique screen presence that is perfect for the movie. If the movie seems dated, it isn't so much because of Flint, but because of the very sixties pop-art production design. And the computer technology. Punched card technology is so sixties. Unlike in the Bond movies, the bad guys aren't really all that bad. They want to force global peace through blackmail. They're not power hungry, they are just misguided. The girls are pretty, just like in the Bond movies. Raquel Welch screen tested for the female lead, but Fox decided to use her in Fantastic Voyage instead. Probably a good choice. The role instead went to former Miss Israel, Gila Golan, who only made 6 movies, and the only other one I have seen her in is The Valley of Gwangi. A more prolific actor is Lee J. Cobb, usually seen in much more serious roles, but very good here as well. If you have seen the Austin Powers movies, you'll see that much of the inspiration for them came from Our Man Flint (and its sequel, In Like Flint). Our Man Flint (as well as In Like Flint) is available on Blu-ray from Twilight Time. It looks and sounds great. As usual with Twilight Time, these are limited to 3000 copies.
My rating

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on May 5th, 2014)

"Due South" Marathon, a review by Tom

Due South (TV movie) (1994-04-26)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Writer)
Director: Fred Gerber
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), David Marciano (Detective Ray Vecchio), Wendel Meldrum (Leann Brighton), Charles Shamata (Capt. Walsh), Joseph Ziegler (Insp. Moffatt), Page Fletcher (Frank Drake), Ken Pogue (Gerard), Kaye Ballard (Mrs. Vecchio), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Jim Millington (Underhill), Victor Ertmanis (Supt. Meers), Michael J. Reynolds (Senior Official), Eric Schweig (Inuit Hunter), Kimberly Ange (RCMP Officer 1), Jennifer Parsons (RCMP Officer 2), Johnathon Wittaker (RCMP SGT.), Steve Morel (RCMP Officer 3), Scot Dentor (RCMP Officer 4), Nigel Hamer (RCMP Officer 5), Barry Kennedy (Bert Jenkins), Philip Williams (Herb Lantrell), Keith Dinicol (Coroner), Jack Nicholsen (Airport Hustler), Gene Mack (Chicago Desk Sgt.), Simon Lugassy (Prisoner), Dan Lett (Dr. Weingarten), Paulina Gillis (Maria), Ramona Milano (Francesca), Vito Rezza (Tony), Elizabeth Berman (Mrs. Drake), Sandi Stahlbrand (TV Reporter), Farzad Sadrian (Cabby)

It was really fun to revisit this TV movie again. Great introduction to the two main characters. None of cast which became the regular cast of the series are in this movie though. We have another captain (the one of the series is better). The only two other characters who are well known in the series to appear in this TV movie is Robert Fraser, Benton's father. And Francesca, the beautiful sister of Ray who develops a crush on Benton.
The humor the series is known for is already present in this movie.
The pilot made appetite for the series again.

Rating:

(From "Due South" marathon on May 27th, 2009)