DVD Collectors Online

Faces of Death II, a review by Jimmy

Title : Faces of Death II (1981)

Overview
Faces of Death, one of the most talked about video series of all time, examines the many guises of death in extreme close-up. Sure to shock, horrify and even repulse, these brutal films are not meant for the faint of heart. This classic series is the one true original. Accept no substitute!

My Impression
This one is different than the original, the difference is that the footages is real in it. Just one scene that I'm not sure of his reality (a theft in a pharmacy gone bad, it looks real but I don't understand why the complete police intervention is film by a newscrew[see edit]). So depending of your taste this one is better or worse than FOD1. Surprisingly for a documentary of this genre this is a good presentation of the different ways that we can be catch by the Grim Reaper. In fact even if the footage is gory this isn't too bad, most of it came from the TV news film archive (but we see the aftermath contrary of what we see in the news).

Sure you get the usual presentation of the results of death in car accident, train wreckage, plane crash and war. But not everything in it is death footage, by exemple there are some fail car stunt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSIhQxpdWdg
Don't worry this is perfectly safe to watch. Kenny Powers failed stunt (not surprisingly, I could say)

Like the precedent entry this one countains animal cruelty footage too (dolphin massacre, fur farm, laboratory experiment) so you are warned.
 
Rating :

edit : Finally this scene is fake. One of the thief is the director John Alan Schwartz who played the cult leader in the first one and Mike Lorenzo the snuff killer in the third one. But they almost got me with this scene

(From Shockumentary/Mondo Week Marathon on February 3rd, 2009)

Cidade de Deus, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are:  Brazil
wikipedia

What We Watched:


Cidade de Deus  (City of God)

Year of Release: 2002
Starring:  Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Phellipe Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge
Directed By:  Fernando Meirelles
Genre:  Drama, Crime

Overview:
Celebrated with worldwide acclaim, this powerful true story of crime and redemption has won numerous prestigious awards around the globe! The streets of the world's most notorious slum, Rio de Janeiro's "City of God," are a place where combat photographers fear to tread, police rarely go and residents are lucky if they live to the age of 20. In the midst of the oppressive crime and violence, a frail and scared young boy will grow up to discover that he can view the harsh realities of his surroundings with a different eye: the eye of an artist. In the face of impossible odds, his brave ambition to become a photographer becomes a window into his world and ultimately his way out!

My Thoughts:Cidade de Deus is an intense, visceral, magnificent film about a brutal life.  Live fast, die young, leave a corpse on the street in a pool of blood.  Recommended for any serious film fan, anyone who enjoys a good film, anyone with the stomach to watch it (in other words, not for my friend Katrina). 

If you get a chance, watch the featurette included on the disc as well, for a further look at the favelas and the drug/gun running culture.  Very informative.

Bechdel Test:  Fail

Overall:  5/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on November 22nd, 2012)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Title: Crime Traveller
Year: 1997
Director:
Rating: PG
Length: 197 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles:

Plot:
Meet the most unconventional investigative duo of any time - JEFF SLADE and HOLLY TURNER, in the mystery adventure series Crime Traveller.

Sleuths come and go, working on intuition, luck and clues, but Slade and his science officer colleague Holly are armed with something extra in their fight against crime - their very own Time Machine.

Invented and developed over the years by Holly's father, quantum physicist Professor Fredrick Turner, the Time Machine is a bizarre mixture of DIY technology, but it works. Unfortunately the Professor disappeared during one of his time travel experiments, leaving his daughter convinced that he is still out there somewhere, stuck in another dimension.

Holly is now in charge of the Professor's extraordinary legacy, which is kept hidden in her apartment. When Slade, a charming maverick detective, discovers the Time Machine's existence, he convinces Holly to use it in order to solve major crimes. The scene is set for a rollercoaster ride, through the present and the past.

High speed chases and intriguing puzzles are solved with the aid of their unreliable Time Machine, in this stylish, fast-paced drama.

Extras:
Episode Guide and Synopsis'
Interviews
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers

I have watched the first series now and I must say, that even though I was sceptical after the first episode, I quite enjoyed it. I didn't have a problem with how the machine looked. It was built by her father after all over a period of many years. Its material is from different times. E.g. some vacuum tubes are still used. As for closing the curtains: As I understood it, that the closing of the wooden curtains also closes a special circuit. And everyone inside that circuit (i.e. inside the room) travels through time.
I had a problem with the huge wrist-watch though. Luckily it was hardly seen.
What I liked about this series is, that they sticked to their established time-travel principle, that nothing can be changed in the past. Everything you see always happened this way. Some stuff you see before the time-travel happened, but we later find out, that they were caused by the time-travellers themselves.
To summarize: This is an average crime-solving TV series with a little time-travel twist. The first episode is rather weak, but I enjoyed the other three episodes of this first series. Especially the last one.

#	Episode	Rating
01	Jeff Slade & The Loop of Infinity
02	A Death in the Family
03	Fashion Shoot
04	The Revenge of the Chronology Protection Hypothesis

(From Tom's Random Reviews on October 25th, 2009)