DVD Collectors Online

Wait Until Dark, a review by Jon

Wait Until Dark
4 out of 5



Audrey Hepburn plays Susy, a blind woman whose husband is passed a doll at an airport. He’s away on business and three criminals come looking for the doll, manipulating Susy into telling them where it is.

This is a cracking thriller that’s going right near the top of my Best Films I Never Heard Of list. It doesn’t deserve to be on such a list, mind. I discovered it by accident while browsing HMVs sale and I encourage everyone else to try and have the same accident. Why it isn’t talked about more, I can’t say.

The setup is deliciously simple, as all such thrillers should be. Blind woman, trapped in an apartment while thugs tease her into revealing the location of a doll. Terence Young, director of several early Bond films, must have relished such an idea. It’s one of those wonderful plots that must be like building a domino display; put all the work in early then flick one and watch it all unfold.
 
 Apart from the start and a couple of brief outdoor shots, all the action is based in the apartment. Even the first meeting between the three criminals takes place there while Suzy is out. She returns briefly and they try to hide, but quickly realise of course, she’s blind. It’s a fantastic scene as she moves around the apartment and has no idea the three men are there!

Audrey Hepburn is fantastic as Suzy, who has been blind for about a year and is still struggling to be fully independent. Sam gives her a lot of tough love to help her do so. She has a couple of hysterical moments and she’s great showing how her character realises she’s got to help herself and stay strong. The three thugs (Richard Crenna, Jack Weston and Alan Arkin) are all good too, especially the psychotic Arkin, a master of disguise.

The middle part of the film is concerned with setting up the rather complicated hustle. Crenna pretends to be an old wartime buddy of Suzy’s husband, Sam; Weston is a detective and Arkin a man building a story around the doll that suggests Sam was having an affair with a recent murder victim. This section isn’t particularly tense, though knowing she’s on her own and unaware of the danger she is in is certainly unsettling. It’s very satisfying though to see her prove she’s not as daft as they think and it setups all the little bits and pieces that will come into play, like potential weapons and noisy items that give away locations. It’s fun spotting things like that.

It really works its magic in the final act as Terence Young pushes that first domino! As all the pieces come together and she’s worked out the plot, she tries to fight back. Her trick is to smash every light, therefore making them as blind as she is. At times in this sequence there is no light at all and it is pant-wettingly nerve wracking while you stare at a pitch black screen!

I can’t recommend this enough. It’s old fashioned, but would fit in well with the Fox Film Noir series, except it isn’t by Fox and it isn’t film noir, though that never stopped Fox. ) It’s a setup that works so well in cinema, something I could imagine Hitchcock using, I’m surprised it hasn’t been remade. The only modern equivalent I can think of is Panic Room (there’s even a kid in this one who helps, but isn’t trapped with her). However, Wait Until Dark is far superior.

The only thing that spoilt it for me was wondering where the heck I’d seen Jack Weston before. So it doesn’t spoil it for you, he was Oscar, who would “not get away” in Short Circuit 2! 


(From October Marathon: Horror! on October 27th, 2008)

The Da Vinci Code, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Da Vinci Code
Year of Release: 2006
Directed By: Ron Howard
Starring: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany
Genre: Suspense/Thriller, Drama, Action

Overview:Philadelphia, and 1994 Best Actor, Forrest GumpMy Thoughts:
I enjoy this film and find it entertaining, filled with twisty conspiracy theories and enough action to keep the viewer interested.  The pacing is pretty good there, because there are parts that are extremely talky but just when it gets to be too much something happens to distract our heroes from their chat.  Having never read the book, I can't comment on its faithfulness or lack thereof, but I enjoy the story and think it's complete.  I certainly haven't felt the need to read the book.  My biggest complaint would be that the best performances and most interesting characters are not the leads.  Hanks' Robert Langdon is surprisingly passive and unemotional, despite his pretty desperate situation he never seems fully engaged, and while Tatou's Sophie is charming she's also one-dimensional.  McKellen's Teabing is a much more interesting character, and steals every scene he's in.  Bettany's Silas is menacing and fanatical, but the extended cut here makes him more understandable and sympathetic.  

I definitely enjoyed the extended cut more than the theatrical, continuing a pattern there, and unlike the extended cuts of some other films, I don't know what I would cut here.  It does make this a nearly 3 hour film, though, so I wouldn't recommend it if you can't sit still that long.  I also wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for a movie to watch with a religious fanatic in the family.  Other than that, recommended.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 3.5/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on August 14th, 2015)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

The Cosby Show

Pilot Presentation - Theo's Economic Lesson



The Cosby Show pilot episode uses the same title sequence as the rest of the first season, and is widely regarded as the 'first episode'. However, it is notable for a number of differences from the remainder of the series.
In the pilot, the Huxtables have only four children. Following the pilot, the Huxtables have five children, with the addition of their eldest daughter, Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf). The character was created when Bill Cosby wanted the show to express the accomplishment of successfully raising a child (e.g., a college graduate). Whitney Houston was considered for the role of Sondra Huxtable. Sabrina LeBeauf almost missed out on the role because she is only 10 years younger (b. 1958) than Phylicia Rashād (b. 1948), who played her mother.
Bill Cosby's character is called "Clifford" in the early episodes of the first season (as evidenced by his name plate on the exterior of the Huxtable home). His name was later switched to "Heathcliff". Additionally, Vanessa refers to Theo as "Teddy" twice in the dining room scene.

Clair is furious when Theo brings home a report card with 4 D's. He tells Cliff that he has no intention of going to college, as he feels that he is destined to be a "regular person." Cliff uses Monopoly money to teach him about the economic realities that many blue-collar workers must face. He assures Theo that he only wants him to try his best. Cliff is alarmed to meet Denise's latest beau, a former merchant marine who once spent time in a Turkish prison

Not a lot one can say about a tv series we no doubt would all of caught at some point. The pilot was a good introduction to the original family and the brand of humour one can expect throughout its long run. Probably a lot more suited and popular in the States than the UK, it still had a fairly long run here and was repeated a multitude of times.
It is one of those friendly sitcoms you can pick up at any point, there is no longer term complicated plot, and it is easy viewing.
Interesting tp note the points above, with a few changes by its 2nd episode, most notably a name change for the lead and another child appearing!
 


(From My PILOT Marathon on September 1st, 2009)