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Fargo, a review by Eric

Fargo


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Based on a true story that took place in Minnesota and North Dakota in 1987.  The opening credits claim that the names of the survivors were changed but that "in respect for the deads the rest is told exactly as it occured".

It's about a frustrated loser who hires 2 guys to kidnap his wife and get his wealthy father in law to pay a ransom he will then keep. The story is interesting and I had never heard of it. 

The movie however is not very good.  It was obviously done with a small budget but I don't think it excuses everything.  The thing that bothered me is that the characters from Minnesota and North Dakota all looked kind of "idiotic".  They look cold, like nothing ever surprise them, almost like Zombie.  They also say "Yeaaaaah" at least once per sentence, often more, but pronounced almost with a German or Dutch accent.  I don't know if people in Minnesota really say "Yeah" all the time but in the movie it's very annoying, almost like the writer sometimes makes them say something totally useless just to squeeze another "Yeah" in there.

This is bad IMO because there's a scene in the movie where all those one word sentences with people answering "yeah" all the times makes the whole thing look like some parody that isn't even funny.

They may have told things exactly as they happened by respect for the deads but they could also have shown respect for the people involved by not depicting them as idiots.

My score: , but if you find it somewhere for less than 5$ bucks it can still fill a snowy saturday afternoon if one has nothing else to do.


P.S: After writing this review I checked the movie on Rotten Tomatoes.  To my surprise it got very good critics and scores averaging 85% by critics and 94% by the community so I guess one should base his decision on getting this movie or not on my review.

(From Eric's DVD watching. on October 4th, 2008)

Masters of Horror: We All Scream for Ice Cream, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Masters of Horror: We All Scream for Ice Cream
Movie Count: 3
TV Ep Count: 1
Time Started: 10:30am
Plot:
'William Forsythe' of THE DEVIL'S REJECTS stars as Buster The Clown, a mentally challenged man who sells ice cream from his Cherry Tyme truck untill a cruel prank by a bunch of neighborhood boys goes horrifically wrong. A generation later they are all grown men with families, but the crime of their past may now be trolling for their children: Buster and his truck has returned for sweet revenge, and every frozen treat will bring it's own taste of Hell. 'Lee Tergesen' (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING) co-stars in this tasty chiller adapted by 'spatterpunk' writer 'David J. Schow' (THE CROW) from the short story by best-selling author 'John Farris" (THE FURY).

My Thoughts:
This is one of the episodes in my collection I have never seen before. Now that I watched it I would have to say it was not what I would consider a great episode. I would say it is decent at best.  Going by the preview of this episode I was hoping for more then what it actually was. It wasn't really that it was all bad... and I can see myself eventually watching it again... just won't be that high up on my Masters of Horror list. As always... it has a good amount of extras included with this disc.

(From Month-Long Horror/Halloween Marathon on October 1st, 2007)

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Giles has found a new prophecy that heralds the arrival of a new enemy. But Buffy doesn't really take it that seriously because she tries to have a social life besides her Slayer duties. And then she finds Owen, a quiet yet profound guy who is also interested in her. But can she really have a social life without endangering people (that are close to her)?

My Opinion: "Clark Kent has a job!" This episode was about the basic dilemma every superhero has to face: How much time is one allowed to have in which one doesn't protect other people. And Buffy made the same decision Clark made in Smallville more than one time and Peter Parker made in Spider-Man ("I will never forget these words: 'With great power comes great responsibility.' This is my gift. My curse. Who am I? I am Spider-Man!"). And yet Buffy is different. She has friends that know her secret. Friends that stand by her and fight with her. They are her foundation, otherwise she would be just another Slayer and her life span would probably much shorter.
But I wander from the subject. I never cared much for the "Anointed One" (or "Annoying One" as Spike will put it) because he basically does nothing while he's on the show except for being a wise-ass. So I liked the episode more for its underlying topic than its main topic.

Synopsis: During a visit to the city zoo something happens to a high school gang - and Xander. They get possessed by the spirit of a hyena and henceforth they behave like a pack of hyenas. They are cruel, nasty and prey on the weak. And they eat the school mascot. But it gets even worse and Buffy, Willow and Giles try to get the old Xander back.

My Opinion: This is one of the rare episodes where the focus is on Xander. And he's also allowed to be one of the bad guys. I think they played the pack very well. But even though Buffy didn't kill that zoo guy directly she threw him into the cage. Granted it was in a fight but I am quite certain that in later episodes they draw a fine line between killing monsters and killing Humans.
I also liked it that they played the "forgetfulness" card just to show that it was a bluff. This joker was played far too often on Smallville.

Synopsis: Buffy and Angel (a mysterious man that drops in and out of her life to warn her about impending doom) get attacked by a group of Vampire warriors and Angel gets hurt. Buffy invites him to her home and tends to his wounds. But then the unthinkable happens: When they kiss, Angel turns into a Vampire himself! He flees but returns and has apparently attacked Buffy's mom. Now Buffy's out for a kill.

My Opinion: One of my favourite episodes of the season. I really liked Darla's more practical approach of using firearms against a Human. Luckily her death isn't the end of her story - as it rarely is in the Buffyverse. And while (until now) Xander might have been jealous of Angel, now his new philosophy is: Only a dead Angel is a good Angel. It's basically the dark side of Xander's character and one day his philosophy will include Spike, too.
What bothered me about the first season was that there were too many "special Vampires" in comparison to later seasons. First the "Aurelius" guys from two episodes ago, now these warrior types. They are famous enough to appear in some ancient books yet they are not good enough to survive at least one episode and it's not even Buffy's "fault".

Synopsis: Ms. Calendar teaches computer class at Sunnydale High and she has started a project to scan all the library books. Unfortunately they also scan Giles's more "exotic" books and they release a demon into the internet that was spell-bound in one of the books. But before Buffy realizes this the demon Moloch has already some of the students under his spell - especially Willow. She believes that Malcolm is a nice guy and that Buffy is jealous of her. Fortunately Giles, Xander and Buffy don't have to fight alone: Ms. Calendar is not only a teacher, but also a techno-pagan.

My Opinion: The story is a bit ridiculous yet fun to watch. The whole idea of an ancient demon who uses the internet and builds himself a new body. But I loved the exorcism scene where Ms. Calendar was typing the counter-curse into the computer and Giles was spellchecking her. And the episode ended in a real whedony fashion when the three sat in front of the school and looked upon their past love lives and then concluded they are doomed.

And while I don't exactly share his sentiment, I really liked Giles's statement about books:

Ms. Calendar: Honestly, what is it about [computers] that bothers you so much?
Giles: The smell.
Ms. Calendar:
Giles:

(From "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Marathon on March 21st, 2009)