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Modern Times, a review by addicted2dvd

Modern Times: The Chaplin Collection (1936/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | (United States) Director: Charles Chaplin [Charlie Chaplin] Writing: Charles Chaplin [Charlie Chaplin] (Writer) Length: 83 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Other

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Stars:
Charles Chaplin [Charlie Chaplin] as A factory worker
Paulette Goddard as A gamin
Henry Bergman as Cafe propietor
Tiny Sandford [Stanley Sandford] as Big Bill and worker
Chester Conklin as Mechanic

Plot:
Man vs. machine! And the winner is every comedy fan when Charlie Chaplin's Tramp confronts assembly line woes in this classic chosen in 1998 as one of the American Film Institute's Top-100 American Films.

The Little Tramp punches in and wigs out inside a factory where gizmos like an employee-feeding machine may someday make the lunch hour last just 15 minutes. Bounced into the ranks of the umemployed, he teams with a street waif (Paulette Goddard) to pursue bliss and a paycheck, finding misadventures as a roller-skating night watchman, a singing waiter whose hilarious song is gibberish, a jailbird and more. In the end, as Tramp and waif walk arm and arm into an insecure future, we know they've found neither bliss nor a paycheck but, more importantly, each other. The times and satire remain timeless in 'Modern Times'.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Feature Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Gallery
• Closed Captioned

I was really looking forward to checking out some Charlie Chaplin. And this one was very good. I liked the mixture of silent and non-silent filming. There was several spots I found myself literally laughing out loud. This is definitely one I would recommend.



(From November Movie Marathon: Classic Comedy Greats on November 3rd, 2017)

The Polar Express, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Polar Express

When a young boy doubts the existence of Santa Claus, a train arrives at his house to take him on a magical journey to the North Pole, to show him the true meaning of the season, and that believing is seeing.

A personal favorite, and just about my favorite modern (post 1980) Yuletide film (the other being Tokyo Godfathers). This is a film that really puts me in the Yuletide spirit. 

The animation falls into two categories: absolutely stunning visuals and somewhat off-looking people.  I expect the people problem is because of the limits of early mocap, and I find that each year I watch the film I notice less and less that the people don't move right.  The environment, however, is brilliantly realized and absolutely magnificent.  When we saw this at the IMAX in 3D, the sequences where the train goes downhill on the tracks are fabulous.

I also really enjoy the characters, especially the girl in the group.  She's refreshingly different from most female characters in American animation, breaking stereotypes and being the leader of the group that she is.  But all of the main child characters are portrayed rather realistically, which I like. 

While there's probably too much music for Pete, I can't think of anyone else I couldn't recommend this film to. 

Overall: 3.5/5

(From Yuletide 2011 on December 24th, 2011)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Commander in Chief


Pilot
Mackenzie Allen, who serves as Vice President of the United States, has a tough decision to make, whether or not to go against the wishes of the dying current President. He has asked her to step down and let someone a little more appropriate take his place in the Oval Office. However, it's not only the President that is calling for her resignation, it's her entire party which elected her as the Vice President to start with.

My Thoughts:
When this show originally aired it was one of my favorites. I know there was many that didn't care for it. But you know how I like to be different!  I always thought Gina Davis was a great choice for the part. And I was sorry to see it not come back for the second season. When I first got the DVD release I still enjoyed it quite a bit and was happy I was able to complete the series (get both volumes). After watching the pilot episode today I found while still a good show that my interest in it wasn't as strong. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it when I watched it... but I think as much as I always liked the show... the re-watch value is low on it. I think it is the type of show that I really have to be in the mood for to watch. And don't think this one is a very good candidate for marathon viewing.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on November 23rd, 2009)