DVD Collectors Online

My Winnipeg, a review by Danae Cassandra

My Winnipeg
Year of Release: 2007
Directed By:  Guy Maddin
Starring: Ann Savage, Louis Negin, Amy Stewart, Darcy Fehr
Genre: Documentary, Drama, Fantasy

Overview:
The geographical dead center of North America and the beloved birthplace of Guy Maddin, Winnipeg is the frosty and mysterious star of Maddin's "docu-fantasia." A work of memory and imagination, the film burrows into what the director calls "the heart of the heart" of the continent, conjuring a city as delightful as it is fearsome, populated by sleepwalkers and hockey aficionados. Take part in Winnipeg's epic annual scavenger hunt! Pay your respects to the racehorses forever frozen in the river! Help judge the yearly Golden Boy pageant! What is real and what is fantasy is left up to the viewer to sort out in Maddin's hypnotic, expertly conceived paean to that wonderful and terrifying place known as My Hometown.

My Thoughts:
Is the truth important? How important is truth to memory? What truly matters: what really happened or how you perceive it and remember it? Are the stories of your hometown important because they are true? Or because you believe them? If they are false, does that make them less true? Maddin's blend of memoir, documentary and fantasy asks these sorts of questions and doesn't exactly provide answers. We all have local legends that will never be proven, we all have memories that didn't happen the way we remember them, we all have embellished family stories. Maddin's ultimate point might just be that all of this is important in how we see the world - just as important as the actual truth.

Bechdel Test:  Fail

Overall: 4/5

(From March Around the World 2016 on March 11th, 2016)

Trilogy of Terror, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Trilogy of Terror: Special Edition Year: 1975 Director: Dan Curtis Rating: NR Length: 72 Min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Mono Subtitles: English

Stars:
Karen Black
Robert Burton
John Karlen
George Gaynes
James Storm
Kathryn Reynolds

Plot:
Legendary producer/director Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker) teams up with writers Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, The Twilight Zone) and William F. Nolan (Logan's Run, Burnt Offerings) to present three tales of horrific suspense in this made-for-television anthology that also showcases the tremendous acting talent of Karen Black (House of 1,000 Corpses, Easy Rider), who plays four distinct roles. In "Julie," an aggressive college student seduces and ultimately blackmails his seemingly shy English professor. In "Millicent and Therese," two polar-opposite sisters become increasingly hell-bent on the undoing of one another. And in "Amelia," a woman falls prey to a murderous Zuni fetish doll.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Featurettes

My Thoughts:
This is a TV movie from back in the '70s.  Remembering back to when I was a manager of our local video store... this movie was in great demand. Unfortunately at the time I never got to see it myself as the store's copy disappeared and none of our distributors at the time could locate a new copy for us (this is back in the VHS days). So the first time I got to see this movie was when I first got it on DVD back in 2007. And I must say I enjoyed it very much!

The first story,Julie, Karen Black plays a College Professor who gets seduced and blackmailed (as the cover says).I liked how the student didn't have as much control over things as he thought he did. An enjoyable segment... but not my favorite.

The next story is Millicent and Therese where we have some sibling rivalry.  This one, while I still enjoyed it, it wasn't as good as the first one. So this one has to be my least favorite segment of the movie.

The final story, Amelia, a woman falls prey to a murderous Zuni Fetish Doll. This is my favorite segment of the entire movie. It was very well done... especially for the time. And I just couldn't help but to get a kick out of that Zuni Fetish Doll. And as much as I liked that little guy... I must say the final scene is really what clinched this segment for me.

The DVD itself While good I am a little disappointed. The audio and video is just fine on my 24in standard TV. But I have a bit of a hard time with them calling this a special edition. All there is... is 2 featurettes and a commentary track. That seems to me a little slim to be calling it a special edition. But with that all said... I really enjoyed watching this movie again.




Count:
Movie Count: 82
TV Ep. Count: 47 I Made It! (10/20)
Other Count: 8 I Made It! (10/15)

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon: 2010 on October 23rd, 2010)

"Due South" marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

Pizzas And Promises

Another really good episode. This time around I liked the entire storyline. Though I couldn't get over how ugly the outfit that Ray's sister was wearing in this episode. I also think it would have been better if they followed through on the storyline of the pizza delivery kid a little more. Like how he found out that his car was repainted and up for sale again or if he had to face the other kid waiting for him back in jail. Though they really didn't have time for it.

Rating:

(From "Due South" marathon on June 29th, 2009)