DVD Collectors Online

Last Summer, a review by Jimmy

Title : Last Summer (1969)

Overview
It was a summer of shared friendship... and lost innocence.

My Impression
I've bought this one without knowing anything about it, in fact my reason was that it's one of the first important movie role of Barbara Hershey. You know already that this movie is in my top ten list and this is certainly one of the best three movie I've seen in my life. Of course this movie is the best blind buy I've ever made. The story deal with the relation between 3 New York friends during their summer vacation and a new shy girl from Cleveland who joins the trio. Written like that it looks like a boring Walt Disney familly movie, but you know that if it would be the case this movie would have nothing to do on my list. The film is completly centered around the 4 teenagers (the adult are non entity in this movie, except for a little exception) and how the teenagers are cruel and manipulative with each others (we tend to forgot that fact, but we were like that too at this time). I can't say a lot about what happen in the movie because all the actions explain the end. A very great performance by the 4 young actors : Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, Bruce Davison and Catherine Burns (she was nominated for an Oscar). This is really important since bad acting would have harmed strongly the movie.

Now I go on a rant : I find inconceivable that this movie is not available on DVD. It was nominated for an Oscar in 1970, 3 big stars are in it and Evan Hunter had written the novel. I just can't understand why MGM refuse to release it on DVD, when they continue to release unimportant crappy movies. It will be the 40 years birthday of the movie release next years, so maybe there are some hope for a special edition in 2009.

If you find this one buy it immediatly, try to get the original X rated version and not the R rated cut version it's really important for understanding the end.   
 
Rating :


(From My Alphabet Marathon Review on November 12th, 2008)

Pom Poko, a review by dfmorgan

Title: Pom Poko
Original Title: Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko
Year: 1994
Director: Isao Takahata
Rating: PG
Length: 119 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Kokontei Shinchou
Makoto Nonomura
Takehiro Murata
Shigeru Izumiya
Nijiko Kiyokawa

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Gallery
Storyboard Comparisons
Closed Captioned



Although not a Hayao Miyazaki film this has the environment and ecology at its heart. Expansion of Tokyo is having an adverse affect on the woods, forests and hills surrounding the city. Although all creatures are affected by the changes none are hit more than the tanuki or raccoons as Disney called them, the Japanese actually call the tanuki raccoon dogs. The raccoons used to live harmoniously with the farmers and villagers keeping pests down and eating up scraps but the incursion of the city has caused the locals to leave and the animals to fight over what scraps can be had. The raccoons revive the the art of transformation so that they can become goblins and beasties to haunt the sites. They also pass themselves of as humans and effect damage to the construction sites. Everything seems to come to naught though when following one of their biggest hauntings an amusemnet park owner claims the credit. Will the raccoons recover from this setback? Yes and no is the answer.

A piece of minor background to the Disney version of this film. Back in my review of Only Yesterday I said that Disney were informed by Studio Ghibli that they were allowed to change the wording of the films providing that they kept to the meaning behind them. This film contains a major rewording that upset some hardcore anime fans. In the Japanese language and also within the English subtitles references are made to testicles but in the English language and Hard of Hearing captions the testicle references are changed to pouches.

A very enjoyable film again from Studio Ghibli and a 4

(From dfmorgan's Studio Ghibli Marathon on July 18th, 2010)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

Star Trek: The Next Generation
5.25 The Inner Light
Writer: Morgan Gendel (Screenwriter), Peter Allan Fields (Screenwriter), Morgan Gendel (Original Material By)
Director: Peter Lauritson
Cast: Patrick Stewart (Capt. Jean-Luc Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Cmdr. William Riker), LeVar Burton (Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf), Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Margot Rose (Eline), Richard Riehle (Batai), Scott Jaeck (Administrator), Jennifer Nash (Meribor), Patti Yasutake (Nurse Alyssa Ogawa), Daniel Stewart (Young Batai)

Counting this as time-travel is a little stretch, but I just wanted to see this wonderful episode again. Picard lives a lifetime on a long gone planet in a matter of minutes. During this time he almost forgets his old life on the Enterprise and embraces his new life and family. The ending is very moving.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on October 31st, 2011)