DVD Collectors Online

Libeled Lady, a review by Antares

Libeled Lady (1936) 79/100 - I avoided this film for years because I've never much cared for the acting "talents" of Jean Harlow. Plus, I made the mistake of thinking this was a drama, not a comedy. When it was about to start on TCM, Robert Osborne mentioned that it was considered a screwball classic, so I decided to give it a shot. Turned out to be a well scripted farce with great performances from Myrna Loy, William Powell and Walter Connolly. Harlow and Tracy's performances both felt a bit forced. I know that Tracy is considered one of the all time greats, but just like his mistress, Katharine Hepburn, the early performances tend to show an indulgence in over exuberance in delivery of lines. I don't think he really got it right until he made Captain's Courageous two years later. Getting back to the film, I'm surprised that this hasn't been remade because its premise is timeless, especially in a society today where even the slightest misfire by someone is grounds for litigation.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on October 9th, 2013)

A Christmas Carol, a review by Tom

Title: A Christmas Carol
Year: 1984
Director: Clive Donner
Rating: PG
Length: 100 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
George C. Scott
Liz Smith
Anthony Walters
Roger Rees
John Quarmby

Plot:
George C. Scott stars in this critically acclaimed version of Charles Dickens' holiday classic in which one man discovers the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas elicits nothing more than "Bah, humbug!" from Ebenezer Scrooge (Scott), a miser whose sole pursuit of financial success has left him a bitter and lonely old man. But a Christmas Eve visit from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future ultimately teaches him to open his heart to the spirit of Christmas and to the joys of friends and family. Filmed entirely on location in the historic English town of Shrewsbury, this lavish production vividly brings to life one of the world's best-loved Christmas stories.

Extras:
Closed Captioned
Scene Access

I have seen the new Robert Zemeckis' Christmas Carol this week in the theatre. I thought it fitting to watch this one now for comparison. It was part of a Christmas movie boxset. This is the first time I have watched this film. I think before this week I have never seen an adaption of the Christmas Carol which follows the book. Of course I know the story, but mainly from the many TV series which used the storyline and of course the great Bill Murrey movie "Scrooged". It was fun to see a live-action adaption in comparison with a modern animated version now. I enjoyed both versions, but I have to say, that I like the new one better.

Rating:

(From December Marathons - DISCUSSION AND REVIEW THREAD on December 19th, 2009)

Tom's Glee Marathon, a review by Tom

Glee
Season 1.17 Bad Reputation
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Ian Brennan (Writer)
Director: Elodie Keene
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Jonathan Groff (Jesse St. James), Molly Shannon (Brenda Castle), Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins), Patrick Gallagher (Ken Tanaka), Stephen Tobolowsky (Sandy Ryerson), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), James Earl (Azimio), Max Adler (Dave Karofsky), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang), Dijon Talton (Matt Rutherford), Olivia Newton-John (Herself), Mary Jo Catlett (Mrs. Carlisle), Jean Sincere (Ancient Librarian), Robin Trocki (Jean Sylvester)

This is a fun episode. Glee club gets their hands on a video where Sue does aerobic to "Let's Get Physical" and posts it on YouTube. This attracts the real Olivia Newton-John to do a remake of the old music video of this song together with Sue.

Finncompetence:
This episode shows that Rachel has much more chemistry with other characters than with Finn. In this case with Puck (or Puckleberry how their romance was known in school and to fans). Even the fandom's name of the pairing sounds stupid: Finchel.

Brittana:
Brittany and Santana play angels in Rachel's music video.

Notable music:
There are some fun songs in this episode.
Will is rapping again, but this time around I enjoyed it. He did "Ice Ice Baby".

Another funny music scene is when some of the Glee club members are trying to be badass by singing "You Can't Touch This" in the school's library. But it backfires.


Another funny music scene is Rachel's video to "Run Joey Run".


My favorite song in this episode though is "Total Eclipse of the Heart", but I may be partial to it. Since I saw the musical "Tanz der Vampire" where this song was covered, I am a fan of this song.


Rating:

(From Tom's Glee Marathon on September 15th, 2012)