DVD Collectors Online

State of Play, a review by Dragonfire

I saw this one a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it.  It is a very well done thriller.

A young man is shot in a dark alley after trying to steal a purse.  A reporter for the Washington Globe, Cal, starts working on the story the next day.  That same morning, a young woman, Sonia, died in a bizarre accident.  Questions about if the death was an accident or suicide are raised.  Things are complicated by the fact that Sonia had been working for congressman Stephen Collins.  Stephen is scheduled to start a hearing looking into a private security firm when he hears the news.  He is visibly upset when he mentions the death and reports surface that he had been having an affair with her.  Stephen isn't sure how to deal with everything and goes to see his old friend Cal, who is also friends with Stephen's wife Anna.  Cal decides to start checking into what was going on and he uncovers things that make him think more is going on.  His editor Cameron is after him to produce a story that will sell papers - the new owners of the paper are after her for the same thing.  Cal ends up working with Della, a young woman working in the internet division, writing some sort of blog for the paper.  They discover more that convinces Cal that there is a conspiracy.

The movie is based on a six part British television drama that aired in 2003.  I haven't seen the original version, so I don't know exactly what was changed for this version.  I'm sure things were condensed since this version is only about 2 hours long. 

I thought the plot for the movie was very interesting and entertaining.  I was never bored by what was going on and I didn't think the movie was predictable overall.  There were a few minor things that were predictable.  There is a decent amount of suspense and mystery in the movie.  Things are resolved by the end of the movie for the most part, though I did wonder about one or two minor things.  I liked how the movie took time to show Cal at work, and showed the contrast between his type of reporter and the newer blog reporters who the new management seemed to favor since they had all the new computers while the print reporters were working on ancient computers.  Even though sex is involved through the relationship that Sonia and Stephen had, there aren't any sex scenes in the movie.  The characters are intertesting, though Della is a bit annoying at first.  The cast is great.

Overall, this is a really good movie that deserves to be seen.

 

I did post a review on Epinions if anyone is interested.

State of Play

(From State of Play on May 5th, 2009)

Silver Bullet, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Stephen King's Silver Bullet
Year: 1985
Director: Daniel Attias
Rating: R
Length: 95 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Gary Busey
Everett McGill
Corey Haim
Megan Follows
Robin Groves
Leon Russom

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
I have loved it since I first saw it when I was just a teen. I absolutely love the supped up wheel chair... The Silver Bullet! I really enjoyed the scene when he first got it... finding out just how fast it went. I believe Stephen King's take on the werewolf legend is just right on the spot. And I liked who the werewolf turned out to be. While it is not what I would call a gory movie... there is a scene or two that shows it's fair share of blood. There was nothing about this movie that was not just plain enjoyable. It is definitely one of my favorite werewolf movies. Unfortunately this is just a bare bones DVD... no extras what so ever. I would have liked to at the very least seen the Theatrical Trailer on the disc. I imagine there will be many people that does not agree with the below rating... but what can I say... I just love this movie. And it is my rating... so there! 



(From Movies of the '80s Marathon on April 25th, 2010)

Xena: Warrior Princess Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Xena has left her old ways behind and even intends to bury her weapons and armor when she "encounters" a group of mercenaries who try to kidnap a group of young women from a nearby village. The mercenaries belong to Draco, an old acquaintance of Xena's who plans to march into Xena's home valley. She has to protect her home village and at the same time that young girl who's now following her: Gabrielle.

My Opinion: If you already know the character from the Hercules episodes then you have no problem understanding this pilot episode. If you don't then the writers gave you a glimpse into her old life by using Draco as proxy since it is made clear that Xena was much like him. And it's also a good introduction to Gabrielle and her greatest talent: Her mouth. Xena wears now her final costume which changed slightly during and after the Hercules episodes. I think it's a good introduction to the show.

Synopsis: Xena gets shot by an arrow when she tries to help some villagers who were under attack by a local warlord. One of the villagers invites her to his house until she's healed. Meanwhile Gabrielle waits in another town for her return and makes the acquaintance of a young man who happens to be the son of said warlord and is supposed to become his father's successor.

My Opinion:Synopsis: Gabrielle gets kidnapped by a group of Mystics who want to marry her to the God of Dreams, Morpheus. For this she has to lose her blood innocence and has to kill a man (but she doesn't know that). In order to save her, Xena has to enter the Dreamscape where she not only encounters the people she killed but also her old self.

My Opinion: "You look bigger". I really liked it how Gabrielle got rid of her enemies without killing a single one of them and I liked it how Xena faced her old self and came to the acceptance that she is part of her and always will be. And I love these contact lenses(?) that colour the entire eye totally black. That looks awesome every time someone wears them (e.g. Lyta Alexander in Babylon 5).

Synopsis: Xena and Gabrielle find an abandoned baby that has become victim of a prophecy that says that the child will one day sit on the throne of the local kingdom. But they also encounter the granddaughter of the famous Pandora and she's carrying the box and has to prevent hope from escaping out of it.

My Opinion: As I said in the beginning, I like the mixture of mythologies they are brewing here. I don't have a problem with them being at Troy one week and meeting Cesar the next. And so they encounter Pandora (named after her grandmother) and her box this week. And Lucy Lawless (what a name! ) danced a beautiful oriental dance...

(From Xena: Warrior Princess Marathon on November 21st, 2009)