DVD Collectors Online

Cronos, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are:  Mexico
wikipedia

What We Watched:


Cronos
Year of Release:  1993
Directed By:  Guillermo del Toro
Genre:  Horror
Starring:  Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook, Margarita Isabel, Tamara Shanath

Overview:
Guillermo del Toro made an auspicious and audacious feature debut with Cronos, a highly unorthodox tale about the seductiveness of the idea of immortality. Kindly antiques dealer Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi) happens upon an ancient golden device in the shape of a scarab, and soon finds himself possessor and victim of its sinister, addictive powers, as well as the target of a mysterious American named Angel (a delightfully crude and deranged Ron Perlman). Featuring marvelous makeup effects and the haunting imagery for which del Toro has become world-renowned, Cronos is a dark, visually rich, and emotionally captivating dark fantasy.

My Thoughts:
I loved this film! I thought it was an original take on vampirism, and an inventive and imaginative film.  We loved Pan's Labyrinth and del Toro doesn't disappoint here.  The imagery is very striking, the camera work excellent, and the actors are all very good - though I was especially impressed with Luppi and Perlman.  The film was very creepy and kept you wondering what would happen next, though its slower pace would likely detract for some viewers. 

I love a good horror film, but I really only like a certain kind of horror - I'm not into slasher flicks or torture porn; too much gore and you've lost me.  What I love is a film with atmosphere, supernatural issues and the building horror of what might happen, and in this Cronos does not disappoint.  Here it's the question of what might happen to this kindly man, whose relationship with his granddaughter reminded me of mine with my grandfather, especially in how he took her everywhere with him and doted on her. 

I would recommend this to anyone who liked old-fashioned horror films, or just a good story with elements of horror.

Overall:  4/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on March 1st, 2012)

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, a review by GSyren

Title	Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (5-051895-219577)
Director	Brad Peyton
Actors	Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson, Luis Guzman, Vanessa Hudgens
Produced	2012 in United States
Runtime	94 minutes
Audio	English DTS 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, German Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles	Danish, French, Finnish, Norwegian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish
Overview	The new family adventure Journey 2: The Mysterious Island begins when seventeen-year-old Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist. Unable to stop him from tracking the signal to its source, Sean's new stepfather, Hank (Dwayne Johnson), joins the quest that will take them first to the South Pacific, and then to a place few people have ever seen. Or lived to tell about. It's a place of stunning beauty, strange and threatening life forms, volcanoes, mountains of gold and more than one astonishing secret. Together with Gabato (Luis Guzmán), the only helicopter pilot willing to risk the trip, and Gabato's beautiful, strong-willed daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens), they set out to find the island, rescue its lone human inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island underwater and bury its treasures forever, in this follow-up to the 2008 worldwide hit Journey to the Center of the Earth.
My thoughts	This is another of those movies that I wasn’t sure about, so I waited until I could get it relatively cheap. This is also a case of setting my expectations low. I like Jules Verne. I have read The Mysterious Island, although it was long ago. I also read the Illustrated Classic when I was a kid, and I have seen the 1961 Harryhausen film, the 2005 Hallmark TV version and the 1995 TV series. None of them follow Verne’s book very closely, and this one certainly doesn’t either. Being quite recent, it’s no big surprise that this movie has the better special effects. But good special effects does not equal a good movie. We have seen this over and over. Is Josh Hutcherson a good actor? If he is, he certainly doesn’t show it in this movie. Dwayne Johnson can be good in action movies, but isn’t good here. And Michael Caine is pretty much wasted. The less said about Luis Guzmán, the better. And you know something must be wrong in a movie when Vanessa Hudgens comes off as the least irritating character... The script varies between silly and ludicrous, but at least it seldom gets boring. So, if you can put your brain in neutral for an hour and a half (at least it’s not overly long), then it can be an acceptable time killer. But hardly anything more than that. If you want a good Mysterious Island, go with Harryhausen. It’s not Verne’s Mysterious Island, but in spite of Harryhausen’s creatures it’s probably the closest you get. The TV series is also quite entertaining, but it certainly isn’t Verne. Still, either of them is better than this mess. Definitely avoid the Hallmark version, though!
My rating	2.5 out of 5

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on September 26th, 2013)

"Due South" marathon, a review by Tom

4.10 Say Amen (1999-03-04)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), John Krizanc (Writer)
Director: George Bloomfield
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), Callum Keith Rennie (Stanley "Ray" Kowalski), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Camilla Scott (Inspector Margaret Thatcher), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Tom Melissis (Detective Dewey), Ramona Milano (Francesca Vecchio), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Dean McDermott (Constable Turnbull), Richard Chevolleau (Davie Abelard), Elisabeth Rosen), Nola Augustson), David Fox (Rev. Albert Barrow), Jeff Pustil (Doctor), Katherine Trowell (Technician), Marvin Kaye (Sandy Waters), Robert Thomas (Addie Harlan)

An average episode. Nothing special. Not a very original storyline.

Rating:

(From "Due South" marathon on January 5th, 2011)