DVD Collectors Online

Fire, a review by Tom

Title: Fire
Year: 1996
Director: Deepa Mehta
Rating: 15
Length: 107 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles:

Stars:
Nandita Das
Shabana Azmi
Jaaved Jaaferi
Ram Gopal Bajaj
Ranjit Chowdhry

Plot:
A desire for independence and personal expression clashes with tradition in director Deepa Mehta's love story with a twist exploring family values, love and loyality in India.

When Sita (Nandita Das) arrives at the New Delhi home of Jatin (Jaaved Jaaferi), her husband in an arranged marriage, she soon discovers that untold secrets and lies are simmering beneath the happy surface.

But what is the real reason behind the strange tension between Jatin's brother Ashok (Kulbushan Kharbanda) and his duty-bound wife Radha (Shabana Azmi)?

What part does their elderly paralysed mother Biji (Kushal Rekhi) play in the unfolding drama?

And why is Sita so keen to rebel against the notion of unquestioning devotion to one's husband?

A catalysmic event is about to turn everyone's world upside down as the harsh realities of contemporary Indian society are put under the spotlight.

Extras:
Scene Access

For Indian cinema, it was a big controversy, when it was released in 1996.
I feel that the relationship between these two women came too sudden. It seemed the only reason they got together because their husband were neglecting them. And I think it is not a good choice to have a pairing, which would even seem wrong in western cinema. The main characters are sister-in-laws. In my opinion this weakens the message which the movie wants to get across: The liberation of women from the strict traditions in India.

Rating:

(From Lesbian Movie Marathon on July 28th, 2009)

That Little Monster, a review by GSyren

That Little Monster (790594-467326)

United States 1994 | Released 2002-07-30 on DVD

56 minutes | Aspect ratio 1.33:1 | Audio: English Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo

Directed by Paul Bunnell and starring Melissa Baum, Reggie Bannister, Wolper Willock, William Mills, Andi Wenning

Like the unforgettable horror films of the past, THAT LITTLE MONSTER draws you into its world from frame one. In a dead-on recreation of Edward Van Sloan's prologue to the 1931 FRANKENSTEIN, sci-fi professor emeritus Forrest J. Ackerman steps before a curtain to forewarn us that the movie is not for the faint of heart.      The screen blazes white and slowly refigures into two feminine hands in tight close up which pull away to reveal the face of a quite pretty young girl.      Her name is Jamie (Melissa Baum). She's a foreign student, awaiting an interview with the parents of an infant boy she hopes to baby-sit. Everyday situation, to be sure.      Ah, but nothing is ordinary here! At once the house and its bizarre appointments begin to close in on Jamie, unsettling her and creepily unnerving us.      The photography pays homage to the great horror films of the 1930's. A devilish, strange, disquieting little chiller that will cap your evening with some delicious shudders. Some of its images may stay on in your mind to become part of your film vocabulary.

My thoughts about That Little Monster:

Way too Lynch-ian for me, and I never really liked Lynch. The opening homage to Frankenstein by Forrest J Ackerman was brilliant, but really ill advised since it set totally wrong expectations for the rest of the film. Not my kind of film, at all.

I rate this title

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on February 12th, 2016)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon, a review by Achim

22. BORN TO RUN
The Connors come face-to-face with Weaver in a confrontation that shakes John to the core and changes his fate forever.

My Comments:
I didn't see any of this coming. Some of it was hinted at, probably more than once. Also a big surprise was how little action there was. I enjoyed every second of this episode (except for the very last one, actually), a perfect blend of character moments, emotion, action, funny moments.

An excellent finish, which ends the series properly and makes good sense; although it had me think to get most details of it. ...I obviously struggle to write about this one as I feel anything could be a spoiler and all of it deserves to be experienced fresh when viewed for the first time. (Yes, we spoiled most other episodes, but somehow for this one it feels different.)



(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon on March 5th, 2010)