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The River Wild, a review by Jon

The River Wild ****
4 out of 5

Meryl Streep is Gail, a mother who organises a white water rafting trip to celebrate her son's birthday and salvage her shaky marriage. A former river guide, Gail's no longer the risk-taker she was in her youth, but her skills and courage are soon put to the ultimate test when an encounter with three mysterious strangers threaten to turn a family vacation into a living hell.

Very good action movie, in the vein of Cliffhanger. That was released only the year before, so it may be this is slightly derivative as the plot follows a very similar path (except this is a family unit taken hostage), but despite more explosions, I think this is the better film. Plus it may just have been the ticket director Curtis Hanson needed to make L.A. Confidential, so I'm eternally grateful for that.

As with many action films of this sort, the plot is simple, the dialogue broad and lumpy, but it's exciting stuff. What really helps is the outstanding cast. Kevin Bacon is always good value and is a brilliant, unpredictable villain. This was just the sort of film he'd go for back then, and reliable John C. Reilly has since become one of the best comic character actors around, but starring Meryl Streep as the heroine in a very physical role? It just goes to show her versatility, but it definitely means it's punching above its weight. Then you have David Strathairn as the resourceful husband, Tom. Hanson was a blessed man.

An all round excellent action-thriller, perfect for when you're not in the mood for the weighty Deliverance, but you still want nature playing a part in the action!

Oh yeah, next time you play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, consider that Streep's young son is played by Joseph Mazzello of Jurassic Park and his sister in that film was played by Ariana Richards, who was in Tremors with Kev! Damn, he gets around... 

(From Jon's Random Reviews on November 1st, 2009)

Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi, a review by dfmorgan

Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi

A part of

Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Year: 1983
Director: Richard Marquand
Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Overview: In the spectacular final chapter of the Star Wars Saga, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia must travel to Tatooine to free Han Solo by infiltrating the wretched stronghold of Jabba the Hutt, the galaxy's most loathsome gangster. Reunited, the Rebels team up with tribes of Ewoks to combat the Imperial forces on the forest moon of Endor. Meanwhile the Emperor and Darth Vader conspire to turn Luke to the dark side, and young Skywalker is determined to rekindle the spirit of the Jedi within his father.

The Galactic Civil War culminates in the ultimate showdown, as the Rebel forces gather to attack the seemingly defenseless and incomplete second Death Star in the battle that will determine the fate of the galaxy.

Watched: 19th. Sep 2011
My Thoughts: Another I first saw in London, this time not the West End but at a preview screening at the Odeon Marble Arch. A friend worked at EMI-Elstree Studios and she got tickets to the advance screenings and took a few of us along. She also had some T-shirts and bits and pieces with the title Revenge of the Jedi on them but she wouldn't let us have those. Another excellent film with just the noted extra modification over and above that done for the Special Edition. As Jon said elsewhere the Tatooine sequences were better this time around but some of the Endor scenes looked off, maybe it is down to the Matte paintings used at the time.

My Rating: Still enjoyable so a 5



(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on September 19th, 2011)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

What's the show about?
All over the world anomalies are suddenly opening and reveal itself as a door to the past. Sometimes predators come through and have to be brought back and the government tries to keep this a secret. A team of scientists and members of the British Home Office work on these cases and try to find a pattern and a way to close these anomalies again.

"Series 1 Episode 1"
Eight years ago the wife of Professor Cutter disappeared without a trace in the Forest of Dean. Now something weird is going on in there again, it's either a huge animal or a giant prank. The professor has to check it out for himself. In the mean time not far from there: A family calls the local zoo because their son has found a strange lizard that must have been set free by someone.

My Opinion
This was another blind buy and I watched the first season today for the first time. At first I was intrigued by the general idea. Basically Jurassic Park without fences or island. But I was constantly thrown off by how these animals behaved. I am certainly no expert on animals but I've seen animal documentaries since the days of Jacques Cousteau and I also watched the amazing BBC documentaries on prehistoric life (great stuff!). And now this series has all these amazing predators that could cause a lot of havoc just by behaving naturally. But that wasn't enough - they had to behave in an un-animal way just to create tension and suspense with the characters.
The characters were OK, but also not exceptional (more stereotypes than individuals). I don't know if I will watch the second season I already own...

(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on September 25th, 2009)