DVD Collectors Online

This Christmas, a review by Danae Cassandra

This Christmas
Year of Release: 2007
Directed By: Preston A. Whitmore
Starring: Delroy Lindo, Idris Alba, Loretta Devine, Chris Brown
Genre: Drama, Comedy

Overview:
This Christmas there's no place like family. For the first time in years, all the Whitfield kids have come home to spend the holiday with Ma'Dere (Loretta Devine) and her boyfriend Joe (Delroy Lindo). And each has brought plenty of baggage along with them. As the lights are hung and the tree is trimmed, secrets are revealed and ties are tested. But as their lives converge again, they join together to rediscover and celebrate the wonderful gift of family.

My Thoughts:
This is a pretty typical Christmas movie - a family who haven't all been together for quite some time comes together for the holiday.  Each of them have their own problems, and maybe their relationships with the rest of the family are kinda dysfunctional.  After all, nobody knows how to push your buttons like your family.  But in the end, family is what really matters and family are the folks that have your back.  Whatever the problems are, they can be worked out.

Yes, that's pretty cliche, but this is a bit more realistic a family.  I don't come from a big family (opposite of it, in fact), but I could still relate to these people.  The children, and their mother, and even the bookies pursuing the eldest son and the smarmy cheating spouse, all have good points and bad points.  Yes, some of them have more good points and some more bad points.  Yes, there is a happy ending, but this is a Christmas movie about a family coming together.  There wasn't not going to be a happy ending.  

I think anyone looking for a family drama (with touches of comedy) would enjoy this film.  I think anyone would relate to it.  I think it's a shame that a lot of folks won't look at this film, and will simply relegate it to being a "black film" rather than simply a "film."  I would recommend this to anyone - unless you're looking for something to watch with little kids.  Teens, sure, no problem, but little kids will be bored pretty quick.

Bechdel Test: Pass*

Overall: 3.5/5

*barely, there's one conversation between the women about food, but that's it - all the other conversations are about men or their relationships with men

(From Yuletide 2013 on December 9th, 2013)

Man of Steel, a review by GSyren

Title	Man of Steel (5-051892-140324)
Director	Zack Snyder
Actors	Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane
Produced	2013 in United States
Runtime	143 minutes
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian Dolby Digital 5.1, Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles	Danish, English, French, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Icelandic
Overview	A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.
My thoughts	Man of SteelBatman vs. Superman. So, while it had some quite good parts, I found the movie not very satisfying. Cavill rocks, though.
My rating

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on January 5th, 2014)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

The Thin Blue Line (1995/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia Universal Pictures (United Kingdom) Length: 438 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:
Written by Ben Elton and starring Rowan Atkinson, The Thin Blue Line is one of the BBC's classic comedy shows. For the first time on DVD all 14 episodes from Series 1 & 2 are available here on one disc.


The Thin Blue Line
Series 1.01 Rag Week
Writer: Ben Elton (Writer)
Director: John Birkin
Cast: Rowan Atkinson (Inspector Fowler), Kevin Allen (D.C. Kray), Mina Anwar (P.C. Habib), James Dreyfus (P.C. Goody), Serena Evans (Sergeant Dawkins), David Haig (D.I. Grim), Rudolph Walker (P.C. Gladstone), Jean Ainslie, Ruth Arnold, Dicken Ashworth (Bank Manager), Gabrielle Blunt (Prosecuting Counsel), Joy Brook (D.C. Crockett), Lloyd McGuire, Bill Moody, Julian Rivett, Walter Sparrow, Paul Williams

This series is one of Rowan Atkinson's less popular ones. It doesn't come close to Blackadder and Mr. Bean. But I still enjoyed it.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on November 10th, 2012)