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A Marine Story , a review by Tom

A Marine Story (2010/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Peccadillo Pictures (United Kingdom) Director: Ned Farr Writing: Ned Farr (Writer) Length: 98 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles:

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Stars:
Dreya Weber as Alexandra Everett
Paris Pickard as Saffron Snow
Anthony Michael Jones as Leo
Christine Mourad as Holly
Jeff Sugarman as Lt. Col. Pollard

Plot:
Tough, accomplished and decorated lesbian Marine officer Alexandra Everett unexpectedly returns home only to find that, away from the gunfire and harsh conditions of the Iraqi desert, life in the real world isn't all she hoped for. After a brush with the local police, she finds an unlikely sparring partner in Saffron, a tearaway teen who has been recruited to prepare for boot camp. Just as the pair begin to bond, the true reasons for Alexandra's return begin to unravel, threatening the future for both of them.

The award-winning A Marine Story highlights the absurdity of the US military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy through the personal story of one courageous woman.

Extras:

• Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Scene Access

The story about a woman who gets discharged from the Marines because she is gay and how she is dealing with the aftermath. She also befriends a troubled teen who they want to sent off to boot camp and she is preparing her for it.
A nice enough movie which kept me interesting throughout the runtime.

Rating:

(From Lesbian Movie Marathon on July 25th, 2011)

Black Book, a review by Rich

A pleasant jaunt through the Netherlands...



September 1944 - Nazi Occupied Holland'. When her temporary safe house is destroyed by a bomb, the beautiful young Jewish chanteuse Rachel Steinn joins fellow refugees in an attempt to reach safe Allied territory by boat.
Tragedy strikes when a Nazi patrol intercepts their escape, ruthlessly killing everybody onboard including Rachel's family; only Rachel escapes the massacre. Embittered and desperate for revenge, she joins the Resistance where, assigned a new identity as the blond Ellies de Vries, she is charged with infiltrating the German Security Service by seducing senior officer Muntze (Sebastian Koch).
Twenty years in the making, this stunning, sexy war film from the internationally acclaimed blockbuster director Paul Verhoeven ('Basic Instinct', 'Total Recall', 'Starship Troopers') is an epic and moving tale of great courage and fierce emotion - played out against the dying explosive months of WWII.

Now this what makes marathons so appealing, a film that has sat on the unwatched backburner for ages is finally watched, and it's a real masterpiece. Paul Verhoeven's return to his homeland is marked by this excellent movie, and a reason to forgive him for Showgirls. Brutal,sexy,bold and revealing, these stories should be told, and viewed from a Dutch perspective, culminates in a wonderful viewing experience.  Highly recommended. 8/10

(From Around the World in 80 DVD's on January 5th, 2008)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Title: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Year: 2006
Director:
Rating: NR
Length: 350 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio: Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0, English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English

Extras:
The Adventures of the ASOS Brigade
Trailers
Original TV Broadcast Previews

This series is about a girl, Haruhi, who acts like the whole world revolves around her. What she doesn't know, it probably does. Three years ago she wished herself, that there would be things like aliens, time-travellors and ESPers (psycics) in her world for her to meet. Because of this wish, these things do exist. As a matter of fact, the school club she has founded (which goal is to find aliens, time-travellors and ESPers), has an alien, a time-travellor and an ESPer in it and she doesn't notice it. The job of these individuals is to make sure, that Haruhi is happy with the world as it is and is not bored with it. You never know, what she would wish next otherwise. Maybe the end of the world?

This series is really funny. Especially how forceful Haruhi is with her fellow club members. It is told from the point of view of the only "ordinary" member of her school club "SOS Brigate" (Spreading Excitement All Over the World with Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade) who narrates the story.
This series enjoys a huge cult following in Japan. Even so far, that fans are doing the dance which appears during the end credits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXO0Baqzme4

What I find disappointing with the DVD release though (and that is not necessarily the fault of the US publisher, because it also was this way with the Japanese DVD release), that they are using the chronological order of the episodes and not the order they were aired. Originally the main story arc was told in six episodes spread out over the season with single self-contained stories in-between (which happen after the main story). But on the DVD they start with an episode which is totally different from the rest of the series (Episode 0) which shows a "movie" the main character have made. It's a little strange going in, but after getting to know the character during the rest of the series, this episode has a lot charm to it. After it they bring the main story's six episodes. Which ends with a nice emotional conclusion. Then after that they bring the rest of the episodes with single story lines which go nowhere particular and therefore the season ends on a low note.
But nevertheless it is totally worth to watch.

Rating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZeV1GkYurc

(From Tom's Random Reviews on September 1st, 2008)