DVD Collectors Online

Rio Lobo, a review by Antares

Rio Lobo (1970) 40/100 - There is nothing sadder than when a film maker doesn't know when to stop making films and retire. Almost every great director has suffered this malady and Howard Hawks was no exception. Rio Lobo is Hawks' swan song and instead of mirroring the symphonic sagebrush set pieces of his glorious past, it plays like an out of tune saloon piano. It's said that "the third time's the charm", but not in this case. All the freshness of the two previous incarnations of this story (Rio Bravo, El Dorado) are long since past the expiration date. As I was re-watching this film, I wondered what John Wayne must have been thinking when he arrived for the shoot and realized what a train wreck he was about to embark on. Jennifer O'Neill, the leading lady of the film, is such a bad actress, she makes Angie Dickinson's performance in Rio Bravo look like an Oscar winning performance by Meryl Streep. Jack Elam, who just two years earlier, had an iconic, short lived performance in Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, is instead forced to recreate the drunken, crazy kind of character he played in Support Your Local Sheriff. Jorge Rivero, who was a star in Mexico, seems to be out of his league in his first Hollywood production. But what really lets this film down, is the rather cheap looking sets. There's one scene where Rivero is talking to O'Neill, and the film cuts back and forth between the two. In the background, behind Rivero, are painted clouds on a canvas. Rivero is standing still, yet the clouds never move. The film is peppered with these cheesy looking moments and you can't help but think, that the studio didn't want to invest too much money on what they must have known, was going to be a dud.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on February 23rd, 2015)

Friday the 13th, a review by addicted2dvd

Friday the 13th (1980/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Paramount Home Entertainment Director: Sean S. Cunningham Writing: Victor Miller (Writer) Length: 95 min. Rating: R Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono Subtitles: English, Spanish

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Stars:
Betsy Palmer as Mrs. Voorhees
Adrienne King as Alice
Jeannine Taylor as Marcie
Robbi Morgan as Annie
Kevin Bacon as Jack
Harry Crosby as Bill

Plot:
Terror and suspense abound in this 24-hour nightmare of blood. Camp Crystal Lake has been been shuttered for over 20 years due to several vicious and unsolved murders. The camp's new owner and several young counselors are readying the property for re-opening despite warnings of a "death curse" by local residents. The curse proves true on Friday the 13th as one by one each of the counselors is stalked by a violent killer.This film is widely acclaimed for its horrifying and creative murder sequences.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Closed Captioned

What with today being Friday the 13th... how could I not watch some of these films? This is, of course, the one that started it all. Definitely a classic when it comes to horror. I feel it is a good movie... definitely worth watching... but I have seen better. I really liked the character of Alice in this one. For some reason I keep forgetting there is a young Kevin Bacon in this movie until I watch it again. Though I must say... really liked his death scene. This film definitely has some nostalgia value for me. It is hard to believe I was only 11 years old when this one was made. Where has the years gone? Of course with this film being so old, the special effects can be done more realistically today... but there is something about the way they were done back then that I really like. Doing such things with make-up effects instead of CGI, in my opinion, has a better feel to it. Sometimes the old fashion way is still the better way to go. There is some interesting kills in this film... though I do think some of the more creative kills comes later in the franchise.

This disc is part of the set: Friday the 13th: From Crystal Lake to Manhattan which contains the first 8 films from the franchise. This set seems to be out of print now... but you can get used copies from Amazon Marketplace for as low as $14.90 or new copies starting at $88.99 at this time. This set also comes with a bonus disc with special features for all the films included. This is a nice set... though I haven't been keeping up with the newer releases to know if there is anything better out there for the franchise.

(From What Movies I Been Watching on September 13th, 2013)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Knight Rider: Season One (2008/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Universal Pictures (United Kingdom) Length: 769 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:
An iconic TV classic is back and better than ever in the reinvented, updated and super-charged Knight Rider Season One. From executive producers Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity franchise), David Bartis (The O.C.) and Glen Larson (Battlestar Galactica) comes this action-packed series about the coolest car ever created K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Three Thousand), that's equipped with artificial intelligence capable of hacking into any computer, the weapons system of a jet fighter, and incredible custom body technology that allows it to transform into other vehicles. Relive every Season One episode as an elite team of crime-fighters work with K.I.T.T. (voiced by acting legend Val Kilmer) to track down elusive, hight-tech villains. Presented in uninterrupted Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, you won't want to miss this fast-paced ride to the wild side!


Knight Rider
1.01 Prometheus (Pilot Episode)
Writer: Dave Andron (Writer), Glen A. Larson (Original Characters By)
Director: Steve Shill
Cast: Justin Bruening (Mike), Deanna Russo (Sarah Graiman), Sydney Tamiia Poitier (Carrie Rivai), Bruce Davison (Charles Graiman), David Hasselhoff (Michael Knight), Greg Ellis (Welther), Chris Mulkey (Sheriff Ramsey), Wayne Kasserman (Dylan Fass), Jonathan Chase (Kevin), Susan Gibney (Jennifer), Kevin Christy (Belle), Jack Yang (Cross), Kevin Dunigan (Smoke), Jelly Howie (Woman in Bed), Hope Riley (Amber), Leah Fitzpatrick (Sadie), Blake Silver (Dustin Cary), Justin Schaeffers (Stoner Kid), Phil Laak (Poker Pro), Lucas Fleischer (Priest), Matthew J. Cates (Truck Driver), Matt Leonard (Zion), Val Kilmer (K.I.T.T. (voice, uncredited))

I very much enjoyed this pilot episode of the new Knight Rider series. Sadly the rest of the series didn't live up to it. Except towards the end when they retooled the show, it became something I would have liked to see continued.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 4th, 2012)