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Ocean's Eleven, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Ocean's Eleven
Year: 2001
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Rating: PG-13
Length: 116 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
George Clooney
CeCeLia Birt
Paul L. Nolan
Carol Florence
Lori Galinski
Bernie Mac

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Production Notes
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
This is the first time I ever seen this one. While I am not a big fan of George Clooney... He wasn't bad in this one.  Though for some reason Julia Roberts didn't do it much for me here. She just seemed a bit stiff in the role. Not exactly relaxed... so not exactly believable. I also felt pretty much the same thing with Brad Pitt. But he is another one I never been a big fan of either. The movie itself I enjoyed quite a bit despite the problem I had with some of the main cast. It has a good, interesting storyline that easily kept my interest. I enjoyed it enough to look forward to seeing the sequel before too long.



(From The Movies From Within My Lifetime on April 23rd, 2011)

Pleasantville, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Pleasantville: New Line Platinum Series
Year: 1998
Director: Gary Ross
Rating: PG-13
Length: 124 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Music Only: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English

Stars:
William H. Macy
Joan Allen
Natalie Ramsey
Kevin Connors
Jeff Daniels
Tobey Maguire

Plot:
When '90's teens David and Jennifer (Tobey Maguire, The Ice Storm, Reese Witherspoon, Freeway) get zapped into the perfect suburbia of the black & white '50's sitcom, Pleasantville, what results is a "visionary adventure" (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone) that Siskel and Ebert give "Two big thumbs up!"

Pleasantville's perfect people include a mild-mannered soda jerk (Jeff Daniels, Dumb and Dumber), a socially repressed mom (Joan Allen, Face/Off) and a father who always knows best (William H. Macy, Fargo). But, when '90's pop culture clashes with '50's family values, chaos ensues, turning the town of Pleasantville upside down and black and white into color.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Gallery
Production Notes
Music Videos
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned
Color television set-up/isolated score with commentary

My Thoughts:
It has been a very long time since I watched this movie. I last watched it right after I bought it back in 2003. I liked the cast in this one... but the story could have been better. This movie stars Toby McGuire... someone that I really didn't know until he did the Spider-Man movies. I did find this movie enjoyable for what it was... but I just feel like there was something missing from it. Something I just can't put my finger on. I must admit I did get a kick out of seeing Don Knotts as the TV Repairman.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Anything Goes on July 23rd, 2010)

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

2x06 The Tower Is Tall But the Fall Is Short
Synopsis: The weight of their missions takes a toll on the Connors when they infiltrate the office of a family therapist who also has ties to ZeiraCorp.
My Rating:

As I already briefly noted, this is another outstanding episode. It is a little more conventional than 2x04 both in its visual style and in its storytelling, but it is great nonetheless. Since I don't seem to be able to get a regular review of this down to an acceptable size, I just post some random comments on various aspects of the episode.

The corny intro is gone and Sarah's VO is back for a change. The small bits at the beginning and end fit well with the episode.

The writers have finally gotten a handle on the Weaver character that matches Shirley Manson's acting abilities. As a result, she is really great here. Also, the child actress playing Savannah is a real find.

Sadly, Ellison didn't have much to do, except wondering about the basement.

The AI stuff in the basement however was beautifully done, with another great piece of music by McCreary. I'm not entirely sure though if it is new or if it already had been used for the Turk in S1.

.... names they found on a wall (am I supposed to know who wrote them there? because I don't).

That was dying future guy in 2x02. Shown for your convenience in the previouslies.

(is that flashback something from season 1 or is it made up for the purpose of this episode?)

That was a flashback to the killing of Sarkissian at the beginning of 2x01. It was left ambigous who exactly killed him. Jon and Sarah never talked about it, but everyone assumed it was Sarah (as does Derek here again). Of course, as we learn now, it wasn't.

All of the sessions with Dr. Sherman were great, but especially those with John. Interestingly both T-Weaver and Cameron recognized that someone needed help, but Sarah didn't until she later listens to the surveillance tapes.

The suicide theme came a bit out of left field for me with regards to John. But I suppose it was introduced more for the benefit of Derek and the back-story with Jesse. Also, they picked it up nicely when Cameron looked at the self-destructed chip during the end montage.

Apropos Jesse. I wasn't suspicious at all during the first scene between Derek and Jesse, well at least not on first viewing. And despite knowing that she has some hidden agenda as evident by the photos, that scene still gets to me and I like to think that her battle fatigue is at least partially true. Stephanie Jacobson is truly amazing here.

All in all a very gripping and dramatic episode with a highly original terminator fight as bonus.



(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon on February 4th, 2010)