DVD Collectors Online

Un transport un commun, a review by Danae Cassandra

ANOTHER BONUS SHORT FILM!

Where We Are: Senegal
wikipedia

What We Watched:


Un transport un commun (Saint Louis Blues)Overview:
Focus' Africa First program is an initiative designed exclusively for filmmakers of African nationality and residence, and presents annual awards to the best and brightest from around the continent. After touring film festivals around the world, these Africa First short films are now available for audiences everywhere:

Dyana Gaye's ST. LOUIS BLUES, an invigorating traveling musical; Jenna Bass' THE TUNNEL, a moving story of a young girl in search of her father; Jan-Hendrik Beetge's THE ABYSS BOYS a coming-of-age tale amidst rampant corruption and gang violence; and Wanuri Kahiu's PUMZI a startling vision of the future.

My Thoughts:
Saint Louis Blues reminded me of community theatre.  The atmosphere was fun, the performances earnest but unpolished, the production lacking in any sort of real budget, but an enjoyable, entertaining time nonetheless.  It's obvious all the actors are amateurs, but they're having a good time making this little musical and I had a good time watching it over breakfast.

This is director Dyana Gaye's fourth short film, and it seems she's currently seeking funding for a full-length feature.  While Saint Louis Blues lacks polish and depth when compared to Pumzi, I enjoyed it and Gaye has obvious talent and I wouldn't mind seeing more from her.

Bechdel Test:  Pass

Overall:  3/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on February 15th, 2013)

X-Men, a review by addicted2comics

Title: X-Men
Year: 2000
Director: Bryan Singer
Rating: PG-13
Length: 104 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Hugh Jackman
Patrick Stewart
Ian McKellen
Famke Janssen
James Marsden
Halle Berry

Plot:
Born into a world filled with prejudice are children who possess extraordinary and dangerous powers - the result of unique genetic mutations. Cyclops unleashes bolts of energy from his eyes. Storm can manipulate the weather at will. Rogue absorbs the life force of anyone she touches. But under the tutelage of Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart), these and other outcasts learn to harness their powers for the good of mankind. Now they must protect those who fear them as the nefarious Magneto (Ian McKellan), who believes humans and mutants can never co-exist, unveils his sinister plan for the future!

Pulsing with state-of-the-art visual effects and unforgettable characters, X-MEN "delivers it all!" (ABC-TV)

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Gallery
Production Notes
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned
THX
Animatics

My Thoughts:

I've seen reveiws of this across the web, a lot of fan didn't seem to like this trilogy. When it comes to all 3, its not one of my favorites, but it is pretty good...

My one and only complaint is the use of Kitty Pryde in this first movie. (Not saying the trilogy cuz I can barely remember the other two.) To me, she is one of the major members of the X-Men! May not be all that powerful, but walking through stuff is still really cool in my eyes! She got one mention in the begining, a small appearance at the school, and that's it. I think it would hasve been interesting to, maybe, have her bunk with Rogue? Have her portrayed as the perky, teenage girl she was in the cartoon, X-Men: Evolution. Tell me that wouldn't have been sweet, or at least a little comic relief!!

I think the writers pretty much nailed the characters, and Mystique was done very well. I also liked the little origin piece on how Rogue's hair turned white. That really was never explained, as far as I know, and lets face it, that's definitely the first thing you notice about her!!

A enjoyable film for every so often.



(From Doing the ABC's Movie Style!! on July 31st, 2010)

Fear Itself Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

11. The Spirit Box
When two suburban high school girls try to contact a dead classmate via a board game, they receive an unexpected message from beyond the grave.
Director: Rob Schmidt ("Masters of Horror," Wrong Turn)

Stars:
Anna Kendrick
Martin Donovan
Jessica Parker Kennedy
Mark Pellegrino
Samantha Hill
Teresa Hung

My Thoughts:
This is a Halloween episode! Which I found odd since according to the cover art the last episode in the set (The Circle) is a Halloween episode. So either there is 2 Halloween episodes in this set... or the misprinted the cover art for the last episode. Though this one... only the opening scene takes place on Halloween night. This is another episode I enjoyed quite a bit. I liked how they did the ending. I thought I knew what the end twist was... and no sooner as they were revealing it... they twisted it again.

My Rating:

(From Fear Itself Marathon on April 15th, 2010)