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Tremors 4: The Legend Begins, a review by addicted2dvd

Tremors 4: The Legend Begins
When workers in the remote mining town of Rejection, Nevada, fall victim to an unseen predator, the mines owner, Hiram Gummer [Michael Gross], great-grandfather to 'Tremors'' Burt Gummer, hires a mercenary to destroy the carnivorous creatures before they swallow up his profits. What follows is an all-out assault that takes the battleground from deep in the earth to a suspense-filled showdown in the streets of Rejection!

'Tremors 4: The Legend Begins' will thrill you with incredible action sequences, awesome bonus features and earthshaking special effects created by the award-winning team behind the original box-office hit, 'Tremors.'

My Thoughts:
OK... what we have here is a mixture of Western and Horror... something you don't see too often. I definitely enjoyed it... though I would say the first half hour was a bit on the slow side. Even though I didn't watch many of them... there is a nice amount of extras on this release. In this movie you only get to see the graboid version of the creatures... of course in this movie they call them something different since the name graboid was thought of in the first movie... in this one they call the creature Dirt Dragons. The hired gun in this movie is played by Billy Drago... who I like a lot... ever since I first say him play the Demon of Fear in several episodes of Charmed. At first I was worried I wouldn't like this one... but now I am thrilled I have it in my collection and that I have the series completed.

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(From Graboids Galore! - Tremors Marathon on July 29th, 2007)

Sweet Smell of Success, a review by Hal

Sweet Smell of Success: MGM Vintage Classics (1957/United States) (United States) Director: Alexander Mackendrick Writing: Clifford Odets (Screenwriter), Ernest Lehman (Screenwriter), Ernest Lehman (Original Material By) Length: 96 min. Video: Widescreen 1.66:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono Subtitles: French, Spanish

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Stars:
Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker
Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco
Susan Harrison as Susan Hunsecker
Martin Milner as Steve Dallas (as Marty Milner)
Sam Levene as Frank D' Angelo

Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Feature Trailers
• Closed Captioned

I felt like I needed to take a shower after watching this film.  The only likable character in the whole movie is Steve Dallas (Milner), the jazz player. J.J. Hunsecker (Lancaster) is a gossip columnist who uses his profession as a weapon to build his own power base while destroying some lives and promoting others.  Sidney Falco (Curtis) is a press agent aspiring to be the next J.J. and stooping to any level if it advances that goal, including being lapdog to J.J.  The cops are dirty, other columnists will print lies for a night with a prostitute. Susan Hunsecker is a whimpering baby living with and off her older brother.  There is clearly an abnormal relationship between the two of them, at least as far as J.J. goes.

Done in the classic film noir tradition, this movie is among the best in that genre.  The cinematography reflects the darkness of the theme of the film, while the jazz music provides a great contrast.  The cast did a superb job, with a really well written and believable script.  Susan Harrison was the only weak link, which probably explains why she has only been in one other film, that I know of.

If you want to see the seamy side of the newspaper columnist business, this is a must see.

Rating: 4.5

(From The Movies From Within My Lifetime on April 13th, 2011)

Twilight Zone, a review by addicted2dvd

NOTE: A while ago I bought the complete series of The Twilight Zone. When I bought it I had only seen a handful of episodes before. (which I saw on volume releases I was collecting before the series set came out) Since then on other sites I been giving my thoughts on all the episodes. Not really a marathon viewing as I only watch the episodes as I can and then post a disc worth at a time... but thought I should do the same here (I started this just before this site became to be) but thought if I start posting my thoughts here as well I should post all my previous posts here as well... so...



1. Where is Everybody? (10/2/59)
Earl Holliman stars as a man on the edge of hysteria in an oddly deserted town. Despite the emptiness, he has the strangest feeling that he's being watched.

My Thoughts:
This episode I have seen before... though I didn't remember it right away... not till the end twist. I really enjoyed the episode... was a good start to what seems to be a great series! This set even kept the commercial bumpers as well as a commercial for The United Way at the end.

As I type this I am watching this episode for the second time... this time with the commentary on. The commentary is done with the star of the episode... Earl Holliman. First off I was surprised that they would be able to have a commentary with a star that was an adult in 1959 when the episode aired. But even more so I was surprised at his memory about when he made the episode.He talked about such things as how he was sick when they taped this episode... that the town he was alone in for almost the entire episode was later used in the well known movie Back to the Future... and how when this episode originally aired he had a series he was the star of that aired later that night on the same channel. It was really interesting watching the episode again with the commentary on.

2. One of the Angels (10/9/59)
A salesman (Ed Wynn) cleverly eludes Death. But if he lives, a little girl must die in his place. Only the salesman's greatest pitch can save her!

My Thoughts:
Going into this one I couldn't remember if I seen this episode or not. But once I got into it I remember I did actually see it. This was a really good episode. The extra for this episode was a radio episode with Ed Begley, Jr. But I decided not to listen to it at this time. At the end of this episode it showed Rod Serling talk about the next episode and then a TV Spot for the series Wanted Dead or Alive.

3. Mr. Denton on Doomsday (10/16/59)
A has-been drunk of a gunslinger (Dan Duryea) finds that his fast-draw abilities can actually be restored by drinking a magic potion! Also features Martin Landau.

My Thoughts:
This one I know I have seen before... as I watching it only a few months back on one of the volume dvds.This is a very good episode.. I enjoyed every minute of it. At the end of the episode it showed a TV Spot for The Danny Thomas Show. This episode has a commentary track with Martin Landau... which I am listening to as I type this. This commentary seems like it is going to be really good too. really informative and interesting.

4. The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine (10/23/59)
An aging, former movie star (Ida Lupino) lives and dreams in the past. Despite the efforts of her agent (Martin Balsam) she refuses to leave her screening room - until she disappears!

My Thoughts:
This is another one that I seen months ago on one of the volume dvds I had. This one was never one of my favorite episodes... I mean it was a pretty good episode... but not compared to the others I have seen. The extra listed with this episode... and I am not even sure it is what I would consider an extra... but they have an isolated score for the episode... which is basically turning off the dialog and sound effects and using a music only score. I didn't bother watching this for more then a moment to see exactly what it was.

5. Walking Distance (10/30/59)
Martin Sloan (Gig Young) is a frazzled executive who learns that you can't go home again after he steps back in time and meets his mom, his dad - and himself!

My Thoughts:
This is a very good episode... another one I seen on one of the volume releases I had. In this episode you will see a very young (about 4?) Ron Howard. The extras for this episode are An isolated music score which again I didn't bother with. And A lecture with Rod Serling on the episode. This I did check out. Was interesting you heard a talk between Rod Serling and a small group of people talking about the episode while watching the episode... almost like an audio Commentary... but not scene specific... in other words they are not talking about each scene as it is shown on the screen. Towards the end of the lecture they did branch out and talk about some of the other episodes a little too... but mostly about this episode. This is a very interesting idea for an extra. I really enjoyed it. Rod Serling even goes through how even though he thought this episode worked beautifully originally.... since seeing the episode he felt the episode really didn't work. Very interesting.

6. Escape Clause (11/6/59)
A hypochondriac (David Wayne) exchanges his soul for immortality and indestructability. When life soon becomes very boring, his unsuccessful attempts to find new thrills bring unexpected results.

My Thoughts:
This is one that I originally saw on one of the Sci-Fi Channel marathons that they have of the show all the time. This one is a very good episode. One of my favorites so far. This is the first episode on the set not to have any extra what so ever accompanying it. Unless you want to consider the old commercial tacked on the end as an extra in which case on this episode was a public service announcement about worshiping together.

7. The Lonely (11/13/59)
A convicted murderer (Jack Warden) incarcerated on a distant asteroid is dying of lonelines. Then a supply ship captain leaves him a female robot - and a dilemma!

My Thoughts:
And once again... this is one that I have seen before... I can't remember for sure but thinking it is one that was on one of the volume discs I had. Another good episode. I definitely enjoyed it. The only extra for this episode was the Isolated Music Score... unless you count the classic commercial attached to the end... which in this case was a TV Spot for The Danny Thomas Show.

Over-all I am really pleased with this set at this point. The quality of the picture and sound is unbelievable... especially considering that these episodes are almost 50 years old! You can tell they put a lot of love and care into making the episodes look the best they possibly could... and the extras they have with the first disc alone... wow! I haven't been this impressed with a set since I started to buy The Dick Van Dyke Show. The only drawback I see with this set so far is the awful packaging... which is a real shame considering how much this set costs... you really shouldn't have to put up with shoddy packaging... at least in the long run I do realize that the packaging really is the least important thing about the set. But it is still a shame.

(From Twilight Zone on February 5th, 2008)