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Touching the Void, a review by Jon

Touching the Void
5 out of 5

Documentary about two mountaineers, Joe and Simon, descending from the summit of Siula Grande in Peru, a feat in itself. But Joe breaks his leg, normally a death sentence. They persevere, Simon lowering Joe on 300 feet of rope which works time and time again. Until Joe goes over an edge and is hanging in space with no way out. He's staring down into nothing. Simon has no idea what has happened and after a long while of just sitting, holding the taut rope, waiting for a sign there's more than dead weight on the end, he comes to a decision and cuts the rope... Joe plummets into the void yet makes it back to camp four days later. This is the story of how.

This is an incredible documentary and a testament to the strength of human spirit. Well, testament to Joe's spirit, because I doubt there are many could pull of what he did. Much easier to just lie down and die. Broken leg, 20000 feet up, plummets at least a hundred feet, almost gives in, but manages to crawl out anyway. Takes him four days, via near insanity, to make it back, hopping much of the way across rocks and falling Every Single Time and feeling like he was breaking his leg over and over again. It's a sobering film because both climbers relate their story with abject honesty. On their return, Simon was criticised for cutting the rope, even though he was in an impossible situation. Joe wrote the book on which the documentary is based in an effort to make sure we all knew what Simon achieved. A broken leg could have been a death sentence for both of them and to get as far as they did together is incredible enough.

The DVD has a feature about the making of the film, involving the climbers going back to Peru. Joe's reaction is fascinating and the whole thing is highly recommended. A healthy dose of reality! Mind you, you'll never find me going up a bloody mountain...

(From Jon's Random Reviews on January 28th, 2009)

50 First Dates, a review by Tom

Title: 50 First Dates
Year: 2004
Director: Peter Segal
Rating: PG-13
Length: 99 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
Adam Sandler
Drew Barrymore
Rob Schneider
Sean Astin
Lusia Strus

Plot:
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore star together for the first time since The Wedding Singer in one of the funniest romantic comedies in years.

Henry Roth (Sandler) lives an enviable life in a Hawaiian paradise, spending every night with a beautiful tourist in search of an island fling. It's a sweet life with no strings attached...until he meets Lucy (Barrymore). He and Lucy hit it off from the get-go, but the next day she acts like she doesn't know him. Has his karma come around to kick him in the butt or what? Actually, Lucy has short-term memory loss, so every night all memory of her day is erased. But a man in love will go to any lengths to win over the girl of his dreams, and if that means having to find imaginative ways of doing it over again every day, then Henry's up for the challenge.

Rob Schneider (Big Daddy) and Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) co-star in 50 FIRST DATES, which will win you over every time you watch it!

Extras:
Closed Captioned
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Music Videos
Outtakes
Photo Gallery
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers

When I first heard about this movie, I was excited, as Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore's previous collaboration ("Wedding Singer") is one of my favorite romantic comedies. They didn't disappoint! I always enjoy watching this movie. If there is one thing I would change, is the walrus vomit joke in the beginning. It doesn't fit into this movie.
As for the ending: I am glad that they didn't cop out and let Lucy miraculously be cured by the end. I thought the ending was just the perfect way to do it.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on January 10th, 2009)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Moonlight


No Such Thing as Vampires
A Hearst College coed with a thing for vampires turns up dead - with two puncture wounds in her neck.

My Thoughts:
This is a show I liked a lot when it originally aired. It is one that just wasn't treated right at the time. You never knew when it was going to be on or not. Making it hard to keep track of. Because of this it got canceled much earlier then it should have. I mean this one won a People's Choice Award for favorite new series. But yet it is canceled because of the ratings? Sorry that don't make much sense to me.

Sure this is a story that has been told over and over again. The vampire that wants to redeem himself. But this one is interesting and had enough new and different views on the vampire legend that made it an entertaining show to watch. His friend is played by Jason Dohring... who played Logan on Veronica Mars. My least favorite character on that series. But on this show... I really liked him on here.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on May 17th, 2010)